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), 39.27

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[1] Thence, having given serious offence to¹ the king, they proceeded to Thessalonica to investigate the condition of the cities of Thrace.

[2] There ambassadors of Eumenes told them that if the Romans wished Aenus and Maronea to be free, the king's sense of propriety permitted them to say nothing more, except to suggest that they leave them free in fact and not merely in name, and not allow their own work to be a source of gain to another.²

[3] But if there were less concern for the cities situated in Thrace, it was far more proper that towns which had belonged to Antiochus should fall as prizes of war to Eumenes rather than to

[4] Philip, either in consideration of the services of his father Attalus in the war which the Roman people had waged against Philip himself, or of his own services, in that he had taken part, during the war with Antiochus, in all its labours and perils on land and sea.

[5] They said that Eumenes had in addition the preliminary opinion of the ten commissioners³ on the matter, who, since they had given him the Chersonesus and Lysimachia, surely gave him Maronea and Aenus too, which, from their nearness to his country, were mere appendages to the larger gift.⁴

[6] In consequence of what service to the Roman people, they asked, or of what right to rule had Philip imposed his garrisons upon these cities when they were so far away from the boundaries of Macedonia?⁵ Let the commissioners order the Maroneans to be summoned: from them they would receive all certain information about the condition of these cities.

[7] The agents of the Maroneans, when called in, said that the royal garrison occupied, not merely one place in the city, as in other towns, but several at once, and that Maronea was full of Macedonians.⁶

[8] As a result, the king's partisans were in control: they alone were permitted to speak in the senate and in the public meetings; they either held themselves or gave to others all offices.

[9] All the aristocrats, who felt some concern for liberty and the laws, were either in exile, driven from their homes, or were silent, unhonoured and at the mercy of their inferiors.⁷

[10] And as to the boundary rights, they had little new to say: only that Quintus Fabius Labeo, when he had been in that region, had fixed as the boundary for Philip the ancient royal road which leads to Paroreia in Thrace, nowhere approaching the sea: Philip had later laid out a new road which encompassed the cities and lands of the Maroneans.⁸

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.) — 39.27 focus

[1] inde graviter offenso rege Thessalonicen ad cognoscendum de Thraciae urbibus proficiscuntur.

[2] ibi legati Eumenis, si liberas esse Aenum et Maroneam velint Romani, nihil sui pudoris esse ultra dicere, quam ut admoneant, re, non verbo eos liberos relinquant, nec suum munus intercipi ab alio patiantur.

[3] sin autem minor cura sit civitatium in Thracia positarum, multo verius esse, quae sub Antiocho fuerint, praemia belli Eumenem quam Philippum habere,

[4] vel pro patris Attali meritis bello, quod adversus Philippum ipsum gesserit populus Romanus, vel suis, quod Antiochi bello terra marique laboribus periculisque omnibus interfuerit.

[5] habere eum praeterea decem legatorum in eam rem praeiudicium, qui cum Chersonesum Lysimachiamque dederint, Maroneam quoque atque Aenum profecto dedisse, quae ipsa propinquitate regionis velut appendices maioris muneris essent.

[6] nam Philippum quidem quo aut merito in populum Romanum aut iure imperil, cum tam procul a finibus Macedoniae absint, civitatibus his praesidia imposuisse? vocari Maronitas iuberent: ab iis certiora omnia de statu civitatium earum scituros.

[7] Legati legati Maronitarum vocati non uno tantum loco urbis praesidium regium esse, sicut in aliis civitatibus, dixerunt, sed pluribus simul, et plenam Macedonum Maroneam esse.

[8] itaque dominari adsentatores regios: his solis loqui et in senatu et in contionibus licere; eos omnes honores et capere ipsos et dare aliis.

[9] optimum quemque, quibus libertatis, quibus legum cura sit, aut exsulare pulsos patria aut inhonoratos et deterioribus obnoxios silere.

