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Livy · History of Rome §22.40.1-22.40.9

Paulus's Departure, Arrival at Camp, and Army Reorganization

Passage 634 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The consul Paulus agrees with Fabius but expresses anxiety over his conflict with his colleague Varro and his own political struggles before setting out for the camp. In the camp, the army is reorganized, while Hannibal, suffering from a severe food shortage, welcomes the arrival of the consuls.

§22.40.1adversus ea oratio consulis baud sane laeta fuit, magis fatentis ea, quae diceret, vera quam facilia factu esse.
In reply to these things, the consul's speech was by no means cheerful, rather admitting that what he (Fabius) said was true than easy to do.
§22.40.2dictatori magistrum equitum intolerabilem fuisse: quid consuli adversus collegam seditiosum ac temerarium virium atque auctoritatis fore?
[He said that] the master of the horse had been intolerable to the dictator; what strength and authority would there be for a consul against a mutinous and rash colleague?
§22.40.3se populare incendium priore consulatu semustum effugisse; optare, ut omnia prospere evenirent; sed si quid adversi caderet, hostium se telis potius quam suffragiis iratorum civium caput obiecturum.
He had escaped the popular fire, half-burned, during his previous consulship; he hoped that all things would turn out successfully; but if any misfortune should fall, he would expose his head to the weapons of the enemy rather than to the votes of angry citizens.
§22.40.4ab hoc sermone profectum Paulum tradunt prosequentibus primoribus patrum; plebeium consulem sua plebes prosecuta, turba conspectior, cum dignitates deessent.
They report that Paulus set out after this speech, escorted by the leading men of the patricians; the plebeian consul was escorted by his own plebeians, a crowd more conspicuous since high-ranking men were lacking.
§22.40.5ut in castra venerunt, permixto novo exercitu ac vetere castris bifariam factis, ut nova minora essent propius Hannibalem, in veteribus maior pars et omne robur virium esset,
When they came into the camp, the new army and the old being mixed, the camp was made in two parts, so that the new, smaller one was closer to Hannibal, while in the old was the larger part and all the strength of the forces.
§22.40.6consulum anni prioris M. Atilium aetatem excusantem Romam miserunt, Geminum Servilium in minoribus castris legioni Romanae et socium peditum equitumque duobus milibus praeficiunt.
Of the consuls of the previous year, they sent Marcus Atilius to Rome, as he excused himself on account of his age, and they placed Geminus Servilius in command of a Roman legion and of two thousand allied infantry and cavalry in the smaller camp.
§22.40.7Hannibal quamquam parte dimidia auctas hostium copias cernebat, tamen adventu consulum mire gaudere.
Although Hannibal saw that the enemy's forces were increased by a half, nevertheless he rejoiced wonderfully at the arrival of the consuls.
§22.40.8non solum enim nihil ex raptis in diem commeatibus superabat, sed ne unde raperet quidem quicquam reliqui erat omni undique frumento, postquam ager parum tutus erat, in urbes munitas convecto, §22.40.9ut vix decem dierum, quod conpertum postea est, frumentum superesset, Hispanorumque ob inopiam transitio parata fuerit, si maturitas temporum expectata foret.
For not only did nothing remain of the provisions plundered day by day, but indeed there was not even anything left from which he could plunder, since all the grain from everywhere, after the countryside had become unsafe, had been carried into fortified cities, so that, as was afterwards found out, scarcely ten days' grain remained, and a desertion of the Spaniards on account of scarcity would have been ready, if the maturity of the season had been waited for.

Notes

  1. §22.40.1facilia factu esse — factu is the ablative of the supine of the verb facio, modifying the adjective facilia to mean 'easy to do' (literally 'easy in the doing').
  2. §22.40.2dictatori magistrum equitum intolerabilem fuisse — An indirect speech (oratio obliqua) with the main verb of speaking omitted, continuing from the preceding 'oratio consulis'. The following 'quid... fore?' is an indirect rhetorical question, with 'fore' as the shortened form of 'futurum esse'.
  3. §22.40.3si quid adversi — quid is the indefinite pronoun aliquid with the prefix ali- dropped after si. adversi is the genitive neuter singular of the adjective adversus, acting as a partitive genitive modifying quid ('any of misfortune').
  4. §22.40.9transitio parata fuerit, si maturitas temporum expectata foret — A conditional clause of unreal comparison embedded within a result clause (ut...). The conditional clause uses the subjunctive pluperfect 'expectata foret' ('foret' being an alternative for 'esset'), while the apodosis, which would normally be in the pluperfect (parata fuisset), is in the perfect subjunctive (parata fuerit) due to the attraction of the 'ut' result clause.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §22.40.1-22.40.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.40.1-22.40.9

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