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Livy · History of Rome §40.51.1-40.51.9

Public Works and Reforms of the Censors Lepidus and Fulvius

Passage 1554 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The censors Lepidus and Fulvius of 179 BC revised the Senate roll, divided and contracted numerous public works, restored public and sacred spaces, and reformed the voting system.

§40.51.1censores fideli concordia senatum legerunt.
The censors, with faithful harmony, revised the roll of the Senate.
princeps lectus est ipse censor M. Aemilius Lepidus pontifex maximus:
The censor himself, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the chief pontiff, was chosen as leader of the Senate.
§40.51.2tres eiecti de senatu; retinuit quosdam Lepidus a collega praeteritos.
Three were expelled from the Senate; Lepidus retained some who had been passed over by his colleague.
opera ex pecunia attributa divisaque inter se haec Lepidus molem ad Tarracinam, ingratum opus, quod praedia habebat ibi privatamque publicae rei impensam inseruerat;
The public works, allotted from the assigned money, were divided between them as follows: Lepidus contracted for a breakwater at Tarracina, an unpopular work because he had estates there and had mixed private expenses with public business.
§40.51.3theatrum et proscenium ad Apollinis, aedem Iovis in Capitolio, columnasque circa poliendas albo locavit; et ab his columnis, quae incommode opposita videbantur, signa amovit clipeaque de columnis et signa militaria adfixa omnis generis dempsit.
He contracted for a theater and a proscenium at the temple of Apollo, the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, and the columns around it to be polished with white plaster; and he removed the statues from these columns, which seemed inconveniently placed in the way, and took down the shields from the columns and the attached military standards of every kind.
§40.51.4M. Fulvius plura et maioris locavit usus: portum et pilas pontis in Tiberi, quibus pilis fornices post aliquot annos P. Scipio Africanus et L. Mummius censores locaverunt imponendos;
Marcus Fulvius contracted for more works of greater utility: a harbor and the piers of a bridge in the Tiber, upon which piers, several years later, the censors Publius Scipio Africanus and Lucius Mummius contracted for arches to be built.
§40.51.5basilicam post argentarias novas et forum piscatorium circumdatis tabernis quas vendidit in privatum; §40.51.6et porticum extra portam Trigeminam, et aliam post navalia et ad fanum Herculis et post Spei ad Tiberim et ad aedem Apollinis medici.
Also a basilica behind the new bankers' shops, and a fish market with surrounding shops which he sold into private hands; and a portico outside the Porta Trigemina, and another behind the dockyards, and at the shrine of Hercules, and behind the temple of Hope by the Tiber, and at the temple of Apollo the Healer.
§40.51.7habuere et in promiscuo praeterea pecuniam: ex ea communiter locarunt aquam adducendam fornicesque faciendos.
They also had money in common besides: from this, they jointly contracted for bringing in water and constructing arches.
impedimento operi fuit M. Licinius Crassus, qui per fundum suum duci non est passus.
Marcus Licinius Crassus, who did not allow it to be led through his estate, was an obstacle to the work.
§40.51.8portoria quoque et vectigalia iidem multa instituerunt.
The same censors also established many customs duties and taxes.
complura sacella publicaque loca, occupata a privatis, publica sacraque ut essent paterentque populo curarunt.
They took care that many small shrines and public places, occupied by private individuals, should be public and sacred and open to the people.
§40.51.9mutarunt suffragia, regionatimque generibus hominum causisque et quaestibus tribus discripserunt
They altered the voting system, and distributed the tribes by districts according to the classes, circumstances, and occupations of the people.

Notes

  1. 40.51.2retinuit quosdam Lepidus a collega praeteritos — The verb praeteritos refers to the action of the censors passing over (omitting) certain members during the revision of the Senate roll (lectio senatus). Lepidus used his veto power to retain (retinuit) some individuals who had been passed over (praeteritos) by his colleague (collega) Fulvius.
  2. 40.51.2privatamque publicae rei impensam inseruerat — The object of inseruerat is the accusative privatam impensam (private expense), and publicae rei (public business) is in the dative case. It means 'he had mixed private expense with public business,' explaining why Lepidus's construction of a breakwater at Tarracina, where he had private estates, was criticized as an abuse of public funds.
  3. 40.51.3columnasque circa poliendas albo locavit — The verb locavit (contracted for) takes the accusative noun columnas and the gerundive poliendas to form a construction of contracting for something to be done. Albo is an ablative of instrument/material representing white plaster.
  4. 40.51.4quibus pilis fornices post aliquot annos P. Scipio Africanus et L. Mummius censores locaverunt imponendos — The phrase quibus pilis is a relative connection referring back to pilas in the preceding clause, and functions as a dative with imponendos (a gerundive agreeing with fornices, the object of locaverunt). It means 'upon which piers they contracted for arches to be placed.'
  5. 40.51.7impedimento operi fuit — A classic example of the double dative construction: impedimento serves as the dative of purpose/result (was an obstacle), while operi serves as the dative of reference/interest (to the work).
  6. 40.51.9regionatimque generibus hominum causisque et quaestibus tribus discripserunt — The word tribus is the accusative plural of the fourth-declension noun tribus (tribes/voting districts). Generibus, causis, and quaestibus are ablatives of specification/accordance, indicating the criteria ('classes', 'circumstances', 'occupations') by which the people were distributed. The sentence means they distributed the tribes by districts according to these criteria.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §40.51.1-40.51.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:40.51.1-40.51.9

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