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Cicero

On the Republic Passage 53

Passage 128 of 251

Canonical reference 2.53

Latin

perseus-cicero-de_republica-lat

lex illa tota sublata est. Hac mente tum nostri maiores et Conlatinum innocentem suspicione cognationis expulerunt et reliquos Tarquinios offensione nominis; eademque mente P. Valerius et fasces primus demitti iussit, cum dicere in contione coepisset, et aedis suas detulit sub Veliam, posteaquam, quod in excelsiore loco Veliae coepisset aedificare eo ipso, ubi rex Tullus habitaverat, suspicionem populi sensit moveri; idemque, in quo fuit Publicola maxime, legem ad populum tulit eam, quae centuriatis comitiis prima lata est, ne quis magistratus civem Romanum adversus provocationem necaret neve verberaret.

English AI-generated translation, non-official

Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11

...that entire law was abolished. In this frame of mind our ancestors then expelled the innocent Collatinus because his kinship aroused suspicion, and the remaining Tarquins because their name caused offense. In the same spirit Publius Valerius was the first to order the fasces lowered when he began to speak before the assembly, and moved his house below the Velia after perceiving that the people had grown suspicious because he had begun building on a higher part of the Velia, at the very place where King Tullus had lived. The same man, showing especially why he was called Publicola, proposed to the people the first law passed by the centuriate assembly, forbidding any magistrate to kill or scourge a Roman citizen contrary to his right of appeal.

French AI-generated translation, non-official

Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11

… toute cette loi fut abolie. C’est dans cet esprit que nos ancêtres chassèrent alors Collatin, pourtant innocent, parce que sa parenté le rendait suspect, et les autres Tarquins, parce que leur nom inspirait de l’aversion. Dans le même esprit, Publius Valerius ordonna le premier que les faisceaux fussent abaissés lorsqu’il commençait à parler devant l’assemblée. Il fit aussi transporter sa maison au-dessous de la Vélia, après avoir compris qu’il éveillait les soupçons du peuple en ayant commencé à bâtir sur le point le plus élevé de cette colline, à l’endroit même où avait habité le roi Tullus. Le même homme, qui mérita surtout par là le nom de Publicola, proposa au peuple la première loi votée dans les comices centuriates, interdisant à tout magistrat de mettre à mort ou de faire battre un citoyen romain malgré son appel au peuple.

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