Cincinnatus- LIVY Flashcards
vis Sabinorum ingens
A huge force of Sabines
infesta populatione
with terrible devastation
prope ad moenia urbis venit.
came near to the walls of the city.
foedati agri,
The fields [were] laid waste,
terror iniectus urbi est.
the city was struck with terror.
tanta trepidatio fuit
There was as great a panic
quanta si urbem, non castra hostes obsiderent.
as if the enemy were besieging the city, not the camp.
itaque civibus dictatorem dici placuit
Therefore, the citizens decided that a dictator should be appointed
qui rem perculsam restitueret,
to restore the shattered state,
et Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus consensu omnium dicitur.
and Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was chosen by the consent of all.
spes unica imperii populi Romani,
The sole hope of the power of the Roman people,
Quinctius trans Tiberim
Quinctius, across the Tiber,
contra eum ipsum locum ubi nunc navalia sunt
opposite the very place where the docks now are,
quattuor iugerum colebat agrum,
cultivated a farm of four acres,
quae prata Quinctia vocantur.
which are now called the Quinctian meadows.
ibi ab legatis
There, by the envoys
seu fossam fodiens palae innixus,
whether leaning on a stake while digging a ditch,
seu cum araret,
or while ploughing,
operi certe (id quod constat) agresti intentus
certainly engrossed in some farming task (as is generally accepted),
salute data in vicem redditaque
after greetings had been given in turn and responded to,
rogatus est ut togatus mandata senatus audiret.
he was asked to listen to the commands of the senate, once he was dressed in his toga.
admiratus rogitansque ‘satin salve?’
Bewildered, and asking continually, “Is everything quite all right?”
uxorem togam propere e tugurio proferre iubet.
he ordered his wife to bring his toga quickly from their cottage.
qua simul absterso pulvere ac sudore velatus processit,
As soon as he stepped forward, wiping off the dust and sweat, dressed in it,
dictatorem eum legati gratulantes consalutant,
the envoys, congratulating him, hailed him as dictator,
in urbem vocant;
called him into the city,
qui terror sit in exercitu exponunt.
and explained what terror there was in the army.
