- 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-lat2:26.15.1-26.15.15
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- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Fulvius and Claudius clash over the punishment of the Campanian senate, but Fulvius executes them on his own authority before the Roman senate's decree arrives, during which the Campanian Taurea Vibellius commits suicide before him.
de supplicio Campani senatus haudquaquam inter Fulvium Claudiumque conveniebat: facilis impetrandae veniae1 Claudius, Fulvio durior sententia erat.
Regarding the punishment of the Campanian senate, there was by no means agreement between Fulvius and Claudius; Claudius was inclined to grant pardon, while Fulvius held a harsher opinion.
itaque Appius Romam ad senatum arbitrium eius rei totum reiciebat:
And so Appius referred the entire decision of this matter back to the senate at Rome.
percunctandi etiam aequum esse potestatem fieri patribus, num communicassent consilia cum aliquis sociorum Latini nominis, et num ope eorum in bello forent adiuti.
He also argued that it was fair that the fathers should have the opportunity of questioning whether they had shared their plans with any of the allies of the Latin name, and whether they had been aided by their help in the war.
id vero minime committendum esse Fulvius dicere, ut sollicitarentur criminibus dubiis sociorum fidelium animi et subicerentur indicibus, quis neque quid dicerent neque quid facerent, quicquam umquam pensi fuisset;2 itaque se eam quaestionem oppressurum extincturumque.
But Fulvius declared that this must by no means be allowed—that the minds of faithful allies should be disturbed by doubtful charges and subjected to informants, to whom what they said or what they did had never been of any consequence; therefore, he would suppress and extinguish that inquiry.
ab hoc sermone cum digressi essent, et Appius quamvis ferociter loquentem collegam non dubitaret tamen litteras super tanta re ab Roma expectaturum,3 Fulvius, ne id ipsum impedimentum incepto foret, dimittens praetorium tribunis militum ac praefectis socium imperavit, uti duobus milibus equitum delectis denuntiarent, ut ad tertiam bucinam praesto essent.
When they had departed from this conversation, and Appius did not doubt that his colleague, however fiercely he spoke, would nevertheless await letters from Rome on such an important matter, Fulvius, lest that very thing should be an obstacle to his undertaking, dismissing the praetorium, ordered the military tribunes and prefects of the allies to command two thousand selected horsemen to be ready at the third trumpet-call.
cum hoc equitatu nocte Teanum profectus prima luce portam intravit atque in forum perrexit; concursuque ad primum equitum ingressum facto magistratum Sidicinum citari iussit imperavitque, ut produceret Campanos, quos in custodia haberet.
Having set out for Teanum in the night with this cavalry, he entered the gate at dawn and proceeded to the forum; and a crowd having gathered at the first entry of the horsemen, he ordered the Sidicine magistrate to be summoned and commanded him to produce the Campanians whom he had in custody.
producti omnes virgisque caesi ac securi percussi. inde citato equo Cales percurrit; ubi cum in tribunali consedisset productique Campani deligarentur ad palum, eques citus ab Roma venit litterasque a C. Calpurnio praetore Fulvio et senatus consultum tradit.
All those who had been brought out were scourged with rods and beheaded with the axe. Thence at a gallop he rode through to Cales; where, when he had taken his seat on the tribunal and the Campanians who had been produced were being bound to the stake, a swift horseman came from Rome and handed to Fulvius letters from the praetor Gaius Calpurnius and the decree of the senate.
murmur ab tribunali totam contionem pervasit, differri rem integram ad patres4 de Campanis. et Fulvius id ita esse ratus acceptas litteras neque resolutas cum in gremio reposuisset, praeconi imperavit, ut lictorem lege agere iuberet. ita de iis quoque, qui Calibus erant, sumptum supplicium.
A whisper spread from the tribunal through the whole assembly, that the matter concerning the Campanians was referred undecided to the fathers. And Fulvius, thinking that this was indeed so, put the received letters, unopened, into his bosom, and ordered the herald to command the lictor to execute the law. Thus punishment was inflicted also on those who were at Cales.
tum litterae lectae senatusque consultum serum ad impediendam rem actam, quae summa ope adproperata erat, ne impediri posset.
Then the letters and the decree of the senate were read, too late to prevent what had already been done, which had been hastened with the greatest effort so that it could not be prevented.
consurgentem iam Fulvium Taurea Vibellius Campanus, per mediam vadens turbam, nomine inclamavit et, cum mirabundus, quidnam sese vellet, resedisset Flaccus, “me quoque” inquit “iube occidi, ut gloriari possis multo fortiorem, quam ipse es, virum abs te occisum esse.”
As Fulvius was already rising, Taurea Vibellius, a Campanian, making his way through the midst of the crowd, called him by name; and when Flaccus, wondering what on earth he wanted, had sat down again, Vibellius said, “Order me also to be slain, so that you may boast that a far braver man than you yourself are has been put to death by you.”
cum Flaccus negaret profecto satis compotem mentis esse, modo prohiberi etiam se, si id vellet, senatus consulto diceret, tum Vibellius “quando quidem” inquit “capta patria, propinquis amicisque amissis, cum ipse manu mea coniugem liberosque interfecerim, ne quid indigni paterentur, mihi ne mortis quidem copia eadem est, quae his civibus meis, petatur a virtute invisae huius vitae vindicta.”
When Flaccus replied that he was surely not in his right mind, and said that he was moreover prevented by the decree of the senate, even if he wished it, then Vibellius said, “Since indeed my country is captured, my relations and friends lost, and since I myself have with my own hand slain my wife and children so that they might suffer nothing unworthy, and since not even the same opportunity of death as these citizens of mine is granted to me, let vengeance for this hated life be sought from courage.”
atque ita gladio, quem veste texerat, per adversum pectus transfixus ante pedes imperatoris moribundus procubuit.
And so, pierced through the breast with a sword which he had concealed under his garment, he fell dying before the feet of the commander.
- 26.15.1facilis impetrandae veniae
The adjective facilis is construed with a genitive (here the gerundive phrase impetrandae veniae "of obtaining pardon") to mean "easy/inclined to grant pardon, lenient". While facilis usually takes ad with the accusative, the dative, or an infinitive, this genitive expresses relation or character, possibly in imitation of Greek usage.
- 26.15.4quicquam umquam pensi fuisset
pensi is the genitive of pensum (weight, consideration), functioning here as a partitive genitive with the subject quicquam, similar to the idiom nihil pensi habere (to have no regard for). It means "nothing had ever been of any weight/consideration to them", i.e., they had no regard for truth or action.
- 26.15.5non dubitaret tamen litteras ... expectaturum
Although the verb dubitare when negated (non dubitare) usually takes a quin clause in classical Latin, Livy frequently uses the accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction with a future infinitive (here expectaturum [esse]).
- 26.15.9differri rem integram ad patres
An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction standing in apposition to explain the content of murmur (rumor/whisper). res integra is a legal expression meaning "an undecided matter, an open question".
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1