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Livy · History of Rome §5.30.1-5.30.8

Rejection of the Veii Bill and Land Distribution

Passage 289 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Through the tearful entreaties of Camillus and the patricians, the bill to migrate to Veii is narrowly rejected by the tribes. To celebrate the victory, the senate decrees a generous distribution of Veientane land to the plebeian families.

§5.30.1senatum vero incitare adversus legem haud desistebat: ne aliter descenderent in forum, cum dies ferendae legis venisset, quam ut qui meminissent sibi pro aris focisque et deum templis ac solo, in quo nati essent, dimicandum fore.
Indeed, Camillus did not cease to incite the senate against the law: that they should not go down to the forum, when the day for proposing the law had come, in any other way than as men who remembered that they would have to fight for their altars and hearths, the temples of the gods, and the soil in which they had been born.
§5.30.2nam quod ad se privatim attineat, si suae gloriae sibi inter dimicationem patriae meminisse sit fas, sibi amplum quoque esse urbem ab se captam frequentari, cotidie se frui monumento gloriae suae et ante oculos habere urbem latam in triumpho suo, insistere omnes vestigiis laudum suarum; §5.30.3sed nefas ducere desertam ac relictam ab dis inmortalibus incoli urbem et in captivo solo habitare populum Romanum et victrice patria victam mutari.
For as to what concerned him privately, if it were permitted to remember his own glory during the struggle of his country, it would also be a source of pride to him that the city captured by him should be populous, and that he should daily enjoy the monument of his glory and have before his eyes the city carried in his triumph, and see everyone tread upon the footsteps of his praises; but he considered it an impiety that a city deserted and abandoned by the immortal gods should be inhabited, and that the Roman people should dwell on captive soil, and that their victorious country should be exchanged for a conquered one.
§5.30.4his adhortationibus principis concitati patres, senes iuvenesque, cum ferretur lex, agmine facto in forum venerunt dissipatique per tribus suos quisque tribules prensantes orare cum lacrimis coepere, §5.30.5ne eam patriam, pro qua fortissime felicissimeque ipsi ac patres eorum dimicassent, desererent, Capitolium, aedem Vestae, cetera circa templa deorum ostentantes; §5.30.6ne exulem, extorrem populum Romanum ab solo patrio ac diis penatibus in hostium urbem agerent eoque rem adducerent, ut melius fuerit non capi Veios, ne Roma desereretur.
Excited by these exhortations of their leader, the patricians, both old and young, when the law was being proposed, came into the forum in a body, and dispersing through the tribes, each grasping his own tribesmen, began to entreat them with tears, not to desert that country for which they themselves and their fathers had fought most bravely and successfully, pointing to the Capitol, the temple of Vesta, and the other temples of the gods around them; not to drive the Roman people as exiles and outcasts from their native soil and household gods into an enemy's city, and not to bring matters to such a pass that it would have been better for Veii not to have been captured, so that Rome might not be deserted.
§5.30.7quia non vi agebant, sed precibus et inter preces multa deorum mentio erat, religiosum parti maximae fuit, et legem una plures tribus antiquarunt quam iusserunt.
Because they acted not by force but by entreaties, and during those entreaties there was frequent mention of the gods, it became a matter of religious scruple to the greatest part, and the tribes rejected the law by a majority of one over those who voted for it.
§5.30.8adeoque ea victoria laeta patribus fuit, ut postero die referentibus consulibus senatus consultum fieret, ut agri Veientani septena iugera plebi dividerentur nec patribus familiae tantum, sed ut omnium in domo liberorum capitum ratio haberetur, vellentque in eam spem liberos tollere.
And that victory was so pleasing to the patricians that on the following day, upon the proposal of the consuls, a decree of the senate was made that seven iugera of Veientane land should be distributed to each member of the plebs, and not only to the fathers of families, but that account should be taken of all free children in the household, and that they might wish to rear children in that hope.

Notes

  1. §5.30.1ne aliter descenderent in forum, cum dies ferendae legis venisset, quam ut qui meminissent — A clause of indirect command depending on incitare. ne aliter... quam ut... expresses a strong restriction, "not otherwise... than that...". In ut qui, qui is a relative pronoun with an omitted antecedent ("as those who"), taking the subjunctive meminissent (pluperfect due to sequence of tenses in indirect discourse) to mean "as men who remembered."
  2. §5.30.2sibi amplum quoque esse urbem ab se captam frequentari — An accusative and infinitive construction in indirect discourse. sibi is a dative referring to Camillus. amplum (magnificent, honorable) is a neuter nominative adjective serving as the predicate, with the infinitive clause urbem ab se captam frequentari (where urbem is the subject of frequentari) acting as the subject.
  3. §5.30.7una plures tribus antiquarunt quam iusserunt — una (feminine ablative singular, here used adverbially to express the measure of difference) modifies plures, meaning "more by one (tribe)." antiquarunt (syncopated form of antiquaverunt) literally means "to leave in its old state," hence "to reject" a bill, and is contrasted with iusserunt ("to order" or "to enact").
  4. §5.30.8vellentque in eam spem liberos tollere — vellent is a subjunctive in the ut clause, coordinated with ratio haberetur. The phrase liberos tollere refers to the Roman custom of a father lifting a newborn child from the ground to acknowledge and rear it. The entire clause means "and that they might wish to rear children in that hope."

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §5.30.1-5.30.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.30.1-5.30.8

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