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46. The ground was now covered with snow and men could no longer live out of doors. The consul therefore withdrew his army from Samnium. [2] on his coming to Rome he was unanimously voted a triumph. this he celebrated, while still holding office, in a style which, for the circumstances of those days, was magnificent. [3] foot-soldiers and horsemen marched or rode past the crowds adorned with their decorations; many civic crowns were seen, and many that had been won at the escalade of a rampart or a city wall.1 men inspected the spoils that he had [p. 537]taken from the Samnites, and compared them for2 splendour and beauty with those his father had won, which were familiar to them from being often used in the decoration of public [5] places. a number of noble captives, famous for their own and their fathers' deeds, were led in the procession. of heavy bronze there were carried past two million five hundred and thirty —three thousand pounds. this bronze had been collected, it was said, from the sale of captives. of silver which had been taken from the cities there were eighteen hundred and thirty [6] pounds. all the bronze and silver was placed in the Treasury, none of the booty being given to the soldiers. The ill —feeling which this gave rise to in the plebs was increased by the gathering of a war —tax to pay the troops, since, if the consul had forgone the glory of depositing the captured money in the Treasury, the booty would then have afforded the soldiers a donative, as well as providing for their [7] pay. Papirius dedicated the temple of Quirinus. i find no ancient authority who states that it was vowed in the hour of conflict, nor indeed could it possibly have been completed in so short a time; his father had vowed it when dictator, and the son as consul dedicated it, adorning it with the spoils of the [8] enemy. of these there was such a great quantity that not only were the temple and the Forum bedecked with them, but they were distributed also amongst the allies and the neighbouring colonies for the decoration of their temples and public [9] squares. after triumphing, Papirius led his army into the country of the Vescini —a district infested by the Samnites —to pass the [10] winter.

[p. 539] in Etruria meanwhile the consul Carvilius, having3 made his preparations to begin with an attack on Troilum,4 agreed with four hundred and seventy of the wealthiest inhabitants for a large sum of money to let them [11] go; the rest of the population and the town itself he took by assault. he then stormed five fortresses situated in positions of great [12] strength. there he slew two thousand four hundred of the enemy, making fewer than two thousand prisoners. he also granted a year's truce to the Faliscans —who came to him seeking peace —having stipulated for a hundred thousand of heavy bronze and the year's pay for his [13] soldiers. after these exploits he departed to enjoy his triumph, which, though less distinguished than his colleague's had been for success against the Samnites, was a match for it when the Etruscan war was counted [14] in. - Of heavy bronze he lodged in the Treasury three hundred and eighty thousand pounds; with what remained he contracted for a temple to Fors Fortuna to be erected from the general's spoils, near the temple of that goddess dedicated by [15??] King Servius Tullius,5 while to the soldiers he apportioned from the rest of the booty one hundred and two asses each, and as much again to the centurions and horsemen. These allowances were all the more welcome because of the parsimony of his [16] colleague. The consul's popularity served to shield his lieutenant Lucius Postumius from the people. he had been indicted by Marcus Scantius, a plebeian tribune, but had escaped trial before the people —so the story ran —through his appointment to the lieutenancy; so that it was easier to threaten him than to carry home the accusation.6

[p. 541]

1 The civic crown was conferred on a soldier who saved the life of a fellow [4] —citizen; the others on the first man to mount the enemy's rampart and city wall, respectively.

2 B.C. 293

3 B.C. 293

4 Site unknown.

5 The temple was not mentioned by Livy in his account of that king's reign (I. xxxix.-xlviii.).

6 The course of events somewhat obscurely indicated here would seem to have been as follows: —When Scantius lodged the indictment, Carvilius procured Postumius immunity for a year by making him a legatus. on the expiration of the year some successor of Scantius revived the prosecution, but was induced by the friends of Carvilius to let the proceedings drop.

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load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
load focus Summary (English, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus Summary (Latin, W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
load focus Summary (Latin, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus English (D. Spillan, A.M., M.D., Cyrus Evans, 1849)
load focus Latin (Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
load focus English (Rev. Canon Roberts, 1912)
load focus Latin (Charles Flamstead Walters, Robert Seymour Conway, 1919)
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  • Commentary references to this page (7):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.20
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.49
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.25
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.27
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 34.34
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 35-38, commentary, 36.36
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 39-40, commentary, 40.38
  • Cross-references to this page (26):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (18):
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