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Livy · History of Rome §42.28.1-42.28.13

Elections of Magistrates and Fulvius's Death

Passage 1618 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The consul Popilius returns late to Rome and faces senate criticism, followed by the election of new consuls and praetors. Religious vows for the state's stability are made, and the deaths of public priests are recorded, including the tragic suicide of the former censor Fulvius.

§42.28.1exitu prope anni C. Popilius consul Romam redit aliquanto serius, quam senatus censuerat, cui primo quoque tempore magistratus creari, cum tantum bellum immineret, e re publica visum erat.
Near the end of the year, the consul Gaius Popilius returned to Rome somewhat later than the senate had decreed, to which it had seemed in the interest of the state that magistrates should be elected at the earliest opportunity, since so great a war was imminent.
§42.28.2itaque non secundis auribus patrum auditus est consul, cum in aede Bellonae de rebus in Liguribus gestis dissereret.
Therefore, the consul was not heard with favorable ears by the senators when he discussed his achievements in Liguria in the temple of Bellona.
§42.28.3succlamationes frequentes erant interrogationesque, cur scelere fratris oppressos Ligures in libertatem non restituisset.
There were frequent shouts of disapproval and questions as to why he had not restored to liberty the Ligurians who had been oppressed by the crime of his brother.
§42.28.4comitia consularia, in quam edicta erant diem, ante diem duodecimum kal. §42.28.5Martias sunt habita.
The consular elections, on the day for which they had been proclaimed, before the twelfth day of the Kalends of March, were held.
creati consules P. Licinius Crassus C. Cassius Longinus.
Publius Licinius Crassus and Gaius Cassius Longinus were elected consuls.
postero die praetores facti C. Sulpicius Galba L. Furius Philus L. Canuleius Dives C. Lucretius Gallus C. Caninius Rebilus L. Villius Annalis.
On the following day, the praetors were made: Gaius Sulpicius Galba, Lucius Furius Philus, Lucius Canuleius Dives, Gaius Lucretius Gallus, Gaius Caninius Rebilus, and Lucius Villius Annalis.
§42.28.6his praetoribus provinciae decretae, duae iure Romae dicendo, Hispania et Sicilia et Sardinia, ut uni sors integra esset, quo senatus censuisset.
To these praetors, the provinces were decreed: two for administering justice in Rome, and Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia, so that for one of them the lot might be left untouched, to go where the senate should have decreed.
§42.28.7consulibus designatis imperavit senatus, ut, qua die magistratum inissent, hostiis maioribus rite mactatis precarentur, ut, quod bellum populus Romanus in animo haberet gerere, ut id prosperum eveniret.
The senate commanded the consuls-elect that, on the day they entered upon their office, having duly sacrificed larger victims, they should pray that the war which the Roman people had in mind to wage might turn out successfully.
§42.28.8eodem die decrevit senatus, C. Popilius consul ludos per dies decem Iovi optumo maxumo fieri voveret donaque circa omnia pulvinaria dari, si res publica decem annos in eodem statu fuisset.
On the same day, the senate decreed that the consul Gaius Popilius should vow that games would be held for ten days in honor of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, and that gifts would be given around all the couches of the gods, if the state should remain in the same condition for ten years.
§42.28.9ita ut censuerant, in Capitolio vovit consul, ludos fieri donaque dari, quanta ex pecunia decresset senatus, cum centum et quinquaginta non minus adessent.
Just as they had decreed, the consul made the vow on the Capitol, that the games would be held and the gifts given from such an amount of money as the senate should decree when no fewer than one hundred and fifty were present.
praeeunte verba Lepido pontifice maxumo id votum susceptum est.
With the pontifex maximus Lepidus dictating the words, the vow was undertaken.
§42.28.10eo anno sacerdotes publici mortui L. Aemilius Papus decemvir sacrorum et Q. Fulvius Flaccus pontifex, qui priore anno fuerat censor.
In that year, public priests died: Lucius Aemilius Papus, a decemvir of sacred rites, and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, a pontifex, who had been censor in the preceding year.
§42.28.11hic foeda morte perit.
The latter perished by a horrible death.
ex duobus filiis eius, qui tum in Illyrico militabant, nuntiatum alterum mortuum, alterum gravi et periculoso morbo aegrum esse.
Of his two sons who were then serving in Illyricum, it was reported that one was dead and the other sick with a severe and dangerous disease.
§42.28.12obruit animum simul luctus metusque: mane ingressi cubiculum servi laqueo dependentem invenere.
Grief and fear overwhelmed his mind at the same time; in the morning, the servants entering his bedchamber found him hanging by a noose.
erat opinio post censuram minus conpotem fuisse sui; vulgo Iunonis Laciniae iram ob spoliatum templum alienasse mentem ferebant.
There was an opinion that after his censorship he had been less master of himself; it was commonly said that the wrath of Juno Lacinia on account of her plundered temple had unsettled his mind.
§42.28.13suffectus in Aemili locum decemvir M. Valerius Messalla; in Fulvi pontifex Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, oppido adulescens sacerdos, est lectus.
Marcus Valerius Messalla was chosen decemvir in place of Aemilius; Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, an exceedingly young priest, was elected pontifex in place of Fulvius.

Notes

  1. §42.28.1cui — A relative pronoun referring back to `senatus`, acting as a dative of reference with `visum erat` ("to which it had seemed in the interest of the state").
  2. §42.28.4in quam edicta erant diem — An grammatical integration of the antecedent `diem` into the relative clause `in quam...`. In standard word order, this would be `in eum diem, in quem edicta erant`, representing a classic Latin idiom of relative attraction.
  3. §42.28.6iure Romae dicendo — A gerundive construction in the dative (or ablative of purpose) meaning "for the purpose of administering justice in Rome," referring to the duties of the two judicial praetors (urbanus and peregrinus).
  4. §42.28.7ut, quod bellum populus Romanus in animo haberet gerere, ut id prosperum eveniret — A pleonastic repetition of `ut`. After the nested relative clause `quod bellum...`, the author repeats the conjunction `ut` as `ut id...` to re-establish the grammatical structure of the noun clause dependent on `precarentur`.
  5. §42.28.9cum centum et quinquaginta non minus adessent — Indicates the quorum requirement for a senatorial decree (no fewer than 150 members present). The `cum` clause specifies the legal condition under which the senate was to determine the amount of money for the games.
  6. §42.28.12minus conpotem fuisse sui — The adjective `compos` (in control of, master of) governs the genitive case, here `sui` (genitive of the reflexive pronoun). `compos sui` means "master of oneself" or "sane," and with `minus`, it denotes that he had lost control of himself or his mental balance.
  7. §42.28.12ob spoliatum templum — An example of the dominant participle construction (like *ab urbe condita*). The noun `templum` and the perfect passive participle `spoliatum` combine so that the action itself ("the plundering of the temple"), rather than the physical temple, is the true object of the preposition `ob`.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §42.28.1-42.28.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:42.28.1-42.28.13

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