- 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-lat2:9.4.1-9.4.16
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
The Roman camp is deeply shaken by the harsh surrender conditions offered by the Samnite general Pontius. The envoy Lentulus persuades them to accept the humiliation in order to save the state from total destruction.
neutra sententia accepta Herennius domum e castris est avectus; et in castris Romanis cum frustra multi conatus ad erumpendum capti essent et iam omnium rerum inopia esset, victi necessitate legatos mittunt, qui primum pacem aequam peterent; si pacem non inpetrarent, uti provocarent ad pugnam.
Neither opinion being accepted, Herennius was carried home from the camp; and in the Roman camp, when many attempts to break out had been made in vain, and there was already a lack of all provisions, overcome by necessity they sent envoys, who were first to ask for an equal peace; if they did not obtain peace, () they were to challenge the enemy to battle.
tum Pontius debellatum esse1 respondit et, quoniam ne victi quidem ac capti fortunam fateri scirent, inermes cum singulis vestimentis sub iugum missurum; alias condiciones pacis aequas victis ac victoribus fore:
Then Pontius replied that the war was finished, and since, even when conquered and captured, they did not know how to acknowledge their fortune, he would send them unarmed under the yoke with a single garment each; that the other conditions of peace would be equal for the vanquished and the victors:
si agro Samnitium decederetur, coloniae abducerentur, suis inde legibus Romanum ac Samnitem aequo foedere victurum;
if they departed from the territory of the Samnites, and the colonies were withdrawn, thereafter the Roman and the Samnite would live under their own laws in an equal treaty;
his condicionibus paratum se esse foedus cum consulibus ferire; si quid eorum displiceat, legatos redire ad se vetuit. haec cum legatio renuntiaretur. tantus gemitus omnium subito exortus est tantaque maestitia incessit ut non gravius accepturi viderentur,2 si nuntiaretur omnibus eo loco mortem oppetendam esse.
on these conditions, he said, he was ready to strike a treaty with the consuls; if any of these conditions should displease them, he forbade the envoys to return to him. When this embassy was reported back, such a great groan from all suddenly arose, and such great sadness came over them, that they seemed not about to receive it more grievously if it were announced to all that they must meet death in that place.
cum diu silentium fuisset nec consules aut pro foedere tam turpi aut contra foedus tam necessarium hiscere possent, tum L. Lentulus, qui princeps legatorum virtute atque honoribus erat:
When there had been silence for a long time, and the consuls could not open their mouths either for a treaty so shameful or against a treaty so necessary, then L. Lentulus, who was the chief of the envoys in valor and honors, said:
“patrem meum” inquit, “consules, saepe audivi memorantem se in Capitolio unum non fuisse auctorem senatui3 redimendae auro a Gallis civitatis, quando nec fossa valloque ab ignavissimo ad opera ac muniendum hoste clausi essent et erumpere si non sine magno periculo, tamen sine certa pernicie possent.
”I have often heard my father, consuls, recalling that he had not been the sole promoter in the Capitol to the senate against redeeming the state with gold from the Gauls, since they were not enclosed with a trench and rampart by an enemy most cowardly in work and fortification, and were able to break out, if not without great danger, yet without certain destruction.
quod si, ut illis decurrere ex Capitolio armatis in hostem licuit, quo saepe modo obsessi in obsidentes eruperunt, ita nobis aequo aut iniquo loco dimicandi tantummodo cum hoste copia esset, non mihi paterni animi indoles in consilio dando deesset.
But if, as it was permitted to those men to run down armed from the Capitol against the enemy, in the way that the besieged have often broken out against the besiegers, so we had only the opportunity of fighting with the enemy in a favorable or unfavorable place, the character of my father’s spirit would not fail me in giving counsel.
equidem mortem pro patria praeclaram esse fateor et me vel devovere pro populo Romano legionibusque vel in medios inmittere hostes paratus sum;
Indeed, I confess that death for one’s country is glorious, and I am ready either to devote myself for the Roman people and the legions, or to cast myself into the midst of the enemy;
sed hic patriam video, hic quidquid Romanarum legionum est, quae, nisi pro se ipsis ad mortem ruere volunt, quid habent, quod morte sua servent?”
but here I see my country, here is whatever there is of Roman legions, which, unless they wish to rush to death for their own sake, what do they have to preserve by their death?”
“tecta urbis” dicat aliquis “et moenia et eam turbam, a qua urbs incolitur.” immo hercule produntur ea omnia deleto hoc exercitu, non servantur.
”The roofs of the city,” someone may say, “and the walls, and that crowd by which the city is inhabited.” Nay, by Hercules, all those things are betrayed, not preserved, if this army is destroyed.
quis enim ea tuebitur? inbellis videlicet atque inermis multitudo. tam hercule, quam a Gallorum impetu defendit.4
For who will protect them? An unwarlike () and unarmed multitude, forsooth. Just as much, by Hercules, as it defended them from the onset of the Gauls.
an a Veis exercitum Camillumque ducem inplorabunt? hic omnes spes opesque sunt, quas servando patriam servamus, dedendo ad necem patriam deserimus ac prodimus.
Or will they implore an army and Camillus as leader from Veii? Here are all our hopes and resources, by preserving which we preserve our country, and by delivering them to slaughter we desert and betray our country.
“at foeda atque ignominiosa deditio est.” sed ea caritas patriae est, ut tam ignominia eam quam morte nostra, si opus sit, servemus.
”But surrender is foul and ignominious.” Yet such is our love for our country, that we would preserve it, if there be need, as much by our ignominy as by our death.
subeatur ergo ista, quantacumque est, indignitas et pareatur necessitati, quam ne di quidem superant. ite, consules, redimite armis5 civitatem, quam auro maiores vestri redemerunt.”
Let that indignity, therefore, however great it is, be undergone, and let us obey necessity, which not even the gods overcome. Go, consuls, redeem with arms the state which your ancestors redeemed with gold.”
- 9.4.3debellatum esse
Impersonal perfect passive infinitive. It indicates that Pontius declares the war as already finished as an objective fact.
- 9.4.6accepturi viderentur
A construction where the unreal apodosis accepturi [essent] is combined with viderentur inside the consecutive clause introduced by ut, expressing a metaphorical degree of grief.
- 9.4.8unum non fuisse auctorem senatui
The word unum is negated by non, meaning that he was "not the sole promoter" to the senate for redeeming the state with gold, indicating there were others of similar mind.
- 9.4.13tam hercule, quam a Gallorum impetu defendit
A strong ironical comparison using tam... quam..., meaning "just as they defended it from the Gauls" (i.e., they could not defend it at all), highlighting their total inability.
- 9.4.16redimite armis
Ablative of means armis. It stands in sharp contrast with their ancestors' redemption "with gold" (auro), signifying that they must redeem the state "by surrender of arms".