- 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-lat2:28.11.1-28.11.15
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Numerous prodigies were reported in Rome, leading to expiatory rituals including a purification after the sacred fire of Vesta was extinguished. Following the senate's advice, the consuls restored the plebeians to their fields before setting out for their respective military campaigns in the spring.
in civitate tanto discrimine belli sollicita, cum omnium secundorum adversorumque causas in deos verterent, multa prodigia nuntiabantur:
In a state anxious with such a great crisis of war, since they referred the causes of all successes and adversities to the gods, many prodigies were reported:
Tarracinae Iovis aedem, Satrici Matris Matutae de caelo tactam;1 Satricanos haud minus terrebant in aedem Iovis foribus ipsis duo perlapsi angues; ab Antio nuntiatum est cruentas spicas metentibus visas esse;
at Tarracina the temple of Jupiter, and at Satricum that of Mater Matuta, were struck by lightning; those of Satricum were no less terrified by two snakes that had glided into the temple of Jupiter through the very doors; word was brought from Antium that bloody ears of corn had been seen by those who were reaping;
Caere porcus biceps et agnus mas idem feminaque natus erat; et Albae duo soles visos ferebant et nocte Fregellis lucem obortam.
at Caere a two-headed pig and a lamb that was at once male and female were born; and at Alba they said two suns had been seen, and that at Fregellae light had arisen in the night.
et bos in agro Romano locutus, et ara Neptuni multo manasse sudore in circo Flaminio dicebatur, et aedes Cereris, Salutis, Quirini de caelo tactae. prodigia consules hostiis maioribus procurare iussi et supplicationem unum diem habere.
And an ox was said to have spoken in the Roman territory, and the altar of Neptune in the Circus Flaminius to have sweated much, and the temples of Ceres, Salus, and Quirinus to have been struck by lightning. The consuls were ordered to expiate the prodigies with larger victims and to hold a supplication for one day.
ea ex senatus consulto facta. plus omnibus aut nuntiatis peregre aut visis domi prodigiis terruit animos hominum ignis in aede Vestae extinctus,2 caesaque flagro est Vestalis, cuius custodia eius noctis fuerat, iussu P. Licini pontuficis.
These things were done in accordance with a decree of the senate. More than all the prodigies, whether reported from abroad or seen at home, the extinguishing of the fire in the temple of Vesta terrified the minds of men, and the Vestal virgin, whose custody it had been for that night, was scourged with a whip by order of the pontifex maximus Publius Licinius.
id quamquam nihil portendentibus deis ceterum neglegentia humana acciderat, tamen et hostiis maioribus procurari et supplicationem ad Vestae haberi placuit. priusquam proficiscerentur consules ad bellum, moniti a senatu sunt, ut in agros reducendae plebis curam haberent: deum benignitate summotum bellum ab urbe Romana et Latio esse, et posse sine metu in agris habitari; minime convenire Siciliae quam Italiae colendae maiorem curam esse.3
Although this had happened through human negligence, rather than because the gods portended anything, yet it was resolved both that it should be expiated with larger victims and that a supplication should be held at the temple of Vesta. Before the consuls set out for the war, they were admonished by the senate to take care to restore the plebeians to their fields: by the kindness of the gods, they said, the war had been removed from the city of Rome and Latium, and it was possible to live in the fields without fear; it was by no means fitting that greater care should be taken for cultivating Sicily than Italy.
sed res haudquaquam erat populo facilis, et liberis cultoribus bello absumptis et inopia servitiorum et pecore direpto villisque dirutis aut incensis.
