Aurelius Victor, Illustrious Romans

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.]

Sextus Aurelius, History of the Caesars

SEXTVS AVRELIVS VICTOR (4th century A.D.) LIBER ET INCERTORVM LIBRI


Sextus Aurelius Victor [Aurelius Victor]
320-390 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Late Imperial/Christian Era)


ab Augusto Octaviano,
id est a fine Titi Livii, usque ad consulatum decimum
Constantii Augusti et Iuliani Caesaris tertium.

[Written by Augustus, Octavianus, this goes from the conclusion by Titus Livy all the way up the tenth consulship of the Augustus by title, Constantius, and the third consulship of the Caesar by title, Julian.]

Anno urbis septingentesimo fere vicesimoque, duobus etiam, mos Romae incessit uni prorsus parendi. Namque Octavianus, patre Octavio, atque adoptione magni avunculi Caesaris ac mox procerum consulto ob victoriam partium placide exercitam Augusti cognomento dictus, illectis per dona militibus atque annonae curandae specie vulgo ceteros haud difficulter subegit.


[Approximately in the 722th year after the establishment of Rome, the running of the government began to submit to a single man. As it goes, Octavian, through the fact that his father was man named Octavius, and by his adoption by his great uncle, Caesar, and soon after, with the help of his supporters, and later called by the title of Augustus ['Majestic One'--think 'His Majesty] on account of the victory he gained so easily over his rival factions, with no difficulty whatsoever, gained superiority over the armies by winning them over with perks and the public by taking responsibility of the state's grain supply.]