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), 31.24

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1] Philip was then at Demetrias. When the news of the destruction of Chalcis reached him there, although it was too late to send aid, the city having been lost, nevertheless, seeking revenge, as the

[2] next best thing after assistance, he at once set out with five thousand light infantry and three hundred cavalry and made all speed for Chalcis, not doubting that the Romans could be destroyed.

[3] Disappointed in this hope, and finding only the ugly spectacle of the friendly town lying half-ruined, with its embers still smoking, and only a few left to bury those who were slain in the battle, he recrossed the strait by the bridge as rapidly as he had come and hurried through Boeotia toward Athens, thinking that a not dissimilar result would follow a similar course of action.¹

[4] And this would have happened, had not a scout-the Greeks call them

all-day runners,

and they cover great distances in a day's run — seen the king's army from a watch-tower, set out at midnight and reached Athens before him.

[5] There was the same sleep and the same carelessness that had betrayed Chalcis a few days earlier.

[6] The Athenian praetor² and Dioxippus, who commanded an auxiliary force of mercenaries, aroused by the alarming message, assembling the soldiers in the forum, ordered the trumpet sounded from the citadel, to inform all that the enemy was coming. So there was a rush from all sides to the walls and gates.

[7] Some hours later, but still before daybreak, Philip approached the city, and seeing the numerous lights and hearing the³ shouts of frightened men, usual in such a crisis, halted and ordered his men to pitch camp and rest, intending to employ open force, since stratagem had failed.

[8] He attacked on the side of the Dipylon Gate.⁴ This gate, placed, so to speak, at the forefront of the city, was somewhat wider and more extensive

[9] than the rest, and inside and outside there were wide avenues, so that the citizens could form their line from the market-place to the gate, and so that the road, about a mile long, outside the city and leading to the gymnasium of the Academy, offered ample space for infantry and cavalry. The Athenians with the garrison of Attalus and the mercenaries of Dioxippus, formed their array within the gate and marched out by this road.

[10] Philip, seeing this, thought that he had the Athenians in his hands and that he was about to sate his rage with long-desired slaughter — r

[11] he hated no other Greek city so much as Athens — and urged his soldiers to take him as their example in the fight and to remember that the standards and the battle-line should be where their king was, and put spurs to his horse, inspired by rage and by the hope of glory

[12] alike, because he thought that his fighting would be a glorious sight, since the walls were lined with a great crowd, as for a show.

[13] Riding with a few companions far in front of the line, and even into the press of the enemy, he inspired both

[14] enthusiasm in his own troops and terror in his foes. Pursuing many soldiers whom he had wounded, either at long⁵

[15] range or hand to hand, and driving them inside the gate, when he had done greater damage to the Athenians as they crowded together in the narrow space, yet he escaped safely after his rash venture, since the troops who manned the towers on the walls withheld their weapons, from fear of harming their own men mingled with the enemy.

[16] Afterwards when the Athenians held their men within the walls, Philip, giving the

[17] signal for a retirement, pitched camp at Cynosarges,⁶ where there was a temple to Hercules and a gymnasium with a grove around it.

[18] But Cynosarges, the Lyceum, and all the sacred and pleasant sites around the city were burned; the buildings and even the tombs were destroyed, and nothing consecrated to divine or human use escaped his uncontrollable passion.

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.) — 31.24 focus

[1] Demetriade tur tum Philippus erat. quo cum esset nuntiata clades sociae urbis, quamquam serum auxilium perditis rebus erat, tamen, quae proxima auxilio est,

[2] ultionem petens, cum expeditis quinque milibus et trecentis equitibus extemplo profectus cursu prope Chalcidem contendit, haudquaquam dubins dubius opprimi Romanos posse.

[3] a qua destitutus spe nec quicquam aliud quam ad deforme spectaculum semirutae ac fumantis sociae urbis cum venisset, paucis vix, qui sepelirent bello absumptos, relictis aeque raptim ac venerat transgressus ponte Euripum per Boeotiam Athenas ducit, pari incepto baud haud disparem eventurn eventum ratus responsurum.