But the matter was by no means easy for the people, since the free cultivators had been swept away by the war, and there was a scarcity of slaves, and the cattle had been plundered and the villas destroyed or burned.
magna tamen pars auctoritate consulum compulsa in agros remigravit. moverant autem huiusce rei mentionem Placentinorum et Cremonensium legati, querentes agrum suum ab accolis Gallis incursari ac vastari, magnamque partem colonorum suorum dilapsam esse, et iam infrequentis se urbes, agrum vastum ac desertum habere.4
Nevertheless, a great part, compelled by the authority of the consuls, returned to the fields. Moreover, the envoys of the Placentines and Cremonenses had raised mention of this matter, complaining that their territory was being overrun and ravaged by the neighboring Gauls, and that a great part of their colonists had dispersed, and that they now held underpopulated cities and a ravaged and deserted territory.
Mamilio praetori mandatum, ut colonias ab hoste tueretur; consules ex senatus consulto edixerunt, ut qui cives Cremonenses atque Placentini essent, ante certam diem in colonias reverterentur. principio deinde veris et ipsi ad bellum profecti sunt.
To the praetor Mamilius it was mandated that he should defend the colonies from the enemy; the consuls, by a decree of the senate, issued an edict that those who were citizens of Cremona and Placentia should return to the colonies before a certain day. Then, at the beginning of spring, they themselves also set out for the war.
Q. Caecilius consul exercitum ab C. Nerone L. Veturius a Q. Claudio propraetore accepit novisque militibus, quos ipse conscripserat, supplevit.
The consul Quintus Caecilius received his army from Gaius Nero, Lucius Veturius from the propraetor Quintus Claudius, and each supplemented it with new soldiers whom he himself had enrolled.
in Consentinum agrum consules exercitum duxerunt passimque depopulati, cum agmen iam grave praeda esset, in saltu angusto a Bruttiis iaculatoribusque Numidis turbati sunt, ita ut non praeda tantum sed armati quoque in periculo fuerint. maior tamen tumultus quam pugna fuit, et praemissa praeda incolumes legiones in loca culta evasere.
The consuls led their army into the territory of Consentia and, having ravaged it far and wide, when the column was already heavy with plunder, they were thrown into confusion in a narrow pass by the Bruttian and Numidian javelin-throwers, so that not only the plunder but even the armed soldiers were in danger. Nevertheless, there was more confusion than actual fighting, and having sent the plunder ahead, the legions escaped unharmed into cultivated areas.
inde in Lucanos profecti. ea sine certamine tota gens in dicionem populi Romani rediit.
From there they proceeded to the Lucanians. That entire nation returned under the sway of the Roman people without a contest.
- 28.11.2Tarracinae Iovis aedem, Satrici Matris Matutae de caelo tactam
The noun aedem (feminine accusative singular) matches the perfect participle tactam in gender, number, and case. This forms an accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction dependent on nuntiabantur in the preceding sentence, with esse omitted. Tarracinae and Satrici are locative cases indicating the places.
- 28.11.6plus omnibus aut nuntiatis peregre aut visis domi prodigiis terruit animos hominum ignis in aede Vestae extinctus
The core of the main clause is ignis extinctus terruit animos. The phrase ignis extinctus (the extinguished fire) is a participle construction expressing the event itself ('the extinguishing of the fire'), often called the 'ab urbe condita' construction. omnibus... prodigiis is an ablative of comparison used with the comparative adverb plus, and the participles nuntiatis and visis modify this ablative.
- 28.11.8minime convenire Siciliae quam Italiae colendae maiorem curam esse
This is an indirect discourse where the accusative and infinitive clause (maiorem curam esse...) acts as the subject of the impersonal infinitive convenire ('to be fitting'). The comparative conjunction quam contrasts Siciliae and Italiae colendae. Both function as genitives modifying curam, and the gerundive colendae grammatically agrees with Italiae but semantically applies to Siciliae as well.
- 28.11.10infrequentis se urbes, agrum vastum ac desertum habere
The verb habere takes two objects: infrequentis... urbes and agrum vastum ac desertum. infrequentis is the classical accusative plural ending in -is (equivalent to -es), modifying urbes (feminine accusative plural). se is the reflexive pronoun serving as the subject of the infinitive clause, referring back to the main subject legati.