- 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-lat2:26.36.1-26.36.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Consul Laevinus proposes that the leadership should lead by example during the state's crisis; the senators, knights, and plebeians eagerly respond by voluntarily contributing their wealth, securing rowers and funds without coercion.
cum in hac difficultate rerum consilium haereret, ac prope torpor quidam occupasset hominum mentes, tum Laevinus consul:
When in this difficulty of affairs planning was at a standstill, and a kind of numbness had almost seized the minds of men, then the consul Laevinus said:
magistratus senatui et senatum populo, sicut honore praestent, ita ad omnia, quae dura atque aspera essent, subeunda duces debere esse.1
that magistrates to the senate, and the senate to the people, just as they surpassed them in honor, so they ought to be leaders in undergoing all things that were hard and rough.
“si, quod iniungere inferiori velis, id prius in te ac tuos ipse iuris statueris, facilius omnis oboedientis habeas.2 nec impensa gravis est, cum ex ea plus quam pro virili parte sibi quemque capere principum vident.
“If, what you wish to impose on an inferior, you yourself first establish as a law for yourself and yours, you would more easily have everyone obedient. Nor is the expense heavy, when they see each of the leading men taking upon himself from it more than his individual share.
itaque si classes habere atque ornare volumus populum Romanum, privatos sine recusatione remiges dare, nobismet ipsis primum imperemus.
Therefore, if we wish the Roman people to have and equip fleets, and private citizens to supply rowers without refusal, let us first lay the command upon ourselves.
aurum, argentum, aes signatum omne senatores crastino die in publicum conferamus, ita ut anulos sibi quisque et coniugi et liberis, et filio bullam, et, quibus uxor filiaeve sunt, singulas uncias pondo auri relinquant; argenti, qui curuli sella sederunt, equi ornamenta et libras pondo, ut salinum patellamque deorum causa habere possint, ceteri senatores libram argenti tantum:
Let us senators bring tomorrow into the treasury all our gold, silver, and coined bronze, in such a way that each leaves rings for himself, his wife, and his children, and for his son a bulla, and, for those who have a wife or daughters, an ounce weight of gold each; of silver, those who have sat in a curule chair may leave the ornaments of a horse and some pounds in weight of silver, so that they may have a salt-cellar and a paten for the sake of the gods, the rest of the senators only a pound of silver;
aeris signati quina milia in singulos patres familiae relinquamus:
of coined bronze, let us leave five thousand asses for each father of a family;
ceterum omne aurum, argentum, aes signatum ad triumviros mensarios extemplo deferamus nullo ante senatus consulto facto, ut voluntaria conlatio et certamen adiuvandae rei publicae excitet ad aemulandum animos primum equestris ordinis, dein reliquae plebis.
but all the rest of the gold, silver, and coined bronze let us immediately carry to the triumviri mensarii, without any decree of the senate being previously made, so that our voluntary contribution and rivalry in helping the commonwealth may excite to emulation the minds first of the equestrian order, and then of the rest of the plebs.
hanc unam viam multa inter nos conlocuti consules invenimus. ingredimini dis bene iuvantibus. res publica incolumis et privatas res facile salvas praestat;
This one way we consuls have found, after many conferences between ourselves. Enter upon it, with the gods favorably helping. A safe commonwealth easily guarantees that private fortunes are secure;
publica prodendo tua nequiquam serves.” in haec tanto animo consensum est, ut gratiae ultro consulibus agerentur.
by betraying public interests you would preserve your own in vain.” To these proposals they assented with such great spirit, that thanks were voluntarily offered to the consuls.
senatu inde misso pro se quisque aurum et argentum et aes in publicum conferunt tanto certamine iniecto, ut prima aut inter primos nomina sua vellent in publicis tabulis esse, ut nec triumviri accipiundo nec scribae referundo sufficerent.3
The senate having then been dismissed, each for himself brought his gold and silver and bronze into the treasury, with so great a rivalry excited, that they wished their names to be first or among the first in the public registers, so that neither the triumviri were sufficient for receiving, nor the clerks for recording them.
hunc consensum senatus equester ordo est secutus, equestris ordinis plebs. ita sine edicto, sine coercitione magistratus nec remige in supplementum nec stipendio res publica eguit; paratisque omnibus ad bellum consules in provincias profecti sunt.
This consensus of the senate the equestrian order followed, and the plebs followed the equestrian order. Thus without an edict, without coercion from a magistrate, the commonwealth lacked neither rowers for the reinforcement nor pay; and all things being prepared for war, the consuls set out for their provinces.
- 26.36.2magistratus senatui et senatum populo, sicut honore praestent, ita ad omnia, quae dura atque aspera essent, subeunda duces debere esse.
A sentence in indirect speech using the accusative-with-infinitive construction. The accusative nouns 'magistratus' (plural) and 'senatum' (singular) serve as the subject of the infinitive 'debere'. 'senatui' and 'populo' are datives of reference or relation, forming a parallel and symmetrical structure: magistratus [debere esse duces] senatui, and senatum [debere esse duces] populo.
- 26.36.3id prius in te ac tuos ipse iuris statueris, facilius omnis oboedientis habeas.
'iuris' is a partitive genitive dependent on the pronoun 'id', meaning 'that measure of law/regulation.' 'omnis oboedientis' is the archaic accusative plural ending in '-is' for '-es' ('omnes oboedientes'), serving as the direct object and its predicate accusative after 'habeas' ('you would keep everyone obedient').
- 26.36.11tanto certamine iniecto, ut prima aut inter primos nomina sua vellent in publicis tabulis esse, ut nec triumviri accipiundo nec scribae referundo sufficerent.
Two consecutive 'ut' clauses represent a chain of results. The first 'ut' clause (with 'vellent') is a result clause correlating with 'tanto'; the second 'ut' clause (with 'sufficerent') denotes a further, secondary consequence arising from the first. 'accipiundo' and 'referundo' are gerunds in the dative case, depending on 'sufficerent' ('to be sufficient for...').