[4] et respondisset, ni speculator — hemerodromos vocant Graeci, ingens die uno cursu emetientis spatium — , contemplatus regium agmen ex specula quadam, praegressus nocte media Athenas perveuisset. pervenisset.

[5] idem ibi somnus eademque neglegentia erat, quae Chalcidem dies ante paucos prodiderat.

[6] excitati nuntio trepido et praetor Atheniensium et Dioxippus, praefectus cohortis mercede militantium auxiliorum, convocatis in forum militibus tuba signum ex arce dari iubent, ut hostis adesse omnes scirent.

[7] ita undique ad portas, ad muros discurrunt. paucas post horas Philippus, aliquanto tamen ante lucem, appropinquans urbi, conspectis luminibus crebris et fremitu hominum trepidantium,

[8] ut in tali tumultu, exaudito sustinuit signa et considere ac conquiescere agmen iussit vi aperta propalam usurus, quando parum dolus profuerat.

[9] ab Dipylo accessit. porta ea, velut in ore urbis posita, maior aliquanto patentiorque quam ceterae est, et intra ear eam extraque latae viae sunt, ut et oppidani derigere aciem a foro ad portam possent, et extra limes mille ferme passus longus, in Academiae gymnasium ferens, pediti equitique hostium liberum spatium praeberet.

[10] eo limite Athenienses cum Attali praesidio et cohorte Dioxippi acie intra portam instructa signa extulerunt.

[11] quod ubi Philippus vidit, habere se hostis in potestate ratus et odium diu optata caede — neque enim ulli Graecarum civitatium infestior erat — expleturum, cohortatus milites, ut se intuentes pugnarent scirentque ibi signa,

[12] ibi aciem esse debere, ubi rex esset, concitat ecum non ira tantum, sed etiam gloria elatus,

[13] quod ingenti turba completis etiam ad spectaculum muris conspici se pugnantem egregium ducebat.

[14] aliquantum ante aciem cum equitibus paucis evectus in medios hostis ingentem cum suis ardorem,

[15] tur tum pavorem hostibus iniecit. plurimos manu sua comminus eminusque vulneratos compulsosque in portam consecutus et ipse, cum maiorem in angustiis trepidantium edidisset caedem, in temerario incepto tutum tamen receptum habuit,

[16] quia, qui in turribus portae erant, sustinebant tela, ne in permixtos hostibus suos conicerent.

[17] intra muros deinde tenentibus milites Atheniensibus Philippus signo receptui dato castra ad Cynosarges — templum Herculis gymnasiumque et lucus erat circumiectus — posuit.

[18] sed et Cynosarges et Lycium et quidquid sancti amoenive circa urbem erat incensum est, dirutaque non tecta solum, sed etiam sepulcra, nec divini humanive iuris quicquam prae impotenti ira est servatum.

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).) — 30.24 focus

[1]

per eos dies Cn. Servilius consul, haud ¹ dubius quin pacatae Italiae penes se gloria esset, velut pulsum ab se Hannibalem persequens, in Siciliam, inde in ² Africam transiturus, traiecit.

[2] quod ubi Romae volgatum est, primo censuerant patres ut praetor scriberet consuli senatum aequum censere in Italiam reverti eum;

[3] dein, cum praetor spreturum eum litteras suas diceret, dictator ad id ipsum creatus P. Sulpicius pro iure maioris imperii consulem in Italiam revocavit.

[4] reliquum anni cum M. Servilio magistro equitum circumeundis Italiae ³ urbibus quae bello alienatae fuerant noscendisque singularum causis consumpsit.

[5] per indutiarum tempus ex ⁴ Sardinia a P. Lentulo praetore centum onerariae naves cum commeatu viginti rostratarum praesidio, et ab hoste et ab tempestatibus mari tuto, in Africam transmiserunt.

[6] Cn . Octavio ducentis onerariis, triginta ⁵ longis navibus ex Sicilia traicienti non eadem fortuna fuit.

