Camillus himself,
not knowing what to do, would not lay down his office, but called the
Senate to meet. Before entering the Senate house, he turned round to
the Capitol and prayed that the gods would bring affairs to a happy
termination, vowing that when the present disorders were at an end he
would build a Temple of Concord. After a violent debate, the Senate
agreed to adopt the milder course of yielding to the popular demand, and
permitting one of the two consuls to be chosen from the people. When the
dictator announced this decision of the Senate to the people, they at
once, as was natural, were delighted with the Senate, and escorted
Camillus home with applause and shouts. On the next day they met and
decreed that the Temple of Concord which Camillus had vowed should be
erected on a spot facing the Forum, where these events had taken place;
moreover, that the Latin games should continue for four days instead of
three, and that all citizens of Rome should at once offer sacrifice and
crown themselves with garlands.
In the assembly for the election of consuls, over which Camillus
presided there were elected Marcus Aemilius, a patrician, and Lucius
Sextius, the first plebeian ever elected consul. This was the result of
Camillus's administration.
XLIII. In the following year a pestilence broke out in Rome which
destroyed enormous numbers of people, and among them most of the leading
men.
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