§1Patricia gens Claudia—fuit enim et alia plebeia, nec potentia minor nec dignitate—orta est ex Regillis oppido Sabinorum.
The patrician Claudia gens—for there was also another plebeian one, neither inferior in power nor in dignity—originated from the town of Regilli in the territory of the Sabines.
inde Romam recens conditam cum magna clientium manu conmigrauit auctore Tito Tatio consorte Romuli, uel, quod magis constat, Atta Claudio gentis principe, post reges exactos sexto fere anno; atque in patricias cooptata agrum insuper trans Anienem clientibus locumque sibi ad sepulturam sub Capitolio publice accepit.
From there, to Rome newly founded, they migrated with a large band of clients, at the instigation of Titus Tatius, the associate of Romulus, or, which is more established, of Atta Claudius, the chief of the gens, in about the sixth year after the expulsion of the kings; and, being co-opted into the patricians, they received in addition land across the Anio for their clients and a place for themselves for burial publicly under the Capitol.
deinceps procedente tempore duodetriginta consulatus, dictaturas quinque, censuras septem, triumphos sex, duas ouationes adepta est.
Successively, with the passage of time, it obtained twenty-eight consulships, five dictatorships, seven censorships, six triumphs, and two ovations.
cum praenominibus cognominibusque uariis distingueretur, Luci praenomen consensu repudiauit, postquam e duobus gentilibus praeditis eo alter latrocinii, caedis alter conuictus est.
While it was distinguished by various praenomina and cognomina, by common consent it rejected the praenomen of Lucius, after two members of the gens endowed with it were convicted, one of highway robbery, the other of murder.
inter cognomina autem et Neronis assumpsit, quo significatur lingua Sabina fortis ac strenuus.
Among its cognomina, moreover, it also assumed that of Nero, which signifies "strong and active" in the Sabine language.
§2Multa multorum Claudiorum egregia merita, multa etiam sequius admissa in rem p. extant.
Many outstanding merits of many Claudii, and also many misdeeds committed against the state, are on record.
sed ut praecipua commemorem, Appius Caecus societatem cum rege Pyrro ut parum salubrem iniri dissuasit.
But to commemorate the most principal ones, Appius Caecus dissuaded the alliance with King Pyrrhus as little salutary from being entered into.
Claudius Caudex primus freto classe traiecto Poenos Sicilia expulit. †Tibus Nero aduenientem ex Hispania cum ingentibus copiis Hasdrubalem, prius quam Hannibali fratri coniungeretur, oppressit.
Claudius Caudex, first having crossed the strait with a fleet, expelled the Carthaginians from Sicily. [Tiberius] Nero crushed Hasdrubal, who was arriving from Spain with immense forces, before he could join his brother Hannibal.
contra Claudius Regillianus, decemuir legibus scribendis, uirginem ingenuam per uim libidinis gratia in seruitutem asserere conatus causa plebi fuit secedendi rursus a patribus.
On the other hand, Claudius Regillianus, decemvir for writing the laws, attempting through violence for the sake of lust to claim a freeborn maiden into slavery, was the cause for the plebs of seceding again from the patricians.
Claudius †Drusus statua sibi diademata ad Appi Forum posita Italiam per clientelas occupare temptauit.
Claudius [Drusus], having placed a crowned statue of himself at Forum Appii, attempted to occupy Italy through his clienteles.
Claudius Pulcher apud Siciliam non pascentibus in auspicando pullis ac per contemptum religionis mari demersis, quasi ut biberent quando esse nollent, proelium nauale iniit; superatusque, cum dictatorem dicere a senatu iuberetur, uelut iterum inludens discrimini publico Glycian uiatorem suum dixit.
Claudius Pulcher, in Sicily, when the chickens did not feed during the taking of auspices, and having plunged them into the sea in contempt of religion, as if so they might drink since they would not eat, entered into a naval battle; and having been defeated, when he was ordered by the senate to name a dictator, as if mocking again the public danger, named Glycias, his messenger.
Extant et feminarum exempla diuersa aeque, siquidem gentis eiusdem utraque Claudia fuit, et quae nauem cum sacris Matris deum Idaeae obhaerentem Tiberino uado extraxit, precata propalam, ut ita demum se sequeretur, si sibi pudicitia constaret; et quae nouo more iudicium maiestatis apud populum mulier subiit, quod in conferta multitudine aegre procedente carpento palam optauerat, ut frater suus Pulcher reuiuisceret atque iterum classem amitteret, quo minor turba Romae foret.
