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), 31.3

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[1] At the first meeting of the senate, when all the members insisted that no business should have precedence over the question of Philip and the allies' complaints, the matter was at once taken

[2] up for consideration and a motion passed in a full session, that Publius Aelius the consul should send¹ a suitable person of his own selection, vested with military authority,² to take over the fleet which Gnaeus Octavius was bringing from Sicily, and then cross over to Macedonia.³

[3] Marcus Valerius Laevinus⁴ was sent with the rank of propraetor, and receiving thirty-eight ships from Gnaeus Octavius in the neighbourhood of Vibo, he took them across to Macedonia.

[4] There Marcus Aurelius⁵ the commissioner⁶ met him and informed him what mighty armies, what a great number of

[5] ships the king had assembled, and in what fashion he was rousing men to armed revolt, not only in all the cities of the mainland but in the islands as well, partly by visiting them in person, partly through his agents;

[6] and the two agreed that the Romans must undertake the war with greater vigour, lest while they delayed Philip should venture to do what Pyrrhus⁷ before him had done, with a considerably less powerful empire, and that Aurelius should forward this information in writing to the consuls and senate.

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.) — 31.3 focus

[1] cum primum senatum habuit, universis postulantibus, ne quam prius rem quam de Philippo ac sociorum querellis ageret, relatum extemplo est;

[2] decrevitque frequens senatus, ut P. Aelius consul quem videretur ei cum imperio mitteret, qui classe accepta, quam ex Sicilia Cn. Octavius reduceret, in Macedoniam traiceret.

[3] M. Valerius Laevinus propraetor missus circa Vibonem duodequadraginta navibus ab Cn. Octavio acceptis in Macedoniam transmisit.

[4] ad quem cum M. Aurelius legatus venisset edocuissetque eum, quantos exercitus,

[5] quantum navium numerum comparasset rex, quem ad modum circa omnis non continentis modo urbes sed etiam insulas partim ipse adeundo, partim per legatos conciret homines ad arma:

[6] maiore conatu Romanis id capessendum bellum esse, ne cunctantibus iis auderet Philippus, quod Pyrrhus prius ausus ex aliquanto minore regno esset, haec scribere eadem Aurelium consulibus senatuique placuit.

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).) — 30.3 focus

[1]

his transactis consules praetoresque in provincias profecti. omnibus tamen, velut eam sortitis, Africae cura erat, seu quia ibi summam rerum bellique verti cernebant seu ut Scipioni gratificarentur, in ¹ quem tum omnis versa civitas erat.

[2] itaque non ex Sardinia tantum, sicut ante dictum est, sed ex Sicilia quoque et Hispania vestimenta frumentumque, et arma etiam ex Sicilia ² et omne genus commeatus eo portabantur.

[3] nec Scipio ullo tempore hiemis belli opera remiserat, quae multa simul undique eum circumstabant: Uticam obsidebat; castra in conspectu Hasdrubalis erant;

[4] Carthaginienses deduxerant naves, classem paratam instructamque ad commeatus intercipiendos habebant. inter haec ne Syphacis quidem reconciliandi curam ex animo miserat, ³ si forte iam satias ⁴ amoris in uxore ex multa copia eum ⁵ cepisset.

[5] ab Syphace magis pacis cum Carthaginiensibus condiciones, ut Romani Romanii Africa, Poeni Italia excederent, quam, si bellaretur, spes ulla desciturum adferebatur.

[6] haec per nuntios nuttios acta magis equidem crediderim—et ita pars maior auctores sunt—quam ipsum Syphacem, ut Antias Valerius prodit, in castra Romana ad conloquium venisse.

[7] primo eas condiciones imperator Romanus vix auribus admisit; postea, ut causa probabilis suis commeandi foret in castra hostium, mollius eadem ilia abnuere ac spem facere saepius ultro citroque ⁶ agitantibus rem conventuram.

[8] hibernacula Carthaginiensium, ⁷ congesta temere ex agris materia exaedificata, lignea ferme tota erant.

[9] Numidae praecipue harundine textis storeaque pars maxima tectis passim nullo ordine, quidam, ut sine imperio occupatis locis, extra fossam etiam vallumque habitabant.

