Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator), 7.3

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[1] However, the first introduction of plays, though intended as a means of religious expiation, did not relieve the mind from religious terrors nor the body from the inroads of disease.

[2] Owing to an inundation of the Tiber, the Circus was flooded in the middle of the Games, and this produced an unspeakable dread; it seemed as though the gods had turned their faces from men and despised all that was done to propitiate their wrath.

[3] ¹ C. Genucius and L. Aemilius Mamercus were the new consuls, each for the second time. The fruitless search for effective means of propitiation was affecting the minds of the people more than disease was affecting

[4] their bodies. It is said to have been discovered that the older men remembered that a pestilence had once been assuaged by the Dictator driving in a nail. The senate believed this to be a religious obligation, and ordered a Dictator to be nominated for

[5] that purpose. L. Manlius Imperiosus was nominated, and he appointed L. Pinarius as his Master of the Horse. There is an ancient instruction written in archaic letters which runs: Let him who is the praetor maximus fasten a nail on the Ides of September. This notice was fastened up on the right side of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, next to the chapel

[6] of Minerva. This nail is said to have marked the number of the year —written records being scarce in those days —and was for that reason placed under the protection of Minerva because she was the inventor

[7] of numbers. Cincius, a careful student of monuments of this kind, asserts that at Volsinii also nails were fastened in the temple of Nortia, an Etruscan goddess, to indicate the number of

[8] the year. It was in accordance with this direction that the consul Horatius dedicated the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the year following the expulsion of the kings²; from the consuls the ceremony of fastening the nails passed to the Dictators, because they possessed greater authority. As the custom had been subsequently dropped, it was felt to be of sufficient importance to require the appointment of a Dictator.

[9] L. Manlius was accordingly nominated, but, regarding his appointment as due to political rather than to religious reasons and eager to command in the war with the Hernici, he caused a very angry feeling among the men liable to serve by the inconsiderate way in which he conducted the enrolment. At last, in consequence of the unanimous resistance offered by the tribunes of the plebs, he gave way, either voluntarily or through compulsion, and laid down his Dictatorship.

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

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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.) — 7.3 focus

[1] nec tamen ludorum primum initium procurandis religionibus datum aut religione animos aut corpora morbis levavit;

[2] quin etiam, cum medios forte ludos circus Tiberi superfuso inrigatus inpedisset, id vero, velut aversis iam dis aspernantibusque placamina irae, terrorem ingentem fecit.

[3] itaque Cn. Genucio L. Aemilio Mamercino iterum consulibus, cum piaculorum magis conquisitio animos quam corpora morbi adficerent, repetitum ex seniorum memoria dicitur, pestilentiam quondam clavo ab dictatore fixo sedatam.

[4] ea religione adductus senatus dictatorem clavi figendi causa dici iussit. dictus L. Manlius Imperiosus L. Pinarium magistrum equitum dixit.

[5] lex vetusta est, priscis litteris verbisque scripta, ut, qui praetor maximus sit, idibus Septembribus clavum pangat; fixa fuit dextro lateri aedis Iovis optimi maximi, ex qua parte Minervae templum est.

[6] eum clavum, quia rarae per ea tempora litterae erant, notam numeri annorum fuisse ferunt eoque Minervae templo dicatam legem, quia numerus Minervae inventurn inuentum sit.

[7] Volsiniis quoqpe quoque clavos indices numeri annorum fixos in templo Nortiae, Etruscae deae, conparere diligens talium monumentorum auctor Cincius adfirmat.

[8] Horatius consul ea lege templum Iovis optimi maximi dedicavit anno post reges exactos; a consulibus postea ad dictatores, quia maius imperium erat, sollemne clavi figendi translatum est. intermisso deinde more digna etiam per se visa res, propter quam dictator crearetur.

[9] qua de causa creatus L. Manlius, perinde ac rei gerendae ac non solvendae religionis gratia creatus esset, bellum Hernicum adfectans dilectu acerbo iuventutem agitavit; tandemque omnibus in eum tribunis plebis coortis, seu vi seu verecundia victus, dictatura abiit

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 7.3 focus

[1]

nec tamen ludorum primum initium procurandis religionibus datum aut religione animos aut corpora morbis leuauit;

[2] quin etiam, cum medios forte ludos circus Tiberi superfuso inrigatus impedisset, id uero, uelut auersis iam dis aspernantibusque placamina irae, terrorem ingentem fecit.

