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), 39.5

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[1] Everybody from all sides began to address the tribune, some with entreaties, some with reproaches.

[2] The argument of his colleague Tiberius Gracchus impressed him most. He said that it was not a good precedent to follow up even one's own contentions while holding a magistracy; but it was disgraceful for a tribune of the people to take sides in the contentions of others, and unworthy of the authority of that college and of its sacred laws.

[3] Each man, he said, in accordance with his own judgment should both hate or love men and approve or disapprove measures, should not depend upon another's expression and nod or be led this way or that under the pressure of another's will, nor should a tribune of the people be a second¹ to an angry consul;

[4] he should not remember any commission which Marcus Aemilius had privately² entrusted to him, and forget the office of tribune which had been entrusted to him by the Roman people, and entrusted³ for the purpose of rendering assistance to and protecting the liberty of private citizens, not of bolster ing up the consular authority.

[5] Aburius, he said, did not even see that the result would be that tradition and posterity would have the story how in the same college one of two tribunes of the people had laid aside his own enmities for

[6] the sake of the state, the other had assumed and carried on those of another because they had been entrusted to him.⁴

[7] When the tribune, overcome by this criticism, had left the temple, after the question was raised by Serv. Sulpicius, praetor, the triumph was voted to Marcus Fulvius. When he had thanked the conscript Fathers, he went on to say that he had vowed the Great Games to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the day when he had captured Ambracia, that for this purpose a hundred pounds of gold had been contributed by the cities;⁵

[8] he requested that, from this money which he had planned to display in his triumph and then deposit in the treasury, this particular sum should, by their order, be kept separate.

[9] The senate ordered the college of pontiffs to be consulted whether it was necessary to spend this entire sum on the games.

[10] When the pontiffs had replied that from the point of view of religion it was immaterial how much should be spent on the games, the senate granted permission to Fulvius for whatever amount he should spend, provided that he did not exceed a total of eighty thousand sesterces.⁶

[11] He had decided to triumph in the month of January;

[12] but when he had heard that the consul Marcus Aemilius, having received a letter from Marcus Aburius about the withdrawal of the veto, was himself coming to Rome to hinder the triumph, but had been detained on the⁷ way by illness, he advanced the date, lest he have more strife in the triumph than in the war.

[13] He triumphed the tenth day before the Kalends of January over the Aetolians and over Cephallania.

[14] Golden crowns of one hundred and twelve pounds⁸ in weight were carried before his car; he displayed also eighty-three thousand pounds of silver, two hundred and forty-three pounds of gold, one hundred and eighteen thousand Attic four-drachma pieces, twelve thousand three hundred and twenty-two coins

[15] called

Philippei,

⁹ bronze statues to the number of seven hundred and eighty-five and two hundred and thirty of marble, weapons, javelins and other spoils taken from the enemy, in great quantities, besides catapults, ballistae and every variety of artillery;

[16] there marched also generals, whether Aetolians and Cephallanians or commanders of the king left there by Antiochus, to the number of twenty-seven. On that day, before he rode into the City, in the Circus Flaminius,¹⁰ he presented many tribunes, prefects, cavalrymen and centurions, Romans and allies, with military decorations.¹¹

[17] To the soldiers, out of the booty, he gave twenty-five denarii each, twice that amount to each centurion, and thrice to each cavalryman.

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.) — 39.5 focus

[1] undique omnes alii deprecari tribunum, alii castigare. Ti. Gracchi collegae plurimum oratio movit.

[2] ne suas quidem simultates pro magistratu exercere boni exempli esse: a]ienarum alienarum vero simultatum tribunum plebis cognitorem fieri turpe et indignum collegii eius potestate et sacratis legibus esse.

[3] suo quemque iudicio et homines odisse aut diligere et res probare aut improbare debere, non pendere ex alterius vultu ac nutu nec alieni momentis animi circumagi, adstipularique irato consuli tribunum plebei; et quid privatim M. Aemilius mandaverit,

[4] meminisse, tribunatum sibi a populo Romano mandatum oblivisci, et mandatum pro auxilio ac libertate privatorum, non pro consulari regno.

