Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator), 10.3

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[1] The¹ Vestinians had requested to be placed on the footing of a friendly State, and a treaty was made with them this year.

[2] Subsequently several incidents created alarm in Rome. Intelligence was received of the renewal of hostilities by the Etruscans, owing to disturbances in Arretium. The powerful house of the Cilnii² had created widespread jealousy through their enormous wealth, and an attempt was made to expel them from the city. The Marsi also were giving trouble, for a body of 4000 colonists had been sent to Carseoli, and they were prevented by force from occupying the place.

[3] In view of this threatening aspect of affairs, M. Valerius Maximus was nominated Dictator, and he named M. Aemilius Paulus Master of the Horse.

[4] I think that this is more probable than that Q. Fabius was made Master of the Horse and, therefore, in a subordinate position to Valerius, in spite of his age and the offices he had held;

[5] but I am quite prepared to admit that the error arose from the cognomen Maximus, common to both men.³ The Dictator took the field and routed the Marsi in one battle. After compelling them to seek shelter in their fortified cities, he took Milionia, Plestina, and Fresilia within a few days.

[6] The Marsi were compelled to surrender a portion of their territory, and then the old treaty with Rome was renewed. The war was now turned against the Etruscans, and an unfor- tunate incident occurred during this campaign.

[7] The Dictator had left the camp for Rome to take the auspices afresh, and the Master of the Horse had gone out to forage. He was surprised and surrounded, and after losing some standards and many of his men, he was driven in disgraceful flight back to his camp.

[8] Such a precipitate flight is contradictory to all that we know of Fabius; for it was his reputation as a soldier that more than anything else justified his epithet of Maximus, and he never forgot the severity of Papirius towards him, and could never have been tempted to fight without the Dictator's orders.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator). Medford, MA. 1997-10-28.

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Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.)

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 10.3 focus

[1] eodem anno Romae cum Vestinis petentibus amicitiam ictum est foedus. multiplex deinde exortus terror.

[2] Etruriam rebellare ab Arretinorum seditionibus motu orto nuntiabatur, ubi Cilnium genus praepotens divitiarum invidia pelli armis coeptum; simul Marsos agrum vi tueri, in quem colonia Carseoli deducta erat, quattuor milibus hominum scriptis.

[3] itaque propter eos tumultus dictus M. Valerius Maximus dictator magistrum equitum sibi legit M. Aemilium Paulum.

[4] id magis credo quam Q. Fabium ea aetate atque eis honoribus Valerio subiectum; ceterum ex Maximi cognomine ortum errorem haud abnuerim.

[5] profectus dictator cum exercitu proelio uno Marsos fundit; conpulsis deinde in urbes munitas, Milioniam, Plestinam, Fresiliam intra dies paucos cepit et parte agri multatis Marsis foedus restituit.

[6] tum in Etruscos versum bellum; et cum dictator auspiciorum repetendorum causa profectus Romam esset, magister equitum pabulatum egressus ex insidiis circumvenitur signisque aliquot amissis foeda militum caede ac fuga in castra est conpulsus.

[7] qui terror non eo tantum a Fabio abhorret, quod, si qua alia arte, cognomen suum aequavit tum maxume bellicis laudibus,

[8] sed etiam quod memor Papirianae saevitiae numquam, ut dictatoris iniussu dimicaret, adduci potuisset.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 10.3 focus

[1]

eodem anno Romae cum Vestinis petentibus amicitiam ictum est foedus. multiplex deinde exortus terror.

[2] Etruriam rebellare ab Arretinorum seditionibus motu orto nuntiabatur, ubi Cilnium genus ¹ praepotens divitiarum invidia pelli armis coeptum; simul Marsos agrum vi tueri, in quem quern colonia Carseoli deducta erat quattuor milibus hominum scriptis.

[3] itaque propter eos tumultus dictus M. Valerius Maximus dictator magistrum equitum sibi legit M. Aemilium Paulum.

[4] —Id magis credo quam Q. Fabium ea aetate atque eis honoribus Valerio subiectum; ceterum ex Maximi cognomine ortum errorem haud baud abnuerim.

[5] —Profectus dictator cum exercitu proelio uno Marsos fundit; compulsis deinde in urbes munitas, Milioniam, Plestinam, Fresiliam intra dies paucos cepit et parte agri multatis Marsis foedus restituit.

[7] —Qui terror non eo tantum a Fabio abhorret quod, si qua alia arte cognomen suum aequavit tum maxime bellicis laudibus,

[8] sed etiam quod memor Papirianae saevitiae nunquam ut dictatoris iniussu dimicaret adduci potuisset.

