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), 38.33

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[1] He¹ at the beginning of spring called out the army and encamped within the

[2] borders of the Lacedaemonians, and then sent ambassadors to demand the men responsible for the revolt and to promise that the state should be at peace if they did this and that those men should suffer no injury without the opportunity to plead their cause in court.

[3] The rest kept silent from fear; those whom he had demanded by name declared that they would go on receipt from the ambassadors of a guaranty that they should suffer no violence until they had pleaded their cause.

[4] Other well-known men also went with them, both to support them as private citizens and because they knew that their case affected the public interest.

[5] Under no other circumstances had the Achaeans taken Lacedaemonian exiles with them to the frontiers,² because it was obvious that nothing would offend so much the feelings of the state; on this occasion practically the whole of the advance troops of the army consisted of exiles.

[6] They formed in a body and met the Lacedaemonians as they came to the gates of the camp; and at first they assailed them with insults and then, as a quarrel broke out and passions were aroused, the most impetuous of the exiles attacked the Lacedaemonians.

[7] When they appealed to the gods and the pledges of the ambassadors, both the ambassadors and the praetor were trying to push the mob aside and to protect the Lacedaemonians and to restrain some who were already binding them with chains.

[8] The crowd grew as the excitement increased; and first the Achaeans rushed³ up to see the sight;

[9] then the exiles began bitterly to proclaim what they had suffered and to beg for aid, at the same time asserting that they would never have such an opportunity if they let this one slip; the treaty, they said, which had been ratified with religious sanction on the Capitoline, at Olympia, and on the Acropolis at Athens, had been made void by those men;⁴ before they were bound anew by another treaty they urged that the guilty should be punished.

[10] Then the multitude, inflamed by these words, at the call of one man, who shouted out that they should strike, began to throw stones. And so seventeen of those who had been put into chains in the excitement were killed.⁵

[11] The next day sixty-three were arrested whom the praetor had protected against violence, not because he was concerned for their safety but because he did not wish them to be killed without pleading their cause, becoming the victims of an angry mob, and when they had spoken briefly to hostile ears all were condemned and handed over for execution.

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.) — 38.33 focus

[1] qui veris initio exercitu indicto castra in finibus Lacedaemoniorum posuit,

[2] legatos deinde misit ad deposcendos auctores defectionis, et civitatem in pace futuram, si id fecisset, pollicentis,

[3] et illos nihil indicta causa passuros. silentium prae metu ceterorum fuit; quos nominatim depoposcerat, ipsi se ituros professi sunt, fide accepta a legatis vim abfuturam, donec causam dixissent.

[4] ierunt etiam alii illustres viri, et advocati privatis, et quia pertinere causam eorunm eorum ad rem publicam censebant.

[5] numquam alias exules Lacedaemoniorum Achaei secum adduxerant in finis, quia nihil aeque alienaturum animos civitatis videbatur;

[6] tunc exercitus totius prope antesignani exules erant. hi venientibus Lacedaemoniis ad portam castrorum agmine facto occurrerunt; et primo lacessere iurgiis, deinde, altercatione orta, cum accenderentur irae, ferocissimi exulum impetum in Lacedaemonios fecerunt.

[7] cum illi deos et fider fidem legatorum testarentur, et legati et praetor summovere turbam et protegere Lacedaemonios vinclaque iam quosdam inicientis arcere.

[8] crescebat tumultu concitato turba; et Achaei ad spectaculum primo concurrebant;

[9] deinde vociferantibus exulibus, quae passi forent, et orantibus opem adfirmantibusque simul numquam talem occasionem habituros, si ear eam praetermisissent; foedus, quod in Capitolio, quod Olympiae, quod in arce Athenis sacratum fuisset, irritum per illos esse;

[10] priusquam alio de integro foedere obligarentur, noxios puniendos esse, accensa his vocibus multitudo ad vocem unius, qui, ut ferirent, inclamavit, saxa coniecit. atque ita decem septem, quibus vincula per tumultum iniecta erant, interfecti sunt.

[11] sexaginta tres postero die comprehensi, a quibus praetor vim arcuerat, non quia salvos vellet, sed quia perire causa indicta nolebat, obiecti multitudini iratae, cum aversis auribus pauca locuti essent, damnati omnes et traditi sunt ad supplicium.

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.) — 38.33 focus

[1]

qui veris initio exercitu indicto castra in finibus Lacedaemoniorum posuit,

[2] legatos deinde misit ad deposcendos auctores defectionis, et civitatem in pace futuram, si id fecisset, pollicentis, et illos nihil indicta causa passuros.

[3] silentium prae metu ceterorum fuit; quos nominatim depoposcerat, ipsi se ituros professi sunt, fide accepta a legatis vim abfuturam, donec causam dixissent.

[4] ierunt etiam alii illustres viri, et advocati privatis, et quia pertinere causam eorum ad rem publicam censebant.

[5] numquam alias exules Lacedaemoniorum Achaei secum adduxerant in finis, quia nihil aeque alienaturum animos civitatis videbatur; tunc exercitus totius prope antesignani exules erant.

[6] hi venientibus Lacedaemoniis ad portam castrorum agmine facto occurrerunt; et primo lacessere iurgiis, deinde, altercatione orta, cum accenderentur irae, ferocissimi exulum impetum in Lacedaemonios fecerunt.

[7] cum illi deos et fidem legatorum testarentur, et legati et praetor summovere turbam et protegere Lacedaemonios vinclaque iam quosdam inicientis arcere.

