- 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-lat2:4.45.1-4.45.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
After a slave conspiracy to burn the city and seize the Capitol is thwarted, a war threat arises from the joint forces of the Labicans and Aequi. A fierce dispute erupts among the next year's military tribunes over the military command, which Quintus Servilius resolves by exercising fatherly authority to assign his own son to govern the city.
annus felicitate populi Romani periculo potius ingenti quam clade insignis. servitia, urbem ut incenderent distantibus locis, coniurarunt, populoque ad opem passim ferendam tectis intento ut arcem Capitoliumque armati occuparent.1
This was a year remarkable for a huge danger rather than for a disaster, thanks to the good fortune of the Roman people. The slaves conspired to set fire to the city in scattered places, so that, while the populace was distracted everywhere in bringing help to their homes, they might arm themselves and seize the citadel and the Capitol.
avertit nefanda consilia Iuppiter, indicioque duorum conprehensi sontes poenas dederunt. indicibus dena milia gravis aeris, quae tum divitiae habebantur,2 ex aerario numerata et libertas praemium fuit. bellum inde ab Aequis reparari coeptum;
Jupiter averted these abominable designs, and, upon the disclosure of two of them, the guilty were arrested and paid the penalty. Ten thousand heavy copper asses—which was then considered great wealth—were paid to each of the informants from the treasury, and freedom was given to them as a reward. After this, war began to be renewed by the Aequi;
et novos hostes Labicanos consilia cum veteribus iungere haud incertis auctoribus3 Romam est allatum.
and it was reported to Rome on reliable authority that a new enemy, the Labicans, were joining in counsels with the old.
Aequorum iam velut anniversariis armis adsueverat civitas; Labicos legati missi cum responsa inde rettulissent dubia, quibus nec tum bellum parari nec diuturnam pacem fore appareret, Tusculanis negotium datum, adverterent animos, ne quid novi tumultus Labicis oreretur.
The state was already accustomed to what might be called the annual arms of the Aequi. When envoys sent to Labici brought back ambiguous answers from there, by which it appeared that war was not being prepared at that time but that there would not be a lasting peace, the Tusculans were given the task of turning their attention to prevent any new disturbance from arising at Labici.
ad insequentis anni tribunos militum consulari potestate inito magistratu legati ab Tusculo venerunt, L. Sergium Fidenatem, M. Papirium Mugilanum, C. Servilium Prisci filium, quo dictatore4 Fidenae captae fuerant.
Immediately upon the entry into office of the military tribunes with consular power for the following year—Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Marcus Papirius Mugilanus, and Gaius Servilius, the son of Priscus, during whose dictatorship Fidenae had been captured—envoys arrived from Tusculum.
nuntiabant legati Labicanos arma cepisse et cum Aequorum exercitu depopulatos agrum Tusculanum castra in Algido posuisse.
The envoys reported that the Labicans had taken up arms and, having ravaged the Tusculan territory with the army of the Aequi, had pitched their camp on Mount Algidus.
tum Labicanis bellum indictum; factoque senatus consulto, ut duo ex tribunis ad bellum proficiscerentur, unus res Romae curaret, certamen subito inter tribunos exortum; se quisque belli ducem potiorem ferre, curam urbis ut ingratam ignobilemque aspernari.
Then war was declared against the Labicans; and a decree of the senate having been passed that two of the tribunes should set out for the war, and one should manage affairs at Rome, a dispute suddenly arose among the tribunes, each declaring himself to be the preferable leader for the war, and rejecting the care of the city as thankless and inglorious.
cum parum decorum inter collegas certamen mirabundi patres conspicerent, Q. Servilius “quando nec ordinis huius ulla” inquit “nec rei publicae est verecundia, patria maiestas altercationem istam dirimet: filius meus extra sortem urbi praeerit. bellum utinam, qui adpetunt, consideratius concordiusque, quam cupiunt, gerant.”
While the patricians were watching with astonishment this unseemly dispute among colleagues, Quintus Servilius said: “Since there is respect neither for this order nor for the commonwealth, fatherly authority shall end that altercation of yours: my son, without drawing lots, shall have charge of the city. I only pray that those who seek the war may conduct it with more prudence and harmony than they show eagerness for it.”
- 4.45.1urbem ut incenderent ... ut arcem Capitoliumque armati occuparent
Two ut purpose clauses depending on the main verb coniurarunt are arranged around the ablative absolute clause populoque...intento. This structure expresses a dual purpose: "the slaves conspired to set fire to the city, and (while the populace was distracted) to seize the citadel."
- 4.45.2quae tum divitiae habebantur
The relative pronoun quae grammatically agrees with its antecedent dena milia (neuter plural), but it can also be construed as attracted to the gender and number of the predicate noun divitiae (feminine plural) within the relative clause.
- 4.45.3haud incertis auctoribus
An expression utilizing litotes ('not uncertain', meaning 'very reliable'). Syntactically, it is an ablative absolute with the noun auctoribus ('with reliable informants testifying'), or an ablative of source/instrument.
- 4.45.5quo dictatore
An ablative absolute with a relative pronoun. The antecedent of quo is the immediately preceding genitive Prisci (the father, Quintus Servilius Priscus), not the preceding accusative C. Servilium (the son, Gaius). Historically, the dictator who captured Fidenae was the father.