Allotment of Consular Provinces and Appeal of Veteran Centurions — Livy, History of Rome Book 42 (42.32.1–42.32.8), Latin & English

§42.32.1

inter consules magis cavillatio quam magna contentio de provincia fuit. Cassius sine sorte se Macedoniam optaturum dicebat, nec posse collegam salvo iureiurando¹ secum sortiri.

Between the consuls there was rather a verbal quibble than a great dispute concerning the province. Cassius kept saying that he would choose Macedonia without a lottery, and that his colleague could not draw lots with him without violating his oath.

§42.32.2

praetorem cum, ne in provinciam iret, in contione iurasse se stato loco statisque diebus sacrificia habere, quae absente se recte fieri non possent; quae non magis consule quam praetore absente recte fieri posse,² si senatus non, quid velit in consulatu, potius quam, quid in praetura iuraverit P. Licinius, animadvertendum esse censeat;

For when his colleague had been praetor, in order not to go to his province, he had sworn in an assembly that he had sacrifices to perform at a stated place and on stated days, which could not be properly performed in his absence; and that these could no more be properly performed in the absence of a consul than in that of a praetor, unless the senate should decide that they ought to pay attention to what Publius Licinius had sworn in his praetorship rather than what he wished in his consulship.

§42.32.3

se tamen futurum in senatus potestate.

He added, however, that he would remain under the authority of the senate.

§42.32.4

consulti patres, cui consulatum populus Romanus non negasset, ei³ ab se provinciam negari, superbum rati, sortiri consules iusserunt. P. Licinio Macedonia, C. Cassio Italia obvenit.

The senators, when consulted, thinking it arrogant that a province should be denied by them to a man to whom the Roman people had not denied the consulship, ordered the consuls to draw lots. Macedonia fell to Publius Licinius, Italy to Gaius Cassius.

§42.32.5

legiones inde sortiti sunt: prima et tertia ut in Macedoniam traicerentur, secunda et quarta ut in Italia remanerent.

They then drew lots for the legions: that the first and third should be transported to Macedonia, and the second and fourth should remain in Italy.

§42.32.6

dilectum consules multo intentiore, quam alias, cura habebant. Licinius veteres quoque scribebat milites centurionesque; et multi voluntate nomina dabant, quia locupletes videbant, qui priore Macedonico bello aut adversus Antiochum in Asia stipendia fecerant.

The consuls conducted the levy with much more intense care than at other times. Licinius enrolled veteran soldiers and centurions as well; and many gave their names voluntarily, because they saw that those who had served in the previous Macedonian war or against Antiochus in Asia had become wealthy.

§42.32.7

cum tribuni militum, qui centuriones, sed primum quemque citarent, tres et viginti centuriones, qui primos pilos duxerant, citati tribunos plebis appellarunt. duo ex collegio, M. Fulvius Nobilior et M. Claudius Marcellus, ad consules rem reiciebant: eorum cognitionem esse debere,⁴ quibus dilectus quibusque bellum mandatum esset; ceteri cognituros se, de quo appellati essent, aiebant, et si iniuria fieret, auxilium civibus laturos.

When the military tribunes, who [lacuna] the centurions, but were summoning each of the foremost, twenty-three centurions who had led the first maniples, having been summoned, appealed to the tribunes of the plebs. Two of the college, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, referred the matter back to the consuls, saying that the investigation of these men ought to belong to those to whom the levy and the war had been entrusted; the rest of the tribunes declared that they would investigate the matter on which they had been appealed to, and if any injustice was being done, they would bring aid to the citizens.

Syntax notes4 items

42.32.1salvo iureiurando
Ablative absolute construction, meaning "without violating his oath" or "his oath being kept safe." Cassius argues that his colleague Licinius cannot take part in the lottery for Macedonia (which would require leaving Rome) without breaking the oath he made during his praetorship to remain in Rome for religious duties.
42.32.2praetorem cum ... iurasse ... habere ... posse
Part of a long indirect discourse (Oratio Obliqua) reporting Cassius' arguments. cum is the conjunction ("when"). praetorem is used predicatively within the cum clause and also serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive iurasse (syncopated from iuravisse), meaning "that when he had been praetor, he had sworn..." The subsequent infinitives habere and posse are coordinated in accusative-with-infinitive construction representing Cassius' assertions.
42.32.4cui ... ei
A correlative structure where the relative pronoun cui (dative) precedes its antecedent ei (dative) by prolepsis. ei is the indirect object of the passive infinitive negari in the accusative-and-infinitive clause provinciam negari, which is governed by superbum rati ("thinking it arrogant that..."). It refers to the idea that "to him to whom the Roman people had not denied the consulship, a province should be denied by them."
42.32.8eorum cognitionem esse debere
A genitive of possession/duty construction (eorum), meaning "it is the duty/right of those..." The relative clause quibus... ("to whom the levy and war had been entrusted," i.e., the consuls) serves as the antecedent of eorum. The whole phrase means "that the investigation (cognitio) of these matters ought to be the duty of those to whom..."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:42.32.1-42.32.8