certamen:contest, struggle, fight.
coortum: sc. est; from cooriri, to arise, break out.
The twins are suckled by a wolf and reared by Faustulus.
Tenet fama, cum fluitantem alveum, quo expositi erant pueri, tenuis in sicco aqua destituisset, lupam sitientem ex montibus, qui circa sunt, ad puerilem vagitum cursum flexisse; eam 25 summissas infantibus adeo mitem praebuisse mammas ut lingua lambentem pueros magister regii pecoris invenerit—Faustulo fuisse nomen ferunt; ab eo ad stabula Laurentiae uxori educandos datos.
Now grown, the twins wish to found a city on the Palatine and agree to decide the leadership by augury.
“Romulus and Remus” Peter Paul Rubens 17th century Museo Capitolino Rome, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
Ita Numitori Albana re permissa, Romulum Remumque 30 cupido cepit in iis locis, ubi expositi ubique educati erant, urbis condendae. Et supererat multitudo Albanorum Latinorumque; ad id pastores quoque accesserant qui omnes facile spem facerent parvam Albam, parvum Lavinium prae ea urbe quae conderetur fore. Intervenit deinde his cogitationibus avitum 35 malum, regni cupido, atque inde foedum certamen coortum a satis miti principio. Quoniam gemini essent nec aetatis verecundia discrimen facere posset, ut dii, quorum tutelae ea loca essent, auguriis legerent qui nomen novae urbi daret, qui conditam imperio regeret, Palatium Romulus, Remus Aventinum ad 40 inaugurandum templa capiunt.
36. miti: here, innocent or uncontroversial.
essent: SUBJUNCT. OF QUOTED REASON.
37. ut…legerent (38): dependent on the main vb. capiunt.
quorum…essent: lit., of whose protection these places were = under whose protection the region was; the vb. is SUBJUNCT. BY ATTRACTION.
38. auguriis: augurium, augury, omen; also known as “taking the auspices” (from avis, bird), this was the practice of determining the will of the gods by interpreting the flight of birds or similar omens.
qui…daret, qui…regeret (39): REL. CL. OF PURPOSE, or, construing qui as interrogative (= uter), IND. QUEST.
39. Palatium Romulus, Remus Aventinum: CHIASMUS; the Palatine and Aventine hills are adjacent.
inaugurandum: inaugurare,to take the auguries.
40. templa: as sacred precincts, in appos. with Palatium and Aventinum; originally templum indicated simply a sacred area marked out in the sky or on the ground as a place for taking omens or as a spot sacred to a divinity.
41. priori Remo: for Remus first (sooner), DAT. OF REF.; the position of priori at the beginning of the sentence emphasizes Remus’ advantage in time; Romulus’advantage was in quantity.
sex vultures: in appos. with augurium.
43. multitudo: i.e., of supporters.
tempore…praecepto (44): lit., the time (of the omen) having been taken as foremost, i.e., on the grounds that they had received their omen sooner; CHIASMUS (tempore illi…hi numero) accentuates the conflicting claims.
44. trahebant: kept claiming.
cum altercatione:in a dispute, in conflict of words.
45. certamine: ABL. OF CAUSE.
irarum: the pl. emphasizes the angry feelings on both sides.
caedem: caedes,cutting, slaughter, murder.
ibi…cecidit (46): the very brevity of the sentence emphasizes the quickness with which the hotheaded brawl was over.
46. ictus: icere, to strike, hit.
vulgatior: not more vulgar but more commonly known.
fama est: this construction typically governs an IND. STATE, here Remum…transiluisse…inde…interfectum (esse).
ludibrio: ludibrium,mockery, derision; DAT. OF PURPOSE.
47. transiluisse: transilire, to leap over.
muros: murus,wall. According to this version, Romulus had apparently decided for himself that his omens were superior and had immediately begun constructing his walls, to a height of perhaps three or four feet, by the time Remus happened along; the walls followed the pomerium, a consecrated plowed boundary around the city, and so Remus’ leap was actually an act of sacrilege.
inde: adv., thence, after that, thereupon.
48. increpitans: increpitare, to call out to, reproach, rebuke.
sic: sc. pereat.
quicumque:whoever.