[5] ne hoc quidem cernere eum, fore ut memoriae ac posteritati mandetur einsdem eiusdem collegii alterum e duobus tribunis plebis suas inimicitias remisisse rei publicae, alterum alienas et mandatas exercuisse.

[6] his victus castigationibus tribunus cum templo excessisset, referente Ser. Sulpicio praetore triumphus M. Fulvio est decretus.

[7] is cum gratias patribus conscriptis egisset, adiecit ludos magnos se Iovi optimo maximo eo die quo Ambraciam cepisset vovisse; in eam rem sibi centum pondo auri a civitatibus collatur;ZZZ conlatum;

[8] petere ut ex ea pecunia, quam in triumpho latam in aerario positurus esset, id aurum secerni iuberent. senatus pontificum collegium consuli iussit,

[9] num omne id aurum in ludos consumi necess necesse esset.

[10] cum pontifices negassent ad religionem pertinere, quanta impensa in ludos fieret, senatus Fulvio quantum impenderet permisit, dum ne summam octoginta milium excederet.

[11] triumphare mense Ianuario statuerat: sed cum audisset consulem M. Aemilium, litteris M. Aburii tribuni plebis acceptis de remissa intercessione,

[12] ipsum ad impediendum triumphum Romam venientem aegrum in via substitisse, ne plus in triumpho certaminum quam in bello haberet, praetulit triumphi diem.

[13] triumphavit ante diem decimum Kal. Ianuarias de Aetolis et de Cephallania.

[14] aureae coronae centum duodecim pondo ante currum latae sunt; argenti pondo milia octoginta tria, auri pondo ducenta quadraginta tria, tetrachma Attica centum octodecim milia,

[15] Philippei nummi duodecim milia trecenti viginti duo, signa aenea septingenta octoginta quinque, signa marmorea ducenta triginta, arma tela cetera spolia hostium, magnus numerus,

[16] ad hoc catapultae, ballistae, tormenta omnis generis; duces aut Aetoli et Cephallanes aut regii ab Antiocho ibi relicti ad viginti septem.

[17] multos eo die, priusquam in urbem inveheretur, in circo Flaminio tribunos praefectos equites centuriones, Romanos sociosque, donis militaribus donavit. militibus ex praeda vicenos quinos denarios divisit, duplex centurioni, triplex equiti.

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).) — 43.5 focus

[1]

eodem tempore de C. Cassio, qui consul priore anno fuerat, tum tribunus militum ¹ in Macedonia cum A. Hostilio erat, querellae ad senatum delatae sunt, et legati regis Gallorum Cincibili venerunt. ²

[2] frater eius verba in senatu fecit questus Alpinorum populorum agros, sociorum suorum, depopulatum C. Cassium ³ esse et inde multa milia hominum in servitutem abripuisse.

[3] sub idem ⁴ tempus Carnorum Histrorumque et iapydum lapydum⁵ legati venerunt: duces sibi ab consule Cassio primum imperatos, qui in Macedoniam ducenti exercitum iter monstrarent;

[4] pacatum ab se tamquam ad aliud bellum ⁶ gerendum abisse. inde ex medio regressum itinere hostiliter peragrasse ⁷ fines suos; caedes ⁸ passim rapinasque et incendia facta; nec se ad id locorum scire, propter quam causam consuli pro hostibus fuerint. et

[5] regulo Gallorum absenti et his populis responsum est senatum ea quae facta querantur, neque scisse futura, neque, si sint facta, probare. sed indicta causa damnari absentem absentee consularem virum iniurium esse, cum is rei publicae causa absit;

[6] ubi ex Macedonia redisset C. Cassius, tum, si coram eum arguere vellent, cognita re senatum daturum operam uti ⁹ satisfiat.

