Ab Urbe Condita 1.53

Liv. 1.53.1Nec, ut iniūstus in pāce rēx, ita dux bellī prāvus fuit;

Unjust as he was as a king in peace, he was not likewise a bad leader in war;

Note. ut ... ita: 'though ... yet', a comparison used concessively. Livy grants Tarquin his ability as a general.

Liv. 1.53.2quīn eā arte aequāsset superiōrēs rēgēs, nī dēgenerātum in aliīs huic quoque decorī offēcisset.

indeed he would have equalled the earlier kings in that skill, had not his degeneracy in other things spoiled this distinction too.

Note. quin ... aequasset: here quin means 'indeed', not 'but that'. ni ... offecisset: the past unreal condition, 'had not his degeneracy spoiled'. degeneratum: a perfect participle used as a noun, 'the fact of having degenerated'.

Liv. 1.53.2Is prīmus Volscīs bellum in ducentōs amplius post suam aetātem annōs mōvit Suessamque Pōmētiam ex hīs vī cēpit.

He was the first to begin the war with the Volsci that lasted more than two hundred years after his time, and he took Suessa Pometia from them by force.

Note. in ducentos amplius ... annos: 'for more than two hundred years'. amplius is used without quam before a number. The Volsci, south of Latium, were Rome's enemies until the fourth century BC.

Liv. 1.53.3Ubi cum dīvenditā praedā quadrāgintā talenta argentī refēcisset, concēpit animō eam amplitūdinem Iovis templī, quae digna deum hominumque rēge, quae Rōmānō imperiō, quae ipsīus etiam locī maiestāte esset.

There, when by selling off the plunder he had raised forty talents of silver, he conceived in his mind a temple of Jupiter of such grandeur as would be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman empire, and of the majesty of the place itself.

Note. divendita praeda: ablative absolute. quae digna ... esset: a relative clause of characteristic, 'of such grandeur as would be worthy of'. dignus takes the ablative. deum is genitive plural. This was the temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitol, finished under the Republic and dedicated in 509 BC.

Liv. 1.53.3Captīvam pecūniam in aedificātiōnem eius templī sēposuit.

He set aside the captured money for the building of that temple.

Liv. 1.53.4Excēpit deinde eum lentius spē bellum, quō Gabiōs, propinquam urbem, nēquīquam vī adortus, cum obsidendī quoque urbem spēs pulsō ā moenibus adēmpta esset, postrēmō minimē arte Rōmānā, fraude ac dolō, adgressus est.

Next a war took hold of him that proved slower than he had hoped: having attacked Gabii, a neighbouring city, by force to no purpose, and then, beaten back from the walls, having lost all hope even of besieging the city, he finally attacked it by fraud and deceit, a method not at all Roman.

Note. Excepit ... eum ... bellum: 'a war took him up next'. lentius spe: 'slower than expected', an ablative of comparison. pulso is dative after adempta esset ('hope had been taken from him, driven back'). minime arte Romana: Livy contrasts Tarquin's trickery with the Romans' ideal of fighting openly.

Liv. 1.53.5Nam cum velut positō bellō fundāmentīs templī iaciendīs aliīsque urbānīs operibus intentum sē esse simulāret, Sextus fīlius eius, quī minimus ex tribus erat, trānsfūgit ex compositō Gabiōs, patris in sē saevitiam intolerābilem conquerēns: iam ab aliēnīs in suōs vertisse superbiam, et līberōrum quoque eum frequentiae taedēre, ut, quam in cūriā sōlitūdinem fēcerit, domī quoque faciat, nē quam stirpem, nē quem hērēdem regnī relinquat.

For while he pretended that the war had been set aside and that he was intent on laying the foundations of the temple and on other works in the city, Sextus, the youngest of his three sons, deserted to Gabii by arrangement, complaining of his father's unbearable cruelty towards him: his father had turned his arrogance from strangers against his own family, and was even weary of having many children, so that he meant to make in his home too the emptiness he had made in the senate house, leaving no offspring and no heir to the throne.

Note. cum ... simularet: cum with the subjunctive, 'while he pretended'. intentum ... fundamentis iaciendis: intentus takes the dative, 'intent on laying foundations'. The complaints from iam on are reported speech. frequentiae taedere: 'to be weary of having many (children)', with eum as the person who feels it.

Liv. 1.53.7Sē quidem inter tēla et gladiōs patris ēlāpsum nihil usquam sibi tūtum nisi apud hostēs L. Tarquiniī crēdidisse.

He himself, he said, had slipped away from among his father's spears and swords and believed nothing anywhere was safe for him except among the enemies of Lucius Tarquinius.

Note. elapsum: understand esse, 'he had slipped away'. nihil usquam ... tutum: 'nothing anywhere safe'.

Liv. 1.53.7Nam nē errārent, manēre iīs bellum, quod positum simulētur, et per occāsiōnem eum incautōs invāsūrum.

For, so that they should not be deceived, the war that was pretended to be set aside was still waiting for them, and he would attack them off their guard when he had the chance.

Note. ne errarent: 'so that they should not be mistaken', a purpose clause that introduces the warning. manere iis bellum: 'war awaited them'.

Liv. 1.53.8Quod sī apud eōs supplicibus locus nōn sit, pererrātūrum sē omne Latium Volscōsque inde et Aequōs et Hernicōs petītūrum, dōnec ad eōs perveniat, quī ā patrum crūdēlibus atque inpiīs suppliciīs tegere līberōs sciant.

But if there was no place among them for suppliants, he would wander through all Latium and then go to the Volsci, the Aequi and the Hernici, until he came to people who knew how to protect children from the cruel and wicked punishments of fathers.

Note. pererraturum ... petiturum: future infinitives in reported speech. The Aequi and Hernici were hill peoples east of Rome. donec ... perveniat: subjunctive of anticipation.

Liv. 1.53.9Forsitan etiam ardōris aliquid ad bellum armaque sē adversus superbissimum rēgem ac ferōcissimum populum inventūrum.

Perhaps he would even find some eagerness for war and arms against a most arrogant king and a most ferocious people.

Note. ardoris aliquid: partitive genitive, 'some ardour'. superbissimum regem: Sextus plays on his father's surname.

Liv. 1.53.10Cum, sī nihil morārentur, īnfēnsus īrā porrō inde abitūrus vidērētur, benignē ab Gabīnīs excipitur.

Since it seemed that, if they paid him no attention, he would go off further from there in his anger, he is kindly received by the Gabini.

Note. Cum ... videretur: a causal cum clause. si nihil morarentur: 'if they did not detain him at all'; nihil is an adverbial accusative.

Liv. 1.53.10Vetant mīrārī, sī, quālis in cīvēs, quālis in sociōs, tālis ad ultimum in līberōs esset;

They tell him not to be surprised if Tarquin was in the end the same towards his children as he had been towards citizens and allies;

Note. Vetant mirari: veto takes the accusative and infinitive (here with the subject understood). qualis ... talis: 'such as ... so'. ad ultimum: 'in the end'.

Liv. 1.53.11in sē ipsum postrēmō saevītūrum, sī alia dēsint.

in the end, if other victims were lacking, he would rage against himself.

Liv. 1.53.11Sibi vērō grātum adventum eius esse, futūrumque crēdere brevī, ut illō adiuvante ā portīs Gabīnīs sub Rōmāna moenia bellum trānsferātur.

For their part, his coming was welcome, and they believed that soon, with his help, the war would be carried from the gates of Gabii to the walls of Rome.

Note. futurum ... ut ... transferatur: 'it would come about that the war would be carried', a way of forming a future passive infinitive. illo adiuvante: ablative absolute.