Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator), 3.7

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1] The helpless commonwealth, deprived of its head and all its strength, was saved by its guardian deities and the fortune of the City, who made the Volscians and Aequi think more of plunder than of their enemy.

[2] For they had no hope of even approaching the walls of Rome , still less of effecting its capture. The distant view of its houses and its hills, so far from alluring them repelled them.

[3] Everywhere throughout their camp angry remonstrances arose: “Why were they idly wasting their time in a waste and deserted land amid plague stricken beasts and men while they could find places free from infection in the territory of Tusculum with its abundant wealth?” They hastily plucked up their standards,¹ and by cross-marches through the fields of Labici they reached the hills of Tusculum . All the violence and storm of war was now turned in this direction. Meantime the Hernici and Latins joined their forces and proceeded to Rome .

[4] They were actuated by a feeling not only of pity but also of the disgrace they would incur if they had offered no opposition to their common foe while he was advancing to attack Rome , or had brought no succour to those who were their allies.

[5] Not finding the enemy there, they followed up their traces from the information supplied them, and met them as they were descending from the hills of Tusculum into the valley of Alba. Here a very one-sided action was fought, and their fidelity to their allies met with little success for the time.

[6] The mortality in Rome through the epidemic was not less than that of the allies through the sword. The surviving consul died; amongst other illustrious victims were M. Valerius and T. Verginius Rutilus, the augurs, and Ser. Sulpicius, the “Curio Maximus.”

[7] ² Amongst the common people the violence of the epidemic made great ravage. The senate, deprived of all human aid, bade the people betake themselves to prayers; they with their wives and children were ordered to go as suppliants and entreat the gods to be

[8] gracious. Summoned by public authority to do what each man's misery was constraining him to do, they crowded all the temples. Prostrate matrons, sweeping with their dishevelled hair the temple floors, were everywhere imploring pardon from offended heaven, and entreating that an end might be put to the pestilence.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator). Medford, MA. 1997-10-28.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.)

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 3.7 focus

[1] deserta omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, dii praesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est, quae Volscis Aequisque praedonum potius mentem quam hostium dedit; adeo enim nullam spem non potiundi modo,

[2] sed ne adeundi quidem Romana moenia animus eorum cepit, tectaque procul visa atque inminentes tumuli avertere mentes eorum,

[3] ut totis passim castris fremitu orto, quid in vasto ac deserto agro inter tabem pecorum hominumque desides sine praeda tempus tererent, cum integra loca, Tusculanum agrum opimum copiis, petere possent, signa repente convellerent transversisque itineribus per Labicanos agros in Tusculanos colles transirent. eo vis omnis tempestasque belli conversa est. interim Hernici Latinique,

[4] pudore etiam, non misericordia solum moti, si nec obstitissent communibus hostibus infesto agmine Romanam urbem petentibus nec opem ullam obsessis sociis ferrent, coniuncto exercitu Romam pergunt.

[5] ubi cum hostes non invenissent, secuti famam ac vestigia obvii fiunt descendentibus ab Tusculana in Albanam vallem. ibi haudquaquam aequo proelio pugnatum est, fidesque sua sociis parumn felix in praesentia fuit.

[6] haud minor Romae fit morbo strages, quam quanta ferro sociorum facta erat. consul, qui unus supererat, moritur; mortui et alii clari viri, M’. Valerius, T. Verginius Rutilus augures, Ser. Sulpicius curio maximus; et per ignota capita late vagata est vis morbi.

[7] inopsque senatus auxilii humani ad deos populum ac vota vertit: iussi cum coniugibus ac liberis supplicatum ire pacemque exposcere deum.

[8] ad id, quod sua quemque mala cogebant, auctoritate publica evocati omnia delubra inplent. stratae passim matres crinibus templa verrentes veniam irarum caelestium finemque pesti exposcunt.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 3.7 focus

[1]

deserta omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, di ¹ praesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est, quae Volscis Aequisque praedonum potius mentem quam hostium dedit;

[2] adeo enim nullam spem non potiundi modo, sed ne adeundi quidem Romana moenia animus ² eorum cepit tectaque procul visa atque imminentes tumuli avertere mentes eorum,

[3] ut totis passim castris fremitu orto, quid in vasto ac deserto agro inter tabem pecorum hominumque desides sine praeda tempus tererent, cum integra loca, Tusculanum agrum opimum copiis, petere possent, signa repente convellerent transversisque itineribus per Labicanos ³ agros in Tusculanos colles transirent. eo vis omnis tempestasque belli conversa est.

[4] interim Hernici Latinique, pudore etiam, non misericordia solum moti, si nec obstitissent communibus hostibus infesto agmine Romanam Roranam urbem petentibus nec opem ullam obsessis sociis ferrent, coniuncto exercitu Romam pergunt.

[5] ubi cum hostes non invenissent, secuti famam ac vestigia obvii fiunt descendentibus ab Tusculana ⁴ in Albanam vallem. ibi haudquaquam aequo proelio pugnatum est, fidesque sua sociis parum felix in praesentia fuit.

[6] haud minor Romae fit morbo strages quam quanta ferro sociorum facta erat. consul qui unus supererat moritur; mortui et alii clari viri, M. Valerius, ⁵ T. Verginius Rutulus ⁶ augures, Ser. Sulpicius curio ⁷ maximus;

[7] et per ignota capita late vagata est vis morbi. inopsque senatus auxilii humani ad deos populum ac vota vertit. iussi cum coniugibus ac liberis supplicatum ire pacemque paceinque exposcere deum,

[8] ad id quod sua quemque mala cogebant auctoritate publica evocati omnia delubra implent. stratae passim matres crinibus templa verrentes veniam irarum caelestium finemque pesti exposcunt.

