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), 45.44

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1]

In that year the consuls merely ravaged the fields of the Ligurians, since the enemy never led out their forces. Without accomplishing anything worthy of note, the consuls returned to Rome to attend to the election of their successors, and on the first day of the elections, declared Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Gaius Sulpicius Gallus elected as consuls. On the next day there were elected as praetors Lucius Julius, Lucius Apuleius Saturninus, ¹ Aulus Licinius Nerva, Publius Rutilius Calvus, Publius Quinctilius Varus, and Marcus Fonteius.

[2] The provinces appointed for these praetors were the two city magistracies, the two Spains, ² Sicily, and Sardinia.

[3] There was an intercalation in this year; the day after the Terminalia was the first day of the intercalary month. ³ An augur died this year, Gaius Claudius; in his place, the augurs chose Titus Quinctius Flamininus. The flamen of Quirinus, Quintus Fabius Pictor, ⁴ also died.

In this year King Prusias came to Rome with his son

[4] Nicomedes. Entering the city with a large train, he proceeded from the gate to the Forum and the judgment-seat of Quintus Cassius the

[5] praetor. A crowd gathered from all sides; Prusias announced that he had come to bring greetings to the gods who inhabited the city of Rome, and to the senate and the Roman People, and to congratulate them on their victory over King Perseus and King Gentius, and on the extension of their empire by placing the Macedonians and Illyrians under their

[6] sway. When the praetor offered to call a session of the senate for him on that very day, if he pleased, Prusias asked for a two-day interval, during which he might visit the temples of the gods, the city, and his friends and

[7] guest-friends. There was assigned to him as escort Lucius Cornelius Scipio the quaestor, who had also been sent to Capua to meet him; and a house was ⁵ rented for him, where he and his suite might be well entertained.

[8] On the third day following, he approached the senate; he offered congratulations on the victory; he recited his services in the war; and he requested permission to fulfill a vow of ten full-grown victims at Rome in the Capitol and one at Praeneste to Fortune. This vow, he said, was for the victory of Rome; and he asked that the alliance with him should be renewed, and that the land taken from King Antiochus, which had been assigned to no one by the Roman People and was being held by Galatians, should be given to

[9] him. Last of all, he placed his son Nicomedes under the protection of the senate.

He was aided by the good-will of all those who had been commanders in

[10] Macedonia. Consequently all but one of his requests were granted; as to the land, the answer was that envoys would be sent to look the matter over; if this land belonged to the Roman People and had been assigned to no one, they would consider Prusias most worthy of receiving it as a

[11] gift; if, on the other hand, it was shown not to have belonged to Antiochus, and therefore not to have come into the possession of the Roman People, or that it had been presented to the Galatians, then Prusias must pardon the Roman People, if they were unwilling to wrong anyone in the process of making him a

[12] present. A gift, said the senate, could not be pleasing even to the recipient, if he knew that the giver would take it away again whenever he

[13] pleased. The senate accepted the commission to protect his son Nicomedes. How great was the care with which the Roman People guarded the sons of kings was ⁶ shown, said the senate, by the case of Ptolemy, King of

[14] Egypt.

With this answer, Prusias was dismissed. Gifts were ordered given him of a value of . . . ⁷ sesterces, and silver vessels of fifty pounds'

[15] weight. It was also voted to give to Prince Nicomedes gifts to the same amount as had been given to Masgaba, the son of King Masinissa. It was further voted that the victims and other requisites for sacrifice should be furnished at public expense to the king, just as to Roman magistrates, whether he wished to sacrifice at Rome or

[16] Praeneste. Also twenty war-vessels from the fleet at Brundisium were to be assigned to his

[17] use; until the king should reach the fleet presented to him, Lucius Cornelius Scipio was to escort him uninterruptedly, and to provide for the expenses of the king and his suite, until he boarded ship.

