"
"I will give you thirty days to consider the matter," said Coriolanus.
Then he told them what laws he would require them to obey. These laws
were so severe that all said, "It will be better to die at once."
At the end of the thirty days, four of the city's rulers went out to
beg him to show mercy to the people of Rome. These rulers were old
men, with wise faces and long white beards. They went out bareheaded
and very humble.
Coriolanus would not listen to them. He drove them back with threats,
and told them that they should expect no mercy from him; but he agreed
to give them three more days to consider the matter.
The next day, all the priests and learned men went out to beg for
mercy. These were dressed in their long flowing robes, and all knelt
humbly before him. But he drove them back with scornful words.
On the last day, the great army which Coriolanus had led from Antium
was drawn up in battle array. It was ready to march upon the city and
destroy it.
All Rome was in terror. There seemed to be no way to escape the anger
of this furious man.
Then the rulers, in their despair, said, "Let us go up to the house
where Coriolanus used to live when he was one of us.
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