- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:23.11.1-23.11.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
In Rome, the envoy Fabius Pictor returns from Delphi with Apollo's oracle prescribing religious rituals for the state. Meanwhile, in Carthage, Mago reports Hannibal's great victory at Cannae and the defection of Italian cities, urging thanks to the gods.
dum haec geruntur, Q. Fabius Pictor legatus a Delphis Romam rediit responsumque ex scripto recitavit. divi divaeque in eo erant, quibus quoque modo1 supplicaretur;
While these things were going on, the envoy Quintus Fabius Pictor returned to Rome from Delphi and read out the oracle’s response from a written document. In it were listed the gods and goddesses, and in what manner supplication should be made to each of them.
tum “si ita faxitis,2 Romani, vestrae res meliores facilioresque erunt, magisque ex sententia res publica vestra vobis procedet, victoriaque duelli populi Romani erit.
Then: “If you do thus, Romans, your affairs will be better and easier, and your republic will proceed more in accordance with your wishes, and the victory of the war will belong to the Roman people.
Pythio Apollini re publica vestra bene gesta servataque de lucris meritis donum mittitote deque praeda, manubiis spoliisque honorem habetote; lasciviam a vobis prohibetote.”
To Pythian Apollo, when your republic is well managed and preserved, send a gift from your earned profits, and render honor from the booty, spoils, and plunder; keep licentiousness away from yourselves.”
haec ubi ex Graeco carmine interpretata recitavit, tum dixit se oraculo egressum extemplo iis omnibus divis rem divinam ture ac vino fecisse;
When he had read these words, translated from the Greek poem, he then said that as soon as he had gone out of the oracle, he had performed a sacred rite with incense and wine to all those gods;
iussumque3 a templi antistite, sicut coronatus laurea corona et oraculum adisset et rem divinam fecisset, ita coronatum navem ascendere nec ante deponere eam, quam4 Romam pervenisset, se, quaecumque imperata sint, cum summa religione ac diligentia exsecutum coronam Romae in ara Apollinis deposuisse. senatus decrevit, ut eae res divinae supplicationesque primo quoque tempore cum cura fierent.
and that he had been ordered by the priest of the temple that, just as he had approached the oracle and performed the sacred rite crowned with a laurel wreath, so he should board the ship crowned, and not take it off before he reached Rome; he added that he had executed everything that had been commanded with the greatest reverence and diligence, and had deposited the wreath on the altar of Apollo in Rome. The senate decreed that these sacred rites and supplications should be performed with care at the very first opportunity.
dum haec Romae atque in Italia geruntur nuntius victoriae ad Cannas Carthaginem venerat Mago Hamilcaris filius, non ex ipsa acie a fratre missus, sed retentus aliquot dies in recipiendis civitatibus Bruttiorum, quaeque aliae deficiebant.
While these things were being done in Rome and in Italy, the messenger of the victory at Cannae, Mago the son of Hamilcar, had come to Carthage. He had not been sent by his brother from the battlefield itself, but had been detained for some days in receiving the submission of the cities of the Bruttians, and whichever others were revolting.
is, cum ei senatus datus esset, res gestas in Italia a fratre exponit: cum sex imperatoribus eum, quorum quattuor consules, duo dictator ac magister equitum fuerint, cum sex consularibus exercitibus acie conflixisse;
When a meeting of the senate was granted to him, he set forth the achievements of his brother in Italy: that he had fought in battle with six commanders, of whom four had been consuls, and two a dictator and a master of the horse, and with six consular armies;
occidisse supra ducenta milia hostium, supra quinquaginta cepisse, bina castra expugnasse; ex quattuor consulibus duos occidisse, ex duobus saucium alterum, alterum toto amisso exercitu vix cum quinquaginta hominibus effugisse; magistrum equitum, quae consularis potestas sit,5 fusum fugatum; dictatorem, quia se in aciem numquam commiserit, unicum haberi imperatorem;
that he had slain over two hundred thousand of the enemy, captured over fifty thousand, and stormed two camps; of the four consuls, he had killed two, and of the other two, one was wounded, and the other, having lost his entire army, had escaped with barely fifty men; and that the master of the horse, whose power is equal to that of a consul, had been routed and put to flight; while the dictator, because he had never trusted himself in battle, was regarded as a unique general;
Bruttios Apulosque, partem Samnitium ac Lucanorum defecisse ad Poenos; Capuam, quod caput non Campaniae modo sed post adflictam rem Romanam Cannensi pugna Italiae sit, Hannibali se tradidisse.
that the Bruttians, the Apulians, and a part of the Samnites and Lucanians had defected to the Carthaginians; and that Capua, which was the capital not only of Campania but, after the Roman power was shattered by the battle of Cannae, of all Italy, had surrendered itself to Hannibal.
pro his tantis totque victoriis verum esse6 grates deis immortalibus agi haberique.
For these so great and so many victories, he said it was only right that thanks should be rendered and felt towards the immortal gods.
- 23.11.1quibus quoque modo
A double question combining the dative plural of the interrogative pronoun (quibus) and the ablative singular of the interrogative adjective (quo) modifying modo, meaning 'to which gods, and in what manner.'
- 23.11.2faxitis
An archaic syncopated form of the future perfect feceritis. In the conditional clause, it reflects the solemn, traditional style of religious oracles.
- 23.11.5iussumque
Part of the accusative and infinitive construction governed by dixit in the preceding section (§23.11.4). It is parsed as the passive infinitive iussum [esse] with the accusative subject se (referring to Fabius Pictor) understood.
- 23.11.5nec ante deponere eam, quam
A tmesis separating ante and quam, which together function as the conjunction antequam ('not before/until'). The pronoun eam is a feminine accusative singular referring to the previously mentioned corona.
- 23.11.10quae consularis potestas sit
The relative pronoun quae refers to the masculine antecedent magistrum equitum, but agrees in gender and number with the predicate noun potestas (feminine singular) inside its own relative clause by attraction.
- 23.11.12verum esse
An impersonal infinitive phrase meaning 'it is right/just' in the indirect discourse continued from exponit (§23.11.8). The entire clause grates deis immortalibus agi haberique serves as its subject.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1