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), 30.30

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[1]

Keeping their armed men at the same distance the generals, each attended by one interpreter, met, being not only the greatest of their own age, but equal to any of the kings or commanders of all nations in all history before their time.

[2] For a moment they remained silent, looking at each other and almost dumbfounded by mutual admiration.

[3] Then Hannibal was the first to speak: "If it was foreordained by fate that I, who was the first to make war upon the Roman people and who have so often had the victory almost in my grasp, should come forward to sue for peace, I rejoice that destiny has given me you, and no one else, to whom I should bring my suit.

[4] For you also, among your many distinctions, it will prove not the least of your honours that Hannibal, to whom the gods have given the ¹ victory over so many Roman generals, has submitted to you, and that you have made an end of this war, which was memorable at first for your disasters and then for ours.

[5] This also may prove to be Fortune's mocking sport, that having taken up arms when your father was consul, and having fought with him my first battle with a Roman general, I come to his son unarmed to sue for peace.

[6] It would indeed have been best if the gods had given our fathers the disposition to be contented, you with rule over Italy and us in turn with ruling Africa. ²

[7] For even for you Sicily and Sardinia have been no adequate compensation for the loss of so many fleets, so many armies, so many remarkable generals. But the past is sooner disapproved than changed for the better.

[8] In grasping at what was not ours we fell to fighting for our own; and for us Carthaginians it came to be a war not in Italy alone, nor for you entirely in Africa. On the contrary you have seen the enemy's standards and arms almost at your gates and walls, just as we can hear from Carthage the noise of a Roman camp.

[9] Consequently we discuss terms of peace while Fortune is favouring you —a situation most ominous for us, while you could pray for nothing better. We who are treating have the most to gain by peace, and furthermore, whatever terms we are to make our states will ratify. We need only a temper not averse to measures calmly considered.

"As for myself, age has at last taught me, returning as an old man to my native city, from which I set out as a boy, success and failure have at ³ last so schooled me that I prefer to follow reason rather than chance.

[10] In your case I am apprehensive alike of your youth and of your unbroken success, both of them too refractory for the demands of calmly considered measures.

[11] It is not easy for a man whom fortune has never deceived to weigh uncertain chances. ⁴ What I was at Trasumennus, at Cannae, that you are today.

[12] Although you had received a command when hardly of an age to serve, ⁵ and undertook everything with the greatest boldness, nowhere has fortune deluded you.

[13] By avenging the death of your father and uncle you won from the disaster to your family signal honour for courage and extraordinary devotion. You recovered the lost Spanish provinces by driving out of them four Punic armies.

[14] Elected consul, while the rest lacked courage to defend Italy, you crossed over to Africa; and by destroying two armies here, by taking and at the same time burning two camps in the same hour, by capturing Syphax, a most powerful king, by seizing so many cities of his kingdom, so many in our domain, you dragged me away when now for sixteen years I had clung to the possession of Italy.

[15] It is possible for the heart to prefer victory to a peace. I know those aspirations that soar but are ineffectual; on me too such fortune as yours once shone.

[16] But if in prosperity the gods blessed us with sound reason also, we should be reflecting not merely upon what has happened but also upon what can happen. Though you forget everything else, I am a sufficient warning against all that may chance. For it was I that, pitching my camp not long ago ⁶ between the Anio and your city, was advancing my standards and now almost scaling the walls of Rome.

[17] But here ⁷ bereft of my two brothers, the bravest of men, the most eminent of generals, you see me before the walls of my native city, already almost invested, and I am praying that she may be spared the terrors which I brought to yours.

"The greatest good fortune is always the least to be trusted.

[18] In your favourable circumstances, in our uncertain situation, peace, if you grant it, will bring you honour and glory; ⁸ for us who sue it is necessary rather than honourable. Better and safer is an assured peace than a victory hoped for. The one is in your own power, the other in the hands of the gods.

[19] Do not commit the success of so many years to the test of a single hour.

[20] Bear in mind not only your own resources but also the might of Fortune and the impartial god of war. On both sides will be the sword, on both sides human bodies. Nowhere less than in war do results match men's hopes.

[21] You will not add so much glory, if victorious in battle, to what you can now have by granting peace, as you will lose in case of any reverse. ⁹ The fortune of a single hour can lay low honours already won, and with them those in prospect. In making peace, Publius Cornelius, you have everything in your own power.

[22] In the other case you will have to bear the lot which the gods may give.

[23] Among the foremost examples of success and courage would have been Marcus Atilius ¹⁰ formerly in this same land, if as victor he had granted the peace which our fathers requested. But by setting no limit to his success ¹¹ and not reining in an unruly fortune, the higher he had climbed the more terribly did he fall.

