Sextus Aurelius Victor [Aurelius Victor]
320-390 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Late Imperial/Christian Era)
1 1 Proca, rex Albanorum, Amulium et Numitorem filios habuit,
[Proca, king of the Albans, had sons, Amulius and Numitor,]
quibus regnum annuis vicibus habendum reliquit
[to whom he assigned his kingdom to possess in alternating years]
[ut alternia imperarent].
[so that they could each share power.]
Sed Amulius fratri imperium non dedit
[But Amulius did not cede control of power to his brother,]
et ut eum subole privaret,
[and so that he could deprive him of descendunts,]
filiam eius, Rheam Silviam, Vestae sacerdotem praefecit,
[he appointed his daughter Rhea Silvia to be priestess of Vesta,]
ut virginitate perpetua teneretur,
[so that she could be held in custody in permanent virginity,]
quae a Marte compressa Remum et Romulum edidit.
[although she, once she was seduced by Mars, gave birth to Romulus and Remus.]
2 Amulius ipsam in vincula compegit,
[Amulius locked her up in chains,]
parvulos in Tiberim abiecit,
[and he threw the little boys into the Tiber]
quos aqua in sicco reliquit.
[but the water left them on dry land.]
3 Ad vagitum lupa accurrit eosque uberibus suis aluit.
[A she-wolf ran up to their crying and breast-fed them with her teats.]
Mox Fauatulus pastor collectos Accae Laurentiae coniugi educandos dedit.
[Soon a shepherd<Faustulus> gathered him up, and gave them over to his wife Laurentia to raise them.]
4 Qui postea Amulio interfecto Numitori avo regnum restituerunt;
[Afterwards, they killed Amulius and restored the kingdom to Numitor;]
ipsi pastoribus adunatis civitatem condiderunt,
[they too founded a city with the shepherds they collected,]
quam Romulus augurio victor,
quod ipse XII, Remus VI vultures viderat, Romam vocavit;
which Romulus victoriously called Rome after his augury, that is, when he saw 12 vultures and Remus only 6.]
et ut eam prius legibus muniret quam moenibus,
[and so that he could fortify it with laws before walls,]
edixit, ne quis vallum transiliret;
[he declared that nobody would be allowed to cross his wall;]
quod Remus irridena transilivit
[but Remus, in jest, jumped over it,]
et a Celere centurione rastro fertur occisus.
[and it is said that he was killed with a rake by a centurion named Celer.]
2 1 Romulus asylum convenis patefecit
[Romulus opened an safe haven for travellers]
et magno exercitu facto,
[and after he organized a large army,]
cum videret coniugia deesse,
[as soon as he realized that he lacked wives,]
per legatos a finitimis civitatibus petiit.
[he made requests from the neighboring cities by sending ambassadors.]
2 Quibus negatis ludos Consualia simulavit,
[But when these are turned down, he pretended to hold festival games in honor of the Consualia,]
ad quos cum utriusque sexus multitudo venisset,
[at which a crowd of people, both men and women, had come,]
dato suis signo virgines raptae sunt.
[and after he gave the signal to his men, their maidens were carried off.]
Ex quibus cum una pulcherrima cum magna omnium admiratione duceretur,
[Then, out of these women, the one, most beautiful woman was being sought with great bewilderment of all,
Talassio eam duci responsum est.
[the call was for her to be given to Talassius.]
3 Quae nuptiae quia feliciter cesserant,
[Because this ceremony turned out happily,]
institutum est, ut in omnibus nuptiis Talassii nomen iteretur.
[it became custom that Talassius' name be repeated at all wedding ceremonies.]
Cum feminas finitimorum Romani vi rapuissent,
[Since the Romans seized the women of their neighbors by force,]
primi Caeninenses contra eos bellum sumpserunt.
[the first to fight a war against them were from Caene.]
Adversus quos Romulus processit
[Romulus faced these men head on]
et exercitum eorum ac ducem Acronem singulari proelio devicit.
[and he defeated their army and general, Acro, in a single battle.]
4 Spolia opima Iovi Feretrio in Capitolio consecravit.
[He dedicated the rich plunder to Jove the Assailant, on the Capitol.]
Sabini ob raptas bellum adversus Romanos sumpserunt.
