Rigorous Military Levy and Suspension of Maritime Exemptions — Livy, History of Rome Book 27 (27.38.1–27.38.12), Latin & English

§27.38.1

deis rite placatis dilectum consules habebant acrius intentiusque, quam prioribus annis quisquam meminerat habitum;¹

The gods having been duly appeased, the consuls conducted the levy more rigorously and intently than anyone remembered to have been done in former years;

§27.38.2

nam et belli terror duplicatus novi hostis in Italiam adventu, et minus iuventutis² erat, unde scriberent³ milites.

for not only was the terror of the war doubled by the arrival of a new enemy in Italy, but there was also less youth from which they might enlist soldiers.

§27.38.3

itaque colonos etiam maritimos, qui sacrosanctam vacationem dicebantur habere, dare milites cogebant. quibus recusantibus edixere in diem certam, ut, quo quisque iure vacationem haberet, ad senatum deferret.

Therefore, they even compelled the maritime colonists, who were said to possess a sacrosanct exemption, to furnish soldiers. When they refused, they issued an edict for a fixed day, requiring each to submit to the senate the right by which he claimed exemption.

§27.38.4

ea die ad senatum hi populi venerunt: Ostiensis Alsiensis Antias Anxurnas Minturnensis Sinuessanus et ab supero mari Senensis.

On that day, the following peoples came to the senate: those of Ostia, Alsium, Antium, Anxur, Minturnae, Sinuessa, and, from the upper sea, Sena.

§27.38.5

cum vacationes suas quisque populus recitaret, nullius, cum in Italia hostis esset, praeter Antiatem Ostiensemque vacatio observata est, et earum coloniarum iuniores iure iurando adacti, supra dies triginta non pernoctaturos se esse extra moenia coloniae suae, donec hostis in Italia esset.

When each people read out their exemptions, none was observed, as long as there was an enemy in Italy, except those of Antium and Ostia; and the younger men of those colonies were bound by an oath that they would not spend the night outside the walls of their colony for more than thirty days, so long as the enemy was in Italy.

§27.38.6

cum omnes censerent primo quoque tempore consulibus eundum ad bellum — nam et Hasdrubali occurrendum esse descendenti ab Alpibus, ne Gallos Cisalpinos neve Etruriam erectam in spem rerum novarum sollicitaret, et Hannibalem suo proprio occupandum bello, ne emergere ex Bruttiis atque obviam ire fratri posset —, Livius cunctabatur, parum fidens suarum provinciarum exercitibus;

Although everyone voted that the consuls should go to the war at the very first opportunity—for Hasdrubal must be met as he descended from the Alps, lest he should stir up the Cisalpine Gauls or Etruria, which was excited by the hope of revolution, and Hannibal must be kept occupied with his own particular war, so that he could not emerge from Bruttium and go to meet his brother—, Livius hesitated, having little confidence in the armies of his own provinces.

§27.38.8

conlegam ex duobus consularibus egregiis exercitibus et tertio, cui Q. Claudius Tarenti praeesset, electionem habere;⁴ intuleratque mentionem de volonibus revocandis ad signa.

He complained that his colleague had the choice of two excellent consular armies and a third which Q. Claudius commanded at Tarentum; and he introduced a proposal for recalling the volunteer slaves to the standards.

§27.38.9

senatus liberam potestatem consulibus fecit et supplendi, unde vellent, et eligendi de omnibus exercitibus, quos vellent, permutandique et ex provinciis, quo e re publica censerent esse, traducendi. ea omnia cum summa concordia consulum acta.

The senate gave the consuls free power both to reinforce from whatever source they wished, to choose whom they wished from all the armies, to exchange them, and to transfer them from the provinces to wherever they thought it was to the public interest. All these things were done with the utmost harmony between the consuls.

§27.38.10

volones in undevicensimam et vicensimam legiones scripti.

The volunteer slaves were enrolled in the nineteenth and twentieth legions.

§27.38.11

magni roboris auxilia ex Hispania quoque a P. Scipione M. Livio missa quidam ad id bellum auctores sunt,⁵ octo milia Hispanorum Gallorumque et duo milia de legione militum, equitum mille, mixtos Numidas Hispanosque, M. Lucretium has copias navibus advexisse;

Some authors state that auxiliary forces of great strength were also sent from Spain by P. Scipio to M. Livius for that war: eight thousand Spaniards and Gauls, and two thousand soldiers from the legion, with a thousand cavalry, a mixture of Numidians and Spaniards, and that M. Lucretius brought these forces by ship;

§27.38.12

et sagittariorum funditorumque ad tria milia ex Sicilia C. Mamilium misisse.

and that C. Mamilius sent about three thousand archers and slingers from Sicily.

Syntax notes5 items

27.38.1habitum
Elliptical form for dilectum habitum esse, functioning as the accusative with infinitive clause dependent on meminerat.
27.38.2minus iuventutis
The partitive genitive iuventutis depends on the neuter pronoun minus.
27.38.2unde scriberent
The relative adverb unde equivalent to ex qua refers back to iuventutis. The subjunctive scriberent expresses purpose or characteristic.
27.38.8conlegam ... electionem habere
Accusative with infinitive clause expressing indirect speech, representing the thoughts or complaints of Livius after cunctabatur.
27.38.11quidam ad id bellum auctores sunt
The expression auctores sunt (some authors are of the opinion / report) introduces the accusative with infinitive construction auxilia ... missa (esse) and Lucretium ... advexisse.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:27.38.1-27.38.12