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), 44.20

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[1]

This embassy left within three days along with the envoys from Alexandria. The mission from Macedonia arrived on the last day of the Quinquatrus ¹ amid such eagerness that, had it not been evening, the consuls would have summoned the senate at once.

[2] Next day the session was held and the envoys were heard. They reported as follows:

The army has been led into Macedonia by trackless passes at a risk disproportionate to the gain.

[3]

Pieria, which the army has reached, is in the hands of the king; the encampments are so nearly in contact that hardly more than the Elpeüs River separates them.

[4]

The king does not offer battle, and our forces have not the strength to compel him to do so. Also the ² winter is an added obstacle to an active campaign. The soldiers are being supported in idleness and have grain for no more than six days.

[5]

The Macedonian forces are said to number thirty thousand. If Appius Claudius ³ had sufficient strength in the region of Lychnidus, he could have distracted the king with a second front; as it is, Appius and the force with him are in the greatest danger unless either a full-fledged army is quickly sent him or his present force is extricated.

[6]

As to the fleet, we heard after we left the camp that some of the sailors have been lost by disease, and some, especially the Sicilians, have gone home, so that the ships lack crews. Those who are there have not received their pay and are insufficiently clothed.

[7]

Eumenes and his fleet have come and gone for no good reason, as if his ships were drifting before the wind; and there is no good evidence that the spirit of this king is unwavering.

⁴ The envoys reported that Attalus was as gallantly unswerving as Eumenes was entirely undependable.

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.) — 44.20 focus

[1] his intra triduum simul cum legatis Alexandrinis profectis legati ex Macedonia quinquatribus ultimis adeo expectati venerunt, ut, nisi vesper esset, extemplo senatum vocaturi consules fuerint.

[2] postero die senatus fuit legatique auditi sunt. ii nuntiant maiore periculo quam emolumento exercitum per invios saltus in Macedoniam inductum.

[3] Pieriam, quo processisset, regem tenere; castra castris prope ita conlata esse, ut flumine Elpeo interiecto arceantur. neque regem pugnandi potestatem facere, nec nostris vim ad cogendum esse.

[4] hiemem etiam insuper rebus gerendis intervenisse. in otio militem ali, nec plus quam VI dierum frumentum habere. Macedonum dici triginta milia armatorum esse.

[5] si Ap. Claudio circa Lychnidum satis validus exercitus foret, potuisse eum ancipiti bello distinere regem: nunc et Appium, et quod cum eo praesidii sit, in summo periculo esse, nisi propere aut iustus exercitus eo mittatur, aut illi inde deducantur.

[6] ad classem se ex castris profectos sociorum navalium partem morbo audisse absumptam, partem, maxime qui ex Sicilia fuerint, domos suas abisse, et homines navibus deesse; qui sint, neque stipendium accepisse neque vestimenta habere.

[7] Eumenen classemque eius, tamquam vento adlatas naves, sine causa et venisse et abisse; nec animum eius regis constare satis visum. sicut omnia de Eumene dubia, ita Attali egregie constantem fidem nuntiabant.

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).) — 44.20 focus

[1]

his intra triduum simul cum legatis Alexandrinis profectis legati ex Macedonia quinquatribus ultimis adeo expectati venerunt ut, nisi ¹ vesper esset, extemplo senatum vocaturi consules fuerint.

[2] postero die senatus fuit legatique auditi sunt. ii nuntiant maiore periculo quam emolumento exercitum per invios saltus in Macedoniam inductum.

[3] Pieriam , quo processisset, regem tenere; castra castris prope ita conlata esse, ut flumine Elpeo ² interiecto arceantur. neque regem pugnandi potestatem facere, nec nostris vim ad cogendum esse.

[4] hiemem etiam ³ insuper ⁴ rebus gerendis intervenisse. in otio militem ali, ⁵ nec plus quam VI dierum ⁶ frumentum habere. Macedonum dici triginta milia armatorum esse.

[5] si Ap. Claudio circa Lychnidum satis validus exercitus foret, potuisse eum ⁷ ancipiti bello distinere regem: nunc et Appium et quod ⁸ cum eo praesidii sit in summo periculo esse, nisi propere aut iustus exercitus eo mittatur, aut illi inde deducantur.

[7] Eumenen classemque eius, tamquam vento adlatas naves, sine causa et venisse et abisse; nec animum eius regis constare satis visum. sicut omnia de Eumene dubia, ita ⁹ Attali egregie constantem fidem nuntiabant.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 44.20 focus

[1]

his intra triduum simul cum legatis Alexandrinis profectis legati ex Macedonia Quinquatribus ultimis adeo expectati ¹ venerunt, ut, nisi vesper esset, extemplo senatum vocaturi consules fuerint.

[2] postero die senatus fuit legatique auditi sunt. ii nuntiant maiore periculo quam emolumento exercitum per invios saltus in Macedoniam inductum.

[3] Pieriam, quo processisset, regem tenere; castra castris prope ita conlata esse, ut flumine Elpeo interiecto arceantur. neque regem pugnandi potestatem facere, nec nostris vim ad cogendum esse.

[4] hiemem etiam insuper rebus gerendis intervenisse. in otio militem ali, nec plus quam sex frumentum habere. Macedonum dici triginta milia armatorum esse.

[5] si Ap. Claudio circa Lychnidum satis validus exercitus foret, potuisse ancipiti bello distineri regem; nunc et Appium, et quod cum eo praesidii sit, in summo periculo esse, nisi propere aut iustus exercitus eo mittatur, aut illi inde deducantur.

[6] ad ² classem se ex castris profectos sociorum navalium partem morbo audisse absumptam, partem, maxime qui ex Sicilia fuerint, domos suas abisse, et homines navibus deesse; qui sint, neque stipendium accepisse neque vestimenta habere.

[7] Eumenen classemque eius, tamquam vento adlatas naves, sine causa et venisse et abisse, nec animum eius regis constare satis visum. sicut omnia de Eumene dubia, ita Attali egregie constantem fidem nuntiabant.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 44.20 focus

[1]

These ambassadors set out, within three days, in company with those of Alexandria; and, on the last day of the feast of Minerva, the commissioners arrived from Macedonia. Their coming had been so impatiently wished for, that, if it had not been very late in the day, the consuls would have assembled the senate immediately.

[2] Next day the senate met, and the commissioners had an audience.

[3] They stated, that "the army had been led through pathless and difficult wilds into Macedonia, with more risk than advantage: that Pieria, to which its march had been directed, was then possessed by the king; and the two camps so close to each other, as to be separated only by the river Enipeus:

[4] that the king offered no opportunity to fight, nor were our men strong enough to compel him; and, besides, that the winter had unexpectedly interrupted all military operations: that the soldiers were maintained in idleness, and had not corn sufficient for more than six days:

[5] that the force of the Macedonians was said to amount to thirty thousand effective men: that if Appius Claudius had a sufficient force at Lychnidus, the king might be perplexed by a two-fold hostile array; but that, as the case stood, both Appius, and the troops under his command, were in the utmost danger, unless either a regular army were speedily sent thither, or they were removed thence.

[6]

From the camp,

they stated that

they had gone to the fleet; where they learned, that part of the seamen had perished by sickness; that others, particularly such as came from Sicily, had gone off to their own homes; and that the ships were in want of men, while those who were on board had neither received pay nor had clothing:

[7]

that Eumenes and his fleet, as if driven thither by the wind, had both come and gone away, without any apparent reason; nor did the intentions of that king seem to be thoroughly settled.

While they reported every particular in the conduct of Eumenes as suspicious, they represented the fidelity of Attalus as stedfast in the highest degree.

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.) — 44.20 focus

[1]

The Roman delegates accompanied by the Alexandrians left in three days' time. On the last day of the Quinquatrus the commissioners arrived from Macedonia. Their return had been so anxiously awaited that had it not been in the evening the consuls would at once have convened the senate.

[2] The next day the senate gave them audience. They reported that the passage of the army over pathless mountains had resulted in more peril than profit.

[3] They had advanced into Pieria, but the king was holding the country, and the armies were in such close contact that only the River Enipeus separated them.

[4] The king did not give any opportunity of fighting, nor were our men strong enough to force a battle; winter, too, had stopped active operations; our men were living in idleness, and had not corn for more than six . . . The Macedonians were said to number 30,000 fighting men.

[5] If Appius Claudius had had a strong enough army at Lychnidus, the king might have had his attention distracted between two fronts; at the present moment, Appius and such force as he had with him were in the utmost danger, unless either a regular army was sent there without delay, or they were withdrawn from their present position.

[6] On leaving the camp they proceeded to the fleet. Here they learnt that some of the crews had been carried off by disease, some, mostly the Sicilian seamen, had gone home, and the ships were undermanned; the men who were in them had not received their pay and were without proper clothing.

[7] Eumenes and his fleet had come and gone without any apparent reason, just as though they had been carried there by the wind; no dependence could be placed on that king. Whilst all Eumenes's movements were doubtful, Attalus was behaving with exemplary fidelity.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. This festival, first mentioned for the year 207 B.C. , occurred on March 19-23, see XXVI. xxvii. 1 and the note, also Ovid, Fasti III. 810; C.I.L. I.2 1, p. 312 gives a discussion of the origin of the name (probably because it originally fell on the

fifth

day, Roman inclusive reckoning, after the Ides), and points out that besides being connected with Minerva, the day had associations with Mars, and seems to have been the time for ceremonial readying of weapons for the campaigning season.

2. B.C. 168

3. Livy has not mentioned him since XLIII. xxiii. 6; Polybius XXVIII. 13 (11) tells how Appius in the meantime had tried to raise Achaean troops, but had been hindered by Marcius.

4. The immediate facts reported by Livy, above, x. 12-xiii. 10, and xxviii, do not bear this out; but Eumenes was not above bargaining with Perseus, below, xxiv-xxv (based on Polybius), and some of Livy's sources may have projected back later Roman suspicions, cf. above, xiii. 9. 12-13. Livy usually falls into the attitude, natural enough for his own day, that no one had any business to act contrary to Roman interests; but in the second century, Rome was not the paramount power in the Macedonian-Greek world, and it was not even clear that she proposed at this time to take a permanent interest in the affairs of that region.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 44.20

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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