[7] In conspectum ferme Africae prospero cursu evectum ⁶ primo destituit ventus, dein versus in Africum turbavit ac passim naves disiecit.

[8] ipse cum rostratis per adversos fluctus ingenti remigum labore enisus Apollinis promunturium tenuit;

[9] onerariae pars maxima ad Aegimurum—insula ea ⁷ sinum ab alto ⁸ claudit in quo sita Carthago est, triginta ferme milia ab urbe—, aliae adversus urbem ipsam ad Calidas Aquas delatae sunt.

[10] omnia in conspectu Carthaginis erant. itaque ex tota urbe in forum concursum est; magistratus senatum vocare; populus in curiae vestibulo fremere ne tanta ex oculis manibusque amitteretur praeda.

[11] cum quidam pacis petitae, alii indutiarum—necdum enim dies exierat—fidem opponerent, permixto ⁹ paene senatus populique concilio consensum est ut classem ¹⁰ quinquaginta navium Hasdrubal Aegimurum traiceret, inde per litora portusque dispersas Romanas naves colligeret.

[12] desertae fuga nautarum primum ab Aegimuro, deinde ab Aquis onerariae Carthaginem puppibus tractae sunt.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 31.24 focus

[1]

Demetriade tum Philippus erat. quo cum esset nuntiata clades sociae urbis, quamquam serum auxilium perditis rebus erat, tamen,

[2] quae proxima auxilio est, ultionem petens, cum expeditis quinque milibus et trecentis equitibus extemplo profectus cursu prope Chalcidem contendit, haudquaquam dubius opprimi Romanos posse.

[4] et respondisset, ni speculator—hemerodromos vocant ¹ Graeci, ingens die uno cursu emetientis spatium—, contemplatus regium agmen ex specula quadam, praegressus nocte media Athenas pervenisset.

[5] idem ibi somnus eademque neglegentia erat, quae Chalcidem dies ante paucos prodiderat.

[7] ita undique ad portas, ad muros discurrunt. paucas post horas Philippus, aliquanto tamen ante lucem, appropinquans urbi, conspectis luminibus crebris et fremitu hominum trepidantium, ut in tali tumultu,

[8] exaudito sustinuit signa et considere ac conquiescere agmen iussit vi aperta propalam usurus, quando parum dolus profuerat.

[9] ab Dipylo accessit. porta ea, velut in ore urbis posita, maior aliquanto patentiorque quam ceterae est, et intra ² eam extraque latae viae sunt, ut et oppidani derigere aciem a foro ad portam possent, et extra limes mille ferme passus longus, in Academiae gymnasium ferens, pediti equitique hostium liberum spatium praeberet.

[10] eo limite Athenienses cum Attali praesidio et cohorte Dioxippi acie intra portam instructa signa extulerunt.

[11] quod ubi Philippus vidit, habere se hostis in potestate ratus et diu optata caede—neque enim ulli Graecarum civitatium infestior pugnarent scirentque ibi signa,

[12] ibi aciem esse debere, ubi rex esset, concitat ecum non ira tantum,

[13] sed etiam gloria elatus, quod ingenti turba completis etiam ad spectaculum muris conspici se pugnantem egregium ducebat.

[14] aliquantum ante aciem cum equitibus paucis evectus in medios hostis ingentem cum suis ardorem, tum pavorem hostibus iniecit.

[15] plurimos manu sua comminus eminusque vulneratos compulsosque in portam consecutus et ipse, cum maiorem in angustiis trepidantium edidisset caedem, in temerario incepto tutum tamen receptum habuit,

[16] quia, qui in turribus portae erant, sustinebant tela, ne in permixtos hostibus suos conicerent.

