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), 35.30

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[1] When Philopoemen saw that the rapidly moving column was being hurriedly led over a narrow and steep road, he sent out all the cavalry and the Cretan auxiliaries against the guard of the enemy which was in front of the camp.

[2] When they saw the enemy approaching and themselves abandoned by their friends, they first tried to withdraw within the camp, then, when the whole battle-line of the Achaeans

[3] was moving forward, fearing that they would be captured camp and all, they decided to follow the column of their troops which was some distance ahead.

[4] Straightway the Achaean caetrati¹ assailed the camp and plundered it; the rest proceeded to pursue the enemy. The road was such that it could with difficulty be traversed by a column even if free from fear of an enemy;

[5] but when the battle began in the rear and a dreadful shout from panic-stricken men behind reached those in the van, each for himself threw away his weapons and plunged into the forests which lined the road, and in an instant the way was blocked by piles of arms, especially spears, many of which, falling with their points toward the enemy,² closed the road as if with a palisade placed in the way.

[6] Philopoemen ordered the auxiliaries to press on and follow wherever they could and —since the flight would not be easy, especially for the cavalry —himself conducted the heavier troops by a more open road toward the Eurotas river.

[7] There he pitched camp at sunset and waited for the lighter troops which he had left to pursue the enemy.

[8] When they arrived during the first watch, reporting that the tyrant with a few men had made their way into the city and the rest of the army was wandering without weapons hither and thither through all the woods, he ordered them to care for their bodies;

[9] he himself, out of the other body of troops who, because they had arrived in camp at an earlier hour, had been refreshed both by the food they had taken and by a brief rest, chose some, taking nothing with them but their swords, led them out at once and posted them at the roads from two gates which they call Pharae and Barnosthenes, where he thought the enemy would return from the flight.

[10] Nor did his expectation³ deceive him, for the Lacedaemonians, as long as any light remained, kept to the paths invisible in the interior of the forest; when evening came and they saw the lights in the enemy's camp, they kept themselves to paths hidden from their direction; when they had passed the camp, thinking it was now safe, they went down into the open roads. There they were picked up by the enemy waiting all around, and so many were killed or captured that barely a fourth of the whole army escaped.

[11] Philopoemen, having shut up the tyrant in the city, spent about the ensuing thirty days in laying waste the fields of the Laconians, and having weakened and well-nigh broken the tyrant's power, returned home, the Achaeans equalizing him in the glory of- his achievements with the Roman commander and, so far as the Spartan war was concerned, even placing him ahead.⁴

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.) — 35.30 focus

[1] Philopoemen postquam citatum agmen per angustam et proclivem viam duci raptim vidit, equitatum omnem et Cretensium auxiliares in stationem hostium, quae pro castris erat,

[2] emittit. illi ubi hostis adesse et a suis se desertos viderunt, primo in castra recipere se conati sunt;

[3] deinde, postquam instructa acies tota Achaeorum admovebatur, metu, ne cum ipsis castris caperentur, sequi suorum agmen aliquantum praegressum insistunt.

[4] extemplo caetrati Achaeorum in castra impetum faciunt et ea diripiunt; ceteri ad persequendos hostes ire pergunt. erat iter tale, per quod vix tranquillum ab hostili metu agmen expediri posset;

[5] ut vero ad postremos proelium ortum est, clamorque terribilis ab tergo paventium ad prima signa est perlatus, pro se quisque armis abiectis in circumiectas itineri silvas diffugiunt, momentoqtu momentoque temporis strage armorum saepta via est,

[6] maxime hastis, quae pleraeque adversae cadentes velut vallo obiecto iter impediebant.

[7] Philopoemen, utcumque possent, instare et persequi auxiliaribus iussis — utique enim equitibus baud haud facilem futuram fugam — , ipse gravius agmen via patentiore ad Eurotan amnem deduxit.

