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), 44.6

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[1]

The king was in his bath, they say, when the presence of the enemy was announced. At this message he leapt in terror from his tub and dashed out crying that he had been beaten without a battle.

[2] And thereafter, as his terror drove him to a succession of fear-struck plans and orders, he sent out two of his friends, one to Pella to cast into the sea the money stored in Phacus, ¹ the other to Thessalonica to burn the dockyards. He recalled Asclepiodotus and Hippias and their forces from outpost duty and opened every approach for attack.

[3] The king ran off with all the gilded statues at Dium, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, and compelled the inhabitants of that region to move to Pydna. Thereby what might have seemed the rashness of the consul ² in advancing to a position from which he could not retire without the consent of the enemy, was turned by the king into well-calculated boldness.

[4] For the Romans had two passes by which they could extricate themselves: one through Tempe into Thessaly, the other into Macedonia past Dium.

[5] Both of the passes were being held by the king's forces;

[6] therefore if the king, by fearlessly holding his own, had resisted the first false appearance of approaching danger, he would have left the Romans no retreat through Tempe to Thessaly, nor any route for bringing up provisions from that direction. ³

[7] For even without the opposition of an enemy Tempe is a defile difficult of passage; for besides five miles of narrows through which the road is cramped for a loaded animal, the cliffs on either side are so sheer that one can hardly look down without some dizziness of eye and brain.

[8] An additional source of fear is the roar and depth of the Peneüs River flowing through the midst of the canyon. This place, so unfriendly by its very nature, was blocked at four separate points by the king's garrisons.

[9] One was at the very entrance near Gonnus, the second at Condylus, an impregnable fort, the third in the vicinity of Lapathus, which they call the Palisade, the fourth set by the road itself where the canyon, in the middle of its course, is at its narrowest.

[10] where it can easily be defended by no more than ten soldiers.

[11] If the Romans' access to supplies through Tempe, as well as their line of ⁴ retreat, had been cut off, they would have had to return to the mountains through which they had descended.

[12] As they had deceived the enemy in this by stealth, they could not duplicate the feat without concealment and while the enemy were in possession of the higher summits; and the difficulty they had undergone would have laid low all hope.

[13] There was no alternative left in this rash enterprise but to get out into Macedonia past Dium in the teeth of the enemy, and this undertaking, had not the gods deprived the king of his wits, would itself have been of the utmost difficulty.

[14] For between the foothills of Mount Olympus and the sea lies an interval of a little more than a mile, half of which space is taken up with the broad estuary of the Baphyrus River, while part of the plain is obstructed by either the temple of Jupiter ⁵ or the town.

[15] The very small remainder could have been barred off by a ditch of no extravagant size and a palisade, and there was such an abundance of stone and of forest timber at hand that even a wall could have been thrown up and towers erected.

[16] Since none of these possibilities revealed themselves to a mind blinded by sudden panic, the king stripped away all his defences and opened every approach to assault

[17] before taking refuge in Pydna.

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.) — 44.6 focus

[1] lavanti regi dicitur nuntiatum hostis adesse. quo nuntio cum pavidus exiluisset e solio, victum se sine proelio clamitans proripuit;

[2] et subinde per alia atque alia pavida consilia et imperia trepidans duos ex amicis, Pellam alterum, ut, quae ad Phacum pecunia deposita erat, in mare proiceret, Thessalonicam alterum, ut navalia incenderet, misit; Asclepiodotum et Hippiam, quique cum iis erant, ex praesidiis revocat omnisque aditus aperit bello.

[3] ipse ab Dio auratis statuis omnibus raptis, ne praeda hosti essent, incolas eius loci demigrare Pydnam cogit, et, quae temeritas consulis videri potuisset, quod eo processisset, unde invito hoste regredi nequiret, eam non inconsultam audaciam fecit.

[4]

[5] duos enim saltus, per quos inde evadere possent, habebant Romani, unum per Tempe in Thessaliam, alterum in Macedoniam praeter Dium; quae utraque regiis tenebantur praesidiis.

[6] itaque si sua intrepidus defendens primam speciem adpropinquantis terroris sustinuisset, neque receptus Romanis per Tempe in Thessaliam neque commeatibus pervehendis ea patuisset iter.

[7] sunt enim Tempe saltus, etiamsi non bello fiat infestus, transitu difficilis.

[8] nam praeter angustias per quinque milia, qua exiguum iumento onusto iter est, rupes utrimque ita abscisae sunt, ut despici vix sine vertigine quadam simul oculorum animique possit. terret et sonitus et altitudo per mediam vallem fluentis Penei amnis.

