Paulus Diaconus: HISTORIA ROMANA

Cum ad imitationem excellentissimi comparis, qui nostra aetate solus paene principum sapientiae palmam tenet, ipsa quoque subtili ingenio et sagacissimo studio prudentium arcana rimeris, ita ut philosophorum aurata eloquia poetarumque gemmea tibi dicta in promptu sint, historiis etiam seu commentis tam diuinis inhaereas quam mundanis, ipse, qui elegantiae tuae studiis semper fautor extiti, legendam tibi Eutropii historiam tripudians optuli. Quam cum auido, ut tibi moris est, animo perlustrasses, hoc tibi in eius textu praeter immodicam etiam breuitatem displicuit, quia utpote uir gentilis in nullo diuinae historiae cultusque nostri fecerit mentionem; placuit itaque tuae excellentiae, ut eandem historiam paulo latius congruis in locis extenderem eique aliquid ex sacrae textu Scripturae, quo eius narrationis tempora euidentius clarerent, aptarem. At ego, qui semper tuis uenerandis imperiis parere desidero, utinam tam efficaciter imperata facturus quam libenter arripui.

Since, in imitation of your most excellent peer, who in our age alone almost holds the palm of princely wisdom, you yourself also, with a subtle genius and most sagacious study, pry into the arcana of the prudent, so that the gilded sayings of philosophers and the gemlike dicta of poets are ready to hand, and you cleave alike to histories or commentaries both divine and worldly, I myself, who have always stood as a patron of your studies of elegance, offered the history of Eutropius to you for reading, exulting. When you, with an eager mind, as is your custom, had examined it through, this displeased you in its text besides its excessive brevity, because, being a pagan man, he in no respect made mention of the worship of the divine or of our cult; therefore it pleased your excellence that I should somewhat more broadly extend that same history in suitable places and adapt to it something from the sacred text of Scripture, by which the dates of his narration might be more clearly illuminated. But I, who always desire to obey your venerable commands, would that I might perform the commanded as effectively as willingly I undertook it.

Ac primo paulo superius ab eiusdem textu historiae narrationem capiens eamque pro loci merito extendens, quaedam etiam temporibus eius congruentia ex diuina lege interserens, eandem sacratissimae historiae consonam reddidi. Et quia Eutropius usque ad Valentis tantummodo imperium narrationis suae in ea seriem deduxit, ego deinceps meo ex maiorum dictis stilo subsecutus sex in libellis superioribus, in quantum potui, haud dissimilibus usque ad Iustiniani Augusti tempora perueni, promittens, Deo praesule, si tamen aut uestrae sederit uoluntati aut mihi, uita comite, ad huiusmodi laborem maiorum dicta suffragium tulerint, ad nostram usque aetatem eandem historiam protelare.

And first, taking up at a point a little above the narration of the same history in its text and expanding it for the sake of the place, inserting also certain things consonant with its times from the divine law, I made it accordant with that most sacred history. And because Eutropius led the sequence of his narration only as far as the reign of Valens, I thereafter, following in my own style the sayings of the ancients, in six little books above, as far as I could, in no dissimilar fashion reached down even to the time of Justinian Augustus, promising, with God presiding, that—if either it shall have pleased your will or, life being my companion, the sayings of the ancients shall have borne succor to this labor—I will extend the same history to our own age.

Vale diuinis domina mater fulta praesidiis celso cum compare tribusque natis et utere felix.

Farewell, lady‑mother, upheld by divine protections; go with your exalted comrade and your three born sons, and prosper in using them.

IN NOMINE DOMINI NOSTRI IESV CHRISTI

IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

INCIPIT HISTORIAE ROMANAE LIBER PRIMVS

HERE BEGINS THE ROMAN HISTORY, BOOK ONE

1a Primus in Italia, ut quibusdam placet, regnauit Ianus.

1a First in Italy, as some think, Janus reigned.

Deinde Saturnus Iouem filium e Grecia fugiens, in ciuitate, quae ex eius nomine Saturnia dicta est, cuius ruinae actenus cernuntur in finibus Tusciae haut procul ab Vrbe. Hic Saturnus quia in Italia latuit, ab eius latebra Latium appellata est. Ipse etenim adhuc rudes populos domos aedificare, terras incolere, plantare uineas docuit atque humanis moribus uiuere, cum antea semiferi glandium tantummodo alimentis uitam sustentarent et aut in speluncis aut frondibus uirgultisque contextis casulis habitarent.

Then Saturn, fleeing from Greece with his son Jupiter, stopped in the city called Saturnia from his name, whose ruins are even now seen in the borders of Tuscia not far from the City. Here Saturn, because he lay hid in Italy, gave his hiding-place the name Latium. He himself moreover taught the yet rude peoples to build houses, to inhabit lands, to plant vineyards and to live by human customs, whereas before they sustained life only on acorns as food and dwelt either in caves or in huts woven of branches and shrubs.

Ipse etiam eis nummos aereos primus instituit. Pro quibus meritis ab indocili et rustica multitudine deus appellatus est.

He himself also first instituted bronze coins for them. For these merits he was called a god by the untaught and rustic multitude.

Post hunc Picus eius filius, de quo fabulose dicitur, quod a quadam famosissima maga Circe nomine ob contemptum eius amorem in auem sui nominis sit mutatus.

After him Picus, his son, of whom it is fabulously said that he was changed by a certain most‑famous sorceress named Circe, because he scorned her love, into a bird bearing his own name.

