TITI LIVI AB VRBE CONDITA PRAEFATIO. Facturusne operae pretium sim, si a primordio urbis 1 res populi Romani perscripserim, nec satis scio, nec, si sciam, dicere ausim, quippe qui cum veterem tum yul 2 gatam esse rem videam, dum novi semper scriptoreslaut in rebus certius aliquid,adlaturos se aut, scribendi artė, LIVY'S DOUBTS AS TO HIS SUCCESS COMPARED WITH THAT OF OTHERS. 1. Facturusne operae pretium sim (beginning a hexameter; not usually an approved style; see Quint. IX. 4. 74, and cf. Tac. Ann. I. 1), whether I shall accomplish anything worth while; i.e. worthy of recognition in proportion to the trouble. Cf. Sen. de Ben. III. 23. 2 and V. 1. 2. -facturus is emphatic as opposed to the undertaking of the work. Cf. operae pretium faciat, XXV. 30. 3, operae pretia mereri, XXI. 43. 9, where the other words are the emphatic ones. a primordio urbis: opposed to partial histories, such as were most of those current. · perscripserim: Gr. 516. c. satis, very well; often so used with an expressed or implied negative. sciam: early and colloquial use of the present instead of the imperfect subjunctive in conditions really contrary to fact; Gr. 517. e. - ausim: an early and colloquial form; Gr. 183. 3. 2. quippe qui . . . videam, seeing; Gr. 535. e. N. I. tum: see Gr. 323. g. cum ... rem: i.e. eo modo gloriari. Livy is deterred from boasting of what he intends to do by the fact that such boasts are old and common, and, he implies, not always fulfilled. Cf. opening of Book XXI.—dum . . . credunt, where, etc.; almost equivalent to a participial construction (Gr. 492). novi semper, etc.: the emphatic position of novi and the interlocked position of semper make the expression mean 'every new writer that arises thinks,' etc.; cf. V. 42. 6, novae semper cladis, and III. 66. 2. rebus, in the facts, or matter; i.e. the investigation side of history. certius: i.e. than their predecessors. -scribendi, etc.: i.e. the rhetorical side. rudem: as the taste of the time changes, the old is considered less cultivated and elegant. Cf. prisco illo dicendi et horrido modo, II. 32. 8. 3 rudem vetustatem, superaturos credunt., Vtcumque erit, iuvabit, tamen, rerum gestarum, memoriae,principis terrarum populi, pro virili parte et ipsum, consuluisse, et si, in tanta scriptorum turba, mea fama in obscuro sit, nobilitate ac magnitudine eorum, me, qui nomini officient meo, con4 soler. Res est praeterea, et immensi operis, ut, quae supra septingentesimum annum repetatur et quae ab exiguis profecta initiis eo creverit, ut iam magnitudine laboret sua, et legentium plerisque haud dubito quin primae origines pròximaque originibus minus praebitura voluptatis smt festinantibus ad haec nova, quibus iam pridem THE CERTAIN SATISFACTION IN 3. utcumque erit: i.e. whether I succeed or not.-iuvabit (sc. me), 'I shall be glad: notice the emphatic position pro virili parte . . . consuluisse, to have done my part also, etc. The expression seems to come from military or official usage (cf. viritim), referring to the proportion that belongs to a single man out of a body. - ipsum: the me has already been implied with iuvabit. in obscuro: this use of the neuter adjective instead of a simple predicate or an abstract noun is characteristic of the later writers. nobilitate ac magnitudine, fame and greatness; not definitely used of any particular quality, but indicating that they were conspicuous and distinguished men like Fabius, Cato, Cæsar, Varro.