Ab Urbe Condita 1.8

Liv. 1.8.1Rēbus dīvīnīs rīte perpetrātīs vocātāque ad concilium multitūdine, quae coalēscere in populī ūnīus corpus nūllā rē praeterquam lēgibus poterat, iūra dedit;

When the rites to the gods had been duly performed, and the people had been called together to an assembly, since they could be united into the body of a single people by nothing except laws, he gave them laws;

Note. Rēbus dīvīnīs … perpetrātīs vocātāque … multitūdine: two ablatives absolute. praeterquam lēgibus: 'except by laws' — law is what turns a crowd into a populus.

Liv. 1.8.2quae ita sāncta generī hominum agrestī fore ratus, sī sē ipse venerābilem īnsignibus imperiī fēcisset, cum cēterō habitū sē augustiōrem, tum maximē līctōribus duodecim sūmptīs fēcit.

and judging that these would be held sacred by a rustic race of men only if he made himself majestic by the emblems of power, he made himself more august both in the rest of his bearing and above all by taking twelve lictors.

Note. quae … fore ratus: 'thinking that these (laws) would be…'; ratus, from reor, is used with present meaning. cum … tum: 'both … and especially'. The lictors carried the fasces, the rods and axe that symbolised a magistrate's power.

Liv. 1.8.3Aliī ab numerō avium, quae auguriō regnum portenderant, eum secūtum numerum putant;

Some think he followed this number from the number of birds that had foretold the kingship in the augury;

Liv. 1.8.3mē haud paenitet eōrum sententiae esse, quibus et appāritōrēs hoc genus ab Etrūscīs fīnitimīs, unde sella curūlis, unde toga praetexta sūmpta est, et numerum quoque ipsum ductum placet et ita habuisse Etrūscōs, quod ex duodecim populīs commūniter creātō rēge singulōs singulī populī līctōrēs dederint.

I am not sorry to be of the opinion of those who hold that both this class of attendants and their number came from our Etruscan neighbours, from whom the curule chair and the bordered toga were taken, and that the Etruscans had this number because, when the king was chosen in common from twelve peoples, each people gave one lictor.

Note. mē haud paenitet: impersonal paenitet with the accusative of the person, 'I am not sorry'. eōrum sententiae esse: genitive of description, 'to be of their opinion'. Livy appears in the first person, weighing his sources. The Etruscan origin of Roman insignia was widely accepted.

Liv. 1.8.4Crēscēbat interim urbs mūnītiōnibus alia atque alia adpetendō loca, cum in spem magis futūrae multitūdinis quam ad id, quod tum hominum erat, mūnīrent.

Meanwhile the city grew as the fortifications reached out for one place after another, since they were building walls in the hope of a future population rather than for the number of people there were at the time.

Note. aliam atque aliam … appetendō: gerund with an object, 'by reaching out for one place after another'. in spem … quam ad id quod tum hominum erat: 'for the hoped-for population rather than for the number then present'.

Liv. 1.8.5Deinde, nē vāna urbis magnitūdō esset, adiciendae multitūdinis causā vetere cōnsiliō condentium urbēs, quī obscūram atque humilem conciendō ad sē multitūdinem nātam ē terrā sibi prōlem ēmentiēbantur, locum, quī nunc saeptus dēscendentibus inter duōs lūcōs est, asȳlum aperit.

Then, so that the size of the city should not be empty, in order to add to the population he followed the old plan of founders of cities, who used to draw to themselves an obscure and humble crowd and falsely claim that offspring had been born to them from the earth; he opened as an asylum the place which is now fenced in as you go down between the two groves.

Note. nē vāna … esset: purpose clause. adiciendae multitūdinis causā: gerundive with causā, 'for the sake of adding population'. ēmentiēbantur: they 'falsely claimed' their people were born from the earth (autochthony). The asylum lay between the two summits of the Capitoline.

Liv. 1.8.6Eō ex fīnitimīs populīs turba omnis sine discrīmine, līber an servus esset, avida novārum rērum perfūgit, idque prīmum ad coeptam magnitūdinem rōboris fuit.

Here fled a whole crowd from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction whether free or slave, eager for a new life, and this was the first strength of the growing greatness.

Note. Eō: adverb, 'to that place'. līber an servus esset: indirect question, 'whether free or slave'. avida novārum rērum: 'eager for revolution', i.e. for a new start.

Liv. 1.8.6Cum iam vīrium haud paenitēret, cōnsilium deinde vīribus parat.

When he was no longer dissatisfied with his strength, he next provided counsel for that strength.

Liv. 1.8.7Centum creat senātōrēs, sīve quia is numerus satis erat, sīve quia sōlī centum erant, quī creārī patrēs possent.

He created a hundred senators, either because that number was enough, or because there were only a hundred who could be made 'fathers'.

Note. Centum … senātōrēs: the first senate. patrēs: 'fathers' was the title of senators; possent: subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic, 'who could be made'.

Liv. 1.8.7Patrēs certē ab honōre, patriciīque prōgeniēs eōrum appellātī.

They were certainly called fathers from their rank, and their descendants patricians.

Note. Patrēs certē ab honōre (appellātī): 'they were certainly called fathers from their rank'. patriciī: the patricians, the hereditary aristocracy of Rome.