They say that the king was wonderfully pleased with this expression of good-will toward himself on the part of the Roman

[18] People. He refused to have gifts bought for himself, but instructed his son to accept the gift of the Roman People. Such is the account of Prusias given by Roman

[19] writers. Polybius reports ⁸ that this king was unworthy of the dignity of so high a title; that he was accustomed to meet envoys with his head shaved, while he wore a freedman's cap and called himself the freedman of the Roman People, giving this as his reason for wearing the emblem of this

[20] class. Polybius further says that when Prusias entered the senate-house at Rome, he fell down and kissed the threshold of the senatehouse, hailed the senate as his saviour-gods, ⁹ and ¹⁰ indulged in further speech which conveyed more disgrace to himself than honour to his hearers.

[21] After remaining in the vicinity of Rome no more than thirty days, he set out for his kingdom, and . . . ¹¹ the war under way between Eumenes and the Galatians.

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.) — 45.44 focus

[1] consules eo anno agro tantum Ligurum populato, cum hostes exercitus numquam eduxissent, nulla re memorabili gesta Romam ad magistratus subrogandos redierunt et primo comitiali die consules crearunt M. Claudium Marcellum, C. Sulpicium Gallum, deinde praetores postero die L. Iulium, L. Apuleium Saturninum, A. Licinium Nervam, P. Rutilium Calvum, P. Quinctilium Varum, M. Fonteium.

[2] his praetoribus duae urbanae provinciae sunt decretae, duae Hispaniae, Sicilia ac Sardinia.

[3] intercalatum eo anno; postridie Terminalia kal. intercalariae fuerunt. augur eo anno mortuus est C. Claudius; in eius locum augures legerunt T. Quinctium Flamininum. et flamen Quirinalis mortuus Q. Fabius Pictor.

[4] eo anno rex Prusia venit Romam cum filio Nicomede. is magno comitatu urbem ingressus ad forum a porta tribunalque Q. Cassi praetoris perrexit concursuque undique facto deos,

[5] qui urbem Romam incolerent, senatumque et populum Romanum salutatum se dixit venisse et gratulatum, quod Persea Gentiumque reges vicissent, Macedonibusque et Illyriis in dicionem redactis auxissent imperium.

[6] cum praetor senatum ei, si vellet, eo die daturum dixisset, biduum petit, quo templa deum urbemque et hospites amicosque viseret.

[7] datus, qui circumduceret eum, L. Cornelius Scipio quaestor, qui et Capuam ei obviam missus fuerat; et aedes, quae ipsum comitesque eius benigne reciperent, conductae.

[8] tertio post die senatum adit; gratulatus victoriam est; merita sua in eo bello commemoravit; petiit, ut votum sibi solvere, Romae in Capitolio decem maiores hostias et Praeneste unam Fortunae, liceret — ea vota pro victoria populi Romani esse — , et ut societas secum renovaretur agerque sibi de rege Antiocho captus, quem nulli datum a populo Romano Galli possiderent, daretur.

[9] filium postremo Nicomedem senatui commendavit. omnium, qui in Macedonia imperatores fuerant, favore est adiutus.

[10] itaque cetera, quae petebat, concessa; de agro responsum est legatos ad rem inspiciendam missuros; si is ager populi Romani fuisset nec cuiquam datus esset, dignissimum eo dono Prusiam habituros esse : si autem Antiochi non fuisse et eo ne populi quidem Romani factum appareret aut datum Gallis esse,

[11] ignoscere Prusiam debere, si ex nullius iniuria quidquam ei datum vellet populus Romanus.

[12] ne cui detur quidem, gratum esse donum posse, quod eum, qui det, ubi velit, ablaturum esse sciat.

[13] filii Nicomedis commendationem accipere. quanta cura regum amicorum liberos tueatur populus Romanus, documento Ptolemaeum, Aegypti regem, esse.

[14] cum hoc responso Prusias est dimissus. munera ei ex sestertiis iussa dari et vasorum argenteorum pondo quinquaginta.

