Ab Urbe Condita 1.26

Liv. 1.26.1Priusquam inde dīgrederentur, rogantī Mettiō, ex foedere ictō quid imperāret, imperat Tullus, utī iuventūtem in armīs habeat;

Before they parted, when Mettius asked what his orders were under the treaty that had been struck, Tullus ordered him to keep his young men under arms;

Note. Mettius Fufetius was the Alban dictator; Tullus Hostilius was the third king of Rome. utī iuventūtem in armīs habeat: indirect command after imperat.

Liv. 1.26.1ūsūrum sē eōrum operā, sī bellum cum Vēientibus foret.

he would use their services if there was a war with Veii.

Note. ūsūrum sē: indirect statement continuing Tullus' orders, 'that he would use…'. ūtor takes the ablative (operā). Veii was Rome's great Etruscan rival, about 15 km to the north.

Liv. 1.26.1Ita exercitūs inde domōs abductī.

Then both armies were led away home.

Liv. 1.26.2Prīnceps Horātius ībat trigemina spolia prae sē gerēns;

Horatius was walking at the head, carrying the triple spoils before him;

Note. Prīnceps: here an adjective, 'first, at the head'. The Capene Gate (34) was in the south of the city, on the road from Alba.

Liv. 1.26.2cui soror virgō, quae dēspōnsa ūnī ex Curiātiīs fuerat, obvia ante portam Capēnam fuit;

his sister, an unmarried girl who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him in front of the Capene Gate;

Note. obvia … fuit: 'came to meet', obvius + dative (cui). dēspōnsa: 'betrothed'.

Liv. 1.26.2cognitōque super umerōs frātris palūdāmentō spōnsī, quod ipsa cōnfēcerat, solvit crīnēs et flēbiliter nōmine spōnsum mortuum appellat.

and when she recognised on her brother's shoulders her betrothed's cloak, which she had made herself, she let down her hair and, weeping, called on her dead betrothed by name.

Note. palūdāmentum: a general's or soldier's cloak; she had woven it for her betrothed. Letting down her hair (solvit crīnēs) was a sign of mourning.

Liv. 1.26.3Movet ferōcī iuvenī animum conplōrātiō sorōris in victōriā suā tantōque gaudiō pūblicō.

His sister's lamentation, in the middle of his own victory and such great public rejoicing, stirs the anger of the fierce young man.

Liv. 1.26.3Strictō itaque gladiō simul verbīs increpāns trānsfīgit puellam.

So he drew his sword and, rebuking her as he struck, ran the girl through.

Note. simul verbīs increpāns: 'rebuking her at the same time with words'. The speech follows in 38–39.

Liv. 1.26.4"Abī hinc cum inmātūrō amōre ad spōnsum" inquit, "oblīta frātrum mortuōrum vīvīque, oblīta patriae.

"Go from here to your betrothed with your ill-timed love," he said, "you who have forgotten your dead brothers and your living one, and forgotten your country.

Note. oblīta + genitive: 'forgetful of'. The perfect participle of the deponent oblīvīscor has active meaning.

Liv. 1.26.5Sīc eat, quaecumque Rōmāna lūgēbit hostem."

So perish any Roman woman who mourns an enemy."

Note. Sīc eat: jussive subjunctive, 'so let her go'. This became a proverbial curse on traitors.

Liv. 1.26.5Atrōx vīsum id facinus patribus plēbīque, sed recēns meritum factō obstābat.

The deed seemed shocking to the senators and the people, but his recent service weighed against it.

Note. Atrōx vīsum: supply est. patribus plēbīque: the senators and the common people, the two orders of the Roman state.

Liv. 1.26.5Tamen raptus in iūs ad rēgem.

Nevertheless he was hauled before the king for judgement.

Note. raptus in iūs: 'dragged to court'; in iūs vocāre is the legal phrase for summoning someone to trial.

Liv. 1.26.5Rēx, nē ipse tamen trīstis ingrātīque ad vulgus iūdiciī ac secundum iūdicium suppliciī auctor esset, conciliō populī advocātō "duumvirōs" inquit, "quī Horātiō perduelliōnem iūdicent, secundum lēgem faciō."

The king, so as not to be himself responsible for a harsh judgement that the people would resent, and for the punishment that would follow it, called an assembly of the people and said: "In accordance with the law I appoint two judges to try Horatius for treason."

