Liv. 2.37.1Lūdī quam amplissimī ut fierent, senātus dēcrēvit.The senate decreed that the games should be held on the grandest possible scale. Liv. 2.37.1Ad eōs lūdōs auctōre Attiō Tulliō vīs magna Volscōrum vēnit.To those games, at the instigation of Attius Tullius, a great number of Volsci came. Liv. 2.37.2Priusquam committerentur lūdī, Tullius, ut domī compositum cum Mārciō fuerat, ad cōnsulēs vēnit;Before the games began, Tullius, as had been arranged at home with Marcius, came to the consuls; Liv. 2.37.2dīcit esse, quae sēcrētō agere dē rē pūblicā velit.he says there are matters concerning the state that he wishes to discuss in private. Liv. 2.37.2Arbitrīs remōtīs "invītus" inquit, "quod sequius sit, dē meīs cīvibus loquor, nōn tamen admissum quicquam ab iīs crīminātum veniō, sed cautum, nē admittant.When witnesses had been sent away, he said, 'It is unwillingly that I speak about my fellow citizens in a way that may seem rather unkind; yet I come not to accuse them of anything they have done, but to take precautions that they may not do it. Liv. 2.37.4Nimiō plūs quam vellem nostrōrum ingenia sunt mōbilia.Far more than I could wish, the characters of our people are fickle.
Liv. 2.37.5Multīs id clādibus sēnsimus, quippe quī nōn nostrō meritō, sed vestrā patientiā incolumēs sīmus.We have felt this through many disasters, seeing that we are safe not by our own deserving but by your forbearance. Liv. 2.37.5Magna hīc nunc Volscōrum multitūdō est;There is now a great multitude of Volsci here; Liv. 2.37.5lūdī sunt;there are the games; Liv. 2.37.5spectāculō intenta cīvitās erit.the city will be intent on the spectacle. Liv. 2.37.6Meminī, quid per eandem occāsiōnem ab Sabīnōrum iuventūte in hāc urbe commissum sit;I remember what was done in this city on a like occasion by the young men of the Sabines; Liv. 2.37.6horret animus, nē quid incōnsultē ac temerē fīat.my mind shudders lest something ill-considered and rash should be done. Liv. 2.37.6Haec nostrā vestrāque causā prius dīcenda vōbīs, cōnsulēs, ratus sum.I thought these things ought to be told to you, consuls, beforehand, for our sake and yours. Liv. 2.37.7Quod ad mē attinet, extemplō hinc domum abīre in animō est, nē cuius factī dictīve contāgiōne praesēns violer."As far as I am concerned, I intend to go home from here at once, so that I may not be tainted by contact with any deed or word while I am present.' Liv. 2.37.7Haec locūtus abiit.Having said this he departed.
Liv. 2.37.8Cōnsulēs cum ad patrēs rem dubiam sub auctōre certō dētulissent, auctor magis, ut fit, quam rēs ad praecavendum vel ex supervacuō mōvit;When the consuls had laid before the senators a matter that was doubtful, though on a sure authority, the authority rather than the matter, as usually happens, moved them to take precautions, even unnecessary ones; Liv. 2.37.8factōque senātūs cōnsultō, ut urbe excēderent Volscī, praecōnēs dīmittuntur, quī omnēs eōs proficīscī ante noctem iubērent.and a decree of the senate having been passed that the Volsci should leave the city, heralds are sent round to order them all to depart before nightfall. Liv. 2.37.9Ingēns pavor prīmō discurrentīs ad suās rēs tollendās in hospitia perculit;At first a great panic struck them as they ran this way and that to their lodgings to fetch their belongings; Liv. 2.37.9proficīscentibus deinde indignātiō oborta, sē ut cōnscelerātōs contāminātōsque ab lūdīs, fēstīs diēbus, coetū quōdam modō hominum deōrumque abāctōs esse.then, as they set out, indignation arose that they had been driven away from the games, from the festival days, from what was in a sense a gathering of men and gods, as if they were criminals and polluted.