[The Sabines waged war against the Romans to regain their stolen women.]
5 Et cum Romae appropinquarent,
[And when they approached Rome,]
Tarpeiam virginem nacti,
[they seized a maiden named Tarpeia,]
quae aquae causa sacrorum hauriendae descenderat,
[who had came out in order to draw water for holy ceremony,]
ei T. Tatius optionem muneris dedit,
[and Titus Tatius gave her the offer of reward,]
si exercitum suum in arcem perduxisset.
[if she led their army all the way to the citadel.]
6 Illa petiit, quod illi in sinistris manibus gerebant,
[She asked for things that they were wearing upon their left arms,]]
videlicet anulos et armillas;
[meaning their rings and arm bands;]
quibus dolose repromissis Sabinos in arcem perduxit,
[but these things were paid in grievous fashion after she led the Sabines all the way to the citadel,]
ubi Tatius scutis eam obrui praecepit;
[where Tatius ordered that she be pummelled by their shields;]
nam et ea in laevis habuerant.
[you see, they had also been holding these things in their left arms as well.]
7 Romulus adversus Tatium qui montem Tarpeium tenebat,
[Romulus, who was holding the Tarpeian Mount against Tatius,]
processit et in eo loco,
[sallied out in that very place]
ubi nunc forum Romanum est
[where the Roman Forum now lies]
, pugnam conseruit:
[and he began the battle:]
ibi Hostus Hostilius fortissime dimicans cecidit,
[there, Hostus Hostilius, after fighting as bravely as he could manage, died,]
cuius interitu consternati Romani fugere coeperunt
[upon whose fall the Romans, now in dire straits, began flee,]
. 8 Tunc Romulus Iovi Statori aedem vovit,
[Then and there, Romulus promised a temple to Jove the Stayor,]
et exercitus seu forte seu divinitus restitit.
[and he regained his forces, either by his courage or by divine will.]
9 Tunc raptae in medium processerunt
[Then and there, the kidnapped woman sallied forth into the very center]
et hinc patres inde coniuges deprecatae pacem conciliarunt.
[and they, appealing to their fathers, on one side, and their husbands on the other, gained the peace.]
10 Romulus foedus percussit
[Romulus hammered out a treaty]
et Sabinos in urbem recepit,
[and he welcomed the Sabines into his city,]
populum a Curibus, oppido Sabinorum, Quirites vocavit.
[he calls them, being a people from Cures, the city of the Sabines, Quirites.]
Centum senatores a pietate patres appellavit.
[He called his 100 senators "fathers" out of their piety.]
11 Tres equitum centurias instituit,
[He established three centuries of knights,]
quas suo nomine Ramnes, a Tito Tatio Tatienses, a luci communione Luceres appellavit.
[which he called after his own name, Ramnes, Tatienes, after Titus Tatius, and Luceres by the light of their sacred hearth.]
12 Plebem in triginta curias distribuit
[He divided the common folk between 30 curiae]
easque raptarum nominibus appellavit.
[and he named these after the stolen Sabine women.]
13 Cum ad Caprae paludem exercitum lustraret,
[When he marched his army to the swampland of Caprae,]
nusquam comparuit;
[he never stopped.]
unde inter patres et populum seditione orta Iulius Proculus, vir nobilis, in contionem processit
[from there, Julius Proculus, a noble-born man, rising among the senators and the people, by using sedition, campaigned in election]
et iureiurando firmavit Romulum a se in colle Quirinali visum augustiore forma,
[and, after making the necessary oath under law, he claimed that Romulus had appeared to him upon the Quirinal Hill in a more divine form,]
cum ad deos abiret;
[before he began to make his journey away to the gods;]
eundemque praecipere,
[and he said that he dropped down,]
ut seditionibus abstinerent, virtutem colerent;
[so that they could stay off from treason, and cherish his courageous deeds;]
futurum, ut omnium gentium domini exsisterent.
[and predicted that they would stand out as the masters of all nations.]
Huius auctoritati creditum est.
[They gave credence to this man's authority.]
Aedes in colle Quirinali Romulo constituta, ipse pro deo cultus et Quirinus est appellatus.
