Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §22.58.1-22.58.9

Hannibal's Ransom Offer and the Envoys Sent to Rome

Passage 652 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After the battle of Cannae, Hannibal proposes ransom terms to the Roman prisoners and allows ten envoys to go to the Senate in Rome accompanied by the Carthaginian Carthalo, who is ordered to leave immediately upon arrival, while one envoy attempts to evade his oath.

§22.58.1namque Hannibal secundum tam prosperam ad Cannas pugnam victoris magis quam bellum gerentis intentus curis, cum captivis productis segregatisque socios, §22.58.2sicut ante ad Trebiam Trasumennumque lacum benigne adlocutus sine pretio dimisisset, Romanos quoque vocatos, quod numquam alias antea, satis miti sermone adloquitur: §22.58.3non internecivum sibi esse cum Romanis bellum; de dignitate atque imperio certare. et patres virtuti Romanae cessisse, et se id adniti, ut suae in vicem simul felicitati et virtuti cedatur.
For Hannibal, after so successful a battle at Cannae, being intent upon the cares of a victor rather than of one conducting a war, when the prisoners had been brought out and separated, having addressed the allies kindly and dismissed them without ransom, as he had done before at the Trebia and Lake Trasimene, summoned the Romans also and addressed them in quite mild terms, a thing he had never done on any other occasion before: saying that his war with the Romans was not one of extermination, but that he was contending for dignity and empire; and that just as his ancestors had yielded to Roman valor, so he was striving that, in turn, submission should be made to his own good fortune and valor at the same time.
§22.58.4itaque redimendi se captivis copiam facere; pretium fore in capita equiti quingenos quadrigatos nummos, trecenos pediti, servo centenos.
Therefore, he was giving the prisoners the opportunity to ransom themselves; the price would be five hundred quadrigati coins per head for a horseman, three hundred for a foot soldier, and one hundred for a slave.
§22.58.5quamquam aliquantum adiciebatur equitibus ad id pretium, quo pepigerant dedentes se, laeti tamen quamcumque condicionem paciscendi acceperunt.
Although some addition was made for the horsemen to that price which they had agreed upon when surrendering themselves, they nevertheless gladly accepted any condition of making a bargain.
§22.58.6placuit suffragio ipsorum decem deligi qui Romam ad senatum irent, nec pignus aliud fidei, quam ut iurarent se redituros, acceptum.
It was decided by their own vote that ten should be chosen to go to the senate at Rome, and no other pledge of their loyalty was accepted than that they should swear they would return.
§22.58.7missus cum his Carthalo, nobilis Carthaginiensis, qui, si forte ad pacem inclinarent animos, condiciones ferret.
With them was sent Carthalo, a noble Carthaginian, who, if by chance they should incline their minds towards peace, might propose terms.
§22.58.8cum egressi castris essent, unus ex iis, minime Romani ingenii homo, veluti aliquid oblitus, iuris iurandi solvendi causa cum in castra redisset, ante noctem comites adsequitur.
When they had gone out of the camp, one of them, a man of a character by no means Roman, having returned to the camp as if he had forgotten something, for the sake of releasing himself from his oath, overtook his companions before nightfall.
§22.58.9ubi Romam venire eos nuntiatum est, Carthaloni obviam lictor missus, qui dictatoris verbis nuntiaret, ut ante noctem excederet finibus Romanis.
When it was announced that they were coming to Rome, a lictor was sent to meet Carthalo to order him, in the words of the dictator, to depart from Roman territory before nightfall.

Notes

  1. 22.58.3patres — Here patres refers to Hannibal's own "ancestors" (specifically the Carthaginian leaders of the First Punic War generation), rather than the Roman "senators." The contrast with suae in vicem... ("in turn, to his own...") shows that he acknowledges his ancestors having yielded to Roman valor, and now expects the Romans to yield to his own fortune and valor.
  2. 22.58.4redimendi se — The reflexive pronoun se as the object of the gerund redimendi refers not to the subject of the main clause in indirect speech (Hannibal), but to the dative captivis, which is the logical subject of the action. Thus, it means "the prisoners ransoming themselves."
  3. 22.58.8iuris iurandi solvendi causa — Here solvere means to "discharge" or "release oneself from" an oath. The man claimed that by physically returning to the camp shortly after departure, he had literally fulfilled his oath to return (iurarent se redituros), using this sophistry to free himself from its obligation. Livy critically describes this act as being "by no means of a Roman character (minime Romani ingenii)."

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §22.58.1-22.58.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.58.1-22.58.9

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.