[15] et filio regis Nicomedi ex ea summa munera dari censuerunt, ex qua Masgabae, filio regis Masinissae, data essent; et ut victimae aliaque, quae ad sacrificium pertinerent, seu Romae seu Praeneste immolare vellet, regi ex publico sicut magistratibus Romanis praeberentur;

[16] et ut ex classe, quae Brundisi esset, naves longae viginti adsignarentur, quibus uteretur;

[17] donec ad classem dono datam ei rex pervenisset, L. Cornelius Scipio ne ab eo abscederet sumptumque ipsi et comitibus praeberet, donec navem conscendisset.

[18] mire laetum ea benignitate in se populi Romani regem fuisse ferunt; munera sibi ipsi emi non sisse, filium iussisse donum populi Romani accipere.

[19] haec de Prusia nostri scriptores. Polybius eum regem indignum maiestate nominis tanti tradit; pilleatum, capite raso, obviam ire legatis solitum libertumque se populi Romani ferre: ideo insignia ordinis eius gerere;

[20] Romae quoque, cum veniret in curiam, summisisse se et osculo limen curiae contigisse et deos servatores suos senatum appellasse aliamque orationem non tam honorificam audientibus quam sibi deformem habuisse.

[21] moratus circa urbem triginta haud amplius dies in regnum est profectus, actumque in Asia bellum.

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).) — 45.44 focus

[1]

consules eo anno agro tantum Ligurum populato, cum hostes exercitus numquam eduxissent, nulla re memorabili gesta Romam ad magistratus subrogandos redierunt et primo comitiali die consules crearunt M. Claudium Marcellum,

[2] C. Sulpicium Gallum, deinde praetores postero die L. Iulium, L. Apuleium Saturninum, A. Licinium Nervam, P. ¹ Rutilium Calvum, P. Quinctilium Varum, M. Fonteium. his praetoribus duae urbanae provinciae sunt decretae, duae Hispaniae, Sicilia ac Sardinia.

[3] intercalatum eo anno; postridie Terminalia kal. ² intercalariae fuerunt. augur eo anno mortuus est C. Claudius; in eius locum augures legerunt T. Quinctium Flamininum. et flamen Quirinalis mortuus Q. ³ Fabius Pictor.

[4] eo anno rex Prusia venit Romam cum filio Nicomede. is magno comitatu urbem ingressus ad forum

[5] a porta tribunalque Q. ⁴ Cassi praetoris perrexit concursuque undique facto deos, qui urbem Romam incolerent, senatumque et populum Romanum salutatum se dixit venisse et gratulatum, quod Persea Gentiumque reges vicissent, Macedonibusque et Illyriis in dicionem redactis auxissent imperium.

[6] cum praetor senatum ei, si vellet, ⁵ eo die daturum dixisset, biduum petit, quo templa deum urbemque et hospites amicosque viseret.

[7] datus qui circumduceret eum, L. ⁶ Cornelius Scipio quaestor, qui et Capuam ei obviam missus fuerat; et aedes, quae ⁷ ipsum comitesque eius benigne reciperent, conductae.

[8] tertio post die senatum adiit; ⁸ gratulatus victoriam est; merita sua in eo bello commemoravit; petiit, ut votum sibi solvere, Romae in Capitolio decem maiores hostias et Praeneste unam Fortunae, liceret—ea vota pro victoria populi Romani esse—,

[9] et ut societas secum renovaretur agerque sibi de rege Antiocho captus, quem nulli datum a ⁹ populo Romano Galli possiderent, daretur. filium postremo Nicomedem senatui commendavit.

omnium , qui in Macedonia imperatores fuerant, favore est adiutus.

[10] itaque cetera, quae petebat, concessa; de agro responsum est legatos ad rem inspiciendam missuros; si ¹⁰ is ager populi Romani fuisset nec cuiquam datus esset, dignissimum eo dono Prusiam habituros esse;

[11] si autem Antiochi non fuisse et ¹¹ eo ne populi quidem Romani factum appareret ¹² aut datum Gallis esse, ignoscere Prusiam debere, ¹³ si ex nullius iniuria quidquam ei datum vellet populus Romanus.

