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Livy · History of Rome §4.11.1-4.11.7

Colonization of Ardea and the Settlement of the Triumvirs

Passage 209 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After relieving Ardea, Rome implemented a colonization plan favoring the Rutulians to obscure the injustice of the previous land judgment and return the land. The triumvirs leading the colonization, though unpopular with both the plebeians and patricians, avoided prosecution by enrolling themselves as colonists and remaining in Ardea.

§4.11.1consules creantur M. Fabius Vibulanus, Postumus Aebutius Cornicen.
Marcus Fabius Vibulanus and Postumus Aebutius Cornicen were elected consuls.
§4.11.2Fabius et Aebutius consules, quo maiori gloriae rerum domi forisque gestarum succedere se cernebant, maxime autem memorabilem annum apud finitimos socios hostesque esse, quod Ardeatibus in re praecipiti tanta foret cura subventum, eo inpensius, §4.11.3ut delerent prorsus ex animis hominum infamiam iudicii, senatus consultum fecerunt, ut, quoniam civitas Ardeatium intestino tumultu redacta ad paucos esset, coloni eo praesidii causa adversus Volscos scriberentur.
The consuls Fabius and Aebutius, the more they perceived that they were succeeding to a greater glory of achievements at home and abroad, and moreover that this year was especially memorable among their neighboring allies and enemies, because the Ardeates had been relieved in their desperate situation with such great care, the more earnestly, in order to erase completely from the minds of men the infamy of the judgment, passed a decree of the senate, that, since the state of the Ardeates had been reduced to a few by domestic strife, colonists should be enrolled there for the purpose of a garrison against the Volscians.
§4.11.4hoc palam relatum in tabulas, ut plebem tribunosque falleret iudicii rescindendi consilium initum; consenserant autem, ut multo maiore parte Rutulorum colonorum quam Romanorum scripta nec ager ullus divideretur nisi is, qui interceptus iudicio infami erat, nec ulli prius Romano ibi, quam omnibus Rutulis divisus esset, gleba ulla agri adsignaretur.
This was publicly entered into the records, so that the plan formed for rescinding the judgment might deceive the plebeians and the tribunes; but they had agreed that a far greater proportion of Rutulian colonists than Roman should be enrolled, and that no land should be divided except that which had been seized by the infamous judgment, nor should any clod of land be assigned to any Roman there before it had been divided to all the Rutulians.
§4.11.5sic ager ad Ardeates rediit.
Thus the land returned to the Ardeates.
triumviri ad coloniam Ardeam deducendam creati Agrippa Menenius, T. Cluilius Siculus, M. Aebutius Helva; §4.11.6qui per minime populare ministerium, agro adsignando sociis, quem populus Romanus suum iudicasset, cum plebem offendissent, ne primoribus quidem patrum satis accepti, quod nihil gratiae cuiusquam dederant, §4.11.7vexationes ad populum iam die dicta ab tribunis coloni adscripti remanendo in colonia, quam testem integritatis iustitiaeque habebant, vitavere.
The triumvirs elected for leading the colony to Ardea were Agrippa Menenius, Titus Cluilius Siculus, and Marcus Aebutius Helva; who, having offended the plebeians through a highly unpopular duty by assigning to the allies land which the Roman people had adjudged to be their own, and not even being sufficiently acceptable to the leading men of the patricians because they had shown no favor to anyone, avoided the persecutions before the people, for which a day of trial had already been set by the tribunes, by being enrolled as colonists and remaining in the colony, which they held as a witness of their integrity and justice.

Notes

  1. §4.11.2quo... eo inpensius — A correlative construction of degree ('the more..., the more...'). Within the 'quo' clause, 'se' is the accusative subject of the infinitive 'succedere', and 'cernebant' governs both 'succedere se' and the accusative with infinitive clause 'memorabilem annum ... esse'.
  2. §4.11.4multo maiore parte ... scripta — An ablative absolute construction. 'maiore parte' is the ablative noun phrase and 'scripta' is the perfect participle in the ablative (agreeing with 'parte'), meaning 'a far greater proportion of the Rutulian colonists having been enrolled'.
  3. §4.11.4prius ... quam — This forms the separated conjunction 'priusquam' ('before' or 'until'), taking the pluperfect subjunctive 'divisus esset' to express a subjective intention or the completion of a condition ('until [the land] had been divided to all the Rutulians').
  4. §4.11.7coloni adscripti — Standing in apposition to the subject of the main clause, the triumvirs ('qui... vitavere'). Although they were the organizers of the colony, they had themselves 'enrolled as colonists' ('coloni adscripti'), which provided them with a legal justification for remaining in the colony ('remanendo') and avoiding prosecution.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §4.11.1-4.11.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.11.1-4.11.7

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