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), 30.42

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[1]

Then the senate deliberated concerning the embassies of Philip and the Carthaginians. It was decided that the Macedonians should be brought in first.

[2] Their speeches were in different veins, as some of them tried to excuse acts of which envoys who were sent from Rome to the king in regard to the ravaging of allied territory had complained.

[3] Others actually turned accuser, attacking allies of the Roman people, to be sure, but Marcus Aurelius with much more violence, alleging that, being one of three envoys ¹ sent to them, he had conducted a levy, had remained and made war upon them in violation of the treaty, and had repeatedly engaged in regular battles with their commanders.

[4] Still others demanded that the Macedonians and their general, Sopater, who as mercenaries had served with Hannibal and at the time were captives ² in chains, be restored to them. ³

[5] In reply Marcus Furius, who had been sent for the very purpose from Macedonia by Aurelius, maintained that Aurelius had been left behind in order to prevent allies of the Roman people from being exhausted by raids and forced by acts of violence to go over to the king's side; that he had not gone beyond the boundaries ⁴ of the allies; that he had exerted himself that raiders should not come over into the allies' lands with impunity.

[6] He said that Sopater was one of the king's high officials and of his kin; that he had been sent recently to Africa with four thousand Macedonians ⁵ and money to bring aid to Hannibal and the Carthaginians.

[7] Inasmuch as the Macedonians, when questioned in regard to these matters, gave ambiguous answers, they in turn received an answer of a very different sort:

[8] that the king was looking for war and if he kept on would soon find it; that he had twice violated the treaty, in that he wronged allies of the Roman people and harried them with war and arms, and in that he aided the enemy by reinforcements and money;

[9] that not only had Scipio acted and was now acting in their opinion with perfect propriety in keeping in chains as enemies men who had been captured while bearing arms against the Roman people, but also that Marcus Aurelius was acting in conformity

[10] with the interest of the state, and that the senate was grateful that he was defending allies of the Roman people by arms, since he was unable to do so by the obligations of a treaty.

[11] With so stern an answer as this the Macedonians were dismissed and the Carthaginian ambassadors ⁶ summoned. When the senators observed the age and high station of each-for these were the very first of the citizens-thereupon all agreed that they were really treating for peace.

[12] Most conspicuous among them, however, was Hasdrubal surnamed Haedus ⁷ among his people, always a supporter of peace and an opponent of the Barcine party.

[13] Hence he had all the more weight then, as he shifted the blame for the war from the state to the greed of the few.

[14] His speech was in different keys, now excusing what was charged, now making some admissions, lest pardon should be harder to obtain if they shamelessly denied known facts, and now even admonishing the conscript fathers to make a moderate and restrained use of their good fortune.

[15] He said that if the Carthaginians had listened to him and to Hanno ⁸ and had been minded to take advantage of the right moment, the Romans would have given the terms of peace which they were at that time seeking; that seldom were men given good fortune and good judgment at the same time;

[16] that the Roman people was invincible for the reason that in its good fortune it remembered to be wise and to take counsel. And certainly, he said, it would have been wonderful if its practice were different.

[17] Men whose good fortune was new because of its strangeness went wild, unable to control their rejoicing; for the Roman people the joys of victory were familiar and now all but threadbare, and they had enlarged their empire almost more by sparing the vanquished than by conquest.

[18] The rest of the speakers employed more pathos as they stated from what wealth the Carthaginians' situation had fallen to what depths; that men who recently held almost the whole world by their ⁹ arms had nothing left but the walls of Carthage. Shut up within these walls, they said, they saw nothing on land or sea subject to their rule.

[19] Even the city itself and their homes they would hold only in case the Roman people did not choose to vent its animosity upon those possessions also, the last possible step.

[20] When it was clear that the senators were inclining to pity, one of their number, ¹⁰ outraged by the perfidy of the Carthaginians, is said to have called out to them, asking who were the gods in whose name they were to make the treaty, inasmuch as they had proved false to the gods in whose name the former treaty had been made.

[21]

The same

said Hasdrubal, since they are so hostile to treaty-breakers."

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.) — 30.42 focus

[1] tum de legatis Philippi et Carthaginienslum Carthaginiensium actum.

