- 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-lat2:4.10.1-4.10.9
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- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
The besieged Volscian army surrenders to the Romans under harsh conditions and is later decimated by the Tusculans, while consul Geganius restores order in Ardea and celebrates a triumph. Meanwhile, his colleague Quinctius manages domestic affairs with such fairness and authority that he keeps the tribunes at bay and ensures peace.
Volscus imperator, qui ad eam diem non commeatu praeparato, sed ex populatione agrorum rapto in diem frumento aluisset militem, postquam saeptus vallo repente inops omnium rerum erat, ad conloquium consule evocato, si solvendae obsidionis causa venerit Romanus, abducturum se inde Volscos1 ait.
The Volscian commander, who up to that day had nourished his soldiers not with prepared provisions, but with corn seized day by day from the plundering of the fields, after he was enclosed by the rampart and suddenly in want of all things, having summoned the consul to a conference, said that if the Roman had come for the purpose of raising the siege, he would withdraw the Volscians from there.
adversus ea consul victis condiciones accipiendas esse, non ferendas2 respondit, neque, ut venerint ad oppugnandos socios populi Romani suo arbitrio, ita abituros3 Volscos esse.
To this the consul replied that the vanquished must accept conditions, not dictate them, and that the Volscians would not depart in the same manner as they had come to attack the allies of the Roman people by their own choice.
dedi imperatorem, arma poni iubet, fatentes victos se esse imperio parere; aliter tam abeuntibus quam manentibus se hostem infestum victoriam potius ex Volscis quam pacem infidam Romam relaturum.
He ordered that their commander be surrendered, their arms laid down, and that, admitting they were vanquished, they obey his command; otherwise, whether they departed or remained, he would be a relentless enemy to them, and would bring back to Rome a victory over the Volscians rather than a treacherous peace.
Volsci exiguam spem in armis alia undique abscisa cum temptassent, praeter cetera adversa loco quoque iniquo ad pugnam congressi, iniquiore ad fugam, cum ab omni parte caederentur, ad preces a certamine versi dedito imperatore traditisque armis sub iugum missi cum singulis vestimentis ignominiae cladisque pleni dimittuntur;
The Volscians, having tried their slender hope in arms since all other hopes were cut off on every side, encountered battle in a place unfavorable for fighting in addition to their other adversities, and even more unfavorable for flight; when they were being cut down from every side, turning from battle to entreaties, after their commander was surrendered and their arms delivered up, they were sent under the yoke and dismissed with only a single garment each, full of ignominy and disaster.
et cum haud procul urbe Tusculo consedissent, vetere Tusculanorum odio inermes oppressi dederunt poenas vix nuntiis caedis relictis.4
And when they had halted not far from the city of Tusculum, they were overwhelmed while unarmed by the ancient hatred of the Tusculans, and paid the penalty, with scarcely any messengers of the slaughter left.
Romanus Ardeae turbatas seditione res principibus eius motus securi percussis bonisque eorum in publicum Ardeatium redactis composuit; demptamque iniuriam iudicii tanto beneficio populi Romani Ardeates credebant; senatui superesse aliquid ad delendum publicae avaritiae monumentum5 videbatur.
The Roman settled the affairs at Ardea, which had been thrown into confusion by sedition, by executing the leaders of that movement with the axe and confiscating their goods to the public treasury of the Ardeates; and the Ardeates believed that the injustice of the judgment had been wiped out by so great a benefit of the Roman people, while to the senate there seemed to remain something yet to be done to erase the monument of public greed.
consul triumphans in urbem redit Cluilio duce Volscorum ante currum ducto praelatisque spoliis, quibus dearmatum exercitum hostium sub iugum miserat.
The consul returned in triumph into the city, with Cluilius, the commander of the Volscians, led before his chariot, and the spoils displayed, with which he had sent the disarmed army of the enemy under the yoke.
Aequavit, quod haud facile est, Quinctius consul togatus armati gloriam collegae, quia concordiae pacisque domesticae curam iura infimis summisque moderando6 ita tenuit, ut eum et patres severum consulem et plebs satis comem crediderint.
Quinctius, as a consul in the toga, equaled the glory of his armed colleague—which is no easy thing—because he maintained such care for domestic harmony and peace by administering the laws moderately for the lowest and the highest alike, that the patricians believed him to be a strict consul, and the plebeians a sufficiently affable one.
et adversus tribunos auctoritate plura quam certamine tenuit; quinque consulatus eodem tenore gesti vitaque omnis consulariter acta verendum paene ipsum magis quam honorem faciebant. eo tribunorum militarium nulla mentio his consulibus fuit.
And against the tribunes, he held more through authority than through conflict; five consulships conducted in the same tenor, and his whole life lived in a consular manner, made the man himself almost more respected than his office. Therefore, during these consuls, there was no mention of military tribunes.
- 4.10.1abducturum se inde Volscos
An accusative and infinitive clause governed by the main verb ait. The singular accusative reflexive pronoun se functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive (referring back to the Volscian commander), while the plural accusative Volscos is the direct object of abducturum (esse). The distinction in number prevents ambiguity between subject and object.
- 4.10.2victis condiciones accipiendas esse, non ferendas
A passive periphrastic construction expressing necessity or obligation using the gerundives accipiendas and ferendas. victis is a dative of agent, meaning 'conditions must be accepted, not dictated, by the vanquished.'
- 4.10.2ut venerint ... ita abituros
A correlative structure with ut ... ita .... The verb venerint is in the subjunctive (perfect tense) because it stands in a subordinate clause in indirect discourse. It highlights the contrast: they cannot depart in the same free manner as they had come to attack the allies by their own choice (suo arbitrio).
- 4.10.5vix nuntiis caedis relictis
An ablative absolute construction formed by the noun nuntiis and the participle relictis. The adverb vix (scarcely, hardly) qualifies the phrase, meaning 'with scarcely any messengers of the slaughter being left,' emphasizing that almost no one survived to report the massacre.
- 4.10.6senatui superesse aliquid ad delendum publicae avaritiae monumentum
In the impersonal expression superesse aliquid (something remains), senatui functions as a dative of reference or interest. The phrase ad delendum ... monumentum uses ad with a gerundive construction to express purpose. It indicates that the senate felt there was still something left for them to do to obliterate the monument of public greed (the land unjustly acquired in a previous lawsuit).
- 4.10.8iura infimis summisque moderando
The ablative gerund moderando expresses means and governs the direct object iura. The datives infimis summisque designate those for whom the laws were tempered or administered, indicating that he administered justice with moderation and fairness to both the lowest and the highest citizens.