- 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-lat2:26.18.1-26.18.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Faced with a lack of candidates for the command in Spain, the Roman senate and people are in distress until the young Publius Cornelius Scipio steps forward and is unanimously elected. Afterward, however, the citizens begin to feel uneasy about his youth and the tragic fate of his family.
inter haec Hispaniae populi nec qui post cladem acceptam defecerant redibant ad Romanos, nec ulli novi deficiebant.
Meanwhile, the peoples of Spain neither returned to the Romans—those who had defected after the defeat had been received—nor did any new ones defect.
et Romae senatui populoque post receptam Capuam1 non Italiae iam maior quam Hispaniae cura erat. et exercitum augeri et imperatorem mitti placebat.
And at Rome, for the senate and the people after the recovery of Capua, the care for Italy was now not greater than that for Spain. And it was resolved both that the army should be increased and that a commander should be sent.
nec tam, quem mitterent, satis constabat, quam illud,2 ubi duo summi imperatores intra dies triginta cecidissent, qui in locum duorum succederet, extraordinaria cura deligendum esse.
Nor was it so much clear whom they should send, as that, where two supreme commanders had fallen within thirty days, the one who should succeed to the place of the two had to be selected with extraordinary care.
cum alii alium nominarent, postremum eo decursum est, ut proconsuli creando in Hispaniam comitia haberentur; diemque comitiis consules edixerunt.
While some were naming one person and others another, they finally resorted to this, that comitia should be held for creating a proconsul for Spain; and the consuls proclaimed the day for the comitia.
primo expectaverant, ut, qui se tanto imperio dignos crederent, nomina profiterentur. quae ut destituta expectatio est,3 redintegratus luctus acceptae cladis desideriumque imperatorum amissorum.
At first they had expected that those who believed themselves worthy of so great a command would declare their names. When this expectation was frustrated, the grief for the defeat received and the longing for the lost commanders were renewed.
maesta itaque civitas, prope inops consilii, comitiorum die tamen in campum descendit; atque in magistratus versi circumspectant ora principum aliorum alios intuentium fremuntque adeo perditas res desperatumque de re publica esse, ut nemo audeat4 in Hispaniam imperium accipere, cum subito5 P. Cornelius, P. Cornelii, qui in Hispania ceciderat, filius, quattuor et viginti ferme annos natus, professus se petere in superiore, unde conspici posset, loco constitit.
Therefore the sorrowful state, almost helpless for counsel, nevertheless on the day of the comitia went down to the Campus; and turning toward the magistrates, they looked around at the faces of the leading men who were gazing at one another, and they muttered that affairs were so ruined and the commonwealth so despaired of that no one dared to accept the command in Spain, when suddenly Publius Cornelius, son of the Publius Cornelius who had fallen in Spain, about twenty-four years old, having declared that he was a candidate, stood in a higher place from which he could be seen.
in quem postquam omnium ora conversa sunt clamore ac favore ominati extemplo sunt felix faustumque imperium.
After the faces of all were turned toward him, they immediately, with a shout and favor, augured a happy and auspicious command.
iussi deinde inire suffragium ad unum omnes non centuriae modo sed etiam homines P. Scipioni imperium esse in Hispania iusserunt.
Then ordered to cast their votes, all to a man, not only the centuries but even individual men, ordered that Publius Scipio should have the command in Spain.
ceterum post rem actam, ut iam resederat impetus animorum: ardorque, silentium subito ortum et tacita cogitatio quidnam egissent? nonne favor plus valuisset quam ratio?
But after the business was done, as the impulse and ardor of their minds had already subsided, a sudden silence arose and a silent reflection on what on earth they had done: had not favor prevailed more than reason?
aetatis maxime paenitebat;6 quidam fortunam etiam domus horrebant nomenque ex funestis duabus familiis in eas provincias, ubi inter sepulcra patris patruique res gerendae essent, proficiscentis.
They repented most of his age; some also dreaded the fortune of his house and the name of one setting out from two afflicted families into those provinces where his operations had to be conducted between the graves of his father and uncle.
- 26.18.2post receptam Capuam
A noun combined with a perfect passive participle (the so-called ab urbe condita construction), expressing a noun-like action: 'after the recovery of Capua'.
- 26.18.3nec tam, quem mitterent, satis constabat, quam illud...
A comparative structure with the correlatives tam... quam.... For the impersonal verb constabat (it was clear), the indirect question clause quem mitterent (whom they should send) is compared as the former term, and the demonstrative pronoun illud introducing the accusative with infinitive clause (deligendum esse) as the latter. It means: 'it was not so much clear whom they should send, as that [the successor] had to be selected...'.
- 26.18.5quae ut destituta expectatio est
The relative pronoun quae acts as a connecting relative referring back to the previous expectation (expectaverant ut...), agreeing in gender and number (feminine singular) with expectatio. The conjunction ut introduces a temporal clause meaning 'when' or 'as soon as'.
- 26.18.6fremuntque adeo perditas res desperatumque de re publica esse, ut nemo audeat...
The verb of murmuring fremunt introduces accusative and infinitive clauses in indirect discourse (perditas [esse] res and the impersonal desperatum [esse] de re publica). The following ut clause is a clause of result (ut with present subjunctive audeat) corresponding to the adverb adeo (to such a degree).
- 26.18.7cum subito
The so-called 'inverted cum' (cum inversum) construction. While the main clause (26.18.6) describes the ongoing background situation using historical presents (descendit, circumspectant, fremunt), the sudden major event is introduced by cum with the indicative (historical perfect constitit).
- 26.18.11aetatis maxime paenitebat
A construction with the impersonal verb paenitere, where the person feeling regret (the Roman citizens) is in the accusative (omitted here as understood from context), and the cause of regret is in the genitive (aetatis). Hence, 'they repented most of his age' (i.e., they were highly concerned about his youth).