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), 6.37

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[1]

The shame and pity of these conditions awoke more indignation in their hearers, who feared for their own safety, than the speakers had themselves felt in denouncing them.

[2] And yet the patricians —as they proceeded to assert —would never check their greed for land, nor cease murdering the plebs with usury, until the commons should elect one of the two consuls from their own number, to guard their liberties.

[3] Contempt, they argued, was now become the portion of the plebeian tribunes, for they used the veto to break down their own power.

[4] There could be no question of equal rights, where the other side commanded and they themselves could do nothing but protest. Until they shared in the authority, ¹ the plebs would never have an equal footing in the state. And let no one think that it would be sufficient if plebeians were accepted as candidates at the consular elections: unless it were required that at least one consul must be chosen from the commons, none ever would be.

[5] Had they already forgotten, that although the election of tribunes of the soldiers rather than consuls had been resolved upon, expressly in order ² that the highest honour might be open even to plebeians, yet for four and forty years no commoner had been chosen to that office?

[6] How could they suppose, that with two places only now available, the patricians would of their own volition bestow the office on the plebs, when they had habitually claimed eight places in electing military tribunes? Would those men allow the consulship to be approached, who had blocked so long the road to the tribuneship?

[7] The law must make good for them what they could not gain by favour at the elections; one of the two consulships must be set apart for the undisputed use of the plebs, for if left in dispute it would always fall a prize to the more powerful.

[8] Neither could it any longer be maintained —as the nobles had been wont to assert — that among the plebeians were none who were suitable for curule magistracies. Had the public administration been a jot more indifferent or slipshod since the tribuneship of Publius Licinius Calvus, who was the first man elected from the plebs, ³ than it had been during those years in which none but patricians had been military tribunes?

[9] Nay, on the contrary, several patricians had been impeached after holding the tribuneship, but not one plebeian. Quaestors, too, like military tribunes, had begun a few years before to be elected from the commons, nor had the Roman People regretted it in a single case.

[10] The consulship remained for the commons to achieve; this was the citadel of liberty, this its pillar. If they attained to this, then would the Roman People hold that the kings had been really driven from the City, and their freedom firmly based;

[11] for the commons would thenceforward ⁴ be partakers in all that made the patricians now surpass them, —authority and honour, martial renown, birth and nobility, ⁵ —great things for themselves to enjoy, but even greater to bequeath to their children.

[12] Perceiving that speeches of this sort were well received, they introduced a new measure, providing that in place of two men vested with superintendence of the sacred rites, a board of ten should be elected, with a proviso that half the number should be of the plebs, and half patricians; the voting on all these bills they deferred until the return of the army which was besieging Velitrae.

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.) — 6.37 focus

[1] haec indigna miserandaque auditu cum apud timentes sibimet ipsos maiore audientium indignatione quam sua increpuissent,

[2] atqui nec agros occupandi modum nec faenore trucidandi plebem alium patribus umquam fore adfirmabant, nisi alterum ex plebe consulem, custodem suae libertatis, plebes fecisset.

[3] contemni iam tribunos plebis, quippe quae potestas iam suam ipsa vim frangat intercedendo.

[4] non posse aequo iure agi, ubi imperium penes illos, penes se auxilium tantum sit; nisi imperio communicato numquam plebem in parte pari rei publicae fore. nec esse, quod quisquam satis putet, si plebeiorum ratio comitiis consularibus habeatur; nisi alterum consulem utique ex plebe fieri necesse sit, neminem fore.

[5] an iam memoria exisse, cum tribunos militum idcirco potius quam consules creari placuisset, ut et plebeis pateret summus honos, quattuor et quadraginta annis neminem ex plebe tribunum militum creatum esse? quid crederent?

[6] duobusne in locis sua voluntate impertituros plebi honorem, qui octona loca tribunis militum creandis occupare soliti sint, et ad consulatum viam fieri passuros, qui tribunatum saeptum tam diu habuerint?

