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), 30.7

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[1]

Hasdrubal after fleeing had made his way with a few men to the nearest city ¹ of the Africans; and to it had come all the survivors, following the trail of their general. Then for fear that it might surrender to Scipio he left the city.

[2] Soon after the gates were opened and the Romans admitted to the same city. And since they had voluntarily submitted no hostile step was taken. Thereafter two cities were captured and plundered. Their booty and what had been rescued from the flames when the camps were burned was granted to the soldiers.

[3] Syphax ² established himself in a fortified place ³ at a distance of about eight miles. Hasdrubal hastened to Carthage, that no weak action might be taken in the fear induced by the recent disaster.

[4] At first the news brought such alarm to the city that they believed Scipio would leave Utica to itself and forthwith besiege Carthage.

[5] The senate was accordingly convened by the sufĕtes, whose authority corresponded to that of consuls. ⁴ There it was a conflict between three proposals:

[6] one favoured peace envoys to Scipio; the second was for recalling Hannibal to defend their city from a war which meant destruction; the third showed a Roman steadfastness in adversity. This proposal was that they should repair the losses to the army and urge Syphax not to give up the war. ⁵

[7] This motion was carried because Hasdrubal in person and all of the Barcine party supported the war.

[8] Then they began to conduct a levy in the city and in the country, and emissaries were sent to Syphax, who on his part also was making every effort to renew the war, since his wife had influenced him —no longer, as before, by caresses, effectual enough for the temper of a lover —but

[9] by prayers and moving entreaty, imploring him, as her eyes filled with tears, not to betray her father and her city and allow Carthage to be destroyed by the same flames with which the camps had been consumed.

[10] Hope also at the right moment was brought by the emissaries in the news that four thousand Celtiberians, the flower of their youth, had met them near ⁶ a city named Obba, having been hired in Spain by their own recruiting-officers; and Hasdrubal, they said, would soon arrive with a force by no means to be despised.

[11] In consequence he not only gave a favourable answer to the legates but also showed them a large number of Numidian rustics to whom he had just been furnishing arms and horses, and assured them that he would call out all the young men from his kingdom.

[12] He was aware, he said, that the disaster had been due to fire, not to battle; that a war is lost only by the man who is defeated in battle.

[13] Such was his answer to the legates, and after a few days Hasdrubal and Syphax again united their forces. The total strength of that army was about thirty thousand armed men. ⁷

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.) — 30.7 focus

[1] Hasdrubal ex fuga cum paucis Afrorum urbem proximam petierat, eoque omnes, qui supererant, vestigia ducis sequentes se contulerant; metu deinde, ne dederetur Scipioni, urbe excessit.

[2] mox eodem patentibus portis Romani accepti; nec quicquam hostile, quia voluntate concesserant in dicionem, factum. duae subinde urbes captae direptaeque; ea praeda et quae castris incensis ex igne rapta erat militi concessa est.

[3] Syphax octo milium ferme inde spatio loco munito consedit; Hasdrubal Carthaginem contendit, ne quid per metum ex recenti clade mollius consuleretur.

[4] quo tantus primo terror est adlatus, ut omissa Utica Carthaginem crederent extemplo Scipionem obsessurum.

[5] senatum itaque sufetes quod velut consulare imperium apud eos erat, vocaverunt.

[6] ibi tribus sententiis certaturn certatum; est; una de pace legatos ad Scipionem decernebat, altera Hannibalem ad tuendam ab exitiabili bello patriam revocabat, tertia Romanae in adversis rebus constantiae erat:

[7] reparandum exercitum Syphacemque hortandum, ne bello absisteret, censebat. haec sententia, quia Hasdrubal praesens Barcinaeque omnes factionis bellum malebant, vicit.

[8] inde dilectus in urbe agrisque haberi coeptus, et ad Syphacem legati missi, summa ope et ipsum reparantem bellum, cum uxor non iam ut ante blanditiis, satis potentibus ad animum amantis, sed precibus et misericordia valuisset, plena lacrimarum obtestans,

[9] ne patrem suum patriamque proderet isdemque flammis Carthaginem, quibus castra conflagrassent, absumi sineret.

