Inscription from Tablet in Fine Arts Museum of Lyon
Senatus consultum Claudianum (oratio Claudii) de iure honorum Gallis dando (48 CE)

TEXT FROM LATIN LIBRARY FULL OF MISTAKES: ALSO CHECK TEXT POSTED ONLINE FOR CLASS

1. Column I
1. 
   
• mae rerum nostr . . . . . sii . . . . . . . . | 
2. 
   
• Equidem primam omnium illam cogitationem hominum,
  
• quam | maxime primam occursuram mihi provideo,
  
• deprecor,
  
• ne | quasi novam istam rem introduci exhorrescatis,
  
• sed illa | potius cogitetis,
  
• quam multa in hac civitate novata sint,
  
• et | quidem statim ab origine urbis nostrae in quod formas | statusque respublica nostra diducta sit. |
  
• I for my part seek to deflect that first thought of all humans, which I foresee is going to initially come at me, in order that you not bristle that this matter is introduced as an innovation, but rather that you consider how many innovations there have been in this state, and indeed right from the start of our city into what thing the contours and situation our republic has been brought.
  
3. 
   
• Quondam reges hanc tenuere urbem,
  
• nec tamen domesticis succes|soribus eam tradere contigit.
  
• Once kings held this city, and still handing it down to [their] successors did not happen.
  
4. 
   
• Supervenere alieni et quidem exter|ni, ut Numa Romulo successerit ex Sabinis veniens, vicinus qui | dem, sed tunc externus, ut Anco Marcio Priscus Tarquinius.
  
• Foreigners came, from outside at that, so that Numa, from the Sabines, followed Romulus, a neighbor sure, but at the time an outsider, as Priscus Tarquinius [followed] Ancus Marcius.
  
5. 
   
• Is |
  
• propter temeratum sanguinem,
  
• quod patre Demaratho Co | rinthio natus erat
  
• et Tarquiniensi matre generosa, sed inopi |
  
• ut quae tali marito necesse habuerit succumbere,
  
• cum domi re | pelleretur a gerendis honoribus,
  
• postquam Romam migravit, |
  
• regnum adeptus est.
  
• He, on account of adulterated blood moved to Rome, (because he had been born from Demaratus the Corinthian, his father, and a Tarquinian mother, noble but poor, so that she considered it necessary to submit to such a husband) when he was kept from holding offices at home, later acquired the kingdom.
  
6. 
   
• Huic quoque et filio nepotive eius
  
• (nam et | hoc inter auctores discrepat)
  
• insertus Servius Tullius,
  
• si nostros | sequimur,
  
• captiva natus Ocresia;
  
• Si Tuscos,
  
• Caeli quondam Vi | vennae sodalis fidelissimus omnisque eius casus comes,
  
• post | quam varia fortuna exactus cum omnibus reliquis Caeliani | exercitus Etruria excessit,
  
• montem Caelium occupavit
  
• et a duce suo | Caelio ita appellitatus,
  
• mutatoque nomine
  
• (nam Tusce Mastarna | ei nomen erat)
  
• ita appellatus est,
  
• ut dixi,
  
• et regnum summa cum rei | p. utilitate optinuit.
  
• Between him and his son or nephew (for even among the authorities this differs) Servius Tullius intervened, if we follow our people, born from the captured Ocresia; if [we follow] the Tusci, once the most loyal associate of Caelius Vivenna and a companion of all his fortune, after he was driven out by varied luck, he left Etruria with all the remnants of Caelius' army and occupied the Caelian hill and thus was titled Caelius from its leader, with his name changed (for in Tuscan, his name had been Mastarna) was called that, as I said, and obtained the kingdom to the great benefit of the republic.
  
7. 
   
• Deinde
  
• postquam Tarquini Superbi mores in | visi civitati nostrae esse coeperunt,
  
• qua ipsius qua filiorum eius, |
  
• nempe pertaesum est mentes regni,
  
• et ad consules, annuos magis | tratus, administratio rei p. translata est. |
  
• Then after the character of Tarquinius Suberbus began to be hateful to our city, partly his own, partly that of his sons, surely [our] minds had been thoroughly tired of a kingship, the administration of the republic was transferred to consuls, annual offices.
  
