The abundance of provision which he
gained, and the waste and havoc of the country which he made,
were, however, the smallest results of that invasion; the great
mischief he intended, and his special object in all, was to
increase at Rome the suspicions entertained of the patricians, and
to make them upon worse terms with the people. With this view,
while despoiling all the fields and destroying the property of
other men, he took special care to preserve their farms and lands
untouched, and would not allow his soldiers to ravage there, or
seize upon any thing which belonged to them. Hence the quarrels
broke out afresh, and rose to a greater height than ever; the
senators reproaching those of the commonalty with their late
injustice to Marcius; while the plebeians, on their side, did not
hesitate to accuse them of having, out of spite and revenge,
solicited him to this enterprise, and thus, when others were
involved in the miseries of a war by their means, they sat like
unconcerned spectators furnished with a guardian abroad of their
fortunes, in the very person of the public enemy. After this
incursion and exploit, which was of great advantage to the
Volscians, since they learned by it to be more courageous and to
despise their enemy, Marcius drew them off, and returned in
safety.
Pages:
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393