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), 6.42

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[1]

The speech of Appius availed no further ¹ than to put off the passing of the measures.

[2] Returned for the tenth time to office, the tribunes Sextius and Licinius obtained the enactment of a law requiring that half the board of ten who had charge of sacred rites should be plebeians. ² Having elected five patricians and five plebeians, the people felt that they had set a precedent for the consulship.

[3] Satisfied with their victory, the plebs gave way to the patricians, and relinquishing for the moment discussion about the consuls, permitted the election of military tribunes. Those chosen were Aulus and Marcus Cornelius (for their second terms), Marcus Geganius, Publius Manlius, Lucius Veturius, and (for the sixth time) Publius Valerius.

[4] Rome's foreign relations were now peaceful everywhere except for the siege of Velitrae —the result of which, though delayed, was scarce in doubt —when a sudden rumour of a Gallic war drove the state to appoint Marcus Furius to his fifth dictatorship. He nominated Titus Quinctius Poenus to be master of the horse.

[5] Claudius ³ relates that the ⁴ battle with the Gauls took place that year near the river Anio; and that this was the occasion of the famous duel on the bridge in which Titus Manlius slew a Gaul who had challenged him to combat, and despoiled him of his chain, while the two armies looked on.

[6] But I am more inclined to believe, with the majority of our authorities, that this exploit took place no less than ten years later, ⁵ and that in the year of which I am now writing, the dictator, Marcus Furius, fought a battle against the Gauls on Alban soil.

[7] Notwithstanding the great terror occasioned by the invasion of the Gauls and the recollection of their old defeat, the Romans gained a victory that was neither difficult nor uncertain.

[8] Many thousands of barbarians fell in battle, and many after the camp was taken. The others roamed about, making mostly towards Apulia, and owed their escape from the Romans to their distant flight and the dispersion which resulted from their panic and their straggling.

[9] The dictator was awarded a triumph with the consent of both senate and plebs.

Hardly had Camillus brought the war to an end, when he was confronted with a fiercer opposition in the City. After desperate struggles the senate and the dictator were beaten, and the measures advocated by the tribunes were adopted.

[10] An election of consuls was held, against the wishes of the nobles, and resulted in the choice of Lucius Sextius, the first of the plebeians to attain that honour. Even this did not end their disputes.

[11] The patricians declared that they would not ratify the election, and the affair had almost led to a secession of the plebs and threatened other terrible ⁶ embroilments, when the dictator finally proposed a compromise which allayed the discord; the nobles gave way to the plebs in regard to the plebeian consul, and the plebs conceded to the nobles that they might elect from the patricians one praetor to administer justice in the City. ⁷

[12] Thus after their long quarrel the orders were reconciled at last. The senate decided that this was a fitting occasion to honour the immortal gods —who deserved it then, if ever at any time —by celebrating the Great Games, and voted that one day should be added to the customary three;

[13] this burden the aediles of the plebs refused to shoulder, whereupon the young patricians called out that they would willingly do it for the sake of honouring the gods.

[14] The entire people united in thanks to them, and the senate decreed that the dictator should hold a popular election of two aediles ⁸ to be chosen from the patricians, and that the Fathers should ratify all the elections of that year.

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.) — 6.42 focus

[1] oratio Appi ad id modo valuit, ut tempus rogationum iubendarum proferretur.

[2] refecti decumum iidem tribuni Sextius et Licinius de decemviris sacrorum ex parte de plebe creandis legem pertulere. creati quinque patrum, quinque plebis; graduque eo iam via facta ad consulatum videbatur.

[3] hac victoria contenta plebes cessit patribus, ut in praesentia consulum mentione omissa tribuni militum crearentur. creati A. et M. Cornelii iterum, M. Geganius, P. Manlius, L. Veturius, P. Valerius sextum.

[4] cum praeter Velitrarum obsidiouem, tardi magis rem exitus quam dubii, quietae externae res Romanis essent, fama repens belli Gallici allata perpulit civitatem, ut M. Furius dictator quintum diceretur. is T. Quinctium Poenum magistrum equitum dixit.

[5] Bellatum bellatum cum Gallis eo anno circa Anienem flumen auctor est Claudius inclitamque in ponte pugnam, qu. qua T. Manlius Gallum, cum quo provocatus manus conseruit, in conspectu duorum exercituum caesum torque spoliavit, tum pugnatam.

