Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §3.59.1-3.59.5

Duillius Halts Prosecutions to Relieve Patrician Fears

Passage 185 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The tribune Duillius curbed the excessive power of the plebs by forbidding further prosecutions of the former decemvirs. While this moderation relieved the patricians, it also highlighted and increased their resentment toward the pro-plebeian consuls.

§3.59.1ingens metus incesserat patres, vultusque iam iidem tribunorum erant, qui decemvirorum fuerant, cum M. Duillius tribunus plebis inhibito salubriter modo nimiae potestati §3.59.2“et libertatis” inquit “nostrae et poenarum ex inimicis satis est; itaque hoc anno nec diem dici cuiquam nec in vincla duci quemquam sum passurus.
A great fear had come over the patricians, and the countenances of the tribunes were now the same as those of the decemvirs had been, when Marcus Duillius, a tribune of the plebs, having wholesomely put a limit to their excessive power, said, "Of both our liberty and the punishment of our enemies there is enough; therefore in this year I will not suffer a day of trial to be appointed for anyone, nor anyone to be led into chains.
nam neque vetera peccata repeti iam oblitterata placet, §3.59.3cum nova expiata sint decemvirorum suppliciis, et nihil admissum iri, quod vim tribuniciam desideret, spondet perpetua consulum amborum in libertate vestra tuenda cura. ” §3.59.4ea primum moderatio tribuni metum patribus dempsit eademque auxit consulum invidiam, quod adeo toti plebis fuissent, ut patrum salutis libertatisque prior plebeio magistratui quam patricio cura fuisset, et ante inimicos satietas poenarum suarum cepisset, quam obviam ituros licentiae eorum consules appareret.
For it is not pleasing that old sins, already forgotten, should be dug up again, since the new ones have been expiated by the punishments of the decemvirs; and that nothing will be committed which would require the tribunician power is guaranteed by the constant care of both consuls in protecting your liberty." That moderation of the tribune first relieved the patricians of their fear, and at the same time increased the unpopularity of the consuls, because they had been so entirely devoted to the plebs, that the safety and liberty of the patricians had been a prior concern to a plebeian magistrate than to a patrician one, and a satiety of their own punishments had seized their enemies before it appeared that the consuls would oppose their license.
§3.59.5multique erant, qui mollius consultum dicerent, quod legum ab iis latarum patres auctores fuissent, neque erat dubium, quin turbato rei publicae statu tempori succubuissent.
And there were many who said that too mild a determination had been made, because the patricians had been the authorizers of the laws passed by them, and there was no doubt that, in the disturbed state of the republic, they had yielded to the times.

Notes

  1. §3.59.2et libertatis … et poenarum … satis est — The word satis functions as a neuter pronoun taking partitive genitives. Here, libertatis nostrae and poenarum are in the genitive case, meaning 'of both our liberty and the punishment... there is enough.'
  2. §3.59.3nihil admissum iri — A future passive infinitive, formed with the accusative of the supine (admissum) and the passive present infinitive of eo (iri). It functions as the object in the accusative with infinitive construction (indirect discourse) governed by spondet, whose subject is perpetua... cura.
  3. §3.59.4toti plebis — The word toti is the dative of the adjective totus. The word plebis is a manuscript reading that can be understood either as an archaic spelling of the dative plebi, or as a genitive dependent on toti used substantively ('the whole of the plebs'). In either case, it functions within the dative of possession/interest construction with esse ('to be entirely devoted to the plebs').
  4. §3.59.4ante … quam … cepisset … appareret — The temporal conjunction antequam is split into ante and quam (tmesis). The subjunctive mood in cepisset (pluperfect subjunctive) and appareret (imperfect subjunctive) is used to indicate not just temporal sequence, but a sense of anticipation, prevention, or subjective viewpoint ('before it could appear that...').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §3.59.1-3.59.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.59.1-3.59.5

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.