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Livy · Ab Urbe Condita XXII

Ab Urbe Condita 22.56

Varro's letter and the city's mourning

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Liv. 22.56.1Cum in hanc sententiam pedibus omnēs īssent, summōtāque forō per magistrātūs turbā patrēs dīversī ad sēdandōs tumultūs discessissent, tum dēmum litterae ā C. Terentiō cōnsule allātae sunt: L. Aemilium cōnsulem exercitumque caesum;When all had gone over to this proposal, and the crowd had been cleared from the forum by the magistrates and the senators had gone off in different directions to calm the disturbances, then at last a letter arrived from the consul Gaius Terentius: the consul Lucius Aemilius and his army had been cut down; Liv. 22.56.2sēsē Canusiī esse, reliquiās tantae clādis velut ex naufragiō colligentem;he himself was at Canusium, gathering the remnants of so great a disaster as if from a shipwreck; Liv. 22.56.2ad decem mīlia mīlitum ferme esse inconpositōrum inordinātōrumque;there were about ten thousand soldiers, disorganised and out of order; Liv. 22.56.2Poenum sedēre ad Cannās, in captīvōrum — ;the Carthaginian was sitting at Cannae, haggling over the captives' —; Liv. 22.56.3pretiīs praedāque aliā nec victōris animō nec magnī ducis mōre nūndinantem.ransoms and the other booty, neither in the spirit of a victor nor in the manner of a great general.

Liv. 22.56.4Tum prīvātae quoque per domōs clādēs vulgātae sunt, adeōque tōtam urbem opplēvit lūctus, ut sacrum anniversārium Cereris intermissum sit, quia nec lūgentibus id facere est fās nec ūlla in illā tempestāte mātrona expers lūctūs fuerat.Then private losses too were made known from house to house, and grief so filled the whole city that the annual rite of Ceres was suspended, because it is not lawful for mourners to perform it, and at that time there was not a single matron who had no share in grief. Liv. 22.56.5Itaque nē ob eandem causam alia quoque sacra pūblica aut prīvāta dēsererentur, senātūs cōnsultō diēbus trīgintā lūctus est fīnītus.Therefore, so that other public or private rites should not also be neglected for the same reason, mourning was limited to thirty days by decree of the senate. Liv. 22.56.6Cēterum cum sēdātō urbis tumultū revocātī in cūriam patrēs essent, aliae īnsuper ex Siciliā litterae allātae sunt ab T. Otaciliō prōpraetōre, regnum Hierōnis ā classe Pūnicā vāstārī;But when the uproar in the city had been calmed and the senators recalled to the Curia, another letter came in addition from Sicily, from Titus Otacilius the propraetor, saying that the kingdom of Hiero was being ravaged by a Carthaginian fleet; Liv. 22.56.7cui opem inplōrantī ferre vellet, nūntiātum sibi esse aliam classem ad Aegātēs īnsulās stāre parātam īnstrūctamque, ut, ubi sē versum ad tuendam Syrācūsānam ōram Poenī sēnsissent, Lilybaeum extemplō prōvinciamque aliam Rōmānam adgrederentur.when he wished to bring the king the help he begged for, he had been told that another fleet stood at the Aegates islands, ready and equipped, so that, as soon as the Carthaginians perceived that he had turned to protect the coast of Syracuse, they might at once attack Lilybaeum and the rest of the Roman province.

Liv. 22.56.8Itaque classe opus esse, sī rēgem socium Siciliamque tuērī vellent.A fleet was therefore needed, if they wished to protect their ally the king and Sicily.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×2, purpose clauses ×1, ablative absolute ×1, indirect statement ×3