[10] de iure etiam finium pauca adiecerunt: Q. Fabium Labeonem, cum in regione ea fuisset, derexisse finem Philippo veterem viam regiam, quae ad Thraciae Paroreian subeat, nusquam ad mare declinantem: Philippum novam postea deflexisse viam, qua Maronitarum urbes agrosque amplectatur.

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.) — 39.27 focus

[1]

inde graviter offenso rege Thessalonicen ad cognoscendum de Thraciae urbibus proficiscuntur.

[2] ibi legati Eumenis, si liberas esse Aenum et Maroneam velint Romani, nihil sui pudoris esse ultra dicere, quam ut admoneant, re, non verbo eos liberos ¹ relinquant, nec suum munus intercipi ab alio patiantur;

[3] sin autem minor cura sit civitatium in Thracia positarum, multo verius esse, quae sub Antiocho fuerint, praemia belli Eumenem quam Philippum habere vel pro patris Attali meritis bello,

[4] quod adversus Philippum ipsum gesserit populus Romanus, vel suis, quod Antiochi bello terra marique laboribus periculisque omnibus interfuerit.

[6] nam Philippum quidem quo aut merito in populum Romanum aut iure imperii, cum tam procul a finibus Macedoniae absint, civitatibus his praesidia inposuisse? vocari Maronitas iuberent; ab iis certiora omnia de statu civitatium earum scituros.

[7] legati Maronitarum vocati non uno tantum loco urbis praesidium regium esse, sicut in aliis civitatibus, dixerunt, sed pluribus simul, et plenam Macedonum Maroneam esse.

[8] itaque dominari adsentatores regios; his solis loqui et in senatu et in contionibus licere, eos omnes honores et capere ipsos et dare aliis.

[9] optimum quemque, quibus libertatis, quibus legum cura sit, aut exulare pulsos patria aut inhonoratos et deterioribus obnoxios silere.

[10] de iure etiam finium pauca adiecerunt: Q. Fabium Labeonem , cum in regione ea fuisset, direxisse finem Philippo veterem viam regiam, quae ad Thraciae Paroream ² subeat, nusquam ad mare declinantem; Philippum novam postea deflexisse viam, qua Maronitarum urbes agrosque amplectatur.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 39.27 focus

[1]

The king being grievously offended, the ambassadors proceeded thence to Thessalonica, to give a hearing to the business concerning the cities of Thrace.

[2] Here the ambassadors of Eumenes said, that

if the Romans wished that Aenus and Maronea should be independent, the king felt ashamed to say more, than to recommend it to them to leave those people free in fact, and not in words; nor to suffer their kindness to be intercepted by another.

[3]

But if they had not so much concern for the states situated in Thrace, it was much more reasonable that Eumenes should possess, as the rewards of war, the places which had been under the dominion of Antiochus, than Philip;

[4]

and that, either on account of his father Attalus's deserts in the war, waged by the Roman people against Philip himself, or on account of his own, because he had shared all the toils and dangers on land and sea, during the war with Antiochus.

[5]

Besides, he had the previous judgment of the ten ambassadors to that purpose; who, when they granted the Chersonesus and Lysimachia, surely yielded at the same time Aenus and Maronea; which, even from the proximity of situation, were but a sort of appendage to the larger gift.

[6]

For, as to Philip, by what merits towards the Roman people, or what right of dominion, had he put garrisons into those places, which were at so great a distance from the borders of Macedonia? They then desired that the Romans would order the Maronites to be called, from whom they would receive more positive information of the condition of those cities.

[7] The Maronite ambassadors being called in, declared, that

not in one spot of the city, as in other garrisoned towns, but in every quarter of it, there was a party of the king's troops, and that Maronea was full of Macedonians; in consequence of which, the favourites of the king domineered over the rest; they alone had liberty of speaking, either in the senate or assemblies of the people.

