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), 37.4

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1] Lucius Cornelius the consul, having finished what had to be done in Rome, issued his edict before the assembly that the soldiers whom he personally had enlisted as reinforcements and those who were among the Brutti with Aulus Cornelius the propraetor should all assemble on the Ides of July¹ at Brundisium.

[2] He named also three lieutenants, Sextus Digitius, Lucius Apustius and Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, who were to collect ships at Brundisium from all along the sea-coast; and having now made everything ready set out from the City in uniform. About five thousand volunteers, Romans and allies, who had earned their discharges under the command of Publius Africanus, attended the consul as he was setting out and gave in their names for service with him.²

[3] About the time the consul departed to the war, during the ludi Apollinares,³ on the fifth day before the Ides of July, in a clear sky during the day, the light was dimmed since the moon passed before the circle of the

[4] sun.⁴ Lucius Aemilius

[5] Regillus, to whom the naval appointment had fallen,⁵ also departed at the same time. Lucius Aurunculeius was entrusted by the senate with the task of building thirty quinqueremes and twenty triremes, since the rumour was that Antiochus after the naval battle was fitting out a very much larger fleet.⁶ The Aetolians, after their ambassadors

[6] had brought back the word from Rome that there was no hope for peace, although their whole coast which faces the Peloponnesus had been ravaged by the Achaeans, thinking more of their

[7] danger than of their losses, in order to bar the road against the Romans, seized Mount Corax;⁷ for they had no doubt that they would return at the beginning of spring to besiege Naupactus.⁸ Acilius, because he knew that this was their expectation, thought it better to try

[8] something unforeseen and to attack Lamia;⁹ for the people had both been brought nigh to destruction by Philip and, just because at that time they feared nothing of the kind, he thought that they could be more easily taken by

[9] surprise. Setting out from Elatia he first encamped in hostile territory near the Spercheus river; thence he moved his standards by night and at daybreak attacked the walls from a girdle of entrenchments.

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.) — 37.4 focus

[1] L. Cornelius consul peractis, quae Romae agenda erant, pro contione edixit, ut milites, quos ipse in supplementum scripsisset, quique in Bruttiis cum A. Cornelio propraetore essent, ut hi omnes idibus Quinctilibus Brundisium convenirent.

[2] item tres legatos nominavit, Sex. Digitium L. Apustium C. Fabricium Luscinum, qui ex ora maritima undique navis Brundisium contraherent; et omnibus iam paratis paludatus ab urbe est profectus.

[3] ad quinque milia voluntariorum, Romani sociique, qui emerita stipendia sub imperatore P. Africano habebant, praesto fuere exeunti consuli et nomina dederunt.

[4] per eos dies, quibus est profectus ad bellum consul, ludis Apollinaribus, a. d. quintum idus Quinctiles caelo sereno interdiu obscurata lux est, cum luna sub orbem solis subisset.

[5] et L. Aemilius Regillus, cui navalis provincia evenerat, eodem tempore profectus est. L. Aurunculeio negotium ab senatu datum est, ut triginta quinqueremes, viginti triremes faceret, quia fama erat Antiochum post proelium navale maiorem classem aliquanto reparare.

[6] Aetoli, postquam legati ab Roma rettulerunt nullam spem pacis esse, quamquam omnis ora — maritima eorum, quae in Peloponnesum versa est, depopulata ab Achaeis erat,

[7] periculi magis quam damni memores, ut Romanis intercluderent iter, Coracem occupaverunt montem; neque enim dubitabant ad oppugnationem Naupacti eos principio veris redituros esse.

[8] Acilio, quia id expectari sciebat, satius visum est inopinatam adgredi rem et Lamiam oppugnare;

[9] nam et a Philippo prope ad excidium adductos esse, et tunc eo ipso, quod nihil tale timerent, opprimi incautos posse.

[10] profectus ab Elatia primum in hostium terra circa Spercheum amnem posuit castra; inde nocte motis signis prima luce corona moenia est adgressus.

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).) — 43.4 focus

[1]

tis tantum exinde pavorem ¹ ingressi ² castra, ostentantes capita, fecerunt, ut, si admotus extemplo exercitus foret, capi castra potuerint.

[2] tum quoque fuga ingens facta est; et erant qui legatos mittendos ad pacem precibus petendam censerent; civitatesque complures eo nuntio audito in deditionem venerunt.

[3] quibus purgantibus sese culpamque in duorum amentiam conferentibus, qui se ultro ad poenam ipsi obtulissent,

[4] cum veniam dedisset praetor, profectus extemplo ad alias civitates omnibus imperata facientibus quieto exercitu pacatum agrum, qui paulo ante ingenti tumultu arserat, peragravit.