-officient, obscure; i.e. not that he himself is necessarily so small that he isn't seen in the crowd, but that they are so great that he couldn't expect to be seen. THE DIFFICULTY OF THE WORK: 4. res emphatic, opposed to scriptorum; the subject, too, is one, etc.; another consideration which prevents him from being sure of success. septingentesimum: i.e. from the founding of Rome, supposed to be 754 B.C. repetatur, is (to be) treated from, etc.; always with the idea of going back to get something. For mood, see Gr. 535. e. N. I. : exiguis of course, the state being small, its history must be limited in abundance of material. Livy's mind wavers between the size of the state and the mass of historical material,—a thaumatropic view to which he is all the more tempted by the fact that res may mean either the state or the material. laboret, threatens to fall. et legentium: loosely opposed to operis; difficult for the writers, and unsatisfactory to the readers. Livy has in his mind chiefly the earlier history, though not that alone. Cf. a primordio, 1; supra sept. anand primae, 4; prisca illa, 5. The participle, though rare in the singular, is in the best writers not uncommon in the plural, as a noun of agency, and is used still more freely by Livy and later writers. пит, haec: i.e. of our own time. — quibus: the deeds and the his praevalentis populi vires se ipsae conficiunt. Ego contra 5 hoc quoque laboris praemium petam, ut me a conspectu malorum, quae nostra tot per annos vidit aetas, tantisper certe dum prisca illa tota mente repeto, avertam, omnis expers curae, quae scribentis animum etsi non flectere a vero, sollicitum tamen efficere posset. Quae ante conditam condendamve urbem poeticis 6 magis decora fabulis quam incorruptis rerum gestarum monumentis traduntur, ea nec adfirmare nec refellere in animo est. Datur haec venia antiquitati, ut miscendo 7 humana divinis primordia urbium augustiora faciat, et si cui populo licere oportet consecrare origines suas et ad tory of them are confounded; to the account of these new deeds in which, etc. praevalentis: cf. magnitudine laboret, above. ipsae: see Gr. 298. f. THE INWARD COMPENSATION. 5. quoque: i.e. besides any success in the undertaking. malorum: i.e. the civil war. omnis: cf. sine omni, without any. But here the idiom is like our own. curae : i.e. the fear of giving offence in the treatment of recent Occurrences. Cf. Hor. Od. II. 1. 6, plenum opus aleae. - scribentis: cf. note on legentium, 4. - flectere: i.e. so as to warp his account through fear or favor: It could not make the historian untrue, but might worry him.'-posset: contrary to fact; i.e. if I were not expers curae.' Livy is speaking now only of the earlier history, and in this he is expers curae. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE 6. conditam condendamve: i.e. built or building; the first referring to the accounts of the immediate founders; the second, to the adventures of Æneas and their consequences. For construction, see Gr. 497, 506. N. I, and cf. inter bibendum and the like, and ante domandum, Georg. III. 206. The construction is no doubt an old one retained in colloquial use. decora, becoming. poeticis: i.e. when truth is not required. incorruptis, unfalsified; i.e. untainted by any suspicion of untrustworthiness.. -monumentis, records, as the sources of history. — adfirmare, refellere not merely affirm and deny, but establish and attempt to refute. 7. datur, we grant (emphatic). It is an indulgence not denied to early times to invent such myths, and so they are justifiable, whether we believe them or not. ut... faciat: see Gr. 531. I. N. I. divinis: the neuter in the cases which are alike in all genders is rare in Cicero, but becomes common later. Here it is more natural on account of humana preceding. si cui populo, etc., if ANY people ought to be ALLOWED. - consecrare, laim deos referre auctores, ea belli gloria est populo Romano ut, cum suum conditorisque sui parentem Martem potissimum ferat, tam et hoc gentes humanae patiantur aequo animo quam imperium patiuntur. 8 Sed haec et his similia, utcumque animadversa aut existimata erunt, haud in magno equidem ponam dis9 crimine; ad illa mihi pro se quisque acriter intendat animum, quae vita, qui mores fuerint, per quos viros quibusque artibus domi militiaeque et partum et auctum imperium sit; labente deinde paulatim disciplina velut desidentis primo mores sequatur animo, deinde ut magis magisque lapsi sint, tum ire coeperint praecipites, donec ad haec tempora, quibus nec vitia nostra nec remedia 10 pati possumus, perventum est. Hoc illud est praecipue add sanctity to. - referre: sc. origines. ea, etc. i.e. they have such fame as a warlike people, that the nations of the earth, having been conquered by them, may well allow their claim.. -suum: the position continues an implied emphasis on the Roman people, and at the same time opposes suum to conditoris. - potissimum, rather than any other; precisely the god of war. ferat, claims. -et hoc: i.e. this claim as well as their actual sovereignty.-patiuntur: the repetition of the verb implies as we see they are willing to do.' 8. animadversa, etc., criticised or appreciated. -haud: modifying in magno.-in magno discrimine ponam, attach any great weight to. Cf. aequa in laude ponendum est, Cic. Top. 18. 71; in honore ponunt, Cluent. 20. 57; and nullo discrimine habebo, Aen. X. 108. No doubt the expression is derived from bookkeeping (cf. lucro appone), and discrimen is used in the sense of controversy. — equidem, I'm sure. INSTRUCTION TO BE GOT FROM 9. ad illa, to the point; i.e. the following (as more generally interesting) questions. - mihi: ethical dative; almost as much as 'my feeling is.' vita, private life; mores, public morals.-per, by the instrumentality of, not by, which would be a.- -artibus, means, but referring to the personal conduct and qualities of the Romans. - deinde: used to connect the decline with the growth. - labente disciplina, as their priuciples were sapped. velut desidentis primo mores, the first giving way, as it were, of morals. - desidentis: of a gradual subsidence, as opposed to magis lapsi sunt, and finally to praecipites, etc. The whole figure is derived from a decaying edifice. deinde: the second moment. ut, how.vitia, etc.: the figure is from the healing art. Sufficiently active remedies would kill the patient. 10. hoc illud est, this is the in cognitione rerum salubre ac frugiferum, omnis te exempli documenta in inlustri posita monumento intueri; inde tibi tuaeque rei publicae quod imitere capias, inde foedum inceptu, foedum exitu quod vites. Ceterum aut me amor negotii suscepti fallit, aut nulla umquam res publica nec maior nec sanctior nec bonis exemplis ditior fuit, nec in quam civitatem tam serae avaritia luxuriaque immigraverint, nec ubi tantus ac tam diu paupertati ac parsimoniae honos fuerit; adeo quanto rerum minus, tanto minus cupiditatis erat. Nuper divi- 12 tiae avaritiam et abundantes voluptates desiderium per.. luxum atque libidinem pereundi perdendique omnia in thing. cognitione rerum, the study of history, as we should call it.omnis te, etc.: the emphasis gives the force: Every example should have a personal application, getting force from the conspicuousness of the case where it occurs.'. tibi, etc. (continuing the emphasis of te): i.e. personally and politically (rei publicae). inde... inde: the clauses are rather loosely opposed. It is only in a free sense that capias can be used of foedum. It would rather correspond to vites; but this is made to correspond to imitere. Still the turn, or, if we like, zeugma, is not unnatural, as capias takes the place of something like notes. RICHNESS OF MATTER FOR EXAM- II. ceterum, but (now, if it becomes a question of that).-aut . . . aut: as usual, exclusive. A modest form of asseveration, where the first alternative is stated, but evidently not believed possible. nulla unquam, etc., there NEVER was ANY. - nec... nec: Gr. 327. 2, 3. maior, grander. sanctior, more devoted to justice and piety. ditior: and hence more valuable for the purpose expressed in 10. civitatem, etc. : Cicero would probably say nec ulla civitas in quam. The change is irregular, but natural in a careless writer. serae: a somewhat poetical use of adjective for adverb; Gr. 290. -immigraverint, gained an entrance; as if they were of foreign origin. For mood, see Gr. 535. a. - paupertati: Livy is thinking of the Cincinnati, Fabricii, and Curii of ancient times. |