- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.61.1-2.61.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
Appius Claudius is prosecuted by the tribunes for his stubborn opposition to the agrarian law, but he maintains his defiant attitude and dies of illness before the postponed trial, being honored with a grand funeral by the plebs.
turbulentior inde annus excepit L. Valerio T. Aemilio consulibus,1 cum propter certamina ordinum de lege agraria tum propter iudicium Ap. Claudi, cui,2 acerrimo adversario legis causamque possessorum publici agri tamquam tertio consuli sustinenti, M. Duillius et Cn. Siccius diem dixere.
Thereafter followed a more turbulent year, under the consulship of Lucius Valerius and Titus Aemilius, both on account of the struggles between the orders over the agrarian law and on account of the trial of Appius Claudius, against whom, since he was the fiercest opponent of the law and supported the cause of the possessors of the public land as if he were a third consul, Marcus Duillius and Gnaeus Siccius appointed a day of trial.
numquam ante tam invisus plebi reus ad iudicium vocatus populi est, plenus suarum, plenus paternarum irarum.
Never before had a defendant so hated by the plebs been summoned to the trial of the people, a man full of his own and full of his father’s wrath.
patres quoque non temere pro ullo aeque adnisi sunt: propugnatorem senatus maiestatisque vindicem suae, ad omnes tribunicios plebeiosque oppositum tumultus, modum dumtaxat in certamine egressum, iratae obici plebi.3 unus e patribus, ipse Ap. Claudius, et tribunos et plebem et suum iudicium pro nihilo habebat. illum non minae plebis, non senatus preces perpellere umquam potuere, non modo ut vestem mutaret aut supplex prensaret homines, sed ne ut ex consueta quidem4 asperitate orationis, cum ad populum agenda causa esset, aliquid leniret atque submitteret.
The patricians also exerted themselves with an earnestness they had scarcely ever shown for anyone else: they were indignant that a champion of the senate and defender of their dignity, who had opposed himself to all tribunician and plebeian tumults and had at most exceeded due measure in the struggle, should be abandoned to the angry plebs. Alone among the patricians, Appius Claudius himself held both the tribunes and the plebs and his own trial of no account. Neither the threats of the plebs nor the entreaties of the senate could ever persuade him, not only to change his dress or as a suppliant to solicit the citizens, but not even to soften or lower his tone in the least from his accustomed harshness of speech, when his cause had to be pleaded before the people.
idem habitus oris, eadem contumacia in vultu, idem in oratione spiritus erat, adeo ut magna pars plebis Appium non minus reum timeret, quam consulem5 timuerat.
There was the same expression on his face, the same defiance in his look, the same spirit in his speech, so much so that a large part of the plebs feared Appius as a defendant no less than they had feared him as consul.
semel causam dixit, quo semper agere omnia solitus erat,6 accusatorio spiritu; adeoque constantia sua et tribunos obstupefecit et plebem, ut diem ipsi sua voluntate prodicerent, trahi deinde rem sinerent.
He pleaded his cause once, with the accusatory spirit with which he was always accustomed to do everything; and by his steadfastness he so astounded both the tribunes and the plebs that, of their own free will, they postponed the day of trial for him and then allowed the matter to drag on.
haud ita multum interim temporis fuit; ante tamen, quam prodicta dies veniret, morbo moritur.
There was not so very much time in the interval; yet before the postponed day arrived, he died of disease.
cuius cum laudationem tribuni plebis inpedire conarentur, plebs fraudari sollemni honore supremum diem7 tanti viri noluit et laudationem tam aequis auribus mortui audivit, quam vivi accusationem audierat, et exequias frequens celebravit.
When the tribunes of the plebs tried to prevent his funeral panegyric, the plebs would not allow the last day of so great a man to be defrauded of its customary honor, and they listened to the panegyric of the dead with ears as favorable as those with which they had heard the accusation of the living, and attended his funeral in large numbers.
- 2.61.1L. Valerio T. Aemilio consulibus
An ablative absolute construction expressing time ('when Lucius Valerius and Titus Aemilius were consuls').
- 2.61.1cui,
The relative pronoun in the dative case (cui) is placed at the end of the clause and, after a parenthetical participial phrase in 2.61.2, connects to the main verb phrase diem dixere ('appointed a day of trial for him'). The antecedent is Ap. Claudi.
- 2.61.4propugnatorem senatus maiestatisque vindicem suae, ad omnes tribunicios plebeiosque oppositum tumultus, modum dumtaxat in certamine egressum, iratae obici plebi.
An accusative and infinitive construction linked to the exertion/indignation implied in adnisi sunt. It expresses the patricians' distress that a champion of the senate should be 'abandoned' (obici) to the angry plebs. egressum is a participle agreeing with propugnatorem meaning 'having exceeded the proper limit (modum)'.
- 2.61.5non modo ut ... sed ne ut ... quidem
A correlative negative construction meaning 'not only did he not [do the former], but he did not even [do the latter]'. It emphasizes that he refused both to change his clothes and to soften his tone.
- 2.61.6reum... consulem
Predicative use of the nouns in apposition: 'Appius as a defendant' (reum) and 'as consul' (consulem). It highlights that his terrifying nature remained unchanged regardless of his legal status.
- 2.61.7quo semper agere omnia solitus erat,
The relative pronoun in the ablative (quo) refers forward to spiritu in the phrase accusatorio spiritu. It means 'with the same spirit with which he was accustomed to do all things'.
- 2.61.9fraudari... supremum diem
The passive infinitive of fraudare ('to deprive someone of [ablative]'). Here supremum diem ('his last day') is the subject accusative, and sollemni honore ('customary honor') is in the ablative case, meaning 'that his last day should be defrauded of its customary honor'.