Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus [Suetonius]
69-130 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Imperial Era)
SVETONI TRANQVILII VITA VETELLII
I. Vitelliorum originem alii aliam et quidem diversissimam tradunt,
[Some people tell of a different and most undetermined origin when it comes to Vitellius' family,]
partim veterem et nobilem,
[some saying that it was long-standing and noble in class,]
partim vero novam et obscuram atque etiam sordidam;
[while others say that it was actually new to the scene, with obscure origins, and perhaps even disreputable ones;]
quod ego per adulatores obtrectatoresque imperatoris Vitellii evenisse opinarer,
[and that's something that I would have to occur as a result of emperor Vitellius' adulators and detractors,]
nisi aliquanto prius de familiae condicione variatum esset.
[unless, by some degree, a previous change of fortune occurred as to his family's condition.]
Exstat Q. Elogi ad Quintum Vitellium Divi Augusti quaestorem libellus,
[There's a small book by Quintus Elogius written to Quintus Vitellius, a quaestor of Augustus, now deified,]
quo continetur,
[in which there is written]
Vitellios Fauno Aboriginum rege et Vitellia, quae multis locis pro numine coleretur, ortos toto Latio imperasse;
[that the Vitellians, having risen all around Latium, had ruled under one king of the original inhabitants, Faunus, and Vitellia, who used to be worshipped in various places liked a deity;]
horum residuam stirpem ex Sabinis transisse Romam atque inter patricios adlectam;
[the lineage of these people that was left over had journeyed over to Rome from the lands of the Sabines and was then incorporated into the class of patricians;]
indicia stirpis mansisse diu viam Vitelliam ab Ianiculo ad mare usque, item coloniam eiusdem nominis,
[and the original character of the family lineage resided for a long time along the Via Vitellia, that ran from the Janiculum all the way to the sea, and also in a settlement byhe same name,]
quam gentili copia adversus Aequiculos tutandam olim depoposcissent;
[which, with their high-ranking hordes, once upon a time, whose patrimony they had demanded in confrontation with the Aequiculi;]
tempore deinde Samnitici belli praesidio in Apuliam misso quosdam ex Vitellis subsedisse Nuceriae,
[thenafter, a certain number of Vitellius' family settled down in Nuceria, during the time of the Samnite War, when a garrison was sent to Apulia,]
eorumque progeniem longo post intervallo repetisse urbem atque ordinem senatorium.
[and after a long interval of time, their descendents sought to reside in the city again, as well as admission into the senatorial class.]
II. Contra plures auctorem generis libertinum prodiderunt,
[On the one hand, several people related that the founder of their family lineage was a freedman,]
Cassius Severus nec minus alii eundem et sutorem veteramentarium,
[like Cassius Severus, not least of those who say that the same fellow was also a cobbler for beasts of burden,]
