Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §1.31.1-1.31.8

Prodigies, Pestilence, and Death of King Tullus

Passage 32 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Following the prodigy of a rain of stones on the Alban Mount, a pestilence spreads through Rome. King Tullus, falling ill, turns from his former impiety to extreme superstition, but after improperly performing a ritual found in Numa's commentaries, he is struck by Jupiter's lightning and consumed by fire along with his palace.

§1.31.1devictis Sabinis cum in magna gloria magnisque opibus regnum Tulli ac tota res Romana esset, nuntiatum regi patribusque est in monte Albano lapidibus pluvisse.
When the Sabines had been conquered and the kingdom of Tullus and the entire Roman state were in great glory and vast wealth, it was reported to the king and the patricians that it had rained stones on the Alban Mount.
§1.31.2quod cum credi vix posset, missis ad id visendum prodigium, in conspectu haud aliter, quam cum grandinem venti glomeratam in terras agunt, crebri cecidere caelo lapides.
Since this could scarcely be believed, men were sent to inspect the prodigy, and in their sight, in no other way than when winds drive massed hail onto the earth, stones fell thick from heaven.
§1.31.3visi etiam audire vocem ingentem ex summi cacuminis luco, ut patrio ritu sacra Albani facerent, quae velut diis quoque simul cum patria relictis oblivioni dederant, et aut Romana sacra susceperant aut fortunae, ut fit, obirati cultum reliquerant deum.
They also seemed to hear a mighty voice from the grove on the highest summit, ordering the Albans to perform their sacred rites according to the custom of their fathers, which, as if the gods had also been abandoned along with their country, they had given over to oblivion, and had either adopted Roman rites or, as often happens, angry with fortune, had abandoned the worship of the gods.
§1.31.4Romanis quoque ab eodem prodigio novendiale sacrum publice susceptum est, seu voce caelesti ex Albano monte missa — nam id quoque traditur — seu haruspicum monitu; mansit certe sollemne, ut, quandoque idem prodigium nuntiaretur, feriae per novem dies agerentur.
By the Romans also, a nine-day festival was publicly undertaken on account of the same prodigy, whether because of the heavenly voice sent from the Alban Mount—for that too is handed down—or by the advice of the soothsayers; at any rate, the custom remained that, whenever the same prodigy was reported, festivals should be celebrated for nine days.
haud ita multo post pestilentia laboratum est.
Not long after this, they suffered from a pestilence.
§1.31.5unde cum pigritia militandi oreretur, nulla tamen ab armis quies dabatur a bellicoso rege, salubriora etiam credente militiae quam domi iuvenum corpora esse, donec ipse quoque longinquo morbo est inplicitus.
When from this a reluctance to serve in the army arose, no rest from arms was nevertheless granted by the warlike king, who believed that the bodies of the young men were even healthier on military service than at home, until he himself also was afflicted with a lingering disease.
§1.31.6tunc adeo fracti simul cum corpore sunt spiritus illi feroces, ut, qui nihil ante ratus esset minus regium quam sacris dedere animum, repente omnibus magnis parvisque superstitionibus obnoxius degeret religionibusque etiam populum inpleret.
Then indeed those fierce spirits were so broken along with his body that he, who had previously thought nothing less kingly than to devote his mind to sacred rites, suddenly lived subject to all superstitions, great and small, and even filled the people with religious fears.
§1.31.7vulgo iam homines eum statum rerum, qui sub Numa rege fuerat, requirentes, unam opem aegris corporibus relictam, si pax veniaque ab diis inpetrata esset, credebant.
Now the people everywhere, longing for that state of things which had existed under King Numa, believed that the only help left for their sick bodies was if peace and pardon were obtained from the gods.
§1.31.8ipsum regem tradunt volventem commentarios Numae, cum ibi quaedam occulta sollemnia sacrificia Iovi Elicio facta invenisset, operatum iis sacris se abdidisse; sed non rite initum aut curatum id sacrum esse, nec solum nullam ei oblatam caelestium speciem, sed ira Iovis sollicitati prava religione fulmine ictum cum domo conflagrasse.
They hand down that the king himself, turning over the commentaries of Numa, when he had found there certain secret and solemn sacrifices performed to Jupiter Elicius, hid himself away, devoted to those rites; but that the rite was not properly initiated or conducted, and not only was no vision of the heavenly beings offered to him, but, through the wrath of Jupiter provoked by the improper religion, he was struck by lightning and burned to ashes with his house.
Tullus magna gloria belli regnavit annos duos et triginta.
Tullus reigned with great glory in war for thirty-two years.

Notes

  1. 1.31.1lapidibus pluvisse — The impersonal verb pluit (to rain) takes an ablative of means (here, lapidibus) to express what is falling. The infinitive pluvisse functions as the predicate of the infinitive clause acting as the subject of the passive impersonal nuntiatum est.
  2. 1.31.2missis — An ablative absolute construction where the perfect participle modifies an omitted pronoun or noun (such as nuntiis or iis). It temporally subordinate the clause: 'after men had been sent' to inspect the prodigy.
  3. 1.31.3visi — The nominative plural perfect passive participle of video, agreeing with the omitted subject (the Albans or the messengers). It forms a personal passive construction (nominative with infinitive), literally meaning 'they were seen to hear' or 'they seemed to hear.'
  4. 1.31.5salubriora ... corpora esse — An accusative and infinitive clause introduced by the present participle credente (in the ablative agreeing with a rege, expressing cause). The form militiae (on military service) functions as a locative (or dative), contrasted with the locative domi (at home).
  5. 1.31.6qui nihil ante ratus esset — A relative clause modifying the implied subject of degeret (the king). The subjunctive ratus esset has a concessive force ('a man who, although he had previously thought...') or characterizes the subject. The comparative minus regium is followed by quam and the infinitive phrase dedere animum as the term of comparison.
  6. 1.31.8operatum — The perfect participle of the deponent verb operor (to devote oneself to). It has a present or continuous force, taking the dative iis sacris, meaning 'devoting himself' or 'busied with those rites.'

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §1.31.1-1.31.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.31.1-1.31.8

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.