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), 31.1

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[1] I also am relieved, just as if I myself had shared¹ the labour and the peril, that I have come to the end of the Punic War.

[2] For while it is not at all fitting that one who has ventured to promise to write the whole history of Rome should grow wearied in dealing with the single portions of so great a task, nevertheless, when I reflect that sixty-three years — the space between the outbreak of the First and the end of the Second Punic War² — have

[3] filled as many books³ for me as were required for the four hundred and

[4] eighty-seven years from the founding of the city to the consulship of Appius Claudius (who began the first war with the Carthaginians), already I see in my mind's eye that, like men who, attracted by the shallow water near the shore, wade out into the sea, I am being

[5] carried on, whatever progress I make, into depths more vast and, as it were, into the abyss, and that the task almost waxes greater which, as I finished each of the earlier portions,⁴ seemed to be growing smaller.

[6] The Punic peace was followed by the Macedonian war, which, although in no wise comparable as regards its danger, or the prowess of the leader,⁵ or the strength of the military forces employed, yet, because of the fame of Macedonia's ancient kings⁶ and the ancient glory of the nation and the vast extent of its empire, in which

[7] it had at one time gained by its arms dominion over large portions of Europe and the greater part of Asia, was almost more celebrated.

[8] Now the war with Philip,⁷ begun about ten years before this time, had some time before been laid aside for a period of three years, the Aetolians being the cause of the truce as they had been of the beginning of hostilities.

[9] Then later the Romans, being at last unoccupied by any war, as a result of the peace with Carthage, and being indignant with Philip both because of the treacherous peace which he had concluded with the Aetolians⁸ and the other allies in that region, and because of the military assistance and money which he had⁹ recently¹⁰ sent to

[10] Hannibal and the Carthaginians in Africa, were aroused by the prayers of the Athenians, whom Philip had driven into the city by the ravaging of their fields, into renewing the war.

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.) — 31.1 focus

[1] me quoque iuvat, velut ipse in parte laboris ac periculi fuerim, ad finem belli Punici pervenisse.

[2] nam etsi profiteri ausum perscripturum res omnis Romanas in partibus singulis tanti opens operis fatigari minime conveniat, tamen, cum in mentem venit tris et sexaginta annos —

[3] tot enim sunt a primo Punico ad secundum bellum finitum —

[4] aeque multa volumina occupasse mihi, quam occupaverint quadringenti octoginta septem anni a condita urbe ad Ap. Claudium consulem, qui primum bellum Carthaginiensibus intulit,

[5] iam provideo animo, velut qui proximis litori vadis inducti mare pedibus ingrediuntur, quidquid progredior, in vastiorem me altitudinem ac velut profundum invehi, et crescere paene opus, quod prima quaeque perficiendo minui videbatur.

[6] pacem Punicam bellum Macedonicum excepit, periculo haudqiiaquam haudquaquam comparandum aut virtute ducis aut militum robore,

[7] claritate regum antiquorum vetustaque fama gentis et magnitudine imperii, quo multa quondam Europae, maiorem partem Asiae obtinuerant armis, prope nobilius.

[8] ceterum coeptum bellum adversus Philippum decem ferme ante annis triennio prius depositum erat, cum Aetoli et belli et pacis fuissent causa.

[9] vacuos deinde pace Punica iam Romanos et infensos Philippo cum ob infidam adversus Aetolos aliosque regionis eiusdem socios pacem,

[10] tum ob auxilia cum pecunia nuper in Africam missa Hannibali Poenisque preces Atheniensium, quos agro pervastato in urbem compulerat, excitaverunt ad renovandum bellum.

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).) — 30.1 focus

[1]

CN. SERVILIUS et C. Servilius consules—sextus ¹ decimus is annus belli Punici erat—cum de re publica belloque et provinciis ad senatum rettulissent,

[2] censuerunt patres ut consules inter se compararent sortirenturve uter Bruttios adversus Hannibalem, uter Etruriam ac Ligures provinciam haberet;

[3] cui Bruttii evenissent exercitum a P. Sempronio acciperet; P. Sempronius—ei quoque enim pro consule ² imperium in annum prorogabatur—P. Licinio succederet.

[4] is Romam reverteretur, bello quoque bonus habitus ad cetera, quibus nemo ea tempestate instructior civis habebatur, congestis omnibus humanis ab natura fortunaque bonis.

