Selections From Viri Romae - Selections from Viri Romae Part 8
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Selections from Viri Romae Part 8

11.20: _circumsto_.

11.21: Cf. p. 5, n. 19.

11.22: #fugam capessivit#: 'took (to) flight'; cf. 'to take to one's heels.'

11.23: #singulos per intervalla#: 'one by one, at intervals.'

12.1: #aliquantum spatii#: 'some distance.' #spatii# is a partitive genitive; #aliquantum# is an acc. of extent of space: H 417 (379): M 513: A 257: G 335: B 181.

12.2: #In . . . redit# (_redeo_): 'he turned and made a furious attack upon him.' How literally?

12.3: #inclamat . . . ferant#: 'was shouting . . . (bidding them) to bear aid.' For #inclamat#, see p. 3, n. 14.

12.4: = _secundum_, as often.

12.5: H 605, II (520, 2): M 880: A 327: G 577: B 292.

12.6: 'one on each side.' Cf. _terni_, l. 11, and note there.

12.7: _supersum_.

12.8: 'equally matched.'

12.9: #alter . . . alter#: 'the one . . . the other (of the two).'

With #intactus# cf. _integer_, l. 18.

12.10: 'inspirited, emboldened.'

12.11: The repetition of #fessum# gives emphasis by dwelling upon the fact.

12.12: 'was dragging,' i.e. instead of moving with life and vigor.

We would rather say, 'could barely drag his body along.' So we would render #male sustinentem arma#, l. 29, as 'barely able to endure (the weight of) his armor.'

12.13: = _occidit_.

12.14: 'as he lay prostrate.'

12.15: #ovantes ac gratulantes#: 'with rejoicing and congratulations.' Participles, like adjectives, may have adverbial force.

12.16: accus. of limit of motion; cf. p. 3, n. 4.

12.17: Cf. p. 4, n. 3.

12.18: #viso . . . sponsi#: 'when she saw her lover's cloak,' etc.

Cf. p. 1, n. 4.

12.19: #crines solvere#: a common token of grief among the Romans.

Cf. _crinibus passis_, II, 36.

12.20: _stringo_.

12.21: #verbis increpans#: cf. _his increpans verbis_, I, 46.

12.22: _abeo_.

12.23: #oblita# (_obliviscor_) #fratrum#: 'you who have forgotten,' or 'since you have forgotten.' For the genitives #fratrum# and #patriae#, see H 454 (406, II): M 588: A 219: G 376: B 206, 1. Cf. the English 'forgetful of.' For the repetition of #oblita# see n. 11.

13.1: 'fare, perish.' The subject is _femina_, or _illa femina_, as suggested by #quaecumque#. How? With the whole sentence cf.

_Sic . . . mea_, I, 47, and see note there.

13.2: #facinus#, by its derivation from _facio_, properly = 'a deed,' whether good or bad, but generally 'a crime.'

13.3: = _senatoribus_, who were officially styled _Patres Conscripti_. #patribus plebique# virtually = _omnibus_.

13.4: 'court.'

13.5: See Vocab., _lictor_.

13.6: The tense has dramatic force and = 'was (actually) putting on.'

13.7: _caedo_.

13.8: _amplector_.

13.9: clause of negative purpose: see p. 9, n. 6.

13.10: _conspicio_. The subjunctive may be explained (1) as caused by attraction to #faceret#, H 652, 1 (529, II): M 793: A 342: G 663: B 324, or (2) as in informal indir. disc.

13.11: abl. of separation (cf. p. 1, n. 6), to be joined with #orbum faceret#, which = _orbaret_.

13.12: After a negative clause the Romans often use _que_ or _et_, where the English idiom requires _but_.

13.13: why abl.? see p. 4, n. 1.

13.14: Cf. p. 6, n. 21.

13.15: 'a (certain) street.' The street referred to ran up the slope of the Esquiline Hill.

13.16: See Vocab., _iugum_. The father of Horatius, by making him pass, as it were, beneath the yoke, symbolically executed the sentence of death passed by the judges.

13.17: Sc. _Tigillum_. Livy says that this beam was renewed from time to time at public expense, even down to his own day. Another memorial of this fight was the _Pila_ ('Column') _Horatia_, adjoining the Forum, on which Horatius is said to have hung the spoils taken from the Curiatii.

13.18: #pax Albana# = _pax cum Alba icta_.

13.19: _maneo_.

13.20: #cum . . . videret#: subjunctive of cause. See p. 2, n. 13; p. 4, n. 12; and p. xx, H 2.

14.1: #quod . . . finisset#: 'because (as they said),' etc. The subjunctive is due to the implied indirect discourse, and expresses the thought, not of the writer, but of Mettius'

subjects. See p. xxi, H 4.

14.2: #uno . . . certamine#: 'by one contest (only), and that a contest in which but few fought.' Cf. l. 4.

14.3: #ut . . . corrigeret#: 'to set the matter straight,' i.e. to regain the good will of his people. Join this clause with what follows.

