Ab Urbe Condita 1, Preface

Liv. 1.pr.1Factūrusne operae pretium sim, sī ā prīmordiō urbis rēs populī Rōmānī perscrīpserim, nec satis sciō nec, sī sciam, dīcere ausim, quippe quī cum veterem tum vulgātam esse rem videam, dum novī semper scrīptōrēs aut in rēbus certius aliquid allātūrōs sē aut scrībendī arte rudem vetustātem superātūrōs crēdunt.

Whether I shall be doing something worth the effort if I write out in full the history of the Roman people from the first beginnings of the city, I do not really know, nor, if I knew, would I dare to say so, since I see that it is an old and a well-worn subject, while new writers keep believing either that they will bring something more certain to the facts or that they will surpass the rough style of antiquity with their skill in writing.

Note. Livy opens with a famously modest and tortuous sentence. Factūrusne … sim: 'whether I shall be doing', an indirect question (-ne) with the future participle + sim standing in for a future subjunctive. operae pretium: 'worth the effort'. ausim: an old subjunctive of audeō, 'I would dare'. quippe quī … videam: 'since I see' (quippe quī + subjunctive gives a reason). Livy means that others have written Roman history before him.

Liv. 1.pr.2Utcumque erit, iuvābit tamen rērum gestārum memoriae prīncipis terrārum populī prō virīlī parte et ipsum cōnsuluisse;

However it turns out, it will still be a pleasure to have done my own part, as far as one man can, for the memory of the deeds of the foremost people on earth;

Note. Utcumque erit: 'however it turns out'. iuvābit … cōnsuluisse: 'it will please me to have looked after', with the perfect infinitive. prō virīlī parte: 'as far as one man can'. prīncipis terrārum populī: 'the leading people of the world', Livy's Rome.

Liv. 1.pr.3et sī in tantā scrīptōrum turbā mea fāma in obscūrō sit, nōbilitāte ac magnitūdine eōrum mē, quī nōminī officient meō, cōnsōler.

and if in so great a crowd of writers my own fame should lie in obscurity, I shall console myself with the distinction and greatness of those who will stand in the way of my name.

Note. sī … sit … cōnsōler: a future less vivid condition ('if my fame should be … I would console myself'). in obscūrō: 'in obscurity'. quī nōminī officient meō: 'who will overshadow my name', literally 'stand in its way'.

Liv. 1.pr.4Rēs est praetereā et inmēnsī operis, ut quae suprā septingentēsimum annum repetātur et quae ab exiguīs profecta initiīs eō crēverit, ut iam magnitūdine labōret suā;

Besides, the subject is one of immense labour, since it reaches back more than seven hundred years, and since, having started from small beginnings, it has grown so far that it now struggles under its own size;

Note. ut quae … repetātur: 'since it goes back' (ut quae = quippe quae, with the subjunctive). suprā septingentēsimum annum: Livy began writing in the 20s BC, about 720 years after Rome's traditional founding in 753 BC. eō crēverit ut: 'has grown to such a point that'. magnitūdine labōret suā: the empire 'struggles under its own size', a hint at the civil wars.

Liv. 1.pr.4et legentium plērīsque haud dubitō quīn prīmae orīginēs proximaque orīginibus minus praebitūra voluptātis sint festīnantibus ad haec nova, quibus iam prīdem praevalentis populī vīrēs sē ipsae cōnficiunt;

and I do not doubt that for most readers the earliest origins and what comes next after them will give less pleasure, as they hurry on to these recent times in which the strength of a people long supreme is destroying itself;

Note. legentium plērīsque: 'to most readers', dative with praebitūra. haud dubitō quīn + subjunctive: 'I do not doubt that'. festīnantibus ad haec nova: 'hurrying on to these recent times'. Livy's own age had just come through decades of civil war.

Liv. 1.pr.5ego contrā hoc quoque labōris praemium petam, ut mē ā cōnspectū malōrum, quae nostra tot per annōs vīdit aetās, tantisper certē, dum prīsca illa tōtā mente repetō, āvertam, omnis expers cūrae, quae scrībentis animum etsī nōn flectere ā vērō, sollicitum tamen efficere posset.