[10] haec relata Scipioni spem fecerant castra hostium per occasionem incendendi.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 31.3 focus

[1]

cum primum senatum habuit, universis postulantibus, ne quam prius rem quam de Philippo ac sociorum querellis ageret, relatum extemplo est;

[2] decrevitque frequens senatus, ut P. Aelius consul quem videretur ei cum imperio mitteret, qui classe accepta, quam ex ¹ Sicilia Cn. Octavius reduceret, in Macedoniam traiceret.

[3] M. Valerius Laevinus propraetor missus circa Vibonem duodequadraginta navibus ab Cn. Octavio acceptis in Macedoniam transmisit.

[4] ad quem cum M. Aurelius legatus venisset edocuissetque eum, quantos exercitus, quantum navium numerum comparasset rex,

[5] quem ad modum circa omnis non continentis modo urbes sed etiam insulas partim ipse adeundo, partim per legatos conciret homines ad arma:

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 31.3 focus

[1]

The first time he assembled the senate, it was unanimously ordered that he should propose no other business before that which related to Philip and the complaints of the allies.

[2] It was immediately taken into consideration, and a numerous senate decreed, that Publius Aelius, consul, should send such person as he might think proper, vested with command, to receive the fleet which Cneius Octavius was bringing home from Sicily, and pass over to Macedonia.

[3] Accordingly, Marcus Valerius Laevinus, propraetor, was sent; and, receiving thirty-eight ships from Cneius Octavius, near Vibo, he sailed to Macedonia, where, when Marcus Aurelius, the ambassador, had

[4] come to him and informed him what numerous forces and what large fleets the king had prepared, and how

[5] he was arousing the inhabitants to arms, partly by visiting them himself and partly by ambassadors, not only through all the cities of the continent, but even in the islands, (Laevinus was convinced) that the war ought to be undertaken by the Romans with greater vigour;

[6] lest, if they were dilatory, Philip might attempt that which had been formerly undertaken by Pyrrhus, who possessed not such large dominions. He therefore desired Aurelius to convey this intelligence by letter to the consuls and to the senate.

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.) — 31.3 focus

[1]

At the first meeting of the senate after his return there was a general demand that the action of Philip and the grievances of the friendly States should take precedence of all other business.

[2] The question was at once put in a crowded House and a decree was made that the consul P. Aelius should send the man whom he thought best, with full command to take over the fleet which Cn. Octavius was bringing back from Africa and proceed to Macedonia.

[3] He selected M. Valerius Laevinus, who was sent with the rank of propraetor. Laevinus took thirty-eight of Octavius' ships which were lying at anchor off Vibo and with these he sailed for Macedonia.

[4] He was met by M. Aurelius, who gave him details about the strength of the land and sea forces which the king had got

[5] together and the extent to which he was securing armed assistance not only from the cities on the mainland, but also from the islands in the Aegean, partly by his own personal influence, partly through his agents.

[6] Aurelius pointed out that the Romans would have to display far greater energy in the prosecution of this war, or else Philip, encouraged by their slackness, would venture on the same enterprise which Pyrrhus, whose kingdom was considerably smaller, had ventured on before. It was decided that Aurelius should send this information in a despatch to the consuls and the senate.

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 imperium was that aspect of official authority which conferred the right of life and death and the right of exercising military command. At this period ordinary magistrates within the city of Rome could not possess imperium, and so their attendants carried the fasces without the axe which symbolized this power.

3. This fleet had been on guard in Sicilian waters during the war with Hannibal (XXX. xli. 7).

4. Laevinus had served in Greece for a long time during the recent war (XXIII. xxiv. 4, etc.), but was at this time a private citizen.

5. Marcus Aurelius Cotta had been sent on an embassy to Philip in 203 B.C. (XXX. xxvi. 4). Macedonian ambassadors at the peace conference in 201 B.C. complained of his conduct, alleging that he had attacked Philip in contravention of the treaty (XXX. xlii. 3).

6. Legati were either commissioners sent out by the senate to conduct diplomatic negotiations, to deliver messages to independent states, to determine the form of government of a new province, etc., or military assistants to commanders in the field. Aurelius belonged to the former class, but had either assumed or been assigned military duties as well.

7. King Pyrrhus of Epirus had been summoned to aid Tarentum during the war between that city and Rome (281- 272 B.C.) and had invaded Italy.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 31.3

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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