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Livy · History of Rome §27.19.1-27.19.12

Scipio Refuses the Title of King and Frees Massiva

Passage 865 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Hasdrubal flees, while Scipio captures the enemy camp and obtains many prisoners. Scipio refuses the title of king offered by the Spaniards and generously sends home the young Numidian noble Massiva, whom he found among the captives.

§27.19.1Hasdrubal, iam antequam dimicaret pecunia rapta elephantisque praemissis, quam plurimos poterat de fuga excipiens praeter Tagum flumen ad Pyrenaeum tendit.
Hasdrubal, having already before the battle snatched up his money and sent the elephants ahead, picking up as many as he could from the flight, directed his course along the river Tagus toward the Pyrenees.
§27.19.2Scipio castris hostium potitus, cum praeter libera capita omnem praedam militibus concessisset, in recensendis captivis decem milia peditum duo milia equitum invenit.
Scipio, having gained possession of the enemy's camp, when he had granted all the plunder to the soldiers except for the free persons, found ten thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry in his review of the prisoners.
ex iis Hispanos sine pretio omnes domum dimisit, Afros vendere quaestorem iussit.
Of these, he sent all the Spaniards home without ransom, and ordered the quaestor to sell the Africans.
§27.19.3circumfusa inde multitudo Hispanorum et ante deditorum et pridie captorum regem eum ingenti consensu appellavit.
Thereupon the surrounding multitude of Spaniards, both those who had previously surrendered and those captured the day before, hailed him as king with immense consensus.
§27.19.4tum Scipio silentio per praeconem facto sibi maximum nomen imperatoris esse dixit, quo se milites sui appellassent; regium nomen, alibi magnum, Romae intolerabile esse.
Then Scipio, having obtained silence through a herald, said that his greatest title was that of imperator, by which his own soldiers had addressed him; that the title of king, though great elsewhere, was insupportable at Rome.
§27.19.5regalem animum in se esse, si id in hominis ingenio amplissimum ducerent, taciti iudicarent, vocis usurpatione abstinerent.
That if they considered that to be the most noble thing in human nature, they should judge in their hearts that there was a kingly mind within him, but abstain from the use of the word.
§27.19.6sensere etiam barbari magnitudinem animi, cuius miraculo nominis alii mortales stuperent, id ex tam alto fastigio aspernantis.
Even the barbarians perceived the greatness of his mind, which disdained from so high an elevation that title at the wonder of which other mortals would be astounded.
§27.19.7dona inde regulis principibusque Hispanorum divisa, et ex magna copia captorum equorum trecentos, quos vellet, eligere Indibilem iussit.
Gifts were then distributed to the petty kings and chiefs of the Spaniards, and he ordered Indibilis to choose three hundred from the great quantity of captured horses, whichever he wished.
§27.19.8cum Afros venderet iussu imperatoris quaestor, puerum adultum inter eos forma insigni cum audisset regii generis esse, ad Scipionem misit.
While the quaestor, by order of the general, was selling the Africans, having heard that a grown youth among them of remarkable beauty was of royal lineage, he sent him to Scipio.
§27.19.9quem cum percunctaretur Scipio, quis et cuias et cur id aetatis in castris fuisset, Numidam esse se ait, Massivam populares vocare; orbum a patre relictum, apud maternum avum Galam, regem Numidarum, eductum, cum avunculo Masinissa, qui nuper cum equitatu subsidio Carthaginiensibus venisset, in Hispaniam traiecisse.
When Scipio inquired of him who he was, of what country, and why at that age he had been in the camp, he said that he was a Numidian, that his countrymen called him Massiva; that being left an orphan by his father, he had been brought up under his maternal grandfather Gala, the king of the Numidians, and had crossed over into Spain with his maternal uncle Masinissa, who had recently come with cavalry to the aid of the Carthaginians.
§27.19.10prohibitum propter aetatem a Masinissa numquam ante proelium inisse; eo die, quo pugnatum cum Romanis esset, inscio avunculo, clam armis equoque sumpto in aciem exisse; ibi prolapso equo effusum in praeceps captum ab Romanis esse.
That having been forbidden by Masinissa on account of his age, he had never before entered a battle; but on that day on which the battle was fought with the Romans, without his uncle's knowledge, having secretly taken arms and a horse, he had gone out into the battle line; there, his horse having stumbled, he had been thrown headlong and captured by the Romans.
§27.19.11Scipio cum adservari Numidam iussisset, quