Quinctius Justifies Maelius' Death and Seizes His Estate — Livy, History of Rome Book 4 (4.15.1–4.15.8), Latin & English

§4.15.1

tumultuantem deinde multitudinem incerta existimatione facti ad contionem vocari iussit et Maelium iure caesum pronuntiavit, etiam si regni crimine insons fuerit, qui vocatus a magistro equitum ad dictatorem non venisset.¹

Then, he ordered the multitude, who were in an uproar with uncertain opinion of the deed, to be summoned to an assembly, and declared that Maelius had been rightfully slain, even if he had been innocent of the charge of seeking kingdom, since he, having been summoned by the master of the horse to the dictator, had not come.

§4.15.2

se ad causam cognoscendam consedisse, qua cognita habiturum fuisse Maelium similem causae fortunam;² vim parantem, ne iudicio se committeret, vi coercitum esse.

He declared that he had taken his seat to investigate the cause, and that if it had been investigated, Maelius would have had a fortune suitable to his cause; but since he was preparing force so as not to commit himself to judgment, he had been coerced by force.

§4.15.3

nec cum eo tamquam cum cive agendum fuisse, qui natus in libero populo inter iura legesque, ex qua urbe reges exactos sciret eodemque anno sororis filios regis et liberos consulis, liberatoris patriae, propter pactionem indicatam recipiendorum in urbem regum³ a patre securi esse percussos, ex qua Collatinum Tarquinium consulem nominis odio abdicare se magistratu atque exulare iussum, in qua de Sp. Cassio post aliquot annos propter consilia inita de regno supplicium sumptum, in qua nuper decemviros bonis, exilio, capite multatos ob superbiam regiam, in ea Sp. Maelius spem regni conceperit.

Nor should he have been dealt with as a citizen, since he, born among a free people amidst rights and laws, knew from which city the kings had been expelled, and that in the same year the sister’s sons of the king and the children of the consul, the liberator of the fatherland, had been struck with the axe by their father on account of the disclosed compact of receiving the kings back into the city, from which city he knew that the consul Collatinus Tarquinius had been ordered to abdicate his office and go into exile because of the hatred of his name, in which Spurius Cassius had suffered punishment some years later because of plans entered into regarding the kingdom, in which recently the decemvirs had been punished with confiscation of goods, exile, and death on account of their kingly pride—in that same city, Spurius Maelius had conceived the hope of a kingdom!

§4.15.5

et quis homo? quamquam nullam nobilitatem, nullos honores, nulla merita cuiquam ad dominationem pandere viam; sed tamen Claudios, Cassios consulatibus, decemviratibus suis maiorumque honoribus, splendore familiarum sustulisse animos, quo nefas fuerit;

And what kind of man? Although no nobility, no offices, no merits open the way to domination for anyone; yet even the Claudii and the Cassii had raised their spirits because of their consulships, decemvirates, and the honors of themselves and their ancestors, and the splendor of their families, though even that had been a crime;

§4.15.6

Sp. Maelium, cui tribunatus plebis magis optandus quam sperandus fuerit, frumentarium divitem, bilibris farris sperasse libertatem se civium suorum emisse ciboque obiciendo ratum victorem finitimorum omnium populum in servitutem perlici posse, ut, quem senatorem concoquere civitas vix posset, regem ferret Romuli conditoris ab diis orti, recepti ad deos, insignia atque imperium habentem.

but Spurius Maelius, for whom the tribuneship of the plebs had been more to be wished for than hoped for, a wealthy grain merchant, had expected that he had bought the liberty of his fellow citizens with two pounds of spelt, and by throwing food to them, believed that the people, victorious over all their neighbors, could be enticed into servitude, so that, whom the state could scarcely tolerate as a senator, it should bear as a king holding the insignia and the power of Romulus the founder, who sprung from the gods and was received among the gods.

§4.15.8

non pro scelere id magis quam pro monstro habendum, nec satis esse sanguine eius expiatum, nisi tecta parietesque, intra quae tantum amentiae⁴ conceptum esset, dissiparentur bonaque contacta pretiis regni mercandi publicarentur. iubere itaque quaestores vendere ea bona atque in publicum redigere.

This ought to be regarded not so much as a crime as a monstrous portent, and it had not been sufficiently expiated by his blood, unless the roofs and walls within which so great a madness had been conceived were demolished, and the property polluted by the price of purchasing the kingdom was confiscated. Therefore, he ordered the quaestors to sell those goods and bring the proceeds into the public treasury.

Syntax notes4 items

4.15.1qui ... non venisset
The relative pronoun qui followed by the pluperfect subjunctive venisset introduces a causal clause, explaining the reason for the main action ("since he had not come").
4.15.2habiturum fuisse Maelium similem causae fortunam
The apodosis of a conditional sentence (contrary to fact) in indirect discourse. The direct form habuisset (or habiturus fuit) becomes habiturum fuisse (future active participle + perfect infinitive esse) in indirect speech. The ablative absolute qua cognita functions as the protasis.
4.15.3recipiendorum in urbem regum
A gerundive construction where the gerundive recipiendorum agrees with the noun regum in the genitive. It functions as a noun phrase meaning "the receiving of the kings back into the city," governed by the preposition propter.
4.15.8tantum amentiae
The neuter pronominal adjective tantum is followed by the partitive genitive amentiae (madness), translating literally as "so much of madness," meaning "so great a madness."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.15.1-4.15.8