[7] nec responderi tantum iis gentibus, sed legatos mitti, duos ad regulum trans Alpis, tres circa eos populos placuit, qui indicarent, quae patrum sententia esset. ¹⁰

[8] munera mitti legatis ex binis milibus aeris censuerunt; duobus fratribus regulis ¹¹ haec praecipua, torques duo ex quinque pondo auri facti et vasa argentea quinque ex viginti pondo et duo equi phalerati cum agasonibus et equestria arma ac sagula, ¹² et comitibus eorum vestimenta, liberis servisque.

[9] haec missa; illa petentibus data, ut denorum equorum iis commercium esset educendique ex Italia potestas fieret.

[10] legati cum Gallis missi trans Alpis C. Laelius, M. Aemilius Lepidus, ad ceteros populos C. Sicinius, P. Cornelius Blasio, T. Memmius.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 39.5 focus

[1]

undique omnes alii deprecari tribunum, alii castigare. Tiberi Gracchi collegae plurimum oratio movit:

[2] ne suas quidem simultates pro magistratu exercere boni exempli esse; alienarum vero simultatum tribunum plebis cognitorem fieri turpe et indignum collegii eius potestate et sacratis legibus esse.

[3] suo quemque iudicio et homines odisse aut diligere et res probare aut inprobare debere, non pendere ex alterius ¹ vultu ac nutu nec alieni momentis animi circumagi, adstipularique irato consuli tribunum plebei et,

[4] quid privatim M. Aemilius mandaverit, meminisse, tribunatum sibi a populo Romano mandatum oblivisci, et mandatum pro auxilio ac libertate privatorum, non pro consulari regno.

[5] ne hoc quidem cernere eum fore, ut memoriae ac posteritati mandetur eiusdem collegii alterum e duobus tribunis plebis suas inimicitias remisisse rei publicae, alterum alienas et mandatas exercuisse.

[6] his victus castigationibus tribunus cum templo excessisset, referente Ser. Sulpicio praetore triumphus M. Fulvio est decretus.

[7] is cum gratias patribus conscriptis egisset, adiecit ludos magnos se Iovi optimo maximo eo die, quo Ambraciam cepisset, vovisse; in eam rem sibi centum pondo auri a civitatibus conlatum;

[8] petere, ut ex ea pecunia, quam in triumpho latam in aerario positurus esset, id aurum secerni iuberent.

[9] senatus pontificum collegium consuli iussit, num omne id aurum in ludos consumi necesse esset. cum pontifices negassent ad religionem pertinere, quanta inpensa in ² ludos fieret,

[10] senatus Fulvio, quantum inpenderet, permisit, dum ne summam octoginta milium excederet.

[11] triumphare mense Ianuario statuerat; sed cum audisset consulem M. Aemilium litteris M. Aburi tribuni plebis acceptis de remissa intercessione ipsum ad inpediendum triumphum Romam venientem aegrum in via substitisse,

[12] ne plus in triumpho certaminum quam in bello haberet, praetulit triumphi diem.

[13] triumphavit ante diem decimum kal.

[14] Ianuarias de Aetolis et de Cephallenia. aureae coronae centum duodecim pondo ante currum latae sunt, argenti pondo milia octoginta tria, auri pondo ducenta quadraginta tria, tetrachma Attica centum octodecim milia,

[15] Philippei nummi duodecim milia quadringenti viginti duo, signa aenea septingenta octoginta quinque, signa marmorea ducenta triginta, arma tela cetera spolia hostium magnus numerus, ad hoc catapultae ballistae tormenta omnis generis;

[16] duces aut Aetoli et Cephallenes aut regii ab Antiocho ibi relicti ad viginti septem.

[17] multos eo die, priusquam in urbem inveheretur, in circo Flaminio tribunos, ³ praefectos, equites, centuriones, Romanos sociosque, donis militaribus donavit. militibus ex praeda vicenos quinos denarios divisit, duplex centurioni, triplex equiti.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 39.5 focus

[1]

All around were in his favour; and some entreated the tribune to desist, while others sharply reproved his conduct.

[2] The speech of his colleague, Tiberius Gracchus, moved him most, that,

for a man in office to prosecute even his own quarrels, was an example of no good tendency; but, that a tribune of the people should take upon himself to be a solicitor in the quarrel of another, was infamous, and highly unworthy of the power and sacred laws of the order to which he belonged.

[3]

That men ought to love or hate others, approve or disapprove of measures, according to the dictates of their own judgment; but that a tribune ought not to depend on the look or nod of another man, veer about at the movements of another's will, and make himself a tool to his displeasure;

[4]

nor remember a private charge, committed to him by Marcus Aemilius, and forget that the tribuneship was a public charge, intrusted to him by the Roman people, for the protection and liberty of private citizens, not to aggrandize the arbitrary power of a consul.

[5]

His colleague did not seem to consider that this circumstance would be committed to record and posterity: that, of two plebeian tribunes of the same college, one sacri- ficed his own resentment to the public good, the other prosecuted the resentment of another man which was merely intrusted to him.

[6] When the tribune, overcome by these severe rebukes, had withdrawn from the meeting, a triumph was voted to Marcus Fulvius, on the motion of Servius Sulpicius, the praetor.

[7] When he returned thanks to the conscript fathers, he then mentioned, that,

on the day of his taking Ambracia, he had vowed to celebrate the great games in honour of Jupiter the supremely good and great;

[8]

that a contribution for that purpose had been made to him by the several states, amounting to one hundred and ten pounds' weight of gold; and he requested them to order that sum to be set apart, out of the money which he was to deposit in the treasury, after being borne in triumph.

[9] The senate ordered the college of pontiffs to be consulted, whether it were necessary that the whole of that sum should be expended on the games:

[10] when the pontiffs had answered, that it mattered little to religion what was the expense of the games, the senate gave permission to Fulvius to expend as much as he thought proper, provided he did not exceed eighty thousand sesterces. ¹

[11] He, at first, intended to celebrate his triumph in the month of January;

[12] but, hearing that the consul Aemilius, in consequence of a letter from the tribune Abutius, concerning his waving his protest, was coming in person to Rome, to hinder his triumph, but had been obliged by sickness to halt on the road, lie hastened the time of the celebration, lest he

[13] should have more contests about it than he had met in the war.

[14] He triumphed over the Aetolians and Cephallenia on the tenth day before the calends of January. There were carried before his chariot, golden crowns to the amount of one hundred and twelve pounds' weight; of silver, eighty-three thousand pounds; of gold, two hundred and forty-three thousand; of Attic tetradrachms, one hundred and eighteen thousand; ²

[15] of the coin called Philippeans, twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-two; ³ brazen statues, two hundred and eighty-five; marble statues, two hundred and thirty; arms, weapons, and other spoils in great quantities: besides these, catapultas, ballistas, and engines of every kind;

[16] and in the procession were led twenty-seven commanders, either Aetolian and Ce- phallenian, or belonging to king Antiochus, and left with them.

[17] Before he rode into the city, in the Flaminian circus, he presented great numbers of tribunes, praefects, horsemen, centurions, both Romans and allies, with military gifts; to each of the soldiers he distributed out of the booty twenty-five denariuses, ⁴ double to a centurion, triple to a horseman.

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.) — 39.5 focus

[1]

But it was the speech of his colleague, Tiberius Gracchus, that produced the greatest effect.

[2] He said that for a man to use his official position as the instrument of his own personal animosities was in any case setting a bad precedent, but for a tribune of the plebs to become the agent of another man's vindictiveness was a disgraceful proceeding quite unworthy of the power and inviolability of the college of tribunes.

