§2.1.1liberi iam hinc populi Romani res pace belloque gestas, annuos magistratus imperiaque legum potentiora quam hominum peragam.
Henceforward, I shall tell of the history in peace and war of the now free Roman people, of their annual magistracies, and of the authority of laws more powerful than that of men.
§2.1.2quae libertas ut laetior esset, proxumi regis superbia fecerat.
That this liberty was the more welcome was due to the arrogance of the last king.
nam priores ita regnarunt, ut haud inmerito omnes deinceps conditores partium certe urbis, quas novas ipsi sedes ab se auctae multitudinis addiderunt, numerentur.
For the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all may, not without reason, be numbered in succession as founders of at least those parts of the city which they themselves added as new dwellings for the multitude increased by them.
§2.1.3neque ambigitur, quin Brutus idem, qui tantum gloriae Superbo exacto rege meruit, pessimo publico id facturus fuerit, si libertatis inmaturae cupidine priorum regum alicui regnum extorsisset.
Nor is there any doubt that the very same Brutus, who earned so much glory by expelling Superbus, would have done so to the great detriment of the state, if, through a premature desire for liberty, he had wrested the kingdom from any of the earlier kings.
§2.1.4quid enim futurum fuit, si illa pastorum convenarumque plebs, transfuga ex suis populis, sub tutela inviolati templi aut libertatem aut certe inpunitatem adepta, soluta regio metu, agitari coepta esset tribuniciis procellis et in aliena urbe cum patribus serere certamina,
For what would have happened if that rabble of shepherds and refugees, runaways from their own peoples, having obtained either liberty or at least impunity under the protection of an inviolable sanctuary, and freed from the fear of a king, had begun to be agitated by tribunician tempests, and to engage in conflicts with the patricians in a foreign city, before the pledges of wives and children, and love for the very soil, to which one becomes accustomed only over a long time, had united their minds?
§2.1.5priusquam pignera coniugum ac liberorum caritasque ipsius soli, cui longo tempore adsuescitur, animos eorum consociasset? §2.1.6dissipatae res nondum adultae discordia forent, quas fovit tranquilla moderatio imperii eoque nutriendo perduxit, ut bonam frugem libertatis maturis iam viribus ferre possent.
The state, not yet mature, would have been dissipated by discord; whereas the tranquil moderation of the government cherished it and by nurturing led it to such a point that, with their strength now matured, they were able to bear the good fruit of liberty.
§2.1.7libertatis autem originem inde magis, quia annuum imperium consulare factum est, quam quod deminutum quicquam sit ex regia potestate, numeres.
Indeed, you may reckon the origin of liberty rather from this, that the consular power was made annual, than because anything was diminished from the royal power.
omnia iura, omnia insignia primi consules tenuere; §2.1.8id modo cautum est, ne, si ambo fasces haberent, duplicatus terror videretur.
The first consuls retained all the rights, all the insignia; only this precaution was taken, that, if both had the fasces, a doubled terror might not be presented.
Brutus prior concedente collega fasces habuit; qui non acrior vindex libertatis fuerat, quam deinde custos fuit.
Brutus, by the concession of his colleague, had the fasces first; he had been no more ardent a champion of liberty than he was thereafter its guardian.
§2.1.9omnium primum avidum novae libertatis populum, ne postmodum flecti precibus aut donis regiis posset, iure iurando adegit neminem Romae passuros regnare.
First of all, to prevent the people, greedy for their new liberty, from being subsequently swayed by the entreaties or gifts of kings, he bound them by an oath that they would suffer no man to reign at Rome.
§2.1.10deinde, quo plus virium in senatu frequentia etiam ordinis faceret, caedibus regis deminutum patrum numerum primoribus equestris gradus lectis ad trecentorum summam explevit; §2.1.11traditumque inde fertur, ut in senatum vocarentur, qui patres quique conscripti essent: conscriptos, videlicet novum senatum, appellabant lectos.
Then, in order that the senate might gain more strength from the fullness of its order, he filled up the number of the senators, which had been diminished by the murders committed by the king, to the sum of three hundred, by electing the foremost men of the equestrian order; and from that time, it is said, the custom was handed down of summoning to the senate those who were the 'Fathers' (Patres) and those who were the 'Enrolled' (Conscripti): they called the elected ones 'Conscripti', namely the new senate.
id mirum quantum profuit ad concordiam civitatis iungendosque patribus plebis animos.
This was wonderfully effective in promoting the harmony of the state and in uniting the minds of the plebs with the patricians.