- 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-lat2:39.9.1-39.9.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The transmission of the Bacchanalian evil to Rome begins to be revealed to the consul Postumius through the circumstances of the young Aebutius, targeted by his stepfather, and his relationship with the courtesan Hispala Faecenia.
huius mali labes ex Etruria Romam veluti contagione morbi penetravit. primo urbis magnitudo capacior patientiorque talium malorum1 ea celavit:
The contagion of this evil penetrated from Etruria to Rome, like the infection of a disease. At first, the magnitude of the city, more capable of containing and tolerating such evils, concealed them.
tandem indicium hoc maxime modo ad Postumium consulem pervenit. P. Aebutius, cuius pater publico equo stipendia fecerat, pupillus relictus, mortuis deinde tutoribus sub tutela Duroniae matris et vitrici T. Sempronii Rutili educatus fuerat.
At length, information reached the consul Postumius, chiefly in the following manner. Publius Aebutius, whose father had served in the cavalry on a public horse, had been left an orphan, and, his guardians having subsequently died, had been brought up under the guardianship of his mother Duronia and his stepfather Titus Sempronius Rutilus.
et mater dedita viro erat, et vitricus, quia tutelam ita gesserat, ut rationem reddere non posset, aut tolli pupillum aut obnoxium sibi vinculo aliquo fieri cupiebat. via una corruptelae Bacchanalia erant.
The mother was devoted to her husband, and the stepfather, because he had administered the guardianship in such a way that he could not render an account, wished either that the ward should be made away with, or should be made subject to him by some bond. The Bacchanalia were the sole path to his corruption.
mater adulescentem appellat: se pro aegro eo vovisse, ubi primum convaluisset, Bacchis eum se initiaturam; damnatam voti2 benignitate deum exsolvere id velle. decem dierum castimonia opus esse: decimo die cenatum, deinde pure lautum in sacrarium deducturam.3
The mother addressed the young man: she said that she had made a vow on his behalf when he was sick, that as soon as he recovered, she would initiate him into the rites of Bacchus; that having been bound by her vow through the kindness of the gods, she wished to discharge it. She added that there was need of a ten days’ abstinence; on the tenth day, after he had dined and then washed himself purely, she would conduct him into the sanctuary.
scortum nobile libertina Hispala Faecenia, non digna quaestu,4 cui ancillula adsuerat, etiam postquam manumissa erat, eodem se genere tuebatur.
There was a well-known courtesan, a freedwoman named Hispala Faecenia, who deserved a better occupation than that to which she had been accustomed when a young slave girl, and which, even after she had been manumitted, she continued to practice for her support.
huic consuetudo iuxta vicinitatem cum Aebutio fuit, minime adulescentis aut rei aut famae damnosa: ultro enim amatus appetitusque erat, et maligne omnia praebentibus suis meretriculae munificentia sustinebatur.
She had an intimacy with Aebutius, arising from their being neighbors, which was by no means damaging either to the young man’s fortune or his reputation; for he was beloved and sought after by her of her own accord, and while his own relations grudgingly supplied his needs, he was supported by the generosity of this courtesan.
quin eo processerat consuetudine capta, ut post patroni mortem, quia in nullius manu erat, tutore ab tribunis et praetore petito,5 cum testamentum faceret, unum Aebutium institueret heredem.
Indeed, overcome by her affection, she had gone so far that, after the death of her patron, since she was under no one’s control, having petitioned the tribunes and the praetor for a guardian, when she made her will, she appointed Aebutius her sole heir.
- 39.9.1capacior patientiorque talium malorum
The genitive talium malorum governed by the comparative adjectives capacior and patientior is an objective genitive, indicating that the magnitude of the city possessed the quality of being more capable of containing and tolerating such evils.
- 39.9.4damnatam voti
A traditional religious-legal idiom in which damnare with a genitive signifies 'bound by a vow' (i.e., under obligation to fulfill a vow because one's prayer has been granted).
- 39.9.4decimo die cenatum, deinde pure lautum in sacrarium deducturam
In this indirect discourse, deducturam [esse] is a future active infinitive whose subject is the mother (feminine singular), whereas the preceding perfect participles cenatum and lautum are accusative masculine singular, modifying the omitted object pronoun eum (referring to the young man).
- 39.9.5non digna quaestu
The adjective digna governs the ablative case; quaestu is the ablative singular of the fourth-declension noun quaestus (occupation, trade).
- 39.9.7tutore ab tribunis et praetore petito
An ablative absolute construction representing the legal procedure in Rome where a woman, unable to make a will on her own authority, petitioned the public magistrates (tribunes and praetors) to appoint a guardian.