e consuls reproached them that there was no more
presence of mind in the senate than in the forum, the matter began to
be considered in order. Three different opinions were held. Publius
Verginius was against extending relief to all. He voted that they
should consider only those who, relying on the promise of Publius
Servilius the consul, had served in the war against the Volscians,
Auruncans, and Sabines. Titus Larcius was of opinion, that it was not
now a fitting time for services only to be rewarded: that all the
people were overwhelmed with debt, and that a stop could not be put to
the evil, unless measures were adopted for the benefit of all: nay,
further, if the condition of different parties were different discord
would thereby rather be inflamed than healed. Appius Claudius, being
naturally of a hard disposition, and further infuriated by the hatred
of the commons on the one hand, and the praises of the senators on the
other, insisted that such frequent riots were caused not by distress,
but by too much freedom: that the people were rather insolent than
violent: that this mischief, in fact, took its rise from the right of
appeal; since threats, not authority, was all that remained to the
consuls, while permission was given to appeal to those who were
accomplices in the crime. "Come," added he, "let us create a dictator
from whom there lies no appeal, and this madness, which has set
everything ablaze, will immediately subside. Then let me see the man
who will dare to strike a lictor, when he shall know that that person,
whose authority he has insulted, has sole and absolute power to flog
and behead him."

To many the opinion of Appius appeared, as in fact it was, harsh and
severe. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius
appeared injurious, from the precedent they established: that of
Larcius they considered especially so, as one that would destroy all
credit. The advice of Verginius, was reckoned to be most moderate, and
a happy medium between the other two. But through party spirit and
men's regard for their private interest, which always has and always
will stand in the way of public councils, Appius prevailed, and was
himself near being created dictator--a step which would certainly
have alienated the commons at a most dangerous juncture, when the
Volscians, the Aequans, and the Sabines all happened to be in arms at
the same time. But the consuls and elders of the senate took care that
this