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Livy · History of Rome §34.1.1-34.1.7

Repeal of the Oppian Law and Protest of Roman Women

Passage 1168 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

A dispute arises among the tribunes over the repeal of the Oppian Law, as Roman women gather in large numbers to protest and demand its cancellation, while the consul Cato prepares to speak in its defense.

§34.1.1inter bellorum magnorum aut vixdum finitorum aut imminentium curas intercessit res parva dictu, sed quae studiis in magnum certamen excesserit.
Amidst the anxieties of great wars, either scarcely finished or impending, there intervened a matter small to mention, but which through peoples' passions developed into a great conflict.
§34.1.2M. Fundanius et L. Valerius tribuni plebi ad plebem tulerunt de Oppia lege abroganda.
Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius, tribunes of the plebs, brought a proposal to the plebs for repealing the Oppian law.
§34.1.3tulerat eam C. Oppius tribunus plebis Q. Fabio Ti. Sempronio consulibus, in medio ardore Punici belli, ne qua mulier plus semunciam auri haberet neu vestimento versicolori uteretur neu iuncto vehiculo in urbe oppidove aut propius inde mille passus nisi sacrorum publicorum causa veheretur.
Gaius Oppius, tribune of the plebs, had proposed it during the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius Sempronius, in the midst of the heat of the Punic War, to the effect that no woman should possess more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a multi-colored garment, nor ride in a carriage drawn by animals in the city or town, or within a mile of it, except for the sake of public religious rites.
§34.1.4M. et P. Iunii Bruti tribuni plebis legem Oppiam tuebantur nec eam se abrogari passuros aiebant; ad suadendum dissuadendumque multi nobiles prodibant; §34.1.5Capitolium turba hominum faventium adversantiumque legi complebatur.
Marcus and Publius Junius Brutus, tribunes of the plebs, defended the Oppian law and declared that they would not allow it to be repealed; many nobles came forward to speak for and against it; the Capitol was filled with a crowd of people favoring and opposing the law.
matronae nulla nec auctoritate nec verecundia nec imperio virorum contineri limine poterant, omnis vias urbis aditusque in forum obsidebant viros descendentis ad forum orantes, ut florente re publica, crescente in dies privata omnium fortuna matronis quoque pristinum ornatum reddi paterentur.
The matrons could be kept at home by no authority, nor sense of shame, nor command of their husbands; they blocked all the streets of the city and the approaches to the Forum, beseeching the men as they went down to the Forum that, since the republic was flourishing and the private fortune of everyone was increasing daily, they should allow the former adornment to be restored to the matrons as well.
§34.1.6augebatur haec frequentia mulierum in dies; nam etiam ex oppidis conciliabulisque conveniebant.
This crowd of women increased daily; for they also assembled from the towns and meeting-places.
§34.1.7iam et consules praetoresque et alios magistratus adire et rogare audebant; ceterum minime exorabilem alterum utique consulem, M. Porcium Catonem, habebant, qui pro lege, quae abrogabatur, ita disseruit:
Now they even dared to approach and petition the consuls, praetors, and other magistrates; but they found the other consul, Marcus Porcius Cato, to be utterly inexorable, who spoke thus in favor of the law which was being repealed:

Notes

  1. §34.1.1excesserit — Subjunctive perfect in the relative clause introduced by quae. It is a subjunctive of characteristic (conjunctivus characteristicus) modifying the antecedent res parva, describing the nature of the matter ('such as to develop into a great conflict').
  2. §34.1.3plus semunciam — The comparative conjunction quam ('than') is omitted after the comparative plus, leaving the accusative of measure semunciam ('half an ounce') as it is.
  3. §34.1.5descendentis — An archaic spelling of the accusative plural masculine present participle descendentes, modifying the preceding accusative noun viros ('the men going down').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §34.1.1-34.1.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.1.1-34.1.7

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