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), 42.63

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[1] The report of the cavalry battle, as it spread abroad throughout Greece, laid bare the inclinations of the inhabitants. For not only partisans of Macedonia but many who were indebted to the Romans for huge benefits, and some few who had felt the violence and tyranny of Perseus, received

[2] this news gladly, for no other reason than the morbid eagerness which the mob feels in athletic contests also —the eagerness to cheer on the worse and weaker party.¹

[3] At the same time in Boeotia Lucretius the praetor² was assaulting Haliartus with the utmost violence; and although the besieged had no reinforcements from outside except the younger men of Coronea, who had entered the walls at the beginning of the siege, and there was no hope of aid, yet they held out alone more by spirit than by strength.

[4] For they kept making frequent sallies against the siege-works and as the ram was brought up they pressed it to earth, weighing it down now with huge stones,³ now with a mass of lead, and if they were at any point unable to turn aside the stroke, they built, in place of the destroyed wall, a new one of slapdash construction by hastily assembling stones from the very debris of the collapse.

[5] Since assault by siege-works was too slow, the praetor ordered ladders distributed among the maniples, intending to attack the wall everywhere, as it were in a ring, with the thought that his numbers would suffice the more surely for this purpose because, on the side where the swamp⁴ girds the city, attack was neither important nor possible.

[6] On the side where two towers and the section of wall which had been between them had collapsed, he himself brought up two thousand picked troops so that at the same moment that he tried to scale the wreckage, as a rally of the townspeople took place to oppose him, the walls stripped of defenders might at some point or other be captured by the ladders.

[7] With no slackness the townsfolk prepared to ward off his assault. For on the area⁵ strewn with wreckage they tossed dry bundles of brush and standing by with blazing torches threatened that they would fire this barrier, so that, barred off from the enemy by the blaze, they might have time to put an inner wall in the way.

[8] This preparation of theirs was hindered by chance; for such a rain suddenly poured down that it made the firing of the brush difficult and put out what had been fired.

[9] And so a passage lay open through the smoking twigs which were dragged aside and with all the citizens intent on the defense of one spot the walls too were taken by ladders in several places at once.

[10] In the first confusion of the city's capture the elders and the beardless whom chance brought in the way were cut down everywhere; the men-at-arms fled to the citadel; and the next day, when no ray of hope remained, on surrendering they were sold at auction.

[11] These were, moreover, about twenty-five hundred. The adornments of the city, statues and paintings and whatever costly booty there was, were taken to the fleet; the city was razed to the ground.⁶

[12] Thence the army was led to Thebes; this the praetor took over without struggle and put in the hands of the exiles and the party which favoured Rome; the estates⁷ of the men of the opposing faction and of the supporters of the king and the Macedonians he sold at auction. After these achievements in Boeotia Lucretius returned to the sea and the fleet.

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.) — 42.63 focus

[1] fama equestris pugnae vulgata per Graeciam nudavit voluntates hominum. non enim solum qui partis Macedonum erant, sed plerique ingentibus Romanorum obligati beneficiis, quidam vim superbiamque experti Persei, laeti eam famam accepere,

[2] non ob aliam causam quam pravo studio, quo etiam in certaminibus ludicris vulgus utitur, deteriori atque infirmiori favendo.

[3] eodem tempore in Boeotia summa vi Haliartum Lucretius praetor oppugnabat; et quamquam nec habebant externa auxilia obsessi praeter Coronaeorum iuniores, qui prima obsidione moenia intraverant, neque sperabant, tamen ipsi animis magis quam viribus resistebant.

[4] nam et eruptiones in opera crebro faciebant, et arietem admotum nunc saxis ingentibus, nunc libramento plumbi gravatum ad terram urguebant, et si qua declinare nequiverant ictum, pro diruto muro novum tumultuario opere, raptim ex ipsa ruinae strage congestis saxis, extruebant.

[5] cum operibus lentior oppugnatio esset, scalas per manipulos dividi praetor iussit, ut corona undique moenia adgressurus, eo magis suffecturam ad id multitudinem ratus, quod, qua parte palus urbem cingit, nec adtinebat oppugnari nec poterat.