8. 
   
• Quid nunc commemorem dictaturae hoc ipso consulari impe | rium valentius repertum apud maiores nostros quo in as | perioribus bellis aut in civili motu difficiliore uterentur? | aut in auxilium plebis creatos tribunos plebei?
  
• Why should I now mention the office of the dictatorship, more powerful than the consular power itself, invented by our ancestors to use in more rough wars or in civil unrest? or the tribunes of the plebs elected for the aid of the plebs?
  
9. 
   
• Quid a consu | libus ad decemviros translatum imperium, solutoque postea decemvirali regno ad consules rusus reditum?
  
• Why [should I mention] the power transferred from the consuls to the decemirs and, once the decemviral reigh was dissolved, returned back to the consuls?
  
10. 
    
• Quid in plu | ris distributum consulare imperium, tribunosque militum | consulari imperio appellatos, qui seni et saepe octoni crearen | tur?
  
• Why [mention] consular power distributed over many, and those called tribunes militum with consular power, who were elected six at a time and often eight at a time?
  
11. 
    
• Quid communicatos postremo cum plebe honores non imperii | solum, sed sacerdotiorum quoque? 
• Why [mention], finally, offices shared with the plebs not only of administrative power, but also of priestly?
  
12. 
    
• Iam
  
• si narrem bella,
  
• a quibus | coeperint maiores nostri,
  
• et quo processerimus,
  
• vereor,
  
• ne nimio | insolentior esse videar, et quaesisse iactationem gloriae pro | lati imperi ultra Oceanum.
  
• Now, if I were to tell of wars, from which our ancestors began and by which they advanced, I fear lest I seem overly boastful and to have sought a vaunting of glory of the empire projected beyond ocean.
  
13. 
    
• Sed illoc potius revertar. Civitatem |
  
• But to return rather to there. The state
  
2. Column II 
1. 
   
• . . . . . . . . . ill sane|novo . . . Divus Aug. . . . . . no . . . . i set patruus Ti. | Caesar omnem florem ubique coloniarum et municipiorum, bo|norum scilicet virorum et locupletium, in hac curia esse voluit. |
  
• surely new ... the divine Augustus ... my uncle Tiberius Caesar wanted all the best of the colonies and settlements from all over, namely of the good and wealthy men, to be in this curia.
  
2. 
   
• Quid ergo?
  
• So what?
  
3. 
   
• Non Italicus senator provinciali potior est?
  
• Is not an Italian senator preferable to a provincial one?
  
4. 
   
• Iam | vobis cum hanc partem censurae meae adprobare coepero, quid | de ea re sentiam, rebus ostendam.
  
• Now I will show you in deed what I think about that matter, once I begin to reaffirm this part of my censorship.
  
5. 
   
• Sed ne provinciales quidem, | si modo ornare curiam poterint, reiciendos puto. |
  
• But I do not think that even provincials are to be cast aside if they can make the curia illustrious.
  
6. 
   
• Ornatissima ecce colonia valentissimaque Viennensium quam | longo iam tempore senatores huic curiae confert?
  
• Look at how the most illustrious colony of Vienne now for a long time contributes senators to this curia.
  
7. 
   
• Ex qua colo|nia inter paucos equestris ordinis ornamentum, L. Vestinum, fa|miliarissime diligo et hodieque in rebus meis detineo; cuius libe | ri fruantur quaeso primo sacerdotiorum gradu, post modo cum | annis promoturi dignitatis suae incrementa.
  
• From that colony among a few of the equestrian order I esteem more intimately the illustrious Lucius Vestinus, and I keep him for my own affairs daily; may his children, please, enjoy the first rank of the priests, and later when they will advane in years, additions to their honor.
  
8. 
   
• Vt dirum nomen la | tronis taceam, et odi illud palaestricum prodigium, quod ante in do | mum consulatum intulit, quam colonia sua solidum civitatis Roma | nec benificium consecuta est.
  
• To avoid the horrible name of the pirate, and I hate that wrestling prodigy, because he brought the consulship into his house before his colony had acquired the solidity or the advantage of citizenship at Rome.
  
