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), 39.28

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[1] In reply to this Philip followed a very different line of argument from that recently used against the Thessalians and Perrhaebians:

With the Maroneans or with Eumenes,

he said,

I have no debate, but now, Romans, the debate is with you, from whom I have for some time observed that I receive no fair treatment.

[2]

The cities of the Macedonians which had revolted from me during the truce¹ I deemed it right that I should recover, not because it would be an important addition to my kingdom —for they are small towns and, moreover, situated on the² farthest frontiers —but because it was a valuable precedent for holding within bounds the other Macedonians.

[3]

This was refused me. During the Aetolian war, ordered by the consul Manius Acilius to besiege Lamia, after I had been wearied for a long time by the siege and battles and when I was on the point of scaling the walls, I was recalled by him from the city, which was all but taken, and compelled to march my troops away.

[4]

As a consolation for this injustice it was permitted to me to recover certain fortresses (such they were rather than cities) of Thessaly and Perrhaebia and the Athamanians.

[5]

Even these, Quintus Caecilius, you took away from me a few days ago. Just now (heaven help us!) the ambassadors of Eumenes assumed it as not to be gainsaid that it was more just for Eumenes than for me to have what had belonged to Antiochus. I judge the matter far differently. Eumenes could not have remained in his kingdom, I do not mean if the Romans had not conquered, but if they had not undertaken the war.

[6]

And so he has received favours from you, not you from him. So far from true was it that any part of my kingdom was in danger that when Antiochus voluntarily promised me three thousand talents and fifty decked ships and all the cities of Greece which I had held before, as the price of my alliance,³ I refused; I preferred to be his enemy even before Manius Acilius brought his army across to Greece.

[7]

And with that consul I conducted whatever campaign he assigned to me;

[8]

and for the following consul, Lucius Scipio, when he had decided to lead his army to the Hellespont by land, I not merely gave him a right of way through our kingdom but also paved roads, built bridges, furnished supplies; and this not through⁴ Macedonia alone but also through Thrace, where, along with everything else, I had to maintain peace with the barbarians.

[9]

For this zeal in your behalf, not to say for these services to you, was

[10]

it right, Romans, that you should add to and enlarge and increase somewhat my domains by your generosity, or that you should take away what I have, either by my own right or by your kindness, as you are doing now?⁵ The cities of the Macedonians, which you admit were part of my dominion, are not restored.

[11]

Eumenes has come to despoil me as if I were Antiochus, and (heaven help us!) he brings forward, for his most impudent manipulation of the facts, the decree of the ten commissioners, by which more than anything else he can be both refuted and convicted.

[12]

For it was written therein most explicitly and clearly that the Chersonesus and Lysimachia were given to Eumenes.

[13]

Where, pray, were Aenus and Maronea and the Thracian cities assigned to him?⁶ What he did not even dare to ask of them shall he obtain from you as if he had been granted it by them? It makes a difference in what category you wish me to be with reference to you.

[14]

If you have determined to harass me as a private and public enemy, continue to act as you have begun; but if some consideration is due me as an allied and friendly king, I beg you not to judge me worthy of such an injury.

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.) — 39.28 focus

[1] ad ea Philippus longe aliam, quam adversus Thessalos Perrhaebosque nuper, ingressus disserendi viam “non cum Maronitis” inquit “mihi aut cum Eumene disceptatio est, sed iam vobiscum, Romani, a quibus nihil aequi me impetrare iam diu animadverto.

[2] civitates Macedonum, quae a me inter indutias defecerant, reddi mihi aequum censebam, non quia magna accessio ea regni futura esset — sunt enim et parva oppida et in finibus extremis posita — sed quia multum ad reliquos Macedonas continendos exemplum pertinebat.

[3] negatum est mihi. bello Aetolico Lamiam oppugnare iussus a consule M’. Acilio cum diu fatigatus ibi operibus proeliisque essem, transcendentem me iam muros a capta prope urbe revocavit consul et abducere copias inde coegit.