"It belongs, to be sure, to the giver of peace, not to the suitor, to name the terms. But possibly we may not be unworthy to impose a penalty upon ourselves.

[24] We do not reject the condition that all the possessions for which we went to war shall be yours —Sicily,

[25] Sardinia, ¹² Spain, and any islands existing in all the sea between Africa and Italy.

[26] Let us Carthaginians, confined by the coasts of Africa, behold you ruling under your authority even foreign countries by land and sea, ¹³ since that has been the will of the gods. I would not deny that, on account of a lack of sincerity in

[27] our recent suit for peace, and because we did not wait for it, Punic honour for you Romans is now tainted with suspicion. For the faithful observance of a peace much depends, Scipio, on the persons by whom the suit is presented.

[28] Your senators also have refused the peace, ¹⁴ I hear, partly for the reason that the embassy was lacking in dignity.

[29] I, Hannibal, am suing for peace, I who should not be so doing if I did not think it an advantageous peace; and I shall uphold it because of the same advantage on account of which I have sued for it.

[30] And just as I, having begun the war, therefore made sure —until the gods themselves became envious —that no one should regret it, so will I strive to prevent any man from regretting the peace obtained through me.

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.) — 30.30 focus

[1] summotis pari spatio armatis cum singulis interpretibus congressi sunt, non suae modo aetatis maximi duces, sed omnis ante se memoriae, omnium gentium cuilibet regum imperatorumve pares.

[2] paulisper alter alterius conspectu, admiratione mutua prope attoniti, conticuere.

[3] tum Hannibal prior: “si hoc ita fato datum erat, ut qui primus bellum intuli populo Romano quique totiens prope in manibus victoriam habui, is ultro ad pacem petendam venirem, laetor te mihi sorte potissimum datum, a quo peterem.

[4] tibi quoque inter multa egregia non in ultimis laudum hoc fuerit, Hannibalem, cui tot de Romanis ducibus victoriam di dedissent, tibi cessisse, teque huic bello, vestris prius quam nostris cladibus insigni, finem imposuisse.

[5] hoc qnoque quoque ludibrium casus ediderit fortuna, ut, cum patre tuo consule ceperim arma, cum eodem primum Romano imperatore signa contulerim, ad filium eius inermis ad pacem petendam veniam.

[6] optimum quidem fuerat eam patribus nostris mentem datam ab dis esse, ut et vos Italiae et nos Africae imperio contenti essemus;

[7] neque enim ne vobis quidem Sicilia ac Sardinia satis digna pretia sunt pro tot classibus, tot exercitibus, tot tam egregiis amissis ducibus. sed praeterita magis reprehendi possunt quam corrigi.

[8] ita aliena adpetivimus, ut de nostris dimicaremus, nec in Italia solum nobis bellum, vobis in Africa esset, sed et vos in portis vestris prope ac moenibus signa armaque hostium vidistis et nos ab Carthagine fremitum castrorum Romanorum exaudim —

[9] s. quod igitur nos maxime abominaremur, vos ante omnia optaretis, in meliore vestra fortuna de pace agitur. agimus ei, quorum et maxime interest pacem esse, et qui quodcumque egerimus, ratum civitates nostrae habiturae sunt. animo tantum nobis opus est non abhorrente a quietis consiliis.

[10] quod ad me attinet, iam aetas senem in patriam revertentem, unde puer profectus sum, iam secundae, iam adversae res ita erudierunt, ut rationem sequi quam fortunam malim;

[11] tuam et adulescentiam et perpetuam felicitatem, ferociora utraque quam quietis opus est consiliis, metuo. non temere incerta casuum reputat, quem fortuna numquam decepit.

[12] quod ego fui ad Trasumennum, ad Cannas, id tu hodie es. vixdum militari aetate imperio accepto omnia audacissime incipientem nusquam fefellit fortuna.

[13] patris et patrui persecutus mortem ex calamitate vestrae domus decus insigne virtutis pietatisque eximiae cepisti; amissas Hispanias reciperasti quattuor inde Punicis exercitibus pulsis;

[14] consul creatus, cum ceteris ad tutandam Italiam parum animi esset, transgressus in Africam, duobus hic exercitibus caesis, binis eadem hora captis simul incensisque castris, Syphace potentissimo rege capto, tot urbibus regni eius, tot nostri imperii ereptis, me sextum decimum iam annum haerentem in possessione Italiae detraxisti. potest victoriam malle quam pacem animus. novi spiritus magnos magis quam utiles;

[15] et mihi talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit.

