- 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-lat2:42.47.1-42.47.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Marcius and Atilius report their embassy, boasting of having deceived the Macedonian king during the truce. Although the older senators condemn this deceitful method as contrary to ancient Roman tradition, the majority approve the actions and authorize further military and diplomatic operations.
Marcius et Atilius Romam cum venissent, legationem in Capitolio ita renuntiarunt, ut nulla re magis gloriarentur quam decepto per indutias et spem pacis rege.1
When Marcius and Atilius had come to Rome, they reported their embassy in the Capitol in such a way that they boasted of nothing more than having deceived the king by a truce and the hope of peace.
adeo enim apparatibus belli fuisse instructum, ipsis nulla parata re,2 ut omnia opportuna loca praeoccupari ante ab eo potuerint, quam exercitus in Graeciam traiceretur.
For they said that he had been so well equipped with preparations for war, while they themselves had nothing prepared, that all convenient places could have been occupied by him before an army was transported into Greece.
spatio autem indutiarum sumpto aecum bellum futurum: illum nihilo paratiorem, Romanos omnibus instructiores rebus coepturos bellum. Boeotorum quoque se concilium arte distraxisse, ne coniungi amplius ullo consensu Macedonibus possent.
But, a period of truce having been gained, the war would be on equal terms: that he would be no better prepared, while the Romans would begin the war better equipped in all respects. They had also, by artifice, broken up the council of the Boeotians, so that they could no longer be joined to the Macedonians by any common agreement.
haec ut summa ratione acta magna pars senatus adprobabat; veteres et moris antiqui memores negabant se in ea legatione Romanas agnoscere artes.
While a large part of the senate approved of these things as being done with the highest reason, the elders, mindful of ancient custom, denied that they recognized Roman arts in that embassy.
non per insidias et nocturna proelia, nec simulatam fugam inprovisosque ad incautum hostem reditus, nec ut astu magis quam vera virtute gloriarentur, bella maiores gessisse:3 indicere prius quam gerere solitos bella, denuntiare etiam interdum pugnam et locum finire, in quo dimicaturi essent.
They said that their ancestors had not waged wars through ambushes and nocturnal battles, nor feigned flight and unexpected returns upon an off-guard enemy, nor so that they might boast of cunning rather than true valor; they were accustomed to declare war before waging it, sometimes even to announce the battle and define the place in which they were to fight.
eadem fide indicatum Pyrrho regi medicum vitae eius insidiantem; eadem Faliscis vinctum traditum proditorem liberorum;
With the same good faith, the physician plotting against his life had been pointed out to King Pyrrhus; with the same good faith, the betrayer of their children had been delivered bound to the Falisci ;
religionis haec Romanae esse,4 non versutiarum Punicarum neque calliditatis Graecae, apud quos fallere hostem quam vi superare gloriosius fuerit.
these things belonged to Roman religion, not to Carthaginian craftiness nor to Greek cunning, among whom it was more glorious to deceive an enemy than to overcome him by force.
interdum in praesens tempus plus profici dolo quam virtute; sed eius demum animum in perpetuum vinci, cui confessio expressa sit5 se neque arte neque casu, sed collatis comminus viribus iusto ac pio esse bello superatum.
Sometimes more was accomplished for the present time by deceit than by valor; but his mind alone was conquered forever from whom the confession was wrung that he had been overcome neither by artifice nor by chance, but in a just and pious war, with forces joined hand-to-hand.
haec seniores, quibus nova ac nimis callida minus placebat sapientia; vicit tamen ea pars senatus, cui potior utilis quam honesti cura erat, ut conprobaretur6 prior legatio Marci, et eodem rursus in Graeciam cum * quinqueremibus remitteretur iubereturque cetera, uti e re publica maxime visum esset, agere.
These things said the elders, whom the new and excessively clever wisdom pleased less; however, that part of the senate prevailed which cared more for utility than for honor, so that the former embassy of Marcius was approved, and he was sent back again to Greece with quinqueremes and ordered to manage other things as it should seem most to the advantage of the state.
A. quoque Atilium miserunt ad occupandam Larisam in Thessaliam timentes, ne, si indutiarum dies exisset, Perseus praesidio eo misso caput Thessaliae in potestate haberet.
They also sent Aulus Atilius to Thessaly to occupy Larissa, fearing lest, if the day of the truce should expire, Perseus, having sent a garrison there, might hold the capital of Thessaly in his power.
duo milia peditum Atilius ab Cn. Sicinio accersere ad eam rem agendam iussus.
Atilius was ordered to summon two thousand infantry from Cnaeus Sicinius to accomplish this matter.
et P. Lentulo, qui ex Achaia redierat, trecenti milites Italici generis dati, ut Thebis daret operam, ut in potestate Boeotia esset.
And to Publius Lentulus, who had returned from Achaea, three hundred soldiers of Italian race were given, so that he might give attention to Thebes, to the end that Boeotia might be in Roman power.
- 42.47.1decepto per indutias et spem pacis rege
decepto ... rege is an ablative absolute. The entire event ('the king having been deceived') functions substantively as the object of comparison after magis quam.
- 42.47.2enim apparatibus belli fuisse instructum, ipsis nulla parata re
fuisse instructum is an infinitive in indirect discourse, with the subject accusative eum (referring to King Perseus) omitted. ipsis nulla parata re is an ablative absolute functioning as a contrast to the main clause ('while they themselves had nothing prepared').
- 42.47.5bella maiores gessisse
The indirect discourse is introduced by an implied verb of saying ('they said that...') derived from the preceding negative verb negabant. maiores is the subject accusative, and gessisse is the infinitive.
- 42.47.7religionis haec Romanae esse
religionis ... Romanae is a possessive genitive used predicatively with esse, meaning 'to be characteristic of/belong to Roman religious scruple or faith'.
- 42.47.8eius demum ... cui confessio expressa sit
eius demum ... cui is a correlative construction meaning 'only [the mind] of him whose...'. expressa sit is a perfect subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic, here denoting a present state of completion.
- 42.47.9ut conprobaretur
The ut-clause functions as a noun clause of result or decree, standing in apposition to or dependent on the verb vicit ('prevailed to the effect that...').