[4] ad huius solacium iniuriae permissum est, ut Thessaliae Perrhaebiaeque et Athamanum reciperem quaedam castella magis quam urbes. ea quoque ipsa vos mihi, Q. Caecili, lt;ucos paucos ante dies ademistis.

[5] pro non dubio paulo sante, si diis placet, legati Eumenis sumebant, quae Antiochi fuerunt, Eumenem aequius esse quam me habere. id ego longe aliter iudico esse. Eumenes enim non, nisi vicissent Romani, sed nisi bellum gessissent, manere in regno suo non potuit. itaque ille vestrum meritum habet, non vos illius.

[6] mei autem regni tantum aberat ut ulla pars in discrimine fuerit, ut tria milia talentum et quinquaginta tectas naves et omnes Graeciae civitates, quas antea tenuissem, pollicentem ultro Antiochum in mercedem societatis sim aspernatlus; aspernatus;

[7] hostemque ei me esse prius etiam quam M’. Acilius exercitum in Graeciam traiceret praetuli. et cum eo consule belli partem, quamcumque mihi delegavit, gessi,

[8] et insequenti consuli L. Scipioni, cum terra statuisset ducere exercitum ad Hellespontum, non iter tantum per regnum nostrum dedi, sed vias etiam munivi, pontes feci, commeatus praebui;

[9] nec per Macedoniam tantum, sed per Thraciam etiam, ubi inter cetera pax quoque praestanda a barbaris erat.

[10] pro hoc studio meo erga vos, ne dicam merito, utrum adicere vos, Romani, aliquid et amplificare et augere regnum meum munificentia vestra oportebat, an, quae haberem aut meo iure aut beneficio vestro eripere, id quod nunc facitis?

[11] Macedonum civitates, quas regni mei fuisse fatemini, non restituuntur. Eumenes, tamquam ad Antiochum spoliandum me venit, et si diis placet, decem legatorum decretum calumniae impudentissimae praetendit, quo maxime et refelli et coargui potest.

[12] disertissime enim planissimeque in eo scriptum est Chersonesum et Lysimachiam Eumeni dari. ubi tandem Aenus et Maronea et Thraciae civitates adscriptae sunt? quod ab illis ne postulare quidem est ausus, id apud vos, tamquam ab illis impetraverit, obtinebit? quo in numero me apud vos esse velitis, refert. si tamquam inimicum et hostem insectari propositum est, pergite ut coepistis facere:

[13] sin aliquis respectus est mei ut socii atque amici regis, deprecor, ne me tanta iniuria dignum iudicetis.”

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.) — 39.28 focus

[1]

ad ea Philippus longe aliam quam adversus Thessalos Perrhaebosque nuper ingressus disserendi viam “non cum Maronitis” inquit “mihi aut cum Eumene disceptatio est, sed iam vobiscum, Romani, a quibus nihil aequi me impetrare iam diu animadverto.

[2] civitates Macedonum, quae a me inter indutias defecerant, reddi mihi aequum censebam, non quia magna accessio ea regni futura esset—sunt enim et parva oppida et in finibus extremis posita—, sed quia multum ad reliquos Macedonas continendos exemplum pertinebat.

[3] negatum est mihi. bello Aetolico Lamiam obpugnare iussus a consule M'. Acilio cum diu fatigatus ibi operibus proeliisque essem, transcendentem me iam muros a capta prope urbe revocavit consul et abducere copias inde coegit.

[4] ad huius solacium iniuriae permissum est, ut Thessaliae Perrhaebiaeque et Athamanum reciperem quaedam castella magis quam urbes. ea quoque ipsa vos mihi, Q. Caecili , paucos ante dies ¹ ademistis.

[5] pro non dubio paulo ante, si diis placet, legati Eumenis sumebant, quae Antiochi fuerunt, Eumenem aequius esse quam me habere. id ego longe aliter iudico esse. Eumenes enim non, nisi vicissent Romani, sed, nisi bellum gessissent, manere in regno suo non potuit.

