Arbitration of Sparta and Achaea and Mission of Marcius — Livy, History of Rome Book 39 (39.48.1–39.48.6), Latin & English

§39.48.1

haec, quae augendae amplitudinis eius causa facta erant, extemplo in invidiam, mox etiam in perniciem adulescenti verterunt.¹ Lacedaemonii deinde introducti sunt.

These measures, which had been taken for the purpose of increasing his prestige, immediately turned into a source of jealousy, and soon even of ruin, for the young man. Next, the Lacedaemonians were introduced.

§39.48.2

multae et parvae disceptationes iactabantur: sed quae maxime rem continerent,² erant, utrum restituerentur, quos Achaei damnaverant, necne;

Many small disputes were brought forward; but those which chiefly contained the essence of the matter were: whether those whom the Achaeans had condemned should be restored, or not;

§39.48.3

inique an iure occidissent, quos occiderant, et utrum manerent in Achaico concilio Lacedaemonii, an, ut ante fuerat, secretum eius unius in Peloponneso civitatis ius esset.

whether they had killed those whom they had killed unjustly or justly; and whether the Lacedaemonians should remain in the Achaean council, or, as had been the case before, that single state in the Peloponnesus should have its own separate law.

§39.48.4

restitui iudiciaque facta tolli placuit,³ Lacedaemonem manere in Achaico concilio scribique id decretum et consignari a Lacedaemoniis et Achaeis. legatus in Macedoniam Q. Marcius est missus, iussus idem in Peloponneso sociorum res aspicere. nam ibi quoque et ex veteribus discordiis residui motus erant, et Messene desciverat a concilio Achaico.

It was resolved that they should be restored and the judgments rendered annulled, that Lacedaemon should remain in the Achaean council, and that this decree should be written down and signed by both the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans. Quintus Marcius was sent as ambassador to Macedonia, and was likewise ordered to inspect the affairs of the allies in the Peloponnesus. For there too, there were disturbances remaining from old discords, and Messene had revolted from the Achaean council.

§39.48.6

cuius belli et causas et ordinem si expromere velim, immemor sim⁴ propositi, quo statui non ultra attingere externa, nisi qua Romanis cohaererent rebus.

If I should wish to set forth both the causes and the course of this war, I would be unmindful of my resolution, in which I determined not to touch upon foreign affairs any further, except where they are connected with Roman matters.

Syntax notes4 items

39.48.1verterunt
Used intransitively (or as a middle-reflexive with the pronoun se omitted), meaning 'turned into'. It takes the prepositional phrases in invidiam and in perniciem (in + accusative) to express the result. The dative adulescenti is a dative of disadvantage.
39.48.2quae maxime rem continerent
The verb of the relative clause, continerent, is in the subjunctive because it is a subjunctive of characteristic (defining the class of things). This entire clause functions as the subject of erant.
39.48.4restitui iudiciaque facta tolli placuit
Several infinitive clauses are coordinated as the subject of the impersonal verb placuit ('it was resolved'): the passive infinitives restitui, tolli, scribi, and consignari, as well as the accusative and infinitive construction Lacedaemonem manere.
39.48.6si expromere velim, immemor sim
Both the protasis (si velim) and the apodosis (immemor sim) are in the present subjunctive, forming a future less vivid (or potential) conditional sentence ('should... would...').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:39.48.1-39.48.6