Ab Urbe Condita 1.47

Liv. 1.47.1Tum vērō in diēs īnfestior Tullī senectūs, īnfestius coepit regnum esse.

Then indeed Tullius' old age began to be more threatened every day, and his reign more threatened.

Note. in diēs 'day by day', with comparatives.

Liv. 1.47.1Iam enim ab scelere ad aliud spectāre mulier scelus, nec nocte nec interdiū virum conquiēscere patī, nē grātuīta praeterita parricīdia essent: nōn sibi dēfuisse, cui nūpta dīcerētur, nec cum quō tacita servīret;

For now the woman looked from one crime toward another, and did not let her husband rest by night or day, lest their past murders should be for nothing: what she had lacked, she said, was not someone to whom she could be called married, nor someone with whom to be a silent slave;

Note. From here Livy reports Tullia's words in indirect speech: nōn sibi dēfuisse … 'she had not lacked …'. cui nūpta dīcerētur 'to whom she could be called married' (relative clause of characteristic).

Liv. 1.47.2dēfuisse, quī sē regnō dignum putāret, quī meminisset sē esse Prīscī Tarquinī fīlium, quī habēre quam spērāre regnum māllet.

what she had lacked was a man who thought himself worthy of the throne, who remembered that he was the son of Tarquinius Priscus, who preferred to have the throne rather than hope for it.

Note. The three relative clauses describe the kind of man she wanted: quī … putāret, quī meminisset, quī … māllet, all subjunctive because they describe a type.

Liv. 1.47.3"Sī tū is es, cui nūptam esse mē arbitror, et virum et rēgem appellō;

"If you are the man to whom I believe I am married, I call you both husband and king;

Note. Now Livy switches to direct speech for Tullia's taunt. Sī tū is es … 'if you are the man …'.

Liv. 1.47.3sīn minus, eō nunc peius mūtāta rēs est, quod istīc cum ignāviā est scelus.

if not, things have changed for the worse, because in you crime is joined with cowardice.

Note. sīn minus 'but if not'. eō … peius 'so much the worse'. istīc 'in you, there where you are'.

Liv. 1.47.4Quīn accingeris?

Why not gird yourself?

Note. Quīn accingeris? 'why don't you gird yourself?', a common idiom for an impatient command.

Liv. 1.47.4Nōn tibi ab Corinthō nec ab Tarquiniīs, ut patrī tuō, peregrīna regna mōlīrī necesse est;

You do not need, as your father did, to work your way to a foreign throne from Corinth or from Tarquinii;

Note. Tullia contrasts him with his father Tarquinius Priscus, who had come from Tarquinii (and, before that, the family from Corinth) to win a foreign throne.

Liv. 1.47.4dī tē penātēs patriīque et patris imāgō et domus rēgia et in domō rēgāle solium et nōmen Tarquinium creat vocatque rēgem.

the gods of your household and of your fathers, your father's image, the royal house, the royal seat in that house, and the name of Tarquinius make you king and call you king.

Note. A long subject list with a singular verb creat vocatque, as often when the subjects form one idea. dī … penātēs: the gods of the household.

Liv. 1.47.5Aut sī ad haec parum est animī, quid frūstrāris cīvitātem?

Or if you lack the spirit for this, why do you disappoint the state?

Note. frūstrāris: 'you deceive, disappoint'. parum … animī: 'too little spirit' (partitive genitive).

Liv. 1.47.5Quid tē ut rēgium iuvenem cōnspicī sinis?

Why do you let yourself be looked on as a royal young man?

Liv. 1.47.5Facesse hinc Tarquiniōs aut Corinthum, dēvolvere retrō ad stirpem, frātris similior quam patris."

Get out of here to Tarquinii or Corinth, sink back to your origins, more like your brother than your father."

Note. Facesse 'be off'. dēvolvere: passive imperative, 'roll yourself back'. frātris similior quam patris: similis takes the genitive here, 'more like your brother than your father'.

Liv. 1.47.6Hīs aliīsque increpandō iuvenem īnstīgat nec conquiēscere ipsa potest, sī, cum Tanaquīl, peregrīna mulier, tantum mōlīrī potuisset animō, ut duo continua regna virō ac deinceps generō dedisset, ipsa, rēgiō sēmine orta, nūllum mōmentum in dandō adimendōque regnō faceret.

Taunting the young man with these and other words, she spurs him on, and she herself cannot rest when she thinks that Tanaquil, a foreign woman, had been able to plan so great a thing that she gave two reigns in a row, to her husband and then to her son-in-law, while she herself, sprung from royal seed, should have no weight in giving or taking away the throne.