[16] quodsi in secundis rebus bonam quoque mentem darent dei, non ea solum, quae evenissent, sed etiam ea, quae evenire possent, reputaremus. ut omnium obliviscaris aliorum, satis ego documenti in omnes casus sum,

[17] quem, modo castris inter Anienem atque urbem vestram positis signa inferentem ac iam prope scandentem moenia Romana, hic cernas duobus fratribus, fortissimis viris, clarissimis imperatoribus orbatum ante moenia prope obsessae patriae, quibus terrui vestram urbem, ea pro mea deprecantem.

[18] maximae cuique fortunae minime credendum est. in bonis tuis rebus, nostris dubiis, tibi ampla ac speciosa danti est pax, nobis petentibus magis necessaria quam honesta.

[19] melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata victoria; haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est. ne tot annorum felicitatem in unius horae dederis discrimen; discrimen.

[20] cum tuas vires, tum vim fortunae Martemque belli communem propone animo. utrimque ferrum, utrimque corpora humana erunt; nusquam minus quam in bello eventus respondent.

[21] non tantum ad id quod data pace iam habere potes, si proelio vincas, gloriae adieceris, quantum dempseris, si quid adversi eveniat.

[22] simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae fortuna evertere potest. omnia in pace iungenda tuae potestatis sunt, P. Corneli; tunc ea habenda fortuna erit, quam di dederint.

[23] inter pauca felicitatis virtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hac eadem terra fuisset, si victor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris; sed non statuendo felicitati modum nec cohibendo efferentem se fortunam, quanto altius elatus erat, eo foedius conruit.

[24] est quidem eius, qui dat, non qui petit, condiciones dicere pacis; sed forsitan non indigni simus, qui nobismet ipsi multam inrogemus.

[25] non recusamus, quin omnia, propter quae ad bellum itum est, vestra sint, Sicilia, Sardinia, Hispania, quidquid insularum toto inter Africam Italiamque continetur mari.

[26] Carthaginienses inclusi Africae litoribus vos, quando ita dis placuit, externa etiam terra marique videamus regentes imperio.

[27] baud haud negaverim propter non nimis sincere petitam aut expectatam nuper pacem suspectam esse vobis Punicam fidem. multum, per quos petita sit, ad fidem tuendae pacis pertinet, Scipio.

[28] vestri quoque, ut audio, patres non nihil etiam ob hoc, quia parum dignitatis in legatione erat, negaverunt pacem:

[29] Hannibal peto pacem, qui neque peterem, nisi utilem crederem, et propter eandem utilitatem tuebor ear, propter quam petii.

[30] et quem ad modum, quia a me bellum coeptum est, ne quem eius paeniteret, quoad ipsi invidere dei, praestiti, ita adnitar, ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat.”

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 30.30 focus

[1]

summotis pari spatio armatis, cum singulis interpretibus congressi sunt, non suae modo aetatis maximi duces sed omnis ante se memoriae omnium gentium cuilibet regum imperatorumue pares.

[2] paulisper alter alterius conspectu, admiratione mutua prope attoniti, conticuere; tum Hannibal prior:

[3] 'si hoc ita fato datum erat ut qui primus bellum intuli populo Romano, quique totiens prope in manibus uictoriam habui, is ultro ad pacem petendam uenirem, laetor te mihi sorte potissimum datum a quo peterem.

[4] tibi quoque inter multa egregia non in ultimis laudum hoc fuerit Hannibalem cui tot de Romanis ducibus uictoriam di dedissent tibi cessisse, teque huic bello uestris prius quam nostris cladibus insigni finem imposuisse.

[5] hoc quoque ludibrium casus ediderit fortuna ut cum patre tuo consule ceperim arma, cum eodem primum Romano imperatore signa contulerim, ad filium eius inermis ad pacem petendam ueniam.

[6] optimum quidem fuerat eam patribus nostris mentem datam ab dis esse ut et uos Italiae et nos Africae imperio contenti essemus;

[7] neque enim ne uobis quidem Sicilia ac Sardinia satis digna pretia sunt pro tot classibus, tot exercitibus, tot tam egregiis amissis ducibus; sed praeterita magis reprehendi possunt quam corrigi.

[8] ita aliena appetiuimus ut de nostris dimicaremus nec in Italia solum nobis bellum, uobis in Africa esset; sed et uos in portis uestris prope ac moenibus signa armaque hostium uidistis et nos ab Carthagine fremitum castrorum Romanorum exaudimus.

