- 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-lat2:39.37.1-39.37.21
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Lycortas defends the Achaean actions in Sparta as just and criticizes Rome's overbearing intervention. When Appius issues a stern warning, the Achaeans yield out of fear, leaving the ultimate decision to Rome while only revoking the death sentences.
at enim illa certe vestra sunt, Achaei, quod leges disciplinamque vetustissimam Lycurgi sustulistis, quod muros diruistis.
But indeed those things are certainly yours, Achaeans, namely that you abolished the laws and the most ancient discipline of Lycurgus, and that you demolished the walls.
quae utraque1 ab iisdem obici qui possunt, cum muri Lacedaemoniis non ab Lycurgo, sed paucos ante annos ad dissolvendam Lycurgi disciplinam exstructi sint?
How can both of these things be charged by the same people, when the walls for the Lacedaemonians were built not by Lycurgus, but a few years ago to destroy the discipline of Lycurgus?
tyranni enim nuper eos arcem et munimentum sibi, non civitati paraverunt; et si exsistat hodie ab inferis Lycurgus, gaudeat ruinis eorum, et nunc se patriam et Spartam antiquam agnoscere dicat.
For tyrants recently prepared them as a citadel and bulwark for themselves, not for the state; and if Lycurgus were to rise today from the underworld, he would rejoice at their ruins, and say that he now recognizes his homeland and ancient Sparta .
non Philopoemenem exspectare nec Achaeos, sed vos ipsi, Lacedaemonii, vestris manibus amoliri et diruere omnia vestigia tyrannidis debuistis.
You ought not to have waited for Philopoemen or the Achaeans, Lacedaemonians, but you yourselves with your own hands should have removed and demolished all traces of tyranny.
vestrae enim illae deformes veluti notae servitutis erant et cum sine muris per octingentos prope annos liberi aliquando etiam principes Graeciae fuissetis, muris velut compedibus circumdatis vincti per centum annos servistis.
For those were, as it were, your ugly brands of slavery; and though you had been free, and sometimes even the leaders of Greece, for nearly eight hundred years without walls, you served for a hundred years bound by walls put around you like fetters.
quod ad leges ademptas attinet, ego antiquas Lacedaemoniis leges tyrannos ademisse arbitror; nos non suas ademisse, quas non habebant, sed nostras leges dedisse;
As for the laws taken away, I believe that the tyrants took away the ancient laws from the Lacedaemonians; we did not take away their own, which they did not have, but gave them our laws;
nec male consuluisse civitati, cum concilii nostri eam fecerimus et nobis miscuerimus, ut corpus unum et concilium totius Peloponnesi esset. tunc, ut opinor, si aliis ipsi legibus viveremus, alias istis iniunxissemus,2 queri se iniquo iure esse et indignari possent.
nor did we consult ill for the state when we made it a part of our council and blended it with ourselves, so that there should be one body and one council of the whole Peloponnese. Then, as I think, if we ourselves lived under other laws, and had imposed others upon them, they might complain that they were under unequal law and be indignant.
scio ego, Ap. Claudi, hanc orationem, qua sum adhuc usus, neque sociorum apud socios neque liberae gentis esse, sed vere servorum disceptantium apud dominos.
I know, Appius Claudius, that this speech which I have used so far is not that of allies before allies, nor of a free nation, but truly of slaves disputing before their masters.
nam si non vana illa vox praeconis fuit, qua liberos esse omnium primos Achaeos iussistis, si foedus ratum est, si societas et amicitia ex aequo observatur, cur ego, quid Capua capta feceritis Romani, non quaero, vos rationem reposcitis,3 quid Achaei Lacedaemoniis bello victis fecerimus?
For if that voice of the herald was not empty, by which you ordered the Achaeans to be free first of all, if the treaty is valid, if alliance and friendship are observed on equal terms, why do I not ask what you, Romans, did when Capua was captured, while you demand an account of what we, Achaeans, did to the Lacedaemonians conquered in war?
interfecti aliqui sunt, finge, a nobis: quid? vos senatores Campanos securi non percussistis?
Suppose some were killed by us: what of it? Did you not strike the Campanian senators with the axe?
at muros diruimus: vos non muros tantum sed urbem agrosque ademistis. specie, inquis, aequum est foedus:
But we demolished the walls: you took away not only the walls but the city and the lands. In appearance, you say, the treaty is equal;
re apud Achaeos precaria libertas, apud Romanos etiam imperium est. sentio, Appi, et, si non oportet, non indignor:
in reality, among the Achaeans there is precarious liberty, and among the Romans there is even dominion. I feel it, Appius, and, even if it is not right, I am not indignant;
sed oro vos, quantumlibet intersit4 inter Romanos et Achaeos, modo ne in aequo hostes vestri nostrique apud vos sint ac nos socii, immo ne meliore iure sint.
but I beg you, however much difference there may be between Romans and Achaeans, only let not your enemies and ours be on equal terms before you with us, their allies, or rather, let them not be in a better legal position.
nam ut in aequo essent nos fecimus, cum leges iis nostras dedimus, cum, ut Achaici concilii essent, effecimus parum est victis, quod victoribus satis est; plus postulant hostes quam socii habent.
For we made them to be on equal terms when we gave them our laws, when we brought it about that they should belong to the Achaean council; is that which is enough for the victors too little for the vanquished? The enemies demand more than the allies possess.
quae iureiurando, quae monumentis litterarum in lapide insculptis in aeternam memoriam sancta atque sacrata sunt, ea cum periurio nostro5 tollere parant.
Those things which have been made holy and consecrated for eternal memory by oath, and by monuments of letters inscribed on stone, they are preparing to abolish with our perjury.
veremur quidem vos, Romani, et si ita vultis, etiam timemus: sed plus et veremur et timemus deos immortales.”
We do indeed respect you, Romans, and if you so wish, we even fear you; but we both respect and fear the immortal gods more.”
cum adsensu maximae partis est auditus, et locutum omnes pro maiestate magistratus censebant, ut facile appareret molliter agendo dignitatem suam tenere Romanos non posse. tum Appius suadere se magnopere Achaeis dixit, ut, dum liceret voluntate sua facere, gratiam inirent, ne mox inviti et coacti facerent.
He was heard with the approval of the greatest part, and everyone thought that he had spoken in a manner worthy of the majesty of his office, so that it easily appeared that the Romans could not maintain their dignity by gentle dealing. Then Appius said that he strongly advised the Achaeans, that, while it was permitted to do so of their own free will, they should win favor, lest soon they should do it unwillingly and by compulsion.
haec vox audita quidem cum omnium gemitu est, sed metum iniecit imperata recusandi.
This speech was indeed heard with the groaning of all, but it struck a fear of refusing what was ordered.
id modo petierunt, ut Romani, quae viderentur, de Lacedaemoniis mutarent nec Achaeos religione obstringerent irrita ea, quae iureiurando sanxissent, faciendi.6 damnatio tantum Arei et Alcibiadis, quae nuper facta erat, sublata est.
They only requested that the Romans should alter what seemed good to them concerning the Lacedaemonians, and not bind the Achaeans with religious guilt of making void those things which they had sanctioned by oath. Only the condemnation of Areus and Alcibiades, which had recently been made, was revoked.
- 39.37.2quae utraque
A relative pronoun in the neuter plural referring to the two preceding quod clauses (quod leges ... sustulistis and quod muros diruistis). It highlights the contradiction of the same people complaining about both the destruction of the walls and the abolition of the laws.
- 39.37.8si ... viveremus, ... iniunxissemus
A conditional sentence with two protases in different tenses, viveremus (imperfect subjunctive) and iniunxissemus (pluperfect subjunctive), with possent as the apodosis, expressing 'if we were living (as a general state) under other laws, and had imposed (past action) others upon them.'
- 39.37.10cur ego ... non quaero, vos ... reposcitis
The interrogative particle cur governs the main clause vos ... reposcitis while also being implied in the contrasted parallel clause ego ... non quaero (rhetorically contrasted), creating a strong comparative structure: 'Why do I not ask..., while you demand...?'
- 39.37.14quantumlibet intersit
The adverbial use of quantumlibet introduces a concessive clause with the subjunctive verb intersit, meaning 'however much difference there may be.'
- 39.37.16cum periurio nostro
An ablative phrase with the preposition cum denoting an attendant circumstance or result: 'with our perjury,' implying the means or consequence by which the enemies act, i.e., 'by making us commit perjury (by forcing us to break our oath).'
- 39.37.21religione obstringerent irrita ea ... faciendi
The phrase specifies religione obstringere ('to bind with religious guilt'). faciendi is a gerund in the genitive case taking ea as its object, and irrita as an object complement, meaning 'of making void those things which they had sanctioned by oath.'
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1