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), 31.6

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[1] Macedonia was assigned by lot to Publius Sulpicius as his province, and he submitted to the popular assembly the question whether they wished and ordered that war be declared upon King Philip and the Macedonians over whom he ruled, on account of the injuries he had inflicted and the war he had made on the allies of the Roman people.

[2] To the other consul, Aurelius, the province of Italy was assigned.

[3] Next the praetors¹ received their² assignments, Gaius Sergius Plautus the praetorship of the city, Quintus Fulvius Gillo the governorship of Sicily, while Bruttium fell to Quintus Minucius Rufus and Gaul to Lucius Furius Purpurio. The motion regarding the Macedonian war was defeated at the first meeting of the assembly by the votes of almost all the centuries.³

[4] This action was taken spontaneously by men who were worn out by a war of long duration and great severity, so weary were they of hardships and perils; furthermore, Quintus Baebius, the tribune of the plebs, pursuing the once-usual course⁴ of attacking the Fathers, had taunted them with sowing the seeds of war upon war, that the common people might never enjoy peace.

[5] The senate was annoyed at this; the tribune was assailed with abuse in the senate, and each member independently urged the consul to summon the assembly again to consider the motion, to upbraid the people for its supineness, and to make clear what danger and

[6] disgrace such postponement of the war would cause.

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.) — 31.6 focus

[1] P. Sulpicio provincia Macedonia sorti evenit, isque rogationem promulgavit, vellent iuberent Philippo regi Macedonibusque, qui sub regno eius essent, ob iniurias armaque illata sociis populi Romani bellum indici. alteri consulum Aurelio Italia provincia obtigit.

[2] praetores exinde sortiti sunt C. Sergius Plautus urbanam, Q. Fulvius Gillo Siciliam,

[3] Q. Minucius Rufus Bruttios, L. Furius Purpurio Galliam. rogatio de bello Macedonico primis comitiis ab omnibus ferme centuriis antiquata est. id cum fessi diuturnitate et gravitate belli sua sponte homines taedio periculorum laborumque fecerant,

[4] tur tum Q. Baebius tribunus plebis, viam antiquam criminandi patres ingressus, incusaverat bella ex bellis seri, ne pace umquam frui plebs posset.

[5] aegre earn eam rem passi patres, laceratusque probris in senatu tribunus plebis, et consulem pro se quisque hortari, ut de integro comitia rogationi ferendae ediceret castigaretque segnitiam populi atque edoceret,

[6] quanto damno dedecorique dilatio ea belli futura esset.

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).) — 30.6 focus

[1]

relucentem flammam primo vigiles Carthaginiensium, deinde excitati alii. nocturno tumultu cum conspexissent, ab eodem errore credere et ipsi sua sponte incendium ortum;

[2] et clamor inter caedem et volnera sublatus an ex trepidatione nocturna esset confusis ¹ sensum veri adimebat.

[3] igitur pro se quisque inermes, ut quibus nihil hostile suspectum esset, omnibus. portis, qua cuique proximum erat, ea modo quae restinguendo igni forent portantes, in agmen Romanum ruebant.

[4] quibus caesis omnibus praeterquam hostili odio, etiam ne quis nuntius refugeret, ² extemplo Scipio neglectas ut in tali tumultuportas invadit;

[5] ignibusque in proxima tecta coniectis, effusa flamma primo velut sparsa pluribus locis reluxit, dein per continua serpens uno repente omnia ³ incendio hausit.

[6] ambusti homines ⁴ iumentaque foeda primum fuga, dein strage obruebant ⁵ itinera portarum. quos non oppresserat ignis ferro absumpti, binaque castra clade ⁶ una deleta.

[7] duces tamen ambo et ex tot milibus armatorum duo milia peditum et quingenti equites semermes, magna pars saucii adflatique incendio effugerunt.

[8] caesa aut hausta flammis ad ⁷ quadraginta milia hominum sunt, capta supra quinque milia, multi Carthaginiensium nobiles, undecim senatores;

[9] signa militaria centum septuaginta quattuor, equi Numidici supra duo milia septingentos ⁸ ; elephanti sex capti, octo ferro flammaque absumpti. Magna vis armorum capta; ea omnia imperator Volcano sacrata incendit.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 31.6 focus

[1]

isque rogationem promulgavit, vellent iuberent Philippo regi Macedonibusque, qui sub regno eius essent, ob iniurias armaque illata sociis populi Romani bellum indici. alteri consulum Aurelio Italia provincia obtigit.