Post hunc eius filius Faunus, qui fuit pater Latini, cuius mater Carmentis Nicostrata creditur Latinas litteras repperisse; quibus regnantibus centum quinquaginta anni referuntur euoluti.

After him his son Faunus, who was father of the Latins, whose mother, Carmentis Nicostrata, is credited with having discovered the Latin letters; during whose reigns 150 years are reported to have elapsed.

Regnante tamen Latino, qui Latinam linguam correxit et Latinos de suo nomine appellauit, Troia a Grecis capta est, cum apud Hebreos Labdon tertium sui principatus annum ageret et apud Assyrios Tautanes, apud Aegyptios Thous regnaret, expletis a mundi principio annis quattuor milibus decem et nouem, a diluuio annis mille dcclxxvii, a natiuitate Abraham et quadragesimo tertio anno Nini regis Assyriorum annis dcccxxxv, a natiuitate Moysi annis ccccx, ante Vrbem autem conditam annis cccciiii, ante primam quoque olympiadem annis ccccvi.

While Latin reigned, who reformed the Latin language and called the Latins from his own name, Troy was taken by the Greeks, at which time among the Hebrews Labdon was completing the third year of his rule and among the Assyrians Tautanes reigned, among the Egyptians Thous ruled, the years being fulfilled from the world's beginning 4,019, from the Flood 1,777, from the nativity of Abraham and the forty‑third year of Ninus, king of the Assyrians, 835, from the nativity of Moses 410, and before the City was founded by 404 years, before also the first Olympiad by 406 years.

Capta igitur Troia, Aeneas Veneris et Anchisae filius ad Italiam uenit anno tertio post Troiae excidium. Cum Turno Dauni Tuscorum regis filio dimicans, eum interemit eiusque sponsam Lauiniam Latini regis filiam in coniugium accepit, de cuius etiam nomine Lauinium oppidum, quod construxerat, appellauit. Regnauit igitur Aeneas Latinis annis tribus.

Therefore, Troy having been captured, Aeneas, son of Venus and Anchises, came to Italy in the 3rd year after the destruction of Troy. While fighting Turnus, son of Daunus, king of the Tuscans, he killed him and took his betrothed Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, into marriage; and from her name he called the town Lavinium, which he had built. Thus Aeneas reigned over the Latins for 3 years.

Quo uita decedente regnum suscepit Ascanius, qui et Iulius, eiusdem Aeneae filius, quem apud Troiam ex Creusa coniuge genuerat et secum in Italiam ueniens adduxerat. Qui Ascanius, derelicto nouercae suae Lauiniae regno, Albam Longam condidit et Siluium Postumum fratrem suum, Aeneae ex Lauinia filium, summa pietate educauit. Deinde Ascanius Iulium filium procreauit, a quo familia Iuliorum exorta est.

Upon whose life ending the kingdom was taken up by Ascanius, who is also Iulus, the son of that same Aeneas, whom he had begotten at Troy by his wife Creusa and had brought with him when coming into Italy. This Ascanius, leaving the rule to his stepmother Lavinia, founded Alba Longa and reared with the greatest piety Silvius Postumus, his brother, the son of Aeneas by Lavinia. Then Ascanius begot a son Iulus, from whom the family of the Iulii arose.

Paruulus quia necdum regendis ciuibus idoneus erat, Ascanius, cum xxxviii annis regnasset, Siluium Postumum fratrem suum regni reliquit heredem.

Because he was still a very small youth and not yet fit for ruling citizens, Ascanius, when he had reigned 38 years, left Silvius Postumus, his brother, as heir of the kingdom.

Siluius igitur Postumus regnauit annis xxviiii; qui Postumus ideo est appellatus, quia post mortem patris est editus, Siluius, quia ruri fuerat educatus; a quo omnes Albanorum reges Siluii uocati sunt.

Siluius therefore Postumus reigned for 29 years; who is called Postumus for this reason, because he was born after his father's death, Siluius because he had been reared in the countryside; from whom all the kings of the Albans were called Siluii.

Post quem regnauit Aeneas Siluius annis xxxi.

After whom Aeneas Siluius reigned for 31 years.

Deinde Latinus Siluius annis quinquaginta, quo etiam tempore apud Hebreos Dauid regnabat.

Then Latinus Siluius reigned 50 years, at that same time also David was reigning among the Hebrews.

Post cuius obitum regnauit Alba Siluius annis xxxix.

After whose death Alba Siluius reigned for 39 years.

Post hunc Aegyptus siue Atys eius filius annis xxiiii.

After him Aegyptus, or Atys his son, reigned for 24 years.

Deinde Capis Siluius, superioris regis filius, annis xxviii, qui Capuam in Campania condidit.

Then Capis Siluius, son of the previous king, reigned 28 years; he founded Capua in Campania.

Item Carpentus Siluius, Capis filius, annis tredecim.

Likewise Carpentus Silvius, son of Capis, for thirteen years.

Post quem Tiberinus Carpenti filius annis nouem. Ab huius nomine Tiberinus fluuius dictus est, eo quod in eum decidens extinctus sit, qui prius Albula dicebatur.

After him Tiberinus, son of Carpentus, for nine years. From his name the Tiber river was called, because, falling into it, he was extinguished (drowned); it had formerly been called Albula.

Successit huic Agrippa Siluius regnans annis quadraginta, cuius temporibus Homerus fuisse in Grecia perhibetur.

Agrippa Silvius succeeded him, reigning for forty years; in whose time Homer is said to have been in Greece.

