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Livy · Ab Urbe Condita XXII

Ab Urbe Condita 22.26

Varro's rise to prominence

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Liv. 22.26.1Is iuvenis, ut iam ex eō genere quaestūs pecūnia ā patre relicta animōs ad spem līberāliōris fortūnae fēcit togaque et forum placuēre, prōclāmandō prō sordidīs hominibus causīsque adversus rem et fāmam bonōrum prīmum in nōtitiam populī, deinde ad honōrēs pervēnit, quaestūrāque et duābus aedīlitātibus, plēbēiā et curūlī, postrēmō et praetūrā perfūnctus iam ad cōnsulātūs spem cum adtolleret animōs, haud parum callidē auram favōris populāris ex dictātōriā invidiā petiit scītīque plēbis ūnus grātiam tulit.This young man, when the money left him by his father from that kind of trade had raised his hopes of a more gentlemanly station, and the toga and the forum took his fancy, by bawling on behalf of low men and low causes against the interests and good name of respectable men came first to the notice of the people, then to office; and having held the quaestorship and two aedileships, plebeian and curule, and finally the praetorship too, now that he was lifting his ambitions to the hope of the consulship, he quite cleverly sought the breeze of popular favour from the dictator's unpopularity, and alone won the credit for the plebiscite.

Liv. 22.26.5Omnēs eam rogātiōnem quīque Rōmae quīque in exercitū erant, aequī atque inīquī, praeter ipsum dictātōrem in contumēliam eius lātam accēpērunt;Everyone, both at Rome and in the army, friend and foe alike, except the dictator himself, took that bill as having been passed to insult him; Liv. 22.26.6ipse, quā gravitāte animī crīminantīs sē ad multitūdinem inimīcōs tulerat, eādem et populī in sē saevientis iniūriam tulit;he himself bore the injustice of the people raging against him with the same dignity of spirit with which he had borne his enemies when they accused him before the multitude; Liv. 22.26.6acceptīsque in ipsō itinere litterīs dē aequātō imperiō, satis fīdēns haudquāquam cum imperiī iūre artem imperandī aequātam cum invictō ā cīvibus hostibusque animō ad exercitum rediit.and having received a letter on the road itself about the equalising of the command, quite confident that the art of command had by no means been made equal along with the right of command, he returned to the army with a spirit unconquered by citizens and enemies alike.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×2, indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (100 words)
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
iuvenis, -is, m.young man, youth
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
iam, adv.now, already
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
genus, generis, n.kind, nature
quaestus, -ūs m.gain, profit
pecūnia, -ae, f.money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times)
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
pater, patris, m.father
relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictusleave behind, leave
animus, -ī, m.mind; heart; spirit, courage
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
spēs, speī, f.hope
līberālis, -ebefitting a free man; generous (with: gen.)
fortūna, -ae, f.fortune
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
toga, -ae f.toga, the Roman citizen's garment of peace
que, enclitic conj.and
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
forum, -ī n.market place, public square
placeō, -ēre, placuī, placitum (+ dat.)please (placuit eī: he decided)
prōclāmō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuscry out, declare loudly
prō, prep. with abl.before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for
sordidus, -a, -umdirty; mean, base, of low status
homō, hominis, m.man
causa, -ae, f.cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
adversum (prep. + acc.; also adversus)against, opposite
rēs, reī, f.thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
fāma, -ae, f.report, rumor
bonus, -a, -umgood
prīmum, adv.first, in the first place
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
nōtitia, -ae f.knowledge, acquaintance
populus, -ī m.people, nation
deinde, adv.then, next
honor, -ōris, m.honor
perveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventuscome through, come, arrive, reach
quaestūra, -ae f.the quaestorship
duo, -ae, -o, plur. adj.two
aedīlitās, -ātis f.the aedileship, the office of aedile
plēbēius, -a, -umof the common people, plebeian; common, vulgar
curūlis, -ecurule; sella curūlis: the folding ivory chair of the higher magistrates
postrēmō (adv.)finally, at last
praetūra, -ae f.praetorship
perfungor, -ī, -fūnctus sumgo through, perform; endure to the end (+ abl.)
cōnsulātus, -ūs m.consulship
cum, conj.when, while, after; since; although
attollō, -erelift up, raise
haud, adv.not at all, by no means, not
parum (comp. minus, superl. minimē)too little; minimē: least, not at all
callidē (adv.)shrewdly, cleverly
aura, -ae, f.air, breeze
favor, -ōris m.goodwill, support, applause
populāris, -eof the people; popular; courting the people (a 'popular' politician)
dictātōrius, -a, -umof a dictator
invidia, -ae f.envy, jealousy, ill will
petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītusseek, ask; attack
scītum, -ī n.decree; populī scītum, a decree of the people
plēbs, plēbis f.the common people
ūnus, -a, -umone; only, alone
grātia, -ae, f.favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātusbear, bring
omnis, -eall, every
rogātiō, -ōnis f.proposed law, bill (put to the people)
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
exercitus, -ūs, m.army
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
aequus, -a, -umlevel; equal; fair
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
inīquus, -a, -umuneven; unfair
praeter, prep. with acc.before, past, by; besides, except
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
dictātor, -ōris m.dictator, a magistrate given supreme power in an emergency
contumēlia, -ae f.insult, outrage
accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptustake to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer
gravitās, -ātis f.weight, heaviness; dignity, seriousness
crīminor, -ārī, -ātus sumaccuse, denounce, make charges against
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.himself, herself, itself, themselves
multitūdō, -tūdinis, f.multitude
inimīcus, -a, -umunfriendly, hostile
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
saeviō, -īre, -iī, -ītumrage
iniūria, -ae, f.injury, wrong, hurt, harm
iter, itineris, n.a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march
litterae, -ārum f. pl.letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch
dē, prep, with abl.down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
aequō, -āre, -āvī, -ātummake equal
imperium, -ī, n.command; sway, rule
satis, adv.enough, sufficiently
fīdō, -ere, fīsus sumtrust, rely on (+ dat. or abl.); fīdēns, confident, bold
haudquāquam, adv.in no wise, not at all
cum, prep, with abl.with
iūs, iūris, n.right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath
ars, artis, f.art
imperō, -perāre, -perāvī, -perātuscommand, order, enjoin
invictus, -a, -umunconquered, unbeaten
cīvis, -is, m. and f.citizen, fellow-citizen, subject
hostis, -is, m. and f.enemy, foe
redeō, -īre, -iī, -itusgo back, return
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita XXII. Latin text: B. O. Foster, Livy (Loeb, 1919–29), with some passages from W. Weissenborn and H. J. Müller (Teubner, 1884–1911), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.