CORIOLANUS AND HIS MOTHER

Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus was a famous Roman general who successfully led the city’s soldiers against the enemy, the Volsci. In the following year, however, during a famine in Rome, Coriolanus opposed a distribution of free grain to the poor of the city, who then rioted against him, and amidst this social strife Coriolanus was sent into exile. He took refuge among the very people whom he had defeated the year before and, in a vengeful mood, led an army of the enemy against his fellow Romans. The passage you will be translating tells you by whom Rome was saved. It is a story that was told in antiquity by the Roman author Livy and the Greek Plutarch and was also the inspiration for Shakespeare’s tragedy Coriolanus (1608). Somewhat ironically, it was a town in Volscian territory that produced the ancestors of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome.  

Words and phrases in bold are glossed for you below the passage

Haec fabula de Coriolano est. Coriolanus praeclarus Romanus vir fuit. Coriolanum populus Romanus laudavit quia oppidum Volscorum vicit. Sed ille magnam superbiam habuit et populo cibum non dedit. Populus igitur Coriolanum non amavit. Romani huic dixerunt, “Coriolane, non iustus et bonus es. Cum populo Romano manere non potes. I hodie e hoc loco!” Itaque Coriolanus e patriā et in exsilium exiit.

Coriolanus iratus ad Volscos victos iit. Illis dixit. “Sine patriā sum. Imperium mihi da et cum Romanis bellum geram. Illos vincam.” Consilium hunc Volsci laudaverunt et imperium Coriolano dederunt. Coriolanus arma paravit et Volscos multos ad bellum duxit. Castra in terra Romana posuit. Romani nunc timuerunt. Legatos ad Coriolanum miserunt. Illum monuerunt, “Duc Volscos e terra Romana!” Sed illi haec verba frustra dixerunt. Coriolanus consilium non mutavit.

Nunc Romani desperaverunt, sed Romanae novum consilium habuerunt. Feminam, Veturiam, petiverunt quia Coriolanus filius feminae huius fuit. Oraverunt Veturiam, “Ibisne ad tuam filiam? Iuvabisne Romam?” Veturia respondit, “Ibo ad meum filium et Roman iuvabo.” Veturia in castra Volscorum iniit. In castris filium vidit et illi dixit, “Fili, cur hos ducis et contra tuam terram bellum geris? Volsci non amici Romanis sunt. Cogita de me misera! Si Romam vinces, ego ero serva. Cogita de liberis teneris! Securi non erunt. Cur tam ferus es? Esto bonus! Esto humanus! Esto Romanus! Volscos reduc!”

Haec verba Coriolanum movit. Viros in terram Volscorum reduxit. Veturia Romam ita liberavit. Romani hanc laudaverunt et magnum pretium dederunt. Templum deae Fortunae aedificaverunt. Sed Volsci non laeti fuerunt. Feri fuerunt. Mox Coriolanum ceciderunt.

Vocabulary in order of appearance in the text above:

fabula, fabulae f.: ‘story’

Coriolanus, Coriolani m.: ‘Coriolanus’

praeclarus, -a, -um: ‘famous’

Volsci, Volscorum m.: ‘the Volsci’ (neighbours and enemies of Rome)

superbia, superbiae f.: ‘arrogance’, ‘pride’

cibus, cibi m.: ‘food’

igitur: ‘therefore’ (adverb)

maneo, manēre, mansi, mansum: ‘remain’, ‘stay’

locus, loci m.: ‘place’

itaque: ‘and so’ (adverb)

patria, patriae f.: ‘homeland’, ‘country’

exsilium, exsilii n.: ‘exile’

iratus, -a, -um: ‘angry’

imperium, imperii n.: ‘command’, ‘power’

mihi: ‘to me’ (dative of the personal pronoun)

paro, parare, paravi, paratum: ‘prepare’

legatus, legati m.: ‘envoy’, ‘ambassador’

frustra: ‘in vain’ (adverb)

muto, mutare, mutavi, mutatum: ‘change’

despero, desperare, desperavi, depseratum: ‘despair’, ‘lose hope’

Veturia, Veturiae f.: ‘Veturia’ (mother of Coriolanus)

oro, orare, oravi, oratum: ‘beg’, ‘plead’

respondeo, respondēre, respondi, responsum: ‘respond’, ‘answer’

contra: ‘against’ (preposition + accusative)

cogito, cogitare, cogitavi, cogitatum: ‘think’

me: ‘me’ (ablative case of the personal pronoun)

moveo, movēre, movi, motum: ‘move’

ita: ‘thus’, ‘in this way’ (adverb)

templum, templi n.: ‘temple’

Fortuna, Fortunae f.: ‘fortune’ (Fortuna is the goddess of fortune)

aedifico, aedificare, aedificavi, aedificatus: ‘build’

laetus, -a, -um: ‘happy’

mox: ‘soon’ (adverb)