- 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-lat2:24.33.1-24.33.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Roman army, after their envoy's ship was captured in the harbor of Syracuse and negotiations failed, began a full-scale siege of the city simultaneously by land and sea.
haec nuntiata cum essent Romanis, ex Leontinis mota sunt extemplo castra ad Syracusas.
When these things had been reported to the Romans, the camp was immediately moved from Leontini to Syracuse.
et ab Appio legati per portum missi forte in quinqueremi erant. praemissa quadriremis cum intrasset fauces portus, capitur;
And envoys sent by Appius through the harbor happened to be in a quinquereme. The quadrireme sent ahead, when it had entered the mouth of the harbor, was captured;
legati aegre effugerunt. et iam non modo pacis sed ne belli quidem iura relicta erant, cum Romanus exercitus1 ad Olympium — Iovis id templum est — mille et quingentos passus ab urbe castra posuit. inde quoque legatos praemitti placuit;
the envoys escaped with difficulty. And now not only the rights of peace but not even those of war were left, when the Roman army pitched camp at the Olympium—this is a temple of Jupiter—one thousand five hundred paces from the city. From there also it was decided that envoys should be sent ahead;
quibus, ne intrarent urbem, extra portam Hippocrates atque Epicydes obviam cum suis processerunt.
to whom, lest they should enter the city, Hippocrates and Epicydes went out to meet outside the gate with their men.
Romanus orator non bellum se Syracusanis sed opem auxiliumque adferre ait et eis, qui ex media caede elapsi perfugerint ad se, et eis, qui metu oppressi foediorem non exilio solum sed etiam morte servitutem patiantur.
The Roman spokesman said that he was bringing not war to the Syracusans, but help and assistance, both to those who, having escaped from the midst of the slaughter, had fled to them, and to those who, oppressed by fear, were suffering a servitude more foul not only than exile but even than death.
nec caedem nefandam sociorum inultam Romanos passuros: itaque, si eis, qui ad se perfugerint, tutus in patriam reditus pateret, caedis auctores dedantur2 et libertas legesque Syracusanis restituantur, nihil armis opus esse; si ea non fiant, quicumque in mora sit, bello persecuturos.
Nor would the Romans allow the unspeakable slaughter of their allies to go unavenged: therefore, if a safe return to their country were open to those who had fled to them, the authors of the slaughter were handed over, and liberty and laws were restored to the Syracusans, there would be no need for arms; if these things were not done, they would pursue with war whoever should be an obstacle.
ad ea Epicydes, si qua ad se mandata haberent, responsum eis ait se daturos fuisse;3 cum in eorum, ad quos venerint, manu res Syracusana esset, tum reverterentur.
To this Epicydes said that, if they had any instructions for them, they would have given them an answer; when the Syracusan state should be in the hands of those to whom they had come, then they might return.
si bello lacesserent, ipsa re intellecturos nequaquam idem esse Syracusas ac Leontinos oppugnare. ita legatis relictis portas clausit.
If they should provoke them with war, they would understand by the reality itself that it was by no means the same thing to attack Syracuse as to attack Leontini. Having thus left the envoys, he closed the gates.
inde terra marique simul coeptae oppugnari Syracusae, terra ab Hexapylo, mari ab Achradina, cuius murus fluctu adluitur. et quia, sicut Leontinos terrore ac primo impetu ceperant, non diffidebant vastam disiectamque spatio urbem parte aliqua se invasuros, omnem apparatum oppugnandarum urbium muris admoverunt.
Thence Syracuse began to be besieged at the same time by land and sea: by land from Hexapylum, by sea from Achradina, the wall of which is washed by the waves. And because, just as they had captured Leontini by terror and at the first assault, they did not doubt that they would enter some part of the city, which was vast and scattered in space, they brought all the apparatus for besieging cities up to the walls.
- 24.33.3cum Romanus exercitus
An instance of 'cum inversum' (inverted cum). While the main clause (non modo ... relicta erant) in the pluperfect describes a state already in progress, the cum-clause with the indicative perfect (posuit) introduces a sudden and decisive action.
- 24.33.6pateret, caedis auctores dedantur
An example of 'repraesentatio' (re-presentation) in indirect discourse. Because the introductory verb (ait in §24.33.5) is a historical present, the subjunctive verbs in the subordinate clauses alternate between the imperfect (pateret), reflecting the past aspect of the historical present, and the present (dedantur, fiant, sit), reflecting its present aspect.
- 24.33.7se daturos fuisse
The apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence expressed in indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive). What would have been 'si ... haberetis, responsum dedissemus' (if you had, we would have given an answer) in direct speech is transformed into the '-turus fuisse' construction.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 2