[6] ipse ab ea parte, qua duae turres quodque inter eas muri erat, corruerat, duo milia militum delectorum admovit, ut eodem tempore, quo ipse transcendere ruinas conaretur, concursu adversus se oppidanorum facto, scalis vacua defensoribus moenia capi parte aliqua possent.

[7] haud segniter oppidani vim eius arcere parant. nam super stratum ruinis locum fascibus aridis sarmentorum iniectis stantes cum ardentibus facibus accensuros eam se saepem minabantur, ut, incendio intersaepti ab hoste, spatium ad obiciendum interiorem murum haberent.

[8] quod inceptum eorum fors inpediit; nam tantus repente effusus est imber, ut nec accendi facile pateretur et extingueret accensa.

[9] itaque et transitus per distracta fumantia virgulta patuit, et in unius loci praesidium omnibus versis moenia quoque pluribus simul partibus scalis capiuntur.

[10] in primo tumultu captae urbis seniores inpubesque, quos casus obvios obtulit, passim caesi; armati in arcem confugerunt; et postero die, cum spei nihil superesset, deditione facta sub corona venierunt.

[11] fuerunt autem duo milia ferme et quingenti. ornamenta urbis, statuae et tabulae pictae, et quidquid pretiosae praedae fuit, ad naves delatum; urbs diruta a fundamentis.

[12] inde Thebas ductus exercitus; quibus sine certamine receptis urbem tradidit exulibus et qui Romanorum partis erant; adversae factionis hominum fautorumque regis ac Macedonum familias sub corona vendidit. his gestis in Boeotia ad mare ac naves redit.

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.) — 42.63 focus

[1]

fama equestris pugnae vulgata per Graeciam nudavit voluntates hominum. non enim solum qui partis Macedonum erant, sed plerique ingentibus Romanorum obligati beneficiis, quidam vim superbiamque experti Persei,

[2] laeti eam famam accepere, non ob aliam causam quam pravo studio, quo etiam in certaminibus ludicris vulgus utitur, deteriori atque infirmiori favendo. ¹ Eodem tempore in Boeotia summa vi Haliartum Lucretius praetor oppugnabat;

[3] et quamquam nec habebant externa auxilia obsessi praeter Coronaeorum iuniores, qui prima obsidione moenia intraverant, neque sperabant, tamen ipsi animis magis quam viribus resistebant.

[4] nam et eruptiones in opera crebro faciebant, et arietem admotum nunc nunc libramento plumbi gravatum ad terram urguebant et, si qua declinare nequiverant ictum, pro diruto muro novum tumultuario opere raptim ex ipsa ruinae strage congestis saxis extruebant.

[5] cum operibus lentior oppugnatio esset, scalas per manipulos dividi praetor iussit [ut] corona undique moenia adgressurus, eo magis suffecturam ad id multitudinem ratus, quod qua parte palus urbem cingit nec adtinebat oppugnari nec poterat.

[6] ipse ab ea parte, qua duae turres quodque inter eas muri fuerat , duo milia militum delectorum admovit, ut eodem tempore, quo ipse transcendere ruinas conaretur, concursu adversus se oppidanorum facto scalis vacua defensoribus moenia capi parte aliqua possent.

[7] haud segniter oppidani vim eius arcere parant. nam super stratum ruinis locum facibus aridis sarmentorum iniectis stantes cum ardentibus facibus ² accensuros eam se saepem minabantur, ut incendio intersaepti ab hoste spatium ad obiciendum interiorem murum haberent.

[8] quod inceptum eorum fors inpediit: nam tantus repente effusus est imber, ut nec accendi facile pateretur et extingueret accensa.

[9] itaque et transitus per distracta fumantia virgulta patuit et in unius loci praesidium omnibus versis moenia quoque pluribus simul partibus scalis capiuntur.

[10] in primo tumultu captae urbis seniores inpubesque, quos casus obvios optulit, passim caesi; armati in arcem confugerunt et postero die, cum spei nihil superesset, deditione facta sub corona venierunt.

[11] fuerunt autem duo milia ferme et quingenti. ornamenta urbis, statuae et tabulae pictae, et quidquid pretiosae praedae fuit, ad naves delatum; urbs diruta a fundamentis.

