- Source
- Titi Livi ab urbe condita libri editionem priman, Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.23.1-22.23.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
Describes the unpopularity of Fabius's delay tactic at home, his patriotic sale of his private land to pay for the prisoner exchange, and Hannibal's encampment and foraging around Gereonium.
haec in Hispania secunda aestate Punici belli gesta, cum in Italia paulum intervalli cladibus Romanis sollers cunctatio Fabii fecisset;
These were the things done in Spain in the second summer of the Punic War, while in Italy the skillful delay of Fabius had brought a brief respite to the Roman disasters.
quae ut Hannibalem non mediocri sollicitum cura habebat, tandem eum militiae magistrum delegisse Romanos cernentem, qui bellum ratione, non fortuna gereret, ita1 contempta erat inter civis armatos pariter togatosque, utique postquam absente eo temeritate magistri equitum laeto verius dixerim quam prospero eventu2 pugnatum fuerat.
This delay, which on the one hand kept Hannibal anxious with no small care, as he perceived that the Romans had at last chosen such a master of war for themselves as would conduct the war by reason and not by fortune, was on the other hand so despised among the citizens, both armed and toga-clad alike, especially after a battle had been fought in his absence through the rashness of the master of the horse with an outcome that I might more truly call joyful than successful.
accesserant duae res ad augendam invidiam dictatoris, una fraude ac dolo Hannibalis, quod, cum3 a perfugis ei monstratus ager dictatoris esset, omnibus circa solo aequatis ab uno eo ferrum ignemque et vim omnem hostilem abstineri iussit, ut occulti alicuius pacti ea merces videri posset, altera ipsius facto, primo forsitan dubio, quia non expectata in eo senatus auctoritas est, ad extremum haud ambigue in maximam laudem verso.
Two events had added to increasing the unpopularity of the dictator: one by the fraud and cunning of Hannibal, because, when the dictator’s land had been pointed out to him by deserters, though all the surrounding area was leveled to the ground, he ordered that sword, fire, and all hostile violence be kept away from that one estate, so that it might appear to be the reward of some secret pact; the other by his own deed, which at first was perhaps doubtful, because the authorization of the senate was not awaited in this matter, but in the end turned out without ambiguity to his greatest praise.
in permutandis captivis, quod sic primo Punico bello factum erat, convenerat inter duces Romanum Poenumque, ut, quae pars plures reciperet quam daret, argenti pondo bina et selibras in militem praestaret.
In the exchange of prisoners, which had been done likewise in the First Punic War, it had been agreed between the Roman and Carthaginian commanders that whichever party received more than it gave should pay two and a half pounds of silver per soldier.
ducentis quadraginta septem cum plures Romanus quam Poenus recepisset argentumque pro eis debitum saepe iactata in senatu re, quoniam non consuluisset patres tardius erogaretur, inviolatum ab hoste agrum misso Romam Quinto filio vendidit fidemque publicam inpendio privato exsolvit.
When the Roman had received two hundred and forty-seven more than the Carthaginian, and the money owed for them was being paid out rather slowly because the matter had been frequently debated in the senate, since he had not consulted the senators, Fabius sold his land, which had been left untouched by the enemy, having sent his son Quintus to Rome, and discharged the public pledge at his private expense.
Hannibal pro Gereoni moenibus cuius urbis captae atque incensae ab se in usum horreorum pauca reliquerat tecta, in stativis erat.
Hannibal was in permanent camp before the walls of Gereonium, a city which, after taking and burning it, he had left only a few roofs for use as granaries.
inde frumentatum duas exercitus partes mittebat; cum tertia ipse expedita in statione erat simul castris praesidio4 et circumspectans, necunde impetus in frumentatores fieret.
From there, he sent out two-thirds of his army to forage; with the light-armed third part, he himself remained on guard, serving as a protection for the camp and at the same time watching lest any attack be made on the foragers from any direction.
- 22.23.2quae ut ... ita
The connecting relative pronoun quae has the preceding noun cunctatio (delay) as its antecedent and is nominative feminine singular here. The following ut ... ita ... forms a contrastive structure ('on the one hand ... on the other hand'), where the ut-clause describes the effect on Hannibal, and the ita-clause describes the low opinion of the delay tactic among Roman citizens.
- 22.23.3laeto verius dixerim quam prospero eventu
dixerim is a perfect subjunctive in the first person singular, expressing potentiality ('I might more truly say'). laeto and prospero are adjectives modifying eventu (ablative). Livy suggests that while the battle brought temporary joy (laetus), it was not a true success (prosperus) in terms of long-term strategy.
- 22.23.4quod, cum ...
quod is an explanatory conjunction introducing a noun clause that details the first of the two factors (una). The main verb of this explanatory clause is iussit.
- 22.23.10castris praesidio
A double dative construction. castris is the dative of reference ('for the camp') and praesidio is the dative of purpose ('as a protection'), used with the intransitive verb erat to mean 'served as a protection for the camp'.