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Livy · History of Rome §35.40.1-35.40.8

Departure of the Consuls and Disasters in Rome

Passage 1269 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The narrative shifts from Greek affairs back to Rome, describing the departure of the consuls for their provinces, the establishment of the colony at Vibo, and the natural disasters (earthquake and fire) that struck Rome.

§35.40.1abstulere me velut de spatio Graeciae res immixtae Romanis, non quia ipsas operae pretium esset perscribere, sed quia causae cum Antiocho fuerunt belli.
Affairs intermingled with Roman matters have carried me away, as it were, from the territory of Greece, not because they themselves were worth describing in detail, but because they were the causes of the war with Antiochus.
§35.40.2consulibus designatis — inde namque deverteram — L. Quinctius et Cn.
From the consul-designates — for indeed I had digressed from there — L.
Domitius consules in provincias profecti sunt, Quinctius in Ligures, Domitius adversus Boios.
Quinctius and Cn. Domitius, the consuls, set out for their provinces, Quinctius to the Ligurians, Domitius against the Boii.
§35.40.3Boi quieverunt, atque etiam senatus eorum cum liberis et praefecti cum equitatu — summa omnium mille et quingenti — consuli dediderunt se.
The Boii remained quiet, and even their senate with their children, and the prefects with the cavalry — the sum of all being one thousand five hundred — surrendered themselves to the consul.
§35.40.4ab altero consule ager Ligurum late est vastatus castellaque aliquot capta, unde non praeda modo omnis generis cum captivis parta, sed recepti quoque aliquot cives sociique, qui in hostium potestate fuerant. —
By the other consul, the territory of the Ligurians was widely devastated and several forts were captured, from which not only plunder of every kind with captives was secured, but also several citizens and allies who had been in the power of the enemy were recovered.
§35.40.5eodem hoc anno Vibonem colonia deducta est ex senatus consulto plebique scito.
In this same year, a colony was established at Vibo by a decree of the senate and a plebiscitum.
§35.40.6tria milia et septingenti pedites ierunt, trecenti equites; triumviri deduxerunt eos Q. Naevius M. Minucius M. Furius Crassipes; quina dena iugera agri data in singulos pedites sunt, duplex equiti.
Three thousand seven hundred infantry went, and three hundred cavalry; the triumvirs Q. Naevius, M. Minucius, and M. Furius Crassipes led them out; fifteen iugera of land were given to each infantryman, double to a cavalryman.
Bruttiorum proxime fuerat ager; §35.40.7Bruttii ceperant de Graecis. — Romae per idem tempus duo maximi fuerunt terrores, diutinus alter, sed segnior: terra dies duodequadraginta movit; per totidem dies feriae in sollicitudine ac metu fuere; triduum eius rei causa supplicatio habita est; §35.40.8ille non pavor vanus, sed vera multorum clades fuit: incendio a foro Bovario orto diem noctemque aedificia in Tiberim versa arsere, tabernaeque omnes cum magni pretii mercibus conflagraverunt.
The land had recently belonged to the Bruttii; the Bruttii had taken it from the Greeks. — At Rome during the same time there were two very great terrors, one long-lasting but less active: the earth quaked for thirty-eight days; for as many days there were holidays in anxiety and fear; a supplication was held for three days on account of this matter; the other was not an empty panic, but a real disaster for many: a fire having started in the Forum Boarium, buildings facing the Tiber burned day and night, and all the shops with goods of great value were consumed by the flames.

Notes

  1. §35.40.1res immixtae Romanis — immixtae is a perfect participle modifying res, governing the dative Romanis (which can be understood either as neuter 'Roman affairs' or masculine 'the Romans'). It refers to the affairs that became intermingled with Roman matters.
  2. §35.40.2consulibus designatis — Although grammatically an ablative absolute, it functions here as a narrative reference point, corresponding to the adverb inde ('from there') in the parenthetical clause inde namque deverteram ('for I had digressed from there'), pointing back to the election of the consul-designates.
  3. §35.40.7terra dies duodequadraginta movit — The verb movit (perfect of moveo) is used here intransitively (or with the reflexive pronoun se omitted) with terra as the subject, meaning 'the earth quaked.' dies duodequadraginta is an accusative of duration of time (thirty-eight days).

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §35.40.1-35.40.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.40.1-35.40.8

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