[6] itaque ille vestrum meritum habet, non vos illius; mei autem regni tantum aberat ut ulla pars in discrimine fuerit, ut tria milia talentum et quinquaginta tectas naves et omnes Graeciae civitates, quas antea tenuissem, pollicentem ultro Antiochum in mercedem societatis sim aspernatus;

[7] hostemque ei me esse prius etiam, quam M’. Acilius exercitum in Graeciam traiceret, praetuli. et cum eo consule belli partem, quamcumque mihi delegavit, gessi,

[8] et insequenti consuli, L. Scipioni , cum terra statuisset ducere exercitum ad Hellespontum, non iter tantum per regnum nostrum dedi, sed vias etiam munivi, pontes feci, commeatus praebui,

[9] nec per Macedoniam tantum, sed per Thraciam etiam, ubi inter cetera pax quoque praestanda a barbaris erat.

[10] pro hoc studio meo erga vos, ne dicam merito, utrum adicere vos, Romani, ² aliquid et amplificare et augere regnum meum munificentia vestra oportebat, an, quae haberem aut meo iure aut beneficio vestro, eripere, id quod nunc facitis?

[11] Macedonum civitates, quas regni mei fuisse fatemini, non restituuntur. Eumenes, tamquam ad Antiochum spoliandum me venit et, si diis placet, decem legatorum decretum calumniae inpudentissimae praetendit, quo maxime et refelli et coargui potest;

[13] quo in numero me apud vos esse velitis, refert. si tamquam inimicum et hostem insectari propositum est, pergite, ut coepistis, facere; sin aliquis est respectus mei ut socii atque amici regis, deprecor, ne me tanta iniuria dignum iudicetis.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 39.28 focus

[1]

Philip, in his reply to these charges, took quite another course than when lately answering the Thessalians and Perrhaebians, and said: —

My dispute is not now with the Maronites, or with Eumenes, but with you yourselves, Romans, from whom I have long ago seen that I can obtain no justice.

[2]

The cities of Macedonia, which had revolted from me during a suspension of arms, I thought should in justice be restored to me; not that they would have made any great accession to my dominions, because the towns are small in themselves, and besides, are situated on the extremities of the frontiers; but because the example was of great consequence towards retaining the rest of the Macedonians in their allegiance.

[3]

This was refused me. In the Aetolian war, I was ordered by the consul, Manius Acilius, to lay siege to Lamia, and when I had there undergone a long course of fatigue in fighting and constructing works, and was on the point of mounting the

[4]

walls, the consul recalled me from the city when almost in my possession, and compelled me to draw off my troops from it. As some consolation for this hard treatment, I received permission to seize on some forts, rather than cities, of Thessaly, Perrhaebia, and Athamania.

[5]

These also you yourselves, Quintus Caecilius, have taken from me a few days ago. The ambassadors of Eumenes, just now, took for granted, it seems, that Eumenes would with more justice than I possess whatever belonged to Antiochus. I judge the matter to be widely different. For Eumenes could not have remained on his throne, unless the Romans had engaged in the war, and not unless they had conquered.

[6]

Therefore he has received a fa- vour from you, not you from him; whereas, so far were any part of my dominions from being in danger, that, when Antiochus voluntarily offered to purchase my alliance, with three thousand talents and fifty decked ships, guaranteeing to me all the cities of Greece of which I had heretofore been in possession, I rejected that offer.

[7]

I avowed myself his enemy, even before Manius Acilius brought over an army into Greece. In conjunction with that consul, I supported whatever share of the war he gave me in charge.

[8]

To the succeeding consul, Lucius Scipio, when he proposed leading his army by land to the Hellespont, I not only gave a passage through my dominions, but also made roads for him, built bridges, supplied him with provisions, and escorted him, not only through Macedon, but likewise through Thrace;

[9]

where, besides other business, I had to procure peace from the barbarians.

[10]

In requital of this zeal, not to call it merit, towards you, whether would it be proper in you, Romans, to enlarge and increase my dominions by acts of generosity, or to ravish from me what I possessed, either in my own right or through your kindness. The cities of Macedon, which you acknowledge to have belonged to my kingdom, are not restored.