I, on the other hand, shall seek this reward too for my labour: that I may turn away from the sight of the evils which our age has seen for so many years, at least for as long as I am recalling those old times with my whole mind, free of every care which, though it could not bend a writer's mind from the truth, could still make it anxious.

Note. ego contrā: Livy sets his own taste against his readers'. ut … āvertam: purpose clause explaining hoc praemium. omnis expers cūrae: 'free from all anxiety'; omnis agrees with cūrae (genitive). etsī nōn flectere … sollicitum tamen efficere posset: a care that could not make a historian lie, but could make him anxious.

Liv. 1.pr.6Quae ante conditam condendamve urbem poēticīs magis decōra fābulīs quam incorruptīs rērum gestārum monumentīs trāduntur, ea nec adfirmāre nec refellere in animō est.

The traditions about the time before the city was founded or planned, which are handed down more as pretty poetic tales than as reliable records of events, I intend neither to affirm nor to refute.

Note. Quae … trāduntur, ea …: the relative clause comes first, picked up by ea. ante conditam condendamve urbem: 'before the city was founded or about to be founded' — a perfect participle and a gerundive side by side. poēticīs … fābulīs: Livy keeps his distance from the legends he is about to tell.

Liv. 1.pr.7Datur haec venia antīquitātī, ut miscendō hūmāna dīvīnīs prīmordia urbium augustiōra faciat;

This licence is granted to antiquity, that by mixing the human with the divine it makes the beginnings of cities more venerable;

Note. Datur haec venia antīquitātī: 'this indulgence is granted to antiquity'. miscendō: ablative of the gerund, 'by mixing'. augustiōra: comparative of augustus, 'more venerable'.

Liv. 1.pr.7et sī cui populō licēre oportet cōnsecrāre orīginēs suās et ad deōs referre auctōrēs: ea bellī glōria est populō Rōmānō, ut, cum suum conditōrisque suī parentem Mārtem potissimum ferat, tam et hoc gentēs hūmānae patiantur aequō animō, quam imperium patiuntur.

and if any people ought to be allowed to consecrate its origins and refer them to the gods as founders, the glory of the Roman people in war is such that, when it claims Mars above all as its own father and the father of its founder, the races of men endure this with as good grace as they endure its rule.

Note. sī cui populō: 'if to any people' (quis after sī). licēre oportet: 'it ought to be allowed'. cum … ferat: 'since it claims'. Mārtem: Mars, father of Romulus. tam … quam: the nations accept Rome's claim to divine descent as calmly as they accept its rule — a pointed compliment.

Liv. 1.pr.8Sed haec et hīs similia, utcumque animadversa aut exīstimāta erunt, haud in magnō equidem pōnam discrīmine: ad illa mihi prō sē quisque ācriter intendat animum, quae vīta, quī mōrēs fuerint, per quōs virōs quibusque artibus domī mīlitiaeque et partum et auctum imperium sit;

But these things and others like them, however they are regarded or judged, I shall not think of great importance: I would have each reader pay keen attention for himself to these questions — what life, what customs there were, through what men and by what skills, at home and in war, our power was won and enlarged;

Note. in magnō … pōnam discrīmine: 'I shall not consider of great importance'. quae vīta, quī mōrēs fuerint: indirect questions, hence the subjunctive. domī mīlitiaeque: locatives, 'at home and on campaign', a fixed Roman phrase. partum et auctum: 'won and increased' (pariō, augeō).

Liv. 1.pr.9lābente deinde paulātim disciplīnā velut dēsīdentīs prīmō mōrēs sequātur animō, deinde ut magis magisque lāpsī sint, tum īre coeperint praecipitēs, dōnec ad haec tempora, quibus nec vitia nostra nec remedia patī possumus, perventum est.

then let him follow in his mind how, as discipline gradually gave way, morals at first sank, as it were, then slipped more and more, and then began to go headlong, until we have come to these times in which we can endure neither our vices nor their remedies.