[12] ne cui detur ¹⁴ quidem, gratum esse donum posse, quod eum qui det, ubi velit, ¹⁵ ablaturum esse sciat.

[13] filii¹⁶ Nicomedis commendationem accipere. quanta cura regum amicorum liberos tueatur populus Romanus, documento Ptolemaeum, ¹⁷ Aegypti regem, esse.

[14] cum hoc response Prusias est dimissus. munera ei ex . . . ¹⁸ sestertiis iussa dari et vasorum argenteorum pondo quinquaginta.

[16] et ut ex classe, quae Brundisi esset, naves longae viginti adsignarentur, quibus uteretur;

[17] donec ad classem dono datam ei rex pervenisset, L. Cornelius Scipio ne ab eo abscederet sumptumque ipsi et comitibus praeberet, donec navem conscendisset.

[18] mire laetum ea benignitate ¹⁹ in se populi Romani regem fuisse ferunt; munera sibi ipsi emi non sisse, ²⁰ filium iussisse donum populi Romani accipere.

[19] haec de Prusia nostri scriptores. Polybius eum regem indignum maiestate nominis tanti tradit; pilleatum, capite raso, obviam ire ²¹ legatis solitum libertumque se populi Romani ferre; ²² ideo insignia ordinis eius gerere;

[21] moratus circa urbem triginta haud amplius dies in regnum est profectus, actumque in Asia bellum inter Eumenen et Gallos in. . . it. ²⁴

Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn Perseus (Weissenborn, W.; Müller, H. J., editors. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1873-1883.) — 45.44 focus

[1]

[2] C. Sulpicium Gallum, deinde praetores postero die L. Iulium, L. Apuleium¹ Saturninum, A. Licinium Nervam, P. Rutilium Calvum, P. Quinctilium Varum, M. Fonteium. his praetoribus duae urbanae provinciae sunt decretae, duae Hispaniae, Sicilia ac Sardinia.

[3] intercalatum eo anno; postridie Terminalia kalendae intercalariae fuerunt. augur eo anno mortuus est C. Claudius; in eius locum augures legerunt T. Quinctium Flamininum. et flamen Quirinalis mortuus Q. Fabius Pictor.

[4] eo anno rex Prusia venit Romam cum filio Nicomede. is magno comitatu urbem ingressus ad forum a porta tribunalque Q. Cassi praetoris perrexit concursuque undique facto deos,

[5] qui urbem Romam incolerent, senatumque et populum Romanum salutatum se dixit venisse et gratulatum, quod Persea Gentiumque reges vicissent Macedonibusque et Illyriis in dicionem redactis auxissent imperium.

[6] cum praetor senatum ei, si velit, eo die daturum dixisset, biduum petiit, quo templa deum urbemque et hospites amicosque viseret.

[7] datus, qui circumduceret eum, L. Cornelius Scipio quaestor, qui et Capuam ei obviam ² missus fuerat, et aedes, quae ipsum comitesque eius benigne reciperent, conductae.

[8] tertio post die senatum adiit; gratulatus victoriam est; merita sua in eo bello commemoravit; petiit, ut votum sibi solvere, Romae in Capitolio decem maiores hostias et Praeneste unam Fortunae, liceret —

[9] ea vota pro victoria populi Romani esse —, et ut societas secum renovaretur agerque sibi de rege Antiocho captus, quem nulli datum a populo Romano Galli possiderent, daretur. filium postremo Nicomedem senatui commendavit. omnium, qui in Macedonia imperatores fuerant, favore est adiutus.

