§2.2.1rerum deinde divinarum habita cura; et quia quaedam publica sacra per ipsos reges factitata erant, necubi regum desiderium esset, regem sacrificulum creant.
Then, care was taken of divine matters; and because certain public sacrifices had been customarily performed by the kings themselves, lest there should be a lack of kings anywhere, they create a 'king of sacrifices'.
§2.2.2id sacerdotium pontifici subiecere, ne additus nomini honos aliquid libertati, cuius tunc prima erat cura, officeret.
They subjected this priesthood to the pontifex, lest the honor added to the name should in any way obstruct liberty, which was then their first care.
§2.2.3ac nescio an nimis undique eam minimisque rebus muniendo modum excesserint.
Indeed, I am inclined to think that they may have gone too far in securing it on all sides and in the smallest matters.
consulis enim alterius, cum nihil aliud offenderet, nomen invisum civitati fuit: nimium Tarquinios regno adsuesse; initium a Prisco factum; regnasse dein Ser. Tullium; ne intervallo quidem facto oblitum, tamquam alieni, regni Superbum Tarquinium velut hereditatem gentis scelere ac vi repetisse; pulso Superbo penes Collatinum imperium esse; nescire Tarquinios privatos vivere.
For the name of the other consul, although he gave no other offense, was hated by the state: [people said that] the Tarquinii had become too accustomed to kingship; the beginning had been made by Priscus; Servius Tullius had reigned next; and even though no interval had occurred, Tarquinius Superbus, not forgetting the kingdom as if it belonged to another, had reclaimed it by crime and violence as the inheritance of his gens; now that Superbus was expelled, the power was in the hands of Collatinus; the Tarquinii did not know how to live as private citizens.
non placere nomen, periculosum libertati esse.
The name did not please them, it was dangerous to liberty.
§2.2.4hic primo sensim temptantium animos sermo per totam civitatem est datus, sollicitamque suspicione plebem Brutus ad contionem vocat.
At first, this talk, gradually testing the minds of the citizens, was spread through the whole state, and Brutus summons the plebs, anxious with suspicion, to an assembly.
§2.2.5ibi omnium primum ius iurandum populi recitat neminem regnare passuros nec esse Romae, unde periculum libertati foret.
There, first of all, he recites the oath of the people that they would suffer no man to reign nor anyone to be at Rome from whom danger to liberty might arise.
id summa ope tuendum esse neque ullam rem, quae eo pertineat, contemnendam.
He says that this must be guarded with all their might, and nothing that pertains to it should be neglected.
invitum se dicere hominis causa nec dicturum fuisse, ni caritas rei publicae vinceret: §2.2.6non credere populum Romanum solidam libertatem reciperatam esse; regium genus, regium nomen non solum in civitate, sed etiam in imperio esse; id officere, id obstare libertati.
He says that he speaks unwillingly for the sake of a man, and would not have spoken, unless love of the republic conquered him: he says that the Roman people do not believe that solid liberty has been recovered; the royal race, the royal name is not only in the state, but even in the government; this obstructs, this stands in the way of liberty.
§2.2.7“hunc tu” inquit “tua voluntate, L. Tarquini, remove metum.
"Do you," he says, "L. Tarquinius, of your own free will, remove this fear.
meminimus, fatemur, eiecisti reges; absolve beneficium tuum, aufer hinc regum nomen.
We remember, we confess, you expelled the kings; complete your service, take away from here the name of the kings.
res tuas tibi non solum reddent cives tui auctore me, sed, si quid deest, munifice augebunt.
Your citizens, on my advice, will not only return your property to you, but if anything is lacking, they will generously increase it.
amicus abi; exonera civitatem vano forsitan metu: ita persuasum est animis, cum gente Tarquinia regnum hinc abiturum. ” §2.2.8consuli primo tam novae rei ac subitae admiratio incluserat vocem; dicere deinde incipientem primores civitatis circumsistunt, eadem multis precibus orant.
Depart as a friend; relieve the state of a fear that is perhaps groundless: for minds are so persuaded that with the Tarquinian race, the kingship will depart hence." At first, amazement at so new and sudden a turn of events had stopped the consul's voice; then, as he began to speak, the leading men of the state surround him, begging the same thing with many entreaties.
et ceteri quidem movebant minus; §2.2.9postquam Sp.
And indeed, the others moved him less; but after Sp.
Lucretius, maior aetate ac dignitate, socer praeterea ipsius, agere varie rogando alternis suadendoque coepit, ut vinci se consensu civitatis pateretur, §2.2.10timens consul, ne postmodum privato sibi eadem illa cum bonorum amissione additaque alia insuper ignominia acciderent, abdicavit se consulatu rebusque suis omnibus Lavinium translatis civitate cessit.
Lucretius, superior in age and dignity, and moreover his own father-in-law, began to urge him in various ways, now entreating, now persuading him to allow himself to be overcome by the consensus of the state, the consul, fearing lest these very same things should happen to him afterwards as a private citizen, with the loss of his property and with some other ignominy added besides, abdicated his consulship, and having transferred all his property to Lavinium, withdrew from the state.
§2.2.11Brutus ex senatus consulto ad populum tulit, ut omnes Tarquiniae gentis exules essent.
Brutus, on a decree of the senate, proposed to the people that all of the Tarquinian gens should be exiles.
collegam sibi comitiis centuriatis creavit P. Valerium, quo adiutore reges eiecerat.
At the comitia centuriata, he created P. Valerius as his colleague, with whose help he had expelled the kings.