- 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-lat2:39.53.1-39.53.16
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Demetrius's return to Macedonia and his popularity among the people provoke the envy and suspicion of his brother Perseus and father King Philip. Philip, while complying with Roman demands, leads a campaign into Thrace and founds a new city named Perseis after his eldest son.
dum ea in Peloponneso, a quibus devertit oratio, geruntur, reditus in Macedoniam Demetrii legatorumque aliter aliorum1 adfecerat animos.
While these things were being done in the Peloponnese, from which my narrative had digressed, the return to Macedonia of Demetrius and the ambassadors had affected the minds of different people in different ways.
vulgus Macedonum, quos belli ab Romanis imminentis metus terruerat, Demetrium ut pacis auctorem cum ingenti favore conspiciebant,2 simul et spe haud dubia regnum ei post mortem patris destinabant.
The common people of the Macedonians, whom the fear of an impending war from the Romans had terrified, looked upon Demetrius with great favor as the author of peace, and at the same time with no doubtful hope were destining the kingdom for him after the death of his father.
nam etsi minor aetate quam Perseus esset, hunc iusta matre familiae, illum paelice ortum esse;3 illum ut ex vulgato corpore genitum nullam certi patris notam habere, hunc insignem Philippi similitudinem prae se ferre.
For even if he were younger in age than Perseus, they said that he was born of a lawful wife, while the other was of a mistress; that the latter, as born of a common woman, had no certain mark of a father, while the former bore a remarkable resemblance to Philip.
ad hoc Romanos Demetrium in paterno solio locaturos, Persei nullam apud eos gratiam esse.
In addition to this, they believed that the Romans would place Demetrius on his father’s throne, and that Perseus had no influence among them.
haec vulgo loquebantur. itaque et Persea cura angebat, ne parum pro se una aetas valeret, cum aliis omnibus rebus frater superior esset;
These things they spoke of in public. Therefore, anxiety also tormented Perseus, lest his age alone should have too little weight in his favor, since his brother was superior to him in all other respects;
et Philippus ipse, vix sui arbitrii fore,4 quem heredem regni relinqueret credens, sibi quoque graviorem esse quam vellet minorem filium aiebat.
and Philip himself, believing that it would scarcely be within his own discretion whom he should leave as heir to the kingdom, said that his younger son was also a heavier burden to him than he would wish.
offendebatur interdum concursu Macedonum ad eum, et alteram iam se vivo regiam esse indignabatur.
He was offended at times by the flocking of the Macedonians to him, and was indignant that there was already another court while he was still alive.
et ipse iuvenis haud dubie inflatior redierat, subnisus erga se iudiciis senatus, concessisque sibi, quae patri negata essent;
And the young man himself had undoubtedly returned more puffed up, relying on the Senate’s judgments toward him and on those things having been granted to him which had been denied to his father;
et omnis mentio Romanorum quantam dignitatem ei apud ceteros Macedonas, tantam5 invidiam non apud fratrem modo sed etiam apud patrem conciliabat, utique postquam legati Romani venerunt, et cogebatur decedere Thracia praesidiaque deducere et alia aut ex decreto priorum legatorum aut ex nova constitutione senatus facere.
and every mention of the Romans brought him as much prestige among the rest of the Macedonians as it did envy not only with his brother but also with his father, especially after the Roman ambassadors came, and he was compelled to evacuate Thrace and withdraw his garrisons, and to do other things either according to the decree of the former ambassadors or according to the new constitution of the Senate.
sed omnia maerens quidem et gemens, eo magis quod filium frequentiorem prope cum illis quam secum cernebat, oboedienter tamen adversus Romanos faciebat, ne quam movendi extemplo belli causam praeberet.
But though mourning and groaning at all things, and all the more because he saw his son almost more frequently with them than with himself, he nevertheless acted obediently toward the Romans, lest he should afford any pretext for starting an immediate war.
avertendos etiam animos a suspicione talium consiliorum ratus, mediam per Thraciam exercitum in Odrysas et Dentheletos et Bessos duxit:
Thinking also that minds should be turned away from the suspicion of such designs, he led his army through the middle of Thrace into the territories of the Odrysae, the Dentheleti, and the Bessi.
Philippopolin urbem fuga desertam oppidanorum, qui in proxima montium iuga cum familiis receperant sese, cepit, campestresque barbaros, depopulatus agros eorum, in deditionem accepit.
He took the city of Philippopolis, which had been abandoned by the flight of the townsmen who had withdrawn with their families to the nearest ridges of the mountains, and, having devastated the lands of the plains barbarians, received them into surrender.
relicto inde ad Philippopolin praesidio, quod haud multo post ab Odrysis expulsum est, oppidum in Deuriopo condere instituit — Paeoniae ea regio est —, prope Erigonum fluvium, qui ex Illyrico per Pelagoniam fluens in Axium amnem editur, haud procul Stobis, vetere urbe:
Having left a garrison there at Philippopolis, which was not long after expelled by the Odrysae, he undertook to build a town in Deuriopus—this is a region of Paeonia—near the river Erigon, which, flowing from Illyricum through Pelagonia, empties into the river Axius, not far from Stobi, an old city.
novam urbem Perseida, ut is filio maiori haberetur honos, appellari iussit.
He ordered the new city to be called Perseis, so that this honor might be paid to his elder son.
- 39.53.1aliter aliorum
A characteristically concise Latin expression combining the adverb aliter and the genitive of the pronoun aliorum. Literally "affected the minds of others in other ways", meaning the return had different psychological effects depending on each person's stance.
- 39.53.2vulgus... conspiciebant
The singular collective noun vulgus is used as the subject with plural verbs conspiciebant (and destinabant). This is a typical example of "constructio ad sensum" (agreement according to sense), prioritizing semantic number over grammatical form. The relative pronoun quos is also plural.
- 39.53.3hunc... ortum esse
An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua). The governing verb of speaking is not explicitly stated but is implied from the preceding thoughts (conspiciebant, destinabant) and the following haec vulgo loquebantur. The demonstrative hunc refers to the closer person (Demetrius), and illum to the remoter one (Perseus).
- 39.53.6vix sui arbitrii fore
An infinitive clause serving as the object of the participle credens. It is an impersonal construction with fore (futurum esse), or an infinitive sentence where the relative clause quem heredem... relinqueret acts as the logical subject. The genitive of quality or possession sui arbitrii (of his own discretion) functions predicatively.
- 39.53.9quantam... tantam...
A correlative construction. The main verb conciliabat is grammatically the predicate of the tantam invidiam clause but semantically applies to the preceding quantam dignitatem as well: "brought him as much prestige... as it did envy...".