[9] hic locus tam suapte natura infestus per quattuor distantia loca praesidiis regiis fuit insessus.

[10] unum in primo aditu ad Gonnum erat, alterum in Condylo, castello inexpugnabili, tertium circa Lapathunta, quem Characa appellant,

[11] quartum viae ipsi, qua et media et angustissima valles est, inpositum quam vel decem armatis tueri facile est.

[12] intercluso per Tempe simul aditu commeatibus, simul reditu ipsis, montes, per quos descenderant, repetendi erant.

[13] quod, ut furto fefellerant, ita propalam tenentibus superiora cacumina hostibus non poterant; et experta difficultas spem omnem incidisset.

[14] supererat nihil aliud in temere commisso quam in Macedoniam ad Dium per medios evadere hostis; quod, nisi di mentem regi et ipsum ingentis difficultatis erat.

[15] nam cum Olympi radices montis paulo plus quam mille passuum ad mare relinquant spatium, cuius dimidium loci occupat ostium late restagnans Baphri amnis, partem planitiae aut Iovis templum aut oppidum tenet,

[16] relicum perexiguum fossa modica valloque claudi poterat, et saxorum ad manum silvestrisque materiae tantum erat, ut vel murus obici turresque excitari potuerint.

[17] quorum nihil cum dispexisset caecata mens subito terrore, nudatis omnibus praesidiis patefactisque bello ad Pydnam refugit.

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).) — 44.6 focus

[1]

lavanti regi dicitur nuntiatum hostis adesse. quo nuntio cum pavidus exiluisset e solio, victum se sine proelio clamitans proripuit;

[2] et subinde per alia atque alia pavida consilia et imperia trepidans duos ex amicis, Pellam alterum, ut, quae ad Phacum ¹ pecunia deposita erat, in mare proiceret, Thessalonicam alterum, ut navalia incenderet, misit; Asclepiodotum et Hippiam, quique cum iis erant, ² ex praesidiis revocat omnisque aditus aperit bello.

[3] ipse ab Dio auratis statuis omnibus raptis, ³ ne praeda hosti essent, incolas eius loci demigrare ⁴ Pydnam cogit,

[4] et, quae temeritas consulis videri potuisset, quod eo processisset, ⁵ unde invito hoste regredi nequiret, eam non inconsultam ⁶ audaciam fecit.

[5] duos enim saltus, per quos inde evadere possent, habebant Romani, unum per Tempe in Thessaliam, alterum in Macedoniam praeter Dium; quae utraque regiis tenebantur praesidiis.

[6] itaque si sua intrepidus defendens ⁷ primam speciem adpropinquantis terroris sustinuisset, neque receptus Romanis per Tempe in Thessaliam neque commeatibus ⁸ pervehendis ea ⁹ patuisset iter.

[7] sunt enim Tempe saltus, ¹⁰ etiamsi non bello fiat infestus, transitu difficilis.

[9] Hic locus tam suapte natura infestus per quattuor distantia loca praesidiis regiis ¹¹ fuit insessus.

[10] unum in primo aditu ad Gonnum erat, alterum in Condylo, ¹² castello inexpugnabili,

[11] tertium circa Lapathunta, quem Characa appellant, quartum viae ipsi, qua et media et angustissima valles est, impositum, quam vel decem armatis tueri facile est.

[12] intercluso per Tempe simul aditu commeatibus, simul reditu ipsis, ¹³ montes, per quos descenderant, repetendi erant.

[13] quod , ut furto fefellerant, ita propalam tenentibus superiora cacumina hostibus non poterant; et experta difficultas spem omnem incidisset.

[14] supererat nihil aliud in temere commisso quam in Macedoniam ad Dium per medios evadere hostis; quod, nisi di mentem regi ademissent, ¹⁴ et ¹⁵ ipsum ingentis difficultatis erat.

[15] nam cum Olympi radices montis paulo plus quam mille passuum ad mare relinquant spatium, cuius dimidium loci occupat ostium late restagnans Baphyri amnis, partem planitiae aut Iovis templum aut oppidum tenet,

[16] reliquum perexiguum fossa modica valloque claudi poterat, et saxorum ¹⁶ ad manum silvestrisque materiae tantum erat, ut vel murus obici turresque excitari potuerint.

[17] quorum nihil cum dispexisset caecata mens subito terrore, nudatis omnibus praesidiis patefactisque bello cunctis aditibus Pydnam ¹⁷ refugit.

