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), 37.54

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[1] The speech of the king pleased the Fathers, and it was quite evident that they would deal with the whole matter generously and in a sympathetic spirit.

[2] A brief audience was then accorded the delegation from the Zmyrnaeans, since one of the Rhodians had not yet arrived.

[3] The Zmyrnaeans were conspicuously lauded because they had preferred to endure all extremities rather than submit to the king,¹ and the Rhodians were introduced. The chief of their embassy, after setting forth the origins of their friendship with the Roman people and the services of the Rhodians, first in the war with Philip

[4] and later in the war with Antiochus, continued thus:

[5]

Nothing in all our pleading, conscript Fathers, is so difficult for us or so painful as the fact that our difference of opinion is with Eumenes, with whom alone of kings and in preference to all others, both individuals of our community privately and, what moves us more, our state publicly, is in relations of hospitality.²

[6]

But it is not our personal feelings, conscript Fathers, which part us, but the nature of³ things, which is all-powerful, so that we who are free are pleading the cause of liberty for others as well, while kings wish everything to be enslaved and subject to their will.

[7]

Yet, however that may be, the fact is rather that it is our respect for the king which stands in our way than that the question itself is either involved for us or likely, as it seems, to cause you any hesitancy in deciding.

[8]

For if in no other way could honour be paid an allied and friendly king and one who had rendered good service in this very war, about whose compensation there was debate, than by your giving free cities into servitude to him, the

[9]

discussion would be of doubtful issue, lest you either send away a friendly king without his meed of honour or depart from your tradition and stain the glory won in the war with Philip by now enslaving so many cities;

[10]

but from this necessity of either diminishing your recompense to a friend or detracting from your own fame, fortune offers you a splendid escape. For by the bounty of heaven, your victory brings not more glory than riches, and it may easily discharge what you may call your debt.

[11]

For Lycaonia and both Phrygias⁴ and all Pisidia and the Chersonesus, all of which adjoin Europe, are in your power, and any of

[12]

these, bestowed upon the king, can greatly enlarge the kingdom of Eumenes, and the gift of them all can make him equal to the greatest of kings.

[13]

It is possible for you both to enrich your allies with prizes of war and not to depart from your tradition and to remember what banner you displayed before you earlier in the war against Philip and now in the war against Antiochus —what

[14]

you have done after defeating Philip and what to-day, not more because⁵ you did so formerly than because it becomes you to do so, is desired and expected at your hands.

[15]

One nation has one and another nation has another just and reasonable cause for taking up arms; those that they may possess lands, these cities, these towns, these harbours and some strip of coast; you have neither desired these things before you had them, nor now, when the world is in your hands, can you desire them.

[16]

For the sake of standing and fame in the eyes of the whole world, which for long now has regarded your name and empire as next after those of the immortal gods, you have waged your wars. What it was difficult to get and acquire, it may be perhaps still more difficult to keep.

[17]

You have undertaken to defend against slavery to a king the liberty of a most ancient people, most famed either from the renown of its achievements or from universal praise of its culture and learning; this championship of a whole people taken under your protection and guardianship⁶ it befits you to guarantee for ever.

[18]

The cities which are on the ancient soil are not more Greek than their colonies, which once set out from there for Asia; nor does a change of habitation change race or manners. We⁷ have dared to vie in reverent rivalry in every noble art and virtue with our fathers, every city too with its founders.

[19]

Many of you have visited the cities of Greece, have visited the cities of Asia⁸ ; except that we are farther distant from you, we are inferior in no⁹ respect.

[20]

The people of Massilia, whom, if inborn nature could be conquered, so to speak, by the temper of a land, so many untamed tribes

[21]

around them would long ago have barbarized, we hear are held in the same respect and deservedly paid the same honour by you as if they dwelt in the very navel of Greece. For they have kept not only the sound of their speech along with their dress and their outward appearance, but, before all, their manners and laws and character pure and free from the corruption of their neighbours.

[22]

The Taurus mountains are now the limit of your empire; nothing, whatever lies within this boundary, should seem remote to you; where your army had made its way, thither too let your law advance and make its way.

[23]

Let barbarians, to whom the mandates of their lords have ever served as laws, since in that they take delight, have kings; Greeks have their own fortunes, but souls like yours.

[24]

Once they even possessed empire, as a result of their own might; now they hope that empire may abide for ever where it now resides; they hold it sufficient to maintain liberty through your arms since they cannot through their own.

[25]

But, someone may say, some cities sided with Antiochus.

[26]

True, and others formerly with Philip and the Tarentines with Pyrrhus; not to mention other peoples, Carthage is free and enjoys its own laws. See, conscript Fathers, how much you owe to your own precedent; you will persuade yourselves to refuse to the ambition of Eumenes what you have refused to your own wrath, just as it may be.

[27]

Both in this and in all wars which you waged in our region, we Rhodians leave it to you to judge with what courageous and constant aid we have¹⁰ assisted you.

[28]

Now in peace we offer you this counsel, and if you approve it all men will think that you have used your victory more gloriously than you have won it.

This speech seemed well adapted to the high position of Rome.¹¹

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.) — 37.54 focus

[1] grata oratio regis patribus fuit, et facile apparebat munifice omnia et propenso animo facturos.

[2] interposita Smyrnaeorum brevis legatio est, quia non aderat quidam Rhodiorum. collaudatis egregie Smyrnaeis, quod omnia ultima pati quam se regi tradere maluissent, introducti Rhodii sunt.

[3] quorum princeps legationis expositis initiis amicitiae cum populo Romano meritisque Rhodiorum Philippi prius, deinde Antiochi bello “nihil” inquit “nobis tota nostra actione,

[4] patres conscripti, neque difficilius neque molestius est,

[5] quam quod cum Eumene nobis disceptatio est, cum quo uno maxime regum et privatim singulis et, quod magis nos movet, publicum civitati nostrae hospitium est.

[6] ceterum non animi nostri, patres conscripti, nos, sed rerum natura, quae potentissima est, disiungit, ut nos liberi etiam aliorum libertatis causam agamus, reges serva omnia et subiecta imperio suo esse velint.

[7] utcumque tamen res sese habet, magis verecundia nostra adversus regem nobis obstat, quam ipsa disceptatio aut nobis impedita est aut vobis perplexam deliberationem praebitura videtur.

[8] nam si aliter socio atque amico regi et bene merito hoc ipso in bello, de cuius praemiis agitur, honos haberi nullus posset, nisi liberas civitates in servitutem traderetis ei, esset deliberatio anceps,

[9] ne aut regem amicum inhonoratum dimitteretis, aut decederetis instituto vestro gloriamque Philippi bello partam nunc servitute tot civitatium deformaretis;

[10] sed ab hac necessitate aut gratiae in amicum minuendae aut gloriae vestrae egregie vos fortuna vindicat. est enim deum benignitate non gloriosa magis quam dives victoria vestra, quae vos facile isto velut aere alieno exsolvat.

[11] nam et Lycaonia et Phrygia utraque et Pisidia omnis et Chersonesus, quaeque circumiacent Europae, in vestra sunt potestate,

[12] quarum lma una quaelibet regi adiecta multiplicare regnum Eumenis potest, omnes vero datae maximis eum regibus aequare.

[13] licet ergo vobis et praemiis belli ditare socios et non decedere instituto vestro et meminisse, quem titulum praetenderitis prius adversus Philippum, nunc adversus Antiochum belli,

[14] quid feceritis Philippo victo, quid nunc a vobis, non magis quia fecistis, quam quia id vos facere decet,

[15] desideretur atque expectetur. alia enim allis aliis et honesta et probabilis est causa armorum; illi agrum, hi vicos, hi oppida, hi portus oramque aliquam maris ut possideant; vos nec cupistis haec antequam haberetis, nec nune, nunc, cum orbis terrarium terrarum in dicione vestra sit, cupere potestis.

[16] pro dignitate et gloria apud omne humanum genus, quod vestrum nomen imperiumque iuxta ac deos immortales iam pridem intuetur, pugnastis. quae parare et quaerere arduum fuit, nescio an tueri difficilius sit.

