- 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-lat2:3.53.1-3.53.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Valerius and Horatius are sent as envoys to the Sacred Mount, where they are welcomed by the plebs. Icilius demands the restoration of the tribunician power and safety for the protesters, alongside a harsh demand for the execution of the decemvirs, which the envoys advise them to moderate, focusing instead on reclaiming their liberty.
tum Valerius Horatiusque missi ad plebem condicionibus quibus videretur revocandam conponendasque res decemviris quoque ab ira et impetu multitudinis praecavere1 iubentur.
Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to the plebs, were ordered to recall them on such terms as should seem good, to settle affairs, and also to protect the decemvirs from the anger and assault of the multitude.
profecti gaudio ingenti plebis in castra accipiuntur, quippe liberatores haud dubie et motus initio et exitu rei.
Setting out, they were received into the camp with immense joy on the part of the plebs, who regarded them undoubtedly as their liberators both at the beginning of the movement and at the conclusion of the affair.
ob haec iis advenientibus gratiae actae. Icilius pro multitudine verba facit. idem, cum de condicionibus ageretur, quaerentibus legatis, quae postulata plebis essent, conposito iam ante adventum legatorum consilio ea postulavit, ut appareret in aequitate rerum plus quam in armis reponi spei.
For these reasons, thanks were returned to them upon their arrival. Icilius spoke on behalf of the multitude. When they were treating of the conditions, and the envoys asked what the demands of the plebs were, the same man, according to a plan already agreed upon before the arrival of the envoys, made his demands in such a manner that it might appear that more hope was placed in the equity of their cause than in arms.
potestatem enim tribuniciam provocationemque repetebant, quae ante decemviros creatos auxilia plebis fuerant, et ne cui fraudi esset concisse2 milites aut plebem ad repetendam per secessionem libertatem.
For they demanded back the tribunician power and the right of appeal, which before the creation of the decemvirs had been the protections of the plebs, and that it should not be to the detriment of any one to have incited the soldiers or the plebs to reclaim their liberty by secession.
de decemvirorum modo supplicio atrox postulatum fuit: dedi quippe eos aequum censebant vivosque igni concrematuros minabantur. legati ad ea:
Concerning only the punishment of the decemvirs was there a harsh demand; for they thought it right that they should be delivered up, and threatened that they would burn them alive. To this the envoys replied:
“quae consilii fuerunt,3 adeo aequa postulastis, ut ultro vobis deferenda fuerint; libertati enim ea praesidia petitis, non licentiae ad inpugnandos alios.
”As to those things which belonged to deliberation, you have made demands so equitable that they ought to have been voluntarily offered to you; for you seek those protections for liberty, not for license to attack others.
irae vestrae magis ignoscendum quam indulgendum est,4 quippe qui crudelitatis odio in crudelitatem ruitis et prius paene, quam ipsi liberi sitis, dominari iam in adversarios vultis.
Your anger is rather to be pardoned than indulged, since through hatred of cruelty you rush into cruelty, and almost before you yourselves are free, you already wish to lord it over your adversaries.
numquamne quiescet civitas nostra a suppliciis aut patrum in plebem Romanam aut plebis in patres?
Will our state never rest from punishments, either of the patricians against the Roman plebs, or of the plebs against the patricians?
scuto vobis magis quam gladio opus est. satis superque humilis est, qui iure aequo in civitate vivit nec inferendo iniuriam nec patiendo.
You have need of a shield rather than a sword. He is sufficiently and more than sufficiently humble who lives in a state with equal rights, neither inflicting an injury nor suffering one.
etiam si quando metuendos vos praebituri estis, cum reciperatis magistratibus legibusque vestris iudicia penes vos erunt de capite nostro fortunisque, tunc ut quaeque causa erit statuetis; nunc libertatem repeti satis est.”
Even if at any time you are going to show yourselves as objects of fear, when your magistrates and laws are recovered, and the judgements concerning our lives and fortunes are in your power, then you shall decide as each case shall be; for the present it is enough that liberty be reclaimed.”
- 3.53.1decemviris quoque ab ira et impetu multitudinis praecavere
The verb praecavere (to guard against, protect) takes the dative of the person protected (decemviris quoque) and ab with the ablative of the threat (ab ira et impetu). It means "to protect also the decemvirs from the anger and assault of the multitude."
- 3.53.4ne cui fraudi esset concisse
A double dative construction. The pronoun cui is the dative of disadvantage (indefinite "to anyone"), and fraudi is the dative of purpose or result ("for a detriment"). The subject of esset is the perfect infinitive concisse (from concieo/concio, "to have incited").
- 3.53.6quae consilii fuerunt
The genitive consilii is a predicate genitive of characteristic. Literally "which things were of deliberation," referring to matters to be determined by reason and prudence rather than passion.
- 3.53.7irae vestrae magis ignoscendum quam indulgendum est
Since the intransitive verbs ignoscere (to pardon) and indulgere (to indulge) govern the dative, they are used impersonally in the passive periphrastic conjugation (ignoscendum... indulgendum est), and their object irae vestrae remains in the dative case.