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Livy · History of Rome §34.8.1-34.8.7

Repeal of the Oppian Law and Cato's Departure for Hispania

Passage 1175 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

On the day following the speeches, the tribunes withdrew their veto under pressure from the protesting women, and the Oppian law was repealed. Immediately after, the consul Marcus Porcius Cato set sail with his fleet for his expedition to Hispania.

§34.8.1haec cum contra legem proque lege dicta essent, aliquanto maior frequentia mulierum postero die sese in publicum effudit, §34.8.2unoque agmine omnes Brutorum ianuas obsederunt, qui collegarum rogationi intercedebant, nec ante abstiterunt, quam remissa intercessio ab tribunis est.
When these speeches had been made against the law and for the law, a somewhat larger crowd of women poured out into public on the next day, and in one body they besieged all the doors of the Brutuses, who were vetoing the proposal of their colleagues, nor did they withdraw until the veto was withdrawn by the tribunes.
§34.8.3nulla deinde dubitatio fuit, quin omnes tribus legem abrogarent.
There was then no doubt that all the tribes would repeal the law.
viginti annis post abrogata est quam lata.
It was repealed twenty years after it had been passed.
§34.8.4M. Porcius consul, postquam abrogata lex Oppia est, extemplo viginti quinque navibus longis, quarum quinque sociorum erant, ad Lunae portum profectus est eodem exercitu convenire iusso §34.8.5et edicto per oram maritimam misso navibus omnis generis contractis ab Luna proficiscens edixit, ut ad portum Pyrenaei sequerentur; inde se frequenti classe ad hostis iturum.
The consul Marcus Porcius, after the Oppian law was repealed, immediately set out for the port of Luna with twenty-five warships, of which five belonged to the allies, having ordered the same army to assemble there, and having sent an edict along the sea coast and assembled ships of every kind, departing from Luna, he ordered that they should follow to the port of the Pyrenees; from there, he said, he would go against the enemy with a full fleet.
§34.8.6praetervecti Ligustinos montes sinumque Gallicum ad diem, quam dixerat, convenerunt.
Sailing past the Ligurian mountains and the Gallic gulf, they assembled on the day he had appointed.
inde Rhodam ventum, et praesidium Hispanorum, quod in castello erat, §34.8.7vi deiectum.
From there they came to Rhoda, and the garrison of the Hispanians, which was in the fort, was dislodged by force.
ab Rhoda secundo vento Emporias perventum.
From Rhoda, with a favorable wind, they reached Emporiae.
ibi copiae omnes praeter socios navales in terram expositae.
There all the troops except the naval allies were landed.

Notes

  1. §34.8.2Brutorum — Genitive plural of the proper name Brutus. Here it refers to the houses of the two tribunes of the plebs from the same family, Marcus Publicius Brutus and Publius Publicius Brutus, who were vetoing the proposal.
  2. §34.8.3nulla deinde dubitatio fuit, quin omnes tribus legem abrogarent — A quin clause with the imperfect subjunctive (abrogarent), introduced by a negative expression of doubt (nulla dubitatio fuit), expressing certainty ('there was no doubt that they would repeal').
  3. §34.8.3viginti annis post abrogata est quam lata — A structure where the ablative of degree of difference, viginti annis ('by twenty years'), is inserted between post and quam (meaning 'after'). The verb est or erat is omitted after lata; the phrase means 'it was repealed twenty years after it had been passed'.
  4. §34.8.4eodem exercitu convenire iusso — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun exercitu and the passive participle iusso. The infinitive convenire depends on iusso as a complement, and eodem is an adverb meaning 'to the same place'.
  5. §34.8.6ventum — An impersonal passive expression using the perfect passive third-person singular neuter of the intransitive verb venire (ventum est). It indicates that 'they came' or 'arrival was made' at Rhoda without specifying a personal subject.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §34.8.1-34.8.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.8.1-34.8.7

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