Ab Urbe Condita 1.56

Liv. 1.56.1Intentus perficiendō templō fabrīs undique ex Etrūriā accītīs nōn pecūniā sōlum ad id pūblicā est ūsus, sed operīs etiam ex plēbe.

Intent on finishing the temple, he brought in workmen from all over Etruria and used for it not only public money but also labour from the common people.

Note. Intentus perficiendo templo: 'intent on finishing the temple', with a gerundive in the dative. est usus: utor takes the ablative, here pecunia … publica and operis (from opera, 'labour').

Liv. 1.56.1Quī cum haud parvus et ipse mīlitiae adderētur labor, minus tamen plēbs gravābātur sē templa deum exaedificāre manibus suīs, quam postquam et ad alia ut speciē minōra sīc labōris aliquantō maiōris trādūcēbantur opera, forōs in circō faciendōs cloācamque maximam, receptāculum omnium pūrgāmentōrum urbis, sub terrā agendam;

Though this was no small labour, added to their military service, the people complained less at building the temples of the gods with their own hands than later, when they were moved on to other works, smaller in appearance but needing rather greater labour: building rows of seats in the Circus and driving underground the Great Sewer, the receptacle of all the filth of the city;

Note. The sentence turns on minus … quam postquam: the people resented building temples less than they did later, when they were moved on to other works. foros: rows of seats in the Circus Maximus. The Cloaca Maxima, the great sewer draining the forum valley, still survives in part.

Liv. 1.56.2quibus duōbus operibus vix nova haec magnificentia quicquam adaequāre potuit.

with these two works our new magnificence of today has hardly been able to match anything.

Note. nova haec magnificentia: again Livy's own day, the great building programme of Augustus.

Liv. 1.56.3Hīs labōribus exercitā plēbe, quia et urbī multitūdinem, ubi ūsus nōn esset, onerī rēbātur esse, et colōnīs mittendīs occupārī lātius imperiī fīnēs volēbat, Signiam Circēiōsque colōnōs mīsit, praesidia urbī futūra terrā marīque.

When the people had been kept busy with these labours, because he thought that a crowd in the city with no employment was a burden, and because he wanted the boundaries of his rule spread more widely by sending out colonists, he sent colonists to Signia and Circeii, to be defences for the city by land and sea.

Note. His laboribus exercita plebe: ablative absolute. quia … rebatur … et … volebat: two reasons. Signia and Circeii were Latin colonies guarding the approaches by land and sea; praesidia … futura, 'to be defences', is a future participle of purpose.

Liv. 1.56.3Haec agentī portentum terribile vīsum: anguis ex columnā ligneā ēlāpsus cum terrōrem fugamque rēgiā fēcisset, ipsīus rēgis nōn tam subitō pavōre perculit pectus, quam ānxiīs inplēvit cūrīs.

While he was doing these things a terrible portent appeared: a snake slipped out of a wooden column, and when it had caused fear and flight in the palace, it struck the king's own heart not so much with sudden panic as it filled it with anxious cares.

Note. Haec agenti: dative with visum, 'to him (while) doing these things there appeared'. non tam … quam: 'not so much … as'.

Liv. 1.56.5Itaque cum ad pūblica prōdigia Etrūscī tantum vātēs adhibērentur, hōc velut domesticō exterritus vīsū Delphōs ad maximē inclitum in terrīs ōrāculum mittere statuit;

So, though only Etruscan seers were called in for public portents, he was frightened by this sight, which seemed to concern his own house, and decided to send to Delphi, to the most famous oracle in the world;

Note. hoc velut domestico … visu: the portent seemed to concern his own household rather than the state, so the Etruscan diviners who handled public prodigies were not enough. Delphos: accusative of place to which, without a preposition, as with towns.

Liv. 1.56.6neque respōnsa sortium ūllī aliī committere ausus duōs fīliōs per ignōtās eā tempestāte terrās, ignōtiōra maria in Graeciam mīsit.

and not daring to entrust the oracle's answer to anyone else, he sent two of his sons to Greece, through lands unknown at that time and seas still more unknown.

Note. ignotas ea tempestate terras: Greece was still little known to Romans at that early date, Livy implies.

Liv. 1.56.7Titus et Arrūns profectī.

Titus and Arruns set out.

Liv. 1.56.7Comes iīs additus L. Iūnius Brūtus, Tarquiniā sorōre rēgis nātus, iuvenis longē alius ingeniō, quam cuius simulātiōnem induerat.

As a companion L. Iunius Brutus was added to them, a son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a young man of quite another character than the one whose disguise he had put on.

Note. L. Iunius Brutus: his mother Tarquinia was the king's sister, so he was the king's nephew. alius ingenio quam cuius simulationem induerat: 'other in character than (the man) whose pretence he had put on'.

