ut vidēret cōnsul Optīmīus

Latin Learning Latin
1

Gaius Gracchus, the grandson of Scipio Africanus, having become tribune, has been up to no good.

Dēcrētum ā senātū est, ut vidēret cōnsul Optīmīus, nē quid dētrīmentī rēs pūblica caperet; quod nisi in maximō discrīmine dēcernī nōn solēbat. ( A few sentences later the consul attacks Gaius, who commits suicide. )

It was decreed by the senate that the consul Optimius might be seen, lest the State should suffer any loss, which was not usually decreed except in extreme peril.

Does this mean seen, as in appealed to? or consulted? vidēret seems to me an unusual word to use. Have I missed a meaning? And am I right in inferring from this sentence that the consuls didn’t usually interfere in the tribunes running of the State?

Cheers, Phil

2

Videret, though subjunctive, is active.

As an aside, the Bolchazy book “Completely Parsed Cicero” is an amazing resource. Maybe a bit too amazing. You can read a limited number of pages for free in google books.

3

Or get it/read it in its entirety from here:
Hinc istum librum legere vel arcessere potes in totum:
http://www.archive.org/details/firstorationcic00cicegoog

4

vidēre + ut/ne = “to see to it that/lest…”