- 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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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.58.1-34.58.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Titus Quinctius presents Antiochus' envoys with two alternatives for friendship: either the king must withdraw from Europe, or the Romans will protect and form alliances with Greek cities in Asia. Hegesianax strongly rejects this ultimatum.
ad ea Quinctius: “quoniam vobis distincte agere libet et genera iungendarum amicitiarum enumerare, ego quoque duas condiciones ponam, extra quas nullam esse regi nuntietis amicitiae cum populo Romano iungendae, unam, si nos nihil, quod ad urbes Asiae attinet, curare velit, ut1 et ipse omni Europa abstineat;
To this Quinctius replied: “Since it pleases you to negotiate distinctively and to enumerate the kinds of forming friendships, I too will set two conditions, outside of which you may report to the king that there is no friendship to be joined with the Roman people: one, if he wishes us to concern ourselves with nothing that pertains to the cities of Asia, on condition that he himself also abstain from all Europe;
alteram, si se ille Asiae finibus non contineat et in Europam transcendat, ut et Romanis ius sit Asiae civitatium amicitias et tueri, quas habeant, et novas complecti.” enimvero id auditu etiam dicere indignum esse2 Hegesianax, Thraciae et Chersonesi urbibus arceri Antiochum, cum, quae Seleucus, proavus eius, Lysimacho rege bello victo et in acie caeso per summum decus parta reliquerit, pari cum laude eadem ab Thracibus possessa, partim armis receperit Antiochus, partim deserta, sicut ipsam Lysimachiam, et revocatis cultoribus frequentaverit et, quae strata ruinis atque incendiis erant, ingentibus impensis aedificaverit.
the other, if he does not contain himself within the boundaries of Asia and crosses over into Europe, that the Romans also have the right both to protect the friendships of the cities of Asia which they have, and to embrace new ones.” Indeed, Hegesianax declared that it was unworthy even to hear, let alone to say, that Antiochus should be barred from the cities of Thrace and the Chersonese , since those things which Seleucus, his great-grandfather, had left, acquired with the highest glory when King Lysimachus was defeated in war and slain in battle, Antiochus had recovered—some of them, though possessed by the Thracians, by force of arms with equal praise, and some which had been deserted, like Lysimachia itself, he had repopulated by recalling the inhabitants, and those which had been laid low by ruins and fires he had rebuilt at vast expense.
quid igitur simile esse ex ea possessione, ita parta ita recuperata, deduci Antiochum, et Romanos abstinere Asia, quae numquam eorum fuerit?
What similarity was there then in Antiochus being removed from that possession, so acquired and so recovered, and the Romans abstaining from Asia, which had never been theirs?
amicitiam expetere Romanorum Antiochum, sed quae impetrata gloriae sibi, non pudori sit.
Antiochus sought the friendship of the Romans, but a friendship which, when obtained, should be a source of glory to him, not of shame.
ad haec Quinctius “quando quidem” inquit “honesta pensamus, sicut aut sola aut prima certe pensari decet principi orbis terrarum populo et tanto regi, utrum tandem videtur honestius, liberas velle omnis, quae ubique sunt, Graeciae urbis, an servas et vectigalis facere? si sibi Antiochus pulchrum esse censet, quas urbes proavus belli iure habuerit, avus paterque numquam usurpaverint pro suis, eas repetere in servitutem, et populus Romanus3 susceptum patrocinium libertatis Graecorum non deserere fidei constantiaeque suae ducit esse.4
To this Quinctius said: “Since indeed we are weighing what is honorable, as it is fitting that it be weighed, either solely or certainly first, by the foremost people of the world and by so great a king, which, pray, seems more honorable: to wish all the cities of Greece, which are anywhere, to be free, or to make them slaves and tributary? If Antiochus thinks it a fine thing for himself to reclaim into slavery those cities which his great-grandfather held by right of war, but which his grandfather and father never claimed as their own, then the Roman people also considers it to belong to its good faith and constancy not to desert the patronage of the liberty of the Greeks which they have undertaken.
sicut a Philippo Graeciam liberavit, ita et ab Antiocho Asiae urbes, quae Graii nominis sint, liberare in animo habet.
Just as it liberated Greece from Philip, so also it has in mind to liberate from Antiochus the cities of Asia which are of Greek name.
neque enim in Aeolidem Ioniamque coloniae in servitutem regiam missae sunt, sed stirpis augendae causa gentisque vetustissimae per orbem terrarum propagandae.”
For colonies were not sent into Aeolis and Ionia for royal servitude, but for the sake of increasing the race and propagating a most ancient nation throughout the world.”
- 34.58.2ut
The conjunction ut introduces a clause that specifies the reciprocal term or counter-obligation ("on the condition that...") corresponding to the condition of the si clause.
- 34.58.4id auditu etiam dicere indignum esse
The ablative supine auditu ("to be heard") modifying the adjective indignum is combined with the infinitive dicere ("to speak"), expressing double emphasis: "that to speak of this was unworthy even to be heard" (shameful even to hear, let alone to say). id refers forward to the following accusative-with-infinitive clause starting with arceri Antiochum.
- 34.58.11et populus Romanus
The conjunction et at the beginning of the apodosis (after the si clause in §34.58.10) functions correlatively to emphasize the parallel/contrast: "(if ...) then the Roman people also ...".
- 34.58.11fidei constantiaeque suae... esse
The genitive fidei constantiaeque suae is used with the copula esse as a predicate genitive of characteristic, meaning "belongs to / is consistent with their good faith and constancy."