- 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-lat2:3.42.1-3.42.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Following the heavy defeats of the Roman armies by the Sabines and Aequi, which bring critical danger to the state, the senate sets aside its hatred for the decemvirs to decree emergency measures, including urban defense and military reinforcements.
nihilo1 militiae quam domi melius res publica administrata est.
The republic was administered no better in war than at home.
illa modo in ducibus culpa, quod, ut odio essent civibus,2 fecerant; alia omnis penes milites noxia erat, qui, ne quid ductu atque auspicio decemvirorum prospere usquam gereretur, vinci se per suum atque illorum dedecus patiebantur.
In the leaders there was only this fault, that they had acted so as to be hated by the citizens; all other guilt lay with the soldiers, who, lest anything should be conducted successfully anywhere under the leadership and auspices of the decemvirs, allowed themselves to be defeated to their own and their leaders’ disgrace.
fusi et ab Sabinis ad Eretum et in Algido ab Aequis exercitus erant. ab Ereto per silentium noctis profugi propius urbem inter Fidenas Crustumeriamque loco edito castra communierant;
The armies were routed both by the Sabines at Eretum and by the Aequi in Algidus. Having fled from Eretum in the silence of the night, they fortified a camp nearer the city, on an elevated spot between Fidenae and Crustumeria;
persecutis hostibus3 nusquam se aequo certamine committentes natura loci ac vallo, non virtute aut armis tutabantur.
and as the enemy pursued, never committing themselves to a fair fight, they protected themselves by the nature of the place and a rampart, not by valor or arms.
maius flagitium in Algido, maior etiam clades accepta; castra quoque amissa erant, exutusque omnibus utensilibus miles Tusculum se, fide misericordiaque victurus4 hospitum, quae tamen non fefellerunt, contulerat.
A greater disgrace in Algidus, and an even greater defeat was sustained; the camp also was lost, and the soldiers, stripped of all their equipment, had betaken themselves to Tusculum, intending to live on the good faith and compassion of their hosts, which, however, did not fail them.
Romam tanti erant terrores allati, ut posito iam decemvirali odio patres vigilias in urbe habendas censerent, omnes, qui per aetatem arma ferre possent, custodire moenia ac pro portis stationes agere iuberent, arma Tusculum ac supplementum decernerent5 decemvirosque ab arce Tusculi degressos in castris militem habere; castra alia a Fidenis in Sabinum agrum transferri belloque ultro inferendo deterreri hostes a consilio urbis oppugnandae.
Such great terrors were brought to Rome that the senators, now laying aside their hatred of the decemvirs, voted that watches should be kept in the city, and ordered all who were of an age to bear arms to guard the walls and keep watch before the gates, and decreed that arms and reinforcements should be sent to Tusculum, and that the decemvirs, descending from the citadel of Tusculum, should keep their soldiers in camp; that the other camp should be transferred from Fidenae into the Sabine territory, and that the enemy should be deterred from their plan of attacking the city by actively carrying the war to them.
- 3.42.1nihilo
Ablative of measure of difference modifying the comparative melius, expressing a strong negative meaning "by no means" or "not at all".
- 3.42.2ut odio essent civibus
An ut-clause expressing purpose or result after fecerant. It features a double dative construction: odio (dative of purpose/tendency) and civibus (dative of reference/interest).
- 3.42.4persecutis hostibus
Dative case depending on se committentes (engaging with, committing oneself to). Although it could be interpreted as an ablative absolute ("the enemy pursuing"), it is more natural to take it as the dative object of the reflexive phrase se committere ("to engage with the enemy").
- 3.42.5victurus
Future active participle of the verb vivere (to live), expressing the intention or purpose of the subject miles ("intending to live" or "about to live").
- 3.42.7arma Tusculum ac supplementum decernerent
While the accusative nouns arma and supplementum stand as direct objects of decernerent, they can also be understood as part of an accusative with infinitive construction (with an infinitive like mitti understood), corresponding to the subsequent infinitive clauses such as decemviros... habere.