9. 
   
• Idem de fratre eius possum dicere, | miserabili quidem indignissimoque hoc casu, ut vobis utilis | senator esse non possit. |
  
• Likewise I could say about his brother of wretched and most unworthy fortune, so that he is a senator unable to be of use to you.
  
10. 
    
• Tempus est iam, Ti. Caesar Germanice, detegere te patribus conscriptis | quo tendat oratio tua: iam enim ad extremos fines Galliae Nar | bonensis venisti. |
  
• It is now time, Self, that you reveal to the conscript fathers where your speech is going to: for you have now come to the furthest border of Gallia Narbonensis.
  
11. 
    
• Tot ecce insignes iuvenes, quot intueor, non magis sunt paenitendi | senatores, quam paenitet Persicum, nobilissimum virum, ami | cum meum, inter imagines maiorum suorum Allobrogici no | men legere.
  
• Look, so many illustrious youth, how many I look upon, are no more to cause regret as senators than it causes regret that Persicus, a noble man, my friend, reads the name Allobrogix among the images of his ancestors
  
12. 
    
• Quod si haec ita esse consentitis, quid ultra desidera | tis, quam ut vobis digito demonstrem solum ipsum ultra fines | provinciae Narbonensis iam vobis senatores mittere, quando | ex Luguduno habere nos nostri ordinis viros non paenitet? |
  
• But if you agree that these things are necessarily so, what more do you want than that I show you with a finger that the soil itself beyond the borders of the Narbonensis province already sends senators to you, since it is no cause for regret that we have men of our order from Lyons?
  
13. 
    
• Timide quidem, p. c. egressus adsuetos familiaresque vobis pro| vinciarum terminos sum, sed destricte iam comatae Galliae | causa agenda est.
• Fearfully indeed, Patres conscripti, I went beyond the accustomed an familar-to-you borders of the provinces, but severly now the case of Gallia Comata must be made.
  
14. 
    
• In qua si quis hoc intuetur, quod bello per de | cem annos exercuerunt Divom Iulium, idem opponat centum | annorum immobilem fidem obsequiumque multis trepidis re | bus nostris plusquam expertum.
  
• In which matter if anyone look to this, the fact that they exercised the divine Julius [Caesar] in war for 10 years, let that person alike oppose the unmoving and devoted loyalty of a hundred years, which has been more than experienced in many difficult matters of ours.
  
15. 
    
• Illi patri meo Druso Germaniam | subigenti tutam quiete sua securamque a tergo pacem praes | titerunt, et quidem cum ad census novo tum opere et in adsue | to Gallis ad bellum avocatus esset.
  
• They showed peace to my father Drusus when he was subduing Germany, a safe and secure in its quiet peace at his back, and indeed when he had been called to war at the time of a census, a new and then unusual task for the Gauls.
  
16. 
    
• Quod opus quam ar | duum sit nobis nunc cum maxime, quamvis nihil ultra quam | ut publice notae sint facultates nostrae exquiratur, nimis | magno experimento cognoscimus. |
  
• We know by too extensive experience that task how difficult it is for us now especially, although nothing is sought more than that our capacities be known.
  

The following is Tacitus' version of the same oration.
Annales 11.24

1. 
   
• [24] His atque talibus haud permotus princeps et statim contra disseruit
  
• et vocato senatu ita exorsus est:
• Not moved by these and such things the emperor at once argued against (it) and, having summoned the senate, he began as follows:
  
2. 
   
•  'maiores mei,
  
• quorum antiquissimus Clausus origine Sabina simul in civitatem Romanam et in familias patriciorum adscitus est,
  
• hortantur
  
• uti paribus consiliis in re publica capessenda, transferendo huc
  
• quod usquam egregium fuerit.
  
• My ancestors, of whom the most ancient, Clausus, of Sabine origin, was adopted into Roman citizenship and the Patrician families, urge (me) to employ fair policies in administering the Republic, by bringing here whatever is excellent anywhere.
  
3. 
   
