Ab Urbe Condita 1.35

Liv. 1.35.1Regnāvit Ancus annōs quattuor et vīgintī, cuilibet superiōrum rēgum bellī pācisque et artibus et glōriā pār.

Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of the earlier kings in the arts and the glory of both war and peace.

Note. regnavit … annos quattuor et viginti: traditional dates 640–616 BC. cuilibet … par: 'equal to any you like'.

Liv. 1.35.1Iam fīliī prope pūberem aetātem erant.

By now his sons were close to manhood.

Liv. 1.35.1Eō magis Tarquinius īnstāre, ut quam prīmum comitia rēgī creandō fierent;

All the more did Tarquinius press for the assembly to elect a king to be held as soon as possible;

Note. Eo magis … instare: historic infinitive. comitia regi creando: dative of purpose with a gerundive, 'an assembly for electing a king'.

Liv. 1.35.2quibus indictīs sub tempus puerōs vēnātum ablēgāvit.

when it had been proclaimed, about the time of the voting he sent the boys away hunting.

Note. venatum: supine of venor expressing purpose after a verb of motion: 'he sent the boys off hunting'.

Liv. 1.35.2Isque prīmus et petīsse ambitiōsē regnum et ōrātiōnem dīcitur habuisse ad conciliandōs plēbis animōs conpositam: sē nōn rem novam petere, quippe quī nōn prīmus, quod quisquam indignārī mīrārīve posset, sed tertius Rōmae peregrīnus regnum adfectet;

He is said to have been the first to canvass for the kingship and to have made a speech composed to win over the people: he was asking for nothing new, since he was not the first foreigner, which might make anyone angry or surprised, but the third to aim at the kingship at Rome;

Note. The canvass is reported in indirect speech. quod quisquam indignari mirarive posset: relative clause, 'a thing which anyone might resent or wonder at'. Tarquinius counts himself third foreign king after Tatius and Numa. adfectet: present subjunctive in indirect speech (repraesentatio).

Liv. 1.35.3et Tatium nōn ex peregrīnō sōlum sed etiam ex hoste rēgem factum, et Numam ignārum urbis nōn petentem in regnum ultrō accītum: sē, ex quō suī potēns fuerit, Rōmam cum coniuge ac fortūnīs omnibus commigrāsse;

Tatius had been made king when not only a foreigner but even an enemy, and Numa, a stranger to the city and not seeking it, had been called to the throne unasked; he himself, from the time he had become his own master, had moved to Rome with his wife and all his fortune;

Note. ex quo sui potens fuerit: 'from the time he had been his own master', i.e. come of age.

Liv. 1.35.4maiōrem partem aetātis eius, quā cīvīlibus officiīs fungantur hominēs, Rōmae sē quam in vetere patriā vīxisse;

he had lived the greater part of that period of life in which men perform the duties of citizens at Rome rather than in his old country;

Note. maiorem partem aetatis eius, qua … fungantur homines: 'the greater part of that time of life in which men perform the duties of citizens'.

Liv. 1.35.5domī mīlitiaeque sub haud paenitendō magistrō, ipsō Ancō rēge, Rōmāna sē iūra, Rōmānōs rītūs didicisse;

at home and in war, under a teacher no one could find fault with, King Ancus himself, he had learned Roman laws and Roman rites;

Note. haud paenitendo magistro: litotes, 'a teacher by no means to be regretted', i.e. an excellent one. paenitendo is a gerundive.

Liv. 1.35.5obsequiō et observantiā in rēgem cum omnibus, benignitāte ergā aliōs cum rēge ipsō certāsse.

he had vied with everyone in obedience and respect towards the king, and with the king himself in kindness towards others.

Liv. 1.35.6Haec eum haud falsa memorantem ingentī cōnsēnsū populus Rōmānus regnāre iussit.

As he recounted these things, which were not untrue, the Roman people with great agreement ordered him to reign.

Note. haud falsa: litotes again. ingenti consensu: ablative of manner.

Liv. 1.35.6Ergō virum cētera ēgregium secūta, quam in petendō habuerat, etiam regnantem ambitiō est;

So the ambition which he had shown in seeking the throne followed the man, otherwise outstanding, even when he reigned;

Note. ambitio: 'canvassing', the trait that won him the throne stays with him as king.

Liv. 1.35.6nec minus regnī suī firmandī quam augendae reī pūblicae memor centum in patrēs lēgit, quī deinde minōrum gentium sunt appellātī, factiō haud dubia rēgis, cuius beneficiō in cūriam vēnerant.

and mindful no less of strengthening his own rule than of increasing the state, he enrolled a hundred men among the senators, who were afterwards called those of the lesser families, a party firmly on the side of the king by whose favour they had entered the senate house.

Note. regni sui firmandi … augendae rei publicae: genitive gerundives with memor. minorum gentium: the 'lesser families', patricians of later creation, who voted after the older ones.

Liv. 1.35.6Bellum prīmum cum Latīnīs gessit et oppidum ibi Apiolās vī cēpit praedāque inde maiōre, quam quanta bellī fāma fuerat, revectā lūdōs opulentius īnstrūctiusque quam priōrēs rēgēs fēcit.

His first war he waged with the Latins, and there he took the town of Apiolae by storm; bringing back from there booty greater than the fame of the war had promised, he put on games more lavishly and splendidly than the earlier kings.

Note. quam quanta belli fama fuerat: 'than the war's reputation had led one to expect'. The first Roman games (ludi Romani) are attributed to Tarquinius.

Liv. 1.35.8Tum prīmum circō, quī nunc maximus dīcitur, dēsignātus locus est.

Then for the first time a place was marked out for the circus that is now called the Greatest.

Note. circo, qui nunc maximus dicitur: the Circus Maximus, in the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine.

Liv. 1.35.8Loca dīvīsa patribus equitibusque, ubi spectācula sibi quisque facerent;

Places were divided among the senators and knights where each might build his own seats;

Liv. 1.35.9forī appellātī.

they were called fori.

Note. fori: rows or tiers of seats, from forus.

Liv. 1.35.9Spectāvēre furcīs duodēnōs ab terrā spectācula alta sustinentibus pedēs.

They watched from stands raised twelve feet above the ground on forked props.

Note. furcis … sustinentibus: 'on forked props supporting the stands'. duodenos pedes: distributive numeral, 'twelve feet each'.

Liv. 1.35.9Lūdicrum fuit equī pugilēsque, ex Etrūriā maximē accītī.

The entertainment was horses and boxers, brought mostly from Etruria.

Liv. 1.35.9Sollemnēs, deinde annuī, mānsēre lūdī, Rōmānī magnīque variē appellātī.

The games, held regularly and then every year, remained, called variously the Roman and the Great Games.

Note. Romani magnique: the games were called both ludi Romani and ludi magni.

Liv. 1.35.10Ab eōdem rēge et circā forum prīvātīs aedificanda dīvīsa sunt loca;

The same king also divided the sites around the forum among private citizens for building;

Liv. 1.35.10porticūs tabernaeque factae.

porticoes and shops were built.