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), 39.15

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[1] When the magistrates had been dispatched to these posts, the consuls mounted the Rostra and called an informal meeting¹ of the people, and, when the consul had finished the regular formula of prayer which magistrates are accustomed to pronounce before they address the people, he thus began:

[2] "Never for any assembly, citizens, has this formal prayer to the gods been not only so suitable but even so necessary, a prayer which reminds us that these are the gods whom our forefathers had appointed to be worshipped, to be venerated, to receive our prayers, not those gods

[3] who would drive our enthralled minds with vile and alien rites, as by the scourges of the Furies, to every crime and every lust.

[4] For my part, I do not discover what I should refrain from telling or how far I should speak out. If you are left ignorant of anything, I fear that I shall² leave room for carelessness; if I lay bare everything, that I shall scatter abroad an excess of terror.

[5] Whatever I shall have said, be sure that my words are less than the dreadfulness and the gravity of the situation: to take sufficient precautions will be our task.

[6] As to the Bacchanalia, I am assured that you have learned that they have long been celebrated all over Italy and now even within the City in many places, and that you have learned this not only from rumour but also from their din and cries at night, which echo throughout the City, but I feel sure that you do not know what this thing is:

[7] some believe that it is a form of worship of the gods, others that it is an allowable play and pastime, and, whatever it is, that it concerns only a few.

[8] As regards their number, if I shall say that there are many thousands of them, it cannot but be that you are terrified, unless I shall at once add to that who and of what sort they are.

[9] First, then, a great part of them are women, and they are the source of this mischief; then there are men very like the women, debauched and debauchers, fanatical, with senses dulled by wakefulness, wine, noise and shouts at night.

[10] The conspiracy thus far has no strength, but it has an immense source of strength in that they grow more numerous day by day.

[11] Your ancestors did not wish that even you should assemble casually and without reason, except when the standard was displayed on the citadel and the army was assembled for an election,³ or the tribunes had announced a meeting of the plebeians,⁴ or some of the magistrates had called you to an informal gathering; and wherever there was a crowd collected they thought that there should also be a legal leader of the crowd. Of what sort do you⁵ think are, first, gatherings held by night, second, meetings of men and women in common?⁶ If you knew at what ages males were initiated, you would feel not only pity for them but also

[12] shame. Do you think, citizens, that youths initiated by this oath should be made soldiers? That arms should be entrusted to men mustered from this foul

[13] shrine? Will men debased by their own debauchery and that of others fight to the death on behalf of the chastity of your wives and children?

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.) — 39.15 focus

[1] ad haec officia dimissis magistratibus consules in rostra escenderunt, et contione advocata cum sollemne carmen precationis, quod praefari, priusquam populum adloquantur, magistratus solent, peregisset consul, ita coepit.

[2] “nulli umquam contioni, Quirites, tam non solum apta sed etiam necessaria haec sollemnis deorum comprecatio fuit, quae vos admoneret hos esse deos, quos colere venerari precarique maiores vestri instituissent,

[3] non illos, qui pravis et externis religionibus captas mentes velut furialibus stimulis ad omne scelus et ad omnem libidinem agerent.

[4] equidem nec quid taceam nec quatenus proloquar invenio. si aliquid ignorabitis, ne locum neglegentiae dem, si omnia nudavero, ne nimium terroris offundam vobis, vereor. quidquid dixero,

[5] minus quam pro atrocitate et magnitudine rei dictum scitote esse: ut ad cavendum satis sit, dabitur opera a nobis.

[6] Bacchanalia tota iam pridem Italia et nunc per urbem etiam multis locis esse, non fama solum accepisse vos sed crepitibus etiam ululatibusque nocturnis, qui personant tota urbe, certum habeo, ceterum quae ea res sit, ignorare:

[7] alios deorum aliquem cultum, alios concesssum concessum ludum et lasciviam credere esse, et qualecumque sit, ad paucos pertinere.

[8] quod ad multitudinem eorum attinet, si dixero multa milia hominum esse, ilico necesse est exterreamini, nisi adiunxero qui qualesque sint.

[9] primum igitur mulierum magna pars est, et is fons mali huiusce fuit; deinde simillimi feminis mares, stuprati et constupratores, fanatici, vigiliis, vino, strepitibus clamoribusque nocturnis attoniti.

[10] nullas adhuc vires coniuratio, ceterum incrementum ingens virium habet, quod in dies plures fiunt.

[11] maiores vestri ne vos quidem, nisi cum aut vexillo in arce posito comitiorum causa exercitus eductus esset, aut plebi concilium tribuni edixissent, aut aliquis ex magistratibus ad contionem vocasset, forte temere coire voluerunt; et ubicumque multitudo esset, ibi et legitimum rectorem multitudinis censebant esse debere.

[12] quales primum nocturnos coetus, deinde promiscuos mulierum ac virorum esse creditis?

[13] si quibus aetatibus initientur mares sciatis, non misereat vos eorum solum, sed etiam pudeat. hoc sacramento initiatos iuvenes milites faciendos censetis, Quirites? his ex obsceno sacrario eductis arma committenda?