Liv. 1.56.7Is cum prīmōrēs cīvitātis, in quibus frātrem suum ab avunculō interfectum audīsset, neque in animō suō quicquam rēgī timendum neque in fortūnā concupīscendum relinquere statuit contemptūque tūtus esse, ubi in iūre parum praesidiī esset.

Having heard that the leading men of the state, his own brother among them, had been killed by his uncle, he resolved to leave nothing in his character for the king to fear and nothing in his fortune for him to covet, and to find safety in being despised, since there was little protection in justice.

Note. in quibus fratrem suum ab avunculo interfectum: the king had killed Brutus' brother among the leading men. The gerundives timendum and concupiscendum depend on relinquere: he left 'nothing to be feared … nothing to be coveted'. contemptuque tutus esse: 'to be safe through being despised'.

Liv. 1.56.8Ergō ex industriā factus ad imitātiōnem stultitiae cum sē suaque praedae esse rēgī sineret, Brūtī quoque haud abnuit cognōmen, ut sub eius obtentū cognōminis līberātor ille populī Rōmānī animus latēns opperīrētur tempora sua.

So he deliberately made himself an imitation of a fool, letting himself and his property be the king's prey, and did not even refuse the nickname Brutus ('Dullard'), so that, under cover of that name, the spirit that was to set the Roman people free might lie hidden and wait for its time.

Note. brutus as an ordinary adjective means 'dull, stupid'; Livy explains the cognomen as a disguise Brutus accepted. ut … animus latens opperiretur tempora sua: purpose clause; liberator ille populi Romani animus is the subject, 'that spirit, the liberator of the Roman people'.

Liv. 1.56.9Is tum ab Tarquiniīs ductus Delphōs, lūdibrium vērius quam comes, aureum baculum inclūsum corneō cavātō ad id baculō tulisse dōnum Apollinī dīcitur, per ambāgēs effigiem ingeniī suī.

He was taken to Delphi by the Tarquinii, more as a laughing-stock than as a companion, and is said to have brought Apollo a golden staff enclosed in a staff of cornel wood hollowed out for it, a riddling image of his own character.

Note. ludibrium verius quam comes: 'a plaything rather than a companion'. The golden staff hidden in a cheap wooden one is an image (effigiem) of Brutus himself: gold inside, dull wood outside.

Liv. 1.56.10Quō postquam ventum est, perfectīs patris mandātīs cupīdō incessit animōs iuvenum scīscitandī, ad quem eōrum regnum Rōmānum esset ventūrum.

When they arrived there and had carried out their father's instructions, the young men were seized by a desire to ask to which of them the kingdom of Rome would come.

Note. Quo postquam ventum est: impersonal passive, 'after they came there'. ad quem eorum regnum Romanum esset venturum: indirect question with the future participle, 'to which of them the kingdom would come'.

Liv. 1.56.10Ex īnfimō specū vōcem redditam ferunt: "imperium summum Rōmae habēbit, quī vestrum prīmus, ō iuvenēs, ōsculum mātrī tulerit."

They say that a voice came back from the depths of the cave: 'The highest power at Rome will be held by whichever of you, young men, first gives a kiss to his mother.'

Note. The oracle is given in direct speech. qui vestrum primus … tulerit: 'whichever of you first gives' — tulerit is future perfect. vestrum is the partitive genitive of vos.

Liv. 1.56.11Tarquiniī, ut Sextus, quī Rōmae relictus fuerat, ignārus respōnsī expersque imperiī esset rem summā ope tacērī iubent;

The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept absolutely secret, so that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might know nothing of the answer and have no share in the power;

Note. ut Sextus … ignarus responsi expersque imperii esset: purpose clause. expers takes the genitive, 'without a share in'.

Liv. 1.56.11ipsī inter sē, uter prior, cum Rōmam redīssent, mātrī ōsculum daret, sortī permittunt.

they themselves left it to the lot which of them, when they returned to Rome, should be first to give his mother a kiss.

Liv. 1.56.12Brūtus aliō ratus spectāre Pȳthicam vōcem, velut sī prōlāpsus cecidisset, terram ōsculō contigit, scīlicet quod ea commūnis māter omnium mortālium esset.

Brutus, thinking that the Pythian voice meant something else, pretended to slip and fall, and touched the earth with a kiss, because, of course, she is the common mother of all mortals.

Note. Brutus understood 'mother' as the earth, mother of all living things, and so 'kissed his mother' first. scilicet quod: 'because, of course' — Livy gives the reason as Brutus' thought.

Liv. 1.56.13Reditum inde Rōmam, ubi adversus Rutulōs bellum summā vī parābātur.

From there they returned to Rome, where war was being prepared with all energy against the Rutulians.

Note. Reditum: impersonal passive, 'there was a return', i.e. they returned.