Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator), 7.41

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[1] There was a universal shout of approval, and T. Quinctius advancing to the front asserted that his men would submit to the authority of the Dictator. He implored Valerius to take up the cause of his unhappy fellow-citizens, and when he had taken it up to maintain it with the same integrity that he had always shown in his public administration.

[2] For himself he demanded no conditions, he would not place his hope in anything but his innocence, but for the soldiers there must be the same guarantee that was given in the days of their fathers to the plebs and afterwards to the legions, namely, that no man should be punished for having taken part in the secession.

[3] The Dictator expressed his approval of what had been said, and after telling them all to hope for the best he galloped back to the City, and after obtaining the consent of the senate, brought a measure before the people who were assembled in the Petilian Grove granting immunity to all who had taken part in the secession.

[4] He then begged the Quirites to grant him one request, which was that no one should ever either in jest or earnest bring that matter up against any one. A military Lex Sacrata¹ was also passed, enacting that no soldier's name should be struck off the muster-roll without his consent.²

[5] An additional provision was subsequently embodied in it, forbidding any one who had once been military tribune from being made to serve afterwards as a

[6] centurion. This was in consequence of a demand made by the mutineers with respect to P. Salonius, who had been every year either military tribune or centurion of the first class. They were incensed against him because he had always opposed their mutinous projects and had fled from Lautulae to avoid being mixed up with

[7] them. As this proposal was aimed solely at Salonius the senate refused to allow it. Then Salonius himself appealed to the senators not to consider his dignity of more importance than the harmony of the State, and at his request they ultimately passed

[8] it. Another demand just as impudent was that the pay of the cavalry should be reduced at that time they were receiving three times the infantry pay —because they had acted against the mutineers.

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.) — 7.41 focus

[1] adprobantibus clamore cunctis T. Quinctius ante signa progressus in potestate dictatoris milites fore dixit; oravit, ut causam miserorum civium susciperet susceptamque eadem fide, qua rem publicam administrare solitus esset, tueretur.

[2] sibi se privatim nihil cavere; nolle alibi quam in innocentia spem habere; militibus cavendum, quod apud patres semel plebi, iterum legionibus cautum sit, ne fraudi secessio esset.

[3] Quinctio conlaudato ceteris bonum animum habere iussis dictator equo citato ad urbem revectus auctoribus patribus tulit ad populum in luco Petelino, ne cui militum fraudi secessio esset; oravit etiam bona venia Quirites, ne quis ear eam rem ioco seriove cuiquam exprobraret.

[4] lex quoque sacrata militaris lata est, ne cuius militis scripti nomen nisi ipso volente deleretur; additumque legi, ne quis, ubi ordinum ductor fuisset, postea tribunus militum esset.

[5] id propter P. Salonium postulatum est ab coniuratis, qui alternis prope annis et tribunus militum et primus centurio erat, quem nunc primi pili appellant.

[6] huic infensi milites erant, quod semper adversatus novis consiliis fuisset et, ne particeps eorum esset, qui ab Lautulis fugisset.

[7] itaque cum hoc unum propter Salonium ab senatu non impetraretur, tur tum Salonius obtestatus patres conscriptos, ne suum honorem pluris quam concordiam civitatis aestimarent, perpulit, ut id quoque ferretur. aeque inpotens postulatum fuit,

[8] ut de stipendio equitur — merebant autem triplex ea tempestate — aera demerentur, quod adversati coniurationi fuissent.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 7.41 focus

[1]

approbantibus clamore cunctis T. Quinctius ante signa progressus in potestate dictatoris milites fore dixit; orauit ut causam miserorum ciuium susciperet susceptamque eadem fide qua rem publicam administrare solitus esset tueretur:

[2] sibi se priuatim nihil cauere; nolle alibi quam in innocentia spem habere; militibus cauendum, quod apud patres semel plebi, iterum legionibus cautum sit ne fraudi secessio esset.

[3] Quinctio conlaudato, ceteris bonum animum habere iussis, dictator equo citato ad urbem reuectus auctoribus patribus tulit ad populum in luco Petelino ne cui militum fraudi secessio esset. orauit etiam bona uenia Quirites ne quis eam rem ioco serioue cuiquam exprobraret.

[4] lex quoque sacrata militaris lata est ne cuius militis scripti nomen nisi ipso uolente deleretur; additumque legi ne quis, ubi tribunus militum fuisset, postea ordinum ductor esset.

[5] id propter P. Salonium postulatum est ab coniuratis, qui alternis prope annis et tribunus militum et primus centurio erat, quem nunc primi pili appellant.

[6] huic infensi milites erant, quod semper aduersatus nouis consiliis fuisset et, ne particeps eorum esset, [qui] ab Lautulis fugisse[n]t.

[7] itaque cum hoc unum propter Salonium ab senatu non impetraretur, tum Salonius obtestatus patres conscriptos ne suum honorem pluris quam concordiam ciuitatis aestimarent, perpulit ut id quoque ferretur.