[8] ibi castris sub occasum solis positis levem armaturam, quam ad persequendum reliquerat hostem, opperiebatur. qui ubi prima vigilia venerunt, nuntiantes tyrannum cum paucis ad urbem penetrasse, ceteram multitudinem inermem toto sparsam vagari saltu, corpora curare eos iubet;

[9] ipse ex cetera copia militum, qui quia priores in castra venerant, refecti et cibo sumpto et modica quiete erant, delectos nihil praeter gladios secum ferentis extemplo educit et duarum portarum itineribus, quae Pharas quaeque Barnosthenem ferunt, eos instruxit, qua ex fuga recepturos sese hostis credebat.

[10] nec eum opinio fefellit. nam Lacedaemonii, quoad lucis superfuit quicquam, devils deviis callibus medio saltu recipiebant se; primo vespere, ut lumina in castris hostium conspexere, e regione eorum occultis semitis se tenuerunt;

[11] ubi ea sunt praetergressi, iam tutum rati in patentis vias descenderunt. ibi excepti ab insidente hoste passim ita multi caesi captique sunt, ut vix quarta pars de toto exercitu evaserit.

[12] Philopoemen incluso tyranno in urbem insequentis dies prope triginta vastandis agris Laconum absumpsit, debilitatisque ac prope fractis tyranni viribus domum rediit, aequantibus eum gloria rerum Achaeis imperatori Romano et,

[13] quod ad Laconum bellum attineret, praeferentibus etiam.

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).) — 30.30 focus

[1]

summotis pari ¹ spatio armatis, cum singulis interpretibus congressi sunt, non suae modo aetatis maximi duces, sed omnis ante se memoriae, omnium gentium cuilibet regum imperatorumve pares.

[2] paulisper alter alterius conspectu, admiratione mutua prope attoniti, conticuere. tum Hannibal prior:

[3] " si hoc ita fato datum erat, ut qui primus bellum intuli populo Romano quique totiens prope in manibus victoriam habui, is ultro ad pacem petendam venirem, laetor te mihi sorte ² potissimum datum a quo peterem.

[4] tibi quoque inter multa egregia non in ultimis laudum hoc fuerit, Hannibalem, cui tot de Romanis ³ ducibus victoriam di dedissent, tibi cessisse, teque huic bello, vestris prius ⁴ quam nostris cladibus insigni, finem imposuisse.

[5] hoc quoque ludibrium casus ediderit fortuna, ⁵ ut, cum patre tuo consule ceperim arma, cum eodem primum Romano imperatore signa contulerim, ad filium eius inermis ad pacem petendam veniam.

[6] optimum quidem fuerat eam earn patribus nostris mentem datam ab dis esse ut et vos Italiae et nos Africae imperio contenti essemus;

[7] neque enim ne vobis quidem Sicilia ac Sardinia satis digna pretia sunt pro tot classibus, tot exercitibus, tot tam egregiis amissis ducibus. Sed praeterita magis reprehendi possunt quam corrigi.

[8] ita aliena adpetivimus ut de nostris dimicaremus, nec in Italia solum nobis bellum, vobis ⁶ in Africa esset, sed et vos in portis vestris prope ac moenibus signa armaque hostium vidistis et nos ab Carthagine fremitum castrorum Romanorum exaudimus.

[9] quod igitur nos maxime abominaremur, ⁷ vos ante omnia optaretis, ⁸ in meliore vestra fortuna de pace agitur. agimus ei quorum et maxime interest pacem esse, et qui quodcumque egerimus, ratum civitates nostrae habiturae sunt. animo tantum nobis opus est non abhorrente a quietis consiliis.

[10] " quod ad me attinet, iam aetas senem in patriam revertentem, unde puer profectus sum, iam secundae, iam adversae res ita erudierunt ut rationem sequi ⁹ quam fortunam malim;

[11] tuam et adulescentiam et perpetuam felicitatem, ferociora utraque quam quietis opus est consiliis, metuo. non temere incerta casuum reputat quem fortuna numquam decepit. ¹⁰

[12] quod ego fui ad Trasumennum, ad Cannas, id tu hodie es. ¹¹ vixdum militari aetate imperio accepto omnia audacissime incipientem nusquam ¹² fefellit fortuna.

