Hist. 2.14.1Inrītātus eō proeliō Othōnis mīles vertit īrās in mūnicipium Albintimilium.Provoked by that battle, Otho's soldiers turned their anger on the town of Albintimilium. Hist. 2.14.1Quippe in aciē nihil praedae, inopēs agrestēs et vīlia arma;For in the battle there had been no plunder: the peasants were poor and their arms worthless; Hist. 2.14.1nec capī poterant, pernīx genus et gnārī locōrum: sed calamitātibus īnsontium explēta avāritia.nor could they be captured, being a swift race who knew the country: but the soldiers' greed was sated by the misfortunes of the innocent. Hist. 2.14.1Auxit invidiam praeclārō exemplō fēmina Ligus, quae fīliō abditō, cum simul pecūniam occultārī mīlitēs crēdidissent eōque per cruciātūs interrogārent ubi fīlium occuleret, uterum ostendēns latēre respondit, nec ūllīs deinde terrōribus aut morte cōnstantiam vōcis ēgregiae mūtāvit.A Ligurian woman increased the odium by a glorious example: she had hidden her son, and when the soldiers believed that she was hiding money as well, and therefore asked her under torture where she was concealing her son, she pointed to her womb and replied that he lay there, and afterwards by no threats, nor even by death, did she change the constancy of her noble words.
Lectitō › Tacitus › Histories, Book 2 › Histories 2.14
Tacitus · Historiae II
Histories 2.14
A Ligurian mother's courage
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×1, indirect statement ×2
Latin vocabulary for this passage (62 words)
| irrītō (inrītō), -āre, -āvī, -ātus | provoke, stir up |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| proelium, -ī, n. | battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| vertō, vertere, vertī, versus | turn |
| īra, -ae, f. | anger, wrath |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| mūnicipium, -ī n. | municipium, a self-governing Italian town with Roman citizenship |
| quippe (adv.) | of course, indeed, for |
| aciēs, -ēī, f. | line of battle |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| praeda, -ae, f. | booty, spoil, plunder |
| inops, -opis | poor, needy |
| agrestis, -e | of the country, rustic; boorish |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| vīlis, -e | cheap, worthless |
| arma, -ōrum, n. plur. | arms, weapons |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| capiō, capere, cēpī, captus | take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| pernīx, -īcis | swift, nimble |
| genus, generis, n. | kind, nature |
| gnārus, -a, -um | knowing, acquainted with, expert (in) |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| sed, conj. | but |
| calamitās, -tātis, f. | misfortune, calamity, disaster |
| īnsōns, -sontis | innocent, guiltless |
| expleō, -ēre, -plēvī, -plētus | fill up, complete; make good |
| avāritia, -ae f. | greed |
| augeō, -ēre, auxī, auctum | increase, enlarge |
| invidia, -ae f. | envy, jealousy, ill will |
| praeclārus, -clāra, -clārum | very bright; splendid, remarkable, famous |
| exemplum, -ī n. | example, precedent |
| fēmina, -ae, f. | woman |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| fīlius, -ī, m. | son |
| abdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | put away, hide |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| simul, adv. | at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as |
| pecūnia, -ae, f. | money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times) |
| occultō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | hide, conceal |
| crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | believe |
| eō (adv.) | to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more) |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| per, prep, with ace. | through, by means of |
| cruciātus, -ūs, m. | torture |
| interrogō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | ask, question |
| ubi, adv. | where; conj., when |
| occulō, -ere, -culuī, -cultum | hide, conceal |
| uterus, -ī m. | belly, womb |
| ostendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus | stretch out before, show, explain |
| lateō, -ēre, -uī | lie hid, be concealed |
| respondeō, -spondēre, -spondī, -spōnsus | reply, answer |
| ūllus, -a, -um | any |
| deinde, adv. | then, next |
| terror, -ōris, m. | terror, fright |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| mors, mortīs, f. | death |
| cōnstantia, -ae f. | steadiness, firmness |
| vōx, vōcis, f. | voice; word |
| ēgregius, -a, -um | outstanding, excellent |
| mūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | change |
Tacitus, Historiae II. Latin text: C. D. Fisher, Cornelii Taciti Historiarum Libri (Oxford, 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.