Ab Urbe Condita 1.43

Liv. 1.43.1Ex iīs, quī centum mīlium aeris aut maiōrem cēnsum habērent, octōgintā cōnfēcit centuriās, quadrāgēnās seniōrum ac iūniōrum;

From those who had a property rating of a hundred thousand asses or more he formed eighty centuries, forty each of seniors and juniors;

Note. Livy is describing the 'Servian constitution', the division of citizens by wealth that Romans credited to King Servius Tullius. centum mīlium aeris: 'of a hundred thousand (asses) of bronze'; mīlium is the genitive plural of mīlia (a noun in the plural), and aeris 'of bronze' stands for the as, the old bronze coin. quadrāgēnās is a distributive: 'forty each' (forty centuries of seniors and forty of juniors). seniōrēs were men from 46 to 60, iūniōrēs men from 17 to 45.

Liv. 1.43.2prīma classis omnēs appellātī;

all of these were called the first class;

Note. Supply sunt: 'were called'. Livy often leaves out forms of esse with perfect participles in this list-like chapter.

Liv. 1.43.2seniōrēs ad urbis custōdiam ut praestō essent, iuvenēs ut forīs bella gererent.

the seniors were to be ready for guarding the city, the juniors to wage wars abroad.

Note. Two purpose clauses with ut, each with its own subject: seniōrēs … ut praestō essent, iuvenēs ut … gererent. praestō esse 'to be at hand'. forīs 'outside, abroad' is an adverb.

Liv. 1.43.2Arma hīs imperāta galea, clipeum, ocreae, lōrīca, omnia ex aere, haec, ut tegumenta corporis essent;

The arms required of them were helmet, round shield, greaves and breastplate, all of bronze, these to protect the body;

Note. Arma … imperāta (supply sunt): 'the arms ordered were'. The list is in apposition. clipeum is the round bronze shield of the old Greek-style infantry; the second class gets the scūtum, an oblong shield. ut tegumenta corporis essent: 'to be protection for the body' (purpose).

Liv. 1.43.3tēla in hostem hastaque et gladius.

for weapons against the enemy, a spear and a sword.

Liv. 1.43.3Additae huic classī duae fabrum centuriae, quae sine armīs stīpendia facerent;

Added to this class were two centuries of craftsmen, who were to serve without arms;

Note. fabrum is the old genitive plural of faber (for fabrōrum), used in fixed phrases like this. stīpendia facere 'to serve (in the army)'; the relative clause quae … facerent has the subjunctive because it expresses purpose or characteristic.

Liv. 1.43.3datum mūnus, ut māchinās in bellō ferrent.

their task was to carry the siege engines in war.

Liv. 1.43.4Secunda classis intrā centum usque ad quīnque et septuāgintā mīlium cēnsum īnstitūta, et ex iīs, seniōribus iūniōribusque, vīgintī cōnscrīptae centuriae.

The second class was set at a rating between a hundred and seventy-five thousand, and from them, seniors and juniors, twenty centuries were enrolled.

Note. intrā centum usque ad quīnque et septuāgintā mīlium: 'between a hundred thousand and seventy-five thousand'. The numbers are spelled out; mīlium governs the whole range.

Liv. 1.43.5Arma imperāta scūtum prō clipeō et praeter lōrīcam omnia eadem.

The arms required were an oblong shield instead of the round one, and everything else the same except the breastplate.

Liv. 1.43.5Tertiae classis quīnquāgintā mīlium cēnsum esse voluit;

He set the rating of the third class at fifty thousand;

Note. censum esse voluit: the subject of esse is the rating (cēnsum), with the genitive Tertiae classis: 'he wished the rating of the third class to be fifty thousand'.

Liv. 1.43.5totidem centuriae et hae eōdemque discrīmine aetātium factae.

the same number of centuries were formed, these too with the same division by age.

