Ab Urbe Condita 1.51

Liv. 1.51.1Haec Arīcīnus in rēgem Rōmānum increpāns ex conciliō abiit.

Hurling these taunts at the Roman king, the man from Aricia left the council.

Note. increpans: present participle, 'loudly reproaching'. Haec is the object.

Liv. 1.51.1Quam rem Tarquinius aliquantō quam vidēbātur aegrius ferēns cōnfestim Turnō necem māchinātur, ut eundem terrōrem, quō cīvium animōs domī oppresserat, Latīnīs iniceret.

Tarquin took the matter much harder than he appeared to, and at once he planned Turnus' death, so as to strike into the Latins the same terror with which he had crushed the spirit of the citizens at home.

Note. aliquanto ... aegrius ... quam videbatur: 'considerably more bitterly than he appeared to'. aliquanto is an ablative of the measure of difference. ferens governs Quam rem. necem machinatur: 'plots his death'.

Liv. 1.51.2Et quia prō imperiō palam interficī nōn poterat, oblātō falsō crīmine īnsontem oppressit.

And because he could not be put to death openly by right of command, he destroyed the innocent man by bringing a false charge.

Note. pro imperio: 'by right of his authority', i.e. by a king's power of command, which did not reach over a Latin. oblato falso crimine: ablative absolute.

Liv. 1.51.2Per adversae factiōnis quōsdam Arīcīnōs servum Turnī aurō corrūpit, ut in dēversōrium eius vim magnam gladiōrum īnferrī clam sineret.

Through certain men of Aricia from the opposing faction he bribed Turnus' slave with gold to allow a great quantity of swords to be brought secretly into his lodging.

Note. ut ... sineret: indirect command after the idea of bribing. vim magnam gladiorum: vis here means 'a quantity'.

Liv. 1.51.3Ea cum multā nocte perfecta essent, Tarquinius paulō ante lūcem accītīs ad sē prīncipibus Latīnōrum quasi rē novā perturbātus, moram suam hesternam, velut deōrum quādam prōvidentiā inlātam, ait salūtī sibi atque illīs fuisse.

When this had been carried out in the course of the night, Tarquin, a little before dawn, summoned the leaders of the Latins to him as though alarmed by some new event, and said that his delay of the day before, brought about as if by some providence of the gods, had been their salvation and his own.

Note. multa nocte: 'late in the night'. quasi ... perturbatus: 'as if alarmed'. saluti sibi atque illis fuisse: double dative, 'had served as salvation for himself and them'. Tarquin's report runs on in indirect speech to sentence 40.

Liv. 1.51.4Ab Turnō dīcī sibi et prīmōribus populōrum parārī necem, ut Latīnōrum sōlus imperium teneat.

He was told, he said, that Turnus was preparing death for him and for the leading men of the peoples, so that he alone might hold power over the Latins.

Note. Ab Turno dici ... parari necem: 'he was told that death was being prepared by Turnus'. ut ... teneat: purpose clause, present subjunctive because the reported speech keeps the tense of the original.

Liv. 1.51.4Adgressūrum fuisse hesternō diē in conciliō;

He would have attacked yesterday in the council;

Note. Adgressurum fuisse: 'he would have attacked', the future participle with fuisse expresses an unfulfilled action in reported speech.

Liv. 1.51.4dīlātam rem esse, quod auctor conciliī āfuerit, quem maximē peteret.

the plan had been put off because the man who had called the council, the one he most wanted to strike, had been absent.

Note. quod auctor concilii afuerit: the subjunctive gives the reason as Tarquin's. quem maxime peteret: 'whom he was most aiming at'.

Liv. 1.51.5Inde illam absentis īnsectātiōnem esse nātam, quod morandō spem dēstituerit.

That was the source of his railing against the absent man, since by his delay he had foiled Turnus' hopes.

Note. morando: ablative of the gerund, 'by delaying'. spem destituerit: 'he had cheated (Turnus') hopes'.

