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Livy · History of Rome §22.20.1-22.20.12

Roman Naval Dominance and the Submission of Spanish Tribes

Passage 614 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The Roman fleet captured most of the fleeing Carthaginian ships, securing command of the sea, and ravaged various coastal regions and islands for immense booty. Consequently, numerous Spanish tribes submitted to Roman rule, allowing the Roman army to advance further inland.

§22.20.1Romani, quamquam terra hostium erat armatamque aciem toto praetentam litore cernebant, haud cunctanter insecuti trepidam hostium classem navis omnis, §22.20.2quae non aut perfregerant proras litori inlisas aut carinas fixerant vadis, religatas puppibus in altum extraxere, ad quinque et viginti naves e quadraginta cepere.
The Romans, although the land belonged to the enemy and they saw the armed battle-line drawn up along the entire shore, followed up the panicked fleet of the enemy without hesitation and, having lashed to their own sterns all the ships which had not either shattered their prows by dashing against the shore or stuck their keels in the shallows, dragged them out into the deep; they captured up to twenty-five ships out of the forty.
§22.20.3neque id pulcherrimum eius victoriae fuit, sed quod una levi pugna toto eius orae mari potiti erant.
Nor was that the most glorious feature of this victory, but rather that by one light battle they had made themselves masters of the sea along all that coast.
§22.20.4itaque ad Onusam classe provecti; escensio ab navibus in terram facta.
Therefore they sailed with the fleet to Onusa, where a landing from the ships to the land was made.
cum urbem vi cepissent captamque diripuissent, Carthaginem inde petunt, §22.20.5atque omnem agrum circa depopulati postremo tecta quoque iniuncta muro portisque incenderunt.
When they had taken the city by force and plundered it, they set out thence for Carthage, and having ravaged all the surrounding territory, they finally even burned the buildings adjoining the wall and the gates.
§22.20.6inde iam praeda gravis ad Longunticam pervenit classis, ubi vis magna sparti erat ad rem nauticam congesta ab Hasdrubale.
Thence the fleet, by now heavy with booty, came to Longuntica, where a great quantity of esparto grass had been accumulated by Hasdrubal for naval use.
quod satis in usum fuit sublato ceterum omne incensum est.
Having taken away what was sufficient for their use, all the rest was burned.
§22.20.7nec continentis modo praelecta est ora, sed in Ebusum insulam transmissum.
Nor was only the coast of the continent sailed past, but they also crossed over to the island of Ebusus.
ibi urbe, quae caput insulae est, §22.20.8biduum nequiquam summo labore oppugnata ubi in spem inritam frustra teri tempus animadversum est, §22.20.9ad populationem agri versi direptis aliquot incensisque vicis maiore quam ex continenti praeda parta cum in naves se recepissent, ex Baliaribus insulis legati pacem petentes ad Scipionem venerunt.
There, after the city which is the capital of the island, had been assaulted in vain for two days with the greatest exertion, when it was perceived that time was being fruitlessly wasted on a vain hope, they turned to the devastation of the countryside; and having plundered and burned several villages, securing a greater booty than had been obtained from the continent, they returned to their ships, whereupon ambassadors from the Balearic Islands came to Scipio seeking peace.
§22.20.10inde flexa retro classis reditumque in citeriora provinciae, quo omnium populorum, qui cis Hiberum incolunt, multorum et ultimae Hispaniae legati concurrerunt.
Thence the fleet was turned back, and a return was made to the nearer parts of the province, whither assembled the ambassadors of all the peoples who dwell on this side of the Hiberus, and of many even from Further Spain.
§22.20.11sed qui vere dicionis imperiique Romani facti sint obsidibus datis populi, amplius fuere centum viginti.
But the peoples who, by giving hostages, actually came under the sway and dominion of Rome, were more than one hundred and twenty.
§22.20.12igitur terrestribus quoue copiis satis fidens Romanus usque ad saltum Castulonensem est progressus.
Therefore, the Roman, trusting sufficiently in his land forces as well, advanced as far as the pass of Castulo.
Hasdrubal in Lusitaniam ac propius Oceanum concessit.
Hasdrubal withdrew into Lusitania and closer to the Ocean.

Notes

  1. 22.20.1navis omnis — An accusative plural (equivalent to the classical naves omnes) serving as the direct object of the main verb extraxere (a shortened form of extraxerunt). It is modified by the relative clause starting with quae and the perfect participle religatas, making the core structure 'they dragged out (extraxere) all the ships (navis omnis)'.
  2. 22.20.8teri — The present passive infinitive of the verb tero (to waste, spend). Together with the noun tempus (time) acting as its subject, it forms an infinitive clause that serves as the subject of the passive verb animadversum est (it was observed), meaning 'when it was observed that time was being wasted'.
  3. 22.20.11qui vere dicionis imperiique Romani facti sint — The subjunctive verb facti sint is a subjunctive of characteristic, defining the class of peoples who actually came under Roman control. The relative clause modifies the subject of the main clause, populi. The genitives dicionis imperiique function as genitives of possession/characteristic, denoting belonging to someone's sway or dominion.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §22.20.1-22.20.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.20.1-22.20.12

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