[13] patris et patrui persecutus mortem ex calamitate vestrae domus decus insigne virtutis pietatisque eximiae cepisti; amissas Hispanias reciperasti quattuor inde Punicis exercitibus pulsis;

[14] consul creatus, cum ¹³ ceteris ad tutandam Italiam parum animi esset, transgressus in Africam, duobus hic exercitibus caesis, binis eadem hora captis simul incensisque castris, Syphace potentissimo rege capto, tot urbibus regni eius, tot nostri imperii ereptis, me sextum decimum iam annum haerentem in possessione Italiae detraxisti.

[15] potest victoriam malle quam pacem animus. novi spiritus magnos magis quam utiles; et mihi talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit.

[16] quodsi in secundis rebus bonam quoque mentem darent dei, non ea solum quae evenissent, sed etiam ea quae evenire possent reputaremus. ut omnium obliviscaris aliorum, satis ego documenti in omnes casus sum,

[17] quem, modo castris inter Anienem atque urbem vestram positis signa inferentem ac iam prope scandentem ¹⁴ moenia Romana, ¹⁵ hic cernas duobus ¹⁶ fratribus, fortissimis viris, clarissimis imperatoribus orbatum ante moenia prope obsessae patriae quibus terrui vestram urbem, ea pro mea deprecantem.

[18] " maximae cuique fortunae minime credendum est. In bonis tuis rebus, nostris dubiis, tibi ampla ¹⁷ ac speciosa danti est pax, nobis petentibus magis necessaria quam honesta.

[19] melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata victoria; haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est. ne tot annorum felicitatem in unius horae dederis discrimen.

[20] cum tuas vires, tum vim Fortunae Martemque belli communem propone animo. utrimque ferrum, utrimque ¹⁸ corpora humana erunt; nusquam minus quam in bello eventus respondent.

[21] non tantum ad id quod data pace iam habere potes, si proelio vincas, ¹⁹ gloriae adieceris, quantum dempseris, ²⁰ si quid adversi eveniat. simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae fortuna evertere potest.

[22] omnia in pace iungenda tuae potestatis sunt, P. Corneli; tunc tune ea habenda fortuna erit quam di dederint.

[23] inter pauca felicitatis virtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hac eadem terra fuisset, si ²¹ victor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris; sed non statuendo felicitati modum nec cohibendo ²² efferentem se fortunam, quanto altius elatus erat, eo foedius conruit.

[24]

est quidem eius qui dat, non qui petit, condiciones dicere pacis; sed forsitan non indigni simus qui nobismet ipsi ²³ multam inrogemus.

[25]

non recusamus quin omnia propter quae ad bellum itum ²⁴ est vestra sint, Sicilia, Sardinia, Hispania, quidquid insularum toto inter Africam Italiamque continetur mari, Carthaginienses inclusi Africae litoribus vos,

[26]

quando ita dis placuit, externa etiam terra marique videamus regentes imperio. ²⁵

[27]

haud negaverim propter non nimis sincere petitam aut exspectatam nuper pacem suspectam esse vobis Punicam fidem. multum per quos petita sit ad fidem tuendae pacis pertinet, Scipio.

[28]

vestri quoque, ut audio, patres non nihil: etiam ob hoc, quia parum dignitatis in legatione erat, negaverunt pacem:

[29]

Hannibal peto pacem, qui neque peterem, nisi utilem crederem, et propter eandem utilitatem tuebor eam propter quam petii.

[30]

et quem ad modum, quia a me bellum coeptum est, ne quem eius paeniteret, quoad ipsi invidere dei, praestiti, ita adnitar ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 35.30 focus

[1]

Philopoemen postquam citatum agmen per angustam et proclivem viam duci raptim vidit, equitatum omnem et Cretensium auxiliares in stationem hostium, quae pro castris erat, emittit.

