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Livy · History of Rome §35.24.1-35.24.8

Election of Consuls and Defensive Preparations

Passage 1253 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

In response to the imminent threat of war, the senate hastened the election of consuls, resulting in the selection of Publius Cornelius Scipio and Manius Acilius Glabrio. The election of praetors and measures to reinforce the military and naval defenses were also carried out.

§35.24.1cum alii atque alii nuntii bellum instare adferrent, ad rem pertinere visum est consules primo quoque tempore creari.
As more and more messengers brought news that war was imminent, it seemed to be of importance to the matter that consuls should be elected at the earliest possible time.
§35.24.2itaque senatus consultum factum est, ut M. Fulvius praetor litteras extemplo ad consulem mitteret, quibus certior fieret senatui placere, provincia exercituque tradito legatis Romam reverti eum et ex itinere praemittere edictum, §35.24.3quo comitia consulibus creandis ediceret.
Therefore, a decree of the senate was passed that the praetor Marcus Fulvius should immediately send a letter to the consul, by which he might be informed that it was the pleasure of the senate that, having handed over his province and army to his lieutenants, he should return to Rome and send ahead an edict on his journey, by which he should proclaim the assembly for electing consuls.
paruit iis litteris consul et praemisso edicto Romam venit.
The consul obeyed this letter and, having sent ahead the edict, came to Rome.
§35.24.4eo quoque anno magna ambitio fuit, quod patricii tres in unum locum petierunt, P. Cornelius Cn. F. Scipio, qui priore anno repulsam tulerat, et L. Cornelius Scipio et Cn. §35.24.5Manlius Volso.
In that year also there was great rivalry, because three patricians sought one place: Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Gnaeus, who had suffered a defeat the previous year, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, and Gnaeus Manlius Vulso.
P. Scipioni, ut dilatum viro tali, non negatum honorem appareret, consulatus datus est; §35.24.6additur ei de plebe collega M’. Acilius Glabrio.
The consulship was given to Publius Scipio, so that it might appear that, for such a man, the honor had been deferred, not denied; To him was added as a colleague from the plebeians Manius Acilius Glabrio.
postero die praetores creati L. Aemilius Paulus M. Aemilius Lepidus M. Iunius Brutus A. Cornelius Mammula C. Livius et L. Oppius, utrique eorum Salinator cognomen erat;
On the following day, the praetors were elected: Lucius Aemilius Paulus, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Marcus Iunius Brutus, Aulus Cornelius Mammula, Gaius Livius, and Lucius Oppius; both of these last two had the surname Salinator.
Oppius is erat, qui classem viginti navium in Siciliam duxerat.
Oppius was the one who had led the fleet of twenty ships to Sicily.
§35.24.7interim, dum novi magistratus sortirentur provincias, M. Baebius a Brundisio cum omnibus copiis transire in Epirum est iussus et circa Apolloniam copias continere, §35.24.8et M. Fulvio praetori urbano negotium datum est, ut quinqueremes novas quinquaginta faceret.
Meanwhile, while the new magistrates were drawing lots for their provinces, Marcus Baebius was ordered to cross over from Brundisium into Epirus with all his forces and to keep his troops around Apollonia, and Marcus Fulvius, the urban praetor, was given the task of building fifty new quinqueremes.

Notes

  1. §35.24.1ad rem pertinere — An idiomatic expression meaning "to be relevant" or "of importance to the matter." The accusative with infinitive clause consules... creari serves as the subject of pertinere, or the entire phrase functions as the subject of visum est.
  2. §35.24.2quibus certior fieret — Subjunctive of purpose introduced by the relative pronoun quibus (antecedent: litteras). This clause embeds an accusative with infinitive clause (eum reverti... et praemittere) which functions as the subject of the impersonal phrase senatui placere.
  3. §35.24.5viro tali — Dative case. It acts as a dative of advantage (or dative of agent with the passive participles) qualifying dilatum and negatum (with esse understood, modifying honorem), meaning "for such a man."
  4. §35.24.6utrique eorum — utrique is the dative of possession referring to each of the two (C. Livius and L. Oppius). eorum is a partitive genitive qualifying utrique.
  5. §35.24.7dum novi magistratus sortirentur provincias — Imperfect subjunctive introduced by dum (while). Rather than representing simple temporal coincidence (which would take the indicative), it denotes an expected or intended action while the provinces were being drawn, or carries an element of anticipation subjoined to the main verb iussus.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §35.24.1-35.24.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.24.1-35.24.8

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