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Livy · History of Rome §3.54.1-3.54.15

Resignation of the Decemvirs and Election of Tribunes

Passage 180 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The decemvirs resign their office, and the plebeians return to the Aventine in Rome, where they elect new tribunes under the presidency of the pontifex maximus and begin constitutional reforms.

§3.54.1facerent ut vellent permittentibus cunctis mox redituros se legati rebus perfectis adfirmant. §3.54.2profecti cum mandata plebis patribus exposuissent, alii decemviri, quando quidem praeter spem ipsorum supplicii sui nulla mentio fieret, haud quicquam abnuere; §3.54.3Appius, truci ingenio et invidia praecipua, odium in se aliorum suo in eos metiens odio “haud ignaro” inquit “imminet fortuna. §3.54.4video, donec arma adversariis tradantur, differri adversus nos certamen.
the permission of all, telling them to do as they wished, the envoys declared that they would soon return when affairs were settled. set out, when they had laid the demands of the plebs before the patricians, the other decemvirs, since indeed to their own surprise no mention was made of their punishment, did not refuse anything., with his ferocious nature and being the object of special hatred, measuring the hatred of others toward himself by his own toward them, said: "Fortune threatens me, who am by no means ignorant of it.""I see that the contest against us is deferred until arms are delivered to our adversaries.
dandus invidiae est sanguis.
Blood must be given to hatred.
nihil ne ego quidem moror, quo minus decemviratu abeam. ” §3.54.5factum senatus consultum, ut decemviri se primo quoque tempore magistratu abdicarent, Q. Furius pontifex maximus tribunos plebis crearet, et ne cui fraudi esset secessio militum plebisque. §3.54.6his senatus consultis perfectis dimisso senatu decemviri prodeunt in contionem abdicantque se magistratu ingenti hominum laetitia.
I, indeed, delay nothing from resigning the decemvirate." decree of the senate was passed, that the decemvirs should resign their office at the earliest possible moment, that Quintus Furius, the pontifex maximus, should create tribunes of the plebs, and that the secession of the soldiers and the plebs should not be to the detriment of any one. decrees of the senate having been completed and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs came forward into the assembly and resigned their office to the immense joy of the people.
nuntiantur haec plebi. §3.54.7legatos quidquid in urbe hominum supererat prosequitur.
This was announced to the plebs. the people remaining in the city followed the envoys.
huic multitudini laeta alia turba ex castris occurrit.
This multitude was met by another joyful crowd from the camp.
congratulantur libertatem concordiamque civitati restitutam. §3.54.8legati pro contione: “quod bonum, faustum felixque sit vobis reique publicae, redite in patriam ad penates, coniuges liberosque vestros; sed, qua hic modestia fuistis, ubi nullius ager in tot rerum usu necessario tantae multitudini est violatus, eam modestiam ferte in urbem! in Aventinum ite, unde profecti estis! §3.54.9ibi felici loco, ubi prima initia inchoastis libertatis vestrae, tribunos plebi creabitis.
They congratulated one another that liberty and harmony had been restored to the state. envoys spoke before the assembly: "May it be good, auspicious, and fortunate for you and the commonwealth; return to your native land, to your household gods, your wives and children; but carry into the city that same moderation which you have shown here, where, in the use of so many necessary things, the field of no one was violated by so great a multitude! Go to the Aventine, whence you set out!, in that fortunate place, where you made the first beginnings of your liberty, you shall elect tribunes for the plebs.
praesto erit pontifex maximus, qui comitia habeat. ” §3.54.10ingens adsensus alacritasque cuncta adprobantium fuit.
The pontifex maximus will be present to hold the assembly." was a huge assent and eagerness of all approving.
convellunt inde signa profectique Romam certant cum obviis gaudio.
They then plucked up the standards, and setting out for Rome, they vied in joy with those who met them.
armati per urbem silentio in Aventinum perveniunt. §3.54.11ibi extemplo pontifice maximo comitia habente tribunos plebis creaverunt, omnium primum L. Verginium, inde L. Icilium et P. Numitorium, avunculum Vergini, §3.54.12auctores secessionis, tum C. Sicinium, progeniem eius, quem primum tribunum plebis creatum in Sacro monte proditum memoriae est, et M. Duillium, qui tribunatum insignem ante decemviros creatos gesserat nec in decemviralibus certaminibus plebi defuerat.
Armed, they reached the Aventine in silence through the city. immediately, with the pontifex maximus holding the assembly, they elected tribunes of the plebs, first of all Lucius Verginius, then Lucius Icilius and Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginius, authors of the secession, then Gaius Sicinius, the descendant of him who is recorded to have been the first tribune of the plebs elected on the Sacred Mount, and Marcus Duillius, who had held a distinguished tribuneship before the creation of the decemvirs and had not been wanting to the plebs in the decemviral contests.
spe deinde magis quam meritis electi M. Titinius, §3.54.13M. Pomponius, C. Apronius, P. Villius, C. Oppius. §3.54.14tribunatu inito L. Icilius extemplo plebem rogavit, et plebs scivit, ne cui fraudi esset secessio ab decemviris facta. §3.54.15confestim de consulibus creandis cum provocatione M. Duillius rogationem pertulit.
Then, chosen rather on hope than on merits, Marcus Titinius, Pomponius, Gaius Apronius, Publius Villius, Gaius Oppius. entered upon the tribuneship, Lucius Icilius immediately proposed to the plebs, and the plebs resolved, that the secession made from the decemvirs should not be to the detriment of any one., Marcus Duillius carried a proposal concerning the creation of consuls with the right of appeal.
ea omnia in pratis Flaminiis concilio plebis acta, quem nunc circum Flaminium appellant.
All these things were transacted in the Flaminian meadows in the assembly of the plebs, which they now call the Flaminian Circus.

Notes

  1. 3.54.1facerent ut vellent — Subjunctive representing a command in indirect discourse. Following the historical present main verb adfirmant, it is in the imperfect tense due to the sequence of tenses. In direct discourse, this would correspond to the imperative facite ut vultis or the independent subjunctive faciatis ut velitis.
  2. 3.54.3haud ignaro — A dative adjective modifying the omitted pronoun mihi (referring to Appius himself), which depends on imminet (which takes the dative to mean 'threaten' or 'loom over'). Literally: 'Fortune threatens me, who am by no means ignorant [of it].'
  3. 3.54.8sed, qua hic modestia fuistis... eam modestiam ferte in urbem! — A correlative construction where the relative clause containing the ablative of quality qua modestia precedes, and its antecedent modestiam is repeated in the main clause as eam modestiam. Literally: 'but that moderation, with which moderation you have behaved here, carry into the city!'
  4. 3.54.15quem nunc circum Flaminium appellant — The relative pronoun quem agrees in gender and number not with its logical antecedent, the neuter plural pratis (or the neuter singular concilio), but with the predicate noun within the relative clause, the masculine singular circum, by attraction.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §3.54.1-3.54.15. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.54.1-3.54.15

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