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Livy · History of Rome §39.8.1-39.8.8

Allocation of Provinces and the Rise of Bacchanalia

Passage 1455 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After the assignment of provinces to the new consuls and praetors, the narrative describes the arrival of a low-born Greek priest and the rapid spread of secret, nocturnal Bacchanalian rites, which degenerated into widespread debauchery, fraud, and violence.

§39.8.1insequens annus Sp. Postumium Albinum et Q. Marcium Philippum consules ab exercitu bellorumque et provinciarum cura ad intestinae coniurationis vindictam avertit.
The following year turned the consuls Spurius Postumius Albinus and Quintus Marcius Philippus away from the army and the care of wars and provinces to the punishment of an internal conspiracy.
§39.8.2praetores provincias sortiti sunt T. Maenius urbanam, M. Licinius Lucullus inter cives et peregrinos, C. Aurelius Scaurus Sardiniam, P. Cornelius Sulla Siciliam, L. Quinctius Crispinus Hispaniam citeriorem, C. Calpurnius Piso Hispaniam ulteriorem.
The praetors drew lots for their provinces: Titus Maenius received the urban jurisdiction, Marcus Licinius Lucullus the jurisdiction between citizens and foreigners, Gaius Aurelius Scaurus Sardinia, Publius Cornelius Sulla Sicily, Lucius Quinctius Crispinus Nearer Spain, and Gaius Calpurnius Piso Further Spain.
§39.8.3consulibus ambobus quaestio de clandestinis coniurationibus decreta est.
To both consuls, an inquiry into secret conspiracies was decreed.
Graecus ignobilis in Etruriam primum venit nulla cum arte earum, quas multas ad animorum corporumque cultum nobis eruditissima omnium gens invexit, sacrificulus et vates; §39.8.4nec is qui aperta religione, propalam et quaestum et disciplinam profitendo, animos errore imbueret, sed occultorum et nocturnorum antistes sacrorum.
A low-born Greek came first to Etruria, possessing none of those many arts which the most learned of all nations introduced to us for the cultivation of minds and bodies, being a mere sacrificial priest and soothsayer; nor was he one to imbue minds with error by an open religion, publicly professing both profit and teaching, but a priest of secret and nocturnal rites.
§39.8.5initia erant, quae primo paucis tradita sunt, deinde vulgari coepta sunt per viros mulieresque.
These were initiations, which at first were handed down to a few, and then began to be popularized among men and women.
additae voluptates religioni vini et epularum, quo plurium animi illicerentur.
The pleasures of wine and feasting were added to the religion, so that the minds of more people might be enticed.
§39.8.6cum vinum animos incendissset, et nox et mixti feminis mares, aetatis tenerae maioribus, discrimen omne pudoris exstinxissent, corruptelae primum omnis generis fieri coeptae, cum ad id quisque, quo natura pronioris libidinis esset, paratam voluptatem haberet.
When wine had inflamed their minds, and night, along with males mingled with females, the young with the older, had extinguished all distinction of shame, first corruptions of every kind began to be practiced, since each person had a pleasure ready for that to which his nature was of a more inclined lust.
§39.8.7nec unum genus noxae, stupra promiscua ingenuorum feminarumque erant, sed falsi testes, falsa signa testamentaque et indicia ex eadem officina exibant: §39.8.8venena indidem intestinaeque caedes, ita ut ne corpora quidem interdum ad sepulturam exstarent.
Nor was there only one kind of vice, the promiscuous debaucheries of freeborn men and women, but false witnesses, forged seals and wills, and false evidence issued from the same workshop; from the same source came poisonings and murders of relatives, so that sometimes not even the bodies remained for burial.
multa dolo, pleraque per vim audebantur.
Many things were dared by fraud, most by force.
occulebat vim quod prae ululatibus tympanorumque et cymbalorum strepitu nulla vox quiritantium inter stupra et caedes exaudiri poterat.
What concealed the violence was that, because of the howling and the noise of drums and cymbals, no voice of those crying for help could be heard amidst the debauchery and murders.

Notes

  1. 39.8.3earum, quas multas — The pronoun `earum` refers to the plural concept of the preceding singular noun `arte` (i.e., `artium`), while `quas multas` expresses "many of which" with the relative pronoun `quas` and the adjective `multas`. The structure means "possessing none of those many arts which... introduced."
  2. 39.8.6quo natura pronioris libidinis esset — A relative clause modifying the antecedent `id`. `natura` is the subject, and `pronioris libidinis` is a genitive of quality, meaning "(that) to which his nature was of a more inclined lust."
  3. 39.8.8occulebat vim quod ... nulla vox ... exaudiri poterat — The `quod` clause introduces a noun clause of fact that serves as the subject of the main verb `occulebat`. The structure means "the fact that... concealed the violence."

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §39.8.1-39.8.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:39.8.1-39.8.8

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