Book 9
8.15
Further, they said they did not deserve any punishment for having saved the Roman army by undertaking to procure peace,Livy evidently assumes that these two tribunes of the plebs were with the army, a most unusual arrangement, as they were supposed to be watching over the interests of the plebs within the walls of Rome. But the whole strength of Rome, i. e., the great majority of the plebeians, were at Caudium, so the presence of all the tribunes in the City might not have been necessary. and they urged as a final reason that as they, the tribunes, were sacrosanct and their persons inviolable they could not be surrendered to the enemy or exposed to any violence.
9.1
To this Postumius replied: “In the meanwhile, surrender us, whom no inviolability protects and whose surrender will violate no man's conscience.
9.2
Afterwards you will surrender those “sacrosanct” gentlemen also as soon as their year of office expires, but if you take my advice you will see that before they are surrendered they are scourged in the Forum by way of paying interest for a punishment that will have been delayed.
9.3
Why, who is so ignorant of fetial law as not to see that these men are saying this, not because it represents the fact but to prevent their being surrendered?
