[Linenotes: 1. +Occasio.+ This, so Livy tells us, was the jealousy between the Fabian sisters, the one married to the patrician Sulpicius, the other to the plebeian Licinius Stolo. 1-2. +propter ... alieni.+ The old Roman law of debt was very harsh and severe. 3. +in summo imperio+, i.e. the Consulate. 4. +accingendum ... esse+ = _they must brace themselves to the execution of that idea_. --R. +accingendum+, reflexive here. 5. +iam eo+, i.e. to the office of Consular Tribune, created 444 B.C. 6. +si porro annitantur+ = _if they +now+ make a further effort_. This use of Pres. Subj. in Or. Obl. frequent in Livy. 7. +tam honore quam virtute+ = _in official rank as (they were already) in merit_. --Rawlins. 12-14. +ut deducto ... persolveretur+ = ‘_after deducting from the amount of the loan_ (+capite+ = _principal_) _what had been paid in interest, the balance should be paid in three equal instalments_.’ --Cluer and Matheson. 15. +de modo agrorum+ = _relating to the limitation of land-holding_. 16-17. +tribunorum militum+ (sc. _cum consulari potestate_) created 444 B.C., but no plebeian obtained that honour till 400 B.C., and only two after that date. 17. +utique+ = _one at any rate_.]
+Result.+ ‘The principle was established that Patricians and Plebeians were both citizens of the State, and equally eligible to the honours and dignities of the Republic.’ --Ihne.
‘Dic, dea,’ respondi, ‘ludorum quae sit origo.’ Vix bene desieram; rettulit illa mihi: ‘Cetera luxuriae nondum instrumenta vigebant: Aut pecus, aut latam dives habebat humum; 4 Hinc etiam locuples, hinc ipsa pecunia dicta est. Sed iam de vetito quisque parabat opes. Venerat in morem populi depascere saltus; Idque diu licuit, poenaque nulla fuit. 8 Vindice servabat nullo sua publica vulgus; Iamque in privato pascere inertis erat. Plebis ad aediles perducta licentia talis Publicios: animus defuit ante viris. 12 Rem populus recipit: multam subiere nocentes: Vindicibus laudi publica cura fuit. Multa data est ex parte mihi, magnoque favore Victores ludos instituere novos. 16 Parte locant Clivum, qui tunc erat ardua rupes: Utile nunc iter est. Publiciumque vocant.’
OVID, _Fasti_, v. 237-254, H. [V. 277-294]
[Linenotes: 2. +illa+, i.e. _Flora_, the Roman goddess of Flowers and Spring. 3. +luxuriae instrumenta+ = _appliance of luxury_. 5. +locuples+ (_locus + plenus_) = _rich in lands_. +pecunia+ from +pecus+, _cattle_ being in olden time the chief form of wealth and the chief medium of exchange. For +pecus+, cf. _fee_, _fief_, _feudal_. 7. +Venerat ... saltus+ = _it had grown into a custom to feed (cattle) on the public forest-pastures_. (Cf. the ager publicus.) --H. 9. +sua publica+ = _their common property_, i.e. their interest in the public land. +vulgus+ here = _the commons_, not the _plebs_ as opposed to the _populus_. 10. +inertis erat+ = _it was the mark of a man wanting in spirit_. 12. +Publicios.+ L. and M. Publicius Malleolus,[21] plebeian aediles, B.C. 241. +animus ... viris+, i.e. information had before been given but no aedile dared to act upon it. 13. +recipit+ = _takes up the charge at the Comitia_. +multam+ = _a fine_. Cf. to mulct = to fine. 14. +publica cura+ = _their public spirit_. --H. 15. +multa ... mihi+, i.e. a new Temple was built to Flora near the Circus Maximus. +ludos novos+ = _the Floralia_. 16. +Parte locant+ (sc. _muniendum_) +Clivum+ = _with the (other) part they contract for (the making of) the Clivus_, a sloping road, called the Clivus Publicius, which led up to the Aventine.]