Ab Urbe Condita 1.41

Liv. 1.41.1Tarquinium moribundum cum, quī circā erant, excēpissent, illōs fugientēs līctōrēs conprehendunt.

When those standing near had caught the dying Tarquinius, the lictors seized the two men as they fled.

Note. The lictors were the attendants who carried the fascēs before the king.

Liv. 1.41.1Clāmor inde concursusque populī, mīrantium, quid reī esset.

Then came shouting and a crowd of people running together, wondering what had happened.

Note. mīrantium: genitive plural of the participle agreeing with the people implied in populī. quid reī esset: indirect question, 'what was going on'.

Liv. 1.41.1Tanaquīl inter tumultum claudī rēgiam iubet, arbitrōs ēicit.

In the uproar Tanaquil ordered the palace to be shut and sent out the onlookers.

Note. arbitrōs: 'witnesses, onlookers'. Tanaquil acts at once to control the news.

Liv. 1.41.1Simul quae cūrandō vulnerī opus sunt, tamquam spēs subesset, sēdulō conparat, simul, sī dēstituat spēs, alia praesidia mōlītur.

At the same time she busily got ready what was needed to treat the wound, as if there were hope, and at the same time, in case hope failed, she prepared other safeguards.

Note. cūrandō vulnerī: dative of the gerundive expressing purpose, 'for treating the wound'. opus sunt: 'are needed'. simul … simul: 'at the same time … at the same time'.

Liv. 1.41.2Serviō properē accītō cum paene exanguem virum ostendisset, dextram tenēns ōrat, nē inultam mortem socerī, nē socrum inimīcīs lūdibriō esse sinat.

Sending quickly for Servius, she showed him her husband almost lifeless, and holding his right hand she begged him not to let his father-in-law's death go unavenged, nor his mother-in-law become a mockery to her enemies.

Note. nē … sinat: indirect command after ōrat. inimīcīs lūdibriō: double dative, 'a mockery to her enemies'.

Liv. 1.41.3"Tuum est" inquit, "Servī, sī vir es, regnum, nōn eōrum, quī aliēnīs manibus pessimum facinus fēcēre.

"The kingdom is yours, Servius," she said, "if you are a man, not theirs who have done the worst of crimes by others' hands.

Note. Tuum est … regnum: 'the kingdom is yours'. aliēnīs manibus: 'by others' hands' — the sons of Ancus had hired the shepherds.

Liv. 1.41.3Ērige tē deōsque ducēs sequere, quī clārum hoc fore caput dīvīnō quondam circumfūsō ignī portendērunt.

Rouse yourself and follow the gods as your guides, who long ago foretold that this head of yours would be famous, by pouring divine fire around it.

Note. sequere: the imperative of the deponent sequor. clārum … fore caput: indirect statement after portendērunt.

Liv. 1.41.3Nunc tē illa caelestis excitet flamma, nunc expergīscere vērē.

Now let that heavenly flame stir you, now truly wake up.

Note. expergīscere: imperative of the deponent expergīscor, 'wake up' — a pointed echo of the boy who once slept with flames round his head.

Liv. 1.41.3Et nōs peregrīnī regnāvimus;

We too were foreigners and reigned;

Note. Tanaquil and her husband had come from Etruria; she reminds Servius that birth outside Rome had not stopped them.

Liv. 1.41.3quī sīs, nōn unde nātus sīs, reputā.

consider who you are, not where you were born.

Note. quī sīs … unde nātus sīs: indirect questions, 'who you are, not where you were born'.

Liv. 1.41.3Sī tua rē subitā cōnsilia torpent, at tū mea cōnsilia sequere."

If your own plans are numbed by the suddenness of this, then follow mine."

Liv. 1.41.4Cum clāmor impetusque multitūdinis vix sustinērī posset, ex superiōre parte aedium per fenestrās in Novam viam versās— habitābat enim rēx ad Iovis Statōris— populum Tanaquīl adloquitur.

When the shouting and pressure of the crowd could hardly be held back any longer, Tanaquil addressed the people from the upper part of the house through the windows that faced onto the New Street — for the king lived by the temple of Jupiter Stator.

Note. habitābat enim … : a parenthesis explaining the location. The temple of Jupiter Stator stood near the Palatine at the top of the Sacred Way.

Liv. 1.41.5Iubet bonō animō esse: sōpītum fuisse rēgem subitō ictū;

She told them to take heart: the king had been stunned by the sudden blow;

Note. From here on Tanaquil's words are in indirect statement, a string of short clauses depending on iubet and the sense of 'she said'.

Liv. 1.41.5ferrum haud altē in corpus dēscendisse;

the iron had not gone deep into his body;

Liv. 1.41.5iam ad sē redīsse;

he had already come to himself;

Liv. 1.41.5īnspectum vulnus abstersō cruōre;

the wound had been examined after the blood was wiped away;

Note. abstersō cruōre: ablative absolute, 'when the blood had been wiped away'.

Liv. 1.41.5omnia salūbria esse;

everything was healthy;

Liv. 1.41.5cōnfīdere prope diem ipsum eōs vīsūrōs;

she was confident they would soon see the king himself;

Note. prope diem: 'soon, in a few days'.

Liv. 1.41.5interim Serviō Tulliō iubēre populum dictō audientem esse;

in the meantime, she said, he ordered the people to obey Servius Tullius;

Note. dictō audientem esse: 'to be obedient to the word', i.e. to obey.

Liv. 1.41.5eum iūra redditūrum obitūrumque alia rēgis mūnia esse.

he would give judgements and carry out the king's other duties.

Note. iūra redditūrum: 'would give judgements', a king's duty.

Liv. 1.41.6Servius cum trabeā et līctōribus prōdit ac sēde rēgiā sedēns alia dēcernit, dē aliīs cōnsulturum sē rēgem esse simulat.

Servius came out in the royal robe with the lictors, and sitting on the king's seat he decided some matters and pretended he would consult the king about others.

Note. cum trabeā: the trabea was the striped robe of the kings. cōnsulturum sē rēgem esse simulat: 'pretends that he will consult the king'.

Liv. 1.41.6Itaque per aliquot diēs, cum iam expīrāsset Tarquinius, cēlātā morte per speciem aliēnae fungendae vicis suās opēs firmāvit.

So for several days, though Tarquinius had already breathed his last, his death was kept hidden, and under the appearance of acting in another's place Servius strengthened his own power.

Note. aliēnae fungendae vicis: gerundive with fungor, 'of performing another's role'. fungor normally takes the ablative, but the gerundive construction is used as if it took an accusative.

Liv. 1.41.6Tum dēmum palam factum est conplōrātiōne in rēgiā ortā.

Only then was the truth made public, when wailing arose in the palace.

Liv. 1.41.6Servius praesidiō firmō mūnītus prīmus iniussū populī voluntāte patrum regnāvit.

Protected by a strong guard, Servius was the first to reign without being chosen by the people, by the will of the senators.

Note. iniussū populī: 'without the order of the people'. Servius was the first king not elected by the people's assembly.

Liv. 1.41.7Ancī līberī iam tum, cum conprēnsis sceleris ministrīs vīvere rēgem et tantās esse opēs Servī nūntiātum est, Suessam Pōmētiam exulātum ierant.

The sons of Ancus, as soon as it was announced that the agents of the crime had been caught, that the king was alive and that Servius' power was so great, had already gone into exile at Suessa Pometia.

Note. exsulātum: supine of purpose after a verb of motion, 'they had gone into exile'. Suessa Pometia was a Volscian town to the south-east.