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Livy · History of Rome §3.32.1-3.32.7

Pestilence in Rome and Agreement to Create Decemvirs

Passage 158 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Rome is struck by a severe famine and plague, resulting in the deaths of many officials, but upon the return of the embassy from Athens, it is agreed to establish decemvirs with supreme power to begin drafting the laws.

§3.32.1ab externis bellis quietus annus fuit, quietior insequens P. Curiatio et Sex. Quinctilio consulibus perpetuo silentio tribunorum, quod primo legatorum, qui Athenas ierant,
The year was free from foreign wars, and the following year, during the consulship of Publius Curiatius and Sextus Quinctilius, was even quieter, owing to the perpetual silence of the tribunes, which was produced at first by the expectation of the ambassadors who had gone to Athens and of the foreign laws.
§3.32.2legumque peregrinarum expectatio praebuit, dein duo simul mala ingentia exorta, fames pestilentiaque, foeda homini, foeda pecori.
Then, two great evils arose at the same time, famine and pestilence, disastrous to man and disastrous to beast.
vastati agri sunt, urbs adsiduis exhausta funeribus; multae et clarae lugubres domus.
The fields were devastated, the city exhausted by incessant funerals; many illustrious houses were in mourning.
§3.32.3flamen Quirinalis Ser. Cornelius mortuus, augur C. Horatius Pulvillus; in cuius locum C. Veturium eo cupidius, quia damnatus a plebe erat, augures legere.
Servius Cornelius, the flamen of Quirinus, died, as did the augur Gaius Horatius Pulvillus; in his place the augurs chose Gaius Veturius, and all the more eagerly because he had been condemned by the plebs.
§3.32.4mortuus consul Quinctilius, quattuor tribuni plebi.
The consul Quinctilius died, and also four tribunes of the plebs.
multiplici clade foedatus annus; ab hoste otium fuit.
The year was defiled by manifold disasters; there was peace from the enemy.
inde consules C. Menenius, P. Sestius Capitolinus.
Then Gaius Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus became consuls.
§3.32.5neque eo anno quicquam belli externi fuit; domi motus orti.
In that year also there was no foreign war; disturbances arose at home.
§3.32.6iam redierant legati cum Atticis legibus.
Now the ambassadors had returned with the Attic laws.
eo intentius instabant tribuni, ut tandem scribendarum legum initium fieret.
Therefore, the tribunes insisted all the more eagerly that at last a beginning should be made in writing the laws.
placet creari decemviros sine provocatione, et ne quis eo anno alius magistratus esset.
It was agreed that decemvirs should be created without the right of appeal, and that there should be no other magistrate during that year.
§3.32.7admiscerenturne plebei, controversia aliquamdiu fuit; postremo concessum patribus, modo ne lex Icilia de Aventino aliaeque sacratae leges abrogarentur.
Whether plebeians should be admitted was a subject of dispute for some time; at last a concession was made to the patricians, provided that the Icilian law concerning the Aventine and the other sacred laws should not be repealed.

Notes

  1. 3.32.1quod — Relative pronoun, neuter singular accusative. The antecedent is `silentio` (ablative of the neuter noun `silentium`), and it serves as the direct object of `praebuit` (whose subject is `expectatio`) in the relative clause.
  2. 3.32.3legere — The shortened form of the third-person plural perfect active indicative (`-ere` for `-erunt`). The subject is `augures`. It should not be confused with the present infinitive.
  3. 3.32.7concessum patribus — The impersonal passive perfect `concessum [est]` combined with the dative `patribus` ('to the patricians'). In the historical context, it indicates that a concession was made to the patricians by the plebeians regarding the exclusive patrician membership of the decemvirate.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §3.32.1-3.32.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.32.1-3.32.7

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