- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:26.30.1-26.30.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Following the exchange of provinces, the Sicilian envoys are admitted to the senate and bitterly denounce Marcellus's harsh treatment of Syracuse. In response, Marcellus, while lamenting that the conquered act as accusers against their conquerors, demands to make his defense in their presence.
Permutatis provinciis Siculi in senatum introducti multa de Hieronis regis fide perpetua erga populum Romanum verba fecerunt in gratiam publicam avertentes;
When the provinces had been exchanged, the Sicilians, being introduced into the senate, spoke at length about the constant loyalty of King Hiero toward the Roman people, turning it to the public credit;
Hieronymum ac postea Hippocraten atque Epicyden tyrannos cum ob alia tum propter defectionem ab Romanis ad Hannibalem invisos fuisse sibi.1 ob eam causam et Hieronymum a principibus iuventutis prope publico consilio interfectum, et in Epicydis Hippocratisque caedem septuaginta nobilissimorum iuvenum coniurationem factam; quos2 Marcelli mora destitutos, quia ad praedictum tempus exercitum ad Syracusas non admovisset, indicio facto omnis ab tyrannis interfectos.
they asserted that the tyrant Hieronymus, and afterwards Hippocrates and Epicydes, had been hated by them both for other reasons and especially because of their defection from the Romans to Hannibal. For that reason, Hieronymus also had been killed by the leaders of the youths, almost by a public conspiracy; and that for the murder of Epicydes and Hippocrates, a conspiracy of seventy of the noblest youths had been formed; but, being abandoned through the delay of Marcellus, because he had not moved his army to Syracuse at the appointed time, they had all been killed by the tyrants after information was given.
eam quoque Hippocratis et Epicydis tyrannidem Marcellum excitasse Leontinis crudeliter direptis.
They added that Marcellus had also excited that tyranny of Hippocrates and Epicydes by cruelly plundering Leontini.
numquam deinde principes Syracusanorum desisse ad Marcellum transire pollicerique se urbem, cum vellet, ei tradituros; sed eum primo vi capere maluisse;
Thereafter, the leaders of the Syracusans had never ceased to go over to Marcellus and to promise that they would deliver the city to him whenever he wished; but he had preferred at first to take it by force.
dein, cum id neque terra neque maria omnia expertus potuisset, auctores traditarum Syracusarum fabrum aerarium Sosim et Moericum Hispanum quam principes Syracusanorum habere, totiens id nequiquam ultro offerentis, praeoptasse,3 quo scilicet iustiore de causa vetustissimos socios populi Romani trucidaret ac diriperet.
Then, when he had been unable to achieve this after trying everything by land and sea, he preferred to have as the authors of the surrender of Syracuse the coppersmith Sosis and the Spaniard Moericus rather than the leaders of the Syracusans, who had so many times offered it in vain of their own accord, clearly in order that he might have a more justifiable excuse to slaughter and plunder the oldest allies of the Roman people.
si non Hieronymus ad Hannibalem defecisset, sed populus Syracusanus et senatus, si portas Marcello Syracusani publice et non oppressis Syracusanis tyranni eorum4 Hippocrates et Epicydes clausissent, si Carthaginiensium animis bellum cum populo Romano gessissent, quid ultra quam quod fecerit, nisi ut deleret Syracusas, facere hostiliter Marcellum potuisse?5
If it had been not Hieronymus who had defected to Hannibal, but the Syracusan people and senate; if the Syracusans had officially closed their gates against Marcellus, and not their tyrants Hippocrates and Epicydes while the Syracusans were oppressed; if they had waged war against the Roman people with the spirit of Carthaginians, what more hostile act could Marcellus have done, beyond what he actually did, unless he were to utterly destroy Syracuse?
certe praeter moenia et tecta exhausta urbis et refracta ac spoliata deum delubra, dis ipsis ornamentisque eorum ablatis, nihil relictum Syracusis esse, bona quoque multis adempta, ita ut ne nudo quidem solo, reliquiis direptae fortunae, alere sese ac suos possent. orare se patres conscriptos, ut, si nequeant omnia, saltem quae compareant cognoscique possint; restitui dominis iubeant.
Certainly, except for the walls and empty houses of the city, and the broken and plundered temples of the gods, the gods themselves and their ornaments having been carried away, nothing had been left in Syracuse, and property had also been taken away from many, so that they could not support themselves and their families even on the bare soil, the only remnant of their plundered fortune. They begged the conscript fathers that, if they could not restore everything, they would at least order that whatever appeared and could be identified be restored to its owners.
talia conquestos cum excedere ex templo, ut de postulatis eorum patres consuli possent, Laevinus iussisset, “maneant immo,” inquit Marcellus, “ut coram iis respondeam, quando ea condicione pro vobis, patres conscripti, bella gerimus, at victos armis accusatores habeamus, duae captae hoc anno urbes, Capua Fulvium reum, Marcellum Syracusae habeant.”
When they had made these complaints, and Laevinus had ordered them to withdraw from the temple, ‘Nay, rather let them remain,’ said Marcellus, ‘that I may answer in their presence, since we wage wars for you, conscript fathers, on such terms that we have those conquered by arms as our accusers; let the two cities captured this year have Capua holding Fulvius as defendant, and Syracuse holding Marcellus.’
- 26.30.2sibi
An indirect reflexive pronoun in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua), referring to the subjects of the reporting verb, the 'Sicilians' (Siculi). In direct speech, this would have been the first-person plural 'nobis' (to us).
- 26.30.3quos
A connecting relative pronoun (qui in the beginning of a clause). It refers back to the 'seventy of the noblest youths' (septuaginta nobilissimorum iuvenum) in the preceding sentence and serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive 'interfectos [esse]'.
- 26.30.6auctores traditarum Syracusarum ... habere ... praeoptasse
A comparative construction meaning 'preferred to hold A rather than B'. The main infinitive 'praeoptasse' (preferred) takes 'habere' (to hold, regard) as its complement. Across the comparative 'quam', it expresses that he preferred to hold A ('Sosim et Moericum Hispanum' as the 'auctores') rather than B ('principes Syracusanorum').
- 26.30.7Syracusani publice et non oppressis Syracusanis tyranni eorum
A complex contrast involving ellipsis. The first part, 'Syracusani publice [portas clausissent]' (if the Syracusans had officially closed their gates), is contrasted with the second part, 'non oppressis Syracusanis [clausissent] tyranni eorum' (and not their tyrants [had closed them] while the Syracusans were oppressed). 'oppressis Syracusanis' is an ablative absolute explaining the circumstance.
- 26.30.8potuisse
The apodosis (concluding clause) of a past counterfactual condition in indirect discourse. In direct speech, this rhetorical question would have been in the indicative perfect ('quid potuit?') or subjunctive imperfect ('quid posset?'), but here it is converted into the accusative with infinitive 'potuisse'.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1