[2] priores Macedonas introduci placuit; quorum varia oratio fuit, partim purgantium, quae questi erant missi ad regem ab Roma legati de populatione sociorum, partim ultro accusantium quidem et socios populi Romani,

[3] sed multo infestius M. Aurelium, quem ex tribus ad se missis legatis dilectu habito substitisse et se bello lacessisse contra foedus et saepe cum praefectis suis signis conlatis pugnasse, partim postulantium,

[4] ut Macedones duxque eorum Sopater, qui apud Hannibalem mercede militassent, tum capti in vinclis essent, sibi restituerentur.

[5] adversus ea M. Furius, missus ad id ipsum ab Aurelio ex Macedonia, disseruit Aurelium relictum, ne socii populi Romani fessi populationibus vi atque iniuria ad regem deficerent;

[6] finibus sociorum non excessisse, dedisse operam, ne impune in agros eorum populatores transcenderent. Sopatrum ex purpuratis et propinquis regis esse; eum cum quattuor milibus Macedonum et pecunia missum nuper in Africam esse Hannibali et Carthaginiensibus auxilio.

[7] de his rebus interrogati Macedones cum perplexe responderent, nequaquam ipsi simile responsum tulerunt:

[8] bellum quaerere regem et, si pergat, propediem inventurum. dupliciter ab eo foedus violatum, et quod sociis populi Romani iniurias fecerit ac bello armisque lacessiverit, et quod hostes auxiliis et pecunia iuverit.

[9] et P. Scipionem recte atque ordine fecisse videri et facere, quod eos, qui arma contra populum Romanum ferentes capti sint, hostium numero in vinclis habeat,

[10] et M. Aurelium e re publica facere, gratumque id senatui esse, quod socios populi Romani, quando iure foederis non possit, armis tueatur.

[11] cum hoc tam tristi responso dimissis Macedonibus legati Carthaginienses vocati; quorum aetatibus dignitatibusque conspectis — nam longe primi civitatis erant — tum pro se quisque dicere vere de pace agi.

[12] insignis tamen inter ceteros Hasdrubal erat — Haedum populares cognomine appellabant — pacis semper auctor adversusque factioni Barcinae.

[13] eo tum plus illi auctoritatis fuit belli culpam in paucorum cupiditatem ab re publica transferenti.

[14] qui cum varia oratione usus esset, nunc purgando crimina nunc quaedam fatendo, ne impudenter certa negantibus diffieilior difficilior venia esset, nunc monendo etiam patres conscriptos, ut rebus secundis modeste ac moderate uterentur;

[15] si se atque Hannonem audissent Carthaginienses et ternpore tempore uti voluissent, daturos fuisse pacis condiciones, quas tune tunc peterent. raro simul hominibus bonam fortunam bonamque mentem dari;

[16] populum Romanum eo invictum esse, quod in secundis rebus sapere et consulere meminerit. et hercule mirandum fuisse, si aliter faceret.

[17] ex insolentia, quibus nova bona fortuna sit, inpotentes laetitiae insanire; populo Romano usitata ac prope iam obsoleta ex victoria gaudia esse, ac plus paene parcendo victis quam vincendo imperium auxisse,

[18] — ceterorum miserabilior oratio fuit commemorantium, ex quantis opibus quo reccidissent Carthaginiensium res: nihil iis, qui modo orbem prope terrarum obtinuerint armis, superesse praeter Carthaginis moenia;

[19] his inclusos non terra, non mari quicquam sui iuris cernere; urbem quoque ipsam ac penates ita habituros, si non in ea quoque, quo nihil ulterius sit,

[20] saevire populus Romanus velit cum flecti misericordia patres appareret, senatorem unum infestum perfidiae Carthaginiensium succlamasse ferunt, per quos deos foedus icturi essent, cum eos, per quos ante ictum esset, fefellissent;

[21] “per eosdem” inquit Hasdrubal, “quoniam tam infesti sunt foedera violantibus.”

