Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor), 2.1

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[1]

THE new liberty enjoyed by the Roman people, ¹ their achievements in peace and war, annual magistracies, and laws superior in authority to men will henceforth be my theme.

[2] This liberty was the more grateful as the last king had been so great a tyrant. For his predecessors so ruled that there is good reason to regard them all as successive founders of parts, at least, of the City, which they added to serve as new homes for the numbers they had themselves recruited. ²

[3] Nor is there any doubt that the same Brutus who earned such honour by expelling the haughty Tarquinius, would have acted in an evil hour for the commonwealth had a premature eagerness for liberty led him to wrest the power from any of the earlier kings.

[4] For what would have happened if that rabble of shepherds and vagrants, having deserted their own peoples, and under the protection of inviolable sanctuary having possessed themselves of liberty, or at least impunity, had thrown off their fear of kings only to be stirred by the ruffling storms of tribunician demagogues, breeding quarrels with the senators of a city not their own,

[5] before ever the pledges of wife and children and love of the very place and soil (an affection of slow growth) had firmly united their aspirations? The nation would have crumbled away with dissension before it had matured.

[6] But it was favoured by the mild restraint of the government, which nursed it up to the point where its ripened powers enabled it to bear good ³ fruit of liberty. Moreover you may reckon the beginning of liberty as proceeding rather from the limitation of the consuls' authority to a year than from any diminution of their power compared with that which the kings had exercised.

[7] All the rights of the kings and all their insignia were possessed by the earliest consuls; only one thing was guarded against —that the terror they inspired should not be doubled by permitting both to have the rods.

[8] Brutus was the first to have them, with his colleague's consent, and he proved as determined in guarding liberty as he had been in asserting it.

[9] To begin with, when the people were still jealous of their new freedom, he obliged them to swear an oath that they would suffer no man to be king in Rome, lest they might later be turned from their purpose by the entreaties or the gifts of princes.

[10] In the next place, that the strength of the senate might receive an added augmentation from the numbers of that order, he filled up the list of the Fathers, which had been abridged by the late king's butcheries, drawing upon the foremost men of equestrian rank until he had brought the total up to three hundred.

[11] From that time, it is said, was handed down the custom of summoning to the senate the Fathers and the Enrolled, the latter being the designation of the new senators, who were appointed. ⁴ This measure was wonderfully effective in promoting harmony in the state and attaching the plebs to the Fathers. ⁵

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor). Medford, MA. .

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Sage, Evan T.; Schlesinger, Alfred C., translators. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959. (Loeb Classical Library))

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 2.1 focus

[1] liberi iam hinc populi Romani res pace belloque gestas, annuos magistratus imperiaque legum potentiora quam hominum peragam.

[2] quae libertas ut laetior esset, proxumi regis superbia fecerat. nam priores ita regnarunt, ut baud haud inmerito omnes deinceps conditores partium certe urbis, quas novas ipsi sedes ab se auctae multitudinis addiderunt, numerentur.

[3] neque ambigitur, quin Brutus idem, qui tantum gloriae Superbo exacto rege meruit, pessimo publico id facturus fuerit, si libertatis inmaturae cupidine priorum regum alicui regnum extorsisset.

[4] quid enim futurum fuit, si illa pastorum convenarumque plebs, transfuga ex suis populis, sub tutela inviolati templi aut libertatem aut certe inpunitatem adepta, soluta regio metu, agitari coepta esset tribuniciis procellis et in aliena urbe cum patribus serere certamina,

[5] priusquam pignera coniugum ac liberorum caritasque ipsius soli, cui longo tempore adsuescitur, animos eorum consociasset?

[6] dissipatae res nondum adultae discordia forent, quas fovit tranquilla moderatio imperii eoque nutriendo perduxit, ut bonam frugem libertatis maturis iam viribus ferre possent.

[7] libertatis autem originem inde magis, quia annuum imperium consulare factum est, quam quod deminutum quicquam sit ex regia potestate, numeres. omnia iura, omnia insignia primi consules tenuere;

[8] id modo cautum est, ne, si ambo fasces haberent, duplicatus terror videretur. Brutus prior concedente collega fasces habuit; qui non acrior vindex libertatis fuerat, quam deinde custos fuit.

[9] omnium primum avidum novae libertatis populum, ne postmodum flecti precibus aut donis regiis posset, iure iurando adegit neminem Romae passuros regnare.

[10] deinde, quo plus virium in senatu frequentia etiam ordinis faceret, caedibus regis deminutum patrum numerum primoribus equestris gradus lectis ad trecentorum summam explevit;

[11] traditumque inde fertur, ut in senatum vocarentur, qui patres quique conscripti essent: conscriptos, videlicet novum senatum, appellabant lectos. id mirum quantum profuit ad concordiam civitatis iungendosque patribus plebis animos.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 2.1 focus

liberi iam hinc populi Romani res pace belloque gestas, annuos magistratus, imperiaque legum potentiora quam hominum peragam.

