Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, D. Spillan, A.M., M.D. (Translator), Cyrus Edmonds (Translator), William A. McDevitte (Translator), 2.61

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[1]

A more turbulent year ¹

[2] next followed, Lucius Valerius, Tiberius Aemilius being consuls, both by reason of the struggles between the different orders concerning the agrarian law, as well as on account of the trial of Appius Claudius; for whom, as a most active

[3] opposer of the law, and as one who supported the cause of the possessors of the public land, as if a third consul, Marcus Duilius and Caius Sicinius appointed a day of trial. ² Never before was an accused person so hateful to the commons brought to trial before the people; overwhelmed with

[4] their resentment on his own account, ³ and also on account of his father. The patricians too seldom made equal exertions in behalf of any one:

that the champion of the senate, and the assertor of their dignity, opposed to all the storm of the tribunes and commons, was exposed to the resentment of the commons, merely for having exceeded bounds in the contest.

Appius Claudius himself was the only one of the patricians who made light both of the tribunes and commons and his own trial. Neither the threats of the commons, nor the entreaties of the senate, could ever persuade him not only to change his garb, or address persons as a suppliant, but not even so far as to soften or relax any thing from the usual asperity of his style, when his cause was to be pleaded before the people. The expression of his countenance was the same; the same stubbornness in his looks, the same spirit of

[5] pride in his language; so that a great part of the commons felt no less awe of Appius when arraigned, than they had felt of him when consul. He pleaded his cause once, and with the same spirit of an accuser which he had been accustomed to adopt on all occasions: and

[6] he so far astounded both the tribunes and the commons by his intrepidity, that, of their own accord, they postponed the day of trial; then they allowed the matter to be protracted. Nor

[7] was the time now very distant; before, however, the appointed day came, he dies of some disease; and when the tribunes of the people endeavoured to impede his funeral panegyric, ⁴ the commons would not allow that the last day of so great a man should be defrauded of the usual honours; and they listened to the panegyric of him when dead with as patient ears, as they had listened to the charges brought against him when living, and attended his funeral in vast numbers.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). D. Spillan, A.M., M.D. (Translator), Cyrus Edmonds (Translator), William A. McDevitte (Translator). Medford, MA. .

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's 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.) — 2.61 focus

[1] turbulentior inde annus excepit L. Valerio T. Aemilio consulibus, cum propter certamina ordinum de lege agraria tur tum propter iudicium Ap. Claudi, cui,

[2] acerrimo adversario legis causamque possessorum publici agri tamquam tertio consuli sustinenti, M. Duillius et Cn. Siccius diem dixere.

[3] numquam ante tam invisus plebi reus ad iudicium vocatus populi est, plenus suarum, plenus paternarum irarum.

[4] patres quoque non temere pro ullo aeque adnisi sunt: propugnatorem senatus maiestatisque vindicem suae, ad omnes tribunicios plebeiosque oppositum tumultus, modum dumtaxat in certamine egressum, iratae obici plebi. Unus unus e patribus,

[5] ipse Ap. Claudius, et tribunos et plebem et suum iudicium pro nihilo habebat. ilium illum non minae plebis, non senatus preces perpellere umquam potuere, non modo ut vestem mutaret aut supplex prensaret homines, sed ne ut ex consueta quidem asperitate orationis, cum ad populum agenda causa esset, aliquid leniret atque submitteret.

[6] idem habitus oris, eadem contumacia in vultu, idem in oratione spiritus erat, adeo ut magna pars plebis Appium non minus reum timeret, quam consulem timuerat.

[7] semel causam dixit, quo semper agere omnia solitus erat, accusatorio spiritu; adeoque constantia sua et tribunos obstupefecit et plebem, ut diem ipsi sua voluntate prodicerent, trahi deinde rem sinerent.

[8] baud haud ita multum interim temporis fuit; ante tamen, quam prodicta dies veniret, morbo moritur.

