Act 1, Scene 10

The camp of the Volsces.

[A flourish. Cornets. Enter TULLUS AUFIDIUS, bloody, with two or three soldiers.]
Tullus Aufidius
779 The town is ta'en.
First Soldier
780 'Twill be delivered back on good condition.
Tullus Aufidius
781 Condition!
782 I would I were a Roman; for I cannot,
783 Being a Volsce, be that I am.—Condition?
784 What good condition can a treaty find
785 I' the part that is at mercy?—Five times, Marcius,
786 I have fought with thee; so often hast thou beat me;
787 And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter
788 As often as we eat.—By the elements,
789 If e'er again I meet him beard to beard,
790 He's mine or I am his: mine emulation
791 Hath not that honour in't it had; for where
792 I thought to crush him in an equal force,—
793 True sword to sword,—I'll potch at him some way,
794 Or wrath or craft may get him.
First Soldier
795 He's the devil.
Tullus Aufidius
796 Bolder, though not so subtle. My valour's poisoned
797 With only suffering stain by him; for him
798 Shall fly out of itself: nor sleep nor sanctuary,
799 Being naked, sick; nor fane nor Capitol,
800 The prayers of priests nor times of sacrifice,
801 Embarquements all of fury, shall lift up
802 Their rotten privilege and custom 'gainst
803 My hate to Marcius: where I find him, were it
804 At home, upon my brother's guard, even there,
805 Against the hospitable canon, would I
806 Wash my fierce hand in's heart. Go you to the city;
807 Learn how 'tis held; and what they are that must
808 Be hostages for Rome.
First Soldier
809 Will not you go?
Tullus Aufidius
810 I am attended at the cypress grove: I pray you,—
811 'Tis south the city mills,—bring me word thither
812 How the world goes, that to the pace of it
813 I may spur on my journey.
First Soldier
814 I shall, sir.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 790archaic vocab
“mine emulation / Hath not that honour in't it had”
'Emulation' in Elizabethan usage means jealous, competitive rivalry — not the modern sense of imitation or admiration. Aufidius says his competitive drive to beat Marcius has lost its honorable quality; it used to be fair soldier-to-soldier rivalry, but now it has curdled into something darker.
TLN 793archaic vocab
“I'll potch at him some way, / Or wrath or craft may get him”
'Potch' means to jab or thrust, as with a weapon — here Aufidius says he will attack Marcius by any dirty means, either in a rage ('wrath') or by trickery ('craft'), since honorable equal combat has never worked. The word foreshadows the ambush and political murder that actually ends the play.
TLN 798historical topical
“nor sleep nor sanctuary, / Being naked, sick; nor fane nor Capitol”
Aufidius swears that no Roman protection will shield Marcius: not 'sanctuary' (the custom that a temple or altar made a fugitive inviolable), not a 'fane' (an archaic word for a temple or shrine), not even the Capitol, Rome's most sacred citadel. He is renouncing every ancient convention that put holy spaces and the helpless beyond a warrior's reach.
historical The Volscians, Corioli, and Antium
TLN 804cultural context
“upon my brother's guard, even there, / Against the hospitable canon, would I / Wash my fierce hand in's heart”
The 'hospitable canon' is the ancient law of hospitality: a host is obliged to protect any guest under his roof, and killing a guest-friend is a grave religious and social transgression. Aufidius says that even if Marcius were a guest in his own house, sheltered by his brother's personal guarantee, he would still murder him — deliberately breaking the most sacred bond of peaceful society.
classical Plutarch's Lives (North's Translation)