[10] spem quoque opportune oblatam adferebant legati: quattuor milia Celtiberorum circa urbem nomine Obbam, ab conquisitoribus suis conducta in Hispania, egregiae iuventutis, sibi occurrisse, et Hasdrubalem prope diem adfore cum manu haudquaquam contemnenda.

[11] igitur non benigne modo legatis respondit, sed ostendit etiam multitudinem agrestium Numidarum, quibus per eosdem dies arma equosque dedisset, et omnem iuventutem adfirmat ex regno exciturum;

[12] scire incendio, non proelio cladem acceptam; eum bello inferiorem esse, qui armis vincatur.

[13] haec legatis responsa; et post dies paucos rursus Hasdrubal et Syphax copias iunxerunt. is omnis exercitus fuit triginta ferme milium armatorum.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 30.7 focus

[1]

Hasdrubal ex fuga cum paucis Afrorum urbem proximam petierat, eoque omnes qui supererant uestigia ducis sequentes se contulerant; metu deinde ne dederetur Scipioni urbe excessit.

[2] mox eodem patentibus portis Romani accepti, nec quicquam hostile, quia uoluntate concesserant in dicionem, factum. duae subinde urbes captae direptaeque. ea praeda et quae castris incensis ex igne rapta erat militi concessa est.

[3] Syphax octo milium ferme inde spatio loco munito consedit; Hasdrubal Carthaginem contendit ne quid per metum ex recenti clade mollius consuleretur.

[4] quo tantus primo terror est allatus ut omissa Utica Carthaginem crederent extemplo Scipionem obsessurum.

[5] senatum itaque sufetes, quod uelut consulare imperium apud eos erat, uocauerunt.

[6] ibi tribus ; una de pace legatos ad Scipionem decernebat, altera Hannibalem ad tuendam ab exitiabili bello patriam reuocabat, tertia Romanae in aduersis rebus constantiae erat;

[7] reparandum exercitum Syphacemque hortandum ne bello absisteret censebat. haec sententia quia Hasdrubal praesens Barcinaeque omnes factionis bellum malebant uicit.

[8] inde dilectus in urbe agrisque haberi coeptus, et ad Syphacem legati missi, summa ope et ipsum reparantem bellum cum uxor non iam ut ante blanditiis, satis potentibus ad animum amantis,

[9] sed precibus et misericordia ualuisset, plena lacrimarum obtestans ne patrem suum patriamque proderet iisdemque flammis Carthaginem quibus castra conflagrassent absumi sineret.

[10] spem quoque opportune oblatam adferebant legati: quattuor milia Celtiberorum circa urbem nomine Obbam ab conquisitoribus suis conducta in Hispania, egregiae iuuentutis, sibi occurrisse; et Hasdrubalem propediem adfore cum manu haudquaquam contemnenda.

[11] igitur non benigne modo legatis respondit, sed ostendit etiam multitudinem agrestium Numidarum quibus per eosdem dies arma equosque dedisset, et omnem iuuentutem adfirmat ex regno exciturum:

[12] scire incendio non proelio cladem acceptam; eum bello inferiorem esse qui armis uincatur.

[13] haec legatis responsa, et post dies paucos rursus Hasdrubal et Syphax copias iunxerunt. is omnis exercitus fuit triginta ferme milium armatorum.

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).) — 30.7 focus

[1]

Hasdrubal ex fuga cum paucis Afrorum urbem proximam petierat, eoque omnes qui supererant vestigia ducis sequentes se contulerant; metu deinde ne dederetur Scipioni urbe excessit.

[2] mox eodem patentibus portis Romani accepti, nec quicquam hostile, quia voluntate concesserant in dicionem, factum. duae subinde urbes captae direptaeque. ea praeda et quae castris incensis ex igne rapta erat militi concessa est.