[12] inde Thebas ductus exercitus; quibus sine certamine receptis urbem tradidit exulibus et qui Romanorum partis erant, adversae factionis hominum fautorumque regis ac Macedonum familias sub corona vendidit. his gestis in Boeotia ad mare ac naves rediit.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 42.63 focus

[1]

The news of this cavalry action spread through Greece, produced a discovery of the wishes of the people. For not only those who professed an attachment to the Macedonians, but the generality, who were bound to the Romans under the weightiest obligations, and some who had even felt the power and haughty behaviour of the Macedonians, received the account with joy;

[2] and that for no other cause, than out of an evil passion which the mob displays, even in contests of sports, of favouring the worse and weaker party.

[3] Meanwhile, in Bœotia, the praetor, Lucretius, pushed the siege of Haliartus with all imaginable vigour. And although the besieged had no foreign aid, except some young Coronaeans, who had come into the town at the beginning of the siege, and were without hope of relief, yet they maintained the defence with courage beyond their strength.

[4] For they made frequent irruptions against the works; and when the ram was applied, they crushed it to the ground, by dropping on it a mass of lead; and whenever those who worked the engine avoided the blow by changing its position, the besieged by working in masses, and collecting stones out of the rubbish, quickly erected a new wall in the room of that which had been demolished.

[5] The praetor, when the progress by machines was too slow, ordered scaling- ladders to be distributed among the companies, resolving to make a general assault on the walls. He thought the number of his men sufficient for this, and the more so because on one side of the city, which is bounded by a morass, it would neither be useful nor practicable to form an attack.

[6] Lucretius himself led two thousand chosen men to a place where two towers, and the wall between them, had been thrown down; hoping that, while he endeavoured to climb over the ruins, and the townsmen crowded thither to oppose him, the walls, being left defenceless, in some part or other might be taken by escalade.

[7] The besieged were not remiss in preparing to repel his assault; for, on the ground, overspread with the rubbish, they placed faggots of dry bushes, and standing with burning torches in their hands, they often threatened to set them on fire, in order that, being covered from the enemy by the smoke and flames, they might have time to throw up a wall in the inside.

[8] But a casualty prevented this plan from succeeding; for there fell suddenly such a quantity of rain, as hindered the faggots from being kindled; thus a passage was laid open by drawing the smoking faggots aside;

[9] and while all were attending to the defence of one particular spot, the walls were mounted by escalade in many places at once.

[10] In the first tumult of storming the town the old men and children, whom chance threw in the way, were put to the sword indiscriminately, while the men who carried arms fled into the citadel. Next day, these, having no remaining hope, surrendered, and were sold by public auction. Their number was about two thousand five hundred.

[11] The ornaments of the city, consisting of statues and pictures, with all the valuable booty, were carried off to the ships, and the city was razed to the ground.

[12] The praetor then led his army into Thebes, which fell into his hands without a dispute; when he gave the city in possession to the exiles, and the party that sided with the Romans; and sold, as slaves, the families of those who were of the opposite faction, and favoured the king and the Macedonians. After performing these acts in Bœotia, he returned to the sea-coast to his fleet.

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.) — 42.63 focus

[1]

The news of the battle spread through Greece, and in the way it was received the hopes and sympathies of men were disclosed. Not only the open supporters of Macedonia, but most of those who were under the greatest obligations to Rome, some having experienced the violence

[2] and tyranny of Perseus, were delighted at hearing it for no other reason than that morbid eagerness which a mob watching gymnastic contests displays in favour of the weaker and more disreputable competitor.

[3] In Boeotia meanwhile Lucretius was pressing the siege of Haliartus with the utmost vigour. Although the besieged neither had nor hoped for any outside help beyond the troops from Coronea who had entered the walls at the beginning of the siege, they kept up their resistance more by courage and resolution than by actual strength.

[4] They frequently made sorties against the siege works and when a battering-ram was brought up they at one time . . . at another they forced it to the ground by lowering a mass of lead upon it. If they were unable to divert the blows they replaced the old wall by a new one which they hastily built up with the stones of the fallen wall.

