Can you please help me understand what “esse” in this long phrase stands for? In fact, I find this “esse” abundant and would be fine without it.
Fieri solebat ut fetialis hastam ferratam sanguineam ad fines eorum ferret et — non minus tribus puberibus praesentibus — diceret: “Quod populus Latinus hominesque Latini adversus populum Romanum Quiritium fecerunt, deliquerunt, quod populus Romanus Quiritium bellum cum Latinis iussit esse senatusque populi Romani Quiritium censuit, consensit, conscivit ut bellum cum Latinis fieret, ob eam rem ego populusque Romanus populo Latino hominibusque Latinis bellum indico facioque!”
“quod populus Romanus Quiritium bellum cum Latinis iussit esse”
This is part of a standard formula for declaring war and comes from Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, Book 1, Chapter 32. In this
phrase, populus Romanus Quiritium is the subject of iussit and bellum is the subject of esse. A somewhat literal translation of this would be:
“and because the Commonwealth of Roman citizens has ordered (iussit) that there be (esse) war with the Latini”
Note: Livy does omit forms of esse quite often, but usually in the passive, such as “appellati (sunt)”, “interfectum (esse)”, “creati (sunt)”