[9] quod igitur nos maxime abominaremur, uos ante omnia optaretis, in meliore uestra fortuna de pace agitur. agimus ii quorum et maxime interest pacem esse, et qui quodcumque egerimus ratum ciuitates nostrae habiturae sunt: animo tantum nobis opus est non abhorrente a quietis consiliis. 'quod ad me attinet, iam aetas senem in patriam reuertentem unde puer profectus sum, iam secundae, iam aduersae res ita erudierunt ut rationem sequi quam fortunam malim:

[10] tuam et adulescentiam et perpetuam felicitatem, ferociora utraque quam quietis opus est consiliis, metuo. non temere incerta casuum reputat quem fortuna nunquam decepit. quod ego fui ad Trasumennum, ad Cannas, id tu hodie es.

[11] uixdum militari aetate imperio accepto omnia audacissime incipientem nusquam fefellit fortuna.

[12] patris et patrui persecutus mortem ex calamitate uestrae domus decus insigne uirtutis pietatisque eximiae cepisti; amissas Hispanias reciperasti quattuor inde Punicis exercitibus pulsis;

[13] consul creatus, cum ceteris ad tutandam Italiam parum animi esset, transgressus in Africam duobus hic exercitibus caesis, binis eadem hora captis simul incensisque castris, Syphace potentissimo rege capto, tot urbibus regni eius, tot nostri imperii ereptis, me sextum decimum iam annum haerentem in possessione Italiae detraxisti.

[14] potest uictoriam malle quam pacem animus. noui spiritus magnos magis quam utiles;

[15] et mihi talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit. quod si in secundis rebus bonam quoque mentem darent di, non ea solum quae euenissent sed etiam ea quae euenire possent reputaremus. ut omnium obliuiscaris aliorum, satis ego documenti in omnes casus sum quem modo castris inter Anienem atque urbem uestram positis signa inferentem ac iam prope scandentem moenia Romana uideris,

[16] hic cernas duobus fratribus, fortissimis uiris, clarissimis imperatoribus orbatum ante moenia prope obsessae patriae quibus terrui uestram urbem ea pro mea deprecantem. 'maximae cuique fortunae minime credendum est.

[17] in bonis tuis rebus, nostris dubiis, tibi ampla ac speciosa danti est pax, nobis petentibus magis necessaria quam honesta. melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata uictoria;

[18] haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est. ne tot annorum felicitatem in unius horae dederis discrimen.

[19] cum tuas uires tum uim fortunae Martemque belli communem propone animo; utrimque ferrum, utrimque corpora humana erunt; nusquam minus quam in bello euentus respondent.

[20] non tantum ad id quod data pace iam habere potes, si proelio uinces, gloriae adieceris, quantum , si quid aduersi eueniat. simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae fortuna euertere potest.

[21] omnia in pace iungenda tuae potestatis sunt, P. Corneli : tunc ea habenda fortuna erit quam di dederint.

[22] inter pauca felicitatis uirtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hac eadem terra fuisset, si uictor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris; sed non statuendo felicitati modum nec cohibendo efferentem se fortunam quanto altius elatus erat, eo foedius corruit. 'est quidem eius qui dat, non qui petit, condiciones dicere pacis;

[23] sed forsitan non indigni simus qui nobismet ipsi multam inrogemus.

[24] non recusamus quin omnia propter quae ad bellum itum est uestra sint, Sicilia Sardinia Hispania quidquid insularum toto inter Africam Italiamque continetur mari;

[25] Carthaginienses inclusi Africae litoribus uos, quando ita dis placuit, externa etiam terra marique uideamus regentes imperio.

[26] haud negauerim propter non nimis sincere petitam aut exspectatam nuper pacem suspectam esse uobis Punicam fidem: multum per quos petita sit ad fidem tuendae pacis pertinet,

[27] Scipio—uestri quoque, ut audio, patres nonnihil etiam ob hoc quia parum

[28] dignitatis in legatione erat negauerunt pacem—; Hannibal peto pacem qui neque peterem, nisi utilem crederem, et propter eandem utilitatem tuebor eam propter quam petii;

[29] et quemadmodum quia a me bellum coeptum est ne quem eius paeniteret quoad ipsi inuidere di praestiti, ita adnitar ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat.'

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).) — 30.30 focus

[1]

summotis pari ¹ spatio armatis, cum singulis interpretibus congressi sunt, non suae modo aetatis maximi duces, sed omnis ante se memoriae, omnium gentium cuilibet regum imperatorumve pares.

[2] paulisper alter alterius conspectu, admiratione mutua prope attoniti, conticuere. tum Hannibal prior:

[3] " si hoc ita fato datum erat, ut qui primus bellum intuli populo Romano quique totiens prope in manibus victoriam habui, is ultro ad pacem petendam venirem, laetor te mihi sorte ² potissimum datum a quo peterem.

[4] tibi quoque inter multa egregia non in ultimis laudum hoc fuerit, Hannibalem, cui tot de Romanis ³ ducibus victoriam di dedissent, tibi cessisse, teque huic bello, vestris prius ⁴ quam nostris cladibus insigni, finem imposuisse.