[17] gentis vetustissimae nobilissimaeque vel fama rerum gestarum vel omni commendatione humanitatis doctrinarumque tuendam ab servitio regio libertatem suscepistis; hoc patrocinium receptae in fidem et clientelam vestram universae gentis perpetuum vos praestare decet.

[18] non, quae in solo modo antiquo sunt, Graecae magis urbes sunt quam coloniae earum, illinc quondam profectae in Asiam; nec terra mutata mutavit genus aut mores.

[19] certare pio certamine cuiuslibet bonae artis ac virtutis ausi sumus cum parentibus quaeque civitas et conditoribus sins. suis.

[20] adistis Graeciae, adistis Asiae urbes plerique; nisi quod longius a vobis absumus, nulla vincimur alia re.

[21] Massiliensis, quos, si natura insita velut ingenio terrae vinci posset, iam pridem efferassent tot indomitae circumfusae gentes, in eo honore, in ea merito dignitate audimus apud vos esse, ac si medium umbilicum Graeciae incolerent.

[22] non enim sonum modo linguae vestitumque et habitum, sed ante omnia mores et leges et ingenium sincerum integrumque a contagione accolarum servarunt.

[23] terminus est nunc imperil imperii vestrl vestri mons Taurus; quidquid intra eum cardinem est, nihil longinquum vobis debet videri; quo arma vestra pervenerunt, eodem ius hinc profectum perveniat.

[24] barbari, quibus pro legibus semper dominorum imperia fuerunt, quo gaudent, reges habeant; Graeci suam fortunam, vestros animos gerunt.

[25] domesticis quondam viribus etiam imperium amplectebantur; nunc imperium, ubi est, ibi ut sit perpetuum, optant; libertatem vestris tueri armis satis habent, quoniam suis non possunt.

[26] .at at enim quaedam civitatee civitates cum Antiocho senserunt. et aliae prius cum Philippo, et cum Pyrrho Tarentini; ne alios populos enumerem,

[27] Carthago libera cum suis legibus est. huic vestro exemplo quantum debeatis, videte, patres conscripti; inducetis in animum negare Eumenis cupiditati, quod iustissimae irae vestrae negastis.

[28] Rhodii et in hoc et in omnibus bellis, quae in illa ora gessistis, quam forti fidelique vos opera adiuverimus, vestro iudicio relinquimus. nunc in pace consilium id adferimus, quod si comprobaritis, magnificentius vos victoria usos esse quam vicisse omnes existimaturi sint.” apta magnitudini Romanae oratio visa est.

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).) — 43.23 focus

[1]

Rex cum non ¹ minore vexatione iumentorum hominumque quam venerat in Macedoniam rediit; Appium tamen ab obsidione Phanotes fama ducentis ad Stratum Persei summovit.

[2] Cleuas cum praesidio impigrorum iuvenum insecutus sub radicibus prope inviis montium ² ad mille hominum ex agmine impedito occidit, ad ducentos cepit.

[3] Appius superatis angustiis in campo quem Meleona vocant stativa dierum paucorum habuit. interim Cleuas assumpto Philostrato, qui quingentos ex ³ Epirotarum gente habebat, in agrum Antigonensem transcendit. ⁴ Macedones ad depopulationem profecti;

[4] Philostratus⁵ cum cohorte sua in insidiis loco ⁶ obscuro consedit. in palatos populatores cum erupissent ab Antigonea armati, ⁷ fugientes eos persequentes effusius in vallem insessam ab hostibus praecipitant.

[5] ibi ad mille ⁸ occisis, centum ferme captis, et ubique prospere gesta re prope stativa Appi castra movent, ne qua vis sociis suis ab Romano exercitu inferri possit.

[6] Appius nequiquam in his locis terens tempus, dimissis Chaonum Thesprotorumque ⁹ et si qui alii Epirotae erant praesidiis, cum Italicis militibus in Illyricum regressus, per Parthinorum ¹⁰ socias urbes in hiberna militibus divisis, ¹¹ ipse Romam sacrificii causa redit.

