Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, D. Spillan, A.M., M.D. (Translator), Cyrus Edmonds (Translator), William A. McDevitte (Translator), 3.31

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[1]

Marcus Valerius and Spurius Virginius are next elected consuls. Quiet prevailed at home and abroad. They laboured under a scarcity of provisions on account of the excessive rains. A law was proposed regarding the making Mount Aventine public property.

[2] The same tribunes of the people being re-elected on the following year, Titus Romilius and Caius Veturius being consuls, strongly recommended the law ¹ in all their harangues,

That they were ashamed of their number increased to no purpose, if that question should lie for their two years in the same manner as it had lain for the whole preceding five.

Whilst they were most busily employed in these matters, an alarming account comes from Tusculum, that the Aequans were in the Tusculan territory. The recent services of that state made them ashamed of delaying relief.

[3] Both the consuls were sent with an army, and find the enemy in their usual post in Algidum. A battle was fought there; upwards of seven thousand of the enemy were slain; the rest were routed; immense booty was obtained. This

[4] the consuls sold on account of the low state of the treasury; the proceeding was the cause of dissatisfaction to the army, and it also afforded to the tribunes materials for bringing a charge against the consuls before the commons. Accordingly, as soon as they went out of office, in the consulship of Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aterius, a day was appointed for Romilius by Caius Claudius Cicero, tribune of the people;

[5] for Veturius, by Lucius Alienus, plebeian aedile. They were both condemned, to the great mortification of the patricians; Romilius to pay ten thousand asses; Veturius, fifteen thousand. Nor did this misfortune of their predecessors render the new consuls more remiss. They said that they too might be condemned, and that the commons and tribunes could not

[6] carry the law. Then having thrown up the law, which, in its repeated publication, had now grown old, the tribunes adopted a milder mode of proceeding with the patricians.

That they should at length put an end to their disputes. If plebeian laws displeased them, at least they should suffer legislators (chosen) in common, both from the commons and from

[7]

the patricians, who would propose measures advantageous to both parties, and such as might tend to the equalization of liberty.

This proposal the patricians did not reject. They said that

no one should propose laws, except some of the patricians.

When they agreed with respect to the laws, and differed only with respect to the proposer; ambassadors were sent to Athens, Spurius Posthumius Albus, Aulus Manlius Publius Sulpicius Camerinus; and they were ordered to copy out the celebrated laws of Solon, and to become acquainted with the institutions, customs, and laws of the other states of Greece.

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.) — 3.31 focus

[1] deinde M. Valerius, Sp. Verginius consules facti. domi forisque otium fuit; annona propter aquarum intemperiem laboratum est. de Aventino publicando lata lex est. tribuni plebis iidem refecti.

[2] hi sequente anno T. Romilio, C. Veturio consulibus legem omnibus contionibus suis celebrabant: pudere se numeri sui nequiquam aucti, si ea res aeque suo biennio iaceret, ac toto superiore lustro iacuisset. cum maxime haec agerent,

[3] trepidi nuntii ab Tusculo veniunt Aequos in agro Tusculano esse. fecit pudorem recens eius populi meritum morandi auxilii. ambo consules cum exercitu missi hostem in sua sede, in Algido inveniunt.

[4] ibi pugnatum. supra septem milia hostium caesa, alii fugati, praeda parta ingens. ear eam propter inopiam aerarii consules vendiderunt. invidiae tamen res ad exercitum fuit eademque tribunis materiam criminandi ad plebem consules praebuit.

[5] itaque ergo, ut magistratu abiere, Sp. Tarpeio, A. Aternio consulibus dies dicta est, Romilio ab C. Calvio Cicerone tribuno plebis, Veturio ab L. Alieno aedile plebis.

[6] uterque magna patrum indignatione damnatus, Romilius decem milibus aeris, Veturius quindecim. nec haec priorum calamitas consulum segniores novos fecerat consules; et se damnari posse aiebant, et plebem et tribunos legem ferre non posse.

