Ab Urbe Condita 1.55

Liv. 1.55.1Gabiīs receptīs Tarquinius pācem cum Aequōrum gente fēcit, foedus cum Tuscīs renovāvit.

After Gabii had been taken, Tarquinius made peace with the people of the Aequi and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans.

Note. Gabiis receptis: ablative absolute, 'Gabii having been taken'. Gabii is plural in form (Gabiī, -ōrum), like many town names. Livy has just told how Sextus Tarquinius took the town by treachery.

Liv. 1.55.1Inde ad negōtia urbāna animum convertit;

Then he turned his mind to business in the city;

Liv. 1.55.1quōrum erat prīmum, ut Iovis templum in monte Tarpeiō monumentum regnī suī nōminisque relinqueret: Tarquiniōs rēgēs ambōs, patrem vōvisse, fīlium perfēcisse.

the first of these was to leave the temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian hill as a monument of his reign and his name: the two Tarquinii, both kings, the father having vowed it and the son having completed it.

Note. quorum erat primum, ut … relinqueret: 'of which the first was that he should leave…'; the ut-clause explains primum. The accusatives and infinitives at the end (Tarquinios reges ambos, patrem vovisse, filium perfecisse) are in apposition: the monument was to show that 'both Tarquinii, the father vowed it, the son completed it'. The temple is that of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol, the Tarpeian hill.

Liv. 1.55.2Et ut lībera ā cēterīs religiōnibus ārea esset tōta Iovis templīque eius, quod inaedificārētur, exaugurāre fāna sacellaque statuit, quae aliquot ibi, ā Tatiō rēge prīmum in ipsō discrīmine adversus Rōmulum pugnae vōta, cōnsecrāta inaugurātaque posteā fuerant.

And so that the whole site might be free of other cults and belong to Jupiter and the temple being built on it, he decided to deconsecrate the shrines and chapels, several of which had been vowed there by King Tatius at the very crisis of his battle against Romulus, and afterwards consecrated and inaugurated.

Note. exaugurare: to 'unaugur' a place, i.e. ask the gods by augury to release it from its sacred status so it could be built on. vota, consecrata inaugurataque … fuerant: perfect participles with fuerant, a pluperfect passive (fuerant for erant is common in Livy).

Liv. 1.55.3Inter prīncipia condendī huius operis mōvisse nūmen ad indicandam tantī imperiī mōlem trāditur deōs;

At the very beginning of the founding of this work, the gods are said to have exerted their power to show how great an empire was to come;

Note. movisse numen … traditur deos: personal passive with infinitive, 'the gods are said to have moved their divine power'. ad indicandam … molem: ad + gerundive of purpose.

Liv. 1.55.3nam cum omnium sacellōrum exaugurātiōnēs admitterent avēs, in Terminī fānō nōn addīxēre;

for while the birds allowed the deconsecration of all the other chapels, at the shrine of Terminus they did not give assent;

Note. addixere = addixerunt. The augurs read the birds; when they 'did not give assent' (non addixere), the shrine of Terminus, god of boundaries, could not be moved, so it was enclosed within the new temple.

Liv. 1.55.4idque ōmen auguriumque ita acceptum est, nōn mōtam Terminī sēdem ūnumque eum deōrum nōn ēvocātum sacrātīs sibi fīnibus firma stabiliaque cūncta portendere.

and this omen and augury was taken to mean that, since the seat of Terminus was not moved and he alone of the gods was not called away from the boundaries consecrated to him, everything would be firm and lasting.

Note. The omen is explained in indirect statement: non motam … sedem … firma stabiliaque cuncta portendere, 'that the seat of Terminus not having been moved … foretold that everything would be firm'. Romans read it as a sign that Rome's boundaries would never retreat.

Liv. 1.55.5Hōc perpetuitātis auspiciō acceptō secūtum aliud magnitūdinem imperiī portendēns prōdigium est: caput hūmānum integrā faciē aperientibus fundāmenta templī dīcitur appāruisse.

After this auspice of permanence had been received, there followed another portent, foretelling the greatness of the empire: a human head, its face intact, is said to have come to light for the men digging the foundations of the temple.

Note. secutum … prodigium est: a deponent perfect with its parts separated, 'there followed a portent'. aperientibus fundamenta: dative, 'to (the men) opening the foundations'. The story of the head (caput) explains the name Capitolium.

Liv. 1.55.6Quae vīsa speciēs haud per ambāgēs arcem eam imperiī caputque rērum fore portendēbat, idque ita cecinēre vātēs, quīque in urbe erant quōsque ad eam rem cōnsultandam ex Etrūriā accīverant.

This sight foretold, in no riddling way, that this would be the citadel of empire and the head of the world; and so the seers declared, both those who were in the city and those whom they had summoned from Etruria to consider the matter.

Note. caputque rerum fore: 'and would be the head of the world'; res here = 'the world, affairs'. fore = futurum esse. cecinere vates: canere is used of prophets, who were thought to chant.

Liv. 1.55.6Augēbātur ad inpēnsās rēgis animus.

The king's mind was encouraged to spend lavishly.

Liv. 1.55.7Itaque Pōmptīnae manubiae, quae perdūcendō ad culmen operī dēstinātae erant, vix in fundāmenta suppeditāvēre.

So the spoils from Pometia, which had been set aside for bringing the work up to the roof, hardly sufficed for the foundations.

Note. Pomptinae manubiae: the general's share of spoils from Suessa Pometia, a Volscian town Tarquinius had taken. perducendo ad culmen operi: a gerundive in the dative of purpose, 'for bringing the work up to the roof'.

Liv. 1.55.7Eō magis Fabiō, praeterquam quod antīquior est, crēdiderim quadrāgintā ea sōla talenta fuisse, quam Pīsōnī, quī quadrāgintā mīlia pondō argentī sēposita in eam rem scrībit, summam pecūniae neque ex ūnīus tum urbis praedā spērandam et nūllōrum nē huius quidem magnificentiae operum fundāmenta nōn exsuperātūram.

For that reason, apart from his being the older writer, I would rather believe Fabius, that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who writes that forty thousand pounds of silver were set aside for the purpose, a sum of money that could not be hoped for from the plunder of a single city at that time, and that would have been more than enough for the foundations of any building, even of the magnificent works of today.

Note. Livy compares two earlier historians, Q. Fabius Pictor and L. Calpurnius Piso, and prefers Fabius partly because he is older (antiquior). crediderim: perfect subjunctive, a polite potential, 'I would believe'. pondo (indeclinable) means 'by weight', so milia pondo = 'thousands of pounds'. ne huius quidem magnificentiae: 'not even of today's splendour' — Livy is writing under Augustus.