[2] illi ubi hostis adesse et a suis se desertos viderunt, primo in castra recipere se conati sunt;

[3] deinde, postquam instructa acies tota Achaeorum admovebatur, metu, ne cum ipsis castris caperentur, sequi suorum agmen aliquantum praegressum insistunt.

[4] extemplo caetrati Achaeorum in castra impetum faciunt [et diripiunt]; ceteri ad persequendos hostes ire pergunt. erat iter tale, per quod vix tranquillum ab hostili metu agmen expediri posset: ¹ ut vero ad postremos proelium ortum est,

[5] clamorque terribilis ab tergo paventium ad prima signa est perlatus, pro se quisque armis abiectis in circumiectas itineri silvas diffugiunt, momentoque temporis strage armorum saepta via est,

[6] maxime hastis, quae pleraeque adversae cadentes velut vallo obiecto iter impediebant.

[7] Philopoemen, utcumque possent, instare et persequi auxiliaribus iussis — utique enim equitibus haud facilem futuram fugam —, ipse gravius agmen via patentiore ad Eurotan amnem deduxit.

[9] ipse ex cetera copia militum, qui quia priores in castra venerant, refecti et cibo sumpto et modica quiete erant, delectos nihil praeter gladios secum ferentis extemplo educit, et duarum portarum itineribus, quae Pharas quaeque Barnosthenem ferunt, eos instruxit, qua ex fuga recepturos sese hostis credebat.

[10] nec eum opinio fefellit. nam Lacedaemonii, quoad lucis superfuit quicquam, deviis callibus medio saltu ² recipiebant se; primo vespere, ut lumina in castris hostium conspexere, e regione eorum occultis semitis se tenuerunt;

[11] ubi praegressi ea sunt, iam tutum rati in patentis vias descenderunt. ibi excepti ab insidente hoste passim ita multi caesi captique sunt, ut vix quarta pars de toto exercitu evaserit.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 35.30 focus

[1]

When Philopœmen saw their army marching precipitately through a narrow and steep road, he sent all his cavalry, together with the Cretan auxiliaries, against the guard of the enemy, stationed in the front of their camp.

[2] These, seeing their adversaries approach, and perceiving that their friends had abandoned them, at first attempted to retreat within their works; but afterwards, when the whole force of the Achaeans advanced in order of battle, they were seized with fear, lest, together with the camp itself, they might be taken;

[3] they resolved, therefore, to follow the body of their army, which, by this time, had proceeded to a considerable distance in advance.

[4] Immediately, the targeteers of the Achaeans assailed and plundered the camp, and the rest set out in pursuit of the enemy. The road was such, that a body of men, even when undisturbed by any fear of a foe, could not, without difficulty, make its way through it.

[5] But when an attack was made on their rear, and the shouts of terror, raised by the affrighted troops behind, reached to the van, they threw down their arms, and fled, each for himself, in different directions, into the woods which lay on each side of the road.

[6] In an instant of time, the way was stopped up with heaps of weapons, particularly spears, which, falling mostly with their points towards the pursuers, formed a kind of palisade across the road.

[7] Philopœmen ordered the auxiliaries to push forward, whenever they could, in pursuit of the enemy, who would find it a difficult matter, the horsemen particularly, to continue their flight; while he himself led away the heavy troops through more open ground to the river Eurotas.

[8] There he pitched his camp a little before sun-set, and waited for the light troops which he had sent in chase of the enemy. These arrived at the first watch, and brought intelligence, that Nabis, with a few attendants, had made his way into the city, and that the rest of his army, unarmed and dispersed, were straggling through all parts of the woods;

[9] whereupon, he ordered them to refresh themselves, while he himself chose out a party of men, who, having come earlier into camp, were, by this time, both recruited by food and a little rest; and, ordering them to carry nothing with them but their swords, he marched them out directly, and posted them in the roads which led from two of the gates, one towards Pherae, the other towards the Barbosthenes: for he supposed, that through these the flying enemy would make their retreat.