Note. duumvirōs … faciō: 'I appoint two judges', faciō in the sense 'appoint, create'. perduelliō was high treason, an act of hostility against the state; killing a citizen without trial counted as such.

Liv. 1.26.6Lēx horrendī carminis erat: duumvirī perduelliōnem iūdicent;

The law was of dreadful wording: let the two judges pass sentence for treason;

Note. Here Livy quotes the archaic law, whose wording he calls horrendī carminis ('of a dreadful formula'). It is written in the style of old Roman law: short clauses, subjunctive and future imperative verbs, and subjects left unstated. iūdicent is jussive: 'let the duumvirs pass sentence'.

Liv. 1.26.6sī ā duumvirīs prōvocārit, prōvocātiōne certātō;

if he appeals from the two judges, let the case be fought out on appeal;

Note. prōvocārit = prōvocāverit, future perfect: 'if he shall have appealed'. certātō is a future imperative, 'let it be contested', used impersonally. prōvocātiō was the citizen's right to appeal to the people against a magistrate.

Liv. 1.26.6sī vincent, caput obnūbitō;

if they win, let his head be covered;

Note. sī vincent: 'if they (the duumvirs) win'. obnūbitō is a third-person future imperative, the legal style: 'let (the lictor) cover his head'.

Liv. 1.26.6īnfēlīcī arborī reste suspenditō;

let him be hung by a rope from a barren tree;

Note. arbor īnfēlīx: a 'barren' tree, i.e. one that bore no fruit and was sacred to the gods below; criminals were hanged or flogged on such trees.

Liv. 1.26.6verberātō vel intrā pōmērium vel extrā pōmērium.

let him be flogged either inside the city boundary or outside it.

Note. pōmērium: the sacred boundary of Rome. The law covers both cases, inside or outside it, so the culprit has no escape.

Liv. 1.26.7Hāc lēge duumvirī creātī.

Under this law the two judges were appointed.

Liv. 1.26.7Quī sē absolvere nōn rēbantur eā lēge nē innoxium quidem posse, cum condemnāssent, tum alter ex iīs "P. Horātī, tibi perduelliōnem iūdicō" inquit;

They believed that under this law they could not acquit even an innocent man, and when they had condemned him, one of them said: "Publius Horatius, I sentence you for treason;

Note. nē innoxium quidem: 'not even an innocent man'. The judges thought the wording of the law left them no choice. P. = Pūblius.

Liv. 1.26.8"ī, lictor, conligā manūs."

go, lictor, bind his hands."

Note. ī, conligā: present imperatives. The lictor attended magistrates and carried out sentences.

Liv. 1.26.8Accesserat lictor iniciēbatque laqueum.

The lictor had come up and was putting the noose on him.

Liv. 1.26.8Tum Horātius auctōre Tullō, clēmente lēgis interprete, "prōvocō" inquit.

Then Horatius, at the prompting of Tullus, a merciful interpreter of the law, said: "I appeal."

Note. auctōre Tullō: ablative absolute, 'with Tullus as adviser'. Tullus, who did not want to condemn the hero himself, steers him towards the appeal.

Liv. 1.26.9Ita prōvocātiōne certātum ad populum est.

So the case was fought out on appeal before the people.

Liv. 1.26.9Mōtī hominēs sunt in eō iūdiciō maximē P. Horātiō patre prōclāmante sē fīliam iūre caesam iūdicāre;

The people at that trial were moved above all by the father, Publius Horatius, who declared that in his judgement his daughter had been rightly killed;

Note. The father's plea is in indirect statement: sē … iūdicāre ('that he judged…'). A Roman father had the legal right of life and death over his children (patria potestās).

Liv. 1.26.9nī ita esset, patriō iūre in fīlium animadversūrum fuisse.

if it had not been so, he would have punished his son himself by a father's right.

Note. nī ita esset: 'if it were not so'. animadversūrum fuisse: the apodosis of an unreal condition in indirect speech, 'that he would have punished'.

Liv. 1.26.9Ōrābat deinde, nē sē, quem paulō ante cum ēgregiā stirpe cōnspexissent, orbum līberīs facerent.

Then he begged them not to leave him childless, when they had seen him only a little before with fine offspring.

Note. nē … facerent: indirect command after ōrābat. orbus + ablative: 'bereft of'.

