- 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-lat2:3.61.1-3.61.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Consul Valerius encourages his soldiers and defeats the allied forces of the Aequi and Volsci, capturing their camp. The news of this victory inspires the Roman army under the other consul, Horatius, on the Sabine front, while the Sabines also provoke them to a decisive battle.
consul ex altera parte Romanos meminisse1 iubebat illo die primum liberos pro libera urbe Romana pugnare: sibimet ipsis victuros, non ut decemvirorum victores praemium essent.
On the other side, the consul ordered the Romans to remember that on that day they were fighting for the first time as free men for a free Roman state: that they would conquer for themselves, not that they, as victors, should be a prize for the decemvirs.
non Appio duce rem geri, sed consule Valerio ab liberatoribus populi Romani orto, liberatore ipso. ostenderent prioribus proeliis per duces, non per milites stetisse, ne vincerent;2
Things were not being conducted under the leadership of Appius, but under the consul Valerius, descended from the liberators of the Roman people, himself a liberator. Let them show that in previous battles it had been owing to the leaders, not the soldiers, that they had not conquered;
turpe esse contra cives plus animi habuisse quam contra hostes et domi quam foris servitutem magis timuisse.
that it was shameful to have had more courage against citizens than against enemies, and to have feared slavery more at home than abroad.
unam Verginiam fuisse, cuius pudicitiae in pace periculum esset, unum Appium civem periculosae libidinis; at, si fortuna belli inclinet, omnium liberis ab tot milibus hostium periculum fore;
that there had been but one Verginia, whose chastity was in danger in time of peace, and but one citizen of dangerous lust, Appius; but, if the fortune of war should decline, danger would threaten the children of all from so many thousands of enemies;
nolle ominari, quae nec Iuppiter nec Mars pater passuri sint iis auspiciis conditae urbi accidere. Aventini Sacrique montis admonebat, ut, ubi libertas parta esset paucis ante mensibus, eo imperium inlibatum referrent3 ostenderentque eandem indolem militibus Romanis post exactos decemviros esse, quae ante creatos fuerit, nec aequatis legibus inminutam virtutem populi Romani esse.
he was unwilling to forebode things which neither Jupiter nor father Mars would suffer to happen to a city founded under such auspices. He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount, so that where liberty had been acquired a few months before, thither they might bring back their military power unimpaired, and show that the Roman soldiers possessed the same character after the expulsion of the decemvirs as they had before they were appointed, and that the courage of the Roman people had not been diminished by the equalization of the laws.
haec ubi inter signa peditum dicta dedit, advolat deinde ad equites: “agite, iuvenes,” inquit, “praestate virtute peditem, ut honore atque ordine praestatis.
When he had delivered these words among the standards of the infantry, he then galloped to the cavalry: “Come, young men,” he said, “surpass the infantry in courage, as you surpass them in honor and rank.
primo concursu pedes movit hostem, pulsum vos inmissis equis exigite e campo. non sustinebunt impetum et nunc cunctantur magis quam resistunt.”
At the first onset, the infantry has shaken the enemy; do you, letting loose your horses, drive them, when beaten, from the field. They will not withstand your charge, and even now they are hesitating rather than resisting.”
concitant equos permittuntque in hostem pedestri iam turbatum pugna et perruptis ordinibus elati ad novissimam aciem, pars libero spatio circumvecti iam fugam undique capessentes plerosque a castris avertunt praeterequitantesque absterrent.
They spurred their horses and charged against the enemy, who were already thrown into confusion by the infantry fight; and having broken through their ranks, they advanced to the very rear line, while some, riding around through the open space, diverted the majority of those who were now fleeing in all directions from their camp, and riding past, terrified them.
peditum acies et consul ipse visque omnis belli fertur in castra captisque cum ingenti caede maiore praeda potitur. huius pugnae fama, perlata non in urbem modo, sed in Sabinos ad alterum exercitum, in urbe laetitia celebrata est, in castris animos militum ad aemulandum decus accendit.
The line of infantry, the consul himself, and the whole force of the war rushed into the camp, and having captured it with immense slaughter, they gained an even greater booty. The fame of this battle, being carried not only into the city, but also to the other army among the Sabines, was celebrated with joy in the city, and in the camp it inflamed the minds of the soldiers to emulate the glory.
iam Horatius eos excursionibus proeliisque levibus experiundo adsuefecerat sibi potius fidere quam meminisse ignominiae decemvirorum ductu acceptae;
Already Horatius, by trying them in skirmishes and light battles, had accustomed them to trust in themselves rather than to remember the ignominy received under the leadership of the decemvirs;
parvaque certamina in summam totius profecerant spei. nec cessabant Sabini, feroces ab re priore anno bene gesta, lacessere atque instare rogitantes, quid latrocinii modo procursantes pauci recurrentesque tererent tempus et in multa proelia parvaque carperent4 summam unius belli?
and these small contests had contributed to the sum of their entire hope. Nor did the Sabines, fierce from their success in the previous year, cease to provoke and press them, repeatedly asking why they wasted time like bandits, a few rushing forward and running back, and why they frittered away the whole of a single war into many small battles?
quin illi congrederentur5 acie inclinandamque semel fortunae rem darent?
Why did they not engage in a regular battle and commit the issue once and for all to fortune?
- 3.61.1meminisse
Perfect infinitive of the defective verb memini (to remember, recall). Used as the complement of iubebat (ordered) with the meaning 'to remember'.
- 3.61.2stetisse ... ne vincerent
This phrase uses the impersonal construction stat per aliquem quominus / ne (it is owing to someone that ... not, someone prevents ... from). In indirect speech, the infinitive stetisse indicates that it was due to the leaders (per duces), not the soldiers (per milites), that they did not conquer (ne vincerent).
- 3.61.5eo imperium inlibatum referrent
eo is an adverb meaning 'thither' (to that place, i.e., Rome/the place where liberty was gained). referrent is an imperfect subjunctive introduced by ut, matching the past main verb admonebat (reminded/exhorted). imperium refers to 'sovereignty' or 'military command', modified by inlibatum (unimpaired).
- 3.61.13rogitantes, quid ... tererent ... carperent
The participle rogitantes (asking repeatedly) introduces indirect questions. The verbs tererent (why they were wasting) and carperent (why they were frittering away) following the interrogative pronoun quid (here used in the sense of 'why') are in the imperfect subjunctive due to indirect speech.
- 3.61.14quin illi congrederentur
quin (why not...?) is typically used with the indicative in direct questions, but here, as part of the ongoing indirect speech representing the Sabines' words, it takes the imperfect subjunctive congrederentur.