Note. lābente … disciplīnā: ablative absolute, 'as discipline slipped'. velut dēsīdentīs … mōrēs: 'morals sinking, as it were'; dēsīdentīs is an accusative plural in -īs. The image is of a building subsiding and then collapsing. nec vitia nostra nec remedia patī possumus: one of Livy's most quoted lines, often taken as a hint at Augustus' moral legislation.

Liv. 1.pr.10Hoc illud est praecipuē in cognitiōne rērum salūbre ac frūgiferum, omnis tē exemplī documenta in inlūstrī posita monumentō intuērī: inde tibi tuaeque reī pūblicae quod imitēre capiās, inde foedum inceptū, foedum exitū, quod vītēs.

This is what is especially healthy and profitable in the study of history: that you behold the lessons of every kind of example set out on a conspicuous monument; from there you may take for yourself and your state what to imitate, and from there what to avoid, shameful in its beginning and shameful in its end.

Note. Hoc illud est … salūbre: 'this is what is especially healthy'. omnis … exemplī documenta: 'lessons of every kind of example'. quod imitēre … quod vītēs: relative clauses of purpose ('things to imitate … to avoid'); imitēre = imitēris. foedum inceptū, foedum exitū: ablatives of respect, 'shameful in its beginning, shameful in its outcome'. tuaeque: the digital text prints 'tuaequae', a misprint.

Liv. 1.pr.11Cēterum aut mē amor negōtiī susceptī fallit, aut nūlla umquam rēs pūblica nec maior nec sānctior nec bonīs exemplīs dītior fuit, nec in quam cīvitātem tam sērae avāritia luxuriaque inmigrāverint, nec ubi tantus ac tam diū paupertātī ac parsimōniae honōs fuerit: adeō quantō rērum minus, tantō minus cupiditātis erat;

For the rest, either love of the task I have undertaken deceives me, or there has never been any state greater, more upright or richer in good examples, nor any into which greed and luxury made their way so late, nor any where poverty and thrift were held in honour so greatly and for so long: so true is it that the less men had, the less they desired;

Note. Cēterum: 'for the rest, however'. nec maior nec sānctior nec … dītior: three comparatives. in quam cīvitātem … immigrāverint: subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic. quantō … minus, tantō minus: 'the less … the less', ablatives of degree of difference.

Liv. 1.pr.12nūper dīvitiae avāritiam et abundantēs voluptātēs dēsīderium per luxum atque libīdinem pereundī perdendīque omnia invēxēre.

lately wealth has brought in greed, and abundant pleasures a longing to ruin oneself and everything else through extravagance and lust.

Note. invēxēre = invēxērunt. pereundī perdendīque: gerunds, 'of ruining oneself and ruining everything'.

Liv. 1.pr.12Sed querellae, nē tum quidem grātae futūrae, cum forsitan necessāriae erunt, ab initiō certē tantae ordiendae reī absint;

But let complaints, which will not be welcome even then, when perhaps they will be necessary, at least be absent from the beginning of so great an undertaking;

Note. querellae … absint: jussive subjunctive, 'let complaints be absent'. nē tum quidem: 'not even then'. tantae ordiendae reī: 'of so great a thing to be begun', a gerundive.

Liv. 1.pr.13cum bonīs potius ōminibus vōtīsque et precātiōnibus deōrum deārumque, sī, ut poētīs, nōbīs quoque mōs esset, libentius inciperēmus, ut orsīs tantum operis successūs prosperōs darent.

rather we would begin, if we had the custom that poets have, with good omens, and with vows and prayers to the gods and goddesses, that they might grant success to the great work we have begun.

Note. sī … mōs esset … inciperēmus: a present contrary-to-fact condition: 'if we had the custom … we would begin'. Epic poets began with an invocation to the gods; Livy wishes historians could. ōrsīs: 'to us having begun' (ōrdior).