[A temple was built to Romulus on the Quirinal hill, and the hill was renamed the Quirinus in honor of the god.]
Post consecrationem Romuli, cum diu interregnum esset et seditiones
orirentur, Numa Pompilius, Pomponii filius, Curibus, oppido Sabinorum,
accitus,
[After Romulus' consecration, when there was a long intermission between kings, and seditions began to arise, Numa Pompilius, the son of Pomponius, was born in Cures, a town of Sabines,]
cum addicentibus avibus Romam venisset, ut populum ferum religione molliret,
[and when he had come to Rome, inspired by the predictions of his forefathers that he could sooften a ferocious people with religion,]
sacra plurima instituit.
[he set up a great many sacred rites.]
Aedem Vestae fecit,
[He constructed the Temple of Vesta,]
virgines Vestales legit, flamines tres, Dialem Martialem Quirinalem,
Salios, Martia sacerdotes, quorum primus praesul vocatur, XII instituit,
[he chose the Vestal Virgins, three flamen priest, the chief priest for Mars Quirinalis, and he established twelve priests for Mars, the first of whom was called the Praesul,]
pontificem maximum creavit,
[he created the position of Pontifex Maximus,]
portas Iano gemino aedificavit.
[and he built the gates of the twin-headed Janus.]
Annum in XII menses distribuit additis Ianuario et Februario.
[He divided the year into twelve months after adding January and February.]
Leges quoque plures et utiles tulit,
[He also passed a great deal of useful laws,]
omnia quae gerebat, iussu Egeriae nymphae, uxoris suae, se facere simulans.
[all things which, when he executed, he pretended that he was acting under the instruction of his wife, a nymph named Egeria.]
Ob hanc tantam iustitiam bellum ei nemo intulit.
[Because of his just standing, so highly reputed, no one waged war against him.]
Morbo solutus in Ianiculo sepultus est,
[After he succumbed to an illness, he was buried in the Janiculum,]
ubi post annos arcula cum libris a Terentio quodam exarata;
[where, over the years, his tomb, along with his books, were dug by a man named Terentius;]
qui libri, quia leves quasdam sacrorum causas continebant, ex auctoritate patrum cremati sunt.
[these books were burned on the authority of the Senate, because they contained certain peculiar explanations for our sacred rituals.]
Tullus Hostilius, quia bonam operam adversum Sabinos navaverat, rex creatus bellum Albanis indixit,
[Tullus Hostilius, after he was appointed king, declared war on the Albans, because he had made much progress against the Sabines,]
quod trigeminorum certatione finivit.
[and this war turned into a three-way struggle.]
Albam propter perfidiam ducis Mettii Fufetii diruit,
[He managed to sack Alba, thanks to the devious trick of his general, Mettius Fufetius,]
Albanos Romam transire iussit.
[and he ordered the Albans to emigrate to Rome.]
Curiam Hostiliam constituit.
[He constructed the Curia Hostilia.]
Montem Coelium urbi addidit.
[He added the Caelian Hill to the city.]
Et dum Numam Pompilium sacrificiis imitatur,
[And although he followed Numa Pompilius's rituals in sacrifices,]
Elicio litare non potuit, fulmine ictus cum regia conflagiavit.
[he could not give homage to Elicius, since he set fire to the royal palace after being struck by a lightning bolt.]
Cum inter Romanos et Albanos bellum fuisset exortum,
[As soon as war had arisen between the Romans and Albans,]
ducibus Hostilio et Fufetio placuit rem paucorum certamine finire.
[it pleased the commanders Hostilius and Fufetius to finish the affair using a contest of only a few men.]
Erant apud Romanos trigemini Horatii,
[Living among the Romans, there were the triplets, the Horatii brothers,]
tres apud Albanos Curiatii;
[and among the Albans, three brothers known as the Curiatii;]
quibus foedere icto concurrentibus statim duo Romanorum ceciderunt,
[as soon as the bout started and they rushed upon each other, they managed to kill two of the Roman brothers immediately,]
tres Albanorum vulnerati.
[although all three of the Alban ones were now wounded.]
Unus Horatius quamvis integer,
[Only one Horatius was alive and well, however,]
quia tribus impar erat,
[and because he could be no match against three men,]
fugam simulavit
[he pretended to flee]
et singulos per intervalla, ut vulnerum dolor patiebatur, inaequentes interfecit.