[7] Perseus ex Penestarum gente mille pedites, ducentos equites revocatos Cassandream, praesidio ut essent, misit.

[8] Ab Gentio eadem adferentes redierunt. nec deinde alios atque alios mittendo temptare eum destitit, cum appareret, quantum in eo praesidii esset, nec tamen impetrare ab animo posset, ut impensam in rem maximi ad omnia momenti faceret.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 37.54 focus

[1]

grata oratio regis patribus fuit et facile apparebat munifice omnia et propenso animo facturos.

[2] interposita Smyrnaeorum brevis legatio est, quia non aderat quidam Rhodiorum. collaudatis egregie Smyrnaeis, quod omnia ultima pati quam se regi tradere maluissent, introducti Rhodii sunt.

[3] quorum princeps legationis expositis initiis amicitiae cum populo Romano meritisque Rhodiorum Philippi prius, deinde Antiochi bello “

[4] nihil“ inquit “nobis tota nostra actione, patres conscripti, neque difficilius neque molestius est, quam quod cum Eumene nobis disceptatio est,

[5] cum quo uno maxime regum et privatim singulis et, quod magis nos movet, publicum civitati nostrae hospitium est.

[7] utcumque tamen res sese habet, magis ¹ verecundia nostra adversus regem nobis obstat, quam ipsa disceptatio aut nobis impedita est aut vobis perplexam deliberationem praebitura videtur.

[9] ne aut regem amicum inhonoratum dimitteretis, aut decederetis instituto vestro gloriamque Philippi bello partam nunc servitute tot civitatium deformaretis;

[11] nam et Lycaonia et Phrygia utraque et Pisidia omnis et Chersonesus quaeque circumiacent Europae,

[12] in vestra sunt potestate, quarum una quaelibet regi adiecta multiplicare regnum Eumenis potest, omnes vero datae maximis eum regibus aequare.

[13] licet ergo vobis et praemiis belli ditare ² socios et non decedere instituto vestro et meminisse, quem titulum praetenderitis prius adversus Philippum, nunc adversus Antiochum belli,

[14] quid feceritis Philippo victo, quid nunc a vobis, non magis quia fecistis, quam quia id vos facere decet, desideretur atque expectetur. alia enim aliis et honesta et probabilis est causa armorum:

[15] illi agrum, hi vicos, hi oppida, hi portus oramque aliquam maris ut possideant; vos nec cupistis haec antequam haberetis, nec nunc, cum orbis terrarum in dicione vestra sit, cupere potestis.

[18] non, quae in solo [modo] antiquo sunt, Graecae magis urbes ³ sunt quam coloniae earum, illinc quondam profectae in Asiam;

[19] nec terra mutata mutavit genus aut mores. certare pio certamine cuiuslibet bonae artis ac virtutis ausi sumus cum parentibus quaeque civitas et conditoribus suis.

[20] adistis Graeciae, adistis Asiae urbes plerique: nisi quod longius a vobis absumus, nulla vincimur alia re.

[22] non enim sonum modo linguae vestitumque et habitum, sed ante omnia mores et leges et ingenium sincerum integrumque a contagione accolarum servarunt.

[23] terminus est nunc imperii vestri mons Taurus; quidquid intra eum cardinem est, nihil longinquum vobis debet videri; quo arma vestra pervenerunt, eodem ius hinc profectum perveniat.

[24] barbari, quibus pro legibus semper dominorum imperia fuerunt, quo gaudent, reges habeant; Graeci suam ⁴ fortunam, vestros animos gerunt.

[25] domesticis quondam viribus etiam imperium amplectebantur; nunc imperium, ubi est, ibi ut sit perpetuum, optant; libertatem vestris tueri armis satis habent, quoniam suis non possunt.

[26] at enim quaedam civitates cum Antiocho senserunt. et aliae prius cum Philippo, et cum Pyrrho Tarentini; ne alios populos enumerem, Carthago libera cum suis legibus est.