Dehinc Aremus Siluius, Agrippae superioris filius, regnauit annis decem et nouem. Iste praesidium Albanorum inter montes, ubi nunc Roma est, posuit; qui ob impietatem fulmine ictus interiit.

Thereafter Aremus Silvius, son of Agrippa the elder, reigned for nineteen years. He placed a praesidium of the Albans among the mounts where now Rome is; he perished, struck by lightning on account of impiety.

Post hunc regnauit Auentinus Siluius annis triginta et septem, qui fuit Remuli superioris regis filius quique in eo monte, qui nunc pars Vrbis est, mortuus ac sepultus, aeternum loco uocabulum dedit.

After him Aventinus Silvius reigned for 37 years, who was the son of King Remulus the elder; and who, dying and being buried on that hill which is now part of the City, gave the place an eternal name.

Successor extitit Procas Siluius, eiusdem Auentini filius, qui regnauit annis xxiii; quo regnante Fidon Argiuus mensuras et pondera repperit, cum apud Hebreos Azarias in Iuda et Hieroboam in Israel regnarent.

His successor was Procas Siluius, son of the same Auentinus, who reigned for 23 years; in whose reign Fidon Argius discovered measures and weights, while among the Hebrews Azarias reigned in Judah and Hieroboam in Israel.

Isti quoque Amulius succedens, eius iunior filius, regnauit annos quadraginta tres. Numitor Procae regis maior filius, a fratre Amulio regno pulsus, in agro suo uixit. Filia eius, adimendi partus gratia, uirgo Vestalis electa est; quae, cum septimo patrui anno geminos edidisset infantes, iuxta legem in terra uiua defossa est.

This Amulius likewise succeeding, his younger son, reigned forty-three years. Numitor, the elder son of King Proca, driven from the kingship by his brother Amulius, lived on his own land. His daughter, chosen a Vestal virgin for the purpose of preventing childbirth, when in the seventh year of her uncle she had borne twin infants, was, according to the law, buried alive in the earth.

Verum paruulos, prope ripam Tiberis expositos, Faustulus regii pastor armenti ad Accam Laurentiam uxorem suam detulit, quae, ob pulchritudinem et rapacitatem corporis quaestuosi, lupa a uicinis appellabatur; unde et ad nostram usque memoriam meretricum cellulae lupanaria dicuntur. Pueri cum adoleuissent, collecta pastorum et latronum manu, interfecto apud Albam Amulio, auum Numitorem in regnum restituunt.

But the little ones, exposed near the bank of the Tiber, were carried by Faustulus, a royal shepherd of the herd, to his wife Acca Laurentia, who, because of the beauty and the rapacity of her acquisitive body, was called a she‑wolf by the neighbors; whence even to our time the cells of prostitutes are called lupanaria. When the boys had grown up, having gathered a band of shepherds and robbers, and Amulius having been killed at Alba, they restored their grandfather Numitor to the kingdom.

1 Romanum igitur imperium, quo neque ab exordio ullum fere minus neque incrementis toto orbe amplius humana potest memoria recordari, a Romulo exordium habet, qui Reae Siluiae Vestalis uirginis, ut praemissum est, filius et, quantum putatus est, Martis, cum Remo fratre uno partu editus est. Is cum inter pastores latrocinaretur, xviii annos natus urbem exiguam in Palatino monte constituit, x kal. Maias, olympiadis sextae anno ccccxix post Troiae excidium, siue, ut placet Orosio, cccciiii, ante sex annos quam decem tribus Israel a Sennacherib, rege Chaldeorum, transferrentur in montes Medorum.

1 The Roman imperium, therefore — of which from the exordium hardly any less, nor by its increments across the whole orbe any more, can human memoria recall — has its beginning from Romulus, who was, as above related, the son of Rhea Silvia the Vestal virgin, and, as was thought, of Mars, and was born in the same parto with his brother Remus. While he was banding with shepherds as a latrocinator, at the age of 18 he established a small city on the Palatine hill, on the 10th day before the Kalends of May, in the sixth olympiad, in the year 419 after the fall of Troy, or, as Orosius prefers, 404, six years before the ten tribes of Israel were transferred by Sennacherib, king of the Chaldeans, into the mountains of the Medes.

2 Condita ergo ciuitate, quam ex nomine suo Romam uocauit, a qua et Romanis nomen inditum est, haec fere egit: condito templo quod asilum appellauit, pollicitus est cunctis ad eum confugientibuss inpunitatem; quam ob causam multitudinem finitimorum, qui aliquam apud suos ciues offensam contraxerant, ad se confugientem in ciuitatem recepit. Latini denique Tuscique pastores, etiam transmarini Friges, qui sub Aenea, Arcades, qui sub Euandro duce, influxerant. Ita ex uariis quasi elementis congregauit corpus unum populumque Romanum effecit.

2 Having therefore founded the city, which he called Roma from his own name, from which the Romans likewise took their name, he did roughly the following: having founded a temple which he named Asilum, he promised impunity to all who fled to him; for this reason he received into the city a multitude of neighbors who had contracted some offense with their own citizens and were fleeing to him. Finally Latin and Tuscan shepherds, even overseas Phrygians who had come with Aeneas, Arcadians who had come under Evander as leader, flowed in. Thus out of diverse as it were elements he gathered one body and made the Roman people.