[5] hoc quoque ludibrium casus ediderit fortuna, ⁵ ut, cum patre tuo consule ceperim arma, cum eodem primum Romano imperatore signa contulerim, ad filium eius inermis ad pacem petendam veniam.

[6] optimum quidem fuerat eam earn patribus nostris mentem datam ab dis esse ut et vos Italiae et nos Africae imperio contenti essemus;

[7] neque enim ne vobis quidem Sicilia ac Sardinia satis digna pretia sunt pro tot classibus, tot exercitibus, tot tam egregiis amissis ducibus. Sed praeterita magis reprehendi possunt quam corrigi.

[8] ita aliena adpetivimus ut de nostris dimicaremus, nec in Italia solum nobis bellum, vobis ⁶ in Africa esset, sed et vos in portis vestris prope ac moenibus signa armaque hostium vidistis et nos ab Carthagine fremitum castrorum Romanorum exaudimus.

[9] quod igitur nos maxime abominaremur, ⁷ vos ante omnia optaretis, ⁸ in meliore vestra fortuna de pace agitur. agimus ei quorum et maxime interest pacem esse, et qui quodcumque egerimus, ratum civitates nostrae habiturae sunt. animo tantum nobis opus est non abhorrente a quietis consiliis.

[10] " quod ad me attinet, iam aetas senem in patriam revertentem, unde puer profectus sum, iam secundae, iam adversae res ita erudierunt ut rationem sequi ⁹ quam fortunam malim;

[11] tuam et adulescentiam et perpetuam felicitatem, ferociora utraque quam quietis opus est consiliis, metuo. non temere incerta casuum reputat quem fortuna numquam decepit. ¹⁰

[12] quod ego fui ad Trasumennum, ad Cannas, id tu hodie es. ¹¹ vixdum militari aetate imperio accepto omnia audacissime incipientem nusquam ¹² fefellit fortuna.

[13] patris et patrui persecutus mortem ex calamitate vestrae domus decus insigne virtutis pietatisque eximiae cepisti; amissas Hispanias reciperasti quattuor inde Punicis exercitibus pulsis;

[14] consul creatus, cum ¹³ ceteris ad tutandam Italiam parum animi esset, transgressus in Africam, duobus hic exercitibus caesis, binis eadem hora captis simul incensisque castris, Syphace potentissimo rege capto, tot urbibus regni eius, tot nostri imperii ereptis, me sextum decimum iam annum haerentem in possessione Italiae detraxisti.

[15] potest victoriam malle quam pacem animus. novi spiritus magnos magis quam utiles; et mihi talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit.

[16] quodsi in secundis rebus bonam quoque mentem darent dei, non ea solum quae evenissent, sed etiam ea quae evenire possent reputaremus. ut omnium obliviscaris aliorum, satis ego documenti in omnes casus sum,

[17] quem, modo castris inter Anienem atque urbem vestram positis signa inferentem ac iam prope scandentem ¹⁴ moenia Romana, ¹⁵ hic cernas duobus ¹⁶ fratribus, fortissimis viris, clarissimis imperatoribus orbatum ante moenia prope obsessae patriae quibus terrui vestram urbem, ea pro mea deprecantem.

[18] " maximae cuique fortunae minime credendum est. In bonis tuis rebus, nostris dubiis, tibi ampla ¹⁷ ac speciosa danti est pax, nobis petentibus magis necessaria quam honesta.

[19] melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata victoria; haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est. ne tot annorum felicitatem in unius horae dederis discrimen.

[20] cum tuas vires, tum vim Fortunae Martemque belli communem propone animo. utrimque ferrum, utrimque ¹⁸ corpora humana erunt; nusquam minus quam in bello eventus respondent.

[21] non tantum ad id quod data pace iam habere potes, si proelio vincas, ¹⁹ gloriae adieceris, quantum dempseris, ²⁰ si quid adversi eveniat. simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae fortuna evertere potest.

[22] omnia in pace iungenda tuae potestatis sunt, P. Corneli; tunc tune ea habenda fortuna erit quam di dederint.

[23] inter pauca felicitatis virtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hac eadem terra fuisset, si ²¹ victor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris; sed non statuendo felicitati modum nec cohibendo ²² efferentem se fortunam, quanto altius elatus erat, eo foedius conruit.

[24]

est quidem eius qui dat, non qui petit, condiciones dicere pacis; sed forsitan non indigni simus qui nobismet ipsi ²³ multam inrogemus.