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 30.42 focus

[1]

tum de legatis Philippi et Carthaginiensium actum. priores Macedonas introduci placuit;

[2] quorum uaria oratio fuit. partim purgantium quae questi erant missi ad regem ab Roma legati de populatione sociorum, partim ultro accusantium quidem et socios populi Romani sed multo infestius M. Aurelium ,

[3] quem ex tribus ad se missis legatis dilectu habito substitisse et se bello lacessisse contra foedus et saepe cum praefectis suis signis conlatis pugnasse,

[4] postulantium ut Macedones duxque eorum Sopater, qui apud Hannibalem mercede militassent, tum capti in uinclis essent, sibi restituerentur.

[5] aduersus ea M. Furius , missus ad id ipsum ab Aurelio ex Macedonia, disseruit Aurelium relictum ne socii populi Romani fessi populationibus ui atque iniuria ad regem deficerent; finibus sociorum non excessisse;

[6] dedisse operam ne impune in agros eorum populatores transcenderent. Sopatrum ex purpuratis et propinquis regis esse; eum cum quattuor milibus Macedonum et pecunia missum nuper in Africam esse Hannibali et Carthaginiensibus auxilio.

[7] de his rebus interrogati Macedones cum perplexe responderent, neq ipsi mite responsum tulerunt: bellum quaerere regem et si pergat propediem inuenturum;

[8] dupliciter ab eo foedus uiolatum et quod sociis populi Romani iniurias fecerit ac bello armisque lacessiuerit, et quod hostes auxiliis et pecunia iuuerit.

[9] et P. Scipionem recte atque ordine fecisse uideri et facere quod eos qui arma contra populum Romanum ferentes capti sint hostium numero in uinclis habeat,

[10] et M. Aurelium e re publica facere gratumque id senatui esse quod socios populi Romani, quando iure foederis non possit, armis tueatur.

[11] cum hoc tam tristi responso dimissis Macedonibus, legati Carthaginienses uocati. quorum aetatibus dignitatibusque conspectis—nam longe primi ciuitatis erant—tum pro se quisque dicere uere de pace agi.

[12] insignis tamen inter ceteros Hasdrubal erat—Haedum populares cognomine appellabant—, pacis semper auctor aduersusque factioni Barcinae.

[13] eo tum plus illi auctoritatis fuit belli culpam in paucorum cupiditatem ab re publica transferenti.

[14] qui cum uaria oratione usus esset, nunc purgando crimina, nunc quaedam fatendo ne impudenter certa negantibus difficilior uenia esset, nunc monendo etiam patres conscriptos ut

[15] rebus secundis modeste ac moderate uterentur—si se atque Hannonem audissent Carthaginienses et tempore uti uoluissent, daturos fuisse pacis condiciones quas tunc peterent; raro simul hominibus bonam fortunam bonamque mentem dari;

[16] populum Romanum eo inuictum esse quod in secundis rebus sapere et consulere meminerit; et hercule mirandum fuisse si aliter faceret;

[17] ex insolentia quibus noua bona fortuna sit impotentes laetitiae insanire: populo Romano usitata ac prope iam obsoleta ex uictoria gaudia esse ac plus paene parcendo uictis quam uincendo imperium auxisse —

[18] ceterorum miserabilior oratio fuit, commemorantium ex quantis opibus quo reccidissent Carthaginiensium res: nihil iis qui modo orbem prope terrarum obtinuerint armis superesse praeter Carthaginis moenia;

[19] his inclusos, non terra non mari quicquam sui iuris cernere; urbem quoque ipsam ac penates ita habituros si non in ea quoque, quo nihil ulterius sit, saeuire populus Romanus uelit.

[20] cum flecti misericordia patres appareret, senatorum unum infestum perfidiae Carthaginiensium succlamasse ferunt per quos deos foedus icturi essent cum eos per quos ante ictum esset fefellissent. 'per eosdem',

[21] inquit Hasdrubal 'quoniam tam infesti sunt foedera uiolantibus.'

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).) — 30.42 focus

[1]

tum de legatis Philippi et Carthaginiensium actum.