[6] pluribus auctoribus magis adducor, ut credam decem haud minus post annos ea acta, hoc autem anno in Albano agro cum Gallis dictatore M. Furio signa conlata. Nec nec dubia nec difficilis Romanis,

[7] quamquam ingentem Galli terrorem memoria pristinae cladis attulerant, victoria fuit. multa milia barbarorum in acie, multa captis castris caesa;

[8] palati alii Apuliam maxime petentes cum fuga se longinqua, tur tum quod passim eos simul pavor errorque distulerant, ab hoste sese tutati sunt. dictatori consensu patrum plebisque triumphus decretus.

[9] Vixdum uixdum perfunctum eum bello atrocior domi seditio excepit; et per ingentia certamina dictator senatusque victus, ut rogationes tribuniciae acciperentur; et comitia consulum adversa nobilitate habita, quibus L. Sextius de plebe primus consul factus.

[10] et ne is quidem finis certaminum fuit. quia patricii se auctores futuros negabant,

[11] prope secessionem plebis res terribilesque alias minas civilium certaminum venit, cum tandem per dictatorem condicionibus sedatae discordiae sunt concessumque ab nobilitate plebi de consule plebeio, a plebe nobilitati de praetore uno, qui ius in urbe diceret, ex patribus creando.

[12] ita ab diutina ira tandem in concordiam redactis ordinibus cum dignam ear eam rem senatus censeret esse, meritoque id, si quando umquam alias, deum inmortalium fore, ut ludi maximi fierent et dies unus ad triduum adiceretur,

[13] recusantibus id munus aedilibus plebis, conclamatum a patriciis est iuvenibus se id honoris deum inmortalium causa libenter facturos, ut aediles fierent.

[14] quibus cum ab universis gratiae actae essent, factum senatus consultum, ut duoviros aediles ex patribus dictator populum rogaret, patres auctores omnibus eius anni comitiis fierent.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 6.42 focus

[1]

oratio Appi ad id modo ualuit ut tempus rogationum iubendarum proferretur.

[2] refecti decumum iidem tribuni, Sextius et Licinius, de decemuiris sacrorum ex parte de plebe creandis legem pertulere. creati quinque patrum, quinque plebis; graduque eo iam uia facta ad consulatum uidebatur.

[3] hac uictoria contenta plebes cessit patribus ut in praesentia consulum mentione omissa tribuni militum crearentur. creati A. et M. Cornelii iterum M. Geganius P. Manlius L. Ueturius P. Ualerius sextum.

[4] cum praeter Uelitrarum obsidionem, tardi magis rem exitus quam dubii, quietae externae res Romanis essent, fama repens belli Gallici allata perpulit ciuitatem ut M. Furius dictator quintum diceretur. is T. Quinctium Poenum magistrum equitum dixit.

[5] bellatum cum Gallis eo anno circa Anienem flumen auctor est Claudius inclitamque in ponte pugnam, qua T. Manlius Gallum cum quo prouocatus manus conseruit in conspectu duorum exercituum caesum torque spoliauit, tum pugnatam.

[6] pluribus auctoribus magis adducor ut credam decem haud minus post annos ea acta, hoc autem anno in Albano agro cum Gallis dictatore M. Furio signa conlata.

[7] nec dubia nec difficilis Romanis, quamquam ingentem Galli terrorem memoria pristinae cladis attulerant, uictoria fuit. multa milia barbarorum in acie, multa captis castris caesa;

[8] palati alii Apuliam maxime petentes cum fuga [se] longinqua tum quod passim eos simul pauor errorque distulerant, ab hoste sese tutati sunt. dictatori consensu patrum plebisque triumphus decretus.

[9] uixdum perfunctum eum bello atrocior domi seditio excepit, et per ingentia certamina dictator senatusque uictus, ut rogationes tribuniciae acciperentur; et comitia consulum aduersa nobilitate habita, quibus L. Sextius de plebe primus consul factus.

[10] et ne is quidem finis certaminum fuit. quia patricii se auctores futuros negabant, prope secessionem plebis res terribilesque alias minas ciuilium certaminum

[11] uenit cum tandem per dictatorem condicionibus sedatae discordiae sunt concessumque ab nobilitate plebi de consule plebeio, a plebe nobilitati de praetore uno qui ius in urbe diceret ex patribus creando.

[12] ita ab diutina ira tandem in concordiam redactis ordinibus, cum dignam eam rem senatus censeret esse meritoque id, si quando unquam alias, deum immortalium [causa libenter facturos] fore ut ludi maximi fierent et dies unus ad triduum adiceretur,

[13] recusantibus id munus aedilibus plebis, conclamatum a patriciis est iuuenibus se id honoris deum immortalium causa libenter facturos [ut aediles fierent].