Centum ex senioribus elegit, quorum consilio omnia ageret, quos senatores propter senectutem, patres ob similitudinem curae nominauit; mille etiam pugnatores delegit, quos a numero milites appellauit. Tum cum uxores ipse et populus suus non haberent, inuitauit ad spectaculum ludorum uicinas urbis Romae nationes atque earum uirgines rapuit anno ab Vrbe condita tertio. Tunc una uirginum pulcherrima cunctorum acclamatione rapientium Talasso duci Romuli decernitur; unde in nuptiarum sollemnitatibus Talasso uulgo clamitant, quod scilicet talis nupta sit, quae Talassum habere mereatur.

He chose a hundred of the elders, by whose counsel he might do all, whom he named senatores because of their senectus, patres on account of the likeness of their cura; he likewise selected a thousand fighters, whom from their number he called milites. Then, since neither he nor his people had wives, he invited the neighboring nations of the city of Rome to the spectacle of the games and carried off their maidens in the third year from the founding of the City. Then one maiden, the most beautiful of all, by the acclamation of those seizing, was allotted to Talassus, leader of Romulus; whence at nuptial solemnities they commonly shout "Talassus," meaning that she is such a bride who merits to have Talassus.

Commotis bellis propter raptarum iniuriam Caecinenses uicit, Antemnates, Crustumios, Sabinos, Fidenates, Bizentes. Haec omnia oppida Vrbem cingunt. Tunc etiam Tarpeia uirgo Sabinorum clipeis in monte obruta est, qui ab eius nomine Tarpeius est appellatus; in quo postea Capitolium est constructum.

With wars stirred up because of the outrage of the abducted, he conquered the Caecinenses, Antemnates, Crustumii, Sabines, Fidenates, Bizentes. All these towns gird the City. Then also Tarpeia, a Sabine maiden, was crushed beneath shields on the hill, which from her name is called Tarpeius; on which afterward the Capitol was constructed.

Pepigere tamen Romani cum Sabinis, quorum filias rapuerant, amicitias, adeo ut Sabinorum rex Tatius pariter regnaret cum Romulo Sabinique et Romani unus populus efficerentur. Quo tempore Romani ad confirmandam coniunctionem nomina illorum praeponebant nominibus et inuicem Sabinis Romanorum; et ex illo consuetudo tenuit, ut nemo Romanus sit absque praenomine. Propter hanc etiam societatem, cum Sabinorum more Romulus hastam ferret, quae eorum lingua cyris appellabatur, Quirinus est dictus; Romani uero, siue a cyribus, id est hastis, siue a Quirino, Quirites nominari coeperunt.

The Romans, however, made a compact with the Sabines, whose daughters they had carried off, so that the Sabine king Tatius reigned alongside Romulus and Sabines and Romans were made one people. At that time the Romans, to confirm the union, prefixed their names to those of the Sabines and in turn the Sabines to those of the Romans; and from that custom it held that no Roman was without a praenomen. Because of this very alliance, since Romulus bore the spear in the Sabine fashion, which in their tongue was called cyris, he was called Quirinus; and the Romans, either from the cyris, that is from spears, or from Quirinus, began to be named Quirites.

Remus denique a Fabio duce Romuli fratris sui, eiusdem, ut fertur, uoluntate, rutro pastorali extinctus est; causa autem eius interitus haec fuit, quod ad tutelam nouae urbis uallum non posse sufficere increpauerit eiusque angustias saltu transilierit. Romulus uero cum apud paludem Caprae nusquam comparuisset, anno regni xxxix ad deos transisse creditus est et Quirini nomine consecratus. Deinde Romae per quinos dies senatores imperauerunt et his regnantibus annus unus completus est.

Remus, finally, by Fabius leader of Romulus his brother, and, as is said, by the latter’s own will, was slain with a pastoral cleaver; the cause of his death was this: that he had reproached that the rampart could not suffice for the protection of the new city and, because of its narrowness, had leapt it by a single bound. Romulus, however, not having been found anywhere at the marsh of Caprae, in the 39th year of his reign was believed to have passed to the gods and was consecrated under the name Quirinus. Then in Rome the senators ruled for five days, and with them ruling one year was completed.

3 Postea Numa Pompilius rex creatus est, cum apud Hebreos Ezechias regnaret. Qui bellum quidem nullum gessit, sed non minus ciuitati quam Romulus profuit. Nam et leges Romanis moresque constituit, qui consuetudine proeliorum iam latrones ac semibarbari uidebantur, et annum descripsit in decem menses prius sine aliqua supputatione confusum, et infinita Romae sacra ac templa constituit.

3 Afterwards Numa Pompilius was made king, while Hezekiah reigned among the Hebrews. He indeed carried on no war, yet he benefited the city no less than Romulus. For he established laws and customs for the Romans, who by their habit of battles already seemed robbers and semi‑barbarians, and he arranged the year into ten months, before confused without any reckoning, and he founded innumerable sacred rites and temples at Rome.

Morbo decessit xli imperii anno. Regnante Numa, Glaucus primus ferri inter se glutinum excogitauit.

He died of disease in the 41st year of his reign. Regnant Numa, Glaucus first devised the gluing of iron to iron.

4 Huic successit Tullus Hostilius. Hic primus Romanorum purpura et fascibus usus est, Manasse in Iudaea regnante. Hic bella reparauit, Albanos uicit, qui ab urbe Roma duodecimo miliario sunt, Veientes et Fidenates, quorum alii septimo miliario absunt ab urbe Roma, alii octauo decimo, bello superauit.