Note. totidem 'the same number' is indeclinable. eōdem … discrīmine aetātium 'with the same division by age' (ablative of manner); aetātium is a genitive plural with -ium.

Liv. 1.43.5Nec dē armīs quicquam mūtātum, ocreae tantum adēmptae.

Nor was anything changed in their arms; only the greaves were taken away.

Liv. 1.43.6In quārta classe cēnsus quīnque et vīgintī mīlium;

In the fourth class the rating was twenty-five thousand;

Liv. 1.43.6totidem centuriae factae.

the same number of centuries was formed.

Liv. 1.43.6Arma mūtāta, nihil praeter hastam et verūtum datum.

Their arms were changed: nothing was given but a spear and a javelin.

Note. verūtum: a short throwing spear. The lower the class, the cheaper the equipment a man had to provide for himself.

Liv. 1.43.7Quīnta classis aucta;

The fifth class was made larger;

Liv. 1.43.7centuriae trīgintā factae.

thirty centuries were formed.

Liv. 1.43.7Fundās lapidēsque missilēs hī sēcum gerēbant.

These carried slings and stones for throwing.

Note. fundās lapidēsque missilēs: slings and stones to throw. secum = cum sē; sē here refers to the subject hī.

Liv. 1.43.8Hīs accēnsī cornicinēs tubicinēsque, in duās centuriās distribūtī.

To them were added the reserves, the horn-blowers and the trumpeters, divided into two centuries.

Note. accēnsī were supernumerary soldiers who filled gaps in the line; cornicinēs and tubicinēs blew the horn and trumpet that gave signals.

Liv. 1.43.8Ūndecim mīlibus haec classis cēnsēbātur.

This class was rated at eleven thousand.

Note. Ūndecim mīlibus: ablative of price or value with cēnsēbātur, 'was rated at eleven thousand'.

Liv. 1.43.8Hōc minor cēnsus reliquam multitūdinem habuit;

A rating lower than this covered the rest of the population;

Note. Hōc minor cēnsus: 'a rating less than this'; hōc is an ablative of comparison. The poorest citizens (later called capite cēnsī, 'counted by head') formed a single century.

Liv. 1.43.8inde ūna centuria facta est immūnis mīlitiā ita pedestrī exercitū ōrnātō distribūtōque equitum ex prīmōribus cīvitātis duodecim scrīpsit centuriās.

from them one century was made, exempt from military service. With the infantry thus equipped and arranged, he enrolled twelve centuries of cavalry from the leading men of the state.

Note. The digital text runs two sentences together here: after immūnis mīlitiā ('exempt from military service', ablative of separation) a new sentence begins with ita. pedestrī exercitū ōrnātō distribūtōque is an ablative absolute: 'the infantry having been equipped and arranged'.

Liv. 1.43.9Sex item aliās centuriās, tribus ab Rōmulō īnstitūtīs, sub iīsdem, quibus inaugurātae erant, nōminibus fēcit.

He likewise made six other centuries, three having been instituted by Romulus, under the same names under which they had been consecrated.

Note. tribus here is not the noun 'tribe' but the ablative of trēs: tribus ab Rōmulō īnstitūtīs, 'three (centuries) having been set up by Romulus', an ablative absolute. These were the old cavalry centuries (Ramnes, Titienses, Luceres).

Liv. 1.43.9Ad equōs emendōs dēna mīlia aeris ex pūblicō data, et, quibus equōs alerent, viduae adtribūtae, quae bīna mīlia aeris in annōs singulōs penderent.

For buying horses ten thousand asses each were given from the public treasury, and, to feed the horses, widows were assigned to them, who were to pay two thousand asses each year.

Note. Ad equōs emendōs: ad + gerundive of purpose, 'for buying horses'. dēna and bīna are distributives: 'ten thousand each', 'two thousand each'. Widows, who owed no military service, paid a tax to feed the horses (the aes hordeārium).

Liv. 1.43.9Haec omnia in dītēs ā pauperibus inclīnāta onera.