14.4: #in auxilium#: 'to give aid,' an expression of purpose.

Cf. _ad supplicium_, I, 29, and note. Tullus summoned Mettius in accordance with the treaty made before the fight between the Horatii and the Curiatii (l. 7).

14.5: #Qua re . . . intellecta# (_intellego_): 'when he noticed this state of things.' For #qua#, see p. 4, n. 3.

14.6: #ait . . . circumvenirentur#: Tullus' purpose in making this statement was partly to frighten the enemy, partly to reassure his own men. Livy relates that Tullus had stationed his own forces against the Veientes, the Albans against the Fidenates. The withdrawal of Mettius exposed the flank of the Romans to attack from the Fidenates, and so was regarded at once by the Romans as proof of treachery.

14.7: abl. of separation (cf. p. 1, n. 6). _ligare_ and its compounds are construed with either (1) the simple ablative, or (2) the ablative with _ab_, _de_, or _ex_.

14.8: #in . . . est#: 'was torn limb from limb.'

14.9: _distraho_.

14.10: _iubeo_.

14.11: _cresco_.

14.12: abl. of means.

14.13: #quo . . . habitaretur#: 'that it might be more densely inhabited,' i.e. that a larger number of people might be induced to live there. In purpose clauses containing a comparative, _quo_ is used instead of _ut_: H 568, 7 (497, 2): M 909: A 317, _b_: G 545, 2; B 282, _a_. This _quo_ is the abl. sing. neut. of the relative pronoun, and = _ut eo_, 'that thereby.'

14.14: #eam . . . cepit# (_capio_): 'Tullus chose it (the mountain) as the site of his palace,' Why is #eam# feminine, although referring to _mons Caelius_, which is masculine? Cf.

p. 5, n. 14.

14.15: #Auctarum . . . fiducia#: 'because of the confidence (begotten) of his increased strength,' or 'by his confidence in his increased strength.' In the former case the gen. is subjective; in the latter it is objective; H 440, 1 and 2 (396, II and III): M 553, 571: A 213, 1, 2: G 363, 1 and 2: B 199, 200.

14.16: _effero_.

15.1: _insequor_.

15.2: #bellicosus# = a causal clause _quod ipse bellicosus erat_.

15.3: #militiae quam domi#: 'in war than in peace.' See H 484, 2 (426, 2): M 622: A 258, _d_: G. 411, R. 2: B 232, 2; xvi, A 1.

15.4: = 'the fighting men,' because _iuvenes_ (men under 45) were eligible for military duty.

15.5: #sed ipse quoque#: 'but (i.e. in spite of this statement) he too.'

15.6: 'so completely.'

15.7: _frango_.

15.8: #spiritus illi feroces#: 'that high spirit of his'; #illi# = 'that for which he was so famous.' Cf. l. 2.

15.9: #fulmine ictum . . . conflagrasse# = _fulmine ictum esse et conflagrasse_. Instead of using two coordinated verbs with a common subject, Latin regularly represents the first verb by a perf. pass. part., or by the past part. of a deponent verb, in agreement with that common subject. Cf. p. 2, n. 8, and p. xxiv, L 5.]

#V. Ancus Marcius, Romanorum rex quartus# [[stripped text]]

641-616 B.C.

Tullo mortuo Ancum Marcium regem populus creavit. Numae Pompilii nepos Ancus Marcius erat, aequitate et religione avo similis. Tunc Latini, cum quibus Tullo regnante ictum foedus erat, sustulerant animos, et incursionem in agrum Romanum fecerunt. Ancus, priusquam eis bellum indiceret, legatum misit, qui res repeteret, eumque morem posteri acceperunt. Id autem hoc modo fiebat. Legatus, ubi ad fines eorum venit a quibus res repetuntur, capite velato "Audi, Iuppiter," inquit "audite, fines huius populi. Ego sum publicus nuntius populi Romani; verbis meis fides sit." Deinde peragit postulata. Si non deduntur res quas exposcit, hastam in fines hostium emittit bellumque ita indicit. Legatus, qui ea de re mittitur, _Fetialis_ ritusque belli indicendi _Ius Fetiale_ appellatur.

Legato Romano res repetenti superbe responsum est a Latinis; quare bellum hoc modo eis indictum est. Ancus, exercitu conscripto, profectus Latinos fudit et compluribus oppidis deletis cives Romam traduxit. Cum autem in tanta hominum multitudine facinora clandestina fierent, Ancus carcerem in media urbe ad terrorem increscentis audaciae aedificavit.

Idem nova moenia urbi circumdedit, Ianiculum montem ponte sublicio in Tiberi facto urbi coniunxit, in ore Tiberis Ostiam urbem condidit.

Pluribus aliis rebus intra paucos annos confectis; immatura morte praereptus obiit.

#V. Ancus Marcius, Romanorum rex quartus# [[as printed]]

641-616 B.C.

[Illustration: NUMA AND ANCUS MARCIUS]

Tullo mortuo[10] Ancum Marcium regem[11]