Latin vocabulary for this passage (122 words)
cum, conj.when, while, after; since; although
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
sententia, -ae, f.opinion; purpose
pēs, pedis, m.foot
omnis, -eall, every
eō, īre, iī, itusgo
summoveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtusdrive off, force back
que, enclitic conj.and
forum, -ī n.market place, public square
per, prep, with ace.through, by means of
magistrātus, -ūs m.magistrate, official
turba, -ae f.crowd
pater, patris, m.father
dīversus, -a, -umturned different ways, opposite, contrary, different
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
sēdō, -āre, -āvī, -ātussettle, calm, put down
tumultus, -ūs m.uproar, uprising
discēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessusgo apart, withdraw, depart
tum, adv.then, at that time
dēmum, adv.at last
litterae, -ārum f. pl.letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
cōnsul, -ulis m.consul (one of Rome's two chief magistrates)
afferō, afferre, attulī, allātumbring, bring to; cause
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
exercitus, -ūs, m.army
caedō, -ere, cecīdī, caesumcut, cut down; kill
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.himself, herself, itself, themselves
reliquiae, -ārum f. pl.remains, what is left over, leftovers
tantus, -a, -umso great or much
clādēs, -is f.disaster, defeat, destruction
veluteven or just as, as
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
naufragium, -ī n.shipwreck; naufragium facere: be shipwrecked
colligō, -ere, -lēgī, -lēctumgather, collect (sē colligere: recover oneself)
decem, indecl. adj.ten
mīlle, indecl. adj.a thousand; mīlia, -ium, n. plur., thousands;
mīles, mīlitis, m.soldier
ferme (adv.)about, nearly, almost
incompositus, -a, -umdisordered, irregular; rough, artless
inordinātus, -a, -umin disorder, not in formation
sedeō, sedēre, sēdī, sessussit
captīvus, -a, -umcaptive
pretium, -ī, n.price, charge
praeda, -ae, f.booty, spoil, plunder
alius, -a, -udanother, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
victor, -ōris m.conqueror, victor
animus, -ī, m.mind; heart; spirit, courage
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
dux, ducis, m. and f.leader, commander
mōs, mōris, m.way, manner, habit, custom
nūndinor, -ārī, -ātus sumtrade, haggle; traffic in
prīvātus, -a, -umprivate
quoque, adv.also
domus, -ūs, f.house, home
vulgō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusmake common, spread abroad; (corpus) prostitute
adeō (adv.)so far, to such a degree; so
tōtus, -a, -umall the, the whole or entire
urbs, urbis, f.city
oppleō, -ēre, -plēvī, -plētusfill completely, cover
lūctus, -ūs m.grief, mourning
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
sacrum, -ī n.sacred object or rite; sacra: rites, worship
anniversārius, -a, -umannual, yearly
intermittō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missusleave off, interrupt; let pass; pass., be left between, intervene, elapse
quia (conj.)because
lūgeō, -ēre, lūxī, lūctusmourn, grieve for
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
fās (indecl.) n.what is right by divine law (fās est: it is allowed)
ūllus, -a, -umany
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
tempestās, -tātis, f.weather; storm, tempest
expers, -pertishaving no share in, without (+ gen. or abl.)
itaque, adv.and so, accordingly, therefore
nē, adv.not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
ob, prep. with acc.on account of, for; in compounds, to, against
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
causa, -ae, f.cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
pūblicus, -a, -umpublic, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state)
aut, conj.or; aut ... aut, either ... or
dēserō, -serere, -seruī, -sertusdesert
senātus, -ūs m.senate
cōnsultum, -ī n.decree (senātūs cōnsultum: a decree of the Senate)
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.day
trīgintā (indecl.)thirty
fīniō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusbound, limit; end
cēterum (adv.)but, however; for the rest
revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumcall back, recall
cūria, -ae f.senate house
īnsuper (adv.)above, on top; besides
prōpraetor, -ōris m.propraetor, ex-praetor holding command or governing a province
regnum, -ī, n.royal power, rule, throne; kingdom, realm
classis, -is f.fleet
Pūnicus, -a, -umPunic, Carthaginian; bella Pūnica: the wars with Carthage
vāstō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuslay waste
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
ops, opis f.; pl. opēs, -umhelp; (pl.) resources, wealth, power
implōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumbeg for, appeal for
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātusbear, bring
volō, velle, voluīwish
nūntiō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusreport, announce
īnsula, -ae, f.island
stō, stāre, stetī, statusstand
parātus, -a, -umprepared, equipped, ready
īnstruo, -struere, -strūxī, -strūctusbuild in or into; draw up; equip, furnish,
ubi, adv.where; conj., when
vertō, vertere, vertī, versusturn
tueor, -ērī, tuitus sumwatch over, protect, defend
Syrācūsānus, -a, -umof Syracuse, Syracusan
ōra, -ae f.coast, shore
sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsusperceive, feel
extemplō, adv.immediately, straightway, at once
prōvincia, -ae f.province; here, the Roman Province in southern Gaul
Rōmānus, -a, -umRoman
aggredior, -ī, aggressus sumattack
opus, operis, n.work, task
sī, conj.if
rēx, rēgis, m.king
socius, -ī, m.companion, comrade, ally
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.