CHAPTER IX. ~~~ THE STORY OF CINCINNATUS.
In the seventy and third year after the driving out of the kings the strife between the nobles and the Commons grew to be fierce beyond measure; for on the one hand the Consuls would have levied an army to make war with the Volscians, and this the tribunes hindered; and on the other hand the tribunes sought to establish a law that should set bounds to the power of the Consuls, and this law the nobles hindered that it should not be passed. Now among the nobles (who were mostly of the younger sort, for the elders held aloof from the matter) the chief mover was one Kæso Quinctius, a youth of singular strength and courage, and that had won for himself great renown in war. This man was wont to drive the tribunes from the market-place and scatter the people, and when Virginius, that was one of the tribunes, named a day on which he should be brought to judgment for his misdeeds, he was not one whit dismayed, but bare himself as haughtily as before. Meanwhile Virginius stirred up the people, saying, "See ye not, men of Rome, that if ye suffer this Kæso to dwell in this city, it cannot be that this law which ye desire should be established? But why speak I of laws? This man is the enemy of liberty itself; not King Tarquin himself was so haughty and violent. He is a very king already; what think ye will he be if he be made consul or dictator?" To these words many gave assent, complaining that Kæso had beaten them, and were urgent with the tribune that he should carry the matter to an end. Then it came to pass that, when the day of trial was come, the people were of one mind that Kæso should be condemned. Then, indeed, the young man and his kinsfolk and friends turned to supplications and prayers. Titus Quinctius, that had been three times consul, affirmed, "Never in the home of Quinctius, never verily in this city of Rome, has there been a soldier of so ripe a courage. When I was captain of the host, he was ever the first; with these eyes have I seen him fighting against the enemy." Also Lucretius, that had been consul the year before, winning great glory from the Volscians and Æquians, testified that Kæso had helped him to conquer as none other had done; and one Furius that he had delivered him and his army from great peril of defeat As for Lucius Quinctius, his father, whose surname was Cincinnatus, he sought not to magnify the valour and brave deeds of his son, lest haply he should so stir up the more jealousy against him, but sought to make excuse for him, as one who had erred for want of discretion, beseeching men that, if he himself had wronged no man by word or deed, so they would grant him for a favour the pardon of his son. But nothing availed with the people, some fearing the wrath of their fellows if they should give ear to such words, and some making complaint that they had suffered violence from the hands of Kæso, and affirming that they would be avenged of him for his misdeeds. Now of all things that were alleged against him the most grievous was the accusation brought by a certain Volscius that had once been tribune of the Commons; for Volscius bare this witness against him: "Not many days after the plague had ceased from the city, I, with others in my company, fell in with certain young men, of whom this Kæso was one, disporting themselves in the street. These fell out with us, and Kæso smote my elder brother with the fist, so that he fell fainting to the ground, being then not wholly recovered from the plague. And being carried home, he died by noon, as I doubt not, of this blow. But when I would have brought Kæso to judgment for this offence, the Consuls would not suffer it." At the hearing of this tale the wrath of the Commons waxed so hot that they could scarcely be kept from falling on Kæso and slaying him. At the last, after much debate between the nobles and the tribunes, it was agreed that the young man should appear the next day to make his answer to these accusations, giving sureties in the meanwhile lest he should fail to do so. Ten sureties he gave, and each was bound in three thousand pounds of copper. So being suffered to depart from the market-place, he departed that same night from Rome, going into banishment among the Etrurians. As for his sureties, the money was exacted from his father to the uttermost farthing, so that he was compelled to sell all his goods, and to dwell in a mean cottage on the other side of the Tiber.