Military Oath and the Speeches of Varro and Paulus — Livy, History of Rome Book 22 (22.38.1–22.38.13), Latin & English

§22.38.1

dilectu perfecto consules paucos morati dies, dum ab sociis ac nomine Latino venirent¹ milites.

When the levy was completed, the consuls delayed a few days, until the soldiers from the allies and the Latin name should arrive.

§22.38.2

tum quod numquam antea factum erat, iure iurando ab tribunis militum adacti milites;

Then, what had never been done before, the soldiers were bound by an oath by the military tribunes;

§22.38.3

nam ad eam diem nihil praeter sacramentum fuerat, iussu consulum conventuros neque iniussu abituros, et ubi ad decuriatum aut centuriatum convenissent, sua voluntate ipsi inter sese decuriati equites, centuriati pedites coniurabant sese fugae atque formidinis ergo² non abituros neque ex ordine recessuros nisi teli sumendi aut aptandi et aut hostis feriendi aut civis servandi causa.

for up to that day, there had been nothing except the military oath (sacramentum), that they would assemble by order of the consuls and not depart without orders, and when they had assembled into their decuries or centuries, the cavalrymen, organized into decuries, and the infantrymen, organized into centuries, would voluntarily swear among themselves that they would not depart for the sake of flight or fear, nor retreat from the ranks, except for the purpose of taking up or preparing a weapon, and either striking an enemy or saving a fellow citizen.

§22.38.5

id ex voluntario inter ipsos foedere ad tribunos ac legitimam iuris iurandi adactionem translatum.

This was transferred from a voluntary agreement among themselves to the tribunes and the formal administration of the oath.

§22.38.6

contiones priusquam ab urbe signa moverentur, consulis Varronis multae ac feroces fuere, denuntiantis bellum arcessitum in Italiam ab nobilibus mansurumque in visceribus rei publicae, si plures Fabios imperatores haberet, se, quo die hostem vidisset, perfecturum.³

Before the standards were moved from the city, the speeches of the consul Varro were numerous and fierce, declaring that the war had been brought into Italy by the nobles and would remain in the very bowels of the republic if it had more generals like Fabius, and that he would finish it on the day he saw the enemy.

§22.38.7

collegae eius Pauli una, pridie quam ab urbe proficisceretur, contio fuit, verior quam gratior populo, qua nihil inclementer in Varronem dictum nisi id modo, mirari se, qui dux, priusquam aut suum aut hostium exercitum, locorum situm, naturam regionis nosset iam nunc togatus⁴ in urbe sciret, quae sibi agenda armato forent, et diem quoque praedicere posset, qua cum hoste signis collatis esset dimicaturus:

His colleague Paulus had only one speech, on the day before he set out from the city, which was more truthful than pleasing to the people, in which nothing harsh was said against Varro except only this, that he wondered how any leader, before he knew either his own or the enemy’s army, the situation of the places, or the nature of the region, could already know now, while still wearing the toga in the city, what he would have to do when armed, and could even predict the day on which he would fight the enemy with standards joined:

§22.38.11

se, quae consilia magis res dent hominibus quam homines rebus⁵ ea ante tempus inmatura non praecepturum; optare, ut, quae caute ac consulte gesta essent, satis prospere evenirent;

for his part, he would not prematurely anticipate, before the time, those plans which circumstances give to men rather than men to circumstances; he hoped that what had been done cautiously and deliberately would turn out successfully enough;

§22.38.12

temeritatem, praeterquam quod stulta sit infelicem etiam ad id locorum⁶ fuisse.

rashness, besides being foolish, had also been unfortunate up to this point.

§22.38.13

sua sponte apparebat tuta celeribus consiliis praepositurum, et, quo id constantius perseveraret, Q. Fabius Maximus sic eum proficiscentem adlocutus fertur:

By his own accord, it was clear that he would prefer safe counsels to swift ones, and so that he might persist in this more resolutely, Quintus Fabius Maximus is said to have addressed him as he set out as follows:

Syntax notes6 items

22.38.1dum ... venirent
The subjunctive venirent with dum expresses expectancy or purpose ('until they should arrive') rather than a purely temporal limit.
22.38.4fugae atque formidinis ergo
The archaic postpositive preposition ergo governing the genitive case (fugae atque formidinis) to indicate cause or reason ('for the sake of...').
22.38.6se, quo die hostem vidisset, perfecturum
The subjunctive vidisset represents a future perfect indicative in direct speech, and perfecturum stands for the future infinitive se perfecturum [esse], dependent on the main verb participle denuntiantis.
22.38.9togatus
Standing in contrast to armato ('when armed'), it refers to civilian attire ('wearing the toga') in peacetime, criticizing Varro for rashly deciding on plans while still inside the city before taking the field.
22.38.11quae consilia magis res dent hominibus quam homines rebus
The relative pronoun quae has its antecedent in ea [consilia] of the main clause, reflecting Paulus's cautious and realistic military view that 'circumstances dictate plans to men rather than men dictating to circumstances.'
22.38.12ad id locorum
An idiomatic expression where the partitive genitive locorum is joined with the accusative demonstrative ad id, meaning temporally 'up to this point' or 'hitherto.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.38.1-22.38.13