Liv. 1.26.10Inter haec senex iuvenem amplexus, spolia Curiātiōrum fīxa eō locō, quī nunc pila Horātia appellātur, ostentāns "huncine" aiēbat, "quem modo decorātum ovantemque victōriā incēdentem vīdistis, Quirītēs, eum sub furcā vīnctum inter verbera et cruciātūs vidēre potestis?

Meanwhile the old man embraced the young one and, pointing to the spoils of the Curiatii fixed in the place that is now called the Horatian Pillar, said: "This man, whom you saw just now walking decorated and triumphant in his victory, citizens, can you watch him bound under the fork, among lashes and tortures?

Note. huncine: hunc + the question particle -ne, with a linking -ci-: 'this man?'. The pila Horātia was a pillar in the Forum where the spoils were hung. Quirītēs, 'citizens', is the formal address to the Roman people.

Liv. 1.26.10Quod vix Albānōrum oculī tam dēfōrme spectāculum ferre possent.

Even the eyes of the Albans could hardly bear so ugly a sight.

Note. quod here is 'a sight which', loosely connected: even the defeated Albans could hardly have borne it.

Liv. 1.26.11Ī, lictor, conligā manūs, quae paulō ante armātae imperium populō Rōmānō peperērunt.

Go, lictor, bind the hands that only a little while ago, armed, won an empire for the Roman people.

Note. The father ironically repeats the words of the law (50 and 43–47) as commands to the lictor, setting them against his son's service.

Liv. 1.26.11Ī, caput obnūbe līberātōris urbis huius;

Go, cover the head of the liberator of this city;

Liv. 1.26.11arbore īnfēlīcī suspende;

hang him from a barren tree;

Liv. 1.26.11verberā vel intrā pōmērium, modo inter illa pīla et spolia hostium, vel extrā pōmērium, modo inter sepulcra Curiātiōrum.

flog him, either inside the boundary, among those spears and the spoils of the enemy, or outside the boundary, among the tombs of the Curiatii.

Liv. 1.26.11Quō enim dūcere hunc iuvenem potestis, ubi nōn sua decora eum ā tantā foeditāte suppliciī vindicent?"

For where can you take this young man where his own glories will not rescue him from the shame of such a punishment?"

Note. Quō … ubi nōn …: 'Where can you take him where his glories will not save him…?' The relative clause is subjunctive (vindicent) because it is a clause of characteristic.

Liv. 1.26.12Nōn tulit populus nec patris lacrimās nec ipsīus parem in omnī perīculō animum, absolvēruntque admīrātiōne magis virtūtis quam iūre causae.

The people could not bear the father's tears nor the son's own courage, the same in every danger, and they acquitted him more out of admiration for his courage than because of the justice of his case.

Note. admīrātiōne magis virtūtis quam iūre causae: the acquittal came from admiration of his courage rather than the justice of his case. absolvērunt is plural because populus is felt as many people.

Liv. 1.26.12Itaque, ut caedēs manifesta aliquō tamen piāculō luerētur, imperātum patrī, ut fīlium expiāret pecūniā pūblicā.

So, in order that the plain bloodshed should still be atoned for by some expiation, the father was ordered to purify his son at public expense.

Note. ut caedēs … luerētur: purpose clause. imperātum (est) patrī ut …: 'the father was ordered to…', impersonal passive with an indirect command.

Liv. 1.26.13Is quibusdam piāculāribus sacrificiīs factīs, quae deinde gentī Horātiae trādita sunt, trānsmissō per viam tigillō capite adopertō velut sub iugum mīsit iuvenem.

After offering certain atoning sacrifices, which from then on were handed down to the Horatian family, he set a beam across the street and sent the young man under it with his head covered, as if under a yoke.

Note. The tigillum sorōrium ('Sister's Beam') was a beam across a street in Rome under which Horatius passed, as if under a yoke, to be purified. It was still maintained in Livy's time.

Liv. 1.26.13Id hodiē quoque pūblicē semper refectum manet;

It is still there today, always repaired at public expense;

Liv. 1.26.13sorōrium tigillum vocant.

they call it the Sister's Beam.

Liv. 1.26.14Horātiae sepulcrum, quō locō corruerat icta, cōnstrūctum est saxō quadrātō.

Horatia's tomb was built of squared stone on the spot where she fell when she was struck.

Note. saxō quadrātō: 'of squared stone', ashlar masonry. Livy ends the episode with another monument visible in his day.