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), 35.3

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[1] Nor was the war with the Ligures in Italy any slower to begin. Pisa was already besieged by about forty thousand men, large numbers daily pouring in by reason of the report of the war and in the hope of booty.

[2] The consul Minucius arrived at¹ Arretium on the day on which he had ordered the troops to assemble.² Thence he led the force in a hollow-square formation toward Pisa, and since the enemy had moved their camp across the river,³ no more than a mile from the town, the consul marched into the city that had without doubt been saved by his arrival.

[3] The next day he too crossed the river and encamped about five hundred paces from the enemy.

[4] From this base he defended the allies' country from ravage by fighting petty battles; he did not dare to march out in battle-line with raw troops, collected from many tribes and not yet well enough known to one another to feel confidence in their comrades.⁴

[5] The Ligures both marched out to battle, trusting in their numbers and prepared to risk a decisive engagement, and, since they had abundance of men, sent out many parties to plunder in all directions on the borders of the territory,

[6] and when a large number of animals and much booty had been collected, guards were available to conduct them to their forts and villages.

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.) — 35.3 focus

[1] nec in Italia segnius Ligurum bellum crescebat. Pisas iam quadraginta milibus honinum, hominum, adfluente cotidie multitudine ad famam belli spemque praedae, circumsedebant. Minucius consul Arretium die quam edixerat ad conveniendum militibus venit.

[2] inde quadrato agmine ad Pisas duxit, et cum hostes non plus mille passuum ab oppido trans fluvium movissent castra, consul urbem haud dubie servatam adventu suo est ingressus.

[3] postero die et ipse trans fluvium quingentos ferme passus ab hoste posuit castra. inde levibus proeliis a populationibus agrum sociorum tutabatur;

[4] in aciem exire non audebat novo milite et ex multis generibus hominum collecto necdum noto satis inter se, ut fidere alii aliis possent.

[5] Ligures multitudine freti et in aciem exibant, parati de summa rerum decernere, et abundantes militum numero passim multas manus per extrema finium ad praedandum mittebant,

[6] et, cum coacta vis magna pecorum praedaeque esset, paratum erat praesidium, per quod in castella eorum vicosque ageretur.

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.) — 35.3 focus

[1]

nec in Italia segnius Ligurum bellum crescebat. Pisas iam quadraginta milibus hominum, adfluente cotidie multitudine ad famam belli spemque praedae, circumsedebant.

[2] Minucius consul Arretium die quam edixerat ad conveniendum militibus venit. inde quadrato agmine ad Pisas duxit, et cum hostes non plus mille passuum ab oppido trans fluvium movissent castra, consul urbem haud dubie servatam adventu suo est ingressus.

[3] postero die et ipse trans fluvium quingentos ferme passus ab hoste posuit castra. inde levibus proeliis a populationibus agrum sociorum tutabatur;

[4] in aciem exire non audebat novo milite et ex multis generibus hominum collecto necdum noto satis inter se, ut fidere alii aliis possent.

[5] Ligures multitudine freti et in aciem exibant, parati de summa rerum decernere, et abundantes ¹ militum numero passim multas manus per extrema finium ad praedandum mittebant,

[6] et, cum coacta vis magna pecorum praedaeque esset, paratum erat praesidium, per quos in castella eorum vicosque ageretur.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 35.3 focus

[1]

In Italy the war, commenced by the Ligurians, grew daily more formidable. They now invested Pisae, with an army of forty thousand men; for multitudes flocked to them continually, led by the reports of the war and the expectation of booty. The consul, Minucius, came to Arretium, on the day which he had fixed for the assembling of the troops.

[2] Thence he led them, in order of battle, towards Pisae; and though the enemy had removed their camp to the other side of the river at a distance of no more than three miles from the place, the consul marched into the city, which evidently owed its preservation to his coming.

[3] Next day he also encamped on the other side of the river, about a mile from the enemy; and by slight skirmishes protected the lands of the allies from their depredations.

[4] He did not think it prudent to hazard a general engagement, because his troops were raw, composed of many different kinds of men, and not yet so well known among themselves that they could rely on one another.

[5] The Ligurians depended so much on their numbers, that they not only came out and offered battle, willing to risk every thing on the issue of it; but, from their superfluity of men, they sent out many parties along the frontiers to plunder;

[6] and whenever a large quantity of cattle, and other prey, was collected, there was an escort always in readiness to convey it into their forts and towns.

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.) — 35.3 focus

[1]

In Italy, too, the Ligurian war was growing more serious. Pisae was now surrounded by 40,000 men, and their numbers were being swelled daily by crowds who were attracted by the love of fighting and the hope of plunder. Minucius arrived in Arretium on the day which he had appointed for the assembling of his soldiers.

[2] From there he marched in close order to Pisae, and though the enemy had moved their camp across the river to a position not more than a mile distant from the place, he succeeded in entering the city, which his arrival undoubtedly saved.

[3] The day following he, too, crossed the river and fixed his camp about half a mile distant from that of the enemy.

[4] From this position he sent out skirmishers, and so protected the land of the friendly tribes from depredation. As his troops were new levies, drawn from various classes and not yet sufficiently acquainted with each other to feel mutual confidence, he did not venture to challenge a regular engagement.

[5] The Ligurians, relying on their numbers, marched out and offered battle, prepared for a decisive conflict, and even detached bodies to go in all directions beyond their frontiers to secure plunder.

[6] When they had collected a vast quantity of cattle and other booty an armed escort was ready to take it to their forts and villages.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 193

2. Cf. XXXIV. lvi. 4.

3. This is apparently the Auser river (Plin. N.H. III. 50), now the Serchio, which once emptied into the Arno near by.

4. This statement is difficult to accept, in view of the fact that the major component of his force was the two urbanae legiones of the year before: cf. the note to ii. 3 above. The Romans, like modern commanders, stressed the necessity of homogeneity and mutual confidence in combatant troops.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 35.3

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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