- 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-lat2:39.18.1-39.18.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Due to a massive flight from Rome, judicial proceedings are suspended, and the consuls travel to local fora to investigate and try the accused, executing the guilty and detaining others. The senate then bans the Bacchanalia with strict conditions for any exceptional performance.
ceterum tanta fuga ex urbe facta erat, ut, quia multis actiones et res peribant, cogerentur praetores T. Maenius et M. Licinius per senatum res in diem tricesimum differre, donec quaestiones a consulibus perficerentur.
But such a great flight from the city had taken place that, because for many people their lawsuits and affairs were perishing, the praetors Titus Maenius and Marcus Licinius were forced by the senate to postpone the business to the thirtieth day, until the inquiries should be completed by the consuls.
eadem solitudo, quia Romae non respondebant nec inveniebantur, quorum nomina delata erant, coegit consules circa fora proficisci ibique quaerere et iudicia exercere.
The same solitude, because those whose names had been reported did not answer at Rome nor were they found, forced the consuls to set out around the fora, and there to make inquiry and conduct trials.
qui tantum initiati erant et ex carmine sacro, praeeunte verba sacerdote,1 precationes fecerant, quibus nefanda coniuratio in omne facinus ac libidinem continebatur, nec earum rerum ullam, in quas iureiurando. obligati erant, in se aut alios admiserant, eos in vinculis relinquebant:2
Those who had only been initiated and, with the priest leading the words, had made the prayers by which the unspeakable conspiracy to every crime and lust was contained, and yet had not committed on themselves or others any of those things to which they had been bound by oath, they left in chains;
qui stupris aut caedibus violati erant, qui falsis testimoniis, signis adulterinis, subiectione testamentorum, fraudibus aliis contaminati, eos capitali poena adficiebant.
those who had been defiled by debaucheries or murders, or contaminated by false testimonies, forged seals, substitution of wills, or other frauds, they punished with capital punishment.
plures necati quam in vincula coniecti sunt. magna vis in utraque causa virorum mulierumque fuit.
More were executed than thrown into prison. There was a great multitude of men and women in both classes.
mulieres damnatas cognatis, aut in quorum manu essent, tradebant, ut ipsi in privato animadverterent in eas: si nemo erat idoneus supplicii exactor, in publico animadvertebatur.
They handed over the condemned women to their relations, or to those in whose power they were, so that they might punish them in private; if there was no suitable executor of the punishment, she was punished in public.
datum deinde consulibus negotium est, ut omnia Bacchanalia Romae primum, deinde per totam Italiam diruerent, extra quam si qua3 ibi vetusta ara aut signum consecratum esset.
Then the task was given to the consuls to demolish all the Bacchanalia, first at Rome, and then throughout all Italy, except where there might be some ancient altar or consecrated image.
in reliquum deinde senatus consulto cautum est, ne qua Bacchanalia Romae neve in Italia essent. si quis tale sacrum sollemne et necessarium duceret, nec sine religione et piaculo se id omittere posse, apud praetorem urbanum profiteretur, q praetor senatum consuleret.4
Provision was then made for the future by a decree of the senate, that there should be no Bacchanalia in Rome or in Italy. If anyone should consider such a rite solemn and necessary, and that he could not omit it without sacrilege and expiation, he should declare it before the urban praetor, and that praetor should consult the senate.
si ei permissum esset, cum in senatu centum non minus essent, ita id sacrum faceret, dum ne plus quinque sacrificio interessent, neu qua pecunia communis neu quis magister sacrorum aut sacerdos esset.
If permission were granted to him, when there were not less than one hundred in the senate, he might perform that rite, provided that not more than five should be present at the sacrifice, and that there should be no common fund, nor any master of the rites or priest.
- 39.18.3praeeunte verba sacerdote
Ablative absolute construction. The verb praeo (to go before, dictate), here used transitively, has the ablative noun sacerdote as its logical subject and the accusative verba as its direct object.
- 39.18.3qui tantum initiati erant ... eos in vinculis relinquebant
A very long relative clause starting with the relative pronoun qui is summarized at the end of the sentence §39.18.3 by the accusative pronoun eos, which serves as the direct object of the main verb relinquebant. The subject of the main clause is "the consuls" (consules), understood from the context.
- 39.18.7extra quam si qua
A restrictive/exceptive formula. extra quam (except insofar as) is followed by the conditional clause si qua... esset, meaning "except if there should be any ancient altar or consecrated image there."
- 39.18.8profiteretur, qui praetor senatum consuleret
Part of the indirect discourse (indirect command) reporting the content of the senate's decree (senatus consulto). In harmony with the past tense of the main narrative, the verbs are in the imperfect subjunctive (profiteretur and consuleret), representing commands. qui praetor is a relative adjective construction, where the relative pronoun qui agrees with and modifies the noun praetor.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1