- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.55.1-1.55.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
After securing Gabii, Tarquin turns his attention to urban works, resolving to build the temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian Mount. During the clearing of the site and the excavation of the foundations, various omens and prodigies occur, portending the perpetuity and greatness of the Roman empire.
Gabiis receptis Tarquinius pacem cum Aequorum gente fecit, foedus cum Tuscis renovavit. inde ad negotia urbana animum convertit; quorum erat primum, ut Iovis templum in monte Tarpeio monumentum regni sui nominisque relinqueret: Tarquinios reges ambos, patrem vovisse, filium perfecisse.1
Having recovered Gabii, Tarquin made peace with the Aequian nation and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. Then he turned his attention to urban affairs, of which the first was to leave a temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian Mount as a monument of his reign and of his name: namely, that of the two Tarquin kings, the father had vowed it and the son had completed it.
et ut libera a ceteris religionibus area esset tota Iovis templique eius, quod inaedificaretur, exaugurare fana sacellaque statuit, quae aliquot ibi, a Tatio rege primum in ipso discrimine adversus Romulum pugnae vota, consecrata inaugurataque postea fuerant.2
And in order that the entire area of Jupiter and of his temple which was to be built there might be free from other religious associations, he decided to deconsecrate the shrines and chapels, several of which had been first vowed there by King Tatius in the very crisis of the battle against Romulus, and had afterwards been consecrated and inaugurated.
inter principia condendi huius operis movisse numen ad indicandam tanti imperii molem traditur deos;3 nam cum omnium sacellorum exaugurationes admitterent aves, in Termini fano non addixere;
At the beginning of the founding of this work, the gods are said to have exercised their divine power to indicate the greatness of so vast an empire; for while the birds allowed the deconsecrations of all the other chapels, they did not give assent in the case of the shrine of Terminus.
idque omen auguriumque ita acceptum est, non motam Termini sedem unumque eum deorum non evocatum sacratis sibi finibus firma stabiliaque cuncta portendere.
And that omen and augury was interpreted in this way: that the seat of Terminus not being moved, and he alone of the gods not being summoned away from the boundaries consecrated to him, portended that all things would be firm and stable.
hoc perpetuitatis auspicio accepto secutum aliud magnitudinem imperii portendens prodigium est: caput humanum integra facie aperientibus fundamenta templi dicitur apparuisse.
This augury of perpetuity having been received, another prodigy followed, portending the greatness of the empire: a human head, with its face intact, is said to have appeared to those who were digging the foundations of the temple.
quae visa species haud per ambages arcem eam imperii caputque rerum fore portendebat, idque ita cecinere vates, quique in urbe erant quosque ad eam rem consultandam ex Etruria acciverant. augebatur ad inpensas regis animus.
This visible appearance portended, in no ambiguous terms, that this citadel would be the seat of empire and the head of the world; and the prophets prophesied it thus, both those who were in the city and those whom they had summoned from Etruria to consult on this matter. The king’s resolve was heightened for the expenditures.
itaque Pomptinae manubiae, quae perducendo ad culmen operi destinatae erant, vix in fundamenta suppeditavere. eo magis Fabio, praeterquam quod antiquior est, crediderim quadraginta ea sola talenta fuisse, quam Pisoni, qui quadraginta milia pondo argenti seposita in eam rem scribit, summam pecuniae neque ex unius tum urbis praeda sperandam et nullorum ne huius quidem magnificentiae operum fundamenta non exsuperaturam.4
And so the Pometian spoils, which had been destined for bringing the work to completion, scarcely sufficed for the foundations. For this reason, I should believe Fabius all the more, besides the fact that he is older, that those spoils had been only forty talents, rather than Piso, who writes that forty thousand pounds of silver were set aside for that purpose—a sum of money neither to be expected from the booty of a single city at that time, and one which would exceed the foundations of any works, even one of this magnificence.
- 1.55.1Tarquinios reges ambos, patrem vovisse, filium perfecisse
This accusative and infinitive construction (with the subjects patrem and filium and infinitives vovisse and perfecisse) acts as an explanatory apposition to monumentum, explaining how both Tarquin kings contributed to it.
- 1.55.2quae aliquot ibi... consecrata inaugurataque postea fuerant
The relative pronoun quae refers back to fana sacellaque. vota is either a participle modifying quae ("which, having been vowed..."), or part of a pluperfect passive verb with fuerant understood (vota [fuerant]).
- 1.55.3movisse numen ad indicandam tanti imperii molem traditur deos
The passive verb traditur is used impersonally ("it is related") with an accusative and infinitive clause (deos movisse numen) acting as its subject. This contrasts with the personal construction (dii traduntur movisse) often found in classical prose.
- 1.55.9nullorum ne huius quidem magnificentiae operum fundamenta non exsuperaturam
A double negative construction where nullorum ... non yields an affirmative meaning of "any/all" (literally: "there are no works whose foundations it would not exceed"). Thus, the sum would exceed the foundations of any works whatsoever, even one of this magnificence.