I came across this phrase in Roma Aeterna XLV line 191. Here is the whole sentence:
Tarquinii, ut Sextus, qui Romae relictus fuerat, ignarus responsi expersque imperii esset, rem summa ope taceri iubent.;…
All I can come up with is “they commanded that they (whoever heard the voice) keep silent about the matter with the greatest power.” That is, whoever witnessed the omen should to the best of their abilty keep silent about it. I would be thankful for your ideas.
I think you’re on the right track. Do you see that rem is the subject of taceri? Maybe “they commanded that the matter be kept in silence/secret with the greatest effort” or less literally, “they ordered that every effort be made to keep the matter under wraps.”
Yes, I think “every effort” is good.
Hi, agreed with the above. Just to add, this sentence has clearly been lifted from book 1 of Livy (1.56.11):
Tarquinii, ut Sextus, qui Romae relictus fuerat, ignarus responsi expersque imperii esset rem summa ope taceri iubent; ipsi inter se, uter prior, cum Romam redissent, matri osculum daret, sorti permittunt.
You could therefore also check out how this expression is treated by commentators and translators, to benchmark against the suggestion above.
Cheers, Cha
cf. OLD:
Thank you Chad and Achter. I just noticed your posts now. I thought the OLD was the online latin dictionary which I have often consulted. Your source, Achter, is not familiar to me. What is it?
@ Charlie,
Just noticed that the Oxford Latin Dictionary in PDF is now available for free download at Archive.org:
Oxford Latin Dictionary : OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/oxford-latin-dictionary
cf.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0198642245
PS
OLD 2nd edition is also available for download from Archive.org, but the OCR quality is so poor.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/oxford-latin-dictionary-9780199580316?cc=us&lang=en&
See for yourself:
https://archive.org/details/oxford-latin-dictionary-with-ocr-p.-g.-w.-glare-ed
The free download may not last forever. So grab a PDF copy ASAP while it’s free.
Thank you.