Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor), 40.57.7

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[7] There was a road, he knew, through the country of the Scordisci to the Adriatic sea and Italy; an army could not be led by any other way.¹ The Scordisci would readily give a passage to the Bastarnae: for² they were not very different in either language or manners;³ and they themselves would join forces with them when they saw the Bastarnae going to plunder a most wealthy people.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor). Medford, MA. .

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Sage, Evan T.; Schlesinger, Alfred C., translators. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959. (Loeb Classical Library))

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 40.57.7 focus

[7] per Scordiscos iter esse ad mare Hadriaticum Italiamque; alia via traduci exercitum non posse. facile Bastarnis Scordiscos iter daturos: nec enim aut lingua aut moribus aequales abhorrere; et ipsos adiuncturos se, cum ad praedam opulentissimae gentis ire vidissent.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Livy in Fourteen Volumes. Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Schlesinger, Alfred C., editors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959 (printing).) — 43.23.7 focus

[7] Perseus ex Penestarum gente mille pedites, ducentos equites revocatos Cassandream, praesidio ut essent, misit.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 40.57.7 focus

[7] per Scordiscos iter esse ad mare Hadriaticum Italiamque, alia via traduci exercitum non posse. facile Bastarnis Scordiscos iter daturos—nec enim aut lingua aut moribus [aequales] abhorrere—et ipsos adiuncturos se, cum ¹ ad praedam opulentissimae gentis ire vidissent.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 40.57.7 focus

[7] That the road to the Adriatic Sea and Italy was through the country of the Scordiscians, and that the army could not be led by any other way; that the Scordiscians would readily grant a passage to the Bastarnians, for they would have no dislike to people resembling themselves in language and manners, and would probably join them in an expedition, when they saw that they were on their way to the plunder of a most opulent nation.

History of Rome Perseus (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.) — 40.57.7 focus

[7] The way to the Hadriatic and to Italy lay through the Scordisci; that was the only practicable route for an army, and the Scordisci were expected to grant a passage to the Bastarnae without any difficulty, for neither in speech nor habits were they dissimilar, and it was hoped that they would unite forces with them when they saw that they were going to secure the plunder of a very wealthy nation. Thus Philip's plans were adapted to either alternative.

Notes on the current edition

Ab Urbe Condita With An English Translation, books 1-10, 21-45, with periochae 11-20

1. It is perhaps easiest to visualize the geographical background by the use of modern place-names, so far as possible. The Bastarnae lived in what is now Bessarabia, on the Euxine north of the Danube delta. Philip planned to march them through northern Bulgaria, thence perhaps by the Morava valley to the Danube and west by the Danube and Save valleys to the country of the Scordisci, west of Belgrade. From there the Save valley with its continuations leads to Fiume, near the head of the Adriatic. The Dardani, among whom homes for them were to be found, lived in or to the east of the Morava valley. From the standpoint of the Bastarnae, a route following the Danube and Save would have been shorter, but then they would have had no contact with Philip. Some sound geographical knowledge, then, underlies Philip's grandiose plan.

2. B.C. 179

3. The Bastarnae were Germanic, the Scordisci Gallic, but either Philip or Livy may have been misinformed on that point.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 40.57.7

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

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