Poplicola   

said, centering all authority in himself, seemed not in any sense
a successor to Brutus in the consulship, but to Tarquin in the tyranny;
he might make verbal harangues to Brutus's memory, yet when he was
attended with all the rods and axes, proceeding down from a house
than which the king's house that he had demolished had not been statelier,
those actions showed him an imitator of Tarquin. For, indeed, his
dwelling-house on the Velia was somewhat imposing in appearance, hanging
over the forum, and overlooking all transactions there; the access
to it was hard, and to see him far off coming down, a stately and
royal spectacle. But Valerius showed how well it were for men in power
and great offices to have ears that give admittance to truth before
flattery; for upon his friends telling him that he displeased the
people, he contended not, neither resented it, but while it was still
night, sending for a number of work-people, pulled down his house
and levelled it with the ground; so that in the morning the people,
seeing and flocking together, expressed their wonder and their respect
for his magnanimity, and their sorrow, as though it had been a human
being, for the large and beautiful house which was thus lost to them
by an unfounded jealousy, while its owner, their consul, without a
roof of his own, had to beg a lodging with his friends. For his friends
received him, till a place the people gave him was furnished with
a house, though less stately than his own, where now stands the temple,
as it is called, of Vica Pota.
He resolved to render the government, as well as himself, instead
of terrible, familiar and pleasant to the people, and parted the axes
from the rods, and always, upon his entrance into the assembly, lowered
these also to the people, to show, in the strongest way, the republican
foundation of the government; and this the consuls observe to this
day. But the humility of the man was but a means, not, as they thought,
of lessening himself, but merely to abate their envy by this moderation;
for whatever he detracted from his authority he added to his real
power, the people still submitting with satisfaction, which they expressed
by calling him Poplicola, or people-lover, which name had the pre-eminence
of the rest, and, therefore, in the sequel of his narrative we shall
use no other.
He gave free leave to any to sue for the consulship; but before the
admittance of a colleague, mistrusting the chances, lest emulation
or ignorance should cross his designs, by his sole authority enacted
his best and most important measures. First, he supplied the vacancies
of the senators, whom either Tarquin long before had put to death,
or the war lately cut off; those that he enrolled, they write, amounted
to a hundred and sixty-four; afterwards he made several laws which
added much to the people's liberty, in particular one granting offenders
the liberty of appealing to the people from the judgment of the consuls;
a second, that made it death to usurp any magistracy without the people's
consent; a third, for the relief of poor citizens, which, taking off
their taxes, encouraged their labours; another, against disobedience
to the consuls, which was no less popular than the rest, and rather
to the benefit of the commonalty than to the advantage of the nobles,
for it imposed upon disobedience the penalty of ten oxen and two sheep;
the price of a sheep being ten obols, of an ox, an hundred. For the
use of money was then infrequent amongst the Romans, but their wealth
in cattle great; even now pieces of property are called peculia from
pecus, cattle; and they had stamped upon their most ancient money
an ox, a sheep, or a hog; and surnamed their sons Suillii, Bubulci,
Caprarii, and Porcii, from caproe, goats, and porci, hogs.
Amidst this mildness and moderation, for one excessive fault he instituted
one excessive punishment; for he made it lawful without trial to take
away any man's life that aspired to a tyranny, and acquitted the slayer,
if he produced evidence of the crime; for though it was not probable
for a man, whose designs were so great, to escape all notice; yet
because it was possible he might, although observed, by force anticipate
judgment, which the usurpation itself would then preclue, he gave
a licence to any to anticipate the usurper. He was honoured likewise