[25]

non recusamus quin omnia propter quae ad bellum itum ²⁴ est vestra sint, Sicilia, Sardinia, Hispania, quidquid insularum toto inter Africam Italiamque continetur mari, Carthaginienses inclusi Africae litoribus vos,

[26]

quando ita dis placuit, externa etiam terra marique videamus regentes imperio. ²⁵

[27]

haud negaverim propter non nimis sincere petitam aut exspectatam nuper pacem suspectam esse vobis Punicam fidem. multum per quos petita sit ad fidem tuendae pacis pertinet, Scipio.

[28]

vestri quoque, ut audio, patres non nihil: etiam ob hoc, quia parum dignitatis in legatione erat, negaverunt pacem:

[29]

Hannibal peto pacem, qui neque peterem, nisi utilem crederem, et propter eandem utilitatem tuebor eam propter quam petii.

[30]

et quem ad modum, quia a me bellum coeptum est, ne quem eius paeniteret, quoad ipsi invidere dei, praestiti, ita adnitar ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 30.30 focus

[1]

Their armed attendants having retired to an equal distance, they met, each attended by one interpreter, being the greatest generals not only of their own times, but of any to be found in the records of the times preceding them, and equal to

[2] any of the kings or generals of any nation whatever.

[3] When they came within sight of each other they remained silent for a short time, thunderstruck, as it were, with mutual admiration. At length Hannibal thus began.:

Since fate hath so ordained it, that I, who was the first to wage war upon the Romans, and who have so often had victory almost within my reach, should voluntarily come to sue for peace, I rejoice that it is you, above all others, from whom it is my lot to solicit it.

[4]

To you, also, amid the many distinguished events of your life, it will not be esteemed one of the least glorious, that Hannibal, to whom the gods had so often granted victory over the Roman generals, should have yielded to you; and that you should have put an end to this war, which has been rendered remarkable by your calamities before it was by ours.

[5]

In this also fortune would seem to have exhibited a disposition to sport with events, for it was when your father was consul that I first took up arms;

[6]

he was the first Roman general with whom I engaged in a pitched battle; and it is to his son that I now come unarmed to solicit peace.

[7]

It were indeed most to have been desired, that the gods should have put such dispositions into the minds of our fathers, that you should have been content with the empire of Italy, and we with that of Africa: nor, indeed, even to you, are Sicily and Sardinia of sufficient value to compensate you for the loss of so many fleets, so many armies. so many and such distinguished generals.

[8]

But what is past may be more easily censured than retrieved. In our attempts to acquire the possessions of others we have been compelled to fight for our own; and not only have you had a war in Italy, and we also in Africa, but you have beheld the standards and arms of your enemies almost in your gates and on your walls, and we now, from the walls of Carthage, distinctly hear the din of a Roman camp.

[9]

What, therefore, we should most earnestly deprecate, and you should most de- voutly wish for, is now the case: peace is proposed at a time when you have the advantage. We who negotiate it are the persons whom it most concerns to obtain it, and we are persons whose arrangements, be they what they will, our states will ratify. All we want is a disposition not averse from peaceful counsels.

[10]

As far as relates to myself, time, (for I am returning to that country an old man which I left a boy,) and prosperity, and adversity, have so schooled me, that I am more inclined to follow reason than fortune.

[11]

But I fear your youth and uninterrupted good fortune, both of which are apt to inspire a degree of confidence ill comporting with pacific counsels. Rarely does that man consider the uncertainty of events whom fortune hath never deceived. What I was at Trasimenus, and at Cannae, that you are this day.

[12]

Invested with command when you had scarcely yet attained the military age, though all your enterprises were of the boldest description, in no instance has fortune deserted you.

[13]

Avenging the death of your father and uncle, you have derived from the calamity of your house the high honour of distinguished valour and filial duty. You have recovered Spain, which had been lost, after driving thence four Carthaginian armies.

[14]

When elected consul, though all others wanted courage to defend Italy, you crossed over into Africa; where having cut to pieces two armies, having at once captured and burnt two camps in the same hour; having made prisoner Syphax, a most powerful king, and seized so many towns of his dominions and so many of ours, you have dragged me from Italy, the possession of which I had firmly held for now sixteen years.

[15]

Your mind, I say, may possibly be more disposed to conquest than peace. I know the spirits of your country aim rather at great than useful objects.

[16]

On me, too, a similar fortune once shone. But if with prosperity the gods would also bestow upon us sound judgment, we should not only consider those things which have happened, but those also which may occur. Even if you should forget all others, I am myself a sufficient instance of every vicissitude of fortune.

[17]

For me, whom a little while ago you saw advancing my standards to the walls of Rome, after pitching my camp between the Anio and your city, you now behold here, bereft of my two brothers, men of consummate bravery, and most renowned generals, standing before the walls of my native city, which is all but besieged, and deprecating, in behalf of my own city, those severities with which I terrified yours. In all cases, the most prosperous fortune is least to be depended upon.

[18]

While your affairs are in a favourable and ours in a dubious state, you would derive honour and splendour from granting peace; while to us who solicit it, it would be considered as necessary rather than honourable. A certain peace is better and safer than a victory in prospect; the former is at your own disposal, the latter depends upon the gods.

[19]

Do not place at the hazard of a single hour the successes of so many years.

[20]

When you consider your own strength, then also place before your view the power of fortune, and the fluctuating nature of war. On both sides there will be arms, on both sides human bodies.

[21]

In nothing less than in war do events correspond (with men's calculations). Should you be victorious in a battle, you will not add so much to that renown which you now have it in your power to acquire by granting peace, as you will detract from it should any adverse event befall you. The chance of a single hour may at once overturn the honours you have acquired and those you anticipate.

[22]

Every thing is at your own disposal in adjusting a peace; but, in the other case, you must be content with that fortune which the gods shall impose upon you.

[23]

Formerly, in this same country, Marcus Atilius would have formed one among the few instances of good fortune and valour, if, when victorious, he had granted a peace to our fathers when they requested it; but by not setting any bounds to his success, and not checking good fortune, which was elating him, he fell with a degree of ignominy proportioned to his elevation.

[24]

It is indeed the right of him who grants, and not of him who solicits it, to dictate the terms of peace; but perhaps we may not be unworthy to impose upon ourselves the fine.

[25]

We do not refuse that all those possessions on account of which the war was begun should be yours; Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, with all the islands lying in any part of the sea, between Africa and Italy.

[26]

Let us Carthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, behold you, since such is the pleasure of the gods, extending your empire over foreign nations, both by sea and land.

[27]

I cannot deny that you have reason to suspect the Carthaginian faith, in consequence of their insincerity lately in soliciting a peace and while awaiting the decision. The sincerity with which a peace will be observed, depends much, Scipio, on the person by whom it is sought.

[28]

Your senate, as I hear, refused to grant a peace in some measure because the deputies were deficient in respectability.

[29]

It is I, Hannibal, who now solicit peace; who would neither ask for it unless I believed it expedient, nor will I fail to observe it for the same reason of expedience on account of which I have solicited it.

[30]

And in the same manner as I, because the war was commenced by me, brought it to pass that no one regretted it till the gods began to regard me with displeasure; so will I also exert myself that no one may regret the peace procured by my means.

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.) — 30.30 focus

[1]

.When their respective escorts had withdrawn to an equal distance, the two leaders advanced to meet each other, each accompanied by an interpreter-the greatest commanders not only of their own age but of all who are recorded in history before their day,

[2] the peers of the most famous kings and commanders that the world had seen.

[3] For a few moments they gazed upon one another in silent admiration. Hannibal was the first to speak. "If," he said, "Destiny has so willed it that I, who was the first to make war on Rome and who have so often had the final victory almost within my grasp, should now be the first to come to ask for peace, I congratulate myself that Fate has appointed you, above all others, as the one from whom I am to ask it.

[4] Amongst your many brilliant distinctions this will not be your smallest title to fame, that Hannibal, to whom the gods have given the victory over so many Roman generals, has yielded to you, that it has fallen to your lot to put an end to a war which has been more memorable for your defeats than for ours.

[5] This is indeed the irony of fortune, that after taking up arms when your father was consul, and having him for my opponent in my first battle, it should be his son to whom I come unarmed to ask for peace.

[6] It would have been far better had the gods endowed our fathers with such a disposition that you would have been contented with the sovereignty of Italy, whilst we were contented with Africa.

[7] As it is, even for you, Sicily and Sardinia are no adequate compensation for the loss of so many fleets, so many armies, and so many splendid generals. But it is easier to regret the past than to repair it.

[8] We coveted what belonged to others, consequently we had to fight for our own possessions; not only has war assailed you in Italy and us in Africa, but you have seen the arms and standards of an enemy almost within your gates and on your walls while we hear in Carthage the murmur of the Roman camp.

[9] So the thing which we detest most of all, which you would have wished for before everything, has actually come about, the question of peace is raised when your fortunes are in the ascendant. We who are most concerned in securing peace are the ones to propose it, and we have full powers to treat, whatever we do here our governments will ratify. All we need is a temper to discuss things calmly. As far as I am concerned, coming back to a country which I left as a boy, years and a chequered experience of good and evil fortune have so disillusioned me that I prefer to take reason rather than Fortune as my guide.

[10] As for you, your youth and unbroken success will make you, I fear, impatient of peaceful counsels.