[2] priores Macedonas introduci placuit; quorum varia oratio fuit, partim purgantium quae questi erant missi ad regem ab Roma legati de populatione sociorum, partim ultro accusantium quidem et socios populi Romani,

[3] sed multo infestius M. Aurelium, quem ex tribus ad se missis legatis dilectu habito substitisse et se bello lacessisse contra foedus et saepe cum praefectis suis signis conlatis pugnasse,

[4] partim ¹ postulantium ut Macedones duxque eorum Sopater, qui apud Hannibalem mercede militassent, tum capti ² in vinclis essent, sibi restituerentur. ³

[5] adversus ea M. Furius, missus ad id ipsum ab Aurelio ex Macedonia, disseruit Aurelium relictum, ne socii populi Romani fessi populationibus vi atque iniuria ad regem deficerent; finibus sociorum non excessisse;

[6] dedisse operam ne impune in agros eorum populatores transcenderent. sopatrum ex purpuratis et propinquis regis esse; eum cum quattuor milibus Macedonum et pecunia missum nuper in Africam esse Hannibali et Carthaginiensibus auxilio.

[7] De his rebus interrogati Macedones cum perplexe responderent, nequaquam ipsi simile ⁴ responsum tulerunt: bellum quaerere regem et, si pergat, propediem inventurum.

[8] dupliciter ab eo foedus violatum, et quod sociis populi Romani iniurias fecerit ac ⁵ bello armisque lacessiverit, et quod hostes auxiliis et pecunia iuverit.

[9] et P. Scipionem recte atque ordine fecisse videri et facere, quod eos qui arma contra populum Romanum ferentes capti sint hostium numero in vinclis habeat, et M. Aurelium e re publica facere,

[10] gratumque id senatui esse quod socios populi Romani, quando iure foederis non possit, ⁶ armis tueatur.

[11] cum hoc tam tristi responso dimissis Macedonibus, legati Carthaginienses vocati. quorum aetatibus ⁷ dignitatibusque conspectis—nam longe primi civitatis erant—tum pro se quisque dicere vere de pace agi.

[12] insignis tamen inter ceteros Hasdrubal erat —Haedum populares cognomine appellabant—, pacis semper auctor adversusque factioni Barcinae.

[13] eo tum plus illi auctoritatis fuit belli culpam in paucorum cupiditatem ab re publica transferenti.

[14] qui cum varia oratione usus esset, nunc purgando crimina, nunc quaedam fatendo, ne impudenter certa negantibus difficilior ⁸ venia esset, nunc monendo etiam patres conscriptos ut rebus secundis modeste ac moderate

[15] uterentur—si se atque Hannonem audissent Carthaginienses et tempore uti voluissent, daturos fuisse pacis condiciones quas tunc tune peterent. raro simul hominibus bonam fortunam bonamque mentem dari;

[16] populum Romanum eo invictum esse quod in secundis rebus sapere et consulere meminerit. et hercule mirandum fuisse, si aliter faceret. ⁹

[17] ex insolentia quibus nova bona ¹⁰ fortuna sit inpotentes laetitiae insanire; populo Romano usitata ac prope iam obsoleta ex victoria gaudia esse, ac plus paene parcendo victis quam vincendo imperium auxisse.

[18] ceterorum miserabilior oratio fuit, commemorantium ¹¹ ex quantis opibus quo reccidissent Carthaginiensium res: nihil iis qui modo orbem prope terrarum ¹² obtinuerint ¹³ armis superesse praeter Carthaginis moenia; his inclusos non terra,

[19] non mari quicquam sui iuris cernere; urbem quoque ipsam ac penates ita habituros, ¹⁴ si non in ea ¹⁵ quoque, quo nihil ulterius sit, saevire populus Romanus velit. ¹⁶

[20] cum flecti misericordia patres appareret, senatorum ¹⁷ unum infestum perfidiae Carthaginiensium succlamasse ferunt per quos deos foedus icturi essent,

[21] cum eos per quos ante ictum esset fefellissent.

per eosdem

inquit Hasdrubal,

quoniam tam infesti sunt foedera violantibus.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 30.42 focus

[1]

Then the business relating to the ambassadors of Philip and the Carthaginians was considered.

[2] It was resolved that the Macedonians should be brought before the senate first. Their address comprehended a variety of subjects, being employed partly in clearing themselves from the charges relative to the depredations committed against the allies, which the deputies sent to the king from Rome had brought against them;

[3] and partly in preferring accusations themselves against the allies of the Roman people, but particularly against Marcus Aurelius, whom they inveighed against with much greater acrimony; for they said that, being one of the three ambassadors sent to them, he had staid behind, and levying soldiers, had assailed them with hostilities contrary to the league, and frequently fought pitched battles with their prefects;

[4] and partly in preferring a request that the Macedonians and their general, Sopater, who had served in the army of Hannibal for hire, and having been made prisoners were kept in bondage, should be restored to them.

