- 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-lat2:40.11.1-40.11.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Perseus denounces the intervention of the Roman politician Flamininus in Macedonia through Demetrius, and denies the accusation that he himself is illicitly seeking the throne. He argues that it is Demetrius who unlawfully covets the kingdom by bypassing all order, and urges his father Philip to take swift action to protect his life.
quo spectare1 illas litteras ad te nunc missas T. Quinctii credis, quibus et bene te consuluisse rebus tuis ait, quod Demetrium Romam miseris, et hortatur, ut iterum et cum pluribus legatis et primoribus eum remittas Macedonum?
”Where do you believe those letters now sent to you by Titus Quinctius point, in which he both says that you consulted well for your affairs because you sent Demetrius to Rome, and exhorts you to send him back again with more envoys and leading men of the Macedonians?
T. Quinctius nunc est auctor omnium rerum isti et magister. eum sibi te abdicate patre2 in locum tuum substituit. illic ante omnia clandestina cocta sunt consilia.
Titus Quinctius is now the adviser and teacher of all things for that fellow. He has substituted him in your place, having disowned you as his father. There, before all, secret plans were concocted.
quaeruntur adiutores consiliis, cum te plures et principes Macedonum cum isto mittere iubet. qui hinc integri et sinceri Romam eunt, Philippum regem se habere credentes, imbuti illinc et infecti Romanis delenimentis redeunt Demetrius iis unus omnia est, eum iam regem vivo patre appellant. haec si indignor, audiendum est statim non ab aliis solum sed etiam a te, pater, cupiditatis regni crimen.
Assistants for their plans are sought when he orders you to send more and leading men of the Macedonians with that fellow. Those who go from here to Rome whole and sincere, believing that they have Philip as their king, return from there imbued and infected with Roman enticements. To them Demetrius alone is everything; they already call him king while his father is still alive. If I am indignant at these things, immediately, father, the charge of desiring the kingdom must be heard by me, not only from others but even from you.
ego vero, si in medio ponitur,3 non agnosco. quem enim suo loco moveo, ut ipse in eius locum succedam? unus ante me pater est, et ut diu sit, deos rogo.
But as for me, if it is placed in the open, I do not acknowledge the charge. For whom am I moving from his place, so that I myself may succeed to his place? There is only one before me, my father, and I pray to the gods that he may be so for a long time.
superstes — et ita sim, si merebor, ut ipse me esse velit — hereditatem regni, si pater tradet accipiam.
If I survive—and may I be so, if I deserve it, in such a way that you yourself wish me to survive—I will receive the inheritance of the kingdom if my father delivers it.
cupit regnum, et quidem scelerate cupit, qui transcendere festinat ordinem aetatis, naturae, moris Macedonum, iuris gentium. obstat frater maior, ad quem iure, voluntate etiam patris, regnum pertinet. tollatur:
He desires the kingdom, and indeed desires it criminally, who hastens to bypass the order of age, of nature, of the custom of the Macedonians, of the law of nations. The elder brother stands in the way, to whom by right, and also by the father’s will, the kingdom belongs. Let him be removed!
non primus regnum fraterna caede petiero. pater senex et solus de se magis timebit, quam ut4 filii necem ulciscatur. Romani laetabuntur probabunt, defendent factum.
’I shall not be the first to have sought a kingdom through the murder of a brother. My father, old and alone, will fear more for himself than to avenge the murder of his son. The Romans will rejoice, approve, and defend the deed.’
hae spes incertae, pater, sed non inanes sunt.
These hopes, father, are uncertain, but they are not empty.
ita enim se res habet: periculum vitae propellere a me potes, puniendo eos, qui ad me interficiendum ferrum sumpserunt; si facinori eorum successerit, mortem meam idem tu persequi non poteris.”
For this is how the matter stands: you can ward off the danger of life from me by punishing those who took up the sword to kill me; but if their crime succeeds, you, the very same person, will not be able to avenge my death.”
- 40.11.1quo spectare
Accusative with infinitive clause in an indirect question, functioning as the object of the main verb "credis".
- 40.11.2te abdicate patre
"abdicate" is read as "abdicato" in some manuscripts. It is interpreted as an ablative absolute ("you having been disowned as father").
- 40.11.5si in medio ponitur
"in medio ponere" means "to place in the open" or "to make common property". Here it refers to either the throne ("regnum") or the accusation ("crimen") being put up for public debate or competition.
- 40.11.8magis... quam ut
The construction "magis... quam ut" followed by the subjunctive expresses a restriction or result: "will fear more for himself than that he should avenge..." (i.e., too fearful for himself to avenge).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 2