[8]

All posts of eminence they assumed to themselves, or conferred on whom they thought proper.

[9]

That the most deserving persons, who had a regard for liberty and for the laws, were either expelled their country, and in exile, or remained in silence, dishonoured and subjected to men of the worst description.

[10] They added also a few words respecting their right to the frontier places, affirming, that

Quintus Fabius Labeo, when he was in that country, had fixed as a boundary line to Philip, the old royal road leading to Paroreia, in Thrace, which in no place leads towards the sea; and that Philip afterwards drew a new one in another direction, in order to include the cities and lands of the Maronites.

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.) — 39.27 focus

[1]

Leaving the king intensely annoyed, the commissioners proceeded to Thessalonica to consider the question of the cities of Thrace.

[2] Here they met the envoys of Eumenes, who asserted that if the Romans wished Aenus and Maronea to be free, their sense of honour forbade them to say more, unless it was to warn them to leave those people in the enjoyment of a real and not merely nominal liberty, and not to allow their boon to be intercepted by some one else.

[3] But if they thought the question of the Thracian cities comparatively unimportant, it would be much more reasonable that those which had been under Antiochus should be held as prizes of war by Eumenes rather than by Philip.

[4] This would be a return to Eumenes for the services of his father Attalus during the war which the Romans waged against this same Philip, and also for what he had himself done in sharing all their toils and dangers on land and sea.

[5] Moreover, Eumenes had the decision of the ten commissioners in his favour, for in giving him the Chersonese and Lysimachia they certainly gave him Aenus and Maronea as well, for these two places owing to their proximity formed appendages as it were of the larger gift.

[6] "What service rendered to the Roman people, or what sovereign right could justify Philip in forcing his garrison on these cities, lying as they do so far from the frontiers of Macedonia? Let the Maronites be called in, then the commissioners will learn everything about the status of those cities."

[7] The Maronites were then called in. They told the commissioners that the king's troops were not confined to one part of the city, as in other places, but were dispersed everywhere; the city was full of Macedonians.

[8] The king's adherents were complete masters; they alone were allowed to speak in the senate and the public assembly; they secured all the posts of honour for themselves and their friends.

[9] Every respectable citizen who had any regard for liberty and law was either expelled from his native place or, unhonoured, and at the mercy of the mob, was compelled to remain silent.

[10] Briefly explaining what were their legal boundaries, they stated that when Q. Fabius Labeo was in that district he fixed the old "king's road," which goes up to Parorea in Thrace and nowhere descends to the sea, as Philip's boundary line; Philip subsequently constructed a new road by which he took in the cities and lands of the Maronites.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 185

2. By

another

they, of course, mean Philip. The words have a peculiar sound on the lips of Eumenes, who had profited so much from Rome's victory over Antiochus.

3. The commissioners who had been sent to Asia to formulate the peace-treaty with Antiochus.

4. Aenus and Maronea had apparently been in some way overlooked in the final settlement with Antiochus.

5. Philip's claim to these cities seems weak in comparison with his rights to some of the other districts in dispute.

6. B.C. 185

7. The aristocratic party in a Greek city of this period was generally pro-Roman, and the constitutions of Flamininus (cf. XXXIV. li. 6; XXXV. xxxiv. 3 and the note) favoured this element. It is interesting to note that the commissioners feel no necessity of hearing from the opposing (democratic and pro-Macedonian) party in Maronea.

8. The meaning seems to be that Labeo had established as a boundary between Macedonia and the territory surrendered by Antiochus an old road which perhaps followed the general course of the Roman Via Egnatia. Since the boundary was probably described by a term as vague as

a certain road,

Philip had availed himself of the vagueness by relocating the old road or building a new one which put Maronea on his side of the boundary as thus described. But corruption in the text and the lack of any other version of the affair leave the true sense in doubt. It may be added that the authority of Labeo to take such action as is here described (Livy has not mentioned it before) is more than questionable.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 39.27

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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