[10] itaque cetera, quae petebat, concessa; de agro responsum est, legatos ad rem inspiciendam missuros; si is ager populi Romani fuisset nec cuiquam datus esset, dignissimum eo dono Prusiam habituros esse,

[11] si autem Antiochi non fuisse et eo ne populi quidem Romani factum appareret aut datum Gallis ³esse, ignoscere Prusiam debere, si ex nullius iniuria quicquam ei datum vellet populus Romanus.

[12] ne cui detur quidem, gratum esse donum posse, quod eum, qui det, ubi vellet, ablaturum esse sciat.

[13] filii Nicomedis commendationem accipere. quanta cura regum amicorum liberos tueatur populus Romanus, documento Ptolemaeum, Aegypti regem, esse.

[14] cum hoc responso Prusia est dimissus. munera ei ex sestertiis iussa dari et vasorum argenteorum pondo quinquaginta.

[16] et ut ex classe, quae Brundisi esset, naves longae viginti adsignarentur, quibus uteretur. donec ad classem dono datam ei rex pervenisset,

[17] L. Cornelius Scipio ne ab eo abscederet sumptumque ipsi ⁴ et comitibus praeberet, donec navem conscendisset.

[18] mire laetum ea benignitate in se populi Romani regem fuisse ferunt; munera sibi ipsi emi non sisse, filium iussisse donum populi Romani accipere.

[19] haec de Prusia nostri scriptores. Polybius eum regem indignum maiestate nominis tanti tradit; pilleatum, capite raso, obviam ire legatis solitum libertumque se populi Romani ferre:

[20] ideo insignia ordinis eius gerere; Romae quoque, cum veniret in curiam, summisisse se et osculo limen curiae contigisse et deos servatores suos senatum appellasse aliamque orationem non tam honorificam audientibus quam sibi deformem habuisse. ⁵ moratus circa urbem triginta haud amplius dies in regnum est profectus.

[21] actumque in Asia bellum

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 45.44 focus

[1]

The consuls of this year, after merely ravaging the lands of the Ligurians, as the enemy never brought an army into the field, returned to Rome to elect new magistrates, without having performed any matter of importance; and on the first day on which the assembly could meet, they appointed Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Caius Sulpicius Gallus, consuls. Lucius Livius, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, Aulus Licinius Nerva, Publius Rutilius Calvus, Publius Quintilius Varus, and Marcus Fonteius, were elected praetors on the next day.

[2] The two city provinces, the two Spains, Sicily, and Sardinia were decreed to these praetors.

[3] There was an intercalation made in the calendar this year, which took place on the day after the feast of Terminus. One of the augurs, Caius Claudius, died this year, and Titus Quintus Flamininus was chosen in his place by the college. The flamen quirinalis, Quintus Fabius Pictor, died also. This year king Prusias arrived at Rome with his son Nicomedes.

[4] Coming into the city with a large retinue, he went directly from the gate to the forum, to the tribunal of the praetor, Quintus Cassius;

[5] and a crowd immediately collecting, he said, that

he came to pay his respects to the deities inhabiting the city of Rome, and to the Roman senate and people, to congratulate them on their conquest of the two kings, Perseus and Gentius, and the augmentation of their empire by the reduction of Macedon and Illyria under their dominion.

[6] When the praetor told him that, if he chose it, he would procure him audience of the senate on the same day, he desired two days' time, in which he might go round and visit the temples of the gods, see the city, and his acquaintances and friends.

[7] Lucius Cornelius Scipio, then quaestor, who had been sent to Capua to meet him, was appointed to conduct him around Rome. A house was likewise provided, capable of lodging him and his retinue with convenience. On the third day after, he attended at a meeting of the senate.

[8] He congratulated them on their success, recounted his own deserts towards them during the war, and then requested that

he might be allowed to fulfil a vow of sacrificing ten large victims in the Capitol, and one to Fortune at Praeneste; a vow which had been made for the success of the Roman people. He further desired that the alliance with him might be renewed; and that the territory taken from king Antiochus, and not granted to any other, but now in possession of the Gauls, might be given to him.

