- 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-lat2:7.32.1-7.32.17
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Upon receiving the report from the embassy, Rome declares war on the Samnites, and the consuls Valerius and Cornelius set out with their armies. Confronting the Samnite forces in Campania, Valerius delivers an inspiring speech to his soldiers, emphasizing his own achievements and the historic glory of Rome.
hac legatione Romam relata positis omnium aliarum rerum curis patres fetialibus ad res repetendas missis belloque, quia non redderentur, sollemni more indicto1 decreverunt, ut primo quoque tempore de ea re ad populum ferretur;
When this embassy was reported to Rome, the Fathers, putting aside all other concerns, sent the fetials to demand redress, and when it was not given, having declared war in the solemn manner, decreed that the matter should be brought before the people at the earliest opportunity.
iussuque populi consules ambo cum duobus exercitibus ab urbe profecti, Valerius in Campaniam, Cornelius in Samnium, ille ad montem Gaurum, hic ad Saticulam castra ponunt. priori Valerio Samnitium legiones —
By order of the people, both consuls set out from the city with two armies, Valerius into Campania and Cornelius into Samnium; the former pitched camp near Mount Gaurus, the latter near Saticula. The Samnite legions advanced to meet the former, Valerius—
eo namque omnem belli molem inclinaturam2 censebant — occurrunt; simul in Campanos stimulabat ira, tam promptos nunc ad ferenda nunc ad accersenda adversus se auxilia. ut vero castra Romana viderunt, ferociter pro se quisque signum duces poscere; adfirmare eadem fortuna Romanum Campano laturum opem, quo Campanus Sidicino tulerit.3
for they believed that the whole weight of the war would incline thither; at the same time, they were spurred on by anger against the Campanians, who were so ready now to receive and now to summon aid against them. But as soon as they saw the Roman camp, each man fiercely demanded the signal from his commanders, asserting that the Roman would bring help to the Campanian with the same fortune with which the Campanian had brought it to the Sidicinian.
Valerius levibus certaminibus temptandi hostis causa haud ita multos moratus dies signum pugnae proposuit paucis suos adhortatus: ne novum bellum eos novusque hostis terreret;
Valerius, having delayed not so many days for the sake of testing the enemy in light skirmishes, displayed the signal for battle, exhorting his men with a few words: let not a new war and a new enemy terrify them;
quidquid ab urbe longius proferrent arma, magis magisque in inbelles gentes eos prodire.
the further they advanced their arms from the city, the more they entered among unwarlike peoples.
ne Sidicinorum Campanorumque cladibus Samnitium aestimarent virtutem; qualescumque inter se certaverint, necesse fuisse alteram partem vinci. Campanos quidem haud dubie magis nimio luxu fluentibus rebus mollitiaque sua quam vi hostium victos esse.
Let them not estimate the courage of the Samnites by the defeats of the Sidicines and Campanians; whoever they were that fought among themselves, it was necessary that one side be conquered. Indeed, the Campanians had undoubtedly been conquered more by their own luxury in overflowing prosperity and by their softness than by the force of the enemy.
quid autem esse duo prospera in tot saeculis bella Samnitium adversus tot decora populi Romani, qui triumphos paene plures quam annos ab urbe condita numeret, qui omnia circa se — Sabinos, Etruriam, Latinos, Hernicos, Aequos, Volscos, Auruncos — domita armis habeat, qui Gallos tot proeliis caesos postremo in mare ac naves fuga conpulerit?
What, moreover, were two successful wars of the Samnites in so many centuries against so many glories of the Roman people, who numbered almost more triumphs than years since the founding of the city, who held all things around them—the Sabines, Etruria, the Latins, the Hernicans, the Aequians, the Volscians, the Auruncans—subdued by arms, who had finally driven the Gauls, slaughtered in so many battles, in flight into the sea and onto their ships?
cum gloria belli ac virtute sua quemque fretos ire in aciem debere, tum intueri, cuius ductu auspicioque ineunda pugna sit, utrum, qui, audiendus dumtaxat, magnificus adhortator sit,4 verbis tantum ferox, operum, militarium expers, an qui et ipse tela tractare, procedere ante signa, versari media in mole pugnae sciat. “facta mea, non dicta vos, milites,” inquit “sequi volo nec disciplinam modo, sed exemplum etiam a me petere. non factionibus nec per coitiones usitatas nobilibus, sed hac dextra mihi tres consulatus summamque laudem peperi.
