nimium pii = too dutiful to their mother-city Troy.
58-60 ne . . . reparare Troiae. There was a rumour, even in Caesar’s time (v. Suet. Iul. Caes. 79) that he meant to migrate to Alexandria or Ilium. Horace, prob. with the sanction of Augustus, sets himself to discourage it. Cf. the Speech of Camillus, Livy, v. 51-54.
61-62 Troiae . . . iterabitur = the fortunes of Troy, if with evil omen it is called to life again (renascens), shall be repeated in an overthrow as sad as before.—Wickham.
‘The Burning of Rome by the Gauls involved the destruction of all the existing records, and great loss of property. Yet in spite of all the damage done, the Romans set to work to establish the state anew, to rebuild the City, and to reassert their commanding position among their allies and neighbours.’—Ihne.
The Speech of Camillus. Its object was to show the growth of Rome under the guidance of Providence. Cf. the purpose of the Aeneid.
THE LICINIAN LAWS, 376-366 B.C. (1)
First Plebeian Consul, 366 B.C.
Occasio videbatur rerum novandarum propter ingentem vim aeris alieni, cuius levamen mali plebes nisi suis in summo imperio locatis, nullum speraret: accingendum ad eam cogitationem esse; conando agendoque iam eo gradum fecisse plebeios, unde, 5 si porro annitantur, pervenire ad summa et patribus aequari tam honore quam virtute possent. In praesentia tribunes plebis fieri placuit, quo in magistratu sibimet ipsi viam ad ceteros honores aperirent. Creatique tribuni C. Licinius et L. Sextius promulgavere 10 leges omnes adversus opes patriciorum et pro commodis plebis, unam de aere alieno, ut deducto eo de capite, quod usuris pernumeratum esset, id, quod superesset, triennio aequis pensionibus persolveretur; alteram de modo agrorum, ne quis plus quingenta 15 iugera agri possideret; tertiam, ne tribunorum militum comitia fierent, consulumque utique alter ex plebe crearetur; cuncta ingentia et quae sine certamine maximo obtineri non possent. . . . Ita ab diutina ira tandem in concordiam redacti sunt ordines. 20
Livy, vi. 35.