[2] quae libertas ut laetior esset proximi regis superbia fecerat. nam priores ita regnarunt ut haud immerito omnes deinceps conditores partium certe urbis, quas nouas ipsi sedes ab se auctae multitudinis addiderunt,

[3] numerentur; neque ambigitur quin Brutus idem qui tantum gloriae superbo exacto rege meruit pessimo publico id facturus fuerit, si libertatis immaturae cupidine priorum regum alicui regnum extorsisset.

[4] quid enim futurum fuit, si illa pastorum conuenarumque plebs, transfuga ex suis populis, sub tutela inuiolati templi aut libertatem aut certe impunitatem adepta, soluta regio metu agitari coepta esset tribuniciis procellis,

[5] et in aliena urbe cum patribus serere certamina, priusquam pignera coniugum ac liberorum caritasque ipsius soli, cui longo tempore adsuescitur, animos eorum consociasset?

[6] dissipatae res nondum adultae discordia forent, quas fouit tranquilla moderatio imperii eoque nutriendo perduxit ut bonam frugem libertatis maturis iam uiribus ferre possent.

[7] libertatis autem originem inde magis quia annuum imperium consulare factum est quam quod deminutum quicquam sit ex regia potestate numeres.

[8] omnia iura, omnia insignia primi consules tenuere; id modo cautum est ne, si ambo fasces haberent, duplicatus terror uideretur. Brutus prior, concedente collega, fasces habuit; qui non acrior uindex libertatis fuerat quam deinde custos fuit.

[9] omnium primum auidum nouae libertatis populum, ne postmodum flecti precibus aut donis regiis posset, iure iurando adegit neminem Romae passuros regnare.

[10] deinde quo plus uirium in senatu frequentia etiam ordinis faceret, caedibus regis deminutum patrum numerum primoribus equestris gradus lectis ad trecentorum summam expleuit,

[11] traditumque inde fertur ut in senatum uocarentur qui patres quique conscripti essent; conscriptos uidelicet [nouum senatum] appellabant lectos. id mirum quantum profuit ad concordiam ciuitatis iungendosque patribus plebis animos.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Livy in Fourteen Volumes. Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Schlesinger, Alfred C., editors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959 (printing).) — 2.1 focus

[1]

LIBERI iam hinc populi Romani res pace ¹ belloque gestas, annuos magistratus, imperiaque legum potentiora quam hominum peragam.

[2] quae libertas ut laetior esset proxumi regis superbia fecerat. nam priores ita regnarunt ut haud immerito omnes deinceps conditores partium certe urbis, quas novas ipsi sedes ab se auctae multitudinis addiderunt, numerentur.

[3] neque ambigitur quin Brutus idem qui tantum gloriae Superbo exacto rege meruit pessimo publico id facturus fuerit, si libertatis immaturae cupidine priorum regum alicui regnum extorsisset.

[4] quid enim futurum fuit, si illa pastorum convenarumque plebs, transfuga ex suis populis, sub tutela inviolati templi aut libertatem aut certe impunitatem adepta, soluta regio metu, agitari coepta esset tribuniciis procellis et in aliena urbe cum patribus serere certamina,

[5] priusquam pignera coniugum ac liberorum caritasque ipsius soli, cui longo tempore adsuescitur, animos eorum consociasset?

[6] dissipatae res nondum adultae discordia forent, quas fovit tranquilla moderatio imperii, eoque nutriendo perduxit ut bonam frugem libertatis maturis iam viribus ferre ² possent.

[7] libertatis autem originem inde magis quia annuum imperium consulare factum est quam quod deminutum quicquam sit ex regia potestate, numeres. omnia iura, omnia insignia primi consules tenuere;

[8] id modo cautum est ne, si ambo fasces haberent, duplicatus terror videretur. Brutus prior concedente collega fasces habuit; qui non acrior vindex libertatis fuerat quam deinde custos fuit.

[9] omnium primum avidum novae libertatis populum, ne postmodum flecti precibus aut donis regiis posset, iure iurando adegit neminem Romae passuros regnare.

[10] deinde , quo plus virium in senatu frequentia etiam ordinis faceret, caedibus regis deminutum patrum numerum primoribus equestris gradus lectis ad trecentorum summam explevit;

[11] traditumque inde fertur ut in senatum vocarentur qui patres quique conscripti essent: conscriptos, videlicet novum senatum, appellabant lectos. id mirum quantum profuit ad concordiam civitatis iungendosque patribus plebis animos.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 2.1 focus

[1]

THE affairs, civil and military, of the Roman people, henceforward free, their annual magistrates, and the sovereignty of the laws, more powerful than that of men, I shall now detail.

[2] —The haughty insolence of the late king had caused this liberty to be the more welcome: for the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all in succession might be not undeservedly set down as founders of the parts, at least of the city, which they added as new residences for the population augmented by themselves.