Note. Tanaquil had made her husband Priscus king and then her son-in-law Servius. in dandō adimendōque regnō: gerundives, 'in giving and taking away the throne'.

Liv. 1.47.7Hīs muliebribus īnstīnctus furiīs Tarquinius circumīre et prēnsāre minōrum maximē gentium patrēs;

Driven on by the woman's frenzy, Tarquinius went round canvassing the senators, especially those of the lesser families;

Note. circumīre, prēnsāre, admonēre, allicere, crēscere: a run of historic infinitives. minōrum gentium patrēs: senators of the 'lesser families', whom Priscus had added to the senate, and who therefore owed his family a favour.

Liv. 1.47.7admonēre paternī beneficiī ac prō eō grātiam repetere;

he reminded them of his father's kindness and asked for gratitude in return;

Liv. 1.47.7allicere dōnīs iuvenēs;

he won over the young men with gifts;

Liv. 1.47.7cum dē sē ingentia pollicendō tum rēgis crīminibus omnibus locīs crēscere.

both by making huge promises about himself and by accusing the king, he grew stronger everywhere.

Note. cum … tum 'both … and especially'. pollicendō: ablative of the gerund, 'by promising'.

Liv. 1.47.8Postrēmō, ut iam agendae reī tempus vīsum est, stīpātus agmine armātōrum in forum inrūpit.

At last, when the time for action seemed to have come, he burst into the forum surrounded by a band of armed men.

Note. agendae reī tempus: 'the time for acting' (gerundive in the genitive).

Liv. 1.47.8Inde omnibus perculsīs pavōre in rēgiā sēde prō cūriā sedēns patrēs in cūriam per praecōnem ad rēgem Tarquinium citārī iussit.

Then, while everyone was struck with fear, he sat on the royal throne in front of the senate house and ordered the senators to be summoned by the herald to the senate house, to King Tarquinius.

Note. omnibus perculsīs pavōre: ablative absolute. prō cūriā 'in front of the senate house'. ad rēgem Tarquinium: the herald summons the senators to 'King Tarquinius', which is itself the usurpation.

Liv. 1.47.8Convēnēre extemplō, aliī iam ante ad hoc praeparātī, aliī metū, nē nōn vēnisse fraudī esset, novitāte ac mīrāculō attonitī et iam dē Serviō āctum ratī.

They came at once, some already prepared beforehand for this, others from fear that not coming might count against them, stunned by the strangeness and wonder of it and believing that Servius was already finished.

Note. nē nōn vēnisse fraudī esset 'that not having come might be held against them'; fraudī esse is a predicative dative. dē Serviō āctum (esse) 'that it was all over with Servius'.

Liv. 1.47.10Ibi Tarquinius maledicta ab stirpe ultimā ōrsus: servum servāque nātum post mortem indignam parentis suī, nōn interregnō, ut anteā, initō, nōn comitiīs habitīs, nōn per suffrāgium populī, nōn auctōribus patribus, muliebrī dōnō regnum occupāsse.

There Tarquinius began his abuse from Servius' remotest ancestry: a slave, born of a slave woman, after the shameful death of his own predecessor, without an interregnum held as before, without elections, without the vote of the people, without the sanction of the senators, had seized the throne as a woman's gift.

Note. Tarquinius' speech is in indirect statement: servum … nātum … regnum occupāsse 'that (Servius), a slave born of a slave woman, had seized the throne'. Each nōn introduces a constitutional step that had been skipped: interregnum, election, vote, sanction of the senators (auctōribus patribus).

Liv. 1.47.11Ita nātum, ita creātum rēgem, fautōrem īnfimī generis hominum, ex quō ipse sit, odiō aliēnae honestātis ēreptum prīmōribus agrum sordidissimō cuique dīvīsisse;

Born like this, made king like this, a patron of the lowest class of men, from which he himself came, he had, from hatred of others' high rank, taken land from the leading men and divided it among the meanest;

Note. sordidissimō cuique 'to all the meanest' (quisque with a superlative).

Liv. 1.47.12omnia onera, quae commūnia quondam fuerint, inclīnāsse in prīmōrēs cīvitātis;

all the burdens that had once been shared he had shifted onto the leading men of the state;

Liv. 1.47.12īnstituisse cēnsūs, ut īnsignis ad invidiam locuplētiōrum fortūna esset et parāta, unde, ubi vellet, egentissimīs largīrētur.

he had instituted the census so that the wealth of the richer might stand out for envy and be ready for him to hand out to the neediest whenever he wished.

Note. The census, which Livy praised, becomes in Tarquinius' mouth a tool to expose the rich to envy.