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 44.6 focus

[1]

lavanti regi dicitur nuntiatum hostis adesse. quo nuntio cum pavidus exiluisset e solio, victum se sine proelio clamitans proripuit;

[2] et subinde per alia atque alia pavida consilia et imperia trepidans duos ex amicis, Pellam alterum, ut, quae ad ¹ Phacum pecunia deposita erat, ex praesidiis revocat omnisque aditus aperit bello.

[3] ipse ab Dio auratis statuis omnibus raptis, ne praeda hosti essent, incolas eius loci demigrare Pydnam cogit, et quae temeritas consulis videri potuisset,

[4] quod eo processisset, unde invito hoste regredi nequiret, eam non inconsultam audaciam fecit.

[5] duos enim saltus, per quos inde evadere possent, habebant Romani, unum per Tempe in Thessaliam, alterum in Macedoniam praeter Dium; quae utraque regiis tenebantur praesidiis.

[6] itaque si dux intrepidus decem dies primam speciem ² adpropinquantis terroris sustinuisset, neque receptus Romanis per Tempe in Thessaliam neque commeatibus pervehendis ea patuisset iter.

[7] sunt enim Tempe saltus, etiamsi non bello fiat infestus, transitu difficilis.

[9] hic locus tam suapte natura infestus per quattuor distantia loca praesidiis regiis fuit insessus.

[10] unum in primo aditu ad Gonnum erat, alterum in Condylo, castello inexpugnabili, tertium circa Lapathunta, quem Characa appellant, quartum viae ipsi,

[11] qua et media et angustissima vallis est, impositum, quam vel decem armatis tueri facile est.

[12] intercluso per Tempe simul aditu commeatibus, simul reditu ipsis, montes, per quos descenderant, repetendi erant.

[13] quod, ut furto fefellerant, ita propalam, tenentibus superiora cacumina hostibus, non poterant;

[14] et experta difficultas spem omnem incidisset. supererat nihil aliud in temere commisso quam in Macedoniam ad Dium per ⁴ medios evadere hostis; quod, nisi di mentem regi ademissent, et ipsum ingentis difficultatis erat.

[16] relicum perexiguum fossa modica valloque claudi poterat, et saxorum ad manum silvestrisque materiae tantum erat, ut vel murus obici turresque excitari potuerint.

[17] quorum nihil cum dispexisset caecata mens subito terrore, nudatis omnibus praesidiis patefactisque bello ad Pydnam refugit.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 44.6 focus

[1]

The king, it is said, was bathing, when he was informed of the enemy's approach; on hearing which, he started up from his seat, and rushed out in a fright, crying out, that he was conquered without a battle;

[2] and afterwards, in a state of great perturbation, amidst plans and orders dictated by fear, he recalled two most intimate friends from his garrisons, and sent one to Pella, where his treasure was lodged, and the other to Parthus, and opened all the passes to the invasion of the enemy.

[3] He himself, having suddenly removed from Dium all the gilded statues, that they might not fall a prey to the enemy, ordered all the inhabitants to remove to Pydna; and thus made the conduct of the consul, in venturing into a situation out of which he could not retreat without the enemy's permission, although it might have been deemed rash and inconsiderate, to wear the appearance of judicious boldness.

[4] For there were only two passes through which the Romans could remove from their present situation; one through Tempe into Thessaly, the other by Dium into Macedonia; and both these were occupied by parties of the king's troops.

[5] So that if an intrepid commander had, only for ten days, maintained his ground, without yielding to the first appearance of an approaching terror, the Romans could neither have retreated by Tempe into Thessaly, nor have had any road open for the conveyance of provisions to their position.

[6] For Tempe is a pass of such a nature, that even supposing no obstruction was given by an enemy, it is difficult to get through it;

[7] being so narrow for the distance of five miles, that there is barely room for a loaded horse to pass:

[8] the precipices, also, on both sides, are so abrupt, that it is scarcely possible to look down from them, without a dizziness alike of the eyes and the mind; while the roaring and depth of the river Peneus, flowing through the middle of the glen, increases the terrific effect.

[9] This defile, in its nature so dangerous, was guarded by parties of the king's troops, stationed in four different places: one near Gonnus, at the first entrance; another in an impregnable fortress at Condylos; a third near Lapathus, in a place called Charax; and the fourth on the road itself about midway, where the valley is narrowest, and might have been easily defended even by half a score men.

[10] All possibility either of retreating, or of receiving provisions through Tempe, being cut off, the Romans, in order to return, must have crossed over the same mountains from which they came down;

[11] but even though they might have been able to effect this by passing unobserved, they never could have accomplished it openly, and while the enemy kept possession of the heights;

[12] and besides, the difficulties which they had already experienced would have precluded every hope of the kind.

[13] In this rash enterprise they would have no other plan left than to force their way into Macedonia, through the midst of the enemy posted at Dium; and if the gods had not deprived the king of his understanding, this would have been extremely difficult.

[14] For the space between the foot of Mount Olympus and the sea is not much more than a mile in breadth;

[15] one half of which is taken up by the mouth of the river Baphirus, which forms a large morass, and, of the remaining plain, a great share is occupied by the town and the temple of Jupiter: the rest, being a very small space, might have been shut up with a trench and rampart of no great length; or, so great was the plenty of stones and timber on the spot, that a wall might have been drawn across, and towers erected.

[16] But the king's judgment was so entirely blinded by the sudden fright, that he reflected not upon any one of these circumstances;

[17] on the contrary, he evacuated all his strong posts, and leaving them open to the enemy, fled back to Pydna.

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.) — 44.6 focus

[1]

The king was having his bath when news was brought of the approach of the enemy. On hearing it he sprang in a panic from his seat and rushed out, exclaiming that he was conquered without a battle.

[2] Amidst distracted plans and contradictory orders he sent two of his ''friends", the one to Pella to throw into the sea the treasures that were stored at Phacus, the other to burn the fleet. He recalled Asclepiodotus and Hippias and their troops from the places they were occupying, and left all the approaches to Macedonia open to the enemy.

[3] All the gilded statues were carried off from Dium to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, and the inhabitants were forced to remove to Pydna. Thus what might have been thought recklessness on the part of the consul in advancing to a place from which he could not retreat, had the enemy chosen to stop him, was actually made to look like a carefully-planned-out act of daring.

[4] The Romans had two passes through which they might emerge from their present position:

[5] one through Tempe into Thessaly, the other past Dium and into Macedonia; and both were held by the king's troops.

[6] If, therefore, there had been an intrepid general who could have held out for ten days against what at first sight looked like a steadily advancing danger, there would have been no retreat open to the Romans through Tempe into Thessaly, nor any possibility of carrying supplies through;

[7] for the pass of Tempe is a difficult one to traverse, even if it is not occupied by an enemy.

[8] In addition to the narrowness of the road which for five miles affords scanty footing for a loaded animal, there are on both sides sheer cliffs, so precipitous that you cannot look down without feeling dizzy. The noise and depth of the Peneus flowing through the middle of the ravine adds to the stern and forbidding effect. This district, so strong by nature, was held by detachments of the king's troops at four different places.

[9] One was posted at the mouth of the pass at Gonnus; a second in Condylus, an impregnable stronghold;

[10] a third at Lapathus, which they call Charax; a fourth on the road itself in the middle of the narrowest part of the valley. where ten men could easily make a successful defence.

[11] The conveyance of supplies and their own return through Tempe were thus alike cut off, and they would have had to make their way back to the mountains over which they had come.

[12] They had escaped the observation of the enemy before; they could not do so now with his troops posted on the commanding heights, and the difficulties they had experienced destroyed all hopes.

[13] There was no course left in this rash adventure but to go through the midst of the enemy and enter Macedonia by way

[14] of Dium, and this, if the gods had not deprived the king of his reason, would have been a task of enormous difficulty. The spurs of Mount Olympus leave only a width of a mile between the mountain and the sea.

[15] Half this space is filled by the broad marshes at the mouth of the Baphyrus, the rest of the ground is taken up either by the temple of Jupiter or the town itself. The little bit that is left could be blocked by a small fosse and rampart, and there was such a quantity of stones and growing timber at hand that a wall might have been thrown up and turrets raised.

[16] Blinded by the suddenness of the danger, the king took none of these things into consideration;

[17] he withdrew his garrisons, leaving every place open and defenceless, and fled to Pydna.

Notes on the current edition

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

1. The citadel of Pella, cf. below, x. 3; xlvi. 6; Polybius XXIX. 3 and XXXI. 17 (25); Diodorus XXX. 11. It is not clear why the treasure was thrown into the sea, and not simply dumped into the marshy lake which washed the walls of Phacus, but the recovery of most of the treasure by divers sounds as if it had been dumped on clean bottom.

2. B.C. 169

3. Livy neglects the possibility of supply by sea, on which the consul seems to have relied, see below, vii. 10; this is probably due to the characteristic preoccupation of a Roman with the land, though one must admit that the passage above cited shows that the fleet was badly handled, and the coast presumably was difficult, cf. below, xlii. 5-6.

4. B.C. 169

5. For this famous temple, cf. Polybius IV. 62.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 44.6

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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