4 To him succeeded Tullus Hostilius. He was the first of the Romans to employ purple and the fasces, Manasseh reigning in Judaea. He renewed wars, conquered the Albans, who are twelve miles from the city of Rome, and in war overcame the Veientes and the Fidenates, some of whom are seven miles from the city of Rome, others eighteen.

Vrbem ampliauit adiecto Caelio monte. Cum triginta et duos annos regnasset, fulmine ictus cum domo sua arsit. His temporibus Bizantium ciuitas est condita, quae postea Constantinopolis est appellata.

He enlarged the city by annexing the Caelian Hill. When he had reigned 32 years, struck by lightning he burned together with his house. In these times the city of Byzantium was founded, which was afterward called Constantinople.

5 Post hunc Ancus Marcius, Numae ex filia nepos, suscepit imperium. Quo etiam tempore Iosias regnabat apud Hebraeos. Contra Latinos dimicauit, Auentinum montem ciuitati adiecit et Ianiculum, apud Ostiam ciuitatem supra mare sexto decimo miliario ab urbe Roma condidit.

5 After him Ancus Marcius, grandson of Numa by his daughter, took up the imperium. At that same time Josiah reigned among the Hebrews. He fought against the Latins, added the Aventine and the Janiculum to the city, and founded a city at Ostia on the sea at the sixteenth mile from the city of Rome.

Vicesimo tertio anno imperii morbo periit. Hoc tamen regnante Epidamnus est condita, quae postea Dyrracium est nominata.

He died of disease in the 23rd year of his reign. Yet during his rule Epidamnus was founded, which was afterwards named Dyrracium.

6 Deinde regnum Priscus Tarquinius accepit. Hic numerum senatorum duplicauit, circum Romae aedificauit, ludos Romanos instituit, qui ad nostram memoriam permanent. Vicit idem etiam Sabinos et non parum agrorum sublatum hisdem Romae urbis territorio iunxit primusque triumphans Romam intrauit.

6 Then Priscus Tarquinius received the kingship. He doubled the number of senators, built around Rome, instituted the Roman games which remain to our memory. He likewise conquered the Sabines and joined not a little of the lands taken to the same territory of the city of Rome, and first, triumphing, entered Rome.

Muros fecit et cloacas, Capitolium inchoauit. xxxvii imperii anno per Anci filios occisus est, regis eius cui ipse successerat. Regnante Tarquinio Arion Methimneus a delphino in Taenarum dicitur transportatus; tunc est etiam Massilia condita.

He made walls and cloacae, and began the Capitol. In the 37th year of his reign he was killed by the sons of Ancus, the king whom he himself had succeeded. In the reign of Tarquinius, Arion of Methymna is said to have been transported by a dolphin to Taenarum; at that time Massilia was also founded.

Eodemque tempore Hierusalem a Nabuchodonosor rege subuersa.

At the same time Jerusalem was overthrown by King Nabuchodonosor.

7 Post hunc Seruius Tullius suscepit imperium, genitus ex nobili femina captiua tamen et ancilla, regnauitque annis triginta quatuor; quo regnante Baltasar imperabat Chaldeis, sub quo Danihel scripturam mysticam in pariete legit et interpretatus est. Hic quoque Sabinos subegit, montes tres Quirinalem, Viminalem, Aesculinum Vrbi adiunxit, fossas citra murum duxit. Primus omnium censum ordinauit, qui adhuc per orbem terrarum incognitus erat.

7 After him Servius Tullius took up the imperium, born of a noble woman yet a captive and an ancilla, and he reigned for 34 years; in his reign Baltasar ruled the Chaldeans, under whom Daniel read and interpreted the mystic writing on the wall. He likewise subdued the Sabines, added three hills — the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Aesculine — to the city, and cut ditches on this side of the wall. First of all he instituted the census, which was as yet unknown throughout the orb of the earth.

Sub eo Roma omnibus in censum delatis habuit capita lxxxiiii milia ciuium Romanorum, cum his qui in agris erant. Occisus est scelere generi sui Tarquinii Superbi, filii eius regis cui ipse successerat, et filiae quam Tarquinius habebat uxorem.

Under him Rome, with all who had been entered in the census, possessed 84,000 heads of Roman citizens, including those who were in the fields. He was slain by the crime of the house of Tarquinius Superbus — by the son of that king whom he himself had succeeded, and by the daughter whom Tarquinius had taken as wife.

8 Lucius dehinc Tarquinius Superbus septimus atque ultimus regum inuasit imperium. Quo tempore ad relaxationem Cyri regis Persarum reuersi sunt Hierosolymam Iudaei quadraginta duo milia quadringenti. Iste primus excogitauit uincla, taureas, fustes, lautumias, carceres, compedes, catenas, exilia, metalla.

8 Lucius then Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last of the kings, seized the imperium. At that time, upon the relaxation by Cyrus, king of the Persians, 42,400 Judeans returned to Jerusalem. He was the first to devise vincula, taureas, fustes, lautumias, carceres, compedes, catenas, exilia, metalla.

Vulscos, quae gens ad Campaniam euntibus non longe ab Vrbe est, uicit, Gabios ciuitatem et Suessam Pometiam subegit, cum Tuscis pacem fecit et templum Ioui in Capitolio aedificauit. Postea Ardeam oppugnans, in octauo decimo miliario ab urbe Roma positam ciuitatem, imperium perdidit. Nam cum filius eius, et ipse Tarquinius iunior, nobilissimam Conlatini uxorem stuprasset eaque de iniuria marito et patri et amicis quaesta fuisset, in omnium conspectu se occidit.

He defeated the Volsci, a people not far from the City for those going to Campania, took the city of Gabii and Suessa Pometia, made peace with the Tuscans, and built a temple to Jupiter on the Capitoline. Later, while besieging Ardea, a city placed at the eighteenth mile from the city of Rome, he lost his rule. For when his son, Tarquinius the younger himself, had violated the very noble wife of Collatinus, and she had complained of the outrage to her husband and father and friends, he killed himself in the sight of all.

Propter quam causam Brutus, parens et ipse Tarquinii, populum concitauit et Tarquinio ademit imperium. Mox exercitus quoque eum, qui ciuitatem Ardeam cum ipso rege obpugnabat, reliquid ueniensque ad Vrbem rex portis clausis exclusus est, cumque imperasset annos triginta et quinque, cum uxore et liberis suis fugit. Ita Romae regnatum est per septem reges annis ccxliii, cum adhuc Roma ubi plurimum uix usque ad quintum decimum miliarium possideret.

For this reason Brutus, a kinsman himself of Tarquinius, stirred up the people and took the sovereignty from Tarquinius. Soon also the army abandoned him — he who was besieging the city of Ardea with the king — and, when he came to the City, the king was shut out with the gates closed; and when he had ruled thirty-five years, he fled with his wife and his children. Thus Rome was governed by seven kings for 243 years, at a time when Rome still, for the most part, scarcely possessed territory even as far as the fifteenth mile.

Tarquinii sane temporibus castissima Iudit Olofernem peremit. Isdemque temporibus Pithagoras philosophus claruit, qui Samo oriundus Crotone deguit, nouissime Metapontum adiit ibique sepultus est.

In the times of the Tarquins, indeed the most chaste Judith killed Holofernes. And in the same times the philosopher Pythagoras shone forth, who, born at Samos, lived at Crotone, and finally went to Metapontum and there was buried.

9 Hinc consules coepere, pro uno rege duo, hac causa creati, ut, si unus malus esse uoluisset, alter eum habens potestatem similem coherceret. Et placuit, ne imperium longius quam annum haberent, ne per diuturnitatem potestatis insolentiores redderentur, sed ciuiles semper essent, qui se post annum scirent esse priuatos. Fuerunt igitur anno primo expulsis regibus consules Lucius Iunius Brutus, qui maxime egerat ut Tarquinius pelleretur, et Tarquinius Conlatinus maritus Lucretiae.

9 From this point the consuls began: two for one king, created for this reason, that if one should wish to be wicked the other, having equal power, might check him. And it was decreed that they should not hold imperium longer than one year, lest by the long duration of power they be made more insolent, but that they should always be private citizens, knowing themselves to be private after a year. Therefore, in the first year after the kings were expelled the consuls were Lucius Junius Brutus, who had most vigorously worked that Tarquin be driven out, and Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia.

Sed Tarquinio Conlatino statim sublata est dignitas. Placuerat enim ne quisquam in Vrbe remaneret qui Tarquinius uocaretur. Ergo accepto omni patrimonio suo ex Vrbe migrauit et in loco ipsius factus est Lucius Valerius Publicola consul.

But the dignity was at once taken from Tarquinius Conlatinus. For it had been decreed that no one should remain in the City who was called Tarquinius. Therefore, having taken up all his patrimony, he departed from the City, and Lucius Valerius Publicola was made consul in his stead.

Commouit tamen bellum urbi Romae rex Tarquinius qui fuerat expulsus et collectis multis gentibus, ut in regnum posset restitui, dimicauit.

Yet King Tarquinius, who had been expelled, stirred up war against the city of Rome and, having gathered many peoples so that he might be restored to the kingship, fought.

10 In prima pugna Brutus consul et Arruns, Tarquinii filius, inuicem se occiderunt; Romani tamen ex ea pugna uictores recesserunt. Brutum Romanae matronae defensorem pudicitiae suae quasi communem patrem per annum luxerunt. Valerius Publicola Spurium Lucretium Tricipitinum collegam sibi fecit, Lucretiae patrem; quo morbo mortuo iterum Horatium Puluillum collegam sibi sumpsit.

10 In the first battle the consul Brutus and Arruns, son of Tarquinius, slew one another; the Romans, however, withdrew from that fight as victors. The Roman matronae bewailed Brutus, the defender of their pudicitia, as it were a common father, for a year. Valerius Publicola made Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus his colleague, Lucretia’s father; that man having died of the disease, he again took Horatius Pulvillus as his colleague.

Ita primus annus quinque consules habuit, cum Tarquinius Conlatinus propter nomen Vrbe cessisset, Brutus in proelio perisset, Spurius Lucretius morbo mortuus esset.

Thus the first year had five consuls, when Tarquinius Conlatinus, on account of the name, had yielded the city, Brutus had perished in battle, and Spurius Lucretius had died of disease.

11 Secundo quoque anno iterum Tarquinius, ut reciperetur in regnum, bellum Romanis intulit, auxilium ei ferente Porsenna, Tusciae rege, et Romam paene coepit. Verum tum quoque uictus est.

11 In the second year likewise Tarquinius again brought war upon the Romans, that he might be restored to the kingdom, Porsenna, king of Tuscia, bringing aid to him, and he nearly took Rome. But even then he was defeated.

Tertio anno post reges exactos Tarquinius cum suscipi non posset in regnum neque ei Porsenna, qui pacem cum Romanis fecerat, praestaret auxilium, Tusculum se contulit, quae ciuitas non longe ab Vrbe est, atque ibi per quattuordecim annos priuatus cum uxore consenuit.

In the third year after the kings were expelled, Tarquinius, since he could not be received back into the kingdom and nor could Porsenna, who had made peace with the Romans, furnish him aid, withdrew to Tusculum, which city is not far from the City, and there, as a private citizen, he grew old with his wife for fourteen years.

Quarto anno post reges exactos, cum Sabini Romanis bellum intulissent, uicti sunt et de his triumphatum est.

In the fourth year after the kings were driven out, when the Sabines had brought war upon the Romans, they were defeated and a triumph was celebrated over them.

Quinto anno Lucius Valerius, ille Bruti collega et quater consul, fataliter mortuus est, adeo pauper, ut collatis a populo nummis sumptum habuerit sepulturae. Quem matronae, sicuti Brutum, per annum luxerunt.

In the fifth year Lucius Valerius, that colleague of Brutus and four‑times consul, died fatally, so poor that, with coins collected by the people, provision was made for his burial. The matrons mourned him for a year, as they did Brutus.

12 Nono anno post reges exactos, cum gener Tarquinii ad iniuriam soceri uindicandam ingentem collegisset exercitum, noua Romae dignitas est creata, quae dictatura appellatur, maior quam consulatus. Eodem anno etiam magister equitum factus est, qui dictatori obsequeretur. Nec quicquam similius potest dici quam dictatura antiqua huic imperii potestati, quam nunc tranquillitas uestra habet, maxime cum Augustus quoque Octauius, de quo postea dicemus, et ante eum Gaius Caesar sub dictaturae nomine atque honore regnauerint.

12 In the ninth year after the kings were expelled, when Tarquinius’ son-in-law had raised a huge army to avenge the injury to his father-in-law, a new dignity at Rome was created called the dictatorship, greater than the consulship. In that same year a Master of the Horse was also appointed to attend the dictator. Nor can anything be said more similar than the ancient dictatorship to this power of the state which your tranquillity now has, especially since even Augustus Octavius, of whom we shall speak later, and before him Gaius Caesar, reigned under the name and honor of the dictatorship.

Dictator autem Romae primus fuit Larcius, magister equitum primus Spurius Cassius.

Moreover, the first dictator at Rome was Larcius, the first magister equitum was Spurius Cassius.

13 Sexto decimo anno post reges exactos seditionem populus Romae fecit, tamquam a senatu atque a consulibus premeretur. Tum et ipse sibi tribunos plebis quasi proprios iudices et defensores creauit, per quos contra senatum et consules tutus esse posset. Eodem tempore, concedente Xerxe Persarum rege, Neemias Iudeam uenit, muros urbemque restituit.

13 In the sixteenth year after the kings were expelled the people of Rome made a sedition, as if they were being pressed by the senate and by the consuls. Then he also created for himself tribunes of the plebs, as it were his own judges and defenders, through whom he might be safe against the senate and the consuls. At the same time, with the consent of Xerxes, king of the Persians, Nehemiah came to Judea and restored its walls and the city.

14 Sequenti anno Vulsci contra Romanos bellum reparauerunt et uicti acie etiam Coriolos ciuitatem, quam habebant optimam, perdiderunt.

14 In the following year the Volsci renewed war against the Romans and, defeated in battle, even lost Corioli, the city which they held as their best.

15 Octauo decimo anno postquam reges eiecti erant, expulsus ex Vrbe Quintus Marcius dux Romanus, qui Coriolos coeperat Vulscorum ciuitatem, ad ipsos Vulscos contendit iratus et auxilia contra Romanos accepit. Romanos saepe uicit, usque ad quintum miliarium Vrbis accessit, obpugnaturus etiam patriam suam, legatis, qui pacem petebant, repudiatis, nisi ad eum mater Vetueria et uxor Velumnia ex Vrbe uenissent, quorum et praecatione superatus remouit exercitum. Atque hic secundus post Tarquinium fuit, qui dux contra patriam suam esset.

15 In the eighteenth year after the kings had been expelled, Quintus Marcius, a Roman leader driven out of the City, who had begun (by taking) Corioli, the city of the Volsci, hastened angrily to the Volsci themselves and received auxiliaries against the Romans. He often defeated the Romans, even advanced to the fifth mile of the City, about to assault his own fatherland, having repudiated the legates who sought peace; but his mother Vetueria and his wife Velumnia had come from the City to him, and, overcome by their entreaty, he withdrew the army. And he was the second after Tarquinius to be a leader against his own country.

16 Gaio Flauio et Lucio Virginio consulibus, trecenti nobiles homines, qui ex Fauia familia erant, contra Veientes bellum soli susceperunt, promittentes senatui et populo per se omne certamen implendum. Itaque profecti omnes nobiles et qui singuli magnorum exercituum duces esse deberent, in proelio conciderunt. Vnus omnino superfuit ex tanta familia, qui propter aetatem puerilem duci non potuerat ad pugnam.

16 In the consulship of Gaius Flavius and Lucius Virginius, 300 noble men, who were of the Favia family, alone undertook war against the Veientes, promising to the senate and the people that by themselves they would fulfill the whole contest. And so they set out, all the nobles and those who individually ought to be leaders of great armies, and fell in the battle. Only one utterly survived from so great a family, who, on account of his boyish age, could not be led into the fight.

Post haec census in Vrbe habitus, et inuenta sunt ciuium cxvii milia cccxviiii.