[5] nobilis idem ac dives erat; forma viribusque corporis excellebat; facundissimus habebatur seu causa oranda, seu in senatu et apud ³ populum suadendi ac dissuadendi locus esset;

[6] iuris pontificii peritissimus; super haec ⁴ bellicae quoque laudis consulatus compotem fecerat. quod in Bruttiis provincia, idem in Etruria ac Liguribus decretum:

[7] M. Cornelius novo consuli tradere exercitum iussus; ipse prorogato imperio Galliam provinciam obtineret ⁵ cum legionibus iis quas L. Scribonius priore anno habuisset.

[8] sortiti deinde provincias: Caepioni Bruttii, Gemino ⁶ Etruria evenit.

[9] tum praetorum provinciae in sortem coniectae: iuris dictionem urbanam Paetus Aelius, Sardiniam P. Lentulus, Siciliam ⁷ P. Villius, Ariminum cum duabus legionibus—sub Sp. Lucretio eae fuerant —Quinctilius Varus est sortitus.

[10] et Lucretio prorogatum imperium, ut Genuam oppidum a Magone Poeno dirutum exaedificaret. P. Scipioni non temporis, sed rei gerendae fine, donec debellatum in Africa foret, prorogatum imperium est;

[11] decretumque ut supplicatio fieret, quod is in Africam provinciam traiecisset, ut ea res salutaris populo Romano ipsique duci atque exercitui esset.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 31.1 focus

me quoque iuvat, velut ipse in parte laboris ac periculi fuerim, ad finem belli Punici pervenisse.

[2] nam etsi profiteri ausum perscripturum res omnis Romanas in partibus singulis tanti operis fatigari minime conveniat, tamen, cum in mentem venit tris et sexaginta annos—

[3] tot enim sunt a primo Punico ad secundum bellum finitum—

[4] aeque multa volumina occupasse mihi, quam occupaverint quadringenti octoginta septem anni a condita urbe ad Ap. Claudium consulem, qui primum bellum ¹ Carthaginiensibus intulit,

[6] pacem Punicam bellum Macedonicum excepit, periculo haudquaquam comparandum aut virtute ducis aut militum robore, claritate regum antiquorum vetustaque fama gentis et magnitudine imperii,

[7] quo multa quondam Europae, maiorem partem Asiae ² obtinuerant armis, prope nobilius.

[8] ceterum coeptum bellum adversus Philippum decem ferme ante annis triennio prius depositum erat, cum Aetoli et belli et pacis fuissent causa.

[9] vacuos deinde pace Punica iam Romanos et infensos Philippo cum ob infidam adversus Aetolos aliosque regionis eiusdem socios pacem,

[10] tum ob auxilia cum pecunia nuper in Africam missa Hannibali Poenisque preces Atheniensium, quos agro pervastato in urbem compulerat, excitaverunt ad renovandum bellum.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 31.1 focus

[1]

IT is delightful even to me to have come to the end of the Punic war, as if I myself had borne a share of the toil and danger.

[2] For though it by no means becomes a person, who has ventured to promise an entire history of all the Roman affairs, to be fatigued by any particular parts of so extensive a work;

[3] yet when I reflect that sixty-three years (for so many there are from the first Punic war to the end of the second) have occupied as many of my

[4] volumes, as the four hundred and eighty-seven years, from the building of the city to the consulate of Appius Claudius, who first made war on the Carthaginians, I plainly perceive that, like those who, tempted by the shallows near the shore, walk into the sea, the farther I advance, I am carried, as it were, into a greater depth and abyss;

[5] and that my work almost increases on my hands, which seemed to be diminished by the completion of each of its earlier portions.

[6] The peace with Carthage was quickly followed by a war with Macedonia: a war, not to be compared to the former, indeed, either in danger, or in the abilities of the commander, or the valour of the soldiers;

[7] but almost more remarkable with regard to the renown of their former kings, the ancient fame of that nation, and the vast extent of their empire, in which they had formerly comprehended a large part of Europe, and the greater part of Asia.

[8] The contest with Philip, which had begun about ten years before, had been intermitted for the three last years; the Aetolians having been the occasion both of the war and the peace.

