- 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-lat2:23.39.1-23.39.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Philip of Macedon sends a second embassy upon learning of the capture of his first, resulting in the delay of his war preparations; meanwhile in Italy, Fabius recaptures several Campanian cities and reinforces the garrison at Nola.
dum haec Romani parant aguntque, ad Philippum captiva navis una ex iis, quae Romam missae erant, ex cursu refugit;
While the Romans were preparing and doing these things, one captured ship out of those which had been sent to Rome escaped from its course and fled back to Philip;
inde scitum legatos cum litteris captos. itaque ignarus rex, quae cum Hannibale legatis suis convenissent, quaeque legati eius ad se adlaturi fuissent,1 legationem aliam cum eisdem mandatis mittit.
thereupon it was known that the envoys with the letters had been captured. Therefore the king, ignorant of what had been agreed upon between his envoys and Hannibal, and what his envoys would have brought to him, sent another embassy with the same instructions.
legati ad Hannibalem missi Heraclitus, cui Scotino cognomen erat, et Crito Boeotus et Sositheus Magnes. hi prospere tulerunt ac rettulerunt mandata.
The envoys sent to Hannibal were Heraclitus, whose cognomen was Scotinus, Crito the Boeotian, and Sositheus the Magnesian. These successfully carried and brought back their messages.
sed prius se aestas circumegit, quam movere ac moliri quicquam rex posset:2 tantum navis una capta cum legatis momenti fecit ad dilationem imminentis Romanis belli.
But summer had run its course before the king could move or undertake anything; so much of a difference did a single captured ship with the envoys make in delaying a war that was threatening the Romans.
et circa Capuam transgresso Volturnum Fabio post expiata tandem prodigia, ambo consules rem gerebant.
And around Capua, after the prodigies had finally been expiated and Fabius had crossed the Volturnus, both consuls were conducting operations.
Compulteriam et Trebulam et Austiculam urbes, quae ad Poenum defecerant, Fabius vi cepit; praesidiaque in iis Hannibalis Campanique permulti capti.
Compulteria, Trebula, and Austicula, cities which had revolted to the Carthaginian, Fabius took by force; and the garrisons of Hannibal in them and a great many Campanians were captured.
et Nolae sicut priore anno senatus Romanorum, plebs Hannibalis erat, consiliaque occulta de caede principum et proditione urbis inibantur.
At Nola, too, just as in the previous year, the senate was for the Romans, the common people for Hannibal, and secret plans were being formed for the slaughter of the leading men and the betrayal of the city.
quibus ne incepta procederent,3 inter Capuam castraque Hannibalis, quae in Tifatis erant, traducto exercitu Fabius super Suessulam in castris Claudianis consedit; inde M. Marcellum propraetorem cum iis copiis, quas habebat, Nolam in praesidium misit.
Lest their attempts should succeed, Fabius, having led his army across between Capua and the camp of Hannibal which was on Mount Tifata, established himself in the Claudian camp above Suessula; from there he sent the propraetor Marcus Marcellus with the forces which he had to Nola as a garrison.
- 23.39.2ignarus rex, quae cum Hannibale legatis suis convenissent, quaeque legati eius ad se adlaturi fuissent
Two indirect question clauses introduced by the adjective ignarus (ignorant). convenissent is in the pluperfect subjunctive. adlaturi fuissent is a periphrastic subjunctive combining the future participle and fuissem (the pluperfect subjunctive of sum), expressing a future intention or expectation in the past (what they were going to bring).
- 23.39.4prius se aestas circumegit, quam... posset
The conjunction priusquam (before) is split into prius and quam (tmesis). While the main clause uses the indicative perfect circumegit, the subordinate clause after quam takes the imperfect subjunctive posset, implying that the event of the main clause (the passing of summer) anticipated or prevented the action of the subordinate clause (the king's ability to undertake anything).
- 23.39.8quibus ne incepta procederent
quibus is a connecting relative pronoun in the dative case (dative of disadvantage) referring to the conspirators at Nola mentioned in the previous sentence. incepta, a neuter plural perfect participle used substantively, is the subject ("their undertakings").