[3] Syphax octo milium ferme inde spatio ¹ loco munito ² consedit; Hasdrubal Carthaginem contendit, ne quid per metum ex recenti clade mollius consuleretur.

[4] quo tantus primo terror est adlatus ut omissa Utica Carthaginem crederent extemplo Scipionem obsessurum. ³

[5] senatum itaque sufetes, quod velut consulare imperium apud eos erat, vocaverunt.

[6] Ibi tribus sententiis certatum ⁴ ; una de pace legatos ad Scipionem decernebat, altera Hannibalem ad tuendam ab exitiabili bello patriam revocabat, tertia Romanae in adversis rebus constantiae erat;

[7] reparandum exercitum Syphacemque hortandum ne bello absisteret censebat. haec sententia, quia Hasdrubal praesens Barcinaeque omnes factionis bellum malebant, vicit.

[8] inde dilectus in urbe agrisque haberi coeptus, et ad Syphacem legati missi, summa ope et ipsum reparantem bellum, cum uxor non iam ut ante blanditiis, satis potentibus ad animum amantis,

[9] sed precibus et misericordia valuisset, plena lacrimarum obtestans ne patrem suum patriamque proderet isdemque flammis Carthaginem quibus castra conflagrassent absumi sineret.

[10] spem quoque opportune oblatam adferebant legati: quattuor milia Celtiberorum circa urbem nomine Obbam, ab conquisitoribus suis ⁵ conducta in Hispania, egregiae iuventutis, sibi occurrisse; et Hasdrubalem propediem adfore cum manu haudquaquam contemnenda.

[11] igitur non benigne modo legatis respondit, sed ostendit etiam ⁶ multitudinem agrestium Numidarum, quibus per eosdem ⁷ dies arma equosque dedisset, et omnem iuventutem adfirmat ex regno exciturum;

[12] scire incendio, non proelio cladem acceptam; eum bello inferiorem esse qui armis vincatur.

[13] haec legatis responsa, et post dies paucos rursus Hasdrubal et Syphax copias iunxerunt. is omnis exercitus fuit triginta ferme milium ⁸ armatorum.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 30.7 focus

[1]

Hasdrubal, in his flight, had made for the nearest city of the Africans, accompanied by a few attendants; and hither all those who survived, following the footsteps of their general, had betaken themselves. But afterwards, fearing lest he should be given up to Scipio, he quitted that city.

[2] Soon after, the Romans were received there with open gates; nor was any act of hostility committed, because the inhabitants had surrendered voluntarily. Shortly after, two other cities were captured and plundered. The booty found there, together with what had been rescued from the camps when burning, and from the flames, was given up to the soldiers.

[3] Syphax took up a position in a fortified place about eight miles off. Hasdrubal hastened to Carthage, lest the apprehensions occasioned by the recent disaster should lead to any timorous measures.

[4] So great was the consternation created there on the first receipt of the news, that it was fully anticipated that Scipio, suspending his operations against Utica, would immediately lay siege to Carthage.

[5] The suffetes, therefore, who form with them an authority similar to the consular, summoned the senate, when the three following opinions were given.

[6] The first proposed, that a decree should be passed to the effect, that ambassadors should be sent to Scipio to treat of peace; the second, that Hannibal should be recalled to defend his country from a war which threatened its annihilation; the third breathed the spirit of Roman constancy under adversity; it recommended that the losses of the army should be repaired, and that Syphax should be exhorted not to abandon the war.

[7] The latter opinion prevailed, because it was that which Hasdrubal, who was present, and all the members of the Barcine faction, preferred.

[8] After this, the levy commenced in the city and country, and ambassadors were despatched to Syphax, who was himself employing every effort to restore the war;

[9] for his wife had prevailed upon him, not, as heretofore, by caresses, powerful as they are in influencing the mind of a lover, but by prayers and appeals to his compassion, imploring him, with streaming eyes, not to betray her father and her country, nor suffer Carthage to be consumed by the same flames which had reduced the camps to ashes.

