- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.3.1-5.3.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Appius Claudius delivers a speech to the plebeians, accusing the tribunes of inciting sedition for their own benefit rather than the people's, and arguing that they most fear the harmony of the orders and the military pay.
is tum iam non promptus ingenio tantum, sed usu etiam exercitatus talem orationem habuit:
At that time, being not only quick-witted by nature but also experienced through practice, he delivered the following speech:
“si umquam dubitatum est, Quirites, utrum tribuni plebis vestra, an sua causa seditionum semper auctores fuerint, id ego hoc anno desisse dubitari certum habeo;
”If it was ever doubted, Quirites, whether the tribunes of the plebs have always been the authors of seditions for your sake or for their own, I am certain that this doubt has ceased this year;
et cum laetor tandem longi erroris vobis finem factum esse, tur,1 quod secundis potissimum vestris rebus hic error est sublatus, et vobis et propter vos rei publicae gratulor.
and while I rejoice that an end has at last been put to your long error, I congratulate both you and, on your account, the republic, especially because this error has been removed at a time of your greatest prosperity.
an est quisquam, qui dubitet nullis iniuriis vestris, si quae forte aliquando fuerunt, umquam aeque quam munere patrum in plebem, cum aera militantibus constituta sunt, tribunos plebis offensos ac concitatos esse?
Or is there anyone who doubts that the tribunes of the plebs were never so offended and aroused by any wrongs of yours, if any by chance have ever existed, as by the gift of the patricians to the plebs when pay was established for those on military service?
quid illos aliud aut tum timuisse creditis aut hodie turbare velle nisi concordiam ordinum, quam dissolvendae maxime tribuniciae potestatis rentur esse?2
What else do you believe they either feared then or wish to disturb today, if not the harmony of the orders, which they think is of the greatest efficacy for dissolving the tribunician power?
sic hercule tamquam artifices inprobi opus quaerunt inquieti; semper aegri aliquid esse in re publica volunt, ut sit, ad cuius curationem a vobis adhibeantur.
Indeed, like dishonest artisans they, restless as they are, seek work; they want there always to be something diseased in the republic, so that there may be something for whose cure they may be employed by you.
utrum enim defenditis, an inpugnatis plebem? utrum militantium adversarii estis, an causam agitis? quidquid patres faciunt, displicet, sive illud pro plebe sive contra plebem est, et quem ad modum cum servis suis vetant domini quicquam rei alienis hominibus esse pariterque in iis beneficio ac maleficio abstineri aecum censent, sic vos interdicitis patribus commercio plebis,3 ne nos comitate ac munificentia nostra provocemus plebem nec plebs nobis dicto audiens atque oboediens sit.
For are you defending or attacking the plebs? Are you the adversaries of those on service, or are you pleading their cause? Whatever the patricians do displeases you, whether it is for the plebs or against the plebs, and just as masters forbid external persons from having any dealings with their slaves, and think it right that both benefit and injury should equally be withheld from them, so you interdict the patricians from intercourse with the plebs, lest we, by our kindness and munificence, should win over the plebs, and lest the plebs should be listening and obedient to our word.
quanto tandem, si quicquam in vobis non dico civilis, sed humani animi4 esset, favere vos magis et, quantum in vobis esset, indulgere potius comitati patrum atque obsequio plebis oportuit?
How much more, pray, if there were any feeling in you—I do not say of a citizen, but of a human being—ought you to have favored and, as far as in you lay, indulged the kindness of the patricians and the compliance of the plebs?
quae si perpetua concordia sit, quis non spondere ausit maximum hoc imperium inter finitimos brevi futurum esse?
And if this harmony were perpetual, who would not dare to guarantee that this empire would in a short time be the greatest among our neighbors?”
- 5.3.3tur
The word tur in the source text is understood as a typographical error or manuscript corruption for the adverb tum, which completes the correlative construction cum ... tum ('while ... at the same time' or 'both ... and especially'). It introduces the causal quod clause.
- 5.3.5dissolvendae maxime tribuniciae potestatis rentur esse
In this indirect statement depending on rentur ('they think'), the relative pronoun quam (referring to concordia ordinum) is the subject accusative, and the genitive of the gerundive phrase dissolvendae ... potestatis serves as a genitive of characteristic or tendency, expressing purpose/result: 'which they think is of the highest efficacy for dissolving (tends most to dissolve) the tribunician power.'
- 5.3.8interdicitis patribus commercio plebis
This features the classical construction of the verb interdicere ('to forbid'), which takes the dative of the person (patribus) and the ablative of the thing/activity prohibited (commercio plebis), meaning 'you interdict the patricians from intercourse with the plebs.'
- 5.3.9non dico civilis, sed humani animi
These are partitive genitives modifying quicquam ('any [of]') in the condition si quicquam ... esset. The parenthetical phrase non dico ('I do not say') sets up a contrast between civilis [animi] ('of a citizen') and humani animi ('of a human being'), meaning 'any spirit, I do not say of a citizen, but of a human being.'