- 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-lat2:2.36.1-2.36.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
While great games are prepared for re-celebration at Rome, the plebeian Latinius receives a divine warning in a dream but hesitates, leading to the death of his son and his own paralysis. After he is carried to the senate house to report the message, his health is miraculously restored.
ludi forte ex instauratione magni Romae parabantur. instaurandi haec causa fuerat: ludis1 mane servum quidam pater familiae nondum commisso spectaculo sub furca caesum medio egerat circo; coepti inde ludi, velut ea res nihil ad religionem pertinuisset.
By chance, great games were being prepared at Rome for a re-celebration. The reason for the re-celebration had been this: on the morning of the games, before the spectacle had yet begun, a certain head of a family had driven his slave, scourged under a fork, through the middle of the circus; then the games were begun, as if that matter had nothing to do with religion.
haud ita multo post T. Latinio, de plebe homini, somnium fuit: visus Iuppiter dicere sibi ludis praesultatorem2 displicuisse;
Not so long afterwards, T. Latinius, a man of the plebs, had a dream: Jupiter seemed to say to him that the leading dancer of the games had displeased him;
nisi magnifice instaurarentur ii ludi, periculum urbi fore; iret, ea consulibus nuntiaret. quamquam haud sane liber erat religione animus, verecundia tamen maiestatis magistratuum cum timore vicit,3 ne in ora hominum pro ludibrio abiret.
unless those games were magnificently re-celebrated, there would be danger to the city; he should go and announce these things to the consuls. Although his mind was by no means free from religious dread, yet bashfulness before the majesty of the magistrates, along with the fear of becoming a laughingstock in the mouths of men, prevailed.
magno illi ea cunctatio stetit;4 filium namque intra paucos dies amisit. cuius repentinae cladis ne causa dubia esset, aegro animi5 eadem illa in somnis obversata species visa est rogitare, satin magnam spreti numinis haberet mercedem; maiorem instare, ni eat propere ac nuntiet consulibus.
That hesitation cost him dear; for within a few days he lost his son. Lest the cause of this sudden disaster should be doubtful, the same apparition, presenting itself in his sleep, seemed to ask him, who was sick in mind, whether he had received a sufficiently great reward for the despised divinity; a greater one was threatening, unless he should go quickly and announce it to the consuls.
iam praesentior res erat. cunctantem tamen ac prolatantem ingens vis morbi adorta est debilitate subita.
Now the matter was more immediate. Yet as he still hesitated and delayed, a great force of disease attacked him with a sudden paralysis.
tunc enimvero deorum ira admonuit. fessus igitur malis praeteritis instantibusque consilio propinquorum adhibito cum visa atque audita et obversatum totiens somno Iovem, minas irasque caelestes repraesentatas casibus suis exposuisset, consensu inde haud dubio omnium, qui aderant, in forum ad consules lectica defertur.
Then indeed the anger of the gods warned him. Exhausted, therefore, by his past and impending misfortunes, after calling a council of his kinsmen, when he had explained what he had seen and heard, and how Jupiter had so often appeared to him in sleep, and how the celestial threats and anger had been realized by his own calamities, then, by the doubtless consensus of all who were present, he was carried on a litter into the forum to the consuls.
inde in curiam iussu consulum delatus eadem illa cum patribus ingenti omnium admiratione enarrasset, ecce aliud miraculum:
Carried thence into the senate house by order of the consuls, when he had related those same things to the senators to the great admiration of all, behold, another miracle:
qui captus omnibus membris6 delatus in curiam esset, eum functum officio pedibus suis domum redisse traditum memoriae est.
he who had been carried into the senate house paralyzed in all his limbs, having performed his duty, returned home on his own feet, so it has been handed down to memory.
- 2.36.1ludis
Ablative of time when ('on the morning of the games'), which is closely connected with the absolute ablative 'nondum commisso spectaculo' that follows.
- 2.36.2praesultatorem
'The leading dancer.' Here, Jupiter uses this term with irony to refer to the slave who was driven through the circus and scourged before the games officially began.
- 2.36.3vicit
The subject of 'vicit' is 'verecundia' ('reverence/bashfulness'), accompanied by 'cum timore' ('with the fear'). The clause 'ne ... abiret' ('lest he should become a laughingstock') expresses the content of the fear. It describes how his reluctance, coupled with the fear of being mocked, overcame his religious scruples.
- 2.36.4magno ... stetit
The verb 'stare' here is used with the dative of person ('illi') and the ablative of price ('magno'), forming the idiom meaning 'that hesitation cost him dear.'
- 2.36.4aegro animi
'animi' functions as a locative ('sick in mind/spirit'), though it can also be interpreted as a genitive of specification modifying the adjective 'aegro'.
- 2.36.8captus omnibus membris
'captus' means 'deprived' or 'paralyzed,' and with 'omnibus membris' (ablative of respect/instrument) it signifies being 'paralyzed in all his limbs.' The structure features an inversion where the antecedent 'eum' is placed after the relative clause starting with 'qui'.