[7] lege obtinendum esse, quod comitiis per gratiam nequeat, et seponendum extra certamen alterum consulatum, ad quem plebi sit aditus, quoniam in certamine relictus praemium semper potentioris futurus sit.

[8] nec iam posse dici id, quod antea iactare soliti sint, non esse in plebeis idoneos viros ad curules magistratus; numquid enim socordius aut segnius rem publicam administrari post P. Licini Calvi tribunatum, qui primus ex plebe creatus sit, quam per eos annos gesta sit, quibus praeter patricios nemo tribunus militum fuerit? quin contra patricios aliquot damnatos post tribunatum;, neminem plebeium.

[9] quaestores quoque, sicut tribunos militum, paucis ante annis ex plebe coeptos creari, nec ullius eorum populum Romanum paenituisse.

[10] consulatum superesse plebeis; earn eam esse arcem libertatis, id columen. si eo perventum sit, turn tum populum Romanum vere exactos ex urbe reges et stabilem libertatem suam existimaturum;

[11] quippe ex illa die in plebem ventura omnia, quibus patricii excellant, imperium atque honorem, gloriam belli, genus, nobilitatem, magna ipsis fruenda, maiora liberis relinquenda.

[12] huius generis orationes ubi accipi videre, novam rogationem promulgant, ut pro duumviris sacris faciundis decemviri creentur ita, ut pars ex plebe, pars ex patribus fiat; omniumque earum rogationum comitia in adventum eius exercitus differunt, qui Velitras obsidebat.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 6.37 focus

[1]

haec indigna miserandaque auditu cum apud timentes sibimet ipsos maiore audientium indignatione quam sua increpuissent,

[2] atqui nec agros occupandi modum nec fenore trucidandi plebem alium patribus unquam fore, adfirmabant, nisi alterum ex plebe consulem, custodem suae libertatis, [plebi] fecissent.

[3] contemni iam tribunos plebis, quippe quae potestas iam suam ipsa uim frangat intercedendo.

[4] non posse aequo iure agi ubi imperium penes illos, penes se auxilium tantum sit; nisi imperio communicato nunquam plebem in parte pari rei publicae fore. nec esse quod quisquam satis putet, si plebeiorum ratio comitiis consularibus habeatur; nisi alterum consulem utique ex plebe fieri necesse sit, neminem fore.

[5] an iam memoria exisse, cum tribunos militum idcirco potius quam consules creari placuisset ut et plebeiis pateret summus honos, quattuor et quadraginta annis neminem ex plebe tribunum militum creatum esse?

[6] qui crederent duobus nunc in locis sua uoluntate impertituros plebi honorem, qui octona loca tribunis militum creandis occupare soliti sint, et ad consulatum uiam fieri passuros, qui tribunatum saeptum tam diu habuerint?

[7] lege obtinendum esse quod comitiis per gratiam nequeat, et seponendum extra certamen alterum consulatum ad quem plebi sit aditus, quoniam in certamine relictus praemium semper potentioris futurus sit.

[8] nec iam posse dici id quod antea iactare soliti sint, non esse in plebeiis idoneos uiros ad curules magistratus. numqui enim socordius aut segnius rem publicam administrari post P. Licini Calui tribunatum, qui primus ex plebe creatus sit, quam per eos annos gesta sit quibus praeter patricios nemo tribunus militum fuerit?

[9] quin contra patricios aliquot damnatos post tribunatum, neminem plebeium. quaestores quoque, sicut tribunos militum, paucis ante annis ex plebe coeptos creari nec ullius eorum populum Romanum paenituisse.

[10] consulatum superesse plebeiis; eam esse arcem libertatis, id columen. si eo peruentum sit, tum populum Romanum uere exactos ex urbe reges et stabilem libertatem suam existimaturum;

[11] quippe ex illa die in plebem uentura omnia quibus patricii excellant, imperium atque honorem, gloriam belli, genus, nobilitatem, magna ipsis fruenda, maiora liberis relinquenda.