[3] Nor is there a doubt but that the very same Brutus who earned so much glory for expelling this haughty monarch, would have done so to the greatest injury of the public weal, if, through an over-hasty desire of liberty, he had wrested the kingdom from any of the preceding kings.

[4] For what would have been the consequence if that rabble of shepherds and strangers, fugitives from their own countries, having, under the protection of an inviolable asylum, found liberty, or at least impunity, uncontrolled by the dread of regal authority, had begun to be distracted by tribunician storms, and to engage

[5] in contests with the fathers in a strange city, before the pledges of wives and children, and love of the very soil, to which it requires a length of time to become habituated, had united their affections.

[6] Their affairs not yet matured would have been destroyed by discord, which the tranquil moderation of the government so cherished, and by proper nourishment brought to such perfection, that, their strength being now developed, they were able to produce the wholesome fruits of liberty.

[7] But the origin of liberty you may date from this period, rather because the consular authority was made annual, than that any diminution was made from the kingly prerogative.

[8] The first consuls had all their privileges and ensigns of authority, only care was taken that the terror might not appear doubled, by both having the fasces at the same time. Brutus was, with the consent of his colleague, first attended by the fasces, who had not been a more zealous assertor of liberty than he was afterwards its guardian.

[9] First of all he bound over the people, whilst still enraptured with their newly-acquired liberty, by an oath that they would suffer no one to be king in Rome, lest afterwards they might be perverted by the importunities or bribes of the royal family.

[10] Next in order, that the fulness of the house might produce more of strength in the senate, he filled up the number of the senators, diminished by the king's murders, to the amount of three hundred, having elected the principal men of the equestrian rank; and from thence it is said the custom was derived of summoning into the senate both those who were patres and those who were conscripti. ¹

[11] Forsooth they styled those who were elected into the new senate Conscripti. It is wonderful how much that contributed to the concord of the state, and to attach the affection of the commons to the patricians.

History of Rome Perseus (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.) — 2.1 focus

[1] It¹ is of a Rome henceforth free that I am to write the history —her civil administration and the conduct of her wars, her annually elected magistrates, the authority of her laws supreme over all her citizens.

[2] The tyranny of the last king made this liberty all the more welcome, for such had been the rule of the former kings that they might not undeservedly be counted as founders of parts, at all events, of the city; for the additions they made were required as abodes for the increased population which they themselves had augmented.

[3] There is no question that the Brutus who won such glory through the expulsion of Superbus would have inflicted the gravest injury on the State had he wrested the sovereignty from any of the former kings, through desire of a liberty for which the people were not ripe.

[4] What would have been the result if that horde of shepherds and immigrants, fugitives from their own cities, who had secured liberty, or at all events impunity, in the shelter of an inviolable sanctuary²

[5] —if, I say, they had been freed from the restraining power of kings and, agitated by tribunician storms, had begun to foment quarrels with the patricians in a City where they were aliens before sufficient time had elapsed for either family ties or a growing love for the very soil to effect a union of

[6] hearts? The infant State would have been torn to pieces by internal dissension. As it was, however, the moderate and tranquilizing authority of the kings had so fostered it that it was at last able to bring forth the fair fruits of liberty, in the maturity of its

[7] strength. But the origin of liberty may be referred to this time rather because the consular authority was limited to one year than because there was any weakening of the authority which the kings had

[8] possessed. The first consuls retained all the old jurisdiction and insignia of office; one only, however, had the “ fasces,” to prevent the fear which might have been inspired by the sight of both with those dread symbols. Through the concession of his colleague, Brutus had them first, and he was not less zealous in guarding the public liberty than he had been in achieving

[9] it. His first act was to secure the people, who were now jealous of their newly-recovered liberty, from being influenced by any entreaties or bribes from the

[10] king. He therefore made them take an oath that they would not suffer any man to reign in Rome . The senate had been thinned by the murderous cruelty of Tarquin, and Brutus' next care was to strengthen its influence by selecting some of the leading men of equestrian rank to fill the vacancies; by this means he brought it up to the old number of three

[11] hundred. The new members were known as “ conscripti,” the old ones retained their designation of “ patres.” This measure had a wonderful effect in promoting harmony in the State and bringing the patricians and plebeians together.

Notes on the current edition

Ab Urbe Condita With An English Translation, books 1-10, 21-45, with periochae 11-20

1. B.C. 509

2. This statement is too sweeping, for Livy nowhere attributes any enlargement of the City to Numa.

3. B.C. 509

4. Later any senator might be called pater conscriptus, and it is possible that Livy and Festus (p. 254 M) were misled in supposing that originally the patres were one class of senators and the conscripti another. See Conway's note.

5. Livy appears to have assumed that the new senators were plebeians, but this is almost certainly wrong. The first definite notice of a plebeian senator occurs at v. xii. 11 ( 400 B.C. ).

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 2.1

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

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