[17] intra muros deinde tenentibus milites Atheniensibus Philippus signo receptui dato castra ad Cynosarges—templum Herculis gymnasiumque et lucus erat circumiectus—

[18] posuit. sed et ³ Cynosarges et Lycium et quidquid sancti amoenive circa urbem erat incensum est, dirutaque non tecta solum, sed etiam sepulcra, nec divini humanive iuris quicquam prae impotenti ira est servatum.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 31.24 focus

[1]

Philip was then at Demetrias, and as soon as the news arrived there of the calamity which had befallen the city of his allies, although it was too late to carry assistance to those who were already ruined, yet

[2] anxious to accomplish what was next to assistance, revenge, he set out instantly with five thousand foot lightly equipped, and three hundred horse. With a speed almost equal to that of racing, he hastened to Chalcis, not doubting but that he should be able to surprise the Romans.

[3] Being disappointed in this expectation, and having arrived, with no other result than a melancholy view of the smoking ruins of that friendly city, (so few being left, that they were scarcely sufficient to bury those who had fallen in the conflict,) with the same rapid haste which he had used in coming, he crossed the Euripus by the bridge, and led his troops through Bœotia to Athens, in hopes that a similar issue would correspond to a similar attempt.

[4] And it would have corresponded, had not a scout, (one of those whom the Greeks call day-runners, ¹ because they run through a journey of great length in one day,) descrying from his post of

[5] observation the king's army in its march, set out at midnight, and arrived before them at Athens.

[6] The same sleep, and the same negligence, prevailed there which had proved the ruin of Chalcis a few days before. Roused, however, by the alarming intelligence, the praetor of the Athenians, and Dioxippus, commander of a cohort of mercenary auxiliaries, called the soldiers together in the forum, and ordered the trumpets to sound an alarm from the citadel, that all might be informed of the approach of the enemy.

[7] On which the people ran from all quarters to the gates, and afterwards to the walls.

[8] In a few hours after, and still some time before day, Philip approached the city, and observing a great number of lights, and hearing the noise of the men hurrying to and fro, as usual on such an alarm, he halted his troops, and ordered them to sit down and take some rest; resolving to use open force, since his stratagem had not succeeded.

[9] Accordingly he advanced on the side of Dipylos. This gate, being situated in the principal approach of the city, is somewhat larger and wider than the rest. Both within and without the streets are wide, so that the townsmen could form their troops from the forum to the gate, while on the outside a road of about a mile in length, leading to the school of the academy, afforded open room to the foot and horse of the enemy.

[10] The Athenians, who had formed their troops within the gate, marched out with Attalus's garrison, and the cohort of Dioxippus, along that road.

[11] Which, when Philip observed, thinking that he had the enemy in his power, and was now about to sate him- self with their long wished for destruction, (being more incensed against them than any of the Grecian states,) he exhorted his men to keep their eyes on him during the fight, and to take notice, that wherever the king was, there the standards and the army ought to be.

[12] He then spurred on his horse against the enemy, animated not only with resentment, but with a desire of gaining honour, for he reckoned it a glorious thing to be beheld fighting from the

[13] walls, which were filled with an immense multitude, for the purpose of witnessing the engagement.

[14] Advancing far before the line, and, with a small body of horse, rushing into the midst of the enemy, he inspired his men with great ardour, and the Athenians equally with terror.

[15] Having wounded many with his own hand, both in close fight and with missive weapons, and driven them back within the gate, he still pursued them closely; and having made greater slaughter among them while embarrassed in the narrow pass, rash as the attempt was, he yet had an unmolested retreat, because those who were in the towers withheld their weapons

[16] lest they should hit their friends, who were mingled in confusion among their enemies.

[17] The Athenians, after this, confining their troops within the walls, Philip sounded a retreat, and pitched his camp at Cynosarges, a temple of Hercules, and a school surrounded by a grove.

[18] But Cynosarges, and Lycaum, and whatever was sacred or pleasant in the neighbourhood of the city, he burned to the ground, and levelled not only the houses, but sepulchres, nor was any thing either in divine or human possession preserved amidst the violence of his rage.

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.) — 31.24 focus

[1]

Philip was in Demetrias at the time. When the disaster that had overtaken a friendly city was announced to him, he determined, as he was too late to save it, to do the next best thing and avenge it.

