[Illustration: NUMA AND ANCUS MÂRCIUS]
Tullô mortuô[10] Ancum Mârcium rêgem[11]
populus creâvit. Numae Pompiliî nepôs
Ancus Mârcius erat, aequitâte[12] et
religiône[12] avô similis. Tunc Latînî, cum quibus
Tullô rêgnante îctum foedus erat, {5}
sustulerant[13] animôs, et incursiônem in agrum
Rômânum fêcêrunt. Ancus, priusquam[14] eîs
bellum indîceret,[14] lêgâtum mîsit, quî[15] rês
[[16]]
repeteret, eumque[1] môrem posterî accêpêrunt. Id autem hôc
modô fîêbat. Lêgâtus, ubi ad fînês eôrum venit â quibus rês {10}
repetuntur, capite[2] vêlâtô "Audî, Iuppiter," inquit[3] "audîte,
fînês hûius[4] populî. Ego sum pûblicus[5] nûntius populî Rômânî;
verbîs[6] meîs fidês sit." Deinde peragit pôstulâta. Sî nôn dêduntur
rês quâs expôscit, hastam in fînês hostium êmittit bellumque
ita indîcit. Lêgâtus, quî eâ dê rê mittitur, _Fêtiâlis_[7] rîtusque
bellî {15}
indîcendî _Iûs Fêtiâle_ appellâtur.
[Illustration: CARCER MAMERTÎNUS]
Lêgâtô Rômânô rês repetentî superbê respônsum[8] est â Latînîs;
quârê bellum hôc[9] modô eîs indictum est. Ancus, exercitû
cônscrîptô, profectus[10] Latînôs fûdit et
complûribus oppidîs dêlêtîs cîvês Rômam {20}
trâdûxit[11]. Cum[12] autem in tantâ hominum
multitûdine facinora clandestîna
fierent, Ancus carcerem[13] in mediâ urbe
ad[14] terrôrem incrêscentis audâciae aedificâvit.
Îdem nova moenia urbî circumdedit, {25}
Iâniculum montem ponte[15] subliciô
[[17]]
in Tiberî factô urbî côniûnxit, in ôre[1] Tiberis Ôstiam urbem
condidit. Plûribus aliîs rêbus intrâ paucôs annôs cônfectîs;
immâtûrâ morte praereptus obiit. {29}
[Footnotes: V (pages 15-17)
15.10: What is the force of this abl. abs.?
15.11: #rêgem populus creâvit#: This phrase, as it stands, is
somewhat misleading. As a matter of fact, the kingship was neither
hereditary nor elective. On the death of a king an _interrêx_, or
regent, was chosen, who took the auspices, and the augurs inferred
from the signs that the gods favored a certain candidate. He was
then elected by the Assembly, and the choice was confirmed by the
Senate.
15.12: abl. of specification.
15.13: #sustulerant# (_tollô_) #animôs#: 'had plucked up courage.'
15.14: Cf. _priusquam . . . posset_, IV, 25, and note.
15.15: #quî . . . repeteret#: relative clause of purpose. _Rês
repetere_ = 'to demand the (stolen) things,' is a technical phrase
of war, and = 'to demand restitution or satisfaction.' The
opposite is _rês reddere_, or _rês dêdere_, as in l. 13.
16.1: #eum môrem . . . accêpêrunt#: 'that custom posterity (the
Romans of later times) adopted.' Traces of the custom appear as
late as the reign of Augustus.
16.2: While praying, the Romans covered their faces with a fold of
the toga, that no untoward sight might interrupt their devotions.
The _lêgâtus_ here covers his face, because he is praying to
Jupiter and to the #fînês#, which are personified.
16.3: This word, rather than _dîxit_, is used with direct
discourse, and regularly stands, as here, _within_ the quotation.
16.4: The _lêgâtus_, of course, said _fînês Albânôrum_, or
_Vêientium_, as the case might be.
16.5: 'official,' i.e. duly accredited.
16.6: #verbîs . . . sit# = _verbîs meîs crêdite_. Cf. II, 48, _cuî
reî fidem fêcit_. #sit# is a hortatory subjunctive; H 559, 1
(484, II): M 713: A 266: G 263: B 274.
16.7: See Vocab., _fêtiâlis_.
16.8: #respônsum . . . Latînîs# = _Latînî respondêrunt_. The
impersonal passive is common.
16.9: #hôc#: 'described _above_,' in lines 9-16. In l. 9 _hôc_ =
'described _below_.' _Hîc_ more often bears the latter sense, i.e.
it refers to what follows.
16.10: #profectus . . . fûdit# (_fundô_): cf. p. 15, n. 9.
16.11: 'transferred, removed.'
16.12: #Cum . . . fierent#: a causal clause; cf. p. 13, n. 20.
16.13: See Vocab., _carcer_.
16.14: #ad . . . audâciae# = _ut incrêscentem audâciam terrêret_.
Cf. p. 3, n. 8, and _ad congressum deae_, III, 33. #audâciae# is
objective genitive: cf. p. 14, n. 15.
16.15: #ponte subliciô#: abl. abs., with #factô#, expressing
means. This bridge, the earliest and most famous of the bridges
over the Tiber, derived its name from the circumstance that it was
always made of wood and supported on piles (_sublicae_). It is
this bridge that figures so largely in Macaulay's _Lays of Ancient
Rome_, Horatius, stanzas xxix. ff.
17.1: #in ôre#: 'at the mouth.' The town Ostia got its name from
its position _in ôre Tiberis_. It was the port of Rome, and thus
attained great importance. Great harbors were built there in the
days of the Empire, the remains of which, as well as of the
warehouses built for the storage of merchandise from abroad, are
still visible.]
#VI. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Romanorum rex quintus# [[stripped text]]