Ab Urbe Condita 1.1

Liv. 1.1.1Iam prīmum omnium satis cōnstat Trōiā captā in cēterōs saevītum esse Trōiānōs;

First of all, it is generally agreed that when Troy was taken the Greeks raged against the rest of the Trojans;

Note. Chapter 1 begins the legends. satis cōnstat: 'it is generally agreed'. Trōiā captā: ablative absolute. saevītum esse: an impersonal passive, 'there was savagery', i.e. the Greeks raged. Everything from here to the end of the chapter is in indirect statement, depending on cōnstat.

Liv. 1.1.1duōbus, Aenēae Antēnorīque, et vetustī iūre hospitiī et quia pācis reddendaeque Helenae semper auctōrēs fuērunt, omne iūs bellī Achīvōs abstinuisse;

but that from two men, Aeneas and Antenor, the Achaeans held back every right of war, both because of an old bond of hospitality and because they had always urged peace and the return of Helen;

Note. Aenēae Antēnorīque: dative of disadvantage with abstinuisse, 'held back from Aeneas and Antenor'. In some versions of the story Antenor and Aeneas had argued for returning Helen to Menelaus. Achīvōs: the Greeks (Homer's Achaeans).

Liv. 1.1.2cāsibus deinde variīs Antēnorem cum multitūdine Enetum, quī sēditiōne ex Paphlagoniā pulsī et sēdēs et ducem rēge Pylaemene ad Troiam āmissō quaerēbant, vēnisse in intimum maris Hadriāticī sinum, Euganeīsque, quī inter mare Alpēsque incolēbant, pulsīs Enetōs Trōiānōsque eās tenuisse terrās.

then, after various adventures, Antenor came into the innermost bay of the Adriatic Sea with a band of Eneti, who had been driven out of Paphlagonia by a rebellion and were looking for a home and a leader, their king Pylaemenes having been lost at Troy; and when the Euganei, who lived between the sea and the Alps, had been driven out, the Eneti and the Trojans held those lands.

Note. A long period still in indirect statement. Antēnorem … vēnisse: Antenor led the Eneti from Paphlagonia (on the Black Sea) to the head of the Adriatic. rēge Pylaemene … āmissō: ablative absolute. Euganeīs … pulsīs: another. The Veneti of north-east Italy (around Padua, Livy's own home town) claimed this Trojan descent.

Liv. 1.1.3Et in quem prīmum ēgressī sunt locum, Troia vocātur.

And the place where they first landed is called Troy.

Note. in quem prīmum ēgressī sunt locum: the antecedent locum is drawn into the relative clause, a common Latin pattern: 'the place where they first landed'.

Liv. 1.1.3Pāgōque inde Trōiānō nōmen est;

Hence the district too has the name Trojan;

Note. Pāgō … Trōiānō nōmen est: dative of possession, 'the district has the name Trojan'.

Liv. 1.1.3gēns ūniversa Venetī appellātī.

the whole people were called Veneti.

Note. Venetī: the people of north-eastern Italy, later Venice's region — not Caesar's Veneti of Brittany. Livy thinks Eneti became Veneti.

Liv. 1.1.4Aenēam ab similī clāde domō profugum, sed ad maiōra rērum initia dūcentibus fātīs prīmō in Macedoniam vēnisse, inde in Siciliam quaerentem sēdēs dēlātum, ab Siciliā classe ad Laurentem agrum tenuisse.

Aeneas, a refugee from home after the same disaster but led by the fates to greater beginnings, came first to Macedonia, then, carried to Sicily in search of a home, reached the territory of Laurentum from Sicily with his fleet.

Note. Aenēam … vēnisse … tenuisse: indirect statement continues. ad maiōra rērum initia dūcentibus fātīs: ablative absolute with a present participle, 'the fates leading him to greater beginnings' — Rome. Laurentem agrum: the land of Laurentum, on the coast of Latium south of the Tiber.

Liv. 1.1.4Troia et huic locō nōmen est.

This place too has the name Troy.

Note. Again dative of possession: 'this place too has the name Troy'.

Liv. 1.1.5Ibi ēgressī Trōiānī, ut quibus ab inmēnsō prope errōre nihil praeter arma et nāvēs superesset, cum praedam ex agrīs agerent, Latīnus rēx Aborīginēsque, quī tum ea tenēbant loca, ad arcendam vim advenārum armātī ex urbe atque agrīs concurrunt.

When the Trojans landed there, having nothing left after their almost endless wandering but their weapons and ships, and were driving off plunder from the fields, King Latinus and the Aborigines, who then held those parts, ran together under arms from the city and the fields to keep off the violence of the newcomers.