[2] With a force of 5000 infantry in light marching order and 300 cavalry he went almost at a run to Chalcis, not for a moment doubting that he would be able to take the Romans by surprise.

[3] Finding that there was nothing to see but the uninviting spectacle of a smoking and ruined city in which hardly enough men were left to bury the victims of the war, he hurried away at the same speed and crossing the Euripus by the bridge marched through Boeotia to Athens, thinking that as he had shown as much enterprise as the Romans he would have the same success.

[4] And he would have had, if a scout had not observed the king's army on the march from a watch-tower. This man was what the Greeks call a hemerodromos, because these men cover enormous distances in a single day, and running on in advance he reached Athens at midnight.

[5] Here there was the same somnolence and negligence which had brought about the loss of Chalcis a few days before.

[6] Roused by the breathless messenger, the Athenian commander-in-chief and Dioxippus the prefect of the cohort of mercenaries mustered their soldiers in the forum and ordered the trumpets to sound the alarm from the citadel so that all might know that the enemy was at hand.

[7] There was a general rush to the gates and the walls.

Some hours later, though considerably before daybreak. Philip approached the city. When he saw the numerous lights and heard the noise of men hurrying to and fro in the inevitable confusion, he halted his force and ordered them to lie down and rest.

[8] As his attempt at a surprise had failed he prepared for an open assault and made his advance on the side of the Dipylon.

[9] This gate, placed as a mouth to the city, is considerably larger and wider than the rest, and the road on both sides of it is broad, so that the townsmen were able to form their line right up to it from the forum, whilst the road beyond it stretching for about a mile as far as the Academy allowed plenty of room for the infantry and cavalry of the enemy. After forming their line inside the gate, the Athenians, together with the detachment which Attalus had left and Dioxippus' cohort, sallied forth.

[10] As soon as he saw them Philip thought he had them in his power and would be able to satisfy his long-cherished desire for their destruction, for there was not one of the Greek States that he was more furious against than he was against Athens.

[11] After exhorting his men to keep their eyes on him as they fought and to remember that where the king was, there the standards and the fighting line ought to be, he put spurs to his horse, animated not only by raging anger but also by a love of ostentation.

[12] He thought it a splendid thing to be seen fighting by the immense crowd who thronged the walls to view the spectacle.

[13] Galloping forward in front of his lines with a few horsemen he charged into the middle

[14] of the enemy and created as much alarm amongst them as he inspired his own men with enthusiasm.

[15] Many he wounded at close quarters, others by the missiles he flung, and he drove them back to their gate where he inflicted greater losses as they crowded through the confined space. Recklessly as he pursued them, he was still able to draw off in safety because those who were on the turrets of the gate forbore to throw their javelins for fear

[16] of hitting their own comrades who were mixed up with the enemy.

[17] After this the Athenians kept within their walls, and Philip after giving the signal for retirement fixed his camp at Cynosarges where there was a temple of Hercules and a gymnasium with a grove round it. But Cynosarges and the Lyceum and every sacred and delightful place round the city was burnt.

[18] Not only were buildings destroyed but even the tombs, nothing belonging to either gods or men was spared in his uncontrollable fury.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Philip hoped to take Athens by surprise as the Romans had taken Chalcis.

2. Livy frequently applies the Latin term to the commanders of foreign military forces. The usual title in Greece was

strategus.

3. B.C. 200

4. The gate, which, as its name implies, accommodated twoway traffic, lay on the north-west side of the city and was the principal exit towards the west. The gate was double in depth also; cf. in angustiis in sect. 15 below, where Philip was caught in the court between the two parts. Livy's weakness in detailed topography and the aimlessness of the campaign make it difficult to determine Philip's route of approach. The easy route from Boeotia was byway of Eleusis, the Sacred Way, and the pass of Daphne to the Dipylon Gate; the road past the Academy led over the difficult pass of Phyle. The question seems to be avoided by modern historians and the mobility of Philip would have enabled him to come by one road and attack by another.

5. B.C. 200

6. This suburb lay to the eastward, at the foot of Mount Lycabettus.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 31.24

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers