- 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-lat2:4.21.1-4.21.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
While Rome is afflicted by pestilence, the political agitation of the tribune Maelius fails. Soon after, the worsening plague prompts the Fidenates and Veientes to invade Roman territory, leading to the appointment of Q. Servilius as dictator.
M. Cornelio Maluginense, L. Papirio Crasso consulibus exercitus in agrum Veientem ac Faliscum ducti, praedae abactae hominum pecorumque;
Under the consulship of M. Cornelius Maluginensis and L. Papirius Crassus, armies were led into the Veientine and Faliscan territory, and booty of men and cattle was driven away.
hostis in agris nusquam inventus neque pugnandi copia facta; urbes tamen non oppugnatae, quia pestilentia populum invasit. et seditiones domi quaesitae sunt nec motae tamen ab Sp. Maelio1 tribuno plebis, qui favore nominis moturum se aliquid ratus et Minucio diem dixerat et rogationem de publicandis bonis Servili Ahalae tulerat, falsis criminibus a Minucio circumventum Maelium arguens, Servilio caedem civis indemnati obiciens. quae vaniora ad populum ipso auctore2 fuere.
The enemy was nowhere found in the fields, nor was an opportunity for fighting given; the cities, however, were not attacked, because a pestilence invaded the people. And seditions were sought at home, yet not set in motion, even by Sp. Maelius, tribune of the plebs, who, thinking that he would stir up something by the popularity of his name, had both appointed a day of trial for Minucius and proposed a bill for confiscating the property of Servilius Ahala, arguing that Maelius had been circumvented by Minucius with false charges, and accusing Servilius of the murder of an uncondemned citizen. These things were more groundless to the people than to the author himself.
ceterum magis vis morbi ingravescens curae3 erat terroresque ac prodigia, maxime quod crebris motibus terrae ruere in agris nuntiabantur tecta. obsecratio itaque a populo duumviris praeeuntibus est facta. Pestilentior inde annus C. Iulio iterum et L. Verginio consulibus tantum vastitatis in urbe agrisque fecit, ut non modo praedandi causa quisquam ex agro Romano exiret bellive inferendi memoria patribus aut plebi esset, sed ultro Fidenates, qui se primo aut montibus aut muris tenuerant, populabundi descenderent in agrum Romanum.
But the worsening severity of the disease was rather a matter of concern, as well as terrors and prodigies, especially because it was reported that buildings in the country were collapsing due to frequent earthquakes. Therefore, a supplication was made by the people, led by the duumviri. Then followed a more pestilential year, when C. Julius for the second time and L. Verginius were consuls, which caused so much devastation in the city and the fields that not only did no one leave the Roman territory for the sake of plundering, nor was there any thought of waging war among either the patricians or the plebeians, but even the Fidenates, who at first had kept themselves either in the mountains or behind their walls, came down into Roman territory to plunder.
deinde Veientium exercitu accito — nam Falisci perpelli ad instaurandum bellum neque clade Romanorum neque sociorum precibus potuere — duo populi transiere Anienem atque haud procul Collina porta signa habuere.
Then, having summoned the army of the Veientes—for the Faliscans could not be induced to renew the war either by the disaster of the Romans or by the entreaties of their allies—the two peoples crossed the Anio and held their standards not far from the Colline Gate.
trepidatum itaque non in agris magis quam in urbe est. Iulius consul in aggere murisque explicat copias, a Verginio senatus in aede Quirini consulitur. dictatorem dici Q. Servilium placet, cui Prisco alii, alii Structo fuisse cognomen tradunt.
Consequently, there was panic no less in the city than in the fields. The consul Julius deployed his troops on the rampart and the walls; the senate was consulted by Verginius in the temple of Quirinus. It was decided that Q. Servilius should be named dictator, whose cognomen some hand down to have been Priscus, others Structus.
Verginius, dum collegam consuleret,4 moratus permittente eo nocte dictatorem dixit. is sibi magistrum equitum Postumum Aebutium Helvam dicit.
Verginius, having delayed to consult his colleague, named him dictator during the night with his consent. The dictator named Postumus Aebutius Helva as his master of the horse.
- 4.21.2ab Sp. Maelio
Ablative of agent with the passive verb motae [sunt]. Following the search for seditions, this phrase indicates the agent with a concessive nuance, meaning 'not even by Spurius Maelius, the tribune of the plebs'.
- 4.21.4ipso auctore
Ablative of comparison depending on the comparative adjective vaniora. It means 'more groundless to the people than to the author himself', indicating that the people were even more indifferent to the charges than the instigator himself was active.
- 4.21.5curae
Dative of purpose, functioning in a double dative construction (with the dative of person interested, such as the people, being implied) meaning 'was a matter of concern'. The subjects are the worsening severity of the disease (vis morbi ingravescens) and the terrors and prodigies (terrores ac prodigia).
- 4.21.10dum collegam consuleret
The conjunction dum ('while') with the imperfect subjunctive (consuleret) implies not merely temporal coexistence, but an intention or expectation, meaning 'while waiting to consult his colleague' or 'in order to consult his colleague'.