[11]

Eumenes comes to plunder me as he would Antiochus, and, if you choose to believe him, covers his most shameless chicanery under the decree of the ten ambassadors, by which principally he can be refuted and convicted.

[12]

For is it not expressly and plainly set down in that writing, that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are granted to Eumenes; and where are Aenus, Maronea, and the cities of Thrace annexed to it in writing?

[13]

That which he did not dare even to ask from them, shall he obtain from you, as if under their grant? It is a matter of importance in what light you choose to consider me.

[14]

If you are resolved to persecute me as an enemy and foe, proceed to act as you have begun: but, if you have any consideration for me as a king in friendship and alliance with you, I must entreat you not to judge me deserving of such injurious treatment.

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.) — 39.28 focus

[1]

Philip took a very different course in his reply from that which he adopted towards the Thessalians and Perrhaebians. "My contention," he began, "is not with the Maronites or with Eumenes, but with you, Romans. I have for some time perceived that I shall get no fair treatment from you.

[2] I thought it just and right that the cities of the Macedonians which revolted from me during the suspension of hostilities should be restored to me; not that these would have been a great addition to my kingdom, for they are small places situated on the extreme frontiers, but because such an example would have gone far to restrain the rest of the Macedonians.

[3] This has been refused me. During the Aetolian war I was instructed by Manius Acilius to attack Lamia, and when after long and weary siege operations and fighting I was at last surmounting the walls, and the city was all but taken, the consul recalled me, and compelled me to draw off my troops.

[4] As some consolation for this injustice, I was allowed to seize some places in Thessaly, Perrhaebia and Athamania-forts rather than cities.

[5] Those very places you, Q. Caecilius, took from me a few days ago.

"The envoys of Eumenes actually assumed just now, as a matter beyond doubt, that it would be more equitable for Eumenes to hold the places which belonged to Antiochus, than that I should do so. I take a very different view. Unless the Romans had-I will not say conquered, but even-undertaken that war, Eumenes could not have remained on his throne. So it is he who is indebted to you, not you to him.

[6] So far was any part of my kingdom from being in danger, that when Antiochus sought to purchase my support by the promise of 3000 talents, 50 decked ships, and all the cities of Greece which he had previously held, I rejected his offer and declared myself his enemy even before Manius Acilius landed his army in Greece.

[7] In concert with him I took whatever part in the war he assigned to me, and when his successor, Lucius Scipio, decided to take his

[8] army to the Hellespont overland, I not only allowed him a free passage through my dominions, but I constructed roads, built bridges and furnished supplies, and this not through Macedonia only, but through Thrace as well, where amongst other things peace had to be secured from the barbarians.

[9] In return for this proof of my goodwill towards you-I will not call it meritorious service-what is the right thing to do, Romans:

[10] to augment and amplify my kingdom by your generosity, or to rob me as you are now doing of what I hold, whether by my own right or by your liberality? The Macedonian cities which, you admit, formed part of my dominions are not restored.

[11] Eumenes has come here to despoil me as though I were Antiochus, and actually has the impudence to put forward the decision of the ten commissioners as a cloak for his dishonest intrigues; the very decision by which he can be most effectually confuted.

[12] It is quite clearly stated there that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are given to Eumenes.

[13] Where, pray, are Aenus and Maronea and the cities of Thrace mentioned? Is he going to get from you what he did not dare to ask from them, as though they had granted it? It is a matter of some importance to me in what light you regard me.

[14] If you have made up your minds to persecute me as an enemy, go on as you have begun; but if you have any feeling of regard for me as a royal friend and ally, do not judge me deserving of so great an injustice."

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Possibly the truce of 197 B.C. (XXXII. xxxvi. 8), but the revolt has not been mentioned before.

2. B.C. 185

3. Hannibal had urged that every means should be used to win over Philip (XXXVI. vii. 3 ff.), but Livy has said nothing to suggest that actual overtures were made to him by Antiochus.

4. B.C. 185

5. Philip's claims here are supported by Livy's narrative. The commissioners had left his services entirely unrewarded.

6. The silence of the commissioners receives an interpretation contradicting that of xxvii. 5 above.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 39.28

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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