[9] cuius cum laudationem tribuni plebis inpedire conarentur, plebs fraudari sollemni honore supremum diem tanti viri noluit et laudationem tam aequis auribus mortui audivit, quam vivi accusationem audierat, et exequias frequens celebravit.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 2.61 focus

[1]

turbulentior inde annus excepit L. Ualerio T. Aemilio consulibus, cum propter certamina ordinum de lege agraria tum propter iudicium Ap. Claudi ,

[2] cui acerrimo aduersario legis causamque possessorum publici agri tamquam tertio consuli sustinenti M. Duillius et Cn. Siccius diem dixere.

[3] nunquam ante tam inuisus plebi reus ad iudicium uocatus populi est, plenus suarum, plenus paternarum irarum.

[4] patres quoque non temere pro ullo aeque adnisi sunt: propugnatorem senatus maiestatisque uindicem suae, ad omnes tribunicios plebeiosque oppositum tumultus, modum dumtaxat in certamine egressum, iratae obici plebi.

[5] unus e patribus ipse Ap. Claudius et tribunos et plebem et suum iudicium pro nihilo habebat. illum non minae plebis, non senatus preces perpellere unquam potuere, non modo ut uestem mutaret aut supplex prensaret homines, sed ne ut ex consueta quidem asperitate orationis, cum ad populum agenda causa esset, aliquid leniret atque submitteret.

[6] idem habitus oris, eadem contumacia in uoltu, idem in oratione spiritus erat, adeo ut magna pars plebis Appium non minus reum timeret quam consulem timuerat.

[7] semel causam dixit, quo semper agere omnia solitus erat, accusatorio spiritu, adeoque constantia sua et tribunos obstupefecit et plebem ut diem ipsi sua uoluntate prodicerent, trahi deinde rem sinerent.

[8] haud ita multum interim temporis fuit; ante tamen quam prodicta dies ueniret, morbo moritur.

[9] cuius laudationem cum tribunus plebis impedire conaretur, plebs fraudari sollemni honore supremum diem tanti uiri noluit, et laudationem tam aequis auribus mortui audiuit quam uiui accusationem audierat et exsequias frequens celebrauit.

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).) — 2.61 focus

[1]

turbulentior inde annus excepit L. Valerio ¹ T. Aemilio consulibus, cum propter certamina ordinum de lege agraria tum propter iudicium Ap. Claudi, cui,

[2] acerrimo adversario legis causamque possessorum publici agri tamquam tertio consuli sustinenti, M. Duillius et Cn. Siccius diem dixere.

[3] numquam ante tam invisus plebi reus ad iudicium vocatus populi est, plenus suarum, plenus paternarum irarum.

[5] unus e patribus, ipse Ap. Claudius, et tribunos et plebem et suum iudicium pro nihilo habebat. illum non minae plebis, non senatus preces perpellere umquam potuere, non modo ut vestem mutaret aut supplex prensaret homines, sed ne ut ex consueta quidem asperitate orationis, cum ad populum agenda causa esset, aliquid leniret atque submitteret.

[6] idem habitus oris, eadem contumacia in voltu, idem in oratione spiritus erat, adeo ut magna pars plebis Appium non minus reum timeret timcret , quam consulem timuerat.

[7] semel causam dixit, quo semper agere omnia solitus erat accusatorio spiritu; adeoque constantia sua et tribunos obstupefecit et ² plebem ut diem ipsi sua voluntate prodicerent, ³ trahi deinde rem sinerent.

[8] haud ita multum interim temporis ternporis fuit; ante tamen quam prodicta dies veniret morbo moritur.

[9] cuius laudationem cum ⁴ tribuni plebis ⁵ impedire conarentur, ⁶ plebs fraudari sollemni honore supremum diem tanti viri noluit et laudationem tam aequis auribus mortui audivit quam vivi accusationem audierat, et exsequias frequens celebravit.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (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)) — 2.61 focus

[1]

A stormier year succeeded, under the ¹ consuls Lucius Valerius and Titus Aemilius, partly owing to strife between the classes about the land-law, partly to the trial of Appius Claudius.

[2] He was the bitterest opponent of the law, and was upholding the claim of those who had possession of the public domain as if he had been a third consul, when Marcus Duillius and Gnaeus Siccius lodged an accusation against him.

[3] Never before had a defendant whom the plebs so detested been brought to trial before the people, burdened as he was with men's hatred, both of himself and of his father.

