- 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-lat2:9.10.1-9.10.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
The senate and tribunes agree to be surrendered to Caudium, and new legions are formed. At the surrender ceremony, Postumius deliberately provokes the Roman fetial by striking him, claiming to be a Samnite citizen, in order to provide Rome with a legally just pretext for war.
movit patres conscriptos cum causa tum auctor nec ceteros solum sed tribunos etiam plebei, ut se in senatus dicerent fore potestate.
The conscript fathers were moved both by the cause and by its author, and not only the others but even the tribunes of the plebs declared that they would be in the power of the senate.
magistratu inde se extemplo abdicaverunt traditique fetialibus cum ceteris Caudium ducendi.1
Thereupon they immediately abdicated their office, and were handed over to the fetials to be led with the others to Caudium.
hoc senatus consulto facto lux quaedam adfulsisse civitati visa est. Postumius in ore erat, eum laudibus ad caelum ferebant, devotioni2 P. Deci consulis, aliis claris facinoribus aequabant:
When this decree of the senate was passed, a certain light seemed to have shone upon the state. Postumius was on everyone’s lips; they extolled him with praises to the heavens, and equalized him to the self-devotion of the consul Publius Decius and to other illustrious deeds:
emersisse civitatem ex obnoxia pace illius consilio et opera; ipsum se cruciatibus et hostium irae offerre piaculaque pro populo Romano dare.
by his counsel and exertion the state had emerged from a humiliating peace; that he was offering his own person to tortures and the wrath of the enemy, and giving himself as an expiation for the Roman people.
arma cuncti spectant et bellum: en umquam futurum, ut3 congredi armatis cum Samnite liceat?
All looked to arms and war: would there ever come a time when they might meet the Samnite in arms?
in civitate ira odioque ardente dilectus prope omnium voluntariorum fuit. rescriptae ex eodem milite novae legiones ductusque ad Caudium exercitus.
In a state burning with anger and hatred, the levy consisted almost entirely of volunteers.
praegressi fetiales ubi ad portam venere, vestem detrahi pacis sponsoribus iubent, manus post tergum vinciri.4 cum apparitor verecundia maiestatis Postumi laxe vinciret, “quin tu” inquit “adducis lorum, ut iusta fiat deditio!”
New legions were enrolled from the very same soldiers, and the army was marched to Caudium. When the fetials, having gone ahead, arrived at the gate, they ordered the garments to be stripped from the guarantors of peace, and their hands to be bound behind their backs. When the officer, out of respect for the dignity of Postumius, bound him loosely, Postumius said, “Why do you not draw the strap tight, so that the surrender may be duly performed?”
tum ubi in coetum Samnitium et ad tribunal ventum Ponti est, A. Cornelius Arvina fetialis ita verba fecit:
Then, when they had come into the assembly of the Samnites and to the tribunal of Pontius, Aulus Cornelius Arvina, the fetial, spoke as follows:
“quandoque5 hisce homines iniussu populi Romani Quiritium foedus ictum iri6 spoponderunt atque ob eam rem noxam nocuerunt, ob eam rem, quo populus Romanus scelere inpio sit solutus, hosce homines vobis dedo.”
”Since these men, without the command of the Roman people of the Quirites, guaranteed that a treaty would be struck, and by that act committed a crime, for that reason, in order that the Roman people may be freed from impious guilt, I surrender these men to you.”
haec dicenti fetiali Postumius genu femur quanta maxime poterat vi perculit et clara voce ait se Samnitem civem esse,7 illum legatum fetialem a se contra ius gentium violatum: eo iustius bellum gesturos.
As the fetial was saying this, Postumius struck his thigh with his knee with as much force as he possibly could, and said in a clear voice that he was a Samnite citizen, and that he had violated that ambassador and fetial contrary to the law of nations; therefore, they would wage war with greater justice.
- 9.10.2Caudium ducendi
ducendi is a gerundive (nominative masculine plural) agreeing with the implied subject of traditique (sunt), expressing purpose or destiny ("to be led"). Caudium is the accusative of place to which.
- 9.10.3devotioni
devotioni is a dative case of comparison governed by aequabant. It refers to the ritual self-devotion (devotio) of the consul P. Decius Mus for the victory of the state.
- 9.10.5en umquam futurum, ut
futurum (esse) is a future infinitive representing a rhetorical question in indirect speech (corresponding to eritne umquam in direct speech). The clause ut... liceat is a noun clause functioning as the subject of futurum.
- 9.10.7vestem detrahi... manus... vinciri
detrahi and vinciri are passive present infinitives governed by iubent, forming accusative and infinitive constructions with their respective subjects vestem and manus. sponsoribus is a dative of separation ("from the guarantors").
- 9.10.9quandoque
Here quandoque is used not as a temporal adverb ("whenever") but as a causal conjunction (synonymous with quandoquidem), which is characteristic of archaic and solemn formulaic language.
- 9.10.9foedus ictum iri
ictum iri is the future passive infinitive of ico (to strike a treaty). It forms an accusative and infinitive construction with foedus as its subject, governed by spoponderunt.
- 9.10.10se Samnitem civem esse
An infinitive clause where Postumius asserts "that he is a Samnite citizen." By arguing that the formal surrender (deditio) stripped him of Roman citizenship and made him a Samnite, his physical assault on the Roman fetial would count as a Samnite violation of the law of nations against a Roman envoy, thereby providing Rome with a legally "just war" (iustum bellum).