[5] haec lenitas praetoris, qua sine sanguine ferocissimam gentem domuerat, eo gratior plebi patribusque fuit, quo crudelius avariusque in Graecia bellatum et ab consule Licinio et ab Lucretio praetore erat.

[6] Lucretium tribuni plebis absentem contionibus adsiduis lacerabant, cum rei publicae causa abesse excusaretur; sed tum adeo vicina etiam inexplorata erant ut is eo tempore in agro suo Antiati esset aquamque ³ ex manubiis Antium ex flumine Loracinae duceret.

[7] id opus centum triginta milibus ⁴ aeris locasse dicitur; tabulis quoque pictis ex praeda fanum Aesculapi exornavit.

[8] invidiam infamiamque ab Lucretio averterunt ⁵ in Hortensium, successorem eius, Abderitae legati flentes ante curiam querentesque oppidum suum ab Hortensio expugnatum ac direptum esse:

[9] causam causum excidii fuisse urbi, quod, cum centum milia denarium et tritici quinquaginta milia modium imperaret, ⁶ spatium petierint, quo de ea re et ad Hostilium consulem et Romam mitterent legatos.

[10] vixdum ad consulem se pervenisse et audisse oppidum expugnatum, principes securi percussos, sub corona ceteros venisse. ⁷

[11] indigna res senatui ⁸ visa, decreveruntque eadem de Abderitis, quae de Coronaeis ⁹ decreverant priore anno, eademque pro contione edicere Q. Maenium praetorem iusserunt.

[12] et legati duo, C. Sempronius Blaesus Sex. iulius Caesar, ad restituendos in libertatem Abderitas missi.

[13] iisdem mandatum, ut et Hostilio consuli et Hortensio praetori nuntiarent, senatum ¹⁰ Abderitis iniustum bellum illatum conquirique omnes, qui in servitute sint, et restitui in libertatem aequum ¹¹ censere.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 37.4 focus

[1]

L. Cornelius consul peractis, quae Romae agenda erant, pro contione edixit, ut milites, quos ipse in supplementum scripsisset, ¹ quique in Bruttiis cum A. Cornelio propraetore essent, ut hi omnes idibus Quinctilibus Brundisium convenirent.

[2] item tres legatos nominavit, Sex. Digitium L. Apustium C. Fabricium Luscinum , qui ex ora maritima undique navis Brundisium contraherent;

[3] et omnibus iam paratis paludatus ab urbe est profectus. ad quinque milia voluntariorum, Romani sociique, qui emerita stipendia sub imperatore P. Africano habebant, praesto fuere exeunti consuli et nomina dederunt.

[4] per eos dies, quibus est profectus ad bellum consul, ludis Apollinaribus, a. d. quintum idus Quinctiles caelo sereno interdiu obscurata lux est, cum luna sub orbem solis subisset.

[5] et L. Aemilius Regillus , cui navalis provincia evenerat, eodem tempore profectus est. L. Aurunculeio negotium ab senatu datum est, ut triginta quinqueremes, viginti triremes faceret, quia fama erat Antiochum post proelium navale maiorem classem aliquanto reparare.

[6] Aetoli, postquam legati ab Roma rettulerunt nullam spem ² pacis esse, quamquam omnis ora maritima eorum, quae in Peloponnesum versa est,

[7] depopulata ab Achaeis erat, periculi magis quam damni memores, ut Romanis intercluderent iter, Coracem occupaverunt montem: neque enim dubitabant ad oppugnationem Naupacti eos principio veris redituros esse.

[8] Acilio, quia id expectari sciebat, satius visum est inopinatam adgredi rem et Lamiam oppugnare:

[9] nam et a Philippo prope ad excidium adductos esse, et tunc eo ipso, quod nihil tale timerent, opprimi incautos posse.

[10] profectus ab Elatia primum in hostium terra circa Spercheum amnem posuit castra; inde nocte motis signis prima luce corona moenia est adgressus.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 37.4 focus

[1]

The consul Lucius Cornelius, having finished what was necessary to be done at Rome, gave public notice, in an assembly of the people, that the soldiers, whom he himself had enlisted for a reinforcement, and those who were in Bruttium with Aulus Cornelius, proprietor, should all meet him at Brundusium on the ides of July.

[2] He likewise appointed three lieutenants-general, Sextus Digitius, Lucius Apustius, and Caius Fabricius Luscinus; who were to bring together ships from all parts of the sea-coast to Brundusium; and now, every thing being ready, he set out from the city in his military robe of state.