[8] crescebat tumultu concitato turba; et Achaei ad spectaculum primo concurrebant; deinde vociferantibus exulibus, quae ¹ passi forent,

[9] et orantibus opem adfirmantibusque simul numquam talem occasionem habituros, si eam praetermisissent; foedus quod in Capitolio, quod Olympiae, quod in arce Athenis sacratum fuisset, irritum per illos esse; priusquam alio de integro foedere obligarentur,

[10] noxios puniendos esse, accensa his vocibus multitudo ad vocem unius, qui, ut ferirent, inclamavit, saxa coniecit. atque ita decem septem, quibus vincula per tumultum iniecta erant, interfecti sunt.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 38.33 focus

[1]

The Achaeans used this power in an immoderate and tyrannical manner.

[2] Philopœmen is continued in office, and he, in the beginning of spring, collecting an army, encamped in the territory of the Lacedaemonians, and thence sent ambassadors to insist on their delivering up the authors of the insurrection;

[3] promising, that if they complied, their state should remain in peace, and that those persons should not suffer any punishment, without having pleaded their cause.

[4] There was silence among the rest through fear; but the persons demanded by name, declared that they would voluntarily go, if their faith was pledged by the ambassadors, that violence would not be resorted to, until their cause were heard. Several other men, of illustrious characters, went along with them, both as supporters of those private individuals, and because they thought their cause concerned the public interest.

[5] The Achaeans had never before brought the Lacedaemonian exiles into the country, because they knew that nothing would disgust the people so much; but now, the vanguard of almost their whole army was composed of them.

[6] When the Lacedaemonians came to the gate of the camp, these men met them in a body, and, first, began to provoke them with insulting language; a wrangle then ensuing, and their passions being inflamed, the most furious of the exiles made an attack on the Lacedaemonians.

[7] While these appealed to the gods, and the faith of the ambassadors; and while the ambassadors and the praetor were driving back the crowd, and protecting the Lacedaemonians, and were keeping back some who were already binding them in chains, —the

[8] multitude was increasing, owing to a tumult having been excited.

[9] The Achaeans, at first, ran thither to view the spectacle; but then the exiles, with loud clamours, complained of the sufferings that they had undergone, implored assistance, and at the same time insisted, that they would never have such an opportunity if they neglected this; that the treaties, solemnly ratified in the Capitol, at Olympia, and in the citadel of Athens, had been rendered void by these men; and that before they should be bound by a new treaty, the guilty ought to be punished.

[10] The multitude being inflamed by these expressions, at the voice of one who called out that they should fall on, attacked them with stones; and seventeen persons, who, during the disturbance, had been put in chains, were killed.

[11] The next day, sixty-three, whom the praetor had protected from violence, not because he wished them safe, but because he was unwilling that they should perish without a defence, being taken into custody, and brought before an enraged multitude, after addressing a few words to such prejudiced ears, were all condemned and executed.

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.) — 38.33 focus

[1]

The Achaeans made a most unscrupulous use of the permission which they considered to have been granted them.

[2] Philopoemen was still in office and in the first days of spring he called out the army and fixed his camp on Lacedaemonian territory.

[3] Then he sent to demand the authors of the revolt, and promised that if the city would surrender them it should remain at peace, and the men themselves should suffer no injury until their case had been heard.

[4] Fear kept the rest silent; those who had been named declared their willingness to go, as they had received from Philopoemen's emissaries a guarantee that they would be safe from violence until they had pleaded their cause.

[5] Others, men of high position, went with them to support their friends and also because they considered their cause to be the cause of the State. Never before had the Achaeans brought the exiles with them on to Lacedaemonian soil, because they thought that nothing would do more to estrange their fellow-countrymen from them, but now they were almost in the forefront of the whole army.

[6] When the Lacedaemonians came to the gate of the camp the exiles met them in a body. At first they assailed them with insults; then passions became heated on both sides, and the more ferocious of the exiles made an attack upon the Lacedaemonians.

[7] Whilst these were appealing to the gods and the pledged word of Philopoemen's emissaries, and he and his emissaries were keeping back the crowd and protecting the

[8] Lacedaemonians and preventing some from actually manacling them, a large crowd collected and the disturbance increased.

[9] The Achaeans ran up to see what was going on, and the exiles, protesting loudly about the sufferings they had endured, implored their help and told them if they let this opportunity slip they would never again have such a favourable one. "The treaty which had been solemnly published in the Capitol at Olympia and in the citadel at Athens had been set at nought by these men, and before we are bound by another treaty the guilty must be punished."

[10] This language excited the crowd, and one man shouted out "Kill them." On this they flung stones at them, and seventeen men who had been thrown into chains during the tumult were killed.

[11] On the following day sixty-three were arrested whom Philopoemen had protected from violence, not that he was concerned for their safety, but because he did not want them to perish before the day of trial. Victims to the fury of the mob, they spoke but little and that to deaf ears. All were found guilty and handed over for punishment.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. The introductory relative gives some support to the view that chap. xxxiii should begin with Hac or with Philopoemeni above. I have retained the division of the Teubner text.

2. At this time the Achaeans were deliberately trying to provoke the Lacedaemonians to violence.

3. B.C. 189

4. Their exact meaning is uncertain.

5. This affair was too ingeniously explained by Lycortas in 184 B.C. (XXXIX. xxxvi. 9-16).

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 38.33

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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