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), 34.41

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[1] The most popular of the festivals, the famous spectacle of the Nemean Games, which had been omitted at the usual time because of the misfortunes of war, was now, on the arrival of the Roman army and commander, proclaimed by the joyful citizens, who had chosen the general himself to preside at the games.

[2] There were many things which added to their joy: those of their countrymen had been brought back from Lacedaemon, who had been taken there by Pythagoras recently and by Nabis earlier;

[3] the men had come back who had escaped after the discovery of the conspiracy¹ by Pythagoras and after the executions had begun; they saw liberty recovered after a long interval,² and they beheld the authors of that liberty, — the Romans, whose cause for warring with the tyrant they had themselves been.

[4] Moreover, the freedom of the Argives was proclaimed by the voice of the herald on the very day of the Nemean Games. As regards the Achaeans, whatever joy the restoration of Argos to the common council of Achaea brought to them was rendered incomplete to the same degree by the fact that Lacedaemon was left enslaved, with the tyrant close at hand;

[5] the Aetolians, too, attacked the position of affairs at all their meetings: with Philip, they said, there had been no cessation from war until he had evacuated all the cities of Greece;

[6] Sparta was abandoned to the tyrant, and its legal king, though in the Roman camp, and other citizens of the highest³ station, would live in exile; the Roman army had become the ready agent of Nabis' despotism.

[7] From Argos Quinctius led his troops back to Elatia, whence he had set out to the Spartan war.

[8] There are some⁴ who say that the tyrant fought the war, not by making sallies from the town,

[9] but by placing his camp face to face with the Roman, and that after long delay, because he was waiting for aid from the Aetolians, he was in the end compelled to fight in battle array when the Romans attacked his foragers;

[10] defeated in that battle and expelled from his camp, he asked for peace, after fourteen thousand of his men had been killed and more than four thousand captured.

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.) — 34.41 focus

[1] laeta civitas celeberrimum festorum dierum ac nobile ludicrum Nemeorum, die stata propter belli mala praetermissum, in adventum Romani exercitus ducisque indixerunt praefeceruntque ludis ipsum imperatorem.

[2] multa erant, quae gaudium cumularent: reducti cives ab Lacedaemone erant, quos nuper Pythagoras quosque ante Nabis abduxerat;

[3] redierant, qui post compertam a Pythagora coniurationem et caede iam coepta effugerant; libertatem ex longo intervallo libertatisque auctores Romanos, quibus causa bellandi cum tyranno ipsi fuissent, cernebant. testata quoque ipso Nemeorum die voce praeconis libertas est Argivorum.

[4] Achaeis quantum restituti Argi in commune Achaiae, Achaiae concilium laetitiae adferebant, tantum serva Lacedaemon relicta et lateri adhaerens tyrannus non sincerum gaudium praebebant;

[5] Aetoli vero eam rem omnibus conciliis lacerare: cum Philippo non ante desitum bellari, quam omnibus excederet Graeciae urbibus; tyranno relictam Lacedaemonem;

[6] regem autem legitimum, qui in Romanis fuerit castris, ceterosque nobilissimos cives in exilio victuros;

[7] Nabidis dominationis satellitem factum populum Romanum. Quinctius ab Argis Elatiam, unde ad bellum Spartanum profectus erat, copias reduxit.

[8] sunt qui non ex oppido proficiscentem bellum gessisse tyrannum tradant,

[9] sed castris adversus Romana positis castra diuque cunctatum, quia Aetolorum auxilia expectasset, coactum ad extremum acie confligere impetu in pabulatores suos a Romanis facto;

[10] eo proelio victum castrisque exutum pacem petisse, cum cecidissent quattuordecim milia militum, capta plus quattuor milia essent.

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).) — 30.41 focus

[1]

P. Scipioni cum exercitibus quos haberet in provincia Africa prorogatum imperium. praetoribus¹ M. Valerio Faltoni duae legiones in Bruttiis quibus C. Livius priore anno praefuerat decretae;

[2] P. Aelius ² duas legiones in Sicilia ab Cn. Tremelio acciperet; legio una M. Fabio in Sardiniam quam P. Lentulus pro praetore habuisset decernitur.

[3] M. Servilio prioris anni consuli cum suis duabus item legionibus in Etruria ³ prorogatum imperium est.

[4] quod ad Hispanias attineret, aliquot annos iam ibi ⁴ L. Cornelium Lentulum et L. Manlium Acidinum esse; uti ⁵ consules cum tribunis agerent ut, ⁶ si iis videretur, plebem rogarent cui luberent in Hispania imperium esse;

[5] is ex duobus exercitibus ⁷ in unam legionem conscriberet Romanos milites et in quindecim cohortes socios Latini nominis, quibus provinciam obtineret; veteres milites L. Cornelius et L. Manlius in Italiam deportarent.

[6] consuli quinquaginta navium classis ex duabus classibus, ⁸ Cn. Octavi quae in Africa esset, et ⁹ P. Villi quae Siciliae oram tuebatur, decreta, ut ¹⁰ quas vellet naves deligeret.

[7] P. Scipio quadraginta ¹¹ naves longas quas habuisset haberet; ¹² quibus si Cn. Octavium, sicut praefuisset, praeesse vellet, Octavio pro praetore in eum annum imperium esset;

[8] si Laelium praeficeret, Octavius Romam decederet reduceretque naves quibus consuli ¹³ usus non esset. et M. Fabio in Sardiniam decem longae naves decretae.

[9] et consules duas urbanas legiones scribere iussi, ut quattuordecim legionibus eo anno, centum navibus longis res publica administraretur.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 34.41 focus

[1]

laeta civitas celeberrimum festorum dierum ac nobile ludicrum Nemeorum, die stata propter belli mala praetermissum, in adventum Romani exercitus ducisque indixerunt praefeceruntque ludis ipsum imperatorem.

[2] multa erant, quae gaudium cumularent: reducti cives ab Lacedaemone erant, quos nuper Pythagoras quosque ante Nabis abduxerat;

[4] Achaeis quantum restituti Argi in commune Achaiae concilium laetitiae adferebant, tantum serva Lacedaemon relicta et lateri adhaerens tyrannus non sincerum gaudium praebebant;

[5] Aetoli vero eam rem omnibus conciliis lacerare: cum Philippo non ante desitum bellari, quam omnibus excederet Graeciae urbibus; tyranno ¹ relictam Lacedaemonem;

[6] regem autem legitimum, qui in Romanis fuerit castris, ceterosque nobilissimos cives in exilio victuros;

[7] Nabidis dominationis satellitem factum populum Romanum. Quinctius ab Argis Elatiam, unde ad bellum Spartanum profectus erat, copias reduxit.

[8] sunt qui non ex oppido proficiscentem bellum gessisse tyrannum tradant,

[9] sed castris adversus Romana positis castra diuque cunctatum, quia Aetolorum auxilia expectasset, coactum ad extremum acie confligere impetu in pabulatores suos a Romanis facto;

[10] eo proelio victum castrisque exutum pacem petisse, cum cecidissent quattuordecim milia militum, capta plus quattuor milia essent.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 34.41 focus

[1]

The Nemaean games, the most celebrated of all the festivals, and their most splendid public spectacle, had been omitted, at the regular time, on account of the disasters of the war: the state now, in the fulness of their joy, ordered them to be celebrated on the arrival of the Roman general and his army;

[2] and appointed the general, himself, president of the games. There were many circumstances which heightened their happiness:

[3] their countrymen, whom Pythagoras, lately, and, before that, Nabis, had carried away, were brought home from Lacedaemon; those who on the discovery of the conspiracy by Pythagoras, and when the massacre was already begun, had fled from home, now returned; they saw their liberty restored, after a long interval, and beheld, in their city, the Romans, the authors of its restoration, whose only view, in making war on the tyrant, was the sup- port of their interest.

[4] The freedom of the Argives was, also, solemnly announced, by the voice of a herald, on the very day of the Nemaean games. Whatever pleasure the Achaeans felt on Argos being reinstated in the general council of Achaia, it was, in a great measure, alloyed by Lacedaemon being left in slavery, and the tyrant close at their side.

[5] As to the Aetolians, they loudly railed at that measure in every meeting. They remarked, that

the war with Philip was not ended until he evacuated all the cities of Greece.

[6]

But Lacedaemon was left to the tyrant, while the lawful king, who had been, at the time, in the Roman camp, and others, the noblest of the citizens, must live in exile:

[7]

so that the Roman nation was become a partisan of Nabis in his tyranny.

Quinctius led back his army to Elatia, whence he had set out to the Spartan war.

[8] Some writers say, that the tyrant's method of carrying on hostilities was not by sallies from the city, but that he encamped in the face of the Romans;

[9] and that, after he had declined fighting a long time, waiting for succours from the Aetolians, he was forced to come to an engagement, by an attack which the Romans made on his foragers, when, being defeated in that battle,

[10] and beaten out of his camp, he sued for peace, after fifteen thousand of his men had been killed, and more than four thousand made prisoners.

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.) — 34.41 focus

[1]

The famous Nemean Games, the most popular of all their festivals, had been suspended by he Argives owing to the sufferings of the war, but on the arrival of the Roman commander with his army they manifested their delight by ordering the Games to be celebrated and making the general himself the president.

[2] There were many circumstances which enhanced their joy-those of their fellow-citizens whom Pythagoras had lately removed and those whom Nabis had previously carried off had now been brought back from Lacedaemon;

[3] those who had succeeded in escaping after the discovery of the plot by Pythagoras and the consequent bloodshed had returned home; once more after a long interval they had their liberty restored, and they saw with their own eyes the Romans who were the authors of its restoration and who for their sake had undertaken the war with the tyrant.

[4] Moreover, on the very day the Nemean Games were exhibited the voice of the herald confirmed by public proclamation "the liberty of the Argives." The satisfaction which the Achaeans felt at the restoration of Argos to their league was considerably impaired by the fact that Lacedaemon was left in servitude to the tyrant, who remained as a thorn in their side.

[5] As for the Aetolians, they were perpetually harping upon the subject at every meeting of their council.

[6] They declared that the war was not at an end till Philip had evacuated every city in Greece; Lacedaemon was left to the tyrant, but her rightful king, who was in the Roman camp, and the noblest of her citizens would have to live in exile;

[7] Rome had made herself the minister to his tyranny. Quinctius led his forces back to Elatia, which had been his starting-point for the Spartan War.

[8] Some authorities state that the tyrant did not conduct operations by making sorties from the town, but after fixing his camp face

[9] to face with that of the Romans and waiting for a considerable time in expectation of assistance from the Aetolians, he was in the end compelled to give battle owing to the Romans attacking his foragers.

[10] In that battle they state that he was defeated and lost his camp and so was driven to ask for peace, after losing 14,000 in killed and wounded and more than 4000 who were made prisoners.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. See xxv. 7-12 above.

2. Argos had come under the control of Philip in 198 B.C. (XXXII. xxv. 11) and Livy exaggerates somewhat, as he frequently does.

3. B.C. 195

4. These are obviously the Roman annalists, whose variant account Livy prefixes to the narrative of western affairs which follows. His source for the war with Nabis was a portion of Polybius which is now lost.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 34.41

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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