Book 3, The Patricians at Bay: Chapter 3, Rome and the Patricians, Part 3 Summary and Analysis

The decemvirs faced a crisis at the beginning of this section of the book. The collapsed state of politics within Rome was brought to a head by a threat from beyond the borders. They had to request a meeting with the Senate twice. The first time, all that became apparent was that there was hardly a Senator around Rome. Their appeal to the other politicians exposed a terrible gap. The Senators had fled to their country estates. The decemvirs sent for them. Then when they did arrive, they frequently openly protested and objected to the illegal nature of the decemvirs political position.

Ultimately, the real problem was that the decemvirs were not properly supported or prepared for holding the amount of...