[14] hi cooperti stupris suis alienisque pro pudicitia coniugum ac liberorum vestrorum ferro decernent?

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).) — 43.15 focus

[1]

praeter dilectum eorum quos in ¹ supplementum mitti oportebat quattuor a C. Sulpicio praetore scriptae legiones sunt, intraque undecim dies dilectus est perfectus.

[2] consules deinde sortiti provincias sunt. nam praetores propter iurisdictionem maturius sortiti erant.

[3] urbana C. Sulpicio, peregrina C. Decimio obtigerat; Hispaniam M. Claudius Marcellus, Siciliam Ser. Cornelius Lentulus, Sardiniam P. Fonteius Capito, classem C. Marcius Figulus erat sortitus. consulum Cn. Servilio Italia, Q. Marcio Macedonia obvenit; Latinisque actis Marcius extemplo est profectus.

[4] caepione deinde referente ad senatum, quas ex novis legionibus duas legiones secum in Galliam duceret, decrevere patres ut C. Sulpicius M. Claudius praetores ex iis quas scripsissent legionibus quas videretur consuli darent.

[5] indigne patiens ² praetorum arbitrio consulem subiectum, dimisso senatu ³ ad tribunal praetorum stans postulavit, ex senatus consulto destinarent sibi duas legiones. praetores consulis in eligendo ⁴ arbitrium fecerunt.

[6] senatum deinde censores legerunt: M. Aemilius Lepidus princeps ab tertiis iam censoribus lectus. septem de senatu eiecti sunt. ⁵

[7] in censu accipiendo populi milites ex Macedonico exercitu, qui quam multi abessent ab signis census docuit, in provinciam redire ⁶ cogebant;

[8] causas de ⁷ stipendiis missorum ⁸ cognoscebant, et cuius nondum iusta missio visa esset, ita iusiurandum adigebant:

ex tui animi sententia, tu ex edicto C. Claudi Ti. Semproni censorum ⁹ in provinciam Macedoniam redibis, quod sine dolo male facere poteris?

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 39.15 focus

[1]

ad haec officia dimissis magistratibus consules in rostra escenderunt, et contione advocata cum sollemne carmen precationis, quod praefari solent priusquam populum adloquantur magistratus, peregisset consul;

[2] ita coepit. ”nulli umquam contioni, Quirites, tam non solum apta, sed etiam necessaria haec sollemnis deorum comprecatio fuit, quae vos admoneret hos esse ¹ deos, quos colere, venerari precarique maiores vestri instituissent, non illos,

[3] qui pravis et externis religionibus captas mentes velut furialibus stimulis ad omne scelus et ad omnem libidinem agerent.

[4] equidem nec quid taceam nec quatenus proloquar, invenio. si aliquid ignorabitis, ne locum neglegentiae dem, si omnia nudavero, ne nimium terroris obtundam vobis, vereor.

[5] quidquid dixero, minus quam pro atrocitate et magnitudine rei dictum scitote esse; ut ad cavendum satis sit, dabitur opera a nobis.

[6] Bacchanalia tota iam pridem Italia et nunc per urbem etiam multis locis esse, non fama solum accepisse vos, sed crepitibus etiam ululatibusque nocturnis, qui personant tota urbe, certum habeo, ceterum, quae ea res sit, ignorare;

[7] alios deorum aliquem cultum, alios concessum ludum et lasciviam credere esse et

[8] qualecumque sit, ad paucos pertinere. quod ad multitudinem eorum adtinet, si dixero, multa milia hominum esse, ilico necesse cesse est exterreamini, nisi adiunxero, qui qualesque sint.

[9] primum igitur mulierum magna pars est, et is fons mali huiusce fuit; deinde simillimi feminis mares, stuprati et constupratores, ² fanatici, vigiliis vino strepitibus clamoribusque nocturnis adtoniti.

[10] nullas adhuc vires coniuratio, ceterum incrementum ingens virium habet, quod in dies plures fiunt.

[12] quales primum nocturnos coetus, deinde promiscuos mulierum ac virorum esse creditis?

[13] si quibus aetatibus initientur mares sciatis, non misereat vos eorum solum, sed etiam pudeat. hoc sacramento initiatos iuvenes milites faciendos censetis, Quirites? iis ex obsceno sacrario eductis arma committenda?

[14] hi cooperti stupris suis ³ alienisque pro pudicitia coniugum ac liberorum vestrorum ferro decernent?”

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 39.15 focus

[1]

After despatching these officers to their several employments, the consuls mounted the rostrum; and, having summoned an assembly of the people, one of the consuls, when he had finished the solemn form of prayer which the magistrates are accustomed to pronounce before they address the people, proceeded thus:

[2] "Romans, to no former assembly was this solemn supplication to the gods more suitable or even more necessary: as it serves to remind you, that these are the deities whom your forefathers pointed out as the objects of your worship, veneration, and prayers:

[3] and not those which infatuated men's minds with corrupt and foreign modes of religion, and drove them, as if goaded by the furies, to every lust and every vice.