Liv. 1.51.5Nōn dubitāre, sī vēra dēferantur, quīn prīmā lūce, ubi ventum in concilium sit, īnstrūctus cum coniūrātōrum manū armātusque ventūrus sit.

He did not doubt, if the reports were true, that at first light, when they came to the council, Turnus would come armed and equipped with a band of conspirators.

Note. Non dubitare ... quin ... venturus sit: non dubito quin takes the subjunctive; venturus sit is the future in subjunctive form. ubi ventum in concilium sit: impersonal passive, 'when they have come'.

Liv. 1.51.5Dīcī gladiōrum ingentem esse numerum ad eum convectum.

It was said that a huge number of swords had been carried to his lodging.

Liv. 1.51.6Id vānum necne sit, extemplō scīrī posse.

Whether this was empty talk or not could be known at once.

Note. vanum necne sit: necne is used in the second half of a double indirect question, 'whether it is empty or not'.

Liv. 1.51.6Rogāre eōs, ut inde sēcum ad Turnum veniant.

He asked them to come with him from there to Turnus.

Note. Rogare eos, ut ...: indirect command within reported speech.

Liv. 1.51.6Suspectam fēcit rem et ingenium Turnī ferōx et ōrātiō hesterna et mora Tarquinī, quod vidēbātur ob eam differrī caedēs potuisse.

The matter was made suspicious by Turnus' fierce character, by his speech of the day before, and by Tarquin's delay, since it seemed the murder could have been put off because of it.

Note. Suspectam fecit rem: 'made the story credible'. suspectus here means 'suspected to be true'. The three subjects are joined by et ... et ... et, with the verb agreeing with the nearest.

Liv. 1.51.7Eunt inclīnātīs quidem ad crēdendum animīs, tamen nisi gladiīs dēprehēnsīs cētera vāna exīstimātūrī.

They go with minds inclined to believe, but still prepared to think the rest empty talk unless the swords were found.

Note. Eunt: historic present. inclinatis ... animis: ablative absolute. nisi gladiis deprehensis: 'unless the swords were caught', ablative absolute standing for a condition. existimaturi: future participle of intention.

Liv. 1.51.8Ubi est eō ventum, Turnum ex somnō excitātum circumsistunt custōdēs;

When they had come there, guards surround Turnus, roused from his sleep;

Note. Ubi est eo ventum: impersonal passive, 'when they had arrived there'. excitatum: 'roused'.

Liv. 1.51.8conprehēnsisque servīs, quī cāritāte dominī vim parābant, cum gladiī abditī ex omnibus locīs dēverticulī prōtraherentur, enimvērō manifesta rēs vīsa, iniectaeque Turnō catēnae;

his slaves, who out of love for their master were preparing to resist, were seized, and when the hidden swords were dragged out from every corner of the lodging, then indeed the matter seemed proved, and chains were thrown on Turnus;

Note. conprehensis ... servis: ablative absolute. enimvero: 'then indeed'. visa (est) and iniectae (sunt) both omit the auxiliary, typical of Livy's brisk narrative.

Liv. 1.51.8et cōnfestim Latīnōrum concilium magnō cum tumultū advocātur.

and at once a council of the Latins is called together amid great uproar.

Liv. 1.51.9Ibi tam atrōx invidia orta est gladiīs in mediō positīs, ut indictā causā, novō genere lētī, dēiectus ad caput aquae Ferentīnae crāte supernē iniectā saxīsque congestīs mergerētur.

There, with the swords laid out in the middle, such fierce hatred arose that, without being allowed to plead his case, he was put to death in a new kind of way: thrown into the spring of the water of Ferentina, he was drowned under a wicker hurdle laid over him and weighted with stones heaped upon it.

Note. indicta causa: 'without his case being pleaded', from indictus, 'unsaid'. novo genere leti: drowning under a hurdle (crates) weighted with stones was an old punishment for traitors and parricides. Livy notes that Tarquin killed his opponent under the forms of a trial.