A Latin Reader

46. Romans and Sabines Fight

Itaque Sabīnī bel­lum parant et arcem occu­pant. Exerci­tus Rōmānus in cam­pum, ubi nunc Forum Rōmānum est, dēs­cen­dit. Sabīnī, Met­tiō Cur­tiō dūcente, idem fēcērunt. Proeli­um com­mis­sum est. Hostius Hos­til­ius, prīn­ceps Rōmānōrum, cecid­it. Cōn­fēs­tim aciēs Rōmā­na inclīnābā­tur fūsaque est.

Rōmu­lus, ipse tur­bā fugi­en­tium āctus, arma ad caelum tol­lēns ita precā­tus est: “Iup­piter, hīc in Palātiō prī­ma urbī fundā­men­ta iēcī. Arcem iam Sabīnī habent. Inde hūc ten­dunt. At tū, pater deōrum hominumque, hinc arcē hostēs. Dēme ter­rōrem Rōmānīs. Hanc fugam foedam siste. Hīc ego tibi tem­plum voveō.” Haec precā­tus Rōmu­lus, “Rōmānī,” inquit, “Iup­piter resistere atque iterāre pug­nam iubet.”

Restitērunt Rōmānī, tamquam cae­lesti vōce iussī. Rōmu­lus ipse ad prīmōrēs prōvolat. Met­tius Cur­tius ēger­at Rōmānōs quan­tum tōtō forō spatium est et nōn procul ā portā Palātī eram, clāmitāns: “Vīcimus per­fidōs Rōmānōs. Vir­ginēs rap­ere pos­sunt, sed cum virīs pugnāre nōn pos­sunt!” In eum ita glōri­antem Rōmu­lus cum globō fer­ō­cis­simōrum iuvenum impe­tum fēc­it. Pul­sum cum Rōmānī perse­qu­un­tur. Et alia Rōmā­na aciēs, audā­ciā rēgis accēn­sa, fun­dit Sabīnōs. In mediā con­va­lle duōrum mon­tium Rōmānī Sabīnīque diū et ācrit­er pugnant.

Tum Sabī­nae mulierēs, crīnibus passīs, inter tēla volan­tia sē īnfer­unt, et hinc patrēs, hinc virōs ōrant ut fīnem pug­nae faciant. Silen­tium et repenti­na quiēs fit. Inde prōde­unt ducēs et foe­dus faci­unt. Nōn pācem modo, sed civ­itātem ūnam ex duābus faci­unt, nam Sabīnī in urbem Rōmam ā Rōmānīs recep­tī sunt.

Some Sabine maids had been stolen by inhab­i­tants of the new set­tle­ment on the Pala­tine. The Sabines there­fore made war.

arcem: the Capitoline.

cam­pum: only a marshy val­ley at that time.

ipse … āctus: him­self car­ried along by the con­fused throng of fugitives.

ad: toward.

ten­dunt: are direct­ing their course.

arcē: from arceō.

Rōmānīs: in the dative case, but trans­late, from the Romans.

qan­tum… est: lit­er­al­ly, as much space as there is in the entire forum; bet­ter Eng­lish, the e7itire length of the forum.

clāmitāns: fre­quen­ta tive, shout­ing repeatedly.

pul­sum: from pellō.

in mediā con­va­lle: in the cen­ter of the valley.

passīs: from pandō.