[9] Lastly, he recommended to the senate his son Nicomedes. He was assisted by the interest of all those who had commanded armies in Macedon; his requests therefore were granted, except that with regard to the territory, concerning which he received this answer: that

they would send ambassadors to examine the matter on the spot.

[10]

If the territory in question had become the property of the Roman people, and if no grant had been made of it, they would deem no other so deserving of a present of the kind as Prusias.

[11]

But if it had not belonged to Antiochus, it evidently, in consequence, did not become the property of the Roman people; or if it had been already granted to the Gauls, Prusias must excuse the Roman people if they

[12]

did not choose to confer a present on him in violation of the rights of others. A present cannot be acceptable to the receiver, which he knows the donor may take away whenever he thinks proper.

[13]

That they cheerfully accepted his recommendation of Nicomedes; and Ptolemy, king of Egypt, was an instance of the great care with which the Roman people supported the children of their friends.

[14] With this answer Prusias was dismissed. Presents were ordered to be given him to the value of * * * * sesterces, besides vases of silver, weighing fifty pounds.

[15] And they voted that gifts should be given to his son Nicomedes of the same value with those given to Masgaba, the son of king Masinissa; and that the same victims, and other matters pertaining to sacrifices, should be furnished to the king at the public expense, as to the Roman magistrates, whenever he chose to make the offering, either at Rome or at Praeneste;

[16] and that twenty ships of war should be assigned to him, and which were then lying at Brundusium, of which he should have the use until he arrived at the fleet which was presented to him.

[17] That Lucius Cornelius Scipio should not quit him, but defray all his expenses, and those of his retinue, until they went on board the ships.

[18] We are told that Prusias was wonderfully rejoiced at the kind treatment which he received from the Roman people; that he refused all that had been offered to himself, but ordered his son to receive the present of the Roman people.

[19] Such are the accounts given of Prusias by our own writers. Polybius, however, represents that king as having degraded the majesty of his name, —and says that he used to meet the ambassadors, wearing a cap, and having his head shaved, calling himself a freed slave of the Roman people, and, accordingly, bearing the badges of that class;

[20] that likewise at Rome, when coming into the senate-house, he stooped down and kissed the threshold; called the senate his tutelar deities, and used other expressions not so honourable to the hearers as disgraceful to himself.

[21] He staid in the city and its vicinity not more than thirty days, and then returned to his kingdom, and the war that had been carried on in Asia.

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.) — 45.44 focus

[1]

The consuls for the year had done nothing worth recording in Liguria; the enemy never took the field, so they confined themselves to devastating the country. They returned to Rome for the elections, and on the first day M. Claudius Marcellus and C. Sulpicius Galba were elected consuls. On the following day the election of praetors took place. Those elected were L. Julius, L. Apuleius Saturninus, A. Licinius Nerva, P. Rutilius Calvus, P. Quinctilius Varus and M. Fonteius.

[2] The provinces assigned to them were the two home jurisdictions, the two Spanish provinces, Sicily and Sardinia.

[3] This year was an intercalary one, the additional day being the one following the Terminalia (Feb. 23). One of the augurs, C. Claudius, died this year; the augurs chose T. Quinctius Flamininus in his place; Q. Fabius Pictor, a Flamen Quirinalis, also died. During the year Prusias went to Rome with his son Nicomedes.

[4] He entered the City amid a large concourse, and proceeded through the streets to the tribunal of Q. Cassius the praetor, surrounded by a crowd of citizens.

[5] Addressing the praetor, he said that he had come to pay reverence to the gods of the City, to salute the senate and citizens of Rome, and to congratulate them on their victory over Perseus and Gentius, and the extension of their sway by the subjugation of the Macedonians and Illyrians.

[6] On the praetor informing him that the senate would grant him an audience on that day, if he wished it, he requested to be allowed two days in which to visit the temples of the gods and see the City and pay visits to his hosts and friends.

[7] L. Cornelius Scipio, the quaestor who had been sent to meet him at Capua, was appointed to take him round, and a house in which he and his suite could find ample accommodation was hired for him.

