Ab Urbe Condita 1.44

Liv. 1.44.1Cēnsū perfectō, quem mātūrāverat metū lēgis dē incēnsīs lātae cum vinculōrum minīs mortisque, ēdīxit, ut omnēs cīvēs Rōmānī, equitēs peditēsque, in suīs quisque centuriīs in campō Mārtiō prīmā lūce adessent.

When the census was complete, which he had hurried on by fear of a law passed about those not registered, with threats of chains and death, he proclaimed that all Roman citizens, cavalry and infantry, should be present at first light in the Campus Martius, each in his own century.

Note. The census was a register of citizens and their property. lēgis dē incēnsīs lātae: 'of a law passed about those not registered' (incēnsus 'unassessed'). Men who dodged the census could be sold into slavery. in campō Mārtiō: the Field of Mars, outside the sacred boundary, was the place for assemblies under arms.

Liv. 1.44.2Ibi īnstrūctum exercitum omnem suovetaurīlibus lūstrāvit;

There he purified the whole army, drawn up in order, with the sacrifice of a pig, a sheep and a bull;

Note. suovetaurīlia: the sacrifice of a pig (sūs), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus), led round the assembled people to purify them. lūstrāre 'to purify by a procession'.

Liv. 1.44.2idque conditum lūstrum appellātum, quia is cēnsendō fīnis factus est.

and this was called the closing of the lustrum, because it was made the end of the census-taking.

Note. conditum lūstrum: 'the lustrum was closed'. Because the census was held every five years, lūstrum came to mean a five-year period. censendō: dative of the gerund, 'for the census-taking'.

Liv. 1.44.2Mīlia octōgintā eō lūstrō cīvium cēnsa dīcuntur;

Eighty thousand citizens are said to have been registered at that lustrum;

Liv. 1.44.2adicit scrīptōrum antīquissimus Fabius Pictor, eōrum, quī arma ferre possent, eum numerum fuisse.

Fabius Pictor, the oldest of the historians, adds that this was the number of those able to bear arms.

Note. Q. Fabius Pictor wrote the first Roman history (in Greek) around 200 BC; Livy often cites him. eōrum quī arma ferre possent: 'of those who could bear arms' (subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic inside indirect statement).

Liv. 1.44.3Ad eam multitūdinem urbs quoque amplificanda vīsa est.

For that multitude the city also seemed to need enlarging.

Note. amplificanda vīsa est: gerundive of obligation, 'seemed to need enlarging'.

Liv. 1.44.3Addit duōs collēs, Quirīnālem Vīminālemque;

He added two hills, the Quirinal and the Viminal;

Liv. 1.44.3inde deinceps auget Esquiliās ibique ipse, ut locō dignitās fieret, habitat.

then he next extended the Esquiline, and lived there himself, so that the place might gain dignity.

Note. Note the historic presents auget … habitat: Livy shifts into the present to make the narrative vivid.

Liv. 1.44.4Aggere et fossīs et mūrō circumdat urbem;

He surrounded the city with a rampart, ditches and a wall;

Liv. 1.44.4ita pōmērium prōfert.

in this way he moved the pomerium forward.

Note. pōmērium: the sacred boundary of the city, marked by stones, inside which the auspices of the city were taken and no army could enter under arms.

Liv. 1.44.4Pōmērium, verbī vim sōlam intuentēs, postmoerium interpretantur esse;

Looking only at the meaning of the word, people explain pomerium as 'postmoerium' ('behind the wall');

Note. postmoerium: 'behind the wall' (post + moerus, the old spelling of mūrus). intuentēs: present participle of the deponent intueor, 'looking at'.

Liv. 1.44.4est autem magis circāmoerium, locus, quem in condendīs urbibus quondam Etrūscī, quā mūrum ductūrī erant, certīs circā terminīs inaugurātō cōnsecrābant, ut neque interiōre parte aedificia moenibus continuārentur, quae nunc vulgō etiam coniungunt, et extrīnsecus pūrī aliquid ab hūmānō cultū patēret solī.

but it is rather the space on both sides of the wall, a strip which the Etruscans once, when founding cities, consecrated with fixed boundary stones around the line where they were going to build the wall, after taking the auspices, so that on the inner side buildings should not be joined to the walls, as they are now commonly joined, and on the outer side some land should lie open, free from human use.

Note. circāmoerium: Livy's own explanation, 'around the wall'. The long relative clause: quem … Etrūscī … cōnsecrābant 'which the Etruscans consecrated'; quā 'where'; ductūrī erant (active periphrastic) 'were going to build'; inaugurātō 'after the auspices were taken' (ablative absolute of a neuter participle with no noun). pūrī aliquid … solī 'some clear ground' (partitive genitives).

Liv. 1.44.5Hoc spatium, quod neque habitārī neque arārī fās erat, nōn magis, quod post mūrum esset, quam quod mūrus post id, pōmērium Rōmānī appellārunt;

This space, which it was forbidden by religion either to live on or to plough, the Romans called the pomerium, not so much because it lay behind the wall as because the wall lay behind it;

Note. nōn magis quod post mūrum esset, quam quod mūrus post id: 'not so much because it was behind the wall as because the wall was behind it'. Subjunctive esset gives the reason as someone's view.

Liv. 1.44.5et in urbis incrēmentō semper, quantum moenia prōcessūra erant, tantum terminī hī cōnsecrātī prōferēbantur.

and always as the city grew, the consecrated boundary stones were moved forward as far as the walls were going to advance.

Note. quantum … tantum 'as far as … so far'. prōcessūra erant: active periphrastic, 'were going to advance'.