[12] huius generis orationes ubi accipi uidere, nouam rogationem promulgant, ut pro duumuiris sacris faciundis decemuiri creentur ita ut pars ex plebe, pars ex patribus fiat; omniumque earum rogationum comitia in aduentum eius exercitus differunt qui Uelitras obsidebat.

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).) — 5.37 focus

[2] cum tanta moles mali instaret—adeo obcaecat animos fortuna ubi vim suam ingruentem refringi non volt—civitas quae adversus Fidenatem ac Veientem hostem aliosque finitimos populos ultima experiens auxilia dictatorem multis tempestatibus dixisset,

ea tunc invisitato atque inaudito hoste ab Oceano terrarumque ultimis oris bellum ciente, nihil extraordinarii imperii aut auxilii quaesivit.

[3] tribuni quorum temeritate bellum contractum erat summae rerum praeerant, dilectumque nihilo accuratiorem quam ad media bella haberi solitus erat, extenuantes etiam famam belli,

[4] habebant. interim Galli postquam accepere ultro honorem habitum violatoribus iuris humani elusamque legationem suam esse, flagrantes ira, cuius impotens est gens, confestim signis convolsis citato agmine iter ingrediuntur.

[5] ad quorum praetereuntium raptim tumultum cum exterritae urbes ad arma concurrerent fugaque agrestium fieret, Romam se ire magno clamore significabant quacumque ibant, equis virisque longe ac late fuso agmine immensum obtinentes loci.

[6] sed antecedente fama nuntiisque Clusinorum, deinceps inde aliorum populorum, plurimum terroris Romam ¹ celeritas hostium tulit,

[7] quippe quibus velut tumultuario exercitu raptim ducto aegre ad undecimum lapidem occursum est, qua flumen Allia Crustuminis montibus praealto defluens alveo haud baud multum infra viam Tiberino amni armni miscetur.

[8] iam lam omnia contra circaque hostium plena erant, et nata in vanos tumultus gens' truci cantu clamoribusque variis horrendo cuncta compleverant sono.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 6.37 focus

[1]

When they had uttered these statements, exasperating and pitiable in the recital, before persons alarmed for themselves, exciting greater indignation in the hearers than was

[2] felt by themselves, they affirmed

that there never would be any other limit to their occupying the lands, or to their butchering the commons by usury, unless the commons were to elect one consul from among the plebeians, as a guardian of their liberty.

[3]

That the tribunes of the commons were now despised, as being an office which breaks down its own power by the privilege of protest.

[4]

That there could be no equality of right, where the dominion was in the hands of the one party, assistance only in that of the other. Unless the authority were shared, the commons would never enjoy an equal share in, the commonwealth; nor was there any reason why any one should think it enough that plebeians were taken into account at the consular elections; unless it were made indispensable that one consul at least should be from the commons, no one would be elected.

[5]

Or had they already forgotten, that when it had been determined that military tribunes should be elected rather than consuls, for this reason, that the highest honours should be opened to plebeians also, no one out of the commons was elected military tribune for forty-four years?

[6]

How could they suppose, that they would voluntarily confer, when there are but two places, a share of the honour on the commons, who at the election of military tribunes used to monopolize the eight places? and that they would suffer a way to be opened to the consulship, who kept the tribuneship so long a time fenced up?

[7]

That they must obtain by a law, what could not be obtained by influence at elections; and that one consulate must be set apart out of the way of contest, to which the commons may have access; since when left open to dispute it is sure ever to become the prize of the more powerful.

[8]

Nor can that now be alleged, which they used formerly to boast of, that there were not among the plebeians qualified persons for curule magistracies. For, was the government conducted with less activity and less vigour, since the tribunate of Publius Licinius Calvus, who was the first plebeian elected to that office, than it was conducted during those years when no one but patricians was a military tribune?

[9]

Nay, on the contrary, several patricians had been condemned after their tribuneship, no plebeian. Quaestors also, as military tribunes, began to be elected from the commons a few years before; nor had the Roman people been dissatisfied with any one of them.