[and he slayed each one of them, no match in man-to-man combat, at individual stages, so that each would have to suffered the grief of their wounds the longer,]
Et cum spoliis onustus rediret,
[And when he returned, laden with the spoils of victory,]
sororem obviam habuit,
[he happened to encounter his sister,]
quae viso paludamento sponsi sui, qui unus ex Curiatiis erat, flere coepit.
[who, after seeing the bloody slaughter of her husband, who was one of the Curatii brothers, began to weep.]
Frater eam occidit.
[Her brother killed her.]
Qua re apud duumviros condemnatus ad populum provocavit;
[For that act, after he was condemned to death in court of the duumviri, he appealed to the people;]
ubi patris lacrimis condonatus ab eo expiandi gratia sub tigillum missus;
[whereby, saved by the tears of his father, he was sent as a ritual to expiate himself to walk under a wooden plank;]
quod nunc quoque viae superpositum Sororium appellatur.
[and that plank, now placed upon the road, is called the Sister's Board.]
Mettius Fufetius, dux Albanorum, cum se invidiosum apud cives videret,
[Mettius Fufetius, the commander of the Albans, when he saw that he was growing unpopular among his citizens,]
quod bellum sola trigeminorum certatione finisset,
[since the war had finished only after a three-year period,]
ut rem corrigeret, Veientes et Fidenates adversum Romanos incitavit.
[so that he could rectify the situation, he provoked the cities of Veii and Fidenae against the Romans.]
Ipse ab Tullo in auxilium arcessitus aciem in collem subduxit, ut fortunam sequeretur.
[After being summoned by Tullus as back-up, he himself fled from the battle line down the hill, hoping that fortune would follow.]
Qua re Tullus intellecta magna voce ait suo illud iussu Mettium facere.
[For that, Tullus claimed, in a loud and self-conscience voice, that Mettius did that on his command.]
Qua re hostes territi et victi sunt.
[For that reason, his enemies grew terrified and were defeated.]
Postera die Mettius cum ad gratulandum Tullo venisset,
[On the following day, when Mettius had come to congratulate Tullus,]
iussu ipsius quadrigis religatus et in diversa distractus est.
[on order, he was tied down by all four limbs to his four-horse chariot, and was torn to pieces in different directions.]
Ancus Marcius, Numae Pompilii ex filia nepos, aequitate et religione avo similis, Latinos bello domuit.
[Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa Pompilius on his daughter's side, and similar in his sense of moderation and religious piety, conquered the Latins in war.]
Murcium et Ianiculum montes urbi addidit,
[He added the Murcium and Janiculum as hills to the city,]
nova moenia oppido circumdedit.
[and he built new walls around the town.]
Silvas ad usum navium publicavit.
[He designated the forests for the construction of ships.]
Salinarum vectigal instituit.
[He established the tax of the Salinares.]
Carcerem primus aedificavit.
[He was the first to build a jail.]
Ostiam coloniam maritimis commeatibus opportunam in ostio Tiberis deduxit.
[He founded the colony of Ostia with maritime seafarers, as it was in a prime location on the port harbor of the Tiber.]
Ius fetiale, quo legati ad res repetundas uterentur, ab Aequiculis transtulit,
[He introduced Fetial Law from the Aequiculi, which men in command used for cases of corruption,]
quod primus fertur Rhesus excogitasse.
[although Rhesus is said to have been the first to think the idea up.]
His rebus confectis intra paucos dies immatura morte praereptus non potuit praestare qualem promiserat regem.
[When he had finished these accomplishments, he did not manage to designate whom he had selected to be king, as he was stolen away only a few days later by an untimely death.]
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Demarati Corinthii filius, eius, qui Cypseli tyrannidem fugiens in Etruriam commigravit.
[Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the son of a Corinthian man, Demaratos, who was fleeing the tyranny of Cypselos, moved to Etruria.]
Ipse Lucumo dictus, urbe Tarquiniis profectus Romam petiit.
[His original name was Lucumo; soon as he set out from the city of Tarquinii, he headed for Rome.]
I N F I N I T A
