He bade the ambassadors
deliver their message; and after they had, in a supplicatory fashion,
pronounced a conciliatory oration, he answered them, dwelling with
bitterness on his own unjust treatment; and then in his capacity of
general-in-chief of the Volscians, he bade them restore the cities and
territory which they had conquered in the late war, and to grant the
franchise to the Volscians on the same terms as enjoyed by the Latins.
These, he said, were the only conditions on which a just and lasting
peace could be made. He allowed them a space of thirty days for
deliberation, and on the departure of the ambassadors immediately drew
off his forces.
XXXI. This affair gave an opportunity to several of the Volscians, who
had long envied and disliked his reputation, and the influence which he
had with the people. Among these was Tullus himself, who had not been
personally wronged by Marcius, but who, as it is natural he should, felt
vexed at being totally eclipsed and thrown into the shade, for the
Volscians now thought Marcius the greatest man in their whole nation,
and considered that any one else ought to be thankful for any measure of
authority that he might think fit to bestow. Hence secret hints were
exchanged, and private meetings held, in which his enemies expressed
their dissatisfaction, calling the retreat from Rome an act of treason,
not indeed that he had betrayed any cities or armies to the enemy, but
he had granted them time, by which all other things are won and lost.
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