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Livy · History of Rome §1.42.1-1.42.5

Servius' Consolidation of Power and the Census

Passage 43 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Servius secured his power through strategic marriages and a victorious war against the Etruscans, and established the census as the foundation for state classes and distinctions.

§1.42.1nec iam publicis magis consiliis Servius quam privatis munire opes et ne, qualis Anci liberum animus adversus Tarquinium fuerat, talis adversus se Tarquini liberum esset, duas filias iuvenibus regiis, Lucio atque Arrunti Tarquiniis, iungit; §1.42.2nec rupit tamen fati necessitatem humanis consiliis, quin invidia regni etiam inter domesticos infida omnia atque infesta faceret.
now Servius began to strengthen his power no less by private than by public counsels; and lest the feelings of the sons of Ancus towards Tarquin should be repeated towards himself by the sons of Tarquin, he married his two daughters to the royal youths, Lucius and Arruns Tarquinius; he did not break the necessity of fate by human counsels, but that jealousy of the kingship made everything treacherous and hostile even among those of his own household.
peropportune ad praesentis quietem status bellum cum Veientibus — iam enim indutiae exierant — aliisque Etruscis sumptum. §1.42.3in eo bello et virtus et fortuna enituit Tulli; fusoque ingenti hostium exercitu haud dubius rex, seu patrum seu plebis animos periclitaretur, Romam rediit.
Most opportunely for the preservation of the present tranquility, war was undertaken with the Veientes — for the truce had now expired — and other Etruscans. that war both the valor and the fortune of Tullius shone forth; and having routed a vast army of the enemy, he returned to Rome, an undisputed king, whether he would test the feelings of the patricians or the plebeians.
Adgrediturque inde ad pacis longe maximum opus, §1.42.4ut, quem ad modum Numa divini auctor iuris fuisset, ita Servium conditorem omnis in civitate discriminis ordinumque, quibus inter gradus dignitatis fortunaeque aliquid interlucet, posteri fama ferrent. §1.42.5census enim instituit, rem saluberrimam tanto futuro imperio, ex quo belli pacisque munia non viritim, ut ante, sed pro habitu pecuniarum fierent; tum classes centuriasque et hunc ordinem ex censu discripsit vel paci decorum vel bello.
And he then entered upon by far the greatest work of peace, that, just as Numa had been the author of divine law, so posterity might celebrate Servius as the founder of all distinctions in the state and of the classes by which some difference of rank and fortune is made apparent. he instituted the census, a measure most salutary for an empire destined to be so great, according to which the duties of war and peace were to be performed not individually, as before, but according to the measure of wealth; then he distributed from the census the classes and centuries, and this organization, suitable either for peace or war.

Notes

  1. 1.42.1munire — Historical infinitive, with Servius as its subject. It functions as an imperfect or historical present indicative.
  2. 1.42.1Anci liberum — An archaic genitive plural (ending in -um instead of -orum). The same applies to Tarquini liberum below.
  3. 1.42.2quin — Used with the subjunctive faceret after a negative expression (nec rupit), introducing a clause of result or prevention: "but that..." or "without making...".
  4. 1.42.4quibus inter — Anastrophe (inversion of word order) where the preposition inter is placed after its relative pronoun object quibus. It is equivalent to inter quibus.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §1.42.1-1.42.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.42.1-1.42.5

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