- 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-lat2:7.10.1-7.10.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
In response to the Gaul's provocation, Titus Manlius obtains the dictator's permission to fight, successfully slays the giant foe, and takes his torque. For this deed, he is given the cognomen 'Torquatus' and a golden crown.
diu inter primores iuvenum Romanorum silentium fuit, cum et abnuere certamen vererentur et praecipuam sortem periculi petere nollent;
For a long time there was silence among the foremost of the Roman youths, since they were both afraid to decline the contest and unwilling to seek the chief share of the danger;
tum T. Manlius L. f., qui patrem a vexatione tribunicia vindicaverat, ex statione ad dictatorem pergit. “iniussu tuo” inquit, “imperator, extra ordinem numquam pugnaverim,1 non si certam victoriam videam;
then Titus Manlius, son of Lucius, who had rescued his father from tribunician vexation, went from his post to the dictator. “Without your order, General,” he said, “I would never fight out of my rank, not even if I saw a certain victory;
si tu permittis, volo ego illi beluae ostendere, quando adeo ferox praesultat hostium signis, me ex ea familia ortum, quae Gallorum agmen ex rupe Tarpeia deiecit.”
if you permit, I wish to show to that beast, since he leaps forward so fiercely before the enemy’s standards, that I am descended from that family which cast down the army of the Gauls from the Tarpeian Rock.”
tum dictator “macte virtute”2 inquit “ac pietate in patrem patriamque, T. Manli, esto. perge et nomen Romanum invictum iuvantibus dis praesta.” armant inde iuvenem aequales;
Then the dictator said, “All honor to your courage, Titus Manlius, and to your devotion to your father and fatherland. Go, and with the help of the gods, prove the Roman name unconquered.” Thereupon his comrades-in-arms armed the youth;
pedestre scutum capit, Hispano cingitur gladio ad propiorem habili pugnam; armatum adornatumque adversus Gallum stolide laetum et — quoniam id quoque memoria dignum antiquis visum est — linguam etiam ab inrisu exserentem producunt.
he took a foot-soldier’s shield, and girt himself with a Spanish sword, handy for close combat; thus armed and equipped, they led him forward against the Gaul, who was stupidly joyful and—since this also seemed to the ancients worthy of record—even sticking out his tongue in derision.
recipiunt inde se ad stationem, et duo in medio armati spectaculi magis more quam lege belli destituuntur, nequaquam visu ac specie aestimantibus pares.
Then they withdrew to their post, and the two armed men were left in the middle, more in the fashion of a spectacle than by the law of war, by no means equal in appearance and stature to those who estimated them.
corpus alteri magnitudine eximium, versicolori veste pictisque et auro caelatis refulgens armis; media in altero militaris statura modicaque in armis habilibus magis quam decoris species.
The one had a body of extraordinary size, resplendent in multicolored clothing and arms painted and embossed with gold; in the other was a moderate military height, and a modest appearance in arms that were handy rather than decorative.
non cantus, non exsultatio armorumque agitatio vana, sed pectus animorum iraeque tacitae plenum; omnem ferociam in discrimen ipsum certaminis distulerat.
There was no singing, no leaping about, nor useless brandishing of weapons, but a breast full of courage and silent wrath; he had deferred all his fierceness to the very crisis of the combat.
ubi constitere inter duas acies, tot circa mortalium animis spe metuque pendentibus, Gallus velut moles superne inminens proiecto laeva scuto in advenientis arma hostis vanum caesim cum ingenti sonitu ensem deiecit;
When they took their stand between the two lines, while the minds of so many mortals around were hanging in hope and fear, the Gaul, looming like a mass from above, thrusting out his shield with his left hand, brought down his sword with a great sound in a slashing blow onto the armor of the approaching enemy, but it was in vain;
Romanus mucrone subrecto, cum scuto scutum imum perculisset totoque corpore interior periculo vulneris factus3 insinuasset se inter corpus armaque, uno alteroque subinde ictu ventrem atque inguina hausit et in spatium ingens ruentem porrexit hostem.
the Roman, with his sword-point raised, having struck the bottom of the Gaul’s shield with his own shield and getting close inside with his whole body, safe from the danger of a wound, insinuated himself between the enemy’s body and armor, and immediately with one blow and then another pierced his belly and groin, and stretched out his foe as he fell, covering a vast space.
iacentis inde corpus ab omni alia vexatione intactum uno torque spoliavit, quem respersum cruore collo circumdedit suo.
Then, leaving the body of the fallen foe untouched by any other mutilation, he despoiled it of a single torque, which, sprinkled with blood, he placed around his own neck.
defixerat pavor cum admiratione Gallos; Romani alacres ab statione obviam militi suo progressi, gratulantes laudantesque ad dictatorem perducunt.
Fear combined with admiration had transfixed the Gauls; the Romans, full of joy, advanced from their post to meet their soldier, and congratulating and praising him, led him to the dictator.
inter carminum prope in modum incondita quaedam militariter ioculantes4 Torquati cognomen auditum; celebratum deinde posteris etiam familiaeque honori fuit.
Amidst their soldierly jesting, which was almost in the manner of songs, some unpolished verses, the cognomen ‘Torquatus’ was heard; it was subsequently celebrated by posterity as well and was an honor to the family.
dictator coronam auream addidit donum mirisque pro contione eam pugnam laudibus tulit.
The dictator added a golden crown as a gift, and before the assembly extolled that fight with wonderful praises.
- 7.10.2pugnaverim
This is a perfect subjunctive, used independently to express a potential action or a polite but firm assertion ('I would never fight'), corresponding to the apodosis of a conditional sentence.
- 7.10.4macte virtute
The vocative form macte of the adjective mactus (magnified, honored) is frozen here as an idiomatic expression of praise. It takes the ablative of respect (virtute and pietate) and is used with the imperative esto.
- 7.10.10interior periculo vulneris factus
interior is a nominative adjective agreeing with the subject (Romanus), meaning 'having gotten further inside.' periculo is an ablative of separation governed by interior or factus, meaning 'safe from [inside of] the danger of a wound.'
- 7.10.13inter... ioculantes
The preposition inter governs the accusative plural present participle ioculantes (those jesting) used substantively. incondita quaedam (certain unpolished verses/things) acts as the direct object of ioculantes, while carminum prope in modum (almost in the manner of songs) modifies the phrase.