[3] itaque Cn. Genucio L. Aemilio Mamerco iterum consulibus, cum piaculorum magis conquisitio animos quam corpora morbi adficerent, repetitum ex seniorum memoria dicitur pestilentiam quondam clauo ab dictatore fixo sedatam.

[4] ea religione adductus senatus dictatorem claui figendi causa dici iussit; dictus L. Manlius Imperiosus L. Pinarium magistrum equitum dixit.

[5] lex uetusta est, priscis litteris uerbisque scripta, ut qui praetor maximus sit idibus Septembribus clauum pangat; fixa fuit dextro lateri aedis Iouis optimi maximi, ex qua parte Mineruae templum est.

[6] eum clauum, quia rarae per ea tempora litterae erant, notam numeri annorum fuisse ferunt eoque Mineruae templo dicatam legem quia numerus

[7] Mineruae inuentum sit.—Uolsiniis quoque clauos indices numeri annorum fixos in templo Nortiae, Etruscae deae, comparere diligens talium monumentorum auctor Cincius adfirmat.—

[8] M. Horatius consul †ex lege templum† Iouis optimi maximi dedicauit anno post reges exactos; a consulibus postea ad dictatores, quia maius imperium erat, sollemne claui figendi translatum est. intermisso deinde more digna etiam per se uisa res propter quam dictator crearetur.

[9] qua de causa creatus L. Manlius , perinde ac rei gerendae ac non soluendae religionis gratia creatus esset, bellum Hernicum adfectans dilectu acerbo iuuentutem agitauit; tandemque omnibus in eum tribunis plebis coortis seu ui seu uerecundia uictus dictatura abiit.

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).) — 8.3 focus

[1]

quod responsum sicut dubios Samnites ¹ quidnam facturum Romanum censerent dimisit, ita Campanos metu abalienavit, Latinos velut nihil iam non concedentibus Romanis ferociores fecit.

[2] itaque per speciem adversus Samnites belli parandi crebra concilia indicentes omnibus consultationibus inter se principes occulte Romanum coquebant bellum. huic quoque adversus servatores suos bello Campanus aderat.

[3] sed quamquam omnia de industria celabantur—priusquam moverentur Romani, tolli ab tergo Samnitem hostem volebant—tamen per quosdam privatis hospitiis necessitudinibusque coniunctos indicia coniurationis eius Romam emanarunt;

[4] iussisque ² ante tempus consulibus abdicare se magistratu, quo maturius novi consules adversus tantam molem belli crearentur, religio incessit, ab eis quorum imminutum imperium esset comitia haberi. itaque interregnum initum.

[5] duo interreges fuere, M. Valerius ac M. Fabius; is creavit ³ consules T. Manlium Torquatum tertium, P. Decium Murem.

[6] eo anno Alexandrum Epiri regem in Italiam classes appulisse constat; quod bellum, si prima satis prospera fuissent, haud dubie ad Romanos pervenisset.

[7] eadem aetas rerum magni Alexandri est, quem sorore huius ortum in alio tractu orbis, invictum bellis, iuvenem fortuna morbo exstinxit.

[8] ceterum Romani, etsi defectio sociorum nominisque Latini haud baud dubia erat, tamen tamquam de Samnitibus non de se curam agerent, decem principes Latinorum Romam evocaverunt, quibus imperarent quae vellent.

[9] praetores tum duos Latium habebat, L. Annium Setinum et L. Numisium Circeiensem, ambo ex coloniis Romanis, per quos praeter Signiam ⁴ Velitrasque et ipsas colonias Romanas Volsci etiam exciti ad arma erant; eos nominatim evocari placuit.

[10] haud cuiquam dubium erat super qua re accirentur; itaque concilio prius habito praetores quam Romam ⁵ proficiscerentur evocatos se ab senatu docent Romano et quae actum iri secum credant, quidnam ad ea responderi placeat referunt.

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)) — 7.3 focus

[1]

However, the plays thus for the first time ¹ introduced by way of expiation neither freed men's minds of religious fears nor their bodies of disease.

