Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §22.57.1-22.57.12

Religious Expiations and the Arming of Slaves

Passage 651 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Following the disaster at Cannae, the Roman Senate addresses the emergency by punishing unchaste Vestal Virgins, consulting the Sibylline Books, and dispatching an envoy to Delphi, while also appointing a dictator and taking the extraordinary measure of purchasing and arming slaves to form new legions due to the severe manpower shortage.

§22.57.1litteris consulis praetorisque recitatis censuerunt praetorem M. Claudium, qui classi ad Ostiam stanti praeesset, Canusium ad exercitum mittendum, scribendumque consuli, ut, cum praetori exercitum tradidisset, primo quoque tempore, quantum per commodum rei publicae fieri posset, Romam veniret.
After the letters of the consul and the praetor were read, they decreed that the praetor Marcus Claudius, who was in command of the fleet stationed at Ostia, should be sent to the army at Canusium, and that a letter should be written to the consul that, when he had handed over the army to the praetor, he should come to Rome at the earliest possible moment, so far as it could be done consistently with the public interest.
§22.57.2territi etiam super tantas clades cum ceteris prodigiis, tum quod duae Vestales eo anno, Opimia atque Floronia, stupri compertae altera sub terra, uti mos est, ad portam Collinam necata fuerat, altera sibimet ipsa mortem consciverat.
Terrified also, in addition to such great disasters, both by other portents and because in that year two Vestal Virgins, Opimia and Floronia, had been convicted of unchastity, of whom one had been buried alive, according to custom, near the Colline Gate, and the other had laid violent hands upon herself.
§22.57.3L. Cantilius scriba pontificius, quos nunc minores pontifices appellant, qui cum Floronia stuprum fecerat, a pontifice maximo eo usque virgis in comitio caesus erat, ut inter verbera expiraret.
Lucius Cantilius, a pontifical scribe—one of those whom they now call the lesser pontiffs—who had committed unchastity with Floronia, had been scourged with rods in the Comitium by the Pontifex Maximus so severely that he expired under the blows.
§22.57.4hoc nefas cum inter tot, ut fit, clades in prodigium versum esset, decemviri libros adire iussi sunt, §22.57.5et Q. Fabius Pictor Delphos ad oraculum missus est sciscitatum, quibus precibus suppliciisque deos possent placare, et quaenam futura finis tantis cladibus foret.
When this sacrilege, amid so many disasters, as is usually the case, had been turned into a portent, the decemvirs were ordered to consult the books, and Quintus Fabius Pictor was sent to the oracle at Delphi to inquire by what prayers and supplications they might appease the gods, and what end there would be to such great disasters.
§22.57.6interim ex fatalibus libris sacrificia aliquot extraordinaria facta; inter quae Gallus et Galla, Graecus et Graeca in foro bovario sub terram vivi demissi sunt in locum saxo consaeptum, iam ante hostiis humanis, minime Romano sacro, inbutum.
Meanwhile, according to the books of fate, several extraordinary sacrifices were performed, among which a Gallic man and woman and a Greek man and woman were buried alive under the ground in the cattle market, in a place enclosed by stone, which had already been stained beforehand by human victims, a rite by no means Roman.
§22.57.7placatis satis ut rebantur, deis M. Claudius Marcellus ab Ostia mille et quingentos milites, quos in classem scriptos habebat, Romam, ut urbi praesidio essent, mittit; §22.57.8ipse, legione classica — ea legio tertia erat — cum tribunis militum Teanum Sidicinum praemissa, classe tradita P. Furio Philo collegae, paucos post dies Canusium magnis itineribus contendit.
When the gods had been sufficiently appeased, as they believed, Marcus Claudius Marcellus sent fifteen hundred soldiers, whom he had enrolled for the fleet, from Ostia to Rome to serve as a garrison for the city; he himself, after sending the marine legion—this was the third legion—ahead to Teanum Sidicinum with the military tribunes, and handing over the fleet to his colleague Publius Furius Philus, hastened after a few days by forced marches to Canusium.
§22.57.9inde dictator ex auctoritate patrum dictus M. Iunius et Ti. Sempronius magister equitum dilectu edicto iuniores ab annis septemdecim et quosdam praetextatos scribunt.
Thereupon Marcus Junius, who was named dictator on the authority of the senators, and Tiberius Sempronius, the master of the horse, having proclaimed a levy, enrolled young men from the age of seventeen and some still wearing the praetexta.
quattuor ex his legiones et mille equites effecti.
From these, four legions and a thousand cavalry were formed.
§22.57.10item ad socios Latinumque nomen ad milites ex formula accipiendos mittunt.
They also sent to the allies and the Latin name to receive soldiers according to the treaty.
arma, tela, alia parari iubent et vetera spolia hostium detrahunt templis porticibusque.
They ordered arms, weapons, and other equipment to be prepared, and took down from the temples and porticoes the ancient spoils of enemies.
§22.57.11et formam novi dilectus inopia liberorum capitum ac necessitas dedit: octo milia iuvenum validorum ex servitiis prius sciscitantes singulos, vellentne militare empta publice armaverunt.
And the scarcity of free persons and necessity gave rise to a new form of levy: they armed eight thousand strong young men from the slaves, purchased at public expense, after first asking each one individually whether he was willing to serve.
§22.57.12hic miles magis placuit cum pretio minore redimendi captivos copia fieret.
This kind of soldier was more pleasing, although there was an opportunity to ransom the prisoners at a lower price.

Notes

  1. §22.57.1scribendumque consuli — The gerundive `scribendum [esse]` is used in an impersonal passive construction, with `consuli` acting either as a dative of direction (to the consul) or as a dative of agent (by the consul, though in context it means a letter should be sent to him).
  2. §22.57.2stupri compertae — The genitive `stupri` is a genitive of charge or crime, modifying the perfect passive participle `compertae` (having been found guilty of unchastity).
  3. §22.57.11prius sciscitantes singulos, vellentne militare — The present participle `sciscitantes` modifies the implied subject of `armaverunt` (the Roman magistrates). `vellentne` is an indirect question introducing the subjunctive `vellent` (imperfect) with the enclitic particle `-ne`.
  4. §22.57.12cum pretio minore redimendi captivos copia fieret — The `cum` clause with the subjunctive `fieret` functions concessively ('although'). Despite having the opportunity to ransom the prisoners at a lower cost, the Romans preferred the extraordinary measure of arming slaves.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §22.57.1-22.57.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.57.1-22.57.12

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