Ab Urbe Condita 1.13

Liv. 1.13.1Tum Sabīnae mulierēs, quārum ex iniūriā bellum ortum erat, crīnibus passīs scissāque veste victō malīs muliebrī pavōre ausae sē inter tēla volantia īnferre, ex trānsversō impetū factō dirimere īnfestās aciēs, dirimere īrās, hinc patrēs hinc virōs ōrantēs, nē sē sanguine nefandō socerī generīque respergerent, nē parricīdiō maculārent partūs suōs, nepōtum illī, hī līberum prōgeniem.

Then the Sabine women, from whose wrong the war had arisen, with their hair loosened and their clothes torn, their womanly fear overcome by their misfortunes, dared to throw themselves among the flying weapons, and rushing in from the side they parted the hostile battle lines and parted their anger, begging their fathers on one side and their husbands on the other not to spatter themselves with the unspeakable blood of a father-in-law or a son-in-law, not to stain with parricide the offspring they had borne, grandchildren to the one side, children to the other.

Note. A long Livian period built on historical infinitives: ausae (sunt) is the only finite idea; dirimere ... dirimere are historical infinitives standing for main verbs ('they parted'). crinibus passis, scissā veste, victō pavōre are ablatives absolute. The two nē clauses depend on orantes ('begging them not to…'). nepōtum illī, hī līberum: 'grandchildren to the one side (illī = the fathers), children to the other (hī = the husbands)'; līberum is the old genitive plural of līberī.

Liv. 1.13.3"Sī adfīnitātis inter vōs, sī cōnūbiī piget, in nōs vertite īrās;

"If you are sorry for the kinship between you, if for the marriages, turn your anger against us;

Note. piget is impersonal: the person who feels annoyance would be in the accusative, the cause in the genitive (adfinitatis, conubii). The women's speech begins here. Livy spells adfinitas (= affinitas) with the unassimilated prefix.

Liv. 1.13.3nōs causa bellī, nōs vulnerum ac caedium virīs ac parentibus sumus;

we are the cause of the war, we of the wounds and slaughter to our husbands and our fathers;

Note. Supply sumus with the first nos causa belli. caedium is the genitive plural of caedes; viris ac parentibus are datives: 'wounds and slaughter for our husbands and fathers'.

Liv. 1.13.3melius perībimus quam sine alterīs vestrum viduae aut orbae vīvēmus."

we will die more gladly than live without one side or the other of you, widows or orphans."

Note. melius ... quam: 'better than'. alteris vestrum: 'one or the other of you' (partitive genitive vestrum). viduae aut orbae: widows if the husbands die, orphans if the fathers do.

Liv. 1.13.4Movet rēs cum multitūdinem tum ducēs;

The scene moves both the crowd and the leaders;

Note. cum ... tum: 'both … and especially'. Livy now switches to the historic present (movet, fit, prodeunt).

Liv. 1.13.5silentium et repentīna fit quiēs;

silence and a sudden calm follow;

Liv. 1.13.5inde ad foedus faciendum ducēs prōdeunt;

then the leaders come forward to make a treaty;

Note. ad + gerundive of purpose: ad foedus faciendum, 'to make a treaty'.

Liv. 1.13.5nec pācem modo, sed cīvitātem ūnam ex duābus faciunt.

and they make not only peace but one state out of two.

Liv. 1.13.5Regnum cōnsociant;

They share the kingship;

Liv. 1.13.5imperium omne cōnferunt Rōmam.

they bring all the power together to Rome.

Note. conferunt Romam: Rome is the accusative of place to which, without a preposition, as with names of towns.

Liv. 1.13.5Ita geminātā urbe, ut Sabīnīs tamen aliquid darētur, Quirītēs ā Curibus appellātī.

So the city was doubled, and so that something might still be given to the Sabines, the citizens were called Quirites, from Cures.

Note. Ita geminata urbe: ablative absolute. Quirites: Livy derives the name of the Roman citizens from Cures, the Sabine capital; the real origin of the word is uncertain.

Liv. 1.13.5Monumentum eius pugnae, ubi prīmum ex profundā ēmersus palūde equus Curtium in vadō statuit, Curtium lacum appellārunt.

As a memorial of that battle, where the horse, first emerging from the deep marsh, set Curtius down in shallow water, they called the pool the Curtian lake.

Note. The story (told in ch. 12) of the Sabine champion Mettius Curtius, whose horse bolted into a marsh. The lacus Curtius was a spot in the Roman Forum; Livy gives other explanations of its name in Book VII.

Liv. 1.13.6Ex bellō tam trīstī laeta repente pāx cāriōrēs Sabīnās virīs ac parentibus et ante omnēs Rōmulō ipsī fēcit.

Out of so grim a war a happy peace, coming suddenly, made the Sabine women dearer to their husbands and fathers, and above all to Romulus himself.

Note. cariores is predicative: 'made the Sabine women dearer'. ante omnes: 'above all'.

Liv. 1.13.7Itaque, cum populum in cūriās trīgintā dīvideret, nōmina eārum cūriīs inposuit.

So, when he divided the people into thirty curiae, he gave their names to the curiae.

Note. The curiae were the thirty oldest divisions of the Roman people, used for voting in the comitia curiata.

Liv. 1.13.7Id nōn trāditur, cum haud dubiē aliquantō numerus maior hōc mulierum fuerit, aetāte an dignitātibus suīs virōrumve an sorte lēctae sint, quae nōmina cūriīs darent.

It is not recorded, since the number of the women was without doubt considerably greater than this, whether those who were to give names to the curiae were chosen by age, by their own rank or their husbands', or by lot.

Note. Id non traditur introduces three indirect questions linked by an … an: 'whether by age, … or by lot'. numerus maior hoc: hoc is an ablative of comparison, 'greater than this (thirty)'. quae nomina darent: relative clause of purpose, 'who were to give names'.

Liv. 1.13.8Eōdem tempore et centuriae trēs equitum cōnscrīptae sunt: Ramnēnsēs ab Rōmulō, ab T. Tatiō Titiēnsēs appellātī;

At the same time three centuries of cavalry were also enrolled: the Ramnenses named after Romulus, the Titienses after Titus Tatius;

Note. The three old cavalry centuries (and tribes): Ramnenses (from Romulus), Titienses (from Titus Tatius) and Luceres. T. = Titus.

Liv. 1.13.8Lucerum nōminis et orīginis causa incerta est.

the reason for the name and origin of the Luceres is uncertain.

Liv. 1.13.8Inde nōn modo commūne sed concors etiam regnum duōbus rēgibus fuit.

From then on the kingship was held by the two kings not only jointly but also in harmony.