[14] quibus cum ab uniuersis gratiae actae essent, factum senatus consultum, ut, duumuiros aediles ex patribus dictator populum rogaret, patres auctores omnibus eius anni comitiis fierent.

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).) — 5.42 focus

[2] ceterum , seu non omnibus delendi urbem libido erat, seu ita placuerat principibus Gallorum et ostentari quaedam incendia terroris causa, si compelli ad deditionem caritate sedum suarum obsessi possent,

et non omnia concremari tecta ut quodcumque superesset urbis, id pignus ad flectendos hostium animos haberent, nequaquam perinde atque in capta urbe primo ¹ die aut passim aut late vagatus est ignis.

[3] Romani ex arce plenam hostium urbem cernentes vagosque per vias omnes cursus, cum alia atque alia parte nova aliqua clades oreretur, non mentibus solum consipere, ² sed ne auribus quidem atque oculis satis constare poterant.

[4] quocumque clamor hostium, ³ mulierum puerorumque ploratus, sonitus flammae et fragor ruentium tectorum avertisset, paventes ad omnia animos oraque et oculos flectebant velut ad spectaculum a fortuna positi occidentis patriae nec ullius rerum suarum relicti ⁴ praeterquam corporum vindices,

[5] tanto ante alios miserandi magis qui unquam obsessi sunt quod interclusi a patria obsidebantur, omnia sua cernentes in hostium potestate.

[6] nec tranquillior nox diem tam foede actum excepit; lux deinde noctem inquieta ⁵ insecuta est, nec ullum erat tempus quod a novae semper cladis alicuius alieuius spectaculo cessaret.

[7] nihil tamen tot onerati atque obruti malis flexerunt animos quin, etsi omnia flammis ac ruinis aequata vidissent, quamvis inopem parvumque quem tenebant collem libertati relictum virtute defenderent; et iam cum eadem cottidie acciderent,

[8] velut adsueti malis abalienaverant ab sensu rerum suarum animos, arma tantum ferrumque in dextris velut solas reliquias spei suae intuentes.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 6.42 focus

[1]

The speech of Appius merely had this effect, that the time for passing the propositions was deferred.

[2] The same tribunes, Sextius and Licinius, being re-elected for the tenth time, succeeded in passing a law, that of the decemvirs for religious matters, one half should be elected from the commons. Five patricians were elected, and five out of the plebeians; and by that step the way appeared opened to the consulship.

[3] The commons, content with this victory, yielded to the patricians, that, all mention of consuls being omitted for the present, military tribunes should be elected. Those elected were, Aulus and Marcus Cornelius a second time, Marcus Geganius, Publius Manlius, Lucius Veturius, and Publius Valerius a six h time.

[4] When, except the siege of Velitrae, a matter rather of a slow than dubious result, there was no disquiet from foreign concerns among the Romans; the sudden rumour of a Gallic war being brought, influenced the state to appoint Marcus Furius dictator for the fifth time. He named Titus Quinctius Pennus master of the horse.

[5] Claudius asserts that a battle was fought that year with the Gauls, on the banks of the Anio; and that then the famous battle was fought on the bridge, in which Titus Manlius, engaging with a Gaul by whom he had been challenged, slew him in the sight of the two armies and despoiled him of his chain.

[6] But I am induced by the authority of several writers to believe that those things happened not less than ten years later; but that in this year a pitched battle was fought with the Gauls by the dictator, Marcus Furius, in the territory of Alba.

[7] The victory was either doubtful nor difficult to the Romans, though from the recollection of the former defeat the Gauls had diffused great terror. Many thousands of the barbarians were slain in the field, and great numbers in the storming of the camp.

[8] The rest dispersing, making chiefly for Apulia, saved themselves from the enemy, both by continuing their flight to a great distance, as also because panic and terror had scattered them very widely. A triumph was decreed to the dictator with the concurrence of the senate and commons.

[9] Scarcely had he as yet finished the war, when a more violent disturbance awaited him at home; and by great struggles the dictator and the senate were overpowered, so that the measures of the tribunes were admitted; and the elections of the consuls were held in spite of the resistance of the nobility, at which Lucius Sextius was made consul, the first of plebeian rank.

[10] And not even was that an end of the contests. Because the patricians refused to give their approbation, the affair came very near a secession of the people, and other terrible threats of civil contests:

[11] when, however, the dissensions were accommodated on certain terms through the interference of the dictator; and concessions to the commons were made by the nobility regarding the plebeian consul; by the commons to the nobility, with respect to one praetor to be elected out of the patricians, to administer justice in the city.

