- 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-lat2:6.36.1-6.36.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
Following the attack on Tusculum by Velitrae, the tribunes of the plebs yield to allow the election of military tribunes, and an army is successfully raised. Afterward, the political struggle over the laws resumes, with Sextius and Licinius fiercely interrogating the patricians about their monopoly on land and the harsh debt-bondage system.
alia bella opportune quievere; Veliterni coloni gestientes1 otio, quod nullus exercitus Romanus esset, et agrum Romanum aliquotiens incursavere et Tusculum oppugnare adorti sunt;
Other wars opportunely quieted down; the colonists of Velitrae, eager for action from lack of employment because there was no Roman army, both raided the Roman territory several times and set about attacking Tusculum.
eaque res Tusculanis, veteribus sociis, novis civibus, opem orantibus verecundia2 maxime non patres modo sed etiam plebem movit.
This matter, because of their sense of obligation toward the Tusculans, old allies and new citizens who were begging for help, moved not only the patricians but also the plebs.
remittentibus tribunis plebis comitia per interregem sunt habita creatique tribuni militum L. Furius, A. Manlius, Ser. Sulpicius, Ser. Cornelius, P. et C. Valerii. haudquaquam tam oboedientem in dilectu quam in comitiis plebem habuere;
With the tribunes of the plebs relaxing their opposition, elections were held by an interrex, and military tribunes were elected: Lucius Furius, Aulus Manlius, Servius Sulpicius, Servius Cornelius, Publius and Gaius Valerius. They found the plebs by no means so obedient in the levy as they had been in the elections.
ingentique contentione exercitu scripto profecti non ab Tusculo modo summovere hostem sed intra suamet ipsum moenia conpulere, obsidebanturque haud paulo vi maiore Velitrae quam Tusculum obsessum fuerat. nec tamen ab eis, a quibus obsideri coeptae erant, expugnari potuere;
Setting out with an army enrolled after immense contention, they not only drove the enemy from Tusculum but forced them within their very own walls. And Velitrae was besieged with a force not a little greater than that with which Tusculum had been besieged. Yet they could not be taken by storm by those by whom the siege had been begun.
ante novi creati sunt tribuni militum Q. Servilius, C. Veturius, A. et M. Cornelii, Q. Quinctius, M. Fabius. nihil ne ab iis quidem tribunis ad Velitras memorabile factum. in maiore discrimine domi res vertebantur.
Before that, new military tribunes were elected: Quintus Servilius, Gaius Veturius, Aulus and Marcus Cornelius, Quintus Quinctius, Marcus Fabius. Not even by these tribunes was anything memorable done at Velitrae. Affairs at home were turning in a greater crisis.
nam praeter Sextium Liciniumque latores legum, iam octavum tribunos plebis refectos, Fabius quoque tribunus militum, Stolonis socer, quarum legum auctor fuerat, earum suasorem se haud dubium ferebat;
For besides Sextius and Licinius, the proposers of the laws, now re-elected tribunes of the plebs for the eighth time, Fabius also, a military tribune and father-in-law of Stolo, of which laws he had been an author, declared himself an indubitable supporter of them.
et cum octo ex collegio tribunorum plebi primo intercessores legum fuissent, quinque soli erant; et, ut ferme solent qui a suis desciscunt, capti et stupentes animi3 vocibus alienis id modo, quod domi praeceptum erat, intercessioni suae praetendebant:
And though eight from the college of tribunes of the plebs had at first been vetoers of the laws, there were now only five; and, as is almost always the case with those who desert their own party, paralyzed and bewildered in mind, they only put forward as a pretext for their veto what had been instructed to them at home by the voices of others:
Velitris in exercitu plebis magnam partem abesse; in adventum militum comitia differri debere, ut universa plebes de suis commodis suffragium ferret.
namely, that a large part of the plebs was absent in the army at Velitrae; that the elections ought to be postponed until the arrival of the soldiers, so that the entire plebs might vote on their own advantages.
Sextius Liciniusque cum parte collegarum et uno ex tribunis militum Fabio, artifices iam tot annorum usu tractandi animos plebis, primores patrum productos interrogando de singulis, quae ferebantur ad populum, fatigabant:
Sextius and Licinius, with a part of their colleagues and one of the military tribunes, Fabius, being now experts in managing the minds of the plebs by the practice of so many years, harassed the leading men of the patricians brought forward by questioning them about each of the proposals that were being brought before the people:
auderentne postulare, ut, cum bina iugera agri plebi dividerentur, ipsis plus quingenta iugera habere liceret, ut singuli prope trecentorum civium possiderent agros, plebeio homini vix ad tectum necessarium aut locum sepulturae suus pateret ager?
did they dare to demand that, while two iugera of land apiece were being distributed to the plebs, they themselves should be allowed to have more than five hundred iugera, so that single individuals might possess the lands of nearly three hundred citizens, while a plebeian had a piece of land scarcely open to him for a necessary roof or a place of burial?
an placeret faenore circumventam plebem, potius quam sorte creditum solvat,4 corpus in nervum ac supplicia dare, et gregatim cotidie de foro addictos duci et repleri vinctis nobiles domus et, ubicumque patricius habitet, ibi carcerem privatum esse?
Or did it please them that the plebs, overwhelmed by interest, instead of paying the debt from the principal, should surrender their bodies to the shackles and torture, and that crowds of debtors should daily be led from the forum and noble houses be filled with prisoners, and, wherever a patrician lived, there should be a private prison?
- 6.36.1gestientes
The present participle gestientes (from gestio, to exult, to be eager) is accompanied by the ablative otio, expressing that they were 'eager for action from lack of employment' or 'restless with leisure' due to the absence of the Roman army.
- 6.36.2verecundia
An ablative of cause. Although it can mean 'shame' or 'respect,' here it refers to the 'sense of obligation' or 'moral duty' toward the Tusculans (the old allies and new citizens begging for help) which moved both the patricians and the plebs.
- 6.36.8capti et stupentes animi
animi is a genitive of respect (or specification, possibly of locative origin) modifying capti et stupentes, indicating that they were paralyzed or bewildered 'in mind' or 'spiritually,' rather than physically.
- 6.36.12potius quam sorte creditum solvat
potius quam introduces the subjunctive solvat to express a rejected or undesirable alternative. sorte is an ablative of means meaning 'with the principal,' contrasted with paying the interest (faenore).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1