[11] It is not easy for the man whom Fortune never deceives to reflect on the uncertainties and accidents of life. What I was at Thrasymenus and at Cannae, that you are today. You were hardly old enough to bear arms when you were placed in high command, and in all your enterprises, even the most daring, Fortune has never played you false.

[12] You avenged the deaths of your father and your uncle, and that disaster to your house became the occasion of your winning a glorious reputation for courage and filial piety.

[13] You recovered the lost provinces of Spain after driving four Carthaginian armies out of the country.

[14] Then you were elected consul, and whilst your predecessors had hardly spirit enough to protect Italy, you crossed over to Africa, and after destroying two armies and capturing and burning two camps within an hour, taking the powerful monarch Syphax prisoner, and robbing his dominions and ours of numerous cities you have at last dragged me away from Italy after I had kept my hold upon it for sixteen years.

[15] It is quite possible that in your present mood you should prefer victory to an equitable peace; I, too, know the ambition which aims at what is great rather than at what is expedient; on me, too, a fortune such as yours once shone.

[16] But if in the midst of success the gods should also give us wisdom, we ought to reflect not only on what has happened in the past but also upon what may happen in the future. To take only one instance, I myself am a sufficient example of the fickleness of fortune.

[17] Only the other day I had placed my camp between your city and the Anio and was advancing my standards against the walls of Rome-here you see me, bereaved of my two brothers, brave soldiers and brilliant generals as they were, in front of the walls of my native place which is all but invested, and begging on behalf of my city that it may be spared the fate with which I have threatened yours.

[18] The greater a man's good fortune the less ought he to count upon it. Success attends you and has deserted us, and this will make peace all the more splendid to you who grant it; to us who ask for it it is a stern necessity rather than an honourable surrender.

[19] Peace once established is a better and safer thing than hoping for victory; that is in your hands, this in the hands of the gods. Do not expose so many years' good fortune to the hazard of a single hour.

[20] You think of your own strength, but think too of the part which fortune plays and the even chances of battle. On both sides there will be swords and men to use them, nowhere does the event less answer expectation than in war.

[21] Victory will not add so much to the glory which you can now win by granting peace, as defeat will take away from it. The chances of a single hour can annihilate all the honours you have gained and all you can hope for.

[22] If you cement a peace, P. Cornelius, you are master of all, otherwise you will have to accept whatever fortune the gods send you.

[23] M. Atilius Regulus on this very soil would have afforded an almost unique instance of the success which waits on merit, had he in the hour of victory granted peace to our fathers when they asked for it. But as he would set no bounds to his prosperity, nor curb his elation at his good fortune, the height to which he aspired only made his fall the more terrible.

[24] "It is for him who grants peace, not for him who seeks it, to name the terms, but perhaps it may not be presumptuous in us to assess our own penalty.

[25] We consent to everything remaining yours for which we went to war-Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and all the islands that lie between Africa and Italy. We Carthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, are content, since such is the will of the gods, to see you ruling all outside our frontiers by sea and land as your dominions.

[26] I am bound to admit that the lack of sincerity lately shown in the request for peace and in the non-observance of the truce justified your suspicions as to the good faith of Carthage.

[27] But, Scipio, the loyal observance of peace depends largely upon the character of those through whom it is sought.

[28] I hear that your senate have sometimes even refused to grant it because the ambassadors were not of sufficient rank.

[29] Now it is Hannibal who seeks it, and I should not ask for it if I did not believe it to be advantageous to us, and because I believe it to be so I shall keep it inviolate.

[30] As I was responsible for beginning the war and as I conducted it in a way which no one found fault with until the gods were jealous of my success, so I shall do my utmost to prevent any one from being discontented with the peace which I shall have been the means of procuring."

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 202

2. With this thought begins the speech in Polybius vi. 4. What precedes in Livy is his exordium, designed to produce a favourable impression according to rhetorical rule.

3. B.C. 202

4. Similar is Polybius vii. 1.

5. Cf. XXVI. xix. 9.

6. In 211 B.C. ; three miles from the city; XXVI. x. 3.

7. B.C. 202

8. Cf. the closing words of Hannibal in Polybius vii. 9.

9. The thought of Polybius vii. 6.

10. Regulus had been used as an exemplum deterrens in a speech by Fabius in XXVIII. xlii. 1; cf. ibid. xliii. 17 in Scipio's reply.

11. B.C. 202

12. Sicily had been lost by Carthage in the peace of 241 B.C. , Sardinia three years later. Unsuccessful attempts to recover them in the present war, however, justify mention of both here.

13. Nothing is said of Scipio's other demands in xvi. 10 ff., including a heavy indemnity.

14. See p. 449 and n. 2.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 30.30

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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