[7] tum abiecta lege, quae promulgata consenuerat, tribuni lenius agere cum patribus: finem tandem certaminum facerent. si plebeiae leges displicerent, at illi communiter legum latores et ex plebe et ex patribus, qui utrisque utilia ferrent quaeque aequandae libertatis essent, sinerent creari.

[8] rem non aspernabantur patres; laturum leges neminem nisi ex patribus aiebant. cum de legibus conveniret, de latore tantum discreparet, missi legati Athenas Sp. Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, P. Sulpicius Camerinus iussique inclitas leges Solonis describere et aliarum Graeciae civitatium instituta, mores iuraque noscere.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 3.31 focus

[1]

deinde M. Valerius, Sp. Verginius ¹ consules facti. domi forisque otium fuit; annona propter aquarum intemperiem laboratum est. de Aventino publicando lata lex est. tribuni plebis iidem refecti.

[2] hi sequente anno T. Romilio C. Veturio consulibus legem omnibus contionibus suis celebrabant: ² pudere se numeri sui nequiquam aucti, si ea res aeque suo biennio iaceret ac toto superiore lustro iacuisset.

[3] cum maxime haec agerent, trepidi nuntii ab Tusculo veniunt Aequos in agro Tusculano esse. fecit pudorem recens eius populi meritum morandi auxilii. ambo consules cum exercitu missi ³ hostem in sua sede, in Algido, inveniunt.

[4] ibi pugnatum pugnatun . supra septem milia hostium caesa, alii fugati; praeda parta ingens. eam propter inopiam aerarii consules vendiderunt. invidiae tamen res ad exercitum fuit eademque tribunis materiam criminandi ad plebem consules praebuit.

[5] itaque ergo, ut magistratu abiere Sp. Tarpeio ⁴ A. Aternio ⁵ consulibus, dies dicta est, Romilio ab C. Calvio Cicerone tribuno plebis, Veturio ab L. Alieno aedile plebis.

[7] tum abiecta lege, quae promulgata consenuerat, tribuni lenius agere cum patribus: finem tandem certaminum facerent; si plebeiae leges displicerent, at illi communiter legum latores et ex plebe et ex patribus, qui utrisque utilia ferrent quaeque aequandae libertatis essent sinerent creari.

[8] rem non aspernabantur patres: laturum ⁶ leges neminem nisi ex patribus aiebant. cum de legibus conveniret, de latore tantum discreparet, missi legati Athenas Sp. ⁷ Postumius Albus A. Manlius P. Sulpicius Camerinus iussique inclitas leges Solonis describere et aliarum Graeciae civitatium instituta mores iuraque noscere.

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).) — 3.31 focus

[1]

deinde M. Valerius, Sp. Verginius ¹ consules facti. domi forisque otium fuit; annona propter aquarum intemperiem laboratum est. de Aventino publicando lata lex est. tribuni plebis iidem refecti.

[5] itaque ergo, ut magistratu abiere Sp. Tarpeio ⁴ A. Aternio ⁵ consulibus, dies dicta est, Romilio ab C. Calvio Cicerone tribuno plebis, Veturio ab L. Alieno aedile plebis.

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)) — 3.31 focus

[1]

Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius ¹ succeeded to the consulship. Affairs were quiet both at home and abroad; but there was a shortage in the corn-supply, due to excessive rains. A law was passed opening up the Aventine to settlement.

[2] The same tribunes of the plebs were returned; and in the following year, when Titus Romilius and Gaius Veturius were consuls, they took occasion to urge the law in all their speeches: They were ashamed, they said, of the futile increase in their numbers, if this measure was to lie disregarded during their own two years of office, precisely as it had done throughout the five preceding years.

[3] Just when this agitation was at its height, there came a disquieting report from Tusculum that the Aequi were in Tusculan territory. Men were ashamed, in view of the recent service of that nation, to delay in sending aid. Both 103 consuls were dispatched with an army; and finding ² the enemy on their usual ground, Mount Algidus, they there engaged them.