Diverse examples of women exist equally, since both Claudias belonged to the same gens; both she who pulled out the ship with the sacred objects of the Idaean Mother of the gods when it was stuck in a shoal of the Tiber, having prayed openly that it might follow her only if her chastity was established; and she who, in a novel manner, underwent a trial for treason before the people as a woman, because, while her carriage was proceeding with difficulty in a crowded multitude, she had openly wished that her brother Pulcher would come back to life and lose the fleet again, so that there might be a smaller crowd in Rome.
praeterea notatissimum est, Claudios omnis, excepto dum taxat P. Clodio, qui ob expellendum urbe Ciceronem plebeio homini atque etiam natu minori in adoptionem se dedit, optimates adsertoresque unicos dignitatis ac potentiae patriciorum semper fuisse atque aduersus plebem adeo uiolentos et contumaces, ut ne capitis quidem quisquam reus apud populum mutare uestem aut deprecari sustinuerit; nonnulli in altercatione et iurgio tribunos plebi pulsauerint.
Moreover, it is most notorious that all the Claudii, except only P. Clodius, who, for the sake of expelling Cicero from the city, gave himself in adoption to a plebeian man and even one younger in age, were always optimates and unique assertors of the dignity and power of the patricians, and so violent and obstinate against the plebs that not even anyone accused of a capital crime before the people endured to change his clothing or to make entreaty; some even struck the tribunes of the plebs in altercation and quarrel.
etiam uirgo Vestalis fratrem iniussu populi triumphantem ascenso simul curru usque in Capitolium prosecuta est, ne uetare aut intercedere fas cuiquam tribunorum esset.
Also a Vestal Virgin, when her brother was celebrating a triumph without the command of the people, having mounted the chariot with him, accompanied him all the way to the Capitol, so that it might not be lawful for any of the tribunes to forbid or intercede.
§3Ex hac stirpe Tiberius Caesar genus trahit, et quidem utrumque: paternum a Tiberio Nerone, maternum ab Appio Pulchro, qui ambo Appi Caeci filii fuerunt.
From this stock Tiberius Caesar derives his origin, and indeed on both sides: paternally from Tiberius Nero, maternally from Appius Pulcher, both of whom were sons of Appius Caecus.
insertus est et Liuiorum familiae adoptato in eam materno auo.
He was also engrafted into the family of the Livii by his maternal grandfather being adopted into it.
quae familia, quanquam plebeia, tamen et ipsa admodum floruit octo consulatibus, censuris duabus, triumphis tribus, dictatura etiam ac magisterio equitum honorata; clara et insignibus uiris ac maxime Salinatore Drusisque.
This family, although plebeian, nevertheless itself also flourished exceedingly, honored with eight consulships, two censorships, three triumphs, and also a dictatorship and a mastership of the horse; it was distinguished also by remarkable men, and especially by Salinator and the Drusi.
Salinator uniuersas tribus in censura notauit leuitatis nomine, quod, cum se post priorem consulatum multa inrogata condemnassent, consulem iterum censoremque fecissent.
Salinator in his censorship branded all the tribes with the charge of levity, because, although they had condemned him with a heavy fine after his prior consulship, they had made him consul again and censor.
Drusus hostium duce Drauso comminus trucidato sibi posterisque suis cognomen inuenit.
Drusus, having slain the leader of the enemies, Drausus, in hand-to-hand combat, found a cognomen for himself and his posterity.
traditur etiam pro praetore ex prouincia Gallia rettulisse aurum Senonibus olim in obsidione Capitolii datum nec, ut fama est, extortum a Camillo.
It is also handed down that as pro-praetor he brought back from the province of Gaul the gold formerly given to the Senones during the siege of the Capitol, and not, as the rumor is, extorted by Camillus.
eius abnepos ob eximiam aduersus Gracchos operam patronus senatus dictus filium reliquit, quem in simili dissensione multa uarie molientem diuersa factio per fraudem interemit.
His great-great-grandson, called the patron of the senate on account of his exceptional work against the Gracchi, left a son who, while planning many things variously in a similar dissension, was killed through treachery by the opposing faction.