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), 4.16

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[1]

Quinctius then commanded the man's house ¹ to be pulled down, that the bare site might commemorate the frustration of his wicked purpose. The place was named Aequimaelium. ²

[2] Lucius Minucius ³ was presented with an ox and a gilded statue outside the Porta Trigemina, without opposition even on the part of the plebs, since Minucius divided the corn of Maelius among them at the price of one as the peck.

[3] I find it stated by some historians that this Minucius went over from the patricians to the plebeians, and being co-opted an eleventh tribune of the plebs, allayed the rebellious feeling which arose from the killing of Maelius;

[4] but it is hardly credible that the patricians should have permitted the number of tribunes to be increased, and that this precedent, of all others, should have been introduced by a patrician; or that the plebs, having once obtained this concession, should not have held fast to it, or at least have tried to do so. But what proves more conclusively than anything the falsity of the inscription on his portrait is this, that it was enacted by law a few years before that the tribunes might not co-opt a colleague. ⁴

[5] Quintus Caecilius, Quintus Junius, and Sextus Titinius were the only members of the college of tribunes who had not supported the law conferring honours on Minucius, and had never ceased to accuse now Minucius, now Servilius, before the plebs, and to complain of the unmerited death of Maelius.

[6] So they forced through a measure providing that military tribunes should be elected instead of consuls, not doubting that for some of the six places —for this was now the number that might be filled —plebeians would be chosen, if they would promise to avenge the death of Maelius.

[7] The plebeians, though they had been aroused that year by many different commotions, elected no more than three tribunes with consular powers, and among these Lucius Quinctius, son of Cincinnatus, from ⁵ whose dictatorship men were trying to derive the odium for inspiring a mutiny.

[8] Aemilius Mamercus, a man of the highest standing, was ahead of Quinctius in the voting; Lucius Julius was elected third.

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.) — 4.16 focus

[1] domum deinde, ut monumento area esset oppressae nefariae spei, dirui extemplo iussit. id Aequimelium appellatum est.

[2] L. Minucius bove aurato et statua extra portam Trigeminam est donatus ne plebe quidem invita, quia frumentum Maelianum assibus in modios aestimatum plebi divisit.

[3] hunc Minucium apud quosdam auctores transisse a patribus ad plebem undecimumque tribunum plebis cooptatum seditionem motam ex Maeliana caede sedasse invenio;

[4] ceterum vix credibile est numerum tribunorum patres augeri passos, idque potissimum exemplum a patricio homine introductum, nec deinde id plebem concessum semel obtinuisse aut certe temptasse. sed ante omnia refellit falsum imaginis titulum paucis ante asnis annis lege cautum, ne tribunis collegam cooptare liceret. Q. Caecilius, Q. Iunius, Sex.

[5] Titinius soli ex collegio tribunorum neque tulerant de honoribus Minuci legem et criminari nunc Minucium nunc Servilium apud plebem querique indignam necem Maelii non destiterant.

[6] pervicerunt igitur, ut tribunorum militum potius quam consulum comitia haberentur, baud haud dubii, quin sex locis — tot enim iam creari licebat — et plebei aliqui profitendo se ultores fore Maelinae Maelianae caedis crearentur. Plebs,

[7] quamquam agitata multis eo anno et variis motibus erat, nec pluris quam tres tribunos consulari potestate creavit et in his L. Quinctium, Cincinnati filium, ex cuius dictaturae invidia tumultus quaerebatur.

[8] praelatus suffragiis Quinctio Mam. Aemilius, vir summae dignitatis; L. Iulium tertium creant.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 4.16 focus

[1]

domum deinde, ut monumento area esset oppressae nefariae spei, dirui extemplo iussit. id Aequimaelium appellatum est.

[2] L. Minucius bove et ¹ statua aurata ² extra portam Trigeminam est donatus ne plebe quidem invita quia frumentum Maelianum assibus in modios aestimatum plebi divisit.

[3] hunc Minucium apud quosdam auctores transisse a patribus ad plebem undecimumque tribunum plebis cooptatum seditionem motam ex Maeliana caede sedasse invenio;

[4] ceterum vix credibile est numerum tribunorum patres augeri passos, idque potissimum exemplum a patricio homine introductum, nec deinde id plebem ³ concessum eoncessum semel obtinuisse aut certe temptasse. sed ante omnia refellit falsum imaginis titulum paucis ante annis lege cautum ne tribunis collegam cooptare liceret.

[5] Q. Caecilius, Q. Iunius, Sex. Titinius soli ex collegio tribunorum neque tulerant de honoribus Minuci legem et criminari nunc Minucium nunc Servilium apud plebem querique indignam necem Maeli non destiterant.

[6] pervicerunt igitur ut tribunorum militum potius quam consulum comitia haberentur, haud dubii quin sex locis—tot enim iam creari licebat—et plebeii aliqui profitendo se ultores fore Maelianae caedis, crearentur.