• neque enim ignoro Iulios Alba, Coruncanios Camerio, Porcios Tusculo, et
  
• ne vetera scrutemur,
  
• Etruria Lucaniaque et omni Italia in senatum accitos,
  
• postremo ipsam ad Alpis promotam
  
• ut non modo singuli viritim, sed terrae, gentes in nomen nostrum coalescerent.
  
• And I note that the Julians from Alba, the Coruncanii from Camerium, the Porcii from Tusculum, and, not to perstringe ancient matters, from Etruria and Lucania and all Italy were invited into the senate, and in the end that (Italy/the Republic) was extended up to the Alps, so that not only one-by-one, person-by-person, but lands and peoples grew together into our name.
  
4. 
   
• tunc solida domi quies
  
• et adversos externa floruimus,
  
• cum Transpadani in civitatem recepti,
  
• cum specie deductarum per orbem terrae legionum additis provincialium validissimis fesso imperio subventum est.
  
• At that time [there was] reliable peace at home and we flourished vis-a-vis outsiders, when those across the Po were accepted into citizenship and once the strongest of the Provincials were added under the guise of settling legions throughout the land, the empire was shored up.
  
5. 
   
• num paenitet
  
• Balbos ex Hispania
  
• nec minus insignis viros e Gallia Narbonensi transivisse?
  
• Is there any regret that the Balbi crossed over from Spain, and no less illustrious men from Gallia Narbonensis?
  
6. 
   
• manent posteri eorum
  
• nec amore in hanc patriam nobis concedunt.
  
• Their descendents remain and are not inferior to us in love toward this country.
  
7. 
   
• quid aliud exitio Lacedaemoniis et Atheniensibus fuit,
  
• quamquam armis pollerent,
  
• nisi
  
• quod victos pro alienigenis arcebant?
  
• What else was the ruin of Spartans and Athenians (double dative), although they were capable in arms, than that they held those they conquered to be foreign-born?
  
8. 
   
• at conditor nostri Romulus tantum sapientia valuit
  
• ut plerosque populos eodem die hostis, dein civis habuerit.
  
• But our founder Romulus was so strong in wisdom that he considered many people on the very same day enemies then fellow citizens.
  
9. 
   
• advenae in nos regnaverunt:
  
• libertinorum filiis magistratus mandare non,
  
• ut plerique falluntur,
  
• repens, sed priori populo factitatum est.
  
• Immigrants have ruled amongst us, and giving sons of freedmen magistracies is not, as most people mistakenly hold, a hasty thing, but has been done habitually by our people in the past.
  
10. 
    
• at cum Senonibus pugnavimus:
  
• scilicet Vulcsi et Aequi numquam adversam nobis aciem instruxere.
  
• But we fought with the Senones: the Vusci and the Aequi, I guess, never assembled a battle line against us.
  
11. 
    
• capti a Gallis sumus:
  
• sed et Tuscis obsides dedimus
  
• et Samnitium iugum subiimus.
  
• We were captured by Gauls: but we gave hostages to the Tusci and we admitted defeat to the Samnites.
  
12. 
    
• ac tamen,
  
• si cuncta bella recenseas
  
• nullum breviore spatio quam adversus Gallos confectum:
  
• continua inde ac fida pax.
  
• And nevertheless, if you review all the wars, none were finished in a shorter time than the one against the Gauls.
  
13. 
    
• iam moribus artibus adfinitatibus nostris mixti aurum et opes suas inferant
  
• potius quam separati habeant.
  
• Now that they have been mixed with our people in their customs, skills, and social ties, let them also bring their wealth rather than hold themselves apart.
  
14. 
    
• omnia, patres conscripti,
  
• quae nunc vetustissima creduntur,
  
• nova fuere:
  
• plebeii magistratus post patricios,
  
• Latini post plebeios,
  
• ceterarum Italiae gentium post Latinos.
  
• All the things, conscript fathers, which are now believed most ancient, were once new: plebeian magistrates [came] after patrician ones, Latin ones after the plebeian ones, ones of the rest of the peoples of Italy after the Latin ones.
  
15. 
    
• inveterascet hoc quoque, et
  
• quod hodie exemplis tuemur,
  
• inter exempla erit.'
• This too will become old, and what we critically examine today by means of parallels/comparables will become one of the parallels/comparables.