Ab Urbe Condita 1.10

Liv. 1.10.1Iam admodum mītigātī animī raptis erant;

Now the feelings of the captured women were well softened;

Liv. 1.10.1at raptarum parentēs tum maximē sordidā veste lacrimīsque et querellīs cīvitātēs concitābant.

but their parents, just then above all, in mourning clothes and with tears and complaints, were stirring up the states.

Note. sordidā veste: Romans in mourning or pleading a cause wore dark, unwashed clothes.

Liv. 1.10.1Nec domī tantum indignātiōnēs continēbant, sed congregābantur undique ad T. Tatium, rēgem Sabīnōrum, et lēgātiōnēs eō, quod maximum Tatiī nōmen in iīs regiōnibus erat, conveniēbant.

Nor did they keep their indignation at home, but from all sides they gathered to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, and embassies came there, because the name of Tatius was the greatest in those regions.

Note. eō: adverb, 'there'. maximum Tatiī nōmen: Titus Tatius later became co-ruler with Romulus.

Liv. 1.10.2Caenīnēnsēs Crustumīnīque et Antemnātēs erant, ad quōs eius iniūriae pars pertinēbat.

The Caeninenses, the Crustumini and the Antemnates were the ones whom part of that wrong concerned.

Liv. 1.10.2Lentē agere hīs Tatius Sabīnīque vīsī sunt;

Tatius and the Sabines seemed to these to be acting slowly;

Note. Lentē agere hīs … vīsī sunt: 'seemed to these (peoples) to be acting slowly'; videor with the dative of the person to whom.

Liv. 1.10.2ipsī inter sē trēs populī commūniter bellum parant.

the three peoples themselves prepared war together.

Liv. 1.10.3Nē Crustumīnī quidem atque Antemnātēs prō ardōre īrāque Caenīnēnsium satis sē inpigrē movent;

Not even the Crustumini and the Antemnates moved briskly enough for the fiery anger of the Caeninenses;

Note. Nē … quidem: 'not even'. prō ārdōre: 'in comparison with the fiery anger'.

Liv. 1.10.3ita per sē ipsum nōmen Caenīnum in agrum Rōmānum impetum facit.

so the Caeninensian nation attacked Roman territory by itself.

Note. nōmen Caenīnum: 'the Caeninensian name', i.e. the people of Caenina.

Liv. 1.10.4Sed effūsē vāstantibus fit obvius cum exercitū Rōmulus levīque certāmine docet vānam sine vīribus īram esse.

But Romulus met them with his army as they were plundering far and wide, and in a light skirmish showed them that anger without strength is useless.

Note. effūsē vāstantibus: dative with obvius, 'met them as they plundered far and wide'.

Liv. 1.10.4Exercitum fundit fugatque, fūsum persequitur;

He routed and put their army to flight and pursued it as it fled;

Note. fundit fugatque: a common pair, 'routs and puts to flight'; Livy narrates the fight in quick historic presents.

Liv. 1.10.4rēgem in proeliō obtruncat et spoliat;

he killed their king in battle and stripped him;

Liv. 1.10.4duce hostium occīsō urbem prīmō impetū capit.

with the enemy leader killed, he took the town at the first assault.

Liv. 1.10.5Inde exercitū victōre reductō ipse, cum factīs vir magnificus tum factōrum ostentātor haud minor, spolia ducis hostium caesī suspēnsa fabricātō ad id aptē ferculō gerēns in Capitōlium ēscendit ibique ea cum ad quercum pāstōribus sacram dēposuisset, simul cum dōnō dēsignāvit templō Iovis fīnīs cognōmenque addidit deō.

Then, having led his victorious army back, he himself, a man as magnificent in his deeds as he was fond of displaying them, carried the spoils of the slain enemy leader, hung on a frame made for the purpose, up to the Capitol; and when he had laid them down there by an oak sacred to the shepherds, at the same time as the offering he marked out the boundaries of a temple to Jupiter and gave the god an extra name.

Note. cum … tum: 'both … and also'. ferculō: a frame for carrying spoils in procession. Iovis fīnīs: accusative plural in -īs, 'the boundaries of a temple to Jupiter'.

Liv. 1.10.6"Iuppiter Feretrī" inquit, "haec tibi victor Rōmulus rēx rēgia arma ferō templumque hīs regiōnibus, quās modo animō mētātus sum, dēdicō, sēdem opīmīs spoliīs, quae rēgibus ducibusque hostium caesīs mē auctōrem sequentēs posterī ferent."

"Jupiter Feretrius," he said, "I, Romulus, a victorious king, bring you these royal arms, and in this area, which I have just marked out in my mind, I dedicate a temple, a home for the spolia opima which those after me, following my example, will bring when they have killed kings and generals of the enemy."

Note. Iuppiter Feretrī: vocative; the title was connected with ferō, 'bring' (spoils) or feriō, 'strike'. spolia opīma were the arms taken from an enemy commander killed in single combat by the Roman commander himself.

Liv. 1.10.7Haec templī est orīgō, quod prīmum omnium Rōmae sacrātum est.

This is the origin of the temple, the first of all consecrated at Rome.

Note. Rōmae: locative, 'at Rome'. The small temple of Jupiter Feretrius stood on the Capitol.

Liv. 1.10.7Ita deinde diīs vīsum, nec inritam conditōris templī vōcem esse, quā lātūrōs eō spolia posterōs nūncupāvit, nec multitūdine conpotum eius dōnī vulgārī laudem.

So afterwards it pleased the gods that the word of the temple's founder, by which he declared that later men would bring spoils there, should not be in vain, and that the glory of that gift should not be cheapened by a crowd of sharers.

Note. laturōs (esse) … posterōs: accusative and infinitive after nūncupāvit. compotum: genitive plural of compos, 'of those sharing in that gift'.

Liv. 1.10.7Bīna posteā inter tot annōs, tot bella opīma parta sunt spolia;

Only twice since then, in so many years and so many wars, have the spolia opima been won;

Note. Bīna: distributive numeral used for 'two (sets)'. The two later winners were A. Cornelius Cossus (437 BC) and M. Claudius Marcellus (222 BC).

Liv. 1.10.7adeō rāra eius fortūna decoris fuit.

so rare has been the good fortune of that honour.