[27] huic vestro exemplo quantum debeatis, videte, patres conscripti; inducetis in animum negare Eumenis cupiditati, quod iustissimae irae vestrae negastis.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 37.54 focus

[1]

The king's speech was pleasing to the senate, and it was very evident that they would do all things liberally, and with a desire to serve him.

[2] As one of the Rhodian ambassadors was absent, an embassy from Smyrna was next introduced, which was briefly disposed of.

[3] When the Smyrnaeans were highly complimented because they had resolved to endure the last extremities rather than surrender to the king, the Rhodians were next introduced. The chief of their embassy, after stating the commencement of their friendship with the Roman people and merits of the Rhodians, first iii the war with Philip, and afterwards in that with Antiochus, said:

[4]

Conscript fathers, there is nothing in the

[5]

whole course of our affairs that gives us more trouble and uneasiness than that we should have a debate with Eumenes; with whom alone, of all the kings in the world, each of us as individuals has a private tie of hospitality, and, what weighs more with us, our state has a public one.

[6]

But, conscript fathers, it is not our own inclinations that disunite us, but the nature of circumstances which exercise an all-powerful influence, so that we, being free ourselves, plead the cause of other men's freedom; while kings wish to have all things subservient and subject to their command.

[7]

Yet, be that as it may, our respect towards the king is an obstacle to us, rather than that the debate is intricate, or likely to give you perplexity in your deliberations.

[8]

For if no honour could be otherwise paid to the king, your friend and ally, who has merited highly in this very war, and concerning whose reward the consideration is, unless you should deliver free states into his power, the deliberation would be a difficult one, lest you should either send away a king, your friend, without due honour, or

[9]

depart from your own institutions, and sully now, by the servitude of so many states, the glory which you have acquired in the war with Philip.

[10]

But from this necessity of diminishing either your gratitude towards your friend, or your own glory, fortune completely frees you. For, through the bounty of the gods, your victory is not more glorious than it is rich, so that it can easily acquit you of that just as a debt.

[11]

Lycaonia, both the Phrygias, with Pisidia, the Chersonese, and the adjoining parts of Europe, are all in your power; and any one of these, given to the king, can double his dominions; but if they were all conferred upon him, they would set him on a level with the greatest of kings.

[12]

You have it, therefore, in your power to enrich your allies with the prizes of the war;

[13]

and, not to depart from your usual line of policy, and to remember what motive you assigned as your cause of war, formerly against Philip, latterly against Antiochus; what you performed on the conquest of Philip;

[14]

what is now desired and expected from you, not so much because you have done it before, as because it becomes you to do it. For different persons look on different circumstances as specious and plausible motives for taking up arms.

[15]

Some go to war to get possession of land, some of villages, some of towns, some of ports, and some of the sea-coast. Such things you never coveted, when you had them not; and you cannot covet them now, when the whole world is under your dominion. You ever fought for your dignity and glory, in the sight of the whole human race, which long since has learned to respect your name and empire next to that of the immortal gods.

[16]

And to procure and acquire these was an arduous task. I know not whether it may be more difficult to retain them.

[17]

You have undertaken to defend from the slavery of kings the liberty of a nation the most ancient and most highly distinguished, both by the fame of its exploits, and by universal praise for politeness and learning; it becomes you to make this patronage of an entire nation, received under your care and protection, perpetual. The cities standing on the original soil, are not more Grecian than their colonies, which formerly migrated thence into Asia; nor has change of country changed either their race or manners.

[18]

Every state among us has ventured to contend in a respectful contest, in every good quality and virtue, with its parents and founders. Most of you have visited the cities in Greece, and those in Asia.

[19]

We are surpassed in no other circumstance than that we are too far distant from you.

[20]

We hear that the inhabitants of Marseilles (who, if nature, implanted, as it were, in their bosoms, could be overcome by the genus of the soil, would ere this have been rendered savage, by the many barbarous tribes surrounding them) are deservedly held in as high honour and esteem by you as if they were inhabitants of the very centre of Greece.

[21]

For they have preserved, not only the sound of the language, the mode of dress, and the habit; but, above all, the manners, the laws, and a mind pure and untainted by contagion from their neighbours.

