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Livy · History of Rome §2.21.1-2.21.7

Chronological Doubts and the Death of Tarquin

Passage 82 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Addressing the chronological confusion and disagreement among writers regarding the battle of Lake Regillus, the author records the death of the former king Tarquin, which alters the class dynamics in Rome, alongside the re-establishment of Signia and dedication of temples.

§2.21.1triennio deinde nec certa pax nec bellum fuit.
Thereafter for three years there was neither a certain peace nor war.
consules Q. Cloelius et T. Larcius, inde A. Sempronius et M. Minucius.
The consuls were Quintus Cloelius and Titus Larcius, then Aulus Sempronius and Marcus Minucius.
his consulibus aedis Saturno dedicata, Saturnalia institutus festus dies. §2.21.2A. deinde Postumius et T. Verginius consules facti. §2.21.3hoc demum anno ad Regillum lacum pugnatum apud quosdam invenio: A. Postumium, quia collega dubiae fidei fuerit, se consulatu abdicasse; dictatorem inde factum. §2.21.4tanti errores inplicant temporum rationem aliter apud alios ordinatis magistratibus, ut nec qui consules secundum quos, nec quid quoque anno actum sit, in tanta vetustate non rerum modo sed etiam auctorum digerere possis.
Under these consuls, a temple was dedicated to Saturn, and the festival of the Saturnalia was instituted. Then Aulus Postumius and Titus Verginius were made consuls. It is only in this year that I find in some writers that the battle at Lake Regillus was fought: namely, that Aulus Postumius, because his colleague was of doubtful loyalty, abdicated his consulship, and was thereupon made dictator. Such great errors entangle the calculation of the times, with the magistrates arranged differently in different authors, that, in such great antiquity not only of events but also of writers, you cannot arrange either who were consuls after whom, or what was done in each year.
Ap. Claudius deinde et P. Servilius consules facti. §2.21.5insignis hic annus est nuntio Tarquinii mortis.
Then Appius Claudius and Publius Servilius were made consuls. This year is distinguished by the news of the death of Tarquin.
mortuus Cumis, quo se post fractas opes Latinorum ad Aristodemum tyrannum contulerat.
He died at Cumae, whither he had betaken himself to the tyrant Aristodemus after the power of the Latins was broken.
eo nuntio erecti patres, erecta plebes. §2.21.6sed patribus nimis luxuriosa ea fuit laetitia; plebi, cui ad eam diem summa ope inservitum erat, iniuriae a primoribus fieri coepere. §2.21.7eodem anno Signia colonia, quam rex Tarquinius deduxerat, suppleto numero colonorum iterum deducta est.
At this news, both the patricians and the plebeians were encouraged. But for the patricians, that joy was too unrestrained; for the plebeians, who up to that day had been served with the greatest effort, wrongs began to be done by the leading men. In the same year, the colony of Signia, which King Tarquin had founded, was founded a second time with the number of colonists filled up.
Romae tribus una et uiginti factae.
At Rome twenty-one tribes were formed.
aedes Mercuri dedicata est idibus Maiis.
The temple of Mercury was dedicated on the Ides of May.

Notes

  1. §2.21.3A. Postumium, quia collega dubiae fidei fuerit, se consulatu abdicasse; dictatorem inde factum. — An accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of invenio (A. Postumium ... abdicasse). In the latter part, dictatorem inde factum, the subject accusative eum and the copula esse are understood (eum dictatorem inde factum esse).
  2. §2.21.4aliter apud alios ordinatis magistratibus — An ablative absolute construction where magistratibus is the noun and ordinatis is the perfect participle. The phrase aliter apud alios ("differently among different [writers]") modifies the participle, expressing the cause of the chronological confusion (tanti errores) mentioned in the main clause.
  3. §2.21.6plebi, cui ad eam diem summa ope inservitum erat — The verb inservitum erat in the relative clause is the impersonal passive of the intransitive verb inservire ("to serve," "to court the favor of"), which governs the dative. Consequently, the relative pronoun cui, referring back to the antecedent plebi, is in the dative case.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §2.21.1-2.21.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.21.1-2.21.7

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