Note 2 — URBIS RŌMAE VIRĪ INLŪSTRĒS Complete text as printed
Reading edition
17.2 Tarquiniīs . . . urbe: ‘from Tarquinii, a city of Etruria.’ Cf. p. 8, n. 5.
17.3 proficīscor.
17.4 Sc. Rōmam: ‘while on his way to Rome.’ The participle agrees with eī understood, which is a dat. of separation, or disadvantage, with sustulit: H 427 (385, 2): M 539: A 229: G 345, R. 1: B 188, 2, d.
17.5 tollō.
17.6 A two-wheeled carriage, with curtains and an awning.
17.7 cuī: ‘in which.’ Why dat.?
17.8 rūrsus . . . reposuit: since repōnō = ‘to put back,’ or ‘to place again,’ rūrsus is unnecessary.
17.9 More often repōnō is followed by in with the abl., or the acc.
17.10 sublīmis abiit: ‘flew high up in the air and departed.’
17.11 caelestium . . . perīta: ‘skilled in (interpreting) portents from heaven.’ The Romans regarded the Etruscans as exceptionally skillful in such matters. For the gen., see H 451, 1 (399, I, 2). M 573: A 218, a: G 374: B 204, 1.
17.12 rēgnum eī portendī intellēxit: ‘perceived that the sign indicated that he was to be king.’ How literally? According to Livy, the significance of the omen lay in these facts: It came from a favorable quarter of the sky (which, to the Romans, was the east); it concerned his head, the supreme part of his being; hence the removal of his cap by the eagle, the bird of Jupiter, ‘king of gods and men,’ and its restoration, implied that his cap was to be removed and replaced by a crown.
17.13 neuter plural adjectives, used as nouns: ‘an exalted destiny.’
18.1 ingredior.
18.2 cōnsequor.
18.3 relinquō.
18.4 H 584 (513, II): M 944, 945: A 312, and N. 1: G 602 and R.: B 307.
18.5 adipīscor.
18.6 Circum Māximum: see map, p. xxviii. In its final form it could accommodate nearly 300,000 spectators. The Romans of the Empire were passionately devoted to the chariot races of the circus. For a good description of a Roman circus, see Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, Book V, Chap. XII.
18.7 dē Sabīnīs triumphāvit: ‘he triumphed over’; lit., ‘he got a triumph out of.’ See Vocab., triumphus.
18.8 mūrum . . . circumdedit: ‘he built a stone wall round the city.’ According to Livy, the wall was merely begun by Tarquin and finished by his successor, Servius Tullius.
18.9 Cf. II, 42. Livy says that when Romulus formed the three centuries of horsemen he called one Ramnēs, after his own name, another Titiēnsēs, after King Tatius. Tarquin desired to name the new centuries after himself.
18.10 = tempore.
18.11 nisi . . . addīxissent: ‘unless the birds gave consent,’ i.e. without taking the auspicia and finding them favorable. Cf. I, 42. The subjunctive is due to the indirect discourse. For the tense, see p. 6, n. 1.
18.12 in experīmentum artis: ‘to test his art.’ Cf. p. 14, n. 4.
18.13 Cf. p. 3, n. 2.
18.14 Cf. p. 6, n. 1. The king said ‘Potestne fierī quod in mente concēpī?’
18.15 hōc is emphatic, ‘Ah, but what I had in mind was this.’
18.16 Potes ergō: ‘well, you can.’
18.17 descriptive gen.: H 440, 3 (396, V): M 558: A 215: G 365: B 203.
18.18 Cf. p. 14, n. 1.
18.19 Sc. togā.
19.1 See Vocab., bulla.
19.2 = ex quō: ‘in consequence of this circumstance.’
19.3 Cf. p. 5, n. 14, and p. 16, n. 9.
19.4 ‘were still alive.’
19.5 = patris. Cf. the use of rēgius, I, 17.
19.6 The infinitive depends on aegrē ferentēs. Phrases expressive of emotion, whether of joy or of sorrow, are often followed by the infinitive with subject accus.
19.7 Cf. p. 4, n. 3.
19.8 The conjunction of the subordinate clause is often preceded by one or two words, sometimes by a larger number.
19.9 certātim . . . obstrepere: ‘to (try to) drown each other’s voices’; lit., ‘in eager rivalry to make noise one against (ob) the other.’ Why is alterī dative?
19.10 ex compositō: ‘according to previous agreement.’
19.11 ēlātam secūrim . . . dēiēcit = extulit (‘raised’) et dēiēcit. Cf. p. 2, n. 8.
19.12 relīctō . . . tēlō: we say, ‘leaving the weapon—they flee,’ i.e. we treat the two actions as simultaneous. The Romans say more exactly: ‘having left—they flee,’ i.e. the act of leaving is viewed as prior to that of flight.