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).) — 10.3 focus

[1]

eodem anno Romae cum Vestinis petentibus amicitiam ictum est foedus. multiplex deinde exortus terror.

[3] itaque propter eos tumultus dictus M. Valerius Maximus dictator magistrum equitum sibi legit M. Aemilium Paulum.

[4] —Id magis credo quam Q. Fabium ea aetate atque eis honoribus Valerio subiectum; ceterum ex Maximi cognomine ortum errorem haud baud abnuerim.

[7] —Qui terror non eo tantum a Fabio abhorret quod, si qua alia arte cognomen suum aequavit tum maxime bellicis laudibus,

[8] sed etiam quod memor Papirianae saevitiae nunquam ut dictatoris iniussu dimicaret adduci potuisset.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (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)) — 10.3 focus

[2] a treaty was entered into at Rome this year with the Vestini, who solicited friendship.

thereafter there were alarms in several quarters. it was reported that Etruria was up in arms, in consequence of an outbreak that had its origin in dissensions at Arretium, where a movement was begun to drive out ¹ the Cilnii —a very powerful family ² —because of the envy occasioned by their wealth. at the same time the Marsi forcibly resisted the confiscation of their land, where the colony of Carscoli had been planted with an enrolment of four thousand men. ³

[3] in view, therefore, of these tumults, Marcus Valerius Maximus was appointed dictator and named Marcus Aemilius Paulus to be his master of the horse.

[4] this I choose rather to believe than that Quintus Fabius, at his time of life and after the offices he had held, was made subordinate to Valerius; but I would not deny that the error might have originated in the surname of Maximus. ⁴

[5] —Setting out with his army, the dictator overthrew the Marsi in a single battle; then shutting them up in their walled cities, he captured Milionia, Plestina, and Fresilia, in the course of a few days, and having fined the Marsi in a part of their territory, renewed the treaty with them.

[6] The campaign was then directed against the Etruscans;

[7] the dictator having set out for Rome, to take the auspices over again, the master of the horse went out to forage, and being ambushed, lost a number of standards and was driven back into his camp, with a shameful rout and slaughter of his soldiers.

[8] —This discomfiture is very unlikely to have befallen Fabius, not only because if in any quality he came up to his surname, he assuredly did so in the glory of a soldier, but also because, remembering the severity of Papirius, he could never have been brought to engage in battle without the orders of the dictator. ⁵

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 10.3 focus

[1]

A treaty was this year concluded at Rome with the Vestinians, who solicited friendship.

[2] Various causes of apprehension afterwards sprung up. News arrived, that Etruria was in rebellion; the insurrection having arisen from the dissensions of the Arretians; for the Cilnian family having grown exorbitantly powerful, a party, out of envy of their wealth, had attempted to expel them by force of arms. [Accounts were also received] that the Marsians held forcible possession of the lands to which the colony of Carseoli, consisting of four thousand men, had been sent.

[3] By reason, therefore, of these commotions, Marcus Valerius Maximus was nominated dictator, and chose for his master of the horse Marcus Aemilius Paullus.

[4] This I am inclined to believe, rather than that Quintus Fabius, at such an age as he then was, and after enjoying many honours, was placed in a station subordinate to Valerius: but I think it not unlikely that the mistake arose from the surname Maximus.

[5] The dictator, having set out at the head of an army, in one battle utterly defeated the Marsians, drove them into their fortified towns, and afterwards, in the course of a few days, took Milionia, Plestina, and Fresilia; and then finding Marsians in a part of their lands, granted them a renewal of the treaty.

[6] The war was then directed against the Etrurians;

[7] and when the dictator had gone to Rome, for the purpose of renewing the auspices, the master of the horse, going out to forage, was surrounded by an ambuscade, and obliged to fly shamefully into his camp, after losing several standards and many of his men.

[8] The occurrence of which discomfiture to Fabius is exceedingly improbable; not only because, if in any particular, certainly, above all, in the qualifications of a commander, he fully merited his surname; but besides, mindful of Papirius's severity, he never could have been tempted to fight, without the dictator's orders.

Notes on the current edition

History of Rome, books 1-10, 21-45

1. War in Etruria.

2. The house of the Cilnii probably headed the aristocratic opposition to the commons ofArretium, and as in other similar cases sent for assistance to Rome, whose sympathies were always on that side. We learn in chap. v. that a reconciliation was effected. From this was descended Maecenas, the friend of Augustus and the patron of Horace.

3. Livy apparently thought that the epithet Maximus had been transferred from Valerius to Aemilius, and so the latter became confused with Q. Fabius Maximus. But the sentence is obscure. The Fasti Capitolini give both Valerius and Fabius as Dictators this year.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 10.3

Rev. Canon Roberts (Translator)

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