Ab Urbe Condita 1.52

Liv. 1.52.1Revocātīs deinde ad concilium Latīnīs Tarquinius conlaudātīsque, quī Turnum novantem rēs prō manifestō parricīdiō meritā poenā adfēcissent, ita verba fēcit: posse quidem sē vetustō iūre agere, quod, cum omnēs Latīnī ab Albā oriundī sint, eō foedere teneantur, quō ab Tullō rēs omnis Albāna cum colōniīs suīs in Rōmānum cesserit imperium;

Then Tarquin called the Latins back to the council and praised them for having inflicted the punishment Turnus had earned, as a man plotting revolution caught in open murder, and spoke as follows: he could, he said, act by an old right, because, since all the Latins were sprung from Alba, they were bound by the treaty under which, from the time of Tullus, the whole Alban state with its colonies had passed under Roman rule;

Note. qui ... adfecissent: a causal relative clause, 'for having inflicted'. novantem res: res novare means 'to plot revolution'. The treaty referred to is the one imposed after the destruction of Alba Longa under King Tullus Hostilius, when Rome claimed Alba's place at the head of the Latins.

Liv. 1.52.3cēterum sē ūtilitātis id magis omnium causā cēnsēre, ut renovētur id foedus, secundaque potius fortūna populī Rōmānī ut participēs Latīnī fruantur, quam urbium excidia vāstātiōnēsque agrōrum, quās Ancō prius, patre deinde suō regnante perpessī sint, semper aut expectent aut patiantur.

but he thought it rather in the interest of all that the treaty should be renewed, and that the Latins should share in the good fortune of the Roman people rather than always expect or suffer the destruction of cities and the wasting of fields which they had endured first under Ancus and then in the reign of his own father.

Note. utilitatis ... omnium causa: 'for the advantage of all'. potius ... quam: 'rather than'. Anco ... patre ... regnante: ablatives absolute, 'in the reign of Ancus and then of his own father' (Tarquinius Priscus, who also fought the Latins).

Liv. 1.52.4Haud difficulter persuāsum Latīnīs, quamquam in eō foedere superior Rōmāna rēs erat, cēterum et capita nōminis Latīnī stāre ac sentīre cum rēge vidēbant, et Turnus suī cuique perīculī, sī adversātus esset, recēns erat documentum.

The Latins were persuaded without difficulty, although in that treaty the Roman side was the stronger; but they saw that the heads of the Latin name stood and thought with the king, and Turnus was a fresh lesson to each man of his own danger if he opposed him.

Note. Haud difficulter persuasum Latinis: an impersonal passive, 'the Latins were persuaded without difficulty'. persuadeo takes the dative, so the passive has to be impersonal. sui cuique periculi ... documentum: 'a lesson to each man of his own danger'.

Liv. 1.52.5Ita renovātum foedus indictumque iūniōribus Latīnōrum, ut ex foedere diē certā ad lūcum Ferentīnae armātī frequentēs adessent.

So the treaty was renewed, and the younger men of the Latins were ordered under the treaty to attend in full numbers and armed on a fixed day at the grove of Ferentina.

Note. indictum ... iunioribus: the iuniores were the men of military age (17 to 46) in the Roman census classes; Livy applies the term to the Latins.

Liv. 1.52.6Quī ubi ad ēdictum Rōmānī rēgis ex omnibus populīs convēnēre, nē ducem suum nēve sēcrētum imperium propriave signa habērent, miscuit manipulōs ex Latīnīs Rōmānīsque, ut ex bīnīs singulōs faceret bīnōsque ex singulīs;

When they had gathered at the Roman king's command from all the peoples, so that they should not have their own commander or a separate command or their own standards, he mixed maniples from Latins and Romans, so as to make one out of two and two out of one;

Note. ne ... neve ... haberent: purpose clause. manipuli were the tactical units of the legion. By mixing Latins and Romans in each maniple, Tarquin made sure the Latin contingents could not act on their own.

Liv. 1.52.6ita geminātīs manipulīs centuriōnēs inposuit.

having doubled the maniples in this way, he set centurions over them.