(1) Huic Titus fīlius successit, quī et ipse Vespasiānus est dictus, vir omnium virtūtum genere mīrābilis adeō, ut “amor et dēliciae humānī generis” dīcerētur, facundissimus, bellicōsissimus, moderātissimus. Causās Latīnē ēgit, poēmata et tragoediās Graecē composuit.
(2) In oppūgnātiōne Hierosolymōrum sub patre mīlitāns duodecim prōpūgnātōrēs duodecim sagittārum cōnfīxit ictibus. Rōmae tantae cīvīlitātis in imperiō fuit, ut nūllum omnīnō pūniret, convictōs adversum sē coniūrātiōnis dīmīserit vel in eādem familiāritāte quam anteā habuerit.
(3) Facilitātis et līberālitātis tantae fuit, ut, cum nūllī quicquam negāret et ab amīcīs reprehenderētur, responderit nūllum trīstem dēbēre ab imperātōre discēdere; praetereā cum quādam diē in cēnā recordātus fuisset nihil sē illō diē cuiquam praestitisse, dīxerit: “Amīcī, hodiē diem perdidī.”
(4) Hīc Rōmae amphitheātrum aedificāvit et quīnque mīlia ferārum in dēdicātiōne eius occīdit.
notes
Titus Emperor, 79–81 CE
(1) Huic: dative object of successit, referring to Vespasian (AG 370)
Titus: Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasian. His early years were spent in military service in Britain and Germany. He won great credit as a general and a soldier. When he returned to Rome after the fall of Jerusalem, he conducted himself in such a manner as to cause a fear that his rule would resemble that of Nero. But after he became emperor he changed his manner of living, and his whole reign was marked by a sincere desire for the happiness of his people. The year 79 CE is memorable for the great eruption of Vesuvius, attended by the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. He competed the Colosseum, often called the Flavian Amphitheater. When he died, after a reign of only two years, there was a suspicion that he had been poisoned by his brother Domitian (Hazzard).
quī et ipse Vespasiānus est dictus: his father was also named Vespasian
omnium virtūtum genere mīrābilis: "remarkable for every type of virtue" (Hazzard)
adeō ut: adeō anticipates the following result clause (AG 537)
amor et dēliciae humānī generis dīcerētur: "the darling and delight of the human race" (Bird); a phrase also used by the biographer Suetonius (Vit. Tit. 1.1)
composuit: Titus' literary compositions are lost.
(2) In oppūgnātiōne Hierosolymōrum: images from the triumph over the Sack of Jerusalem can still be seen today preserved on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
Rōmae: locative, "At Rome"
tantae cīvīlitātis: genitive of quality (AG 345). civilitās, "citizen-like behavior," "unpretentiousness" was a key virtue prized in Roman emperors. See Brev. 8.2, on Trajan.
(3) Facilitātis et līberālitātis tantae fuit: genitive of quality (AG 345), with modifier tantae anticipating a result clause (AG 537)
cum nūllī quicquam negāret: "since he denied nothing to anyone" (Bird). nūllī = nēminī.
recordātus fuisset: "he realized" > recordor. CL would be recordatus esset. Indirect statement follows.
"Amīcī, hodiē diem perdidī": "Friends, today I have lost a day" (Bird), a direct quote from Suetonius (Vit. Tit. 8.1).
(4) amphitheātrum aedificāvit: the famous Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater) at Rome. Dio Cassius (Histories 66.25) describes the spectacles at its dedication.
read more
Dio Cassius, Histories 66.25:
[66.25.1] Most that [Titus] did was not characterized by anything noteworthy, but in dedicating the hunting-theatre and the baths that bear his name he produced many remarkable spectacles. There was a battle between cranes and also between four elephants; animals both tame and wild were slain to the number of nine thousand; and women (not those of any prominence, however) took part in dispatching them. 2 As for the men, several fought in single combat and several groups contended together both in infantry and naval battles. For Titus suddenly filled this same theatre with water and brought in horses and bulls and some other domesticated animals that had been taught to behave in the liquid element just as on land.
[66.25.3] He also brought in people on ships, who engaged in a sea-fight there, impersonating the Corcyreans and Corinthians; and others gave a similar exhibition outside the city in the grove of Gaius and Lucius, a place which Augustus had once excavated for this very purpose. There, too, on the first day there was a gladiatorial exhibition and wild-beast hunt, the lake in front of the images having first been covered over with a platform of planks and wooden stands erected around it. 4 On the second day there was a horse-race, and on the third day a naval battle between three thousand men, followed by an infantry battle. The "Athenians" conquered the "Syracusans" (these were the names the combatants used), made a landing on the islet and assaulted and captured a wall that had been constructed around the monument. These were the spectacles that were offered, and they continued for a hundred days; but Titus also furnished some things that were of practical use to the people.
[66.25.5] He would throw down into the theatre from aloft little wooden balls variously inscribed, one designating some article of food, another clothing, another a silver vessel or perhaps a gold one, or again horses, pack-animals, cattle or slaves. Those who seized them were to carry them to the dispensers of the bounty, from whom they would receive the article named.
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
Titus, ī, m. |
T. Flavius Sabīnus Vespasiānus, Roman emperor 79–81 A.D. |
succēdō, ere, cessī, cessus |
to come up, advance; succeed, follow |
Vespasiānus, ī, m. |
(T. Flavius) Vespasiānus, Roman emperor 70–79 A.D. |
mīrābilis, e [mīror], adj. |
wonderful |
dēliciae, ārum, pl. f. |
delight, pleasure, luxury |
fācundus, a, um, adj. |
eloquent |
bellicōsus, a, um [bellicus], adj. |
warlike, fond of war, fierce |
moderātus, a, um [moderor], adj. |
self-controlled, temperate, modest |
Latīnē, adv. |
in Latin |
poēma, atis, n. |
a poem |
tragoedia, ae, f. |
tragedy |
Graecē, adv. |
in the Greek language, in Greek |
oppūgnātiō, ōnis [oppūgnō], f. |
an assault, attack, siege 2 |
Hierosolyma, ōrum, pl. n. |
Jerusalem |
mīlitō, āre, āvī, ātus [mīles] |
to be a soldier, wage war |
prōpūgnātor, ōris [prōpūgnō, to defend], m. |
a defender |
sagitta, ae, f. |
arrow |
cōnfīgō, ere, fīxī, fīxus [con + fīgō, to fix] |
to fasten together, unite |
cīvīlitās, ātis [cīvīlis], f. |
citizen-like behavior, affability, unpretentiousness |
omnīnō [omnis], adv. |
in all, altogether, only, in general; at all |
pūniō, īre, īvī, ītus [poena |
to punish |
coniūrātiō, ōnis [coniūrō], f. |
a conspiracy, plot |
familiāritās, ātis [familiāris], f. |
intimacy, friendship |
anteā [ante], adv. |
before, formerly |
facilitās, ātis [facilis, easy], f. |
ease, kindliness, kindness, courtesy 3 |
līberālitās, ātis [līberālis], f. |
generosity, kindness; a gift |
reprehendō, ere, ī, hēnsus |
to hold back, check; blame, criticise, reprove |
cēna, ae, f. |
dinner, the principal meal of the Romans, taken about three o'clock |
recordor, ārī, ātus sum [re + cor, heart] |
to remember, recall |
amphitheātrum, ī, n. |
amphitheater 4 |
aedificō, āre, āvī, ātus [aedis + faciō] |
to build |
fera, ae [ferus], f. |
a wild beast |
dēdicātiō, ōnis [dēdicō, to dedicate], f. |
a dedication, consecration |