[3] Each man ought to judge for himself whom to love and whom to hate, what actions to approve of and what to disapprove of; he must not wait upon another man's look or nod, nor must he be driven hither and thither by the motives which sway another man's mind.

[4] A tribune who becomes the tool of an angry consul and is careful to remember what M. Aemilius entrusted to him privately, forgets that the tribuneship was entrusted to him publicly by the people of Rome, and entrusted to him for the protection and liberty of private citizens, not for the defence of an autocratic consul.

[5] Albutius does not see that it will go down to posterity that of two members of the same college of tribunes one subordinated his private quarrels to the interests of the State, the other took

[6] up a quarrel which was not even a private one, but was entrusted to him by some one else.

[7] Smarting under this castigation the tribune left the senate-house, and on the proposal of Ser. Sulpicius a triumph was decreed to M. Fulvius. He thanked the senators and went on to tell them that on the day he took Ambracia he had vowed to exhibit the Great Games in honour of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, and that a hundred pounds of gold had been contributed by the cities for this purpose.

[8] Out of the money which he was going to place in the treasury after it had been borne in the triumph, he requested the senate to order that this hundred pounds

[9] of gold should be set apart. The senate ordered the question to

[10] be referred to the college of pontiffs whether it was necessary that all that gold should be spent on the Games.

[11] They replied that no question of religion arose as to what amount should be spent on the Games, and the senate consequently allowed Fulvius to spend what he liked on the Games as long as it did not exceed 80,000 sesterces.

[12] Fulvius had fixed the date of his triumph in January but, on learning that M. Aemilius had received a letter from Albutius stating that he had withdrawn his opposition and had himself at once started for Rome to stop the triumph, but was detained on his journey by sickness, he fixed an

[13] earlier date, for he was afraid there might be more serious conflicts over the triumph than during the war.

[14] It was on December 23 that he celebrated his triumph over the Aetolians and the Cephallenians. Before his chariot were carried golden crowns weighing in all 112 pounds, 1083 pounds of silver, 243 pounds of gold, 118,000 Attic tetrachmas and 12,422 "philippei"; 780 brazen statues and 230 marble statues.

[15] There was a large quantity of armour, weapons and all other spoil taken from the enemy, as well as catapults, ballistae, and every kind of artillery.

[16] The generals led in the procession-Aetolian, Caphallenian and those of Antiochus left behind in Aetolia-numbered seven and twenty. Before he actually entered the City, Fulvius bestowed rewards on many of the military tribunes, prefects, cavalrymen and centurions, both those in the Roman army and in the allied contingents.

[17] Out of the booty he gave to each private soldier 25 denarii, double the amount to each centurion, and three times as much to each cavalryman.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Adstipulari is at least semi-technical, implying giving support to a legal proceeding.

2. The consul had no right to issue official orders of this sort to the tribune.

3. B.C. 187

4. The first tribune is, of course, Gracchus himself.

5. Neither the vow nor the contribution has been mentioned before. The celebration of the games is reported at xxii. 1 below.

6. The denomination of the coins is omitted. If the allowance was 80,000 sesterces, as is probable, only twenty pounds of gold would be used; 80,000 denarii would amount to eighty pounds. In either case, one wonders what became of the balance. The senate's decree probably did not forbid the expenditure of private funds in addition.

7. B.C. 187

8. It is always uncertain whether pondo should be read in such passages, and I have followed in each case what seems to be the most trustworthy reading of the MSS. The additional complication exists in this instance, that Livy has already recorded (XXXVIII. ix. 13 above) the gift of a single crown weighing 150 pounds, but we do not know that this was to be carried in the procession, nor whether the gift for the games should be included. See also the note to the passage just quoted.

9. Cf. XXXVII. lix. 4 and the note.

10. This circus was probably the only enclosure of suitable size which lay outside the pomerium.

11. The generosity of Fulvius in this respect was severely criticized by Cato (Gellius V. vi. 24-25, where a fragment of a speech is preserved).

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 39.5

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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