[4] The patricians, for their part, had not lightly put forth such exertions in behalf of any man. They felt that the champion of the senate and the guardian of their own dignity, who had stood firm against all sorts of tribunician and plebeian outbreaks, though he had possibly gone too far in the heat of the struggle, was being exposed to the angry commons.

[5] Alone amongst the Fathers, Appius Claudius himself regarded tribunes, plebs, and his own trial with perfect unconcern. He was not one whom the threats of the plebeians or the entreaties of the senate could ever prevail upon, I do not say to put on mourning, or to seek men out with appeals for mercy, but even to soften and subdue in a slight degree the accustomed sharpness of his tongue, though it was before the people he must plead.

[6] There was the same expression on his countenance, the same arrogance in his glance, the same fire in his speech; so markedly, in fact, that a great part of the plebs feared Appius no less when a defendant than they had feared him as consul.

[7] Once only did he plead his cause, in the tone he had been wont to use on all occasions, namely, that of a prosecutor; and so completely did his firmness ² overwhelm the tribunes and the commons that they themselves voluntarily adjourned the trial to a later day, and then allowed the affair to drag.

[8] The interval was not very long, but before the appointed day came round Appius fell sick and died.

[9] When his eulogy was being pronounced, the tribunes of the plebs attempted to interfere, but the plebs were not willing that the funeral-day of so great a man should be defrauded of the customary honours. They listened to his praises with as great goodwill, now he was dead, as they had heard the living man accused, and attended his burial in crowds.

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.) — 2.61 focus

[1] ¹L. Valerius and T. Aemilius were consuls for the next year, which was a still stormier one, owing, m the first place, to the struggle between the two orders over the Agrarian Law, and secondly to the prosecution of Appius Claudius.

[2] He was impeached by the tribunes, M. Duellius and Cn. Siccius, on the ground of his determined opposition to the Law, and also because

[3] he defended the cause of the occupiers of the public land, as if he were a third consul.

[4] Never before had any one been brought to trial before the people whom the plebs so thoroughly detested, both on his own and his father's account. For hardly any one had the patricians exerted themselves more than for him whom they regarded as the champion of the senate and the vindicator of its authority, the stout bulwark against disturbances of tribunes or plebs, and now saw exposed to the rage of the plebeians simply for having gone too far in the struggle.

[5] Appius Claudius himself alone of all the patricians, looked upon the tribunes, the plebs, and his own trial as of no account. Neither the threats of the plebeians nor the entreaties of the senate could induce him —I will not say to change his attire and accost men as a suppliant, but —even to soften and subdue to some extent his wonted asperity of language when he had to make his defence before the people.

[6] There was the same expression, the same defiant look, the same proud tones of speech, so that a large number of the plebeians were no less afraid of Appius on his trial than they had been when he was consul.

[7] He only spoke in his defence once, but in the same aggressive tone that he always adopted and his firmness so dumbfounded the tribunes and the plebs' that they adjourned the case of their own accord, and then allowed it to drag on.

[8] There was not a very long interval however. Before the date of the adjourned trial arrived he was' carried off by illness.

[9] The tribunes tried to prevent any funeral oration being pronounced over him, but the plebeians would not allow the obsequies of so great a man to be robbed of the customary honours. They listened to the panegyric of the dead as attentively as they had listened to the indictment of the living, and vast crowds followed him to the tomb.

Notes on the current edition

History of Rome, books 1-10, 21-45

1. Niebuhr, ii. p. 231, thinks that it was in this year the Icilian law was passed, according to which, any person interrupting the proceedings of the tribunes, rendered himself liable to capital punishment. — Twiss.

2. Several charges were brought against Appius, according to Dion. ix. 54, who also states that he did not die of any disease, but that he laid violent hands on himself. — Ruperti.

3. The original has plenus suarum —irarum, —that is, the anger not of Appius against the commons, but of 5 the commons against him.

4. Conf. Nieb. ii. n. 754. It may be well to mention that Niebuhr considered that this account regarding the death of 9?? Appius was all fictitious. The Greek writers, scil. Dion. ix. 54, Zonar. vii. 17, state that he laid violent hands on himself.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 2.61

D. Spillan, A.M., M.D. (Translator), Cyrus Edmonds (Translator), William A. McDevitte (Translator)

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