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Livy · History of Rome §45.16.1-45.16.8

Reassignment of Provinces, Expiation, and Offerings

Passage 1742 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Under the new consuls, the provinces were reorganized, and after several prodigies were reported, expiations and prayers were offered to the gods. The senate also decreed that lavish offerings be made to the gods in honor of the victory in the Macedonian War.

§45.16.1Q. Aelio M. Iunio consulibus de provinciis referentibus censuere patres duas provincias Hispaniam rursus fieri, quae una per bellum Macedonicum fuerat; §45.16.2et Macedoniam Illyricumque eosdem, L. Paulum et L. Anicium, obtinere, donec de sententia legatorum res et bello turbatas et in statum alium ex regno formandas conposuissent.
On the consuls Quintus Aelius and Marcus Iunius bringing forward a motion concerning the provinces, the senators decreed that Spain, which had been one province during the Macedonian War, should again become two; and that the same men, Lucius Paulus and Lucius Anicius, should hold Macedonia and Illyricum, until, in accordance with the opinion of the commissioners, they should have settled the affairs which had been both disturbed by war and were to be formed into another state from a kingdom.
§45.16.3consulibus Pisae et Gallia decretae cum binis legionibus quinum milium et ducenorum peditum et equitum quadringenorum.
To the consuls were decreed Pisae and Gaul, with two legions each, consisting of five thousand two hundred infantry and four hundred cavalry.
praetorum sortes fuere, Q. Cassi urbana, M’. Iuventi Talnae inter peregrinos, Ti. Claudi Neronis Sicilia, Cn. Fulvi Hispania citerior, ulterior C. Licini Nervae.
The lots of the praetors were: Quintus Cassius obtained the city jurisdiction; Manius Iuventius Talna, that between citizens and foreigners; Tiberius Claudius Nero, Sicily; Gnaeus Fulvius, Nearer Spain; and Gaius Licinius Nerva, Farther Spain.
§45.16.4A. Manlio Torquato Sardinia obvenerat: at nequiit ire in provinciam, ad res capitalis quaerendas ex senatus consulto retentus.
Sardinia had fallen to Aulus Manlius Torquatus; but he was unable to go to his province, being detained by a decree of the senate to conduct trials for capital offences.
§45.16.5de prodigiis deinde nuntiatis senatus est consultus.
Then, the senate was consulted regarding the reported prodigies.
aedes deum Penatium in Velia de caelo tacta erat et in oppido Minervio duae portae et muri aliquantum.
The temple of the Penates on the Velia had been struck by lightning, and in the town of Minervium, two gates and a considerable portion of the wall.
Anagniae terra pluerat et Lanuvi fax in caelo visa erat; et Calatiae in publico agro M. Valerius civis Romanus nuntiabat e foco suo sanguinem per triduum et duas noctes manasse.
At Anagnia it had rained earth, and at Lanuvium a torch had been seen in the sky; and at Calatia, on public land, Marcus Valerius, a Roman citizen, reported that blood had flowed from his hearth for three days and two nights.
§45.16.6ob id maxime decemviri libros adire iussi supplicationem in diem unum populo edixerunt et quinquaginta capris in foro sacrificaverunt.
Chiefly on this account, the decemvirs, being ordered to consult the books, proclaimed a supplication of one day to the people, and sacrificed fifty she-goats in the forum.
et aliorum prodigiorum causa diem alterum supplicatio circa omnia pulvinaria fuit et hostiis maioribus sacrificatum est et urbs lustrata.
On account of the other prodigies also, another day of supplication was held around all the couches of the gods, and sacrifices were made with larger victims, and the city was purified.
§45.16.7item. quod ad honorem deum inmortalium pertineret, decrevit senatus, ut, quoniam perduelles superati, Perseus et Gentius reges cum Macedonia atque Illyrico in potestate populi Romani essent, ut, §45.16.8quanta dona Ap. Claudio M. Sempronio consulibus ob devictum Antiochum regem data ad omnia pulvinaria essent, tanta Q. Cassius et M’. Iuventius praetores curarent danda.
Likewise, as a matter pertaining to the honor of the immortal gods, the senate decreed that, since the public enemies had been vanquished, and the kings Perseus and Gentius, along with Macedonia and Illyricum, were in the power of the Roman people, — that the praetors Quintus Cassius and Manius Iuventius should take care to offer at all the couches of the gods gifts as great as had been given when Appius Claudius and Marcus Sempronius were consuls on account of the defeat of King Antiochus.

Notes

  1. §45.16.1de provinciis referentibus — An ablative absolute construction with the consuls as the logical subject, referring to the consuls making a motion or presenting a report to the senate regarding the assignment of provinces.
  2. §45.16.2donec ... conposuissent — Subjunctive pluperfect in a donec clause, reflecting the sequence of tenses after the historical perfect (censuere), and expressing an anticipated future-perfect action in the past.
  3. §45.16.2res et bello turbatas et in statum alium ex regno formandas — The accusative noun res is modified in parallel by both the perfect participle turbatas and the gerundive formandas, connected by et...et. The gerundive indicates obligation or destiny ('to be formed').
  4. §45.16.7ut, ... ut, — An instance of anacoluthon or repetition where the conjunction ut, which introduces the object clause of decrevit, is repeated at the start of §45.16.8 after a long intervening quoniam clause.
  5. §45.16.8ob devictum Antiochum regem — The dominant participle construction (often called the 'ab urbe condita' construction), where the participle is the leading idea: 'on account of the defeat of King Antiochus' rather than 'on account of the defeated King'.
  6. §45.16.8curarent danda — The verb curo followed by the accusative gerundive danda, expressing the idea of 'taking care that things are given' or 'arranging for the offerings to be made.'

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §45.16.1-45.16.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:45.16.1-45.16.8

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