[8] aeque impotens postulatum fuit ut de stipendio equitum—merebant autem triplex ea tempestate—aera demerentur, quod aduersati coniurationi fuissent.

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).) — 8.40 focus

[1]

hoc bellum a consulibus bellatum quidam auctores sunt, eosque de Samnitibus triumphasse; Fabium etiam in Apuliam processisse atque inde magnas praedas egisse.

[2] nec discrepat quin dictator eo anno A. Cornelius fuerit; id ambigitur, belline gerendi causa creatus sit, an ut esset qui ludis Romanis, quia L. Plautius praetor gravi morbo forte implicitus erat,

[3] signum mittendis quadrigis daret functusque eo haud sane memorandi imperii ¹ ministerio se dictatura abdicaret. nec facile est aut rem rei aut auctorem auctori praeferre.

[4] vitiatam memoriam funebribus laudibus reor falsisque imaginum titulis, dum familiae ² ad se quaeque famam rerum gestarum honorumque fallenti mendacio trahunt;

[5] inde certe et singulorum gesta et publica monumenta rerum confusa. nec quisquam aequalis temporibus illis scriptor exstat, quo satis certo auctore stetur.

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)) — 7.41 focus

[1]

A shout of approval burst from every throat, and Titus Quinctius, advancing in front of the standards, announced that the soldiers would submit to the dictator's authority. He begged him to undertake the cause of his wretched fellow-citizens, and having done so to forward it with the same fidelity with which he had been used to deal with the interests of the state.

[2] For himself privately, he said, he demanded no assurance, he had no wish to found a hope on aught but innocence. But the soldiers must be assured, as in their fathers' day the plebs had been, and, on a second occasion, the legions, that they should not be punished for secession. ¹

[3] After praising Quinctius and bidding the rest be of good cheer, the dictator galloped back to the City, and having secured the authority of the Fathers, got the people to enact a law, in the ² Peteline Wood, ³ that none of the soldiers should be held to answer for the secession.

[4] He begged them also, as citizens, to grant him the favour that none would make the incident a matter of reproach to any, either in jest or in earnest. There was also passed a military law, under penalty of devotion, ⁴ to the effect that the name of no one enrolled as a soldier might be struck off the list, except with his own consent.

[5] To this a provision was added that no one might later command a century in the legion where he had been a military tribune. ⁵

[6] This clause was demanded by the conspirators on account of Publius Salonius, who in almost regular alternation was tribune of the soldiers one year, and chief centurion —whom they now call

centurion of the first javelin

—the next. The men were incensed at Salonius because lie had always opposed their mutinous schemes, and had fled from Lautulae that he might not share in them.

[7] And so, when this one provision would have failed of enactment by the senate, out of consideration for Salonius, he himself besought the Fathers not to think more highly of his distinction than of harmony in the state, and induced them to pass this also.

[8] An equally shameless demand was made that the pay of the cavalry should be reduced —they served at that time for treble pay —on the ground that they had opposed the conspiracy.

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 7.41 focus

[1]

All approving with a shout, Titus Quinctius, advancing before the standards, declared that

the soldiers would be obedient to the dictator; he entreated that he would espouse the cause of his unfortunate countrymen, and having espoused it, he would maintain it with the same fidelity with which he had wont to administer public affairs.

[2]

That for himself individually he made no terms: that he would found his hope in nothing else but in his innocence. That provision should be made for the soldiers, as provision had been made by the senate, once for the commons, a second time for the legions, so that the secession should not be visited with punishment.

[3] The dictator, having lauded Quinctius, and having bid the others to hope for the best, returned back to the city with all speed, and, with the approbation of the senate, proposed to the people in the Peteline grove, that the secession should not be visited with chastisement on any of the soldiers.

[4] He also en- treated, with their permission, that no one should either in jest or earnest upbraid any one with that proceeding. A military devoting law was also passed, that the name of any soldier once enrolled, should not be erased unless with his own consent;

[5] and to the law [a clause] was added that no one, after he had been a tribune of the soldiers, should afterwards be a centurion. That demand was made by the conspirators on account of Publius Salonius; who in alternate years was both tribune of the soldiers and first centurion, which they now call primi pili.

[6] The soldiers were incensed against him, because he had always been opposed to their recent measures, and had fled from Lantulae, that he might have no share in them.

[7] Accordingly when this alone was not obtained from the senate through their regard for Salonius, then Salonius, conjuring the conscript fathers, that they would not value his promotion more highly than the concord of the state, prevailed in having that also carried.

[8] Equally ineffectual was the demand, that some deductions should be made from the pay of the cavalry, (they then received triple,) because they had opposed the conspiracy.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. See note 15 on p. 358, Vol. I.

2. “They deprecated the power of striking their names off the list of soldiers, partly because it degraded them to an inferior rank, that of the capite censi, who were considered unfit to bear arms, and partly because whilst they were on military service they were protected from being personally attached for debts; and partly, also, because service in Campania bore an agreeable aspect and might furnish a poor man with the means of relieving himself from his embarrassments.”—Arnold, I. p. 123.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 7.41

Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator)

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