- 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-lat2:42.41.1-42.41.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
King Perseus responds to the charges brought by the Roman commissioners, defending his actions regarding the shelter of exiles, his defensive war against Abrupolis, and his subjection of the Dolopians.
ad ea rex: “bonam causam, si apud iudices aequos ageretur, apud eosdem et accusatores et iudices agam.
To this the king replied: “I shall plead a good cause—if it were being pleaded before fair judges—before those who are themselves both accusers and judges.
eorum autem, quae obiecta sunt mihi, partim ea sunt, quibus nescio an1 gloriari debeam, neque quae fateri erubescam, partim quae verbo obiecta verbo negare satis sit.
But of those things which have been objected against me, some are of such a kind that I rather think I ought to boast of them, nor are they such as I should blush to confess; others are such that, having been objected by a mere word, it is sufficient to deny them by a word.
quid enim, si legibus vestris hodie reus sim, aut index Brundisinus aut Eumenes mihi obiciat, ut accusare potius vere quam conviciari videantur? scilicet nec Eumenes, cum tam multis gravis publice ac privatim sit, alium quam me inimicum habuit;
For what, if I were on trial today under your laws, would either the Brundisian informer or Eumenes object against me, so that they might seem to accuse truly rather than to revile? To be sure, neither did Eumenes, although he is troublesome to so many publicly and privately, have any other enemy than me;
neque ego potiorem quemquam ad ministeria facinorum quam Rammium, quem neque umquam ante videram nec eram postea visurus, invenire potui.
nor could I find anyone more suitable for the service of crimes than Rammius, whom I had neither ever seen before nor was to see hereafter.
et Thebanorum, quos naufragio perisse constat, et Arthetauri caedis mihi reddenda ratio est; in qua tamen nihil ultra obicitur, quam interfectores eius in regno exulasse meo.
And an account must be rendered by me both of the Thebans, whom it is well known perished by shipwreck, and of the murder of Arthetaurus; in which, however, nothing further is objected than that his murderers lived as exiles in my kingdom.
cuius condicionis iniquitatem ita non sum recusaturus, si2 vos quoque accipitis, ut, quicumque exules in Italiam aut Romam se contulerunt, his facinorum, propter quae damnati sunt, auctores vos fuisse fateamini.
The unfairness of which condition I shall not refuse on this term only, if you also accept it, so that, whoever of the exiles have betaken themselves to Italy or to Rome, you confess that you were the authors of the crimes on account of which they were condemned.
si hoc et vos recusabitis et omnes aliae gentes, ego quoque inter ceteros ero. et hercule, quid adtinet cuiquam exilium patere, si nusquam exuli futurus locus est? ego tamen istos,3 ut primum in Macedonia esse admonitus a vobis conperi, requisitos abire ex regno iussi et in perpetuum interdixi finibus meis.
If both you and all other nations refuse this, I also shall be among the rest. And by Hercules, what does it matter that exile is open to anyone, if there is to be no place anywhere for an exile? I, however, those men, as soon as I found out, having been warned by you, that they were in Macedonia, having searched for them, ordered them to depart from my kingdom and forbade them from my borders forever.
et haec quidem mihi tamquam causam dicenti reo obiecta sunt; illa tamquam regi et quae de foedere, quod mihi est vobiscum, disceptationem habeant.
And these things indeed have been objected against me as a defendant pleading his cause; those other things are objected as against a king, and they are such as involve a dispute concerning the treaty which I have with you.
nam si est in foedere ita scriptum, ut ne si bellum quidem quis inferat, tueri me regnumque meum liceat, mihi fatendum est, quod me armis adversus Abrupolim, socium populi Romani, defenderim, foedus violatum esse.
For if it is so written in the treaty that, not even if anyone should bring war, is it permitted for me to defend myself and my kingdom, I must confess that, because I defended myself with arms against Abrupolis, an ally of the Roman people, the treaty has been violated.
sin autem hoc et ex foedere licuit et iure gentium ita comparatum est, ut arma armis propulsentur, quid tandem me facere decuit, cum Abrupolis fines mei regni usque ad Amphipolim pervastasset, multa libera capita, magnam vim mancipiorum, multa milia pecorum abegisset?
But if both this was permitted by the treaty, and it has been so established by the law of nations that arms are repelled by arms, what indeed was it fitting for me to do, when Abrupolis had thoroughly devastated the borders of my kingdom as far as Amphipolis, and had driven away many free persons, a great quantity of slaves, and many thousands of cattle?
quiescerem et paterer,4 donec Pellam et in regiam meam armatus pervenisset? at enim bello quidem iusto sum persecutus, sed vinci non oportuit eum, neque alia, quae victis accidunt, pati; quorum casum cum ego subierim,5 qui sum armis lacessitus, quid potest queri sibi accidisse, qui causa belli fuit?
Should I have remained quiet and endured it until he, armed, had reached Pella and my palace? But indeed, you say, I prosecuted him in a just war, yet he ought not to have been conquered, nor to have suffered the other things which happen to the conquered; but since I, who was provoked by arms, would have undergone their lot, what can he complain has happened to him, who was the cause of the war?
non sum eodem modo defensurus, Romani, quod Dolopas armis coercuerim; quia, etsi non merito eorum, iure feci meo, cum mei regni, meae dicionis essent, vestro decreto patri adtributi meo.
I am not going to defend in the same way, Romans, the fact that I coerced the Dolopians with arms; because, although not by their merit, I did it by my own right, since they were of my kingdom, under my sway, assigned to my father by your decree.
nec, si causa reddenda sit, non vobis nec foederatis, sed iis, qui ne in servos quidem saeva atque iniusta imperia probant, plus aequo et bono saevisse in eos videri possum; quippe Euphranorem, praefectum a me inpositum, ita occiderunt, ut mors poenarum eius levissima fuerit.
Nor, if an account were to be rendered, not to you nor to the allies, but to those who do not approve of cruel and unjust commands even over slaves, can I seem to have raged against them more than is fair and good; for they killed Euphranor, the prefect appointed by me, in such a way that death was the lightest of his punishments.”
- 42.41.2nescio an
The phrase nescio an typically expresses a positive inclination ("I rather think" or "perhaps"). Here, it implies a touch of irony or a strong claim that the actions of which he is accused (such as self-defense) are actually something he should boast of rather than be ashamed of.
- 42.41.6ita... si
The combination ita... si expresses a restrictive condition ("only on this term, if..."). The dative pronoun his, which corresponds to the relative clause, depends on auctores fuisse within the accusative and infinitive construction governed by fateamini, meaning "that you were the instigators of the crimes to/for these people."
- 42.41.7ego tamen istos
The pronoun istos here serves as the direct object of the main verb iussi in §42.41.8, across the page break ¦p.67¦. Because of the long intervening temporal clause ut primum... conperi, the grammatical structure is temporarily suspended (hyperbaton), but must be rendered continuously as a single sentence.
- 42.41.12quiescerem et paterer
These imperfect subjunctives are used as a deliberative subjunctive in the past (expressing hesitation, obligation, or rhetorical question), meaning "Should I have remained quiet and endured it?"
- 42.41.12cum ego subierim
The perfect subjunctive subierim is used in a concessive cum-clause, containing a potential/unreal force in the past ("although I would have undergone their fate [had I been defeated]"). Thus, it is rendered as "since I, who was provoked by arms, would have undergone their lot."