While everyone ought to go into battle relying on the glory of war and his own courage, they should also look to see under whose leadership and auspices the battle was to be entered, whether he was a splendid encourager, merely to be listened to, fierce in words alone but inexperienced in military works, or one who himself knew how to handle weapons, to advance before the standards, and to move in the very midst of the turmoil of battle. “I wish you, soldiers,” he said, “to follow my deeds, not my words, and to seek from me not only discipline but also an example. Not by factions nor through coalitions usual among nobles, but by this right hand have I won for myself three consulships and the highest praise.
fuit, cum hoc dici poterat5 “patricius enim eras et a liberatoribus patriae ortus, et eodem anno familia ista consulatum, quo urbs haec consulem habuit;”
There was a time when this could be said: ‘For you were a patrician and descended from the liberators of your country, and that family of yours held the consulship in the same year in which this city first had a consul’;
nunc iam nobis patribus vobisque plebei promiscuus consulatus patet, nec generis, ut ante, sed virtutis est praemium.
now indeed the consulship lies open indiscriminately to us patricians and to you plebeians, and it is not, as before, a reward of birth, but of virtue.
proinde summum quodque spectate, milites, decus. non, si mihi novum hoc Corvini cognomen dis auctoribus homines dedistis, Publicolarum vetustum familiae nostrae cognomen memoria excessit;
Therefore, soldiers, look to each highest honor. If, by the guidance of the gods, you men have given me this new cognomen of Corvinus, the ancient cognomen of Publicola in our family has not escaped my memory;
semper ego plebem Romanam militiae domique, privatus, in magistratibus parvis magnisque, aeque tribunus ac consul, eodem tenore per omnes deinceps consulatus colo atque colui.
I always cherish and have cherished the Roman plebs at home and in the field, as a private citizen and in small and great magistracies, equally as a tribune and as a consul, with the same tenor throughout all subsequent consulships.
nunc, quod instat, dis bene iuvantibus novum atque integrum de Samnitibus triumphum mecum petite.”
Now, as to what is at hand, with the gods’ good help, seek with me a new and complete triumph over the Samnites.”
- 7.32.1belloque, quia non redderentur, sollemni more indicto
The subjunctive imperfect redderentur in the causal clause quia non redderentur is used to express a subjective or reported reason (suboblique clause), indicating the thoughts of the senate or the fetials ("because, as they said, the things were not returned"). The use of the subjunctive rather than the indicative highlights that this is the motivation of the actors at the time, not a mere objective statement of the historian.
- 7.32.3eo namque omnem belli molem inclinaturam
inclinaturam is a future active participle in the feminine accusative singular, with the copula esse omitted (inclinaturam esse) in an accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction dependent on censebant. The adverb eo ("thither, in that direction") refers back to Valerius (Valerio) or his camp.
- 7.32.4eadem fortuna Romanum Campano laturum opem, quo Campanus Sidicino tulerit
eadem fortuna ... quo forms a correlative construction meaning "with the same fortune ... with which." The verb tulerit in the relative clause is in the subjunctive (perfect) because it is subordinate to the indirect speech introduced by the historical infinitive adfirmare.
- 7.32.11qui, audiendus dumtaxat, magnificus adhortator sit
The gerundive audiendus ("to be listened to"), accompanied by the adverb dumtaxat ("merely, only"), functions adjectivally to mean "one who is merely to be listened to." This stands in sharp contrast to the subsequent an qui et ipse tela tractare ... sciat ("or one who knows how to handle weapons himself"), forming part of the double indirect question introduced by utrum ... an.
- 7.32.13fuit, cum hoc dici poterat
While clauses introduced by temporal-circumstantial cum usually take the subjunctive, here the indicative imperfect poterat is used after fuit, cum to emphasize the historical reality of a past era ("there was a time when this could actually be said").