Plebeian Secession to the Sacred Mount and Menenius's Fable — Livy, History of Rome Book 2 (2.32.1–2.32.12), Latin & English

§2.32.1

timor inde patres incessit, ne, si dimissus exercitus foret, rursus coetus occulti coniurationesque fierent.¹ itaque, quamquam per dictatorem dilectus habitus esset, tamen, quoniam in consulum verba iurassent, sacramento teneri militem rati, per causam renovati ab Aequis belli educi ex urbe legiones iussere. quo facto maturata est seditio.

Fear then seized the patricians, lest, if the army should be disbanded, secret meetings and conspiracies should occur again. Therefore, although the levy had been held through the dictator, yet, because they had sworn allegiance to the words of the consuls, thinking that the soldiers were bound by their oath, under the pretext of a renewed war by the Aequi, they ordered the legions to be led out of the city. By this action, the sedition was hastened.

§2.32.2

et primo agitatum dicitur de consulum caede, ut solverentur sacramento; doctos deinde nullam scelere religionem exsolvi,² Sicinio quodam auctore iniussu consulum in Sacrum montem secessisse — trans Anienem amnem est, tria ab urbe milia passuum;

And at first, it is said that they debated about murdering the consuls, in order to be released from their oath; but then, having been taught that no religious obligation is dissolved by a crime, under the leadership of a certain Sicinius, without the orders of the consuls, they withdrew to the Sacred Mount—this is across the river Anio, three miles from the city;

§2.32.3

ea frequentior fama est quam, cuius Piso auctor est,³ in Aventinum secessionem factam esse —;

—this story is more common than that of which Piso is the author, that the secession was made to the Aventine—;

§2.32.4

ibi sine ullo duce vallo fossaque communitis castris quieti, rem nullam nisi necessariam ad victum sumendo, per aliquot dies neque lacessiti neque lacessentes sese tenuere.

there, without any leader, having fortified their camp with a rampart and a trench, remaining quiet, taking nothing except what was necessary for sustenance, for several days they held themselves, neither attacked nor attacking.

§2.32.5

Pavor ingens in urbe, metuque mutuo suspensa erant omnia. timere relicta ab suis plebes violentiam patrum; timere patres residem in urbe plebem, incerti, manere eam an abire mallent.

There was great panic in the city, and everything was suspended in mutual fear. The plebs, left behind by their own, feared the violence of the patricians; the patricians feared the plebs remaining in the city, uncertain whether they preferred them to stay or to depart.

§2.32.6

quamdiu autem tranquillam, quae secesserit, multitudinem fore?

”But how long would the multitude which had seceded remain quiet?

§2.32.7

quid futurum deinde, si quod externum interim bellum existat?⁴ nullam profecto nisi in concordia civium spem reliquam ducere;

What would happen next if some foreign war should arise in the meantime? Surely they must think that no hope remained except in the harmony of the citizens;

§2.32.8

eam per aequa, per iniqua reconciliandam civitati esse. placuit igitur oratorem ad plebem mitti Menenium Agrippam, facundum virum et, quod inde oriundus erat, plebi carum. is intromissus in castra prisco illo dicendi et horrido modo nihil aliud quam hoc narrasse fertur:

this harmony must be restored to the state by fair means or foul.” It was decided, therefore, to send as an envoy to the plebs Menenius Agrippa, an eloquent man and, because he was sprung from them, dear to the plebs. He, having been admitted into the camp, is said to have told them nothing else than this, in that ancient and rugged style of speaking:

§2.32.9

tempore, quo in homine non, ut nunc, omnia in unum consentientia, sed singulis membris suum cuique consilium, suus sermo fuerit, indignatas reliquas partes sua cura, suo labore ac ministerio ventri omnia quaeri, ventrem in medio quietum nihil aliud quam datis voluptatibus frui;

”At the time when in man, not as now, all parts agreed as one, but each member had its own counsel and its own speech, the remaining parts were indignant that by their own care, labor, and service, everything was sought for the belly, while the belly, quiet in their midst, did nothing else than enjoy the pleasures given to it;

§2.32.10

conspirasse inde, ne manus ad os cibum ferrent, nec os acciperet datum, nec dentes conficerent. hac ira dum ventrem fame domare vellent, ipsa una membra totumque corpus ad extremam tabem venisse.

they conspired, therefore, that the hands should not carry food to the mouth, nor the mouth receive what was given, nor the teeth chew it. While in this anger they wished to subdue the belly by hunger, the members themselves and the whole body came to extreme consumption.

§2.32.11

inde apparuisse ventris quoque haud segne ministerium esse, nec magis aliquam alere eum, reddentem in omnis corporis partes hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum pariter in venas, maturum confecto cibo sanguinem.⁵ conparando hinc, quam intestina corporis seditio similis esset irae plebis in patres, flexisse mentes hominum.

From this it appeared that the service of the belly was also not lazy, and that it was not nourished more than it nourished others, returning to all parts of the body this blood by which we live and thrive, divided equally into the veins, matured from the digested food.” By comparing from this how similar the internal sedition of the body was to the anger of the plebs against the patricians, he turned the minds of the men.

Syntax notes5 items

2.32.1ne, si dimissus exercitus foret, rursus coetus occulti coniurationesque fierent
A noun clause introduced by 'ne' indicating apprehension after the noun 'timor'. Within the clause, 'si dimissus exercitus foret' (where 'foret' is equivalent to 'esset') represents the protasis of a past-contrary-to-fact or future-less-vivid condition shifted into the subjunctive imperfect 'fierent' in the apodosis due to sequence of tenses after the historical perfect 'incessit'.
2.32.2doctos deinde nullam scelere religionem exsolvi
The perfect passive participle 'doctos' (accusative plural, agreeing with the unexpressed subject 'milites') functions as a participle of cause ('having been taught that...'). Inside, 'nullam... religionem exsolvi' is an accusative and infinitive construction where 'religionem' is the subject accusative and 'exsolvi' is the present passive infinitive.
2.32.3cuius Piso auctor est
The relative pronoun 'cuius' is a neuter genitive singular, referring back to the conceptual content of the subsequent clause 'in Aventinum secessionem factam esse' (or an implied noun of opinion/story). 'Piso auctor est' literally means 'Piso is the author/authority of which'.
2.32.7quid futurum deinde, si quod externum interim bellum existat?
A rhetorical question in indirect discourse. 'futurum' is an infinitive with 'esse' omitted. The verb in the conditional clause 'existat' (subjunctive present) represents what would be a future indicative ('existet') or present subjunctive in direct discourse, adapted to the indirect speech.
2.32.11hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum pariter in venas, maturum confecto cibo sanguinem
A highly suspended and complex accusative noun phrase functioning as the direct object of 'reddentem'. The core noun is 'sanguinem' (modified by 'hunc'), which is qualified by the relative clause 'quo vivimus vigemusque' ('by which we live and thrive') and the perfect participle 'divisum' ('distributed') and adjective 'maturum' ('matured').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.32.1-2.32.12