- 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-lat2:30.3.1-30.3.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The commanders focus their efforts on supporting Scipio in Africa. Scipio uses peace negotiations with Syphax as a pretext to send his men into the enemy camp, where they discover that the winter quarters are highly flammable, prompting Scipio to plan an arson attack.
his transactis consules praetoresque in provincias profecti. omnibus tamen, velut eam sortitis,1 Africae cura erat, seu quia ibi summam rerum bellique verti cernebant seu ut Scipioni gratificarentur, in quem tum omnis versa civitas erat.
After these matters were transacted, the consuls and praetors set out for their provinces. Yet everyone had a care for Africa, as though they had been allotted that province, either because they saw that the sum of affairs and of the war turned there, or to gratify Scipio, toward whom the whole state was then turned.
itaque non ex Sardinia tantum, sicut ante dictum est, sed ex Sicilia quoque et Hispania vestimenta frumentumque, et arma etiam ex Sicilia et omne genus commeatus eo portabantur.
Therefore, not only from Sardinia, as was said before, but also from Sicily and Spain, clothing and grain, and even arms from Sicily and every kind of supply, were carried thither.
nec Scipio ullo tempore hiemis belli opera remiserat, quae multa simul undique eum circumstabant: Uticam obsidebat; castra in conspectu Hasdrubalis erant;
Nor had Scipio at any time of the winter relaxed his military operations, which surrounded him, many at once, on every side: he was besieging Utica; his camp was in the sight of Hasdrubal;
Carthaginienses deduxerant naves, classem paratam instructamque ad commeatus intercipiendos habebant. inter haec ne Syphacis quidem reconciliandi curam ex animo miserat, si forte iam satias amoris in uxore ex multa copia eum cepisset.2
the Carthaginians had launched their ships and held a fleet ready and equipped to intercept supplies. Amidst these things, he had not even dismissed from his mind the care of reconciling Syphax, in case by chance a satiety of love for his wife had now seized him from the very abundance of possession.
ab Syphace magis pacis cum Carthaginiensibus condiciones, ut Romani Africa, Poeni Italia excederent, quam, si bellaretur, spes ulla desciturum adferebatur.
From Syphax, there were brought rather proposals for peace with the Carthaginians, namely that the Romans should depart from Africa and the Carthaginians from Italy, than any hope that he would defect if the war were to go on.
haec per nuntios acta magis equidem crediderim — et ita pars maior auctores sunt — quam ipsum Syphacem, ut Antias Valerius prodit, in castra Romana ad conloquium venisse.
Indeed, I should believe that these things were transacted through messengers—and so the majority of authorities hold—rather than that Syphax himself came into the Roman camp for a conference, as Valerius Antias relates.
primo eas condiciones imperator Romanus vix auribus admisit; postea, ut causa probabilis suis commeandi foret in castra hostium, mollius eadem illa abnuere ac spem facere saepius ultro citroque agitantibus rem conventuram.3
At first, the Roman general scarcely gave ear to these conditions; afterwards, so that there might be a plausible pretext for his men to go back and forth into the camp of the enemies, he rejected those same terms more mildly and gave hope that, if they discussed the matter more frequently to and fro, an agreement would be reached.
hibernacula Carthaginiensium congesta temere ex agris materia exaedificata, lignea ferme tota erant.
The winter quarters of the Carthaginians, built of materials gathered at random from the fields, were almost entirely of wood.
Numidae praecipue harundine textis storeaque pars maxima tectis passim nullo ordine, quidam, ut sine imperio occupatis locis, extra fossam etiam vallumque habitabant.
The Numidians especially lived here and there without any order, under shelters woven of reeds and for the most part covered with mats, and some, as if occupying places without any authority, were living even outside the trench and rampart.
haec relata Scipioni spem fecerant castra hostium per occasionem incendendi.
These reports gave Scipio hope of burning the enemy’s camp when an opportunity arose.
- 30.3.1velut eam sortitis
sortitis is the perfect participle of the deponent verb sortior (to cast lots, assign by lot), agreeing here with the dative omnibus. It means "as if they had been allotted it (eam, referring to the province of Africa)."
- 30.3.4si forte iam satias amoris in uxore ex multa copia eum cepisset
The conjunction si here introduces a clause of hope or trial ("to see if by chance"). satias is an archaic form of satietas (satiety, fullness). in uxore uses the preposition in to indicate the object of affection ("for his wife"). ex multa copia means "from the very abundance of possession" or "after much indulgence."
- 30.3.7mollius eadem illa abnuere ac spem facere saepius ultro citroque agitantibus rem conventuram
abnuere and facere are historical infinitives. agitantibus is a dative participle showing the persons to whom the hope was given ("to those who discussed the matter"). The accusative with infinitive clause rem conventuram [esse] (that an agreement would be reached) is appositive to spem.