Note. ut quibus … nihil … superesset: 'as men for whom nothing was left' (ut quī + subjunctive, giving a reason). Latīnus rēx Aborīginēsque: Latinus, king of the Aborigines, the earliest inhabitants of Latium in Roman tradition. ad arcendam vim: gerundive of purpose.

Liv. 1.1.6Duplex inde fāma est: aliī proeliō victum Latīnum pācem cum Aenēā, deinde affīnitātem iūnxisse trādunt;

From here the tradition is twofold: some say that Latinus was beaten in battle and made peace with Aeneas and then an alliance by marriage;

Note. Duplex inde fama est: Livy gives two versions, as Roman historians often did with legends. alii … trādunt: the first version is short; the second runs on through the next sentences.

Liv. 1.1.7aliī, cum īnstrūctae aciēs cōnstitissent, priusquam signa canerent, prōcessisse Latīnum inter prīmōrēs ducemque advenārum ēvocāsse ad conloquium;

others, that when the battle lines had been drawn up, before the signals sounded, Latinus came forward among the leading men and called the leader of the newcomers out to a parley;

Note. cum … cōnstitissent, priusquam signa canerent: 'when the battle lines had taken their places, before the signals sounded'. ēvocāsse = ēvocāvisse, a contracted perfect infinitive.

Liv. 1.1.7percunctātum deinde, quī mortālēs essent, unde aut quō cāsū profectī domō quidve quaerentēs in agrum Laurentem exīssent, postquam audierit multitūdinem Trōiānōs esse, ducem Aenēam, fīlium Anchīsae et Veneris, cremātā patriā domō profugōs sēdem condendaeque urbī locum quaerere, et nōbilitātem admīrātum gentis virīque et animum vel bellō vel pācī parātum dextrā datā fidem futūrae amīcitiae sānxisse.

that he then asked who they were, where they came from, by what chance they had left home and what they were looking for when they came into the land of Laurentum; and when he heard that the band were Trojans, their leader Aeneas, son of Anchises and Venus, and that, their homeland burnt, they were refugees looking for a home and a place to found a city, he admired the nobility of the race and of the man, and his spirit ready for war or for peace, and by giving his right hand sealed a pledge of future friendship.

Note. A long sentence in indirect statement with several indirect questions (quī mortālēs essent, unde … exīssent). postquam audierit: the subjunctive because the clause is inside indirect speech. multitūdinem Trōiānōs esse: 'that the crowd were Trojans'. Anchīsae et Veneris: Aeneas' parents, the mortal Anchises and the goddess Venus. dextrā datā: the handclasp sealed agreements.

Liv. 1.1.9Inde foedus ictum inter ducēs, inter exercitūs salūtātiōnem factam;

Then a treaty was struck between the leaders, and greetings were exchanged between the armies;

Note. foedus ictum: 'a treaty was struck' — īcere foedus, literally 'to strike', from the sacrifice of an animal that sealed it. esse is left out, as often in reported speech.

Liv. 1.1.9Aenēam apud Latīnum fuisse in hospitiō;

Aeneas was a guest in Latinus' house;

Note. in hospitiō: 'as a guest'.

Liv. 1.1.9ibi Latīnum apud penātēs deōs domesticum pūblicō adiūnxisse foedus fīliā Aenēae in mātrimōnium datā.

there, before his household gods, Latinus joined a family bond to the public one by giving his daughter to Aeneas in marriage.

Note. apud penātēs deōs: before the gods of the household, where family agreements were made. domesticum publicō … foedus: the private bond of marriage is added to the public treaty. fīliā … datā: ablative absolute. The daughter is Lavinia.

Liv. 1.1.10Ea rēs utique Trōiānīs spem adfirmat tandem stabilī certāque sēde fīniendī errōris.

That event above all confirms the Trojans in the hope of ending their wandering at last in a firm and settled home.

Note. spem … fīniendī errōris: 'hope of ending their wandering', a gerundive phrase. The verbs switch to the historical present here, and the narrative leaves indirect speech.

Liv. 1.1.11Oppidum condunt;

They found a town;

Note. condunt: historical present, very common in Livy's quick narrative.

Liv. 1.1.11Aenēās ab nōmine uxōris Lāvīnium appellat.

Aeneas names it Lavinium after his wife.

Note. Lāvīnium: the town is named after Lavinia. Its site, at modern Pratica di Mare, was an important Latin religious centre.

Liv. 1.1.11Brevī stirpis quoque virīlis ex novō mātrimōniō fuit, cui Ascanium parentēs dīxēre nōmen.

Soon there was also a male child from the new marriage, whom his parents called Ascanius.

Note. Brevī: 'soon' (brevī tempore). stirpis … virīlis … fuit: a genitive of characteristic, 'there was a male offspring'. cui … dīxēre nōmen: 'to whom they gave the name' (dīxēre = dīxērunt).