Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §40.45.1-40.45.8

Prodigies, Censor Elections, and Reconciliation

Passage 1548 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After severe winter weather and portents lead to an expiation, Fulvius' games are celebrated, and Lepidus and Nobilior are elected as censors. Despite their long-standing enmity, they take their seats, prompting a delegation of senators led by Metellus to intervene.

§40.45.1hiems eo anno nive saeva et omni tempestatum genere fuit: arbores, quae obnoxiae frigoribus sunt, deusserat cunctas; et eadem aliquanto quam alias longior fuit.
The winter of that year was severe with harsh snow and every kind of tempest; it had withered all the trees that are sensitive to cold, and it was also considerably longer than at other times.
§40.45.2itaque Latinas nox subito coorta et intolerabilis tempestas in monte turbavit, instaurataeque sunt ex decreto pontificum.
Therefore, a darkness that suddenly arose and an intolerable tempest threw the Latin festival on the mount into confusion, and they were renewed by a decree of the pontiffs.
§40.45.3eadem tempestas et in Capitolio aliquot signa prostravit fulminibusque complura loca deformavit, aedem Iovis Tarracinae, aedem Albam Capuae portamque Romanam; §40.45.4muri pinnae aliquot locis decussae erant.
The same tempest also threw down several statues on the Capitol, and disfigured many places with lightning: the temple of Jupiter at Terracina, the White Temple at Capua, and the Roman Gate; the battlements of the walls were struck down in several places.
haec inter prodigia nuntiatum et ab Reate tripedem natum mulum.
Amid these prodigies, it was also reported from Reate that a three-legged mule had been born.
§40.45.5ob ea decemviri iussi adire libros edidere, quibus diis et quot hostiis sacrificaretur, et ut supplicatio diem unum esset.
On account of these things, the decemvirs, ordered to consult the books, announced to which gods and with how many victims sacrifice should be made, and that there should be a supplication for one day.
§40.45.6ludi deinde votivi Q. Fulvii consulis per dies decem magno apparatu facti.
Then the votive games of the consul Quintus Fulvius were celebrated for ten days with great preparation.
censorum inde comitia habita: creati M. Aemilius Lepidus pontifex maximus et M. Fulvius Nobilior, qui ex Aetolis triumphaverat.
After that, the comitia of the censors were held: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the pontifex maximus, and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who had triumphed over the Aetolians, were elected.
§40.45.7inter hos viros nobiles inimicitiae erant, saepe multis et in senatu et ad populum atrocibus celebratae certaminibus.
Between these noble men there were enmities, which had often been manifested in many fierce contests both in the senate and before the people.
§40.45.8comitiis confectis, ut traditum antiquitus est, censores in Campo ad aram Martis sellis curulibus consederunt; quo repente principes senatorum cum agmine venerunt civitatis, inter quos Q. Caecilius Metellus verba fecit.
When the elections were completed, as was handed down from antiquity, the censors sat in their curule chairs in the Campus near the altar of Mars; whither suddenly the leading men of the senate came with a train of the citizenry, among whom Quintus Caecilius Metellus made a speech.

Notes

  1. 40.45.1deusserat — Pluperfect of deuro (de- + uro, 'to burn up / parch'). In Latin, the verb 'to burn' (urere or deurere) is regularly used not only for fire, but also for extreme cold or frost destroying vegetation and freezing tissues.
  2. 40.45.2Latinas — An accusative plural with the noun feriae ('festival', feminine plural) omitted. It refers to the 'Latin Festival' (Feriae Latinae) traditionally celebrated on the Alban Mount (in monte).
  3. 40.45.4tripedem natum mulum — An accusative with infinitive (ACI) construction introduced by nuntiatum (est). The infinitive esse, which should accompany the perfect participle natum (from the intransitive verb nascor), is omitted, making tripedem mulum natum [esse] ('that a three-legged mule had been born') the subject clause.
  4. 40.45.5quibus diis et quot hostiis sacrificaretur — An indirect question clause depending on edidere. The verb sacrificaretur is used impersonally in the passive ('that sacrifice should be made'). Quibus diis is the dative of recipient, and quot hostiis is the ablative of means or instrument ('with how many victims').
  5. 40.45.7multis ... certaminibus — An ablative of means or cause modifying the participial adjective celebratae (which agrees with inimicitiae, meaning 'frequently practiced' or 'publicly known'). The two adjectives, multis and atrocibus, both modify certaminibus, with the locational prepositional phrases inserted between them in a hyperbaton.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §40.45.1-40.45.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:40.45.1-40.45.8

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