previous next

The senate had to thank Pacuvius for its life, and it was much more under his control than under that of the populace. By common consent he now wielded supreme power and needed no armed support. [2] Henceforth the senators, forgetting their rank and independence, flattered the populace, saluted them courteously, invited them as guests, [3??] received them at sumptuous banquets, undertook their cases, always appeared on their side, and when they were trying suits they always decided the actions in a way to secure the favour of the mob. In fact, the proceedings in the senate were exactly as though it had been a popular assembly. [4] The city had always been disposed to luxury and extravagance, not only through the weakness of the character of its citizens, but also through the superabundance of the means of enjoyment and the incitements to every kind of pleasure which land or sea could furnish, and now, owing to the obsequiousness of the nobility and the licence of the populace, it was becoming so demoralised that the sensuality and extravagance which prevailed exceeded all bounds. [5] They treated the laws, the magistrates, the senate with equal contempt, and now after the defeat of Cannae they [6??] began to feel contempt for the one thing which they had hitherto held in some respect-the power of Rome. The only circumstances which prevented them from immediately revolting were the old established right of intermarriage which had led [7??] to many of their illustrious and powerful families becoming connected with Rome and the fact that several citizens were serving with the Romans. [8] The strongest tie of this nature was the presence of three hundred cavalry, from the noblest families in Capua, in Sicily, whither they had been specially sent by the Roman authorities to garrison the island. The parents and relatives of these troopers succeeded after much difficulty in getting envoys sent to the Roman consul.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1884)
load focus Summary (Latin, Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1940)
load focus Summary (English, Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1940)
load focus Summary (Latin, W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1884)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1884)
load focus Latin (Robert Seymour Conway, Charles Flamstead Walters, 1929)
load focus English (Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1940)
load focus Latin (Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1940)
load focus English (D. Spillan, A.M., M.D., Cyrus Evans, 1849)
hide References (22 total)
  • Commentary references to this page (11):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.1
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.12
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.27
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.39
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 32.17
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.37
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 35-38, commentary, 36.7
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 43-44, commentary, 43.10
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 43-44, commentary, 44.27
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, book 45, commentary, 45.23
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, book 45, commentary, 45.31
  • Cross-references to this page (7):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (4):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: