- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:30.30.15-30.30.30
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Hannibal presents his own dramatic rise and fall as a lesson to Scipio, warning him of the perils of overconfidence in battle, and urges him to accept peace under terms that include relinquishing the Mediterranean islands.
et mihi talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit.
And on me too, such fortune once shone.
quodsi in secundis rebus bonam quoque mentem darent dei, non ea solum, quae evenissent, sed etiam ea, quae evenire possent, reputaremus.1 ut omnium obliviscaris aliorum, satis ego documenti in omnes casus sum, quem, modo castris inter Anienem atque urbem vestram positis signa inferentem ac iam prope scandentem moenia Romana, hic cernas duobus fratribus, fortissimis viris, clarissimis imperatoribus orbatum ante moenia prope obsessae patriae, quibus terrui vestram urbem, ea pro mea deprecantem.2
But if in prosperity the gods also gave sound judgment, we should reflect not only on what has happened, but also on what can happen. Though you should forget all others, I am sufficient proof for all vicissitudes, whom — who but recently, with camp pitched between the Anio and your city, was advancing my standards and already almost scaling the Roman walls — you may now see here, bereaved of two brothers, most brave men and most illustrious commanders, before the walls of my almost besieged country, pleading for my own on the same terms with which I terrified your city.
maximae cuique fortunae minime credendum est. in bonis tuis rebus, nostris dubiis, tibi ampla ac speciosa danti est pax, nobis petentibus magis necessaria quam honesta.
The greatest fortune is least to be trusted. In your prosperity and our adversity, peace is magnificent and glorious for you who grant it, but for us who seek it, it is more necessary than honorable.
melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata victoria; haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est.3 ne tot annorum felicitatem in unius horae dederis discrimen.
A certain peace is better and safer than a hoped-for victory; the latter is in your hand, the former in the hand of the gods. Do not stake the happiness of so many years on the hazard of a single hour.
cum tuas vires, tum vim fortunae Martemque belli communem propone animo. utrimque ferrum, utrimque corpora humana erunt; nusquam minus quam in bello eventus respondent.
Set before your mind not only your own strength, but also the power of fortune and the common war-god of battle. On both sides there will be iron, on both sides human bodies; nowhere do results correspond less than in war.
non tantum ad id quod data pace iam habere potes, si proelio vincas, gloriae adieceris, quantum dempseris, si quid adversi eveniat.
You will not add as much to the glory which you can already possess by granting peace, if you should win in battle, as you will take away if any adversity should happen.
simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae fortuna evertere potest. omnia in pace iungenda tuae potestatis sunt, P. Corneli; tunc ea habenda fortuna erit, quam di dederint.
The fortune of a single hour can overturn at once honors already won and those hoped for. Everything in making peace is within your power, Publius Cornelius; then you will have to accept whatever fortune the gods may give.
inter pauca felicitatis virtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hac eadem terra fuisset, si victor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris; sed non statuendo felicitati modum nec cohibendo efferentem se fortunam, quanto altius elatus erat, eo foedius conruit.
Among the few examples of fortune and virtue Marcus Atilius would once have been in this very land, if, as victor, he had granted peace to our fathers when they sought it; but by setting no limit to his success and not restraining his self-exalting fortune, the higher he had been elevated, the more foully he fell.
est quidem eius, qui dat, non qui petit, condiciones dicere pacis; sed forsitan non indigni simus, qui nobismet ipsi multam inrogemus.4
It is indeed the part of him who grants, not of him who seeks, to dictate the terms of peace; but perhaps we are not unworthy to impose a penalty upon ourselves.
non recusamus, quin omnia, propter quae ad bellum itum est, vestra sint, Sicilia, Sardinia, Hispania, quidquid insularum toto inter Africam Italiamque continetur mari.
We do not refuse that all things for which the war was undertaken should be yours: Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and whatever islands are contained in the whole sea between Africa and Italy.
Carthaginienses inclusi Africae litoribus vos, quando ita dis placuit, externa etiam terra marique videamus regentes imperio.
We Carthaginians, shut within the shores of Africa, since it has so pleased the gods, may look upon you ruling even foreign lands by empire on land and sea.
haud negaverim propter non nimis sincere petitam aut expectatam nuper pacem suspectam esse vobis Punicam fidem. multum, per quos petita sit, ad fidem tuendae pacis pertinet, Scipio.
I would not deny that Carthaginian faith is suspect to you because of the peace recently sought and expected with too little sincerity. It matters much, Scipio, through whom peace is sought, for the keeping of its faith.
vestri quoque, ut audio, patres non nihil etiam ob hoc, quia parum dignitatis in legatione erat, negaverunt pacem:
Your senators too, as I hear, refused peace in no small degree for this reason, because there was too little dignity in the embassy;
Hannibal peto pacem, qui neque peterem, nisi utilem crederem, et propter eandem utilitatem tuebor eam, propter quam petii.
Hannibal seek peace; I would not seek it unless I believed it to be useful, and for the sake of that same utility for which I sought it, I will maintain it.
et quem ad modum, quia a me bellum coeptum est, ne quem eius paeniteret, quoad ipsi invidere dei, praestiti, ita adnitar, ne quem pacis per me partae paeniteat.”
And just as I saw to it that no one should regret the war begun by me, as long as the gods themselves did not envy us, so I will strive that no one may regret the peace obtained through me.”
- 30.30.16darent dei, ... reputaremus
This is a conditional sentence using the imperfect subjunctive (darent, reputaremus) to express a present contrary-to-fact condition, implying that the gods do not actually grant such wisdom in prosperity.
- 30.30.17ea pro mea deprecantem
The pronoun 'ea' (neuter plural accusative) refers back to 'moenia' (the walls of Rome, which is also the antecedent of 'quibus'). In 'pro mea', the feminine noun 'patria' is omitted. It sets up a contrast where Hannibal is now begging for his own country's walls with the very same objects/threat with which he once terrified Rome's walls.
- 30.30.19haec in tua, illa in deorum manu est
According to standard Latin demonstrative usage, 'haec' (this/the latter) refers to the closer noun, 'victoria' (hoped-for victory), while 'illa' (that/the former) refers to the remoter noun, 'pax' (certain peace).
- 30.30.24qui nobismet ipsi multam inrogemus
This relative clause features the subjunctive 'inrogemus' after the adjective 'indigni', expressing a clause of characteristic or worthiness ('unworthy to impose...').
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1
- 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1