[2] praetores exinde sortiti sunt C. Sergius Plautus urbanam, Q. Fulvius Gillo Siciliam, Q. Minucius Rufus Bruttios, L. Furius Purpurio Galliam.

[3] rogatio de bello Macedonico primis comitiis ab omnibus ferme centuriis antiquata est. id cum fessi diuturnitate et gravitate belli sua sponte homines taedio periculorum laborumque fecerant,

[4] tum Q. Baebius tribunus plebis, viam antiquam criminandi patres ingressus, incusaverat bella ex bellis seri, ne pace umquam frui plebs posset.

[5] aegre eam rem passi patres, laceratusque probris in senatu tribunus plebis, et consulem pro se quisque hortari, ut de integro comitia rogationi ferendae ediceret castigaretque segnitiam populi atque edoceret,

[6] quanto damno ¹ dedecorique dilatio ea belli futura esset.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 31.6 focus

[1]

The province of Macedonia fell by lot to Publius Sulpicius; and he proposed to the people to declare,

that they chose and ordered, that on account of the injuries and hostilities committed against the allies of the Roman people, war should be proclaimed against king Philip, and the Macedonians under his government.

[2] The province of Italy fell to the lot of the other consul, Aurelius. The praetors then cast lots: to Cneius Sergius Plancus fell the city jurisdiction; to Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Sicily; to Quintus Minucius Rufus, Bruttium; and to Lucius Furius Purpureo, Gaul.

[3] At the first meeting of the people, the proposal concerning the Macedonian war was rejected by almost all the tribes.

[4] This was done partly spontaneously, as the people were wearied by the length and severity of the late war, and disgusted with toils and dangers; and partly by Quintus Baebius, tribune of the people, who, pursuing the old practice of criminating the patricians, charged them with multiplying wars one after another, so that the people could never enjoy peace.

[5] This proceeding the patricians with difficulty brooked, and the tribune was severely reprehended in the senate; where each severally urged the consul to call a new assembly, for passing the proposal; to rebuke the backwardness of the people;

[6] and to prove to them how much loss and disgrace the delay of this war would occasion.

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.) — 31.6 focus

[1]

This province fell to P. Sulpicius, and he gave notice that he should propose to the Assembly that "owing to the lawless actions and armed attacks committed against the allies of Rome, it is the will and order of the Roman people that war be proclaimed against Philip, King of Macedonia, and against his people, the Macedonians."

[2] The other consul, Aurelius, received Italy for his province. Then the praetors balloted for their respective commands.

[3] C. Sergius Plancus drew the City; Q. Fulvius Gillo, Sicily; Q. Minucius Rufus, Bruttium, and L. Furius, Gaul. The proposed declaration of war against Macedonia was almost unanimously rejected at the first meeting of the Assembly. The length and exhausting demands of the late war had made men weary of fighting and they shrank from incurring further toils and dangers.

[4] One of the tribunes of the plebs, Q. Baebius, too, had adopted the old plan of abusing the patricians for perpetually sowing the seeds of fresh wars to prevent the plebeians from ever enjoying any rest.

[5] The patricians were extremely angry and the tribune was bitterly attacked in the senate, each of the senators in turn urging the consul to call another meeting of the Assembly to consider the proposal afresh and at the same time to rebuke the people for their want of spirit and show them what loss and disgrace would

[6] be entailed by the postponement of that war.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. The praetorship had been established in 366 B.C.; a second praetor was added in 242 B.C. (Per. XIX), and two more in 227 B.C. (XXII. xxxv. 5). One of them, the praetor urbanus (see note to iv. 1 above), tried cases in which only Roman citizens were involved; a second was frequently assigned to to preside over cases between citizens and aliens ( praetor peregrinus); the rest were given the less important territorial provinces.

2. B.C. 200

3. The comitia centuriata consisted of units of (theoretically) one hundred men each, each century having one vote.

4. The tribunate was originally created to provide protection for the plebeians against aristocratic injustice. The tribunes, however, had gradually been converted into agents of the aristocracy, since the senate learned that their power could be used against, as well as for, the commons. Baebius has resumed the original policy of opposition to and obstruction of senatorial measures.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 31.6

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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