- 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-lat2:29.29.1-29.29.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
While the Roman outposts defeat the Carthaginian cavalry and Scipio captures an African city, their ally Masinissa arrives. This prompts a digression on Masinissa's turbulent dynastic history in Numidia and the usurpation of the throne by Mazaetullus.
hi cum Carthaginiensi equitatu proelium cum commisissent, paucos in ipso certamine, plerosque fugientes persecuti,1 in quibus praefectum quoque Hannonem, nobilem iuvenem, occiderunt.
When these had engaged in battle with the Carthaginian cavalry, they killed a few in the actual combat, and the majority as they pursued them fleeing, among whom was also the commander Hanno, a noble youth.
Scipio non agros modo circa vastavit, sed urbem etiam proximam Afrorum satis opulentam cepit, ubi praeter cetera, quae extemplo in naves onerarias imposita missaque in Siciliam erant, octo milia liberorum servorumque capitum sunt capta.
Scipio not only devastated the fields around, but also took the nearest city of the Africans, which was sufficiently wealthy, where, besides the other things which were immediately loaded onto transports and sent to Sicily, eight thousand heads of free men and slaves were captured.
laetissimus tamen Romanis in principio rerum gerendarum adventus fuit Masinissae; quem quidam cum ducentis haud amplius equitibus, plerique cum duum milium equitatu tradunt venisse.2
Yet the arrival of Masinissa was most joyful to the Romans at the beginning of their operations; whom some report to have come with no more than two hundred horsemen, most with a cavalry of two thousand.
ceterum cum longe maximus omnium aetatis suae regum hic fuerit plurimumque rem Romanam iuverit, operae pretium videtur excedere paulum ad enarrandum, quam varia fortuna usus sit in amittendo recuperandoque paterno regno.3
But since this man was by far the greatest of all the kings of his time and was of the greatest assistance to the Roman cause, it seems worthwhile to digress a little to relate how varied a fortune he experienced in losing and recovering his father’s kingdom.
Militanti pro Carthaginiensibus in Hispania pater ei moritur;4 Galae nomen erat. regnum ad fratrem regis Oezalcem pergrandem natu — ita mos apud Numidas est — pervenit.
While he was fighting for the Carthaginians in Spain, his father died; his name was Gala. The kingdom passed to the king’s brother, Oezalces, who was very advanced in age—for such is the custom among the Numidians.
haud multo post Oezalce quoque mortuo maior ex duobus filiis eius Capussa, puero admodum altero, paternum imperium accepit.
Not long after, when Oezalces also died, the elder of his two sons, Capussa, the other being still a mere boy, received his father’s command.
ceterum cum magis iure gentis quam auctoritate inter suos aut viribus obtineret regnum, extitit quidam Mazaetullus nomine, non alienus sanguine regibus, familiae semper inimicae ac de imperio varia fortuna cum iis, qui tum obtinebant, certantis.5
But since he held the kingdom more by the law of the nation than by his own authority among his people or by his strength, there arose a certain man named Mazaetullus, not unrelated by blood to the kings, of a family always hostile and contending with various fortune for the command with those who then held it.
is concitatis popularibus, apud quos invidia regum magnae auctoritatis erat, castris palam positis descendere regem in aciem ac dimicare de regno coegit.
He, having excited the populace, among whom hostility toward the kings was of great influence, openly pitched his camp and forced the king to come down into the field and fight for the kingdom.
in eo proelio Capussa cum multis principum cecidit; gens Maesuliorum omnis in dicionem imperiumque Mazaetulli concessit.
In that battle Capussa fell along with many of the leading men; the entire nation of the Maesulians submitted to the dominion and authority of Mazaetullus.
regio tamen nomine abstinuit contentusque nomine modico tutoris puerum Lacumazen, qui stirpis regiae supererat, regem appellat.
Yet he abstained from the royal title, and content with the modest title of guardian, he called the boy Lacumazes, who was the survivor of the royal stock, the king.
Carthaginiensem nobilem feminam, sororis filiam Hannibalis, quae proxime Oezalci regi nupta fuerat, matrimonio sibi iungit spe Carthaginiensium societatis et cum Syphace hospitium vetustum legatis missis renovat, omnia ea auxilia praeparans adversus Masinissam.
He joined to himself in marriage a noble Carthaginian woman, the daughter of Hannibal’s sister, who had recently been married to King Oezalces, in the hope of an alliance with the Carthaginians, and by sending envoys, he renewed an ancient hospitality with Syphax, preparing all these aids against Masinissa.
- 29.29.1fugientes persecuti
The participle fugientes (those fleeing) functions as the object of the participle persecuti (having pursued). Although persecuti agrees with the subject of the main clause (hi), it is closely linked with the main verb occiderunt to express a single continuous action: "pursued and killed."
- 29.29.4quem quidam cum ducentis... tradunt venisse
The relative pronoun quem serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive venisse in an indirect discourse (AcI) construction dependent on tradunt (they report). Its antecedent is Masinissae. quidam (some) and plerique (most) contrastingly act as the subjects of tradunt.
- 29.29.5in amittendo recuperandoque paterno regno
A gerundive construction governed by the preposition in. The noun phrase paterno regno (father's kingdom) is in the ablative singular neuter, agreeing in gender, number, and case with the gerundives amittendo and recuperando.
- 29.29.6Militanti pro Carthaginiensibus in Hispania pater ei moritur
The dative present participle Militanti modifies the dative of possession ei (to him / his) referring to Masinissa. It temporally frames the death of his father: "while he was fighting for the Carthaginians in Spain, his father died."
- 29.29.8familiae semper inimicae ac de imperio... certantis
The genitive phrase familiae... certantis functions as a genitive of quality/description characterizing Mazaetullus's background. certantis is the genitive singular of the present participle, modifying the feminine noun familiae, indicating a family that contended with those then in power.