[2] Indeed, it fell out quite otherwise; for the games were in full swing when an inundation of the Tiber flooded the circus and put a stop to them, an accident which —as though the gods had already turned away, rejecting the proffered appeasement of their anger —filled the people with fear.

[3] And so when Gnaeus Genucius and Lucius Aemilius Mamercus (for the second time) were consuls, and men's minds were more troubled by the search for means of propitiation than were their bodies by disease, it is said that the elders recollected that a pestilence had once been allayed by the dictator's driving a nail. ²

[4] Induced thereto by this superstition, the senate ordered the appointment of a dictator to drive the nail.

[5] Lucius Manlius Imperiosus was appointed, and named Lucius Pinarius master of the horse.

There is an ancient law, recorded in archaic words and letters, that the chief magistrate shall on the thirteenth of September drive a nail; the tablet was formerly affixed to the right side of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where Minerva's chapel is.

[6] This nail served, they say, in those days of little writing, to mark the number of years, and the law was confided to the chapel of Minerva, for the reason that number was an invention of that goddess. ³

[7] (Cincius, a careful student of such memorials, asserts ⁴ that at Volsinii, too, nails may be seen in the temple of Nortia, ⁵ an Etruscan goddess, driven in to indicate the number of

[8] years.) Marcus Horatius the consul dedicated the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in accordance with this law, in the year after the expulsion of the kings; ⁶ later the ceremony of driving the nail was transferred from consuls to dictators, because theirs was the higher authority. Then, after the custom had been allowed to lapse, it was thought to be of sufficient importance to warrant the appointment of a dictator for that very

[9] purpose. It was for this reason that Manlius was designated, who, however, as though appointed to wage war and not to discharge a religious obligation, aspired to conduct the war with the Hernici, and hunted down the men of military age in a rigorous levy; but in the upshot, opposed by the united efforts of all the tribunes of the plebs, he yielded either to force or to a sense of shame, and resigned his dictatorship.

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 7.3 focus

[1]

However, the first introduction of plays, intended as a religious expiation, neither relieved their minds from religious awe, nor their bodies from disease.

[2] Nay more, when the circus being inundated by the overflowing of the Tiber happened to interrupt the middle of the performance, that indeed, as if the gods were now turned from them, and despised their efforts to soothe their wrath, excited great terror.

[3] Accordingly, Cneius Genucius and Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus being a second time consuls, when the searching for expiations harassed their minds, more than the diseases did their bodies, it is said to have been collected from the memory of the more aged, that a pestilence had formerly been relieved, on the nail being driven by a dictator.

[4] Induced by this superstitious circumstance, the senate ordered a dictator to be appointed for the purpose of driving the nail. Lucius Manlius Imperiosus being appointed, named Lucius Pinarius master of the horse.

[5] There is an ancient law written in antique letters and words, that whoever is supreme officer should drive a nail on the ides of September. It was driven into the right side of the temple of Jupiter supremely good and great, on that part where the temple of Minerva is.

[6] They say that the nail was a mark of the number of years elapsed, because letters were rare in those times, and that the law was referred to the temple of Minerva, because number is the invention of that goddess.

[7] Cincius, a careful writer on such monuments, asserts that there were seen at Volsinii also nails fixed in the temple of Nortia, a Tuscan goddess, as indices of the number of years.

[8] Marcus Horatius, being consul, according to law dedicated the temple of Jupiter the best and greatest the year after the expulsion of kings; the solemnity of fixing the nail was afterwards transferred from the consuls to the dictators, because theirs was a superior office. The custom being afterwards dropped, it seemed a matter of sufficient importance in itself, on account of which a dictator should be appointed.

[9] For which reason Lucius Manlius being appoint- ed, just as if he had been appointed for the purpose of managing the business of the state in general, and not to acquit it of a religious obligation, being ambitious to manage the Hernician war, harassed the youth by a severe levy, and at length, all the plebeian tribunes having risen up against him, whether overcome by force or shame, he resigned the dictatorship.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Continued Pestilence —Fresh Attempts at Proitiation.

2. Livy obviously means to imply that the first nail was then driven in and the “custom” observed annually by the consuls on Sept. 13. If this date happened to fall during an interregnum then it was necessary to nominate a Dictator to perform the office.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 7.3

Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator)

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