[3] About five thousand volunteers of the Romans and allies, who had served out their campaigns, under the command of Publius Africanus, attended the consul at his departure, and gave in their names.

[4] At the time in which the consul set out to the war during the celebration of the Apollinarian games, on the fifth day before the ides of July, though the sky was serene, the light was obscured in the middle of the day, when the moon passed beneath the orb of the sun.

[5] L. Aemilius Regillus, to whom the sea had fallen as his province, set out at the same time. To Lucius Aurunculeius this business was assigned by the senate, that he should build thirty quinqueremes and twenty triremes, because there was a report that Antiochus, since the engagement at sea, was fitting out a much larger fleet.

[6] The Aetolians, after the ambassadors brought back word from Rome that there was no hope of peace, although their whole seacoast, which was opposite to Peloponnesus, was ravaged by the Achaeans, regarding the danger more than their losses, seized on Mount Corax, in order to shut up the pass against the Romans;

[7] for they had no doubt that they would return in the beginning of spring to the siege of Naupactum.

[8] It appeared better to Acilius, who knew that this was expected, to attempt a thing that was not anticipated, and to lay siege to Lamia; for the garrison had been reduced by Philip almost to a state of desperation;

[9] and being then off their guard, because they feared no such attempt, might be surprised by himself.

[10] Marching from Elatia, he formed his first encampment in the enemy's country, on the banks of the river Sperchius, and decamping thence in the night, he at break of day attacked the town with a line of troops that encircled it.

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.) — 37.4 focus

[1]

When the business which he had to transact in Rome was finished, L. Cornelius gave notice in the Assembly that the men whom he had enlisted and those who were with A. Cornelius in Bruttium were all to assemble at Brundisium by 15th July.

[2] He also appointed three officers, Sextus Digitius, L. Apustius and C. Fabricius Luscinus, to collect the ships from all parts of the coast at the same place, and all his preparations being now completed, he set out from the city, wearing his paludamentum.

[3] As many as 5000 volunteers, Roman and allied troops who had served their time under P. Africanus, were waiting for the consul on his departure and gave in their names for active service.

[4] At the time of the consul's departure, whilst the Games of Apollo were being celebrated, the daylight was obscured, though the sky was clear, by the moon passing under the orb of the sun. L. Aemilius Regillus set out at the same time to take command of the fleet.

[5] L. Aurunculeius was commissioned by the senate to undertake the construction of thirty quinqueremes and twenty triremes. This step was due to a report that since the naval battle Antiochus was fitting out a considerably larger fleet than he had on that occasion.

[6] When the Aetolian envoys brought back word that there was no hope of peace, their government realised that the danger threatening them from Rome was more serious than the losses inflicted on them by the Achaeans who were harrying the whole of their sea-board which faced the Peloponnese.

[7] They had made up their minds that the Romans would return in the spring and lay siege to Naupactus, and in order to block their route they occupied Mount Corax.

[8] Acilius knew that this was what they were expecting, and he thought the better course would be to undertake something which they were not expecting; so he commenced an attack on Lamia.

[9] This place had almost been destroyed by Philip, and as the inhabitants were not apprehending any similar attempt, Acilius thought he might successfully surprise it.

[10] After leaving Elatia his first encampment on the enemy soil was by the Spercheus; from there he made a night march, and by dawn had completely invested the place.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Livy uses the old name of the month, Quinctilis, which was in his time called Iulius in honour of Caesar.

2. Their status was that of evocati, reservists called to active duty, which gave them certain special privileges.

3. These games, celebrated in honour of Apollo, were held annually in July.

4. This eclipse, according to modern calculations, occurred March 14, 190 B.C. The Roman calendar was then out of adjustment to the extent indicated by these dates (March 14 —July 11). The usual remedy was to insert an extra (intercalary) month between February and March, of such length as to bring the solstitial 5 and equinoctial periods to the proper calendar dates. The effects of such dislocations upon Livy's treatment of chronology have been frequently pointed out in the notes: cf. xxxvii. 6 below. This particular date is rejected by Beloch (Klio XV, 1918, 391 ff.; XXII, 1929, 464 ff.) on various grounds, among them the fact that it places the battle of Magnesia at a time inconsistent with the narrative of Polybius.

5. B.C. 190

6. Cf. XXXVI. xliii —xlv.

7. Cf. XXXVI. xxx. 4.

8. Cf. XXXVI. xxx; xxxv.

9. Cf. XXXVI. xxv. 8.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 37.4

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers