Lēgātō Rōmānō rēs repetentī superbē respōnsum[8] est ā Latīnīs; quārē bellum hōc[9] modō eīs indictum est. Ancus, exercitū cōnscrīptō, profectus[10] Latīnōs fūdit et complūribus oppidīs dēlētīs cīvēs Rōmam { 20} trādūxit[11]. Cum[12] autem in tantā hominum multitūdine facinora clandestīna fierent, Ancus carcerem[13] in mediā urbe ad[14] terrōrem incrēscentis audāciae aedificāvit. Īdem nova moenia urbī circumdedit, { 25} Iāniculum montem ponte[15] subliciō [[17]] in Tiberī factō urbī cōniūnxit, in ōre[1] Tiberis Ōstiam urbem condidit. Plūribus aliīs rēbus intrā paucōs annōs cōnfectīs; immātūrā morte praereptus obiit. { 29}
15.10: What is the force of this abl. abs.? 15.11: #rēgem populus creāvit#: 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 _interrēx_, 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# (_tollō_) #animōs#: ‘had plucked up courage.’ 15.14: Cf. _priusquam . . . posset_, IV, 25, and note. 15.15: #quī . . . repeteret#: relative clause of purpose. _Rēs repetere_ = ‘to demand the (stolen) things,’ is a technical phrase of war, and = ‘to demand restitution or satisfaction.’ The opposite is _rēs reddere_, or _rēs dēdere_, as in l. 13. 16.1: #eum mōrem . . . accēpērunt#: ‘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 _lēgātus_ here covers his face, because he is praying to Jupiter and to the #fīnēs#, which are personified. 16.3: This word, rather than _dīxit_, is used with direct discourse, and regularly stands, as here, _within_ the quotation. 16.4: The _lēgātus_, of course, said _fīnēs Albānōrum_, or _Vēientium_, as the case might be. 16.5: ‘official,’ i.e. duly accredited. 16.6: #verbīs . . . sit# = _verbīs meīs crēdite_. Cf. II, 48, _cuī reī fidem fēcit_. #sit# is a hortatory subjunctive; H 559, 1 (484, II): M 713: A 266: G 263: B 274. 16.7: See Vocab., _fētiālis_. 16.8: #respōnsum . . . Latīnīs# = _Latīnī respondērunt_. The impersonal passive is common. 16.9: #hōc#: ‘described _above_,’ in lines 9-16. In l. 9 _hōc_ = ‘described _below_.’ _Hīc_ more often bears the latter sense, i.e. it refers to what follows. 16.10: #profectus . . . fūdit# (_fundō_): 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 . . . audāciae# = _ut incrēscentem audāciam terrēret_. Cf. p. 3, n. 8, and _ad congressum deae_, III, 33. #audāciae# is objective genitive: cf. p. 14, n. 15. 16.15: #ponte subliciō#: abl. abs., with #factō#, 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 ōre#: ‘at the mouth.’ The town Ostia got its name from its position _in ōre 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.]