[4] I am at a loss to know what I should conceal, or how far I ought to speak out; for I dread lest, if I leave you ignorant of any particular, I should give room for carelessness, or if I disclose the whole, that I should too much awaken your fears.

[5] Whatever I shall say, be assured that it is less than the magnitude and atrociousness of the affair would justify: exertions will be used by us that it may be sufficient to set us properly on our guard.

[6] That the Bacchanalian rites have subsisted for some time past in every country in Italy, and are at present performed in many parts of this city also, I am sure you must have been informed, not only by report, but by the nightly noises and horrid yells that resound through the whole city; but still you are ignorant of the nature of that business.

[7] Part of you think it is some kind of worship of the gods; others, some excusable sport and amusement, and that, whatever it may be, it concerns but a few.

[8] As regards the number, if I tell you that they are many thousands, that you would be immediately terrified to excess is a necessary consequence; unless I further acquaint you who and what sort of persons they are.

[9] First, then, a great part of them are women, and this was the source of the evil; the rest are males, but nearly resembling women; actors and pathics in the vilest lewdness; night revellers, driven frantic by wine, noise of instruments, and clamours. The conspiracy, as yet, has no strength; but it has abundant means of acquiring strength, for they are becoming more numerous every day.

[10] Your ancestors would not allow that you should ever assemble casually, without some good reason; that is, either when the standard was erected on the Janiculum, and the army led out on occasion of elections; or when the tribunes proclaimed a meeting of the commons, or some of the magistrates summoned you to it.

[11] And they judged it necessary, that wherever a multitude was, there should be a lawful governor of that multitude present. Of what kind do you suppose are the meetings of these people? In the first place, held in the night, and in the next, composed promiscuously of men and women.

[12] If you knew at what ages the males are initiated, you would feel not only pity but also shame for them.

[13] Romans, can you think youths initiated, under such oaths as theirs, are fit to be made soldiers? That arms should be intrusted with wretches brought out of that temple of obscenity?

[14] Shall these, contaminated with their own foul debaucheries and those of others, be champions for the chastity of your wives and children?

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.) — 39.15 focus

[1]

When the various officials had been told off to their duties, the consuls convened the Assembly and mounted the Rostra. After the usual prayers with which proceedings are opened before the magistrates address the people, the consul began thus: "In no meeting of the Assembly has this solemn appeal to the gods been so appropriate and, I would add, so necessary.

[2] For it reminds you that it is these gods whom your ancestors ordained that we should worship, reverence, and pray to; not those who have driven the minds of people enslaved by foul and foreign superstitions, as though by goading furies, into every form of crime and every kind of lust.

[3] I am at a loss to know how far I ought to keep silence, and how far I ought to go, in what I have to say.

[4] I fear, if you remain in ignorance of anything, that I may leave an opening for neglect, whilst, if I disclose everything, I may create too much alarm. Whatever I say, you may be certain that it does not come up to the enormity and horror of the thing.

[5] We shall make it our business to say enough to put you on your guard.

[6] That the Bacchanalia have for some time been going on throughout Italy and are now practiced in many parts of the City you have, I am sure, learnt not only by report, but also by the nightly noises and yells which resound all over the City; but I do not think you know what it all means. Some of you fancy that it is a particular form of worship; others think that it is some permissible kind of sport and dalliance; its real nature is understood by few.

[7] As to their numbers, you would inevitably be very much alarmed if I were to say that there are many thousands of them, unless I went on to explain who and what sort of people they are.

[8] "In the first place, then, women form the great majority, and this was the source of all the mischief.

[9] Then there are the males, the very counterparts of the women, committing and submitting to the foulest uncleanness, frantic and frenzied, driven out of their senses by sleepless nights, by wine, by nocturnal shouting and uproar. The conspiracy does not so far possess any strength, but its numbers are rapidly increasing day by day, and its strength is growing.

[10] Your ancestors would not have even your Assembly meet in an irregular and haphazard way, but only

[11] when the standard was hoisted on the citadel and the centuries in their array marched out, or when the tribunes had given notice of a meeting of the plebs, or the Assembly had been duly convened by one of the magistrates. Whenever the people met together there was bound to be a lawful authority to preside over it. Have you any idea what these nocturnal gatherings, these promiscuous associations of men and women are?

[12] If you knew at what age those of the male sex are initiated, you would feel not only compassion for them, but shame as well.

[13] Do you consider, Quirites, that young men who have taken this unhallowed oath are to be made into soldiers? That after the training they have received in that shrine of obscenity they are to be entrusted with arms?

[14] Shall these men, reeking with their impurity and that of those round them, wield their swords in defence of the chastity of your wives and children?

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Cf. XXXI. vii. 1 and the note. This meeting was called simply to hear the news about the conspiracy and the measures taken to suppress it.

2. B.C. 186

3. For the military character of the comitia centuriata, of which the speaker is thinking, cf. XXXI. v. 9 and the note.

4. In the concilium plebis; Livy generally seems not to distinguish between this and the comitia tributa, but the problem is too complicated for discussion here.

5. B.C. 186

6. One thinks of the caustic remarks of Cato on the participation of women in public affairs (XXXIV. ii. 12 —iv. passim).

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 39.15

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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