[5] As the progress of the siege works was too slow, the praetor ordered the scaling-ladders to be distributed among the maniples as he intended to deliver a simultaneous assault all round the walls.

[6] His numbers, he considered, would suffice for this, as there would be no advantage in attacking that side of the city which was surrounded by a swamp, nor would it be possible to do so. At a point where two towers and the wall between them had been battered down he brought up a picked force of 2000 men in order that while he was forcing his way through the breach, and the defenders were massing together to oppose him, some portion of the walls might be left unmanned and so successfully scaled.

[7] The townsmen were not slow in preparing to meet him. On the ground covered by the ruins of the wall they heaped up faggots of brushwood, and standing on these with burning torches in their hands they were preparing to set the mass on fire in

[8] order that, shut off from the enemy by the conflagration, they might have time to throw up another wall inside. They were accidentally prevented from executing this plan.

[9] Such a heavy shower of rain suddenly fell that it was hardly possible to kindle the brushwood, and when it was alight the fire was extinguished.

[10] A passage was effected by dragging the smoking faggots out of the way, and as all had turned their attention to defending this one spot, the walls were scaled in many places. In the first confusion of the captured city the old men and boys whom they chanced to meet were killed. The combatants took shelter in the citadel, and as all hope was now lost they surrendered, and were sold as slaves.

[11] There were about 2500 of them. The adornments of the city, the statues and paintings and all the valuable plunder were placed on shipboard and the place was razed to its foundations.

[12] From there the army marched to Thebes, which was captured without any fighting, and the consul handed the city over to the refugees and the Roman party. The households and property of the other party, who had worked in the interests of the king and were Macedonian sympathisers, were sold.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. Polybius XXVII. 9 illustrates this sentiment with an anecdote of the Olympic Games:

The phenomenon was very like what happens in boxing contests at the games. For there, when a humble and much inferior combatant is matched against a celebrated and seemingly invincible athlete, the sympathy of the crowd is at once given to the inferior man. They cheer him on, and back him up enthusiastically; and if he manages to touch his opponent's face, and gets in a blow that leaves any mark, there is at once again the greatest excitement among them all. They sometimes even try to make fun of the other man, not out of any dislike for him or disapproval but from a curious sort of sympathy and a natural instinct to favour the weaker. If, however, one calls their attention at the right time to their error, they very soon change their minds and correct it. This was what Clitomachus did, as is told. He was considered to be a quite invincible boxer, and his fame had spread over the whole world, when Ptolemy, ambitious to destroy his reputation, trained with the greatest care and sent off the boxer Aristonicus, a man who seemed to have a remarkable natural gift for this sport. Upon this Aristonicus arriving in Greece and challenging Clitomachus at Olympia, the crowd, it seems, at once took the part of the former and cheered him on, delighted to see that some one, once in a way at least, ventured to pit himself against Clitomachus. And when, as the fight continued, he appeared to be his adversary's match, and once or twice landed a telling blow, there was great clapping of hands, and the crowd became delirious with excitement, cheering on Aristonicus. At this time they say that Clitomachus, after withdrawing for a few moments to recover his breath, turned to the crowd and asked them what they meant by cheering on Aristonicus and backing him up all they could. Did they think he himself was not fighting fairly, or were they not aware that Clitomachus was now fighting for the glory of Greece and Aristonicus for that of King Ptolemy? Would they prefer to see an Egyptian conquer the Greeks and win the Olympian crown, or to hear a Theban and Boeotian proclaimed by the herald as victor in the men's boxing-match? When Clitomachus had spoken thus, they say there was such a change in the sentiment of the crowd that now all was reversed, and Aristonicus was beaten rather by the crowd than by Clitomachus

(tr. Paton, L.C.L.).

2. B.C. 171

3. Cf. XXXVIII. v. 4.

4. The margin of Lake Copaïs.

5. B.C. 171

6. Strabo IX. 2. 30 notes:

Haliartus no longer exists, having been destroyed in the war with Perseus, and the Athenians have the territory as a gift of the Romans..

This is probably incorrect, as an inscription has been found indicating the existence of a community here subject to Athens. Pausanias (IX. 32. 5 ff.) found the site inhabited.

7. Perhaps including the members of the families.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 42.63

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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