[5] In opposition to these things, Marcus Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia for the express purpose by Aurelius, thus argued: he said,

that Aurelius, having been left behind, lest the allies of the Roman people, wearied by devastations and injuries, should revolt to the king, had not gone beyond the boundaries of the allies; but had taken measures to prevent plundering parties from crossing over into their lands with impunity.

[6]

That Sopater was one of those who wore purple, and was related to the king; that he had been lately sent into Africa with four thousand Macedonians and a sum of money to assist Hannibal and the Carthaginians.

[7] The Macedonians, on being interrogated on these points, proceeded to answer in a subtle and evasive manner; but without waiting for the conclusion of their reply they were told,

that the king was seeking occasion for war, and that if he persisted he would soon obtain his object.

[8]

That the treaty had been doubly violated by him, both by offering insults to the allies of the Roman people, by assaulting them with hostilities and arms, and also by aiding their enemies with auxiliaries and money.

[9]

That Publius Scipio was deemed to have acted properly and regularly in keeping in chains, as enemies, those who had been made prisoners while bearing arms against the Romans; and that Marcus Aurelius had consulted the interest of the state, and the senate were thankful to him for it, in protecting the allies

[10]

of the Roman people by arms, since he could not do it by the obligation of the treaty.

The Macedonian ambassadors having been dismissed with this unpleasant answer, the Carthaginian ambassadors were called.

[11] On observing their ages and dignified appearance, for they were by far the first men of the state, all promptly declared their conviction, that now they were sincere in their desire to effect a peace. Hasdrubal, however, surnamed by his countrymen Haedus, who had invariably recommended peace, and was opposed to the Barcine faction, was regarded with greater interest than the rest.

[12] On these accounts the greater weight was attached to him when transferring the blame of the war from the state at large to the cupidity of a few.

[13] After a speech of varied character, in which he sometimes refuted the charges which had been brought, at other times admitted some, lest by impudently denying what was manifestly true their forgiveness might be the more difficult;

[14] and then, even admonishing the conscript fathers to be guided by the rules of decorum and moderation in their prosperity, he said, that if the Carthaginians had listened to himself and Hanno, and had been disposed to make a proper use of circumstances, they would themselves have dictated terms of peace, instead of begging it as they now did.

[15] That it rarely happened that good fortune and a sound judgment were bestowed upon men at the same time.

[16] That the Roman people were therefore invincible, because when successful they forgot not the maxims of wisdom and prudence; and indeed it would have been matter of astonishment did they act otherwise. That those persons to whom success was a new and uncommon thing, proceeded to a pitch of madness in their ungoverned transports in consequence of their not being accustomed to it.

[17] That to the Roman people the joy arising from victory was a matter of common occurrence, and was now almost become old-fashioned. That they had extended their empire more by sparing the vanquished than by conquering. The language employed by the others was of a nature more calculated to excite compassion; they represented from what a height of power the Carthaginian affairs had fallen.

[18] That nothing, besides the walls of Carthage, remained to those who a little time ago held almost the whole world in subjection by their arms; that, shut up within these, they could see nothing any where on sea or land which owned their authority.

[19] That they would retain possession of their city itself and their household gods only, in case the Roman people should refrain from venting their indignation upon these, which is all that remains for them to do.

[20] When it was manifest that the fathers were moved by compassion, it is said that one of the senators, violently incensed at the perfidy of the Carthaginians, immediately asked with a loud voice, by what gods they would swear in striking the league, since they had broken their faith with those by whom they swore in striking the former one?

[21] By those same, replied Hasdrubal, who have shown such determined hostility to the violators of treaties.

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.) — 30.42 focus

[1]

Then the admission of the embassies from Philip and the Carthaginians was discussed.

[2] It was decided that the Macedonians should be introduced first. Their address dealt with various points. They began by disclaiming all responsibility for the depredations on the friendly countries of which the Roman envoys had complained to the king.