[10]

The consulate still remained for the attainment of the plebeians; that it was the bulwark, the prop of their liberty. If they should attain that, then that the Roman people would consider that kings were really expelled from the city, and their liberty firmly established.

[11]

For from that day that every thing in which the patricians surpassed them, would flow in on the commons, power and honour, military glory, birth, nobility, valuable at present for their own enjoyment, sure to be left still more valuable to their children.

[12] When they saw such discourses favourably listened to, they publish a new proposition; that instead of two commissioners for performing religious rites, ten should be appointed; so that one half should be elected out of the commons, the other half from the patricians; and they deferred the meeting [for the discussion] of all those propositions, till the coming of that army which was besieging Velitrae.

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.) — 6.37 focus

[1] They were denouncing these indignities in the ears of men, apprehensive for their own safety, who listened to them with stronger indignation than the men who were speaking felt.

[2] They went on to assert that after all there would be no limit to the seizure of land by the patricians or the murder of the plebs by the deadly usury until the plebs

[3] elected one of the consuls from their own ranks as a guardian of their liberties.

[4] The tribunes of the plebs were now objects of contempt since their power was shattering itself by their own veto. There could be no fair or just administration as long as the executive power was in the hands of the other party, while they had only the right of protesting by their veto; nor would the plebs ever have an equal share in the government till the executive authority was thrown open to them; nor would it be enough, as some people might suppose, to allow plebeians to be voted for at the election of consuls.

[5] Unless it was made obligatory for one consul at least to be chosen from the plebs, no plebeian would ever become consul. Had they forgotten that after they had decided that consular tribunes should be elected in preference to consuls in order that the highest office might be open to plebeians, not a single plebeian was elected consular tribune for four-andforty years?

[6] What did they suppose? Did they imagine that the men who had been accustomed to fill all the eight places when consular tribunes were elected would of their own free will consent to share two places with the plebs, or that they would allow the path to the consulship to be opened when they had so long blocked the one to the consular tribuneship?

[7] The people would have to secure by law what they could not gain by favour, and one of the two consulships would have to be placed beyond dispute as open to the plebs alone, for if it were open to a contest it would always be the prey of the stronger party.

[8] The old, oft-repeated taunt could no longer be made now that there were no men amongst the plebs suitable for curule magistracies. Was the government carried on with less spirit and energy after the consulship of P. Licinius Calvus., who was the first plebeian to be elected to that post, than during the years when only patricians held the office?

[9] Nay, on the contrary, there had been some cases of patricians being impeached after their year of office, but none of plebeians. The quaestors also, like the consular tribunes, had a few years previously begun to be elected from the plebs; in no single instance had the Roman people had any cause to regret those appointments.

[10] The one thing that was left for the plebs to strive for was the consulship. That was the pillar, the stronghold of their liberties. If they arrived at that, the Roman people would realise that monarchy had been completely banished from the City, and that their freedom was securely established, for in that day everything in which the patricians were pre-eminent would come to the plebs —

[11] power, dignity, military glory, the stamp of nobility; great things for themselves to enjoy, but greater still as legacies to their children.

[12] When they saw that speeches of this kind were listened to with approval, they brought forward a fresh proposal, viz. that instead of the duumviri (the two keepers of the Sacred Books) a College of Ten should be formed, half of them plebeians and half patricians. The meeting of the Assembly, which was to pass these measures, was adjourned till the return of the army which was besieging Velitrae.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Imperium, which the tribunes of the plebs did not possess.

2. B.C. 370-369

3. In 400 B.C. (v. xii. 9).

4. B.C. 319-369

5. The nobles were those who had held —or whose ancestors had held —curule chairs. Originally nobility had been confined to the patriciate, with which, indeed —since most patrician families could point to some office-holding ancestor, —it had been practically identical. The new nobility comprised plebeians as well as patricians, and owing to the tendency of the electorate to continue the same families in office, it became almost as exclusive a body as the old patriciate.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 6.37

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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