All these burdens were shifted from the poor onto the rich.

Note. The point of the system: the rich paid more and served more, but, as the next sentences show, they also got more votes.

Liv. 1.43.10Deinde est honōs additus;

Then an honour was added;

Note. honōs is the older form of honor, kept by Livy in set phrases.

Liv. 1.43.10nōn enim, ut ab Rōmulō trāditum cēterī servāverant rēgēs, virītim suffrāgium eādem vī eōdemque iūre prōmiscē omnibus datum est, sed gradūs factī, ut neque exclūsus quisquam suffrāgiō vidērētur et vīs omnis penes prīmōrēs cīvitātis esset.

for the vote was not given, as the other kings had kept the custom handed down by Romulus, man by man to all alike, with the same weight and the same right, but grades were made, so that no one seemed shut out from voting, and yet all the power lay with the leading men of the state.

Note. The main contrast is nōn … virītim suffrāgium … datum est, sed gradūs factī: the vote was not given 'man by man', but 'grades' were created. ut neque … vidērētur et … esset: a result clause with two halves, 'so that no one seemed excluded, and yet all power lay with the leaders'. penes + accusative 'in the hands of'.

Liv. 1.43.10Equitēs enim vocābantur prīmī;

For the knights were called first;

Note. This is the order of voting in the comitia centuriata: the 18 cavalry centuries voted first, then the 80 of the first class. Together they made 98 of the 193 centuries, a majority, so the vote was usually settled before the poor were asked.

Liv. 1.43.11octōgintā inde prīmae classis centuriae;

then the eighty centuries of the first class;

Liv. 1.43.11ibi sī variāret, quod rārō incidēbat, ut secundae classis vocārentur;

if there was disagreement there, which seldom happened, the centuries of the second class were called;

Note. sī variāret 'if there was disagreement' (impersonal); quod rārō incidēbat 'which seldom happened' is a relative clause referring to the whole idea. ut … vocārentur depends on an understood verb: '(the result was) that the second class was called'.

Liv. 1.43.11nec ferē umquam īnfrā ita dēscendērunt, ut ad īnfimōs pervenīrent.

and they hardly ever went so far down that they reached the lowest.

Liv. 1.43.12Nec mīrārī oportet hunc ōrdinem, quī nunc est post explētās quīnque et trīgintā tribūs duplicātō eārum numerō centuriīs iūniōrum seniōrumque, ad īnstitūtam ab Serviō Tulliō summam nōn convenīre.

Nor should one wonder that the present arrangement, which exists now that the tribes have been made up to thirty-five and their number doubled in centuries of juniors and seniors, does not agree with the total instituted by Servius Tullius.

Note. Livy speaks as a historian of his own day: by his time there were 35 tribes and the centuries were organized by tribe, so the numbers no longer matched Servius' system. post expletās quīnque et trīgintā tribūs 'after the tribes were made up to thirty-five'.

Liv. 1.43.13Quadrifāriam enim urbe dīvīsā regiōnibus collibusque, quī habitābantur, partēs eās tribūs appellāvit, ut ego arbitror, ab tribūtō;

For having divided the city into four parts by the regions and hills that were inhabited, he called these parts tribes, from tributum ('tax'), as I believe;

Note. Quadrifāriam 'into four parts': the four city tribes were Suburana, Esquilina, Collina and Palatina. ab tribūtō: Livy's guess derives tribus from tribūtum 'tax'; it is more likely the other way round.

Liv. 1.43.13nam eius quoque aequāliter ex cēnsū cōnferendī ab eōdem inita ratiō est;

for the method of paying it fairly according to the census was also begun by him;

Note. eius … cōnferendī: genitive of the gerundive, 'of paying it (the tax)', depending on ratiō 'method'.

Liv. 1.43.13neque eae tribūs ad centuriārum distribūtiōnem numerumque quicquam pertinuēre.

and those tribes had nothing to do with the division or number of the centuries.