- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.56.1-4.56.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Three patricians are elected as military tribunes, suspected of political intrigue; meanwhile, the Volscians and Aequians unite and mobilize for war, prompting the senate to order the appointment of a dictator, which is delayed by the conflict between the military and plebeian tribunes.
Romae sicut plebis victoria fuit in eo; ut quae mallent, comitia haberent,1 ita eventu comitiorum patres vicere;
At Rome, just as there was a victory for the plebs in this, that they held the elections which they preferred, so the patricians won in the outcome of the elections;
namque tribuni militum consulari potestate contra spem omnium tres patricii creati sunt, C. Iulius Iulus, P. Cornelius Cossus, C. Servilius Ahala. artem adhibitam ferunt a patriciis, cuius eos Icilii tum quoque insimulabant, quod turbam indignorum candidatorum intermiscendo dignis taedio sordium in quibusdam insignium2 populum a plebeis avertissent.
for contrary to everyone’s expectation, three patricians were elected military tribunes with consular power: Gaius Julius Julus, Publius Cornelius Cossus, and Gaius Servilius Ahala. They say that a trick was employed by the patricians, of which the Icilii accused them even then, namely, that by intermingling a crowd of unworthy candidates with the worthy, they turned the people away from the plebeians through disgust at the conspicuous baseness of some of them.
Volscos deinde et Aequos, seu Caruentana arx retenta in spem seu Verrugine amissum praesidium ad iram cum impulisset, fama adfertur summa vi ad bellum coortos;
Then, when either the retention of the Carventan citadel had impelled the Volscians and Aequians to hope, or the loss of the garrison at Verrugo to anger, the report was brought that they had risen for war with all their might;
caput rerum Antiatis esse;3 eorum legatos utriusque gentis populos circumisse castigantis ignaviam, quod abditi intra muros populabundos in agris vagari Romanos priore anno et opprimi Verruginis praesidium passi essent.
that the head of the movement was the people of Antium; that their envoys had gone around the peoples of both nations, chastising their cowardice because, shut up within their walls, they had allowed the Romans to wander plundering in their fields the previous year and the garrison of Verrugo to be overwhelmed.
iam non exercitus modo armatos, sed colonias etiam in suos finis mitti; nec ipsos modo Romanos sua divisa habere, sed Ferentinum etiam de se captum Hernicis donasse.
Now, not only were armed armies being sent into their territories, but even colonies; and not only did the Romans themselves hold their divided lands, but they had even given Ferentinum, which had been taken from them, to the Hernicians.
ad haec cum inflammarentur animi, ut ad quosque ventum erat, numerus iuniorum conscribebatur. ita omnium populorum iuventus Antium contracta; ibi castris positis hostem opperiebantur.
As their minds were inflamed by these reports, whenever the envoys came to any group, a number of the younger men were enlisted. Thus the youth of all the peoples assembled at Antium; there, having pitched camp, they awaited the enemy.
quae ubi tumultu maiore etiam, quam res erat, nuntiantur Romam, senatus extemplo, quod in rebus trepidis ultimum consilium erat, dictatorem dici iussit.
When these things were reported to Rome with even greater tumult than the reality warranted, the senate immediately, which was the ultimate recourse in alarming times, ordered a dictator to be named.
quam rem aegre passos Iulium Corneliumque ferunt magnoque certamine animorum rem actam, cum primores patrum nequiquam conquesti non esse in auctoritate senatus tribunos militum postremo etiam tribunos plebi appellarent et consulibus quoque ab ea potestate vim super tali re inhibitam referrent,4 tribuni plebi laeti discordia patrum nihil esse in se iis auxilii dicerent, quibus non civium, non denique hominum numero essent;
They say that Julius and Cornelius took this matter ill, and that the business was conducted with a great struggle of minds, when the leading men of the patricians, having complained in vain that the military tribunes were not under the authority of the senate, finally even appealed to the tribunes of the plebs, and pointed out that even against the consuls violence had been restrained on such a matter by that power, the tribunes of the plebs, rejoicing in the discord of the patricians, said that there was no help in them for those by whom they were not counted in the number of citizens, nor indeed of men;
si quando promiscui honores, communicata res publica esset, tum se animadversuros, ne qua superbia magistratuum inrita senatus consulta essent;
if ever offices should be open to all and the republic shared, then they would see to it that no pride of the magistrates should render the decrees of the senate ineffectual;
interim patricii soluti legum magistratuumque vi atque verecundia per se potestatemque tribuniciam agerent.5
meanwhile, let the patricians, released from the power and respect of laws and magistrates, act by themselves and through the tribunician power.
- 4.56.1in eo; ut quae mallent, comitia haberent
The phrase "in eo" (in this) is explained appositively by the following "ut" clause ("that they held the elections which they preferred").
- 4.56.3taedio sordium in quibusdam insignium
"sordium" is a genitive meaning "baseness, meanness" depending on the ablative "taedio" (disgust). This is modified by "in quibusdam insignium" (conspicuous in some of them), indicating that the crowd was turned away by their disgust at the low birth of some of the plebeian candidates.
- 4.56.5caput rerum Antiatis esse
An accusative with infinitive clause representing indirect speech, continuing from "fama adfertur" in §4.56.4. "Antiatis" is the accusative plural of the adjective "Antias" (Antian, equivalent to Antiates), functioning substantively to mean the people of Antium.
- 4.56.10cum primores patrum ... appellarent ... et ... referrent
The conjunction "cum" is used in an adversative or concessive sense ("although", "whereas"), governing the imperfect subjunctives "appellarent" and "referrent".
- 4.56.13per se potestatemque tribuniciam agerent
An independent clause within indirect speech, representing what was originally an imperative or jussive subjunctive (e.g., "agite" or "agant"), and is thus expressed by the imperfect subjunctive "agerent". It conveys the sarcastic dismissal of the patricians by the plebeian tribunes.