[10] Nor was he mistaken in that opinion; for the Lacedaemonians, as long as any light remained, retreated through the centre of the woods in the most retired paths. As soon as it grew dusk, and they saw lights in the enemy's camp, they kept themselves in paths concealed from view; but having passed it by, they then thought that all was safe, and came down into the open roads, where they were intercepted by the parties lying in wait;

[11] and there such numbers of them were killed and taken, that of the whole army scarcely a fourth part effected their escape.

[12] As the tyrant was now pent up within the city, Philopœmen employed the greatest part of thirty succeeding days in ravaging the lands of the Lacedaemonians; and then, after greatly reducing, and almost annihilating the strength of the tyrant, he returned home, while the Achaeans extolled him as equal in the glory of his services to the Roman general, and indeed, so far as regarded the war with Lacedaemon, even deemed him superior.

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.) — 35.30 focus

[1]

When Philopoemen saw them moving hurriedly along a steep and narrow road he sent his Cretan auxiliaries and the whole of his cavalry against the force which was guarding the camp.

[2] Seeing the enemy approaching, and finding that the main army had left them to themselves, they tried to retire into their camp, but as the entire Achaean army was advancing in battle order they dreaded

[3] lest they should be captured with their camp, and accordingly started after their main body which was some distance ahead. The Achaean caetrati at once attacked and plundered the camp, whilst the rest of the army went off in pursuit of the enemy.

[4] The route they had taken was such that even if there had been no enemy to be feared, their column could only have got through with great difficulty, but now, when the rearmost ranks were being assailed and cries of terror penetrated to the head of the column, it was every man for himself;

[5] they flung away their arms and fled into the forest which skirted the road on both sides. In an instant the road was blocked with heaps of weapons, mostly spears, which, falling with their heads towards the enemy, formed a kind of stockade across the road.

[6] Philopoemen ordered the auxiliaries to press the pursuit as much as possible, since flight would be a difficult matter, for cavalry at all events.

[7] The heavy infantry he led in person by a more open road to the Eurotas. Here he encamped just before sunset and waited for the light troops whom he had left in pursuit of the enemy.

[8] They came in at the first watch with the news that the tyrant had entered the city with a small body of troops; the rest of his army were without arms, scattered in the forest. He told them to take food and rest.

[9] The rest of the army, having come earlier into camp, had already done so and were now refreshed after a short sleep. Selecting some of their number and telling them to take nothing but their swords, he posted them on two of the roads which led from the city, one to Pharae and the other to Barnosthenes, as he expected that the fugitives would return by these roads.

[10] His expectation was justified, for the Lacedaemonians as long as daylight remained went along the sequestered tracks in the heart of the forest, but when it grew dusk and they caught sight of the lights in the enemy's camp they kept out of sight on hidden paths. After they had got past it, and thought all was safe, they came out into the open road.

[11] Here they were caught by the enemy who were waiting for them, and so numerous were the prisoners and the slain in all directions that hardly a quarter of their whole army escaped. Now that Philopoemen had shut the tyrant up in his city he spent nearly a month in devastating the Lacedaemonian fields, and after thus weakening and almost shattering the tyrant's power he returned home.

[12] The Achaeans in view of his brilliant success put him on a par with the Roman general, and considered him as his superior so far as the Laconian war was concerned.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 192

2. The context and the regular meaning of adversus require this interpretation, but it is not easy to see how a spear, dropped by a man in flight, would naturally fall with its point facing the rear and its butt fixed in the ground. In XXXII. xvii. 14 Livy compares the spear-points of the Macedonian phalanx to a rampart. We may select as an explanation excessive credulity, misunderstanding of the source, corruption in the text, or a miracle. Plutarch does not mention the incident.

3. B.C. 192

4. Flamininus' 12 campaign against Nabis (XXXIV. xxviii ff.) had been inconclusive, and the favourable comparison of Philopoemen to him was based on these campaigns, not on the war with Philip. 13 Justin (

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 35.30

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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