[3] Then they themselves brought charges against the allies of Rome and a much more serious one against M. Aurelius, one of the three envoys, who they said had stayed behind and after raising a body of troops commenced hostilities against them in violation of treaty rights, and fought several engagements with their commanders.

[4] They ended with a demand that the Macedonians with their general Sopater who had served as mercenaries under Hannibal and were then prisoners in chains should be restored to them.

[5] In reply, M. Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia by Aurelius to represent him, pointed out that Aurelius had certainly been left behind, but it was for the purpose of preventing the allies of Rome from being driven to secede to the king in consequence of the injuries and depredations from which they were suffering.

[6] He had not overstepped their frontiers; he had made it his business to see that no hordes of plunderers crossed those frontiers with impunity. Sopater, who was one of the purple-clad nobles who stood near the throne and was related to the monarch, had recently been sent to Africa to assist Hannibal and Carthage with money and also with a force of 4000 Macedonians.

[7] On being questioned as to these matters the Macedonians gave unsatisfactory and evasive replies, and consequently the answer they received from the senate was anything but favourable.

[8] They were told that their king was looking for war, and if he went on as he was doing, he would very soon find it. He had been guilty of a twofold breach of treaty, for he had committed wanton aggression on the allies of Rome by hostile arms and he had also aided the enemies of Rome with men and money.

[9] Scipio was acting rightly and legitimately in treating those taken in arms against Rome as enemies and keeping them in chains.

[10] M. Aurelius also was acting in the interests of the State-and the senate thanked him for it-when he afforded armed protection to the allies of Rome since treaty rights were powerless for their defence. With this stern reply the Macedonian envoys were dismissed.

[11] Then the Carthaginians were called in. As soon as their age and rank were recognised, for they were quite the foremost men in the State, the senators remarked that now it was really a question of peace. Conspicuous amongst them all was Hasdrubal, on whom his countrymen had bestowed the sobriquet of "Haedus."

[12] He had always been an advocate of peace and an opponent of the Barcine party.

[13] This gave his words additional weight when he disavowed all responsibility for the war on behalf of his government and fastened it on a few ambitious and grasping individuals.

[14] His speech was discursive and eloquent. He repudiated some of the charges, others he admitted lest unabashed denials of established facts might lead to less consideration being shown. He warned the senators to use their good fortune in a spirit of moderation and self-restraint.

[15] "If," he continued, "the Carthaginians had listened to Hanno and myself and had been willing to take advantage of their opportunity, they would have dictated the terms of peace which now they are seeking from you. Seldom are good fortune and good sense granted to men at the same time.

[16] What makes Rome invincible is the fact that her people do not lose their sound judgment in the hour of prosperity.

[17] And indeed it would be a matter for surprise were it otherwise, for those to whom good fortune is a novelty go mad with unrestrained delight because they are unused to it, but to you Romans the joy of victory is a usual, I might almost say a commonplace experience. It is by clemency towards the conquered more than by conquest itself that you have extended your dominion."

[18] The others spoke in language more calculated to evoke compassion. They reminded their audience of the powerful and influential position from which Carthage had fallen. Those, they said, who lately held almost the whole world subject to their arms had nothing now left to them but their city walls.

[19] Confined within these they saw nothing on land or sea which owned their sway. Even their city and their hearths and homes they would only keep if the Roman people were willing to spare them; if not, they lost everything.

[20] As it became evident that the senators were moved with compassion, one of them, exasperated by the perfidy of the Carthaginians, is said to have called out, "By what gods will you swear to observe the treaty, since you have been false to those by whom you swore before?"

[21] "By the same as before," Hasdrubal replied, "since they visit their wrath on those who violate treaties."

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Cf. xxvi. 4.

2. B.C. 201

3. As being mercenaries, not really belligerents.

4. No doubt still disputed, so that ex Macedonia just above is only an apparent conflict.

5. Cf. xxxii. 5.

6. B.C. 201

7. Cf. xliv. 5; Appian Pun. 49 fin., 63, but the occasion is different.

8. See p. 440, n. 1.

9. B.C. 201

10. A relative of Lentulus the consul according to Appian Pun. 62.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 30.42

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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