[9] The entreaties of the Athenians whom, having ravaged their lands, Philip had driven into their city, excited the Romans to a renewal of the war, left, as they were, disengaged by the Carthaginian peace, and incensed against him as well for his treacherous negotiation of peace

[10] with the Aetolians and the other allies in that region, as on account of the auxiliaries sent by him with money into Africa to Hannibal and the Carthaginians.

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.) — 31.1 focus

[1]

I, too, feel as much relief in having reached the end of the Punic War as if I had taken a personal part in its toils and dangers.

[2] It ill befits one who has had the courage to promise a complete history of Rome to find the separate sections of such an extensive work fatiguing.

[3] But when I consider that the sixty-three years from the beginning of the First Punic War to the end of the Second take up as many books as the four hundred and eighty-seven years from the foundation of the

[4] City to the consulship of Appius Claudius under whom the First Punic War commenced, I see that I am like people who are tempted by the shallow water along the beach to wade out to sea; the further I progress, the greater the depth, as though it were a bottomless sea, into which I am carried.

[5] I imagined that as I completed one part after another the task before me would diminish; as it is, it almost becomes greater. The peace with Carthage was very soon followed by war with Macedonia.

[6] There is no comparison between them as regards the critical nature of the contest, or the personality of the commander or the fighting quality of the troops. But the Macedonian war was, if anything, more noteworthy owing to the brilliant reputation of the

[7] former kings, the ancient fame of the nation and the vast extent of its dominion when it held sway over a large part of Europe and a still larger part of Asia.

[8] The war with Philip which had commenced some ten years previously had been suspended for the last three years, and both the war and its cessation were due to the action of the Aetolians. The peace with Carthage now left the Romans free.

[9] They were angry with Philip for his attacking the Aetolians and the other friendly States in Greece while he was nominally at peace with Rome, and also for his having given assistance in both men and money to Hannibal and Carthage.

[10] He had ravaged the Athenian territory and driven the inhabitants into the city, and it was their request for help which decided the Romans to recommence the war.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 201

2. The dates of the events referred to are, respectively, 267 B.C. and 204 B.C., by Livy's reckoning, or, according to the usual chronology (which is retained in the marginal dates), 264 B.C. and 201 B.C.

3. Books I-XV contained the narrative of the earlier period; Books XVI-XXX covered the First and Second Punic Wars.

4. B.C. 201

5. Philip V, king of the Macedonians, was not to be compared with the Carthaginian Hannibal.

6. Livy thinks especially of Philip II, founder of Macedonian power, and of Alexander the Great, who had conquered an empire greater than that of Carthage.

7. Philip V had come to the Macedonian throne in 217 B.C. at the age of 17, and had continued the aggressive policy of his regent, Antigonus. As an ally of the Achaean League, the Macedonians had fought a successful war against the Aetolian League (see Introductory Note), and in 216 B.C. concluded an alliance with Hannibal by a treaty of which Polybius (VII. xix) preserves some clauses. Meanwhile Philip was pursuing an ambitious policy towards Athens and other Greek states. By 214 B.C., Rome seems to have recognized that something like a

state of war

existed (XXIV. xl. 1), but in this passage Livy dates the actual hostilities from 211 B.C., when Rome made a treaty with Philip's old enemies, the Aetolians (XXVI. xxiv. 10). Philip's treaty of peace with the Aetolians is dated 205 B.C. by Livy (XXIX. xii. 1), but we may perhaps explain his

three years

on the assumption that it was not ratified until the next year, Livy's chronology is often confused, as a result of unskilful handling of annalistic sources. The so-called Second Macedonian War, the account of which begins here, was practically ended by the battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 B.C. (XXXIII. vi-x; Polyb. XVIII. xx-xxvii), but lasted diplomatically until 196 B.C. (XXXIII. xxxii). Thereafter Philip pursued a policy of alternating friendship and hostility towards Rome until his death in 179 B.C.

8. See the preceding note for the peace of 205 B.C., which might seem due to the treachery of the Aetolians rather than of Philip. Rome was so occupied by the war against Hannibal that the Aetolians had to bear all the burden of keeping up the war against Philip. The failure of the Romans to aid them is frequently mentioned in the diplomatic conferences of the next years.

9. B.C. 201

10. Livy (XXX. xxvi. 3) reports the rumour that troops had been sent to Hannibal, and in XXX. xxxiii. 5 lists Macedonians among his allies. See also XXX. xlii. 4 and XLV. xxii. 6. Polybius does not mention them.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 31.1

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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