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Livy · History of Rome §2.63.1-2.63.7

Foreign Invasions Halt Strife and Consul Campaigns

Passage 124 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

While internal strife over land distribution intensifies at home, the threat of foreign invasion temporarily pacifies the plebeians. The newly elected consuls march against the Volscians and the Aequi, overcoming difficulties to secure military successes, and subsequently punish the raiding Sabines.

§2.63.1inter haec bella manente discordia domi consules T. Numicius Priscus A. Verginius facti.
Amid these wars, while discord remained at home, Titus Numicius Priscus and Aulus Verginius were made consuls.
§2.63.2non ultra videbatur latura plebes dilationem agrariae legis, ultimaque vis parabatur, cum Volscos adesse fumo ex incendiis villarum fugaque agrestium cognitum est.
The plebeians did not seem likely to endure any further delay of the agrarian law, and extreme measures were being prepared, when it was learned, from the smoke of the burning country-houses and the flight of the rustics, that the Volscians were at hand.
ea res maturam iam seditionem ac prope erumpentem repressit.
This event repressed the mutiny, which was already ripe and on the point of breaking out.
§2.63.3consules, coacti extemplo ab senatu, ad bellum educta ex urbe iuventute tranquilliorem ceteram plebem fecerunt.
The consuls, immediately compelled by the senate, having led the youth out of the city to war, made the rest of the plebeians more tranquil.
§2.63.4et hostes quidem, nihil aliud quam perfusis vano timore Romanis, citato agmine abeunt; §2.63.5Numicius Antium adversus Volscos, Verginius contra Aequos profectus.
And the enemy indeed, having done nothing other than strike the Romans with a groundless fear, departed in a rapid march; Numicius set out for Antium against the Volscians, Verginius against the Aequi.
ibi ex insidiis prope magna accepta clade virtus militum rem prolapsam neglegentia consulis restituit.
There, a great disaster having been almost received from an ambush, the valour of the soldiers restored the situation which had been ruined by the negligence of the consul.
§2.63.6melius in Volscis imperatum est; fusi primo proelio hostes fugaque in urbem Antium, ut tum res erant, opulentissimam acti.
In the territory of the Volscians the command was better conducted; the enemy were routed in the first battle and driven in flight into the city of Antium, which was, as times then were, most opulent.
quam consul oppugnare non ausus Caenonem, aliud oppidum nequaquam tam opulentum, ab Antiatibus cepit.
The consul, not daring to assault it, captured from the Antiatis Caeno, another town by no means so opulent.
§2.63.7dum Aequi Volscique Romanos exercitus tenent, Sabini usque ad portas urbis populantes incessere.
While the Aequi and the Volscians held the Roman armies occupied, the Sabines advanced, ravaging, as far as the gates of the city.
deinde ipsi paucis post diebus ab duobus exercitibus, utroque per iram consule ingresso in finis, plus cladium, quam intulerant, acceperunt.
Then they themselves, a few days later, from the two armies—both consuls having entered into their territory in anger—received more of a disaster than they had inflicted.

Notes

  1. 2.63.2non ultra videbatur latura plebes — The verb 'videbatur' is used personally with 'plebes' as its subject ('the plebeians seemed...'). 'latura' is a future active participle with the omitted auxiliary 'esse', forming a future active infinitive ('latura esse') expressing the intention or likelihood of the subject to endure.
  2. 2.63.2cum Volscos adesse ... cognitum est — A clause of 'cum inversum' (inverted cum). The main clause (with 'parabatur' in the imperfect) describes an action already in progress, and the 'cum' clause with the indicative perfect ('cognitum est') introduces a sudden, unexpected event with dramatic effect.
  3. 2.63.4nihil aliud quam perfusis vano timore Romanis — The phrase 'nihil aliud quam' acts adverbially to mean 'doing nothing other than' or 'merely'. 'perfusis ... Romanis' is an ablative absolute consisting of the noun 'Romanis' and the perfect passive participle 'perfusis', describing the circumstances: 'with the Romans having been imbued with a groundless fear.'
  4. 2.63.6melius in Volscis imperatum est — An impersonal passive construction of the intransitive verb 'impero' ('to command'). In Latin, the passive of intransitive verbs is used impersonally in the third-person singular neuter, meaning here 'the command was conducted' or 'military operations were directed'. 'in Volscis' is a prepositional phrase meaning 'in the territory of the Volscians' (or 'on the Volscian front').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §2.63.1-2.63.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.63.1-2.63.7

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