After these things a census was held in the City, and there were found 117,319 citizens.

17 Sequenti tamen anno, cum in Algido monte ab Vrbe duodecimo fere miliario Romanus obsideretur exercitus, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus dictator est factus, qui agrum quattuor iugerum possidens manibus suis colebat. Is cum in opere et arans esset inuentus, sudore deterso togam praetextatam accepit et caesis hostibus liberauit exercitum iugumque boum Aequis imposuit uictoriamque quasi stiuam tenens subiugatos hostes prae se primus egit.

17 Yet in the following year, when the Roman army was being besieged on Mount Algidus about the twelfth mile from the City, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was made dictator; he, possessing a plot of four iugera, cultivated it with his own hands. He was found at work and ploughing; having wiped away his sweat he put on the toga praetexta and, the enemies having been slain, freed the army and imposed the yoke of oxen upon the Aequi, and, holding victory as if a staff, first drove the subdued enemies before him.

18 Anno trecentesimo et altero ab Vrbe condita imperium consulare cessauit et pro duobus consulibus decem facti sunt, qui summam potestatem haberent ac decemuiri nominati sunt. Sed cum primo anno bene egissent, secundo ex his Apppius Claudius Virginii cuiusdam, qui honestis iam stipendiis contra Latinos in monte Algido militabat, filiam uirginem corrumpere uoluit; quam pater occidit, ne stuprum a decemuiro sustineret, et egressus ad milites mouit tumultum. Sublata est decemuiris potestas ipsique damnati sunt.

18 In the year 302 from the founding of the City the consulary office ceased, and instead of two consuls ten were made, who held supreme power and were named decemviri. But when they had governed well in the first year, in the second of these Appius Claudius wished to corrupt the virgin daughter of a certain Verginius, who with honorable wages was then serving against the Latins on Mount Algidus; which daughter her father killed, lest she should endure rape at the hands of a decemvir, and, going out to the soldiers, he stirred up an uproar. The power of the decemviri was taken away and they themselves were condemned.

19 Anno trecentesimo quinto decimo ab Vrbe condita Fidenates contra Romanos rebellauerunt. Auxilium his praestabant Veientes et rex Veientium Tolumnius, quae ambe ciuitates tam uicinae Vrbi sunt, ut Fidene uel Veientium octauo decimo miliario absint. Coniunxerunt se his et Vulsci.

19 In the 315th year from the founding of the City the Fidenates rebelled against the Romans. The Veientes and Tolumnius, king of the Veientes, were affording them aid — both cities being so near the City that Fidenae or Veii lie at the 18th mile. The Vulsci joined themselves to them as well.

Sed Mamerco Emilio dictatore et Lucio Quintio Cincinnato magistro equitum uicti, etiam regem perdiderunt. Fidene captae et excisae.

But the Veientes, defeated by Mamercius Aemilius the dictator and Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, master of the horse, also lost their king. Fidenae were captured and razed.

20 Post uiginti inde annos Veientani rebellauerunt. Dictator contra ipsos missus est Furius Camillus, qui primum eos uicit acie, mox etiam ciuitatem diu obsidens coepit antiquissimam Italiae atque ditissimam. Postea coepit et Faliscos, non minus nobilem ciuitatem.

20 Twenty years after that the Veientines rebelled. Against them a dictator was sent, Furius Camillus, who first defeated them in battle, and soon also began, besieging for a long time, the most ancient and wealthiest city of Italy. Afterwards he likewise set himself against the Falisci, a city no less noble.

Sed commota est ei inuidia, quasi praedam male diuisisset, damnatusque ab ea causa et expulsus est ciuitate. Statim Galli Senones ad Vrbem uenerunt et uictos Romanos undecimo miliario a Roma apud flumen Alliam secuti etiam Vrbem occupauerunt. Neque defendi quicquam nisi Capitolium potuit; quod cum diu obsidissent et iam Romani fame laborarent, a Camillo, qui in uicina ciuitate exulabat, Gallis superuentum est grauissimeque uicti sunt.

But envy was stirred against him, as if he had ill-divided the booty, and, condemned for that cause, he was expelled from the city. Immediately the Senone Gauls came to the City and, having followed the conquered Romans eleven miles from Rome at the river Allia, also occupied the City. Nothing could be defended except the Capitol; and when they had besieged it for a long time and the Romans were by now suffering from famine, Camillus, who was living in exile in a neighboring city, came upon the Gauls and they were very heavily defeated.

Postea tamen accepto etiam auro mille librarum, ne Capitolium obsiderent, recesserunt, sed secutus eos Camillus ita cecidit, ut et aurum, quod his datum fuerat, et omnia, quae ceperant, militaria signa reuocaret. Ita tertio triumphans Vrbem ingressus est et appellatus secundus Romulus, quasi et ipse patriae conditor.

Afterward, however, having also received 1,000 pounds of gold so that they would not besiege the Capitol, they withdrew; but Camillus, having followed them, so fell upon them that he recovered both the gold that had been given to them and all the things they had taken, the military standards. Thus, triumphing for the third time he entered the City and was called the second Romulus, as if he himself were likewise a founder of the fatherland.

Circa haec tempora Hester putatur historia conscripta. Plato quoque philosophus his fuisse temporibus perhibetur.

About these times Hester is thought to have written history. Plato also, the philosopher, is said to have lived in these times.

EXPLICIT HISTORIAE ROMANAE LIBER PRIMVS

EXPLICIT: THE ROMAN HISTORY, BOOK ONE