[7] Plebs , quamquam agitata multis eo anno et variis motibus erat, nec pluris quam tres tribunos consulari potestate creavit et in his L. Quinctium, ⁴ Cincinnati filium, ex cuius dictaturae invidia tumultus quaerebatur.

[8] praelatus suffragiis Quinctio Mamercus Aemilius, vir summae dignitatis; L. Iulium tertium creant.

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).) — 4.16 focus

[1]

domum deinde, ut monumento area esset oppressae nefariae spei, dirui extemplo iussit. id Aequimaelium appellatum est.

[2] L. Minucius bove et ¹ statua aurata ² extra portam Trigeminam est donatus ne plebe quidem invita quia frumentum Maelianum assibus in modios aestimatum plebi divisit.

[3] hunc Minucium apud quosdam auctores transisse a patribus ad plebem undecimumque tribunum plebis cooptatum seditionem motam ex Maeliana caede sedasse invenio;

[8] praelatus suffragiis Quinctio Mamercus Aemilius, vir summae dignitatis; L. Iulium tertium creant.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 4.16 focus

[1]

He then ordered his house to be immediately razed, that the vacant ground might serve as a monument of nefarious hopes destroyed. This was called Aequimaelium.

[2] Lucius Minucius was presented with a gilded ox on the outside of the gate Trigemina, and this not even against the will of the commons, because he distributed Maelius's corn, after valuing it at one as per bushel.

[3] In some writers I find that this Minucius had changed sides from the patricians to the commons, and that having been chosen as eleventh tribune of the people, he quieted a commotion which arose on the death of Maelius.

[4] But it is scarcely credible that the patricians would have suffered the number of the tribunes to be increased, and that such a precedent should be introduced more particularly in the case of a man who was a patrician; or that the commons did not afterwards maintain, or at least attempt, that privilege once conceded to them. But the legal provision made a few years before, viz. that it should not be lawful for the tribunes to choose a colleague, refutes beyond every thing else the false inscription on the statue.

[5] Quintus Caecilius, Quintus Junius, Sextus Titinius, were the only members of the college of tribunes who had not been concerned in passing the law for conferring honours on Minucius; nor did they cease both to throw out censures one time on Minucius, at another time on Servilius, before the commons, and to complain of the unmerited death of Maelius.

[6] They succeeded, therefore, in having an election hell for military tribunes rather than for consuls, not doubting but that in six places, for so many were now allowed to be elected, some plebeians also might be appointed, by their professing to be avengers of the death of Maelius.

[7] The commons, though they had been agitated that year by many and various commotions, neither elected more than three tribunes with consular power; and among them Lucius Quintius, son of Cincinnatus, from the unpopular nature of whose dictatorship an occasion for disturbance was sought.

[8] Mamercus Aemilius, a man of the highest dignity, was voted in, prior to Quintius. In the third place they appoint Lucius Julius.

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.) — 4.16 focus

[1] So far the Dictator. He then gave orders for the house to be forthwith razed to the ground, that the place where it stood might be a perpetual reminder of impious hopes crushed.

[2] It was afterwards called the Aequimaelium. L. Minucius was presented with the Image of a golden ox set up outside the Trigeminan gate.

[3] As he distributed the corn which had belonged to Maelius at the price of one “ as ” per bushel, the plebs raised no objection to his being thus honoured. I find it stated in some authorities that this Minucius went over from the patricians to the plebeians and after being co-opted as an eleventh tribune quelled a disturbance which arose in consequence of the death of Maelius.

[4] It is, however, hardly credible that the senate would have allowed this increase in the number of the tribunes, or that such a precedent, above all others, should have been introduced by a patrician, or that if that concession had been once made, the plebs should not have adhered to it, or at all events tried to do so.

[5] But the most conclusive refutation of the lying inscription on his image is to be found in a provision of the law passed a few years previously that it should not be lawful for tribunes to co-opt a colleague. Q. Caecilius, Q. Junius, and Sex.

[6] Titinius were the only members of the college of tribunes who did not support the proposal to honour Minucius, and they never ceased to attack Minucius and Servilius in turn before the Assembly and charge them with the undeserved death of Maelius. They succeeded in securing the creation of military tribunes instead of consuls at the next election, for they felt no doubt that for the six vacancies- that number could now be elected-some of the plebeians, by giving out that they would avenge the death of Maelius, would be elected.

[7] But in spite of the excitement amongst the plebeians owing to the numerous commotions through the year, they did not create more than three tribunes with consular powers; amongst them L. Quinctius the son of the Cincinnatus who as Dictator incurred such odium that it was made the pretext for disturbances.

[8] Mam. Aemilius polled the highest number of votes, L. Julius came in third.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 438

2. The Aequimaelium was in the Vicus Iugarius, below the Capitol. Cicero derives the name from aequus

just,

because Maelius was justly punished ( de Domo, 101); Varro from aequus

level

( L.L. V. 157).

3. B.C. 438

4. The Lex Trebonia of 448 B.C. (III. lxv. 4) required the election officials to continue the voting until ten tribunes had been chosen, but said nothing about the co-optation of an eleventh.

5. B.C. 438

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 4.16

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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