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), 5.23

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[1]

When word came to Rome that Veii was taken, although the portents had been averted and the answers of the soothsayers and the Pythian oracle were known; and though they had done all that human wisdom could do to help, in choosing Marcus Furius Camillus, greatest of all generals, to lead them;

[2] nevertheless, because they had warred there so many years with varying fortune and had suffered many a reverse, their joy, as though unexpected, knew no bounds; and ere the senate could act, the temples were all thronged with Roman matrons giving thanks to the gods.

[3] The senate decreed supplications for four days, a longer ¹ period than in any former war.

[4] Moreover, as the dictator drew near, all sorts and conditions of men ran forth to meet him in such numbers as had never welcomed a general before, and the triumph far exceeded the measure of honour usual on that day.

[5] He was himself the most conspicuous object in it, as he rode into the City on a chariot drawn by white horses; an act which struck men as being not only undemocratic, but irreverent, for they were troubled at the thought that in respect to his steeds the dictator was made equal to Jupiter and the sun-god;

[6] and the triumph, chiefly for this one reason, was more brilliant than popular. ²

[7] He then let the contract for the temple of Queen Juno on the Aventine, and dedicated one to Mater Matuta; ³ and having fulfilled these obligations to gods and men, laid down the dictatorship.

[8] The next thing to be discussed was the gift to Apollo, to whom Camillus said that he had solemnly promised a tenth part of the spoils. The pontiffs ruled that the people must discharge this obligation, but it was not easy to devise a method

[9] for compelling them to return the booty, that out of it the due proportion might be set apart for the sacred object.

[10] They finally resorted to what seemed the least oppressive plan, namely, that whosoever wished to acquit himself and his household of obligation on the score of the vow, should appraise his own share of the spoils, and pay in a tenth part of its value to the public treasury, to the

[11] end that it might be converted into an offering of gold befitting the grandeur of the temple and the power of the god and corresponding to the majesty of the Roman People. This contribution still further alienated ⁴ the affections of the commons from Camillus. ⁵

[12] In the midst of these affairs came envoys from the Volsci and the Aequi seeking peace, and their suit was granted, more that the state, worn out with so long a war, might be at rest, than because the petitioners deserved it.

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.) — 5.23 focus

[1] Romam ut nuntiatum est Veios captos, quamquam et prodigia procurata fuerant et vatum responsa et Pythicae sortes notae et, quantum humanis adiuvari consiliis potuerat res, ducem M. Furium maximum imperatorum omnium legerant,

[2] tamen, quia tot annis varie ibi bellatum erat multaeque clades acceptae, velut ex insperato inmensum gaudium fuit et, priusquam senatus decerneret,

[3] plena omnia templa Romanarum matrum grates dis agentium erant. senatus in quadriduum, quot dierum nullo ante bello, supplicationes decernit.

[4] adventus quoque dictatoris omnibus ordinibus obviam effusis celebratior quam ullius umquam antea fuit, triumphusque omnem consuetum honorandi diei illius modum aliquantum excessit.

[5] maxime conspectus ipse est curru equis albis iuncto urbem invectus; parumque id non civile modo, sed humanum etiam visum.

[6] Iovis Solisque equis aequiperatum dictatorem in religionem etiam trahebant, triumphusque ob eam unam maxime rem clarior quam gratior fuit.

[7] tum Iunoni reginae templum in Aventino locavit dedicavitque Matutae matris; atque his divinis humanisque rebus gestis dictatura se abdicavit. agi deinde de Apollinis dono coeptum.

[8] cui se decumam vovisse praedae partem cum diceret Camillus, pontifices solvendum religione populum censerent,

[9] baud haud facile inibatur ratio iubendi referre praedam populum, ut ex ea pars debita in sacrum secerneretur.

[10] tandem eo, quod lenissimum videbatur, decursum est, ut, qui se domumque religione exsolvere vellet, cum sibimet ipse praedam aestumasset suam, decumae pretium partis in publicum deferret,

[11] ut ex eo donum aureum, dignum amplitudine templi ac numine dei, ex dignitate populi Romani fieret. ea quoque conlatio plebis animos a Camillo alienavit. inter haec pacificatum legati a Volscis

[12] et Aequis venerunt, inpetrataque pax, magis ut fessa tam diutino bello adquiesceret civitas, quam quod digni peterent.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 5.23 focus

[2] Romam ut nuntiatum est Veios captos, quamquam et prodigia procurata fuerant et vatum responsa et Pythicae sortes notae, et quantum humanis adiuvari consiliis potuerat res ducem M. Furium maximum imperatorum omnium legerant, tamen,

quia tot annis varie ibi bellatum erat multaeque clades acceptae, velut ex insperato immensum gaudium fuit,

[3] et priusquam senatus decerneret plena omnia templa Romanarum matrum grates dis agentium erant. senatus in quadriduum, quot dierum ¹ nullo ante bello, supplicationes decernit.

[4] adventus quoque dictatoris omnibus ordinibus obviam effusis celebratior quam ullius unquam antea fuit, triumphusque omnem consuetum honorandi diei illius, ² modum aliquantum excessit.

[5] maxime conspectus ipse est curru equis albis iuncto urbem invectus; parumque id non civile modo sed humanum etiam visum.

[6] Iovis Solisque equis aequiperatum dictatorem in religionem etiam trahebant, triumphusque ob eam unam maxime rem clarior quam gratior fuit.

[7] tum Iunoni reginae templum in Aventino locavit dedicavitque Matutae Matris; atque his divinis humanisque rebus gestis dictatura se abdicavit.

[8] agi deinde de Apollinis dono coeptum. cui se decimam vovisse praedae partem cum diceret Camillus, pontifices solvendum religione populum censerent,

[9] haud facile inibatur ratio iubendi referre praedam populum, ut ex ea pars debita in sacrum secerneretur.

[10] tandem eo quod lenissimum videbatur decursum est, ut qui se domumque religione exsolvere vellet, cum sibimet ipse praedam aestimasset suam, decimae pretium partis in publicum deferret,

[11] ut ex eo donum aureum, dignum amplitudine templi ac numine dei, ex dignitate populi Romani fieret. ea quoque conlatio plebis animos ³ a Camillo alienavit.

[12] inter haec pacificatum legati a Volscis et Aequis venerunt, impetrataque pax, magis ut fessa tam diutino bello adquiesceret civitas quam quod digni peterent.

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).) — 5.23 focus