- Source
- Titi Livi ab urbe condita libri editionem priman, Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.53.1-1.53.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Tarquinius Superbus begins a war with the Volscians and secures spoils for building the temple. He then sends his son Sextus to Gabii as a fake deserter in order to capture the city by guile.
nec, ut iniustus in pace rex, ita1 dux belli pravus fuit;
Nor, though he was an unjust king in peace, was he a bad leader in war;
quin2 ea arte aequasset superiores reges, ni degeneratum in aliis huic quoque decori offecisset. is primus Volscis bellum in ducentos amplius post suam aetatem annos movit Suessamque Pometiam ex his vi cepit.
Indeed, he would have equalled the former kings in that art, had not his degeneracy in other matters also detracted from this glory. He was the first to stir up against the Volscians a war which was to last for more than two hundred years after his time, and took Suessa Pometia from them by force.
ubi cum divendita praeda quadraginta talenta argenti refecisset, concepit animo eam amplitudinem Iovis templi, quae digna deum hominumque rege, quae Romano imperio, quae ipsius etiam loci maiestate esset. captivam pecuniam in aedificationem eius templi seposuit.
Having there realized forty talents of silver from the sale of the booty, he conceived in his mind a grandeur for the temple of Jupiter that should be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman empire, and of the majesty of the place itself. He set aside this captive money for the building of that temple.
excepit deinde eum lentius spe bellum, quo Gabios, propinquam urbem, nequiquam vi adortus, cum obsidendi quoque urbem spes pulso a moenibus adempta esset, postremo minime arte Romana, fraude ac dolo, adgressus est.
Then a war received him which was more protracted than he had hoped, in which, having in vain attacked Gabii, a neighbouring city, by force, and when, after being repulsed from the walls, even the hope of besieging the city was taken away, he finally attacked it by a method least of all Roman, by fraud and deceit.
nam cum velut posito bello fundamentis templi iaciendis3 aliisque urbanis operibus intentum se esse simularet, Sextus filius eius, qui minimus ex tribus erat, transfugit ex composito Gabios, patris in se saevitiam intolerabilem conquerens:
For while he pretended that, the war being as it were laid aside, he was intent on laying the foundations of the temple and on other city works, his son Sextus, who was the youngest of the three, fled according to a preconcerted plan to Gabii, complaining of his father’s intolerable cruelty towards himself:
iam ab alienis in suos vertisse superbiam, et liberorum quoque eum frequentiae taedere,4 ut, quam in curia solitudinem fecerit, domi quoque faciat, ne quam stirpem, ne quem heredem regni relinquat.
saying that his pride had now turned from strangers against his own family, and that he was also weary of the multitude of his children, so that he might make the same solitude at home which he had made in the senate house, lest he should leave any offspring, or any heir to his kingdom.
se quidem inter tela et gladios patris elapsum nihil usquam sibi tutum nisi apud hostes L. Tarquinii credidisse. nam ne errarent,5 manere iis bellum, quod positum simuletur, et per occasionem eum incautos invasurum.
He, for his part, having escaped from the weapons and swords of his father, had believed that there was no safety for him anywhere except with the enemies of L. Tarquin. For, lest they should err, the war which was pretended to be laid aside was still hanging over them, and he would attack them when off their guard on a favorable opportunity.
quod si apud eos supplicibus locus non sit, pererraturum se omne Latium Volscosque inde et Aequos et Hernicos petiturum, donec ad eos perveniat, qui a patrum crudelibus atque inpiis suppliciis tegere liberos sciant.
But if there should be no place for suppliants among them, he would wander through all Latium, and would seek the Volscians, and thence the Aequi and the Hernici, until he came to those who knew how to protect children from the cruel and impious punishments of parents.
forsitan etiam ardoris aliquid ad bellum armaque se adversus superbissimum regem ac ferocissimum populum inventurum.
Perhaps he might also find some ardor for war and arms against that most haughty king and most ferocious people.
cum, si nihil morarentur, infensus ira porro inde abiturus videretur, benigne ab Gabinis excipitur. vetant mirari, si, qualis in cives, qualis in socios, talis ad ultimum in liberos esset;
Since, if they did not delay him, he seemed about to go further thence, incensed with anger, he was kindly received by the Gabini. They told him not to wonder if he were the same at last towards his children as he had been towards his citizens and allies;
in se ipsum postremo saeviturum, si alia desint. sibi vero gratum adventum eius esse, futurumque credere brevi, ut illo adiuvante a portis Gabinis sub Romana moenia bellum transferatur.
that he would finally vent his rage upon himself if others were wanting. They said that his coming was indeed welcome to them, and they believed that in a short time, with his assistance, the war would be transferred from the gates of Gabii to under the Roman walls.
- 1.53.1ut... ita
The correlative "ut... ita..." here expresses a concessive contrast: "although he was an unjust king in peace, yet he was not a bad leader in war."
- 1.53.2quin
"quin" at the beginning of the sentence is used to corroborate and intensify the preceding negative statement ("he was not a bad leader"), meaning "indeed" or "nay rather."
- 1.53.5fundamentis templi iaciendis
A gerundive construction, equivalent to "fundamenta templi iacere" (laying the foundations of the temple). It stands in the ablative case without a preposition, modifying "intentum" (intent upon).
- 1.53.6liberorum quoque eum frequentiae taedere
A construction with the impersonal verb "taedet" (to be weary of), where the person feeling the weariness is in the accusative ("eum", referring to Tarquinius) and the cause is in the genitive ("frequentiae"). The whole phrase is part of the accusative-with-infinitve (A.C.I.) construction in indirect discourse.
- 1.53.7nam ne errarent
"ne errarent" is a clause of purpose ("lest they should err"), which modifies not the main verb of the clause, but the speaker's (Sextus's) intention in speaking (i.e., "I say this, lest they should be mistaken"). This is an absolute or parenthetical use of the purpose clause.