- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.16.1-3.16.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
As fears of foreign intervention and slave rebellion spread following the occupation of the Capitol, the tribunes insisted that the threat was a mere fabrication by the patricians to distract from the law, attempting to hold an assembly despite the crisis.
dilucere1 res magis patribus atque consulibus. praeter ea tamen, quae denuntiabantur, ne Veientium neu Sabinorum id consilium esset timere et, cum tantum in urbe hostium esset, mox Sabinae Etruscaeque legiones ex conposito adessent, tum aeterni hostes Volsci et Aequi non ad populandos, ut ante, fines, sed ad urbem ut ex parte captam venirent.
The situation became clearer to the senators and the consuls. However, besides those things which were being openly proclaimed, they feared lest this plot might belong to the Veientes or the Sabines, and that, while so many enemies were in the city, soon Sabine and Etruscan legions would arrive by preconcerted plan, and then their eternal enemies, the Volscians and Aequians, would come, not to ravage their territories as before, but to a city already partially captured.
multi et varii timores; inter ceteros eminebat terror servilis, ne suus cuique domi hostis esset, cui nec credere nec non credendo, ne infestior fieret, fidem abrogare satis erat tutum;2
There were many and varied fears; among the rest, the fear of slaves was prominent, lest each man should have an enemy in his own home, whom it was neither safe to trust, nor, lest he should become more hostile, was it entirely safe to distrust by showing a lack of confidence.
vixque concordia sisti videbatur posse. tantum superantibus aliis ac mergentibus malis nemo tribunos aut plebem timebat; mansuetum id malum et per aliorum quietem malorum semper exoriens tum quiescere peregrino terrore sopitum videbatur.
And it seemed that the state could scarcely be maintained except by harmony. Since other evils were so overwhelming and submerging them, no one feared the tribunes or the plebs; that mild evil, which always arose during the quiet of other evils, seemed at that time to be at rest, lulled to sleep by the foreign terror.
at id prope unum maxime inclinatis rebus incubuit. tantus enim tribunos furor tenuit, ut non bellum, sed vanam imaginem belli ad avertendos ab legis cura plebis animos Capitolium insedisse contenderent, patriciorum hospites clientesque; si perlata lege frustra tumultuatos esse se sentiant, maiore quam venerint silentio abituros.3
But this was almost the single thing that weighed most heavily upon their critically leaning fortunes. For so great a madness seized the tribunes that they contended that not a war, but an empty phantom of war had occupied the Capitol in order to divert the minds of the plebeians from their concern for the law, and that those in the Capitol were the guests and clients of the patricians; if, once the law was passed, they should realize that they had raised a tumult in vain, they would depart in greater silence than they had come.
concilium inde legi perferendae habere avocato populo ab armis. senatum interim consules habent alio se maiore ab tribunis metu ostendente, quam quem nocturnus hostis intulerat.4
They then proceeded to hold an assembly for passing the law, having called the people away from their arms. Meanwhile, the consuls held a meeting of the senate, while another and greater fear, arising from the tribunes, presented itself than that which the nightly enemy had brought.
- 3.16.1dilucere
Historical infinitive, here functioning as an imperfect indicative. The subject is the nominative noun res. The verbs timere in the same section and habere in 3.16.6 are also historical infinitives, which heighten the dramatic tension of the narrative.
- 3.16.3cui nec credere nec non credendo, ne infestior fieret, fidem abrogare satis erat tutum
The dative relative pronoun cui depends on both infinitives credere and fidem abrogare. The subject of satis erat tutum is the infinitival clauses themselves. The ablative gerund non credendo ('by not trusting') is modified by the purpose clause ne infestior fieret ('lest he should become more hostile').
- 3.16.5si perlata lege frustra tumultuatos esse se sentiant, maiore quam venerint silentio abituros
Part of the indirect discourse (A.C.I.) depending on contenderent. The phrase perlata lege is an ablative absolute ('once the law was passed'). The verb sentiant is in the subjunctive present because it is in a subordinate clause within indirect speech. Abituros [esse] is a future infinitive with its subject (referring to hospites clientesque) omitted.
- 3.16.6alio se maiore ab tribunis metu ostendente, quam quem nocturnus hostis intulerat
The phrase alio... metu ostendente forms an ablative absolute. The pronoun se is the direct object of the active present participle ostendente. In the comparison quam quem, the relative pronoun quem refers back to the fear (metus) and is the direct object of intulerat.