aequo, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. and n. [aequus].
- I. Act., to make one thing equal to another; constr. with cum and (in gen. in the histt.) with dat., and with cop. conj. (cf. adaequo).
- (α) With cum: inventum est temperamentum, quo tenuiores cum principibus aequari se putarent, Cic. Leg. 3, 10: cum suas quisque opes cum potentissimis aequari videat, Caes. B. G. 6, 22: numerum (corporum) cum navibus, Verg. A. 1, 193.
- (β) With dat.: Insedabiliter sitis arida, corpora mersans, Aequabat multum parvis umoribus imbrem, an unquenchable, burning thirst … made the most copious stream seem to them as only a few drops, Lucr. 6, 1176: per somnum vinumque dies noctibus aequare, Liv. 31, 41: aequavit togatus armati gloriam collegae, id. 4, 10, 8: cujus magnitudini semper animum aequavit, id. 33, 21, 3 (but in id. 6, 20, 8, facta dictis aequando, dictis is abl.; v Weissenb. ad h. l.); Vell. 2, 127; aequare solo templum, to level with the ground, Tac. A. 1, 51; so domum, Quint. 3, 7, 20, and Aur. Vict. Vir. lllustr. 17. 5; and in an extended sense: Scipio Numantiam excisam aequavit solo, Vell. 2, 4.
Hence, trop.: solo aequandae sunt dictaturae consulatusque, entirely abolished, Liv 6, 18.
- (γ) With cop. conj.: Curios aequare Fabriciosque, Aur. Vict. Caes. 18, 2.
Poet.: si protinus illum Aequāsset nocti ludum, had played through the whole night, Verg. A. 9, 338.
Hence also,
- B. In comparison, to place a thing on an equality with, to compare.; in Cic. with cum; later with dat.: aequare et conferre scelera alicujus cum aliis, Cic. Verr. 1, 1, 8: ne aequaveritis Hannibali Philippum, ne Carthaginiensibus Macedonas: Pyrrho certe aequabitis, Liv. 31, 7: Deum homini non aequabo, Vulg. Job, 32, 21: quis in nubibus aequabitur Domino, ib. Psa. 88, 7.
- C. Of places, to make level, even, or smooth: aequata agri planities, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 48; and trop.: aequato discrimine, at an equal distance, Lucr. 5, 690: aequato omnium periculo, Caes. B. G. 1, 25: aequato Marte, Liv. 1, 25: aequato jure omnium, id. 2, 3.
Poet.: ibant aequati numero, divided into equal parts, Verg. A. 7, 698: foedera regum Vel Gabiis vel cum rigidis aequata Sabinis, i. e. aequis legibus icta, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 25; cf.: si foedus est, si societas aequatio juris est … cur non omnia aequantur? placed in the same circumstances? Liv. 8, 4.
- D. T. t.
- 1. Aequare frontem, milit. t., to make an equal front, Liv. 5, 38: aequatis frontibus, Tib. 4, 1, 102; v. frons.
- 2. Aequare sortes, to see that the lots are equal in number to those who draw, of the same material, and each with a different name. The classical passage for this phrase is Plaut. Cas. 2, 6, 35: conicite sortes: uxor, aequa (sc. eas); v. the preceding verses. So Cic. Fragm. Or. Corn. 1, p. 449 Orell.: dum sitella defertur, dum aequantur sortes, dum sortitio fit, etc.
- II. Neutr. or act., to become equal to one, to equal, come up to, attain to (mostly in the histt.); constr. with dat., but oftener with acc. (cf. adaequo and aequipero, and Zumpt, § 389, 1): qui jam illis fere aequārunt, Cic. Off. 1, 1, 3; Ov. M. 6, 21: ea arte aequāsset superiores reges, ni, etc., Liv. 1, 53; so, cursu equum, id. 31, 35; for which Curtius: cursum alicujus, 4, 1: gloriam alicujus, Suet. Caes. 55: eam picturam imitati sunt multi, aequavit nemo, Plin. 35, 11, 40, § 126; Luc. 3, 456.
Poet.: sagitta aequans ventos, like the winds in swiftness, Verg. A. 10, 248: valet nondum munia comparis Aequare (juvenca), i. e. cannot yet draw even with her mate, Hor. C. 2, 5, 2.