[4] Above seven thousand of the enemy were slain; the rest were put to flight; and immense spoils were taken. These the consuls sold, owing to the impoverished condition of the treasury. Nevertheless, their action made them unpopular with the army, and it also furnished the tribunes with an occasion for impeaching the consuls before the plebs.

[5] Accordingly when they laid down their office and Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius became consuls, they were brought to trial; Romilius by Gaius Calvius Cicero, a plebeian tribune, Veturius by Lucius Alienus, an aedile of the plebs.

[6] Both were condemned, greatly to the indignation of the patricians; Romilius was fined 10,000 asses, Veturius 15,000. And yet this disaster to their predecessors did not diminish the energy of the new consuls; they said that it was possible that they should themselves be condemned, but that it was not possible that the plebs and the tribunes should carry their law.

[7] Then the tribunes, discarding the law, which, in the time it had been before the people, had lost its vitality, began to treat more moderately with the patricians: Let them at last put an end, they said, to these disputes; if the plebeian measure were not agreeable to them, let them permit framers of laws to be appointed jointly from both the plebs and the nobility, that they might propose measures which should be advantageous to both sides, and secure equal liberty. ³

[8] The patricians did not reject the principle; but they declared that no one should propose laws unless he were a patrician. Since they were agreed in regard to the laws, and only differed about the mover, they sent Spurius ⁴ Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius, and Publius Sulpicius Camerinus on a mission to Athens, with orders to copy the famous laws of Solon, and acquaint themselves with the institutions, customs, and laws of the other Greek states.

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.) — 3.31 focus

[1] M. Valerius and Sp. Vergilius were the new consuls. There was quiet at home and abroad. Owing to excessive rain there was a scarcity of provisions. A law was carried making the Aventine a part of the State domain. The tribunes of the plebs were reelected.

[2] These men in the following year, when T. Romilius and C. Veturius were the consuls, were continually making the Law the staple of all their harangues, and said that they should be ashamed of their number being increased to no purpose, if that matter made as little progress during their two years of office as it had made during the five preceding years.

[3] Whilst the agitation was at its height, a hurried message came from Tusculum to the effect that the Aequi were in the Tusculan territory. The good services which that nation had so lately rendered made the people ashamed to delay sending assistance. Both consuls were sent against the enemy, and found him in his usual position on Algidus.

[4] An action was fought there; above 7000 of the enemy were killed, the rest were put to flight; immense booty was taken. This, owing to the low state of the public treasury, the consuls sold. Their action, however, created ill-feeling in the army, and afforded the tribunes material on which to base an accusation against them.

[5] When, therefore, they went out of office, in which they were succeeded by Spurius Tarpeius and A. Aeternius, they were both impeached —Romilius by C. Calvius Cicero, plebeian tribune, and Veturius by L. Alienus, plebeian aedile.

[6] To the intense indignation of the senatorial party, both were condemned and fined Romilius had to pay 10,000 “ ases,” and Veturius 15,000. The fate of their predecessors did not shake the resolution of the new consuls; they said that while it was quite possible that they might also be condemned, it was not possible for the plebs and its tribunes to carry the Law.

[7] Through long discussion it had become stale, the tribunes now threw it over and approached the patricians in a less aggressive spirit They urged that an end should be put to their disputes and if they objected to the measures adopted by the plebeians they should consent to the appointment of a body of legislators, chosen in equal numbers from plebeians and patricians to enact what would be useful to both orders and secure equal liberty for each.

[8] The patricians thought the proposal worth consideration, they said, however, that no one should legislate unless he were a patrician since they were agreed as to the laws and only differed as to who should enact them. Commissioners were sent to Athens with instructions to make a copy of the famous laws of Solon, and to investigate the institutions, customs, and laws of other Greek States. Their names were Spurius Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, P. Sulpicius Camerinus.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. It is extraordinary that Livy makes no mention here of Siccius Dentatus, and his strenuous exertions in endeavouring to carry the agrarian law, as well as of his angry contentions with the consuls. For his character, see Dion. 3 x. 31, 32.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 3.31

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

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