- 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-lat2:26.49.1-26.49.16
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Livy points out the major discrepancies in the figures and names reported by different historians regarding the victory. Scipio then addresses the Spanish hostages, assuring them of Rome's benevolent rule, during which the wife of Mandonius tearfully requests special protection for the young noblewomen, a request that Scipio respectfully grants.
tum obsides civitatium Hispaniae vocari iussit; quorum quantus numerus fuerit piget scribere, quippe cum alibi trecentos ferme, alibi tria milia septingentos viginti quattuor fuisse inveniam.
Then he ordered the hostages of the Spanish states to be summoned; how great their number was, it is tedious to write, since in one place I find there were about three hundred, in another three thousand seven hundred and twenty-four.
aeque et alia inter auctores discrepant. praesidium Punicum alius decem, alius septem, alius haud plus quam duum milium fuisse scribit. capta alibi decem milia capitum, alibi supra quinque et viginti invenio.
Equally, other matters also differ among the authors. One writes that the Carthaginian garrison was ten thousand, another seven thousand, another not more than two thousand. In one place I find ten thousand heads captured, in another more than twenty-five thousand.
scorpiones maiores minoresque ad sexaginta captos scripserim, si auctorem Graecum sequar1 Silenum; si Valerium Antiatem, maiorum scorpionum sex milia, minorum decem et tria milia: adeo nullus mentiendi modus est. ne de ducibus quidem convenit.
I would have written that about sixty larger and smaller scorpions were captured, if I were to follow the Greek author Silenus; if Valerius Antiatas, six thousand of the larger scorpions, and thirteen thousand of the smaller: so limitless is the habit of lying. Not even concerning the leaders is there agreement.
plerique Laelium praefuisse classi, sunt qui M. Iunium Silanum dicant;
Most say that Laelius commanded the fleet, there are some who say Marcus Junius Silanus;
Arinen praefuisse Punico praesidio deditumque Romanis Antias Valerius, Magonem alii scriptores tradunt.
Valerius Antias hands down that Arines commanded the Carthaginian garrison and surrendered to the Romans, other writers that Mago did.
non de numero navium captarum, non de pondere auri atque argenti et redactae pecuniae convenit. si aliquis2 adsentiri necesse est, media simillima veris sunt.
There is no agreement concerning the number of captured ships, nor the weight of gold and silver and the money collected. If it is necessary to agree with any, the intermediate figures are most like the truth.
ceterum vocatis obsidibus primum universos bonum animum habere iussit:
For the rest, having summoned the hostages, he first ordered them all to be of good courage:
venisse enim eos in populi Romani potestatem, qui beneficio quam metu obligare homines malit exterasque gentis fide ac societate iunctas habere quam tristi subiectas servitio.
for they had come into the power of the Roman people, who preferred to bind men by kindness rather than by fear, and to hold foreign nations joined in faith and alliance rather than subjected to a sad servitude.
deinde acceptis nominibus civitatium recensuit captivos, quot cuiusque populi essent, et nuntios domum misit, ut ad suos quisque recipiendos veniret si quarum forte civitatium legati aderant, eis praesentibus suos restituit; ceterorum curam benigne tuendorum C. Flaminio quaestori attribuit. inter haec e media turba obsidum mulier magno natu, Mandoni uxor, qui frater Indibilis Ilergetum reguli erat, flens ad pedes imperatoris procubuit obtestarique coepit, ut curam cultumque feminarum impensius custodibus commendaret.
Then, having received the names of the states, he registered the captives, how many there were of each people, and sent messengers home, so that each might come to receive their own. If by chance ambassadors of any states were present, he restored their own to them in their presence; the care of kindly protecting the others he assigned to Gaius Flaminius the quaestor. In the midst of these things, from the middle of the crowd of hostages, a woman of great age, the wife of Mandonius, who was the brother of Indibilis, the petty king of the Ilergetes, fell weeping at the feet of the general and began to entreat him to commend the care and treatment of the women more earnestly to the guards.
cum Scipio nihil defuturum iis profecto diceret, tum rursus mulier: “haud magni3 ista facimus” inquit; “quid enim huic fortunae non satis est? alia me cura aetatem harum intuentem — nam ipsa iam extra periculum iniuriae muliebris sum — stimulat.”
When Scipio said that nothing indeed would be lacking to them, then the woman spoke again: “We set little value on those things,” she said; “for what is not enough for this fortune? Another care stimulates me as I look at the age of these girls—for I myself am already out of danger of injury to a woman.”
et aetate et forma florentes circa eam Indibilis filiae erant aliaeque nobilitate pari, quae omnes eam pro parente colebant.
Around her were the daughters of Indibilis and others of equal nobility, flourishing both in age and beauty, all of whom respected her as a parent.
tum Scipio “meae populique Romani disciplinae causa facerem” inquit, “ne quid, quod sanctum usquam esset, apud nos violaretur;
Then Scipio said, “For the sake of my own discipline and that of the Roman people, I would do this, lest anything which was anywhere sacred should be violated among us;
nunc ut id curem inpensius, vestra quoque uirtus dignitasque facit, quae ne in malis quidem oblitae decoris matronalis estis.”4
now, that I should care for it more earnestly, your own virtue and dignity also make me do, you who even in misfortunes have not forgotten matronly decorum.”
spectatae deinde integritatis viro tradidit eas, tuerique haud secus verecunde ac modeste quam hospitum coniuges ac matres iussit.
Then he delivered them to a man of approved integrity, and ordered him to protect them no less respectably and modestly than the wives and mothers of guests.
- 26.49.3scripserim ... si ... sequar
The perfect subjunctive scripserim of potentiality (1st person singular) is paired here with the present subjunctive sequar in the condition. It expresses a future less vivid condition ('if I were to follow... I should write') with a polite and reserved tone.
- 26.49.6aliquis
Since the deponent verb adsentiri (to agree with) governs the dative, aliquis is here interpreted as an archaic or contracted form of the dative plural aliquibus, meaning 'to some [of these accounts]'.
- 26.49.12magni
This is a genitive of value (genitivus pretii), used in combination with the verb facere (to value, esteem). Together with the negative haud, it means 'we set little value on those things' or 'we care little for them.'
- 26.49.15quae ... oblitae ... estis
The relative clause has estis (2nd person plural) as its verb, meaning the relative pronoun quae refers back to the 'you' implied in vestra of the main clause. The perfect participle oblitae (from obliviscor, behaving as an adjective) governs the genitive case decoris.