[12] The different orders being at length restored to concord after their long-continued animosity, when the senate were of opinion that for the sake of the immortal gods they would readily do a thing deserving, and that justly, if ever on any occasion before, that the most magnificent games should be performed, and that one day should be added to the three;

[13] the plebeian aediles refusing the office, the young patricians cried out with one accord, that they, for the purpose of paying honour to the immortal gods, would readily undertake the task, so that they were appointed aediles.

[14] And when thanks were returned to them by all, a decree of the senate passed, that the dictator should ask of the people two persons as aediles from among the patricians; that the senate should give their approbation to all the elections of that year.

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.) — 6.42 focus

[1] The speech of Appius only availed to effect the postponement of the voting.

[2] Sextius and Licinius were re-elected for the tenth time. They carried a law providing that of the ten keepers of the Sibylline Books, five should be chosen from the patricians and five from the plebeians. This was regarded as a further step towards opening the path to the consulship.

[3] The plebs, satisfied with their victory, made the concession to the patricians that for the present all mention of consuls should be dropped. Consular tribunes were accordingly elected. Their names were A. and M. Cornelius (each for the second time), M. Geganius, P. Manlius, L. Veturius, and P. Valerius (for the sixth time).

[4] With the exception of the siege of Velitrae, in which the result was delayed rather than doubtful, Rome was quiet so far as foreign affairs went. Suddenly the City was startled by rumours of the hostile advance of the Gauls. M. Furius Camillus was nominated Dictator for the fifth time. He named as his Master of the Horse T. Quinctius Poenus.

[5] Claudius is our authority for the statement that a battle was fought at the Anio with the Gauls this year, and that it was then that the famous fight took place on the bridge in which T. Manlius killed a Gaul who had challenged him and then despoiled him of his golden collar in the sight of both armies.

[6] I am more inclined, with the majority of authors, to believe that these occurrences took place ten years later.

[7] There was, however, a pitched battle fought this year by the Dictator, M. F. Camillus, against the Gauls in the Alban territory. Although, bearing in mind their former defeat, the Romans felt a great dread of the Gauls, their victory was neither doubtful nor difficult.

[8] Many thousands of the barbarians were slain in the battle, many more in the capture of their camp. Many others, making chiefly in the direction of Apulia, escaped, some by distant flight, and others who had become widely scattered and in their panic had lost their way. By the joint consent of the senate and plebs a triumph was decreed to the Dictator.

[9] He had hardly disposed of that war before a more alarming commotion awaited him at home. After tremendous conflicts, the Dictator and the senate were worsted; consequently the proposals of the tribunes were carried, and in spite of the opposition of the nobility the elections were held for consuls.

[10] L. Sextius was the first consul to be elected out of the plebs. Even that was not the end of the conflict.

[11] The patricians refused to confirm the appointment, and matters were approaching a secession of the plebs and other threatening signs of appalling civic struggles. The Dictator, however, quieted the disturbances by arranging a compromise; the nobility made a concession in the matter of a plebeian consul, the plebs gave way to the nobility on the appointment of a praetor to administer justice in the City who was to be a patrician.

[12] Thus after their long estrangement the two orders of the State were at length brought into harmony. The senate decided that this event deserved to be commemorated —and if ever the immortal gods merited men's gratitude, they merited it then —by the celebration of the Great Games, and a fourth day was added to the three hitherto devoted to them.

[13] The plebeian aediles refused to superintend them, whereupon the younger patricians were unanimous in declaring that they would gladly allow themselves to be appointed aediles for the honour of the immortal gods.

[14] They were universally thanked, and the senate made a decree that the Dictator should ask the people to elect two aediles from amongst the patricians, and that the senate should confirm all the elections of that year.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 367

2. See chap. xxxvii. § 12.

3. Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, the annalist, cf. Vol. I., introd., p. xxx, and note 2.

4. B.C. 367

5. Livy himself narrates the episode as having occurred six years later cf. Book VII. chapters ix-x. ( 361 B.C. ).

6. B.C. 367

7. This step was made necessary by the growth of the City and the increasing burden laid upon the consuls; but, as Livy intimates, it also served as partial compensation to the patricians for the privileges they were now forced to share with the plebs-until, in 337 B.C. ( cf. VIII. xv. 9), the praetorship, too, was thrown open to the plebs.

8. Later known as aediles curules. The provision that only patricians might be chosen was modified in the following year ( cf. VII. i.).

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 6.42

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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