- 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-lat2:24.5.1-24.5.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Hieronymus adopts the style of an arrogant tyrant, contrasting with his grandfather, and instills terror in Syracuse. When a conspiracy against him is discovered, the tortured Theodotus falsely names the innocent Thraso as the leader, leading to Thraso's execution.
Vix quidem vel bono moderatoque regi facilis erat favor apud Syracusanos succedenti tantae caritati Hieronis;1
Indeed, even for a good and moderate king, it was not easy to win the favor of the Syracusans when succeeding to such great affection as had been felt for Hiero;
verum enim vero Hieronymus, velut suis vitiis desiderabilem efficere vellet avum, primo statim conspectu omnia quam disparia essent ostendit.
but Hieronymus, as if he wished to make his grandfather regretted by means of his own vices, showed at the very first sight how completely different everything was.
nam qui per tot annos Hieronem filiumque eius Gelonem nec vestis habitu nec alio ullo insigni differentes a ceteris civibus vidissent, ei conspexere2 purpuram ac diadema ac satellites armatos quadrigisque etiam alborum equorum interdum ex regia procedentem more Dionysi tyranni.
For those who for so many years had seen Hiero and his son Gelon differing from the other citizens neither in the style of their dress nor by any other emblem, now beheld him proceeding from the palace in the manner of the tyrant Dionysius, wearing purple and a diadem, accompanied by armed guards, and sometimes even in a chariot drawn by four white horses.
hunc tam superbum apparatum habitumque convenientes sequebantur contemptus omnium hominum, superbae aures, contumeliosa dicta, rari aditus non alienis modo sed tutoribus etiam, libidines novae, inhumana crudelitas.
Corresponding to this arrogant display and attire were his contempt for all men, his haughty ears, abusive words, rare access allowed not only to strangers but even to his guardians, strange lusts, and inhuman cruelty.
itaque tantus omnis terror invaserat, ut quidam ex tutoribus aut morte voluntaria aut fuga praeverterent metum suppliciorum.
Consequently, such a great terror seized everyone that some of his guardians anticipated the fear of punishments either by a voluntary death or by flight.
tres ex iis, quibus solis aditus in domum familiarior erat, Adranodorus et Zoippus, generi Hieronis, et Thraso quidam, de aliis quidem rebus haud magnopere audiebantur;
Three of them, who alone had more familiar access to the house, Adranodorus and Zoippus, the sons-in-law of Hiero, and a certain Thraso, were indeed not listened to much on other matters;
tendendo autem duo ad Carthaginienses, Thraso3 ad societatem Romanam, certamine ac studiis interdum in se convertebant animum adulescentis, cum coniuratio in tyranni caput facta indicatur4 per Callonem quendam, aequalem Hieronymi et iam inde a puero in omnia familiaria iura adsuetum.
but by leaning, the two toward the Carthaginians and Thraso toward the Roman alliance, they occasionally drew the young man’s attention to themselves by their rivalry and zeal, when a conspiracy against the tyrant’s life was disclosed by a certain Callo, a contemporary of Hieronymus who from boyhood had been accustomed to all the privileges of intimacy.
index unum ex coniuratis Theodotum, a quo ipse appellatus erat, nominare potuit; qui conprensus extemplo traditusque Adranodoro torquendus de se ipse haud cunctanter fassus conscios celabat.
The informer was able to name only one of the conspirators, Theodotus, by whom he himself had been approached. Theodotus, immediately arrested and handed over to Adranodorus to be tortured, confessed without hesitation regarding himself but kept his accomplices secret.
postremo, cum omnibus intolerandis patientiae humanae cruciatibus laceraretur, victum malis se simulans avertit ab consciis in insontes indicium, Thrasonem esse auctorem consilii mentitus, — nec nisi tam potenti duce confisos rem tantam ausuros fuisse5 —,socios ignobiles quosdam viros ab latere tyranni, quorum capita vilissima fingenti inter dolores gemitusque occurrere. maxime animo tyranni credibile indicium Thraso nominatus fecit; itaque extemplo traditur ad supplicium, adiectique poenae ceteri iuxta insontes.
At last, when he was being torn by all the tortures beyond human endurance, pretending to be overcome by his sufferings, he turned the disclosure away from his accomplices to the innocent, falsely claiming that Thraso was the author of the plan—adding that they would never have dared so great an enterprise unless they had trusted in so powerful a leader—and named as accomplices certain worthless men from the tyrant’s entourage, whose most cheap lives occurred to him as he was inventing names amidst his pain and groans. The naming of Thraso made the disclosure especially credible to the tyrant’s mind; therefore, he was immediately handed over for execution, and the others, equally innocent, were added to the punishment.
consciorum nemo cum diu socius consilii torqueretur, aut latuit aut fugit; tantum illis in virtute ac fide Theodoti fiduciae fuit tantumque ipsi Theodoto virium ad arcana occultanda.
None of the accomplices, although their partner in the design was tortured for a long time, either hid themselves or fled, so great was their confidence in the courage and fidelity of Theodotus, and so great was the strength of Theodotus himself in keeping the secrets.
- 24.5.1succedenti tantae caritati Hieronis
The participle succedenti is in the dative, modifying the preceding bono moderatoque regi. The phrase tantae caritati is a dative governed by the verb succedere (to succeed, follow), meaning '(a king) succeeding to such great affection for Hiero.'
- 24.5.4ei conspexere
The pronoun ei (nominative plural) is the antecedent of the relative clause qui ... vidissent in the preceding section (§24.5.3) and serves as the subject of the main clause. conspexere is the archaic/poetic form of the third-person plural perfect active indicative (equivalent to conspexerunt).
- 24.5.8tendendo ... duo ... Thraso
duo (Adranodorus and Zoippus) and Thraso are the subjects of the main verb convertebant. The ablative gerund tendendo expresses means or manner ('by leaning/striving toward'). Although a gerund typically does not have its own subject, the split subjects of the main clause perform the action in their respective directions (ad Carthaginienses and ad societatem Romanam).
- 24.5.9cum ... indicatur
An instance of 'inverted cum' (cum inversum). While the main clause (§24.5.8 convertebant in the imperfect) describes an ongoing background situation, the sudden and unexpected turn of events is dramatically introduced by the cum clause containing an indicative present (historical present indicatur).
- 24.5.12nec nisi tam potenti duce confisos rem tantam ausuros fuisse
The apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence in indirect speech. The original direct statement would have used a perfect subjunctive or indicative form like nec nisi ... ausuri fuissent ('nor would they have dared such a great thing, unless they had trusted...'), which is converted into a future active infinitive with fuisse (ausuros fuisse) depending on mentitus. The phrase tam potenti duce is the ablative of object trusted, governed by the participle confisos.