[10] In addition to this, the ambassadors informed him of a circumstance which had occurred very seasonably to raise their hopes; that they had met with four thousand Celtiberians in the neighbourhood of a city named Abba, a fine body of young men who had been enlisted by their recruiting officers in Spain; and that Hasdrubal would very soon arrive with a body of troops by no means contemptible.

[11] Accordingly, he not only returned a kind answer to the ambassadors, but also showed them a multitude of Numidian rustics, whom he had lately furnished with arms and horses; and at the same time assured them that he would call out all the youth in his kingdom.

[12] He said, he well knew that the loss sustained had been occasioned by fire, and not by battle, and that he was inferior to his adversary in war who was overcome by force of arms.

[13] Such was the answer given to the ambassadors; and, after a few days, Hasdrubal and Syphax again united their forces. This army consisted of about thirty-five thousand fighting men.

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.) — 30.7 focus

[1]

Hasdrubal, who was accompanied in his flight by a small body of horse, made for the nearest city, where he was subsequently joined by all who survived, but fearing that it might be surrendered to Scipio, he left it in the night.

[2] Soon after his departure the gates were opened to admit the Romans, and as the surrender was a voluntary one the place suffered no hostile treatment. Two cities were taken and sacked soon afterwards, and the loot found there with what had been rescued from the burning camp was all given to the soldiers.

[3] Syphax established himself in a fortified position about eight miles distant; Hasdrubal hastened to Carthage, fearing lest the recent disaster should frighten the senate into a more yielding mood.

[4] So great in fact was the alarm that people expected Scipio to leave Utica alone and instantly commence the siege of Carthage.

[5] The sufetes-a magistrate corresponding to our consul-convened a meeting of the senate. Here three proposals were made.

[6] One was to send envoys to Scipio to negotiate a peace; another, to recall Hannibal to protect his country from the ruin which threatened it; the third, which showed a firmness worthy of Romans in adversity, urged the reinforcement of the army to its proper strength and an appeal to Syphax not to abandon hostilities.

[7] The last proposal, which was supported by Hasdrubal and the whole of the Barcine party, was adopted.

[8] Recruiting began at once in the city and the country districts, and a deputation was sent to Syphax, who was already doing his utmost to repair his losses and renew hostilities. He was urged on by his wife, who did not now trust to the endearments and caresses with which she had formerly swayed her lover,

[9] but with prayers and piteous appeals and eyes bathed in tears she conjured him not to betray her father and her country, or allow Carthage to be devastated by the flames which had consumed his camp.

[10] The deputation gave him encouragement and hope by informing him that they had met near a city called Obba a body of 4000 Celtiberian mercenaries who had been raised in Spain, a splendid force, and that Hasdrubal would appear ere long with a formidable army.

[11] He answered them in friendly terms, and then took them to see a large number of Numidian peasants to whom he had just given arms and horses, and assured them that he would call out all the fighting men in his kingdom.

[12] He was well aware, he said, that he owed his defeat to fire, and not to the chances of battle; it was only the man who was vanquished by arms that was inferior in war.

[13] Such was the tenor of his reply to the deputation. A few days later, Hasdrubal and Syphax joined forces; their united strength amounted to about 30,000 men.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Anda according to Appian op. cit. 24; not elsewhere mentioned. In Polybius the town appears to have been named in the lacuna before ch. vi.

2. B.C. 203

3. The town of Abba in Polybius § 12; vii. 5. Obba, below, § 10, cannot be the same. Cf. p. 389, n. 2; 550 f.

4. For the two sufĕtes cf. XXVIII. xxxvii. 2; XXXIV. lxi. 15.

5. The three proposals are from Polybius vi. 10 ff. Not so the following reference to Hasdrubal and the party of Hannibal. In one version Hasdrubal's loss of an army was to be punished by execution; Appian Pun. 24, 36; cf. 38.

6. B.C. 203

7. Polybius' figures, including Numidians and the Celtiberian mercenaries; l.c. vii. 9.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 30.7

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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