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).) — 3.7 focus

[1]

deserta omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, di ¹ praesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est, quae Volscis Aequisque praedonum potius mentem quam hostium dedit;

[2] adeo enim nullam spem non potiundi modo, sed ne adeundi quidem Romana moenia animus ² eorum cepit tectaque procul visa atque imminentes tumuli avertere mentes eorum,

[3] ut totis passim castris fremitu orto, quid in vasto ac deserto agro inter tabem pecorum hominumque desides sine praeda tempus tererent, cum integra loca, Tusculanum agrum opimum copiis, petere possent, signa repente convellerent transversisque itineribus per Labicanos ³ agros in Tusculanos colles transirent. eo vis omnis tempestasque belli conversa est.

[7] et per ignota capita late vagata est vis morbi. inopsque senatus auxilii humani ad deos populum ac vota vertit. iussi cum coniugibus ac liberis supplicatum ire pacemque paceinque exposcere deum,

[8] ad id quod sua quemque mala cogebant auctoritate publica evocati omnia delubra implent. stratae passim matres crinibus templa verrentes veniam irarum caelestium finemque pesti exposcunt.

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)) — 3.7 focus

[1]

In this helpless plight, without a leader and ¹ without strength, the commonwealth was saved by its tutelary gods and the good fortune of the City, which inspired the Volsci and Aequi with the spirit of plunderers rather than of soldiers.

[2] For they were so far from entertaining any hope of approaching, not to speak of capturing, the walls of Rome, and the distant sight of her roofs and beetling hills so damped their ardour, that the entire army began to

[3] murmur, and to ask why they should waste their time in desolate and abandoned fields, where bodies of beasts and men lay rotting and there was no booty, when they might be invading an unspoiled country, the land of Tusculum, abounding in wealth; so they suddenly pulled up their standards, and passed by cross-roads through the Labican fields to the hills of Tusculum, and on that point all the impetus and fury of the war converged.

[4] Meanwhile the Hernici and Latins, moved not by pity alone but by shame, if they should fail to oppose the common enemy, advancing in force against the City of Rome, and should bring no assistance to their besieged allies, united their armies and proceeded to the City.

[5] Failing to find the enemy there, but following the report and traces of his march, they met him as he was coming down from the Tusculan valley into that of Alba. There they engaged the invaders on far from equal terms, and their loyalty to their friends was for the moment not attended with success.

[6] In Rome the ravages of the disease were no less fatal than those of the sword had been amongst her allies. The surviving consul died; and death took other famous men, the augurs Marcus Valerius and Titus Verginius Rutulus, and the head curio, ² Servius B.C. 463 Sulpicius;

[7] as for the base rabble, the violence of the plague stalked at large amongst them; until the senate, finding no help in man, sent the people to the gods in prayer, commanding them to take their wives and children and supplicate Heaven for forgiveness.

[8] Thus summoned by the state's authority to do what each was impelled to by his own distress, they crowded all the shrines. Everywhere were prostrate matrons, sweeping the floors of the temples with their hair, while they besought the angry gods to grant them pardon and end the pestilence.

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 3.7 focus

[1]

The commonwealth thus desolate, without a head, without strength, the guardian gods and good fortune of the city saved, which inspired the Volscians and Aequans with the disposition of banditti rather than of enemies;

[2] for so far was any hope not only of taking but even of approaching the walls of Rome ¹ from taking possession of their minds, and so thoroughly did the sight of the houses in the distance, and the adjacent hills, divert their thoughts, (from such an attempt,) that, a murmur

[3] having arisen in every direction throughout the entire camp,

why they should waste time in indolence without booty in a wild and desert land, amid the putrid decay of cattle and of human beings, when they might repair to places uninjured by infection, the Tusculan territory abounding in wealth?

they suddenly tore up their standards, and by journeys across the country, they passed through the Lavican territory to the Tusculan hills; and to that quarter was the whole violence and storm of the war directed.

[4] In the mean time the Hernicians and Latins, influenced not only by compassion but by shame, if they neither gave opposition to the common enemy, when making for the city of Rome with a hostile army, nor afforded any aid to their allies when besieged march to Rome with their forces united.

[5] Where, when they did not find the enemy, following their tracks as indicated by rumour, they meet them as they are coming down from the Tusculan territory into the Alban valley: there a battle was fought under circumstances by no means equal; and their fidelity proved by no means favourable to the allies for the present.

[6] The mortality at Rome by disease was not less than that of the allies by the sword (of the enemy); the only surviving consul dies; other eminent characters also died, Marcus Valerius, Titus Virginius Rutilus, the augurs; Servius Sulpicius, principal curio;

[7] and through persons of inferior note the virulence of the disease spread extensively: and the senate, destitute of human aid, directed the people's attention to the gods and to prayers; they were ordered to go to supplicate with their wives and children, and earnestly to implore the protection of heaven.

[8] Besides that their own sufferings obliged each to do so, when called on by public authority, they fill all the shrines; the prostrate matrons in every quarter sweeping the temples with their hair, beg for a remission of the divine displeasure, and a termination to the pestilence.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. When an army was in camp, these were fixed in the ground, each marking the station of the cohort to which it belonged; when they were taken up it was the signal for breaking up the camp and commencing the march.

2. Each Curia had its own chapel and sacrifices and its own Curio and Flamen to conduct its religious services. The whole were under the supervision of the Curio Maximus.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 3.7

Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers