§1.55.1Gabiis receptis Tarquinius pacem cum Aequorum gente fecit, foedus cum Tuscis renovavit.
Having recovered Gabii, Tarquin made peace with the Aequian nation and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans.
inde ad negotia urbana animum convertit; quorum erat primum, ut Iovis templum in monte Tarpeio monumentum regni sui nominisque relinqueret: Tarquinios reges ambos, patrem vovisse, filium perfecisse.
Then he turned his attention to urban affairs, of which the first was to leave a temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian Mount as a monument of his reign and of his name: namely, that of the two Tarquin kings, the father had vowed it and the son had completed it.
§1.55.2et ut libera a ceteris religionibus area esset tota Iovis templique eius, quod inaedificaretur, exaugurare fana sacellaque statuit, quae aliquot ibi, a Tatio rege primum in ipso discrimine adversus Romulum pugnae vota, consecrata inaugurataque postea fuerant.
And in order that the entire area of Jupiter and of his temple which was to be built there might be free from other religious associations, he decided to deconsecrate the shrines and chapels, several of which had been first vowed there by King Tatius in the very crisis of the battle against Romulus, and had afterwards been consecrated and inaugurated.
§1.55.3inter principia condendi huius operis movisse numen ad indicandam tanti imperii molem traditur deos; nam cum omnium sacellorum exaugurationes admitterent aves, in Termini fano non addixere;
At the beginning of the founding of this work, the gods are said to have exercised their divine power to indicate the greatness of so vast an empire; for while the birds allowed the deconsecrations of all the other chapels, they did not give assent in the case of the shrine of Terminus.
§1.55.4idque omen auguriumque ita acceptum est, non motam Termini sedem unumque eum deorum non evocatum sacratis sibi finibus firma stabiliaque cuncta portendere.
And that omen and augury was interpreted in this way: that the seat of Terminus not being moved, and he alone of the gods not being summoned away from the boundaries consecrated to him, portended that all things would be firm and stable.
§1.55.5hoc perpetuitatis auspicio accepto secutum aliud magnitudinem imperii portendens prodigium est: caput humanum integra facie aperientibus fundamenta templi dicitur apparuisse.
This augury of perpetuity having been received, another prodigy followed, portending the greatness of the empire: a human head, with its face intact, is said to have appeared to those who were digging the foundations of the temple.
§1.55.6quae visa species haud per ambages arcem eam imperii caputque rerum fore portendebat, idque ita cecinere vates, quique in urbe erant quosque ad eam rem consultandam ex Etruria acciverant.
This visible appearance portended, in no ambiguous terms, that this citadel would be the seat of empire and the head of the world; and the prophets prophesied it thus, both those who were in the city and those whom they had summoned from Etruria to consult on this matter.
augebatur ad inpensas regis animus.
The king's resolve was heightened for the expenditures.
§1.55.7itaque Pomptinae manubiae, quae perducendo ad culmen operi destinatae erant, vix in fundamenta suppeditavere.
And so the Pometian spoils, which had been destined for bringing the work to completion, scarcely sufficed for the foundations.
eo magis Fabio, §1.55.8praeterquam quod antiquior est, crediderim quadraginta ea sola talenta fuisse, §1.55.9quam Pisoni, qui quadraginta milia pondo argenti seposita in eam rem scribit, summam pecuniae neque ex unius tum urbis praeda sperandam et nullorum ne huius quidem magnificentiae operum fundamenta non exsuperaturam.
For this reason, I should believe Fabius all the more, besides the fact that he is older, that those spoils had been only forty talents, rather than Piso, who writes that forty thousand pounds of silver were set aside for that purpose—a sum of money neither to be expected from the booty of a single city at that time, and one which would exceed the foundations of any works, even one of this magnificence.