[22]

The boundary of your empire, at present, is Mount Taurus. Nothing within that line ought to be thought remote. To whatever extent your arms have reached, let justice, emanating from Rome, spread.

[23]

Let barbarians, with whom the commands of masters have always served instead of laws, have kings, in which government they delight; the Greeks endure their own fortune; they have a spirit like your own. They too, in former times, grasped at empire by their internal strength.

[24]

They now pray that empire may remain to eternity where it is at present. They consider it sufficient that their liberty should be defended by your arms, since they are unable to protect it by their own.

[25]

But it is objected, that some of their states sided with Antiochus. So did others, before, with Philip; so did the Tarentines with Pyrrhus.

[26]

Not to enumerate other nations, Carthage enjoys liberty and its own laws. Consider, conscript fathers, how much you owe to this example, set by yourselves. You will surely make up your mind to refuse to the ambition of Eumenes, what you refused to your own most just resentment.

[27]

With what brave and faithful exertions we, Rhodians, have assisted you, both in this late war, and in all the wars that you have waged in that part of the world, we leave to your own judgment.

[28]

We now, in peace, offer you such advice, that if you conform to it, all the world will judge that you used your victory with more honour to yourselves, than that with which you gained it.

Their arguments seemed well adapted to the Roman grandeur.

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.) — 37.54 focus

[1]

The king's speech gave great pleasure to the senators, and it was easy to see that they were prepared to do everything in a generous and ungrudging spirit.

[2] As one of the Rhodian envoys was absent, the delegation from Smyrna was introduced, and they were highly commended for having chosen to endure every extremity rather than give themselves up to Antiochus.

[3] Then the Rhodians were received in audience. Their spokesman commenced by stating how their friendship with the Roman people began and what services they had rendered, first in the war with Philip and then in that with Antiochus.

[4] He continued: "Nothing in the whole conduct of our case, senators, is more difficult or painful than our having to enter into controversy with King Eumenes.

[5] We are bound to him more than to any other monarch by personal and (what we feel most) political ties of hospitality.

[6] It is not, however, our own feelings but nature itself which sets us at variance; we, free ourselves, are pleading for the liberty of others, but kings will have all subservient and submissive to their rule. But however this may be, we find ourselves more embarrassed by respect and regard for the king than by any difficulty in stating our case, or any likelihood of involving you in a perplexed discussion.

[7] For if you could not honour and reward a monarch who is your friend and ally, and has done you good service in this very war, otherwise than by giving up free cities to a state of servitude under him, you would have to choose one of two alternatives.

[8] Either you would have to send away a friendly monarch unhonoured and unrewarded, or you would have to depart from your settled policy and sully the glory you have acquired in the war with Philip by enslaving so many cities.

[9] But your good fortune entirely releases you from the necessity of either stinting your gratitude to a friend or tarnishing your glory.

[10] Through the favour of the gods your triumphal success is not more glorious than it is rich in results, sufficient to clear you from what I might call your debt to him.

[11] Lycaonia, Pisidia, the Chersonese, and all the adjacent portions of Europe are at your disposal, and the addition of any one of these countries would enlarge the king's dominions to many times their present size; if all were given him they would put him on a level with the greatest of monarchs.

[12] It is then open to you to enrich your allies with the prizes of war, and at the same time to avoid any departure from your settled policy, and to bear in mind the reason

[13] you alleged for your war with Philip and your present war with Antiochus, and the course you pursued after Philip's defeat, the course which we desire and expect you to take now, not more because you took it then, than because it is the right and proper course to take.

[14] There are various good and sound pretexts for taking up arms.

[15] Some fight to obtain territory, others villages, others fortified towns, others ports and a strip of sea-coast. You did not covet these things before you possessed them, nor can you possibly covet them now when the whole world is beneath your sway. You fought for the honour of your commonwealth and the renown which you enjoy throughout the whole race of man, who have long looked upon your sovereignty and your name as only second to the immortal gods.

[16] To gain and acquire these things has been an arduous task, I am inclined to think it is a harder task to defend them. You have undertaken to protect from the tyranny of monarchs the liberties of an ancient people famous for their military reputation, and for all that is commendable in refinement and learning.

[17] Now that the nation has placed itself as a whole under your protection as clients, it is incumbent on you to show yourselves its patrons for all time. Those Greek cities which stand on their ancient soil are in no way more Greek than those colonies which have gone forth from them into Asia; they have changed their land but not their character or their blood.

[18] We have ventured-each city amongst us-to vie in dutiful rivalry with our parents and our founders in all honourable and praiseworthy arts and excellences.

[19] You have, most of you, visited the cities of Greece and Asia: we are at no disadvantage compared with them, except that we are at a greater distance from you.

[20] If the native temperament of the Massilians could have yielded to the influence of their soil they would have been long ago barbarised by the wild untamed tribes all round them, but we are given to understand that they are held in as much honour as though they were living in the heart of Greece.

[21] They have preserved their language, their dress, their personal habits, but above all, they have maintained their laws and customs and their open, straightforward character, untainted by any contact with their neighbours.

[22] The Taurus range now forms a frontier of your empire, and all within that line ought not to appear distant to you. Wherever your arms have penetrated there should the laws of Rome also penetrate.

[23] Let barbarians, who have always the commands of their masters for laws, keep their kings to their joy; the Greeks submit to their fate, but they have the same love of freedom that you have.

[24] At one time they too grasped at empire in their own strength, now they pray that where the seat of empire, is there it may remain; they count it enough to protect their freedom with your arms.

[25] "'But,' it may be replied, 'some cities took sides with Antiochus.' Yes, and others before that with Philip; the Terentines sided with Pyrrhus. Not to mention others, Carthage remains free, under her own laws.

[26] See, senators, how you are bound by this precedent which you yourselves have established. You will surely bring yourselves to refuse to the grasping ambition of Eumenes what you refused to the dictates of a just resentment.

[27] We leave you to judge with what effective and loyal service we Rhodians assisted you in this late war, and indeed in all the wars which you have ever waged on those shores.

[28] Now that peace is settled we suggest a course such that, if you approve of it, the whole world will regard the use you make of your victory as a more striking proof of your greatness than even the winning it." This speech was felt to be quite befitting to the greatness and majesty of Rome.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Polybius (XXII. v.) gives a generally similar account, but with a less definite statement of the action taken.

2. Hospitium was a relationship entered into usually by individuals with one another, but sometimes by individuals with communities or communities with communities, in which each party owed the other certain services. The relation once formed was hereditary and was under divine protection. Since each owed the other support in any endeavour, it required courage on the part of the Rhodians to oppose Eumenes.

3. B.C. 189

4. The region around ancient Troy and a district farther inland were both called Phrygia.

5. B.C. 189

6. I have chosen to express rather the obligation of the patron to the client, as the Romans understood it, than the relation of the client to the patron.

7. The Rhodians claimed to be of Dorian descent but are speaking here of the Greek colonies generally.

8. Such a statement would certainly have been true in the time of Livy but less certainly in the time of Antiochus. Since it is not in Polybius, it may be regarded, along with the whole of the eulogy of Greek culture, as part of Livy's rhetorical embroidery.

9. B.C. 189

10. B.C. 189

11. The somewhat cool reception accorded the Rhodian argument, in contrast with that given Eumenes, prompts one to examine both its rhetorical quality and its sources. The version of it in Polybius (XXII. v —vi) is less rhetorical and puts greater emphasis upon the facts and the political aspects of the argument. His final comment, quite unlike that of Livy, is that it was

temperate and fair

( metri/ws kai\ kalw=s). The speech in Livy seems skilfully constructed, with its shrewd emphasis upon the original policy of the Romans (cf. the note to liii. 28 above), its artful playing upon Roman sympathies in the eulogy of Greek culture and the clever suppression of Rhodian ambitions, in sharp contrast with the method of Eumenes. We note too that while Eumenes took into account the possibility that the Romans would remain permanently in Asia, the Rhodians take it for granted that this will not be the case.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 37.54

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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