[8] Three days afterwards he attended a meeting of the senate. After congratulating them upon the victory, he enumerated his own services in the war, and asked permission to sacrifice ten full-grown victims in the Capitol in fulfilment of a vow, and one to Fortune at Praeneste; these vows had been made for the victory of Rome. He also requested that the alliance with him might be renewed, and that the district taken from Antiochus, which, as the Romans had not assigned it to any one, the Gauls had taken possession of, might be given to him.

[9] Lastly, he commended his son to the care and protection of the senate.

All who had commanded in Macedonia supported his requests, and, with one exception, they were all granted.

[10] With regard to the land, however, he was told that a commission would be sent to investigate the question of ownership. If the territory belonged to Rome, and had not been granted to any one, they should consider that no one was more deserving of the grant than Prusias.

[11] If, however, it should turn out not to have belonged to Antiochus and had, therefore, never been claimed by Rome, or should it prove to have been actually granted to the Gauls, Prusias must pardon them if the people of Rome were unwilling that anything should be granted to him to the injury of another.

[12] To no one can a gift be grateful when he knows that the giver can take it away whenever he pleases.

[13] The senate accepted the commendation of his son Nicomedes; the care with which the people of Rome protect the sons of friendly monarchs was shown in the case of Ptolemy, King of Egypt.

[14] With this reply Prusias was dismissed. Presents of . . . sesterces were ordered to he made to him and 50 pounds of silver plate.

[15] The senate also decided that presents should be made to Nicomedes of the same value as those made to Masinissa's son Masgaba, and that the victims for sacrifice and the other requisites, whether he wished to offer them at Rome or at Praeneste, should be supplied to the king at the public cost, as in the case of the magistrates.

[16] From the fleet at Brundisium twenty warships were assigned to him for his use.

[17] Till the king had reached the fleet thus presented to him, L Cornelius Scipio was to be his constant attendant, and was to defray all expenses incurred by him and his suite. They say that the king was wonderfully delighted with the kindness the people of Rome had shown towards him.

[18] He refused to have any presents purchased for himself, but he ordered his son to accept what the Roman people gave him. This is what our historians say about Prusias.

[19] Polybius alleges that the king was unworthy of his regal title; he was in the habit of meeting the ambassadors who were sent to him with his head shaved, and wearing a freedman's cap, speaking of himself as the manumitted slave of Rome, and wearing the distinctive dress of this class on that account.

[20] At Rome, too, when he entered the senate-house, he prostrated himself and kissed the threshold and called the senators his protecting deities, with other expressions more degrading to himself than complimentary to those who heard him. After a stay of not more than thirty days in the City and the neighbourhood he left for his kingdom.

[21] A war in Asia was begun (between Eumenes and the Gauls) . . .

Notes on the current edition

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

1. B.C. 167

2. A return to peace-time practice; the Spains were combined during the war, so that a praetor could be assigned as naval commander, or for other special purposes. Cf. xvi. 4.

3. See XLIII. xi. 13 and the note on the need at this time for frequent intercalation. This intercalary month began on what would ordinarily have been the twenty-fourth of February.

4. A clash between his priesthood and his desire for a public career is related in XXXVII. li. 1-6; his grandson or great grandson, Numerius Fabius Pictor, issued coins in honour of his ancestor, showing an armed figure with the priest's headdress in his hand, perhaps to indicate that Quintus was both soldier and priest —unless the figure represents Quirinus, who had military functions even before his identification with the deified Romulus during the late Republic.

5. B.C. 167

6. B.C. 167

7. The amount has been lost from the MS.

8. XXX. 18 (19. 16).

9. This title (Soter) was adopted by several Hellenistic rulers, notably Ptolemy the First.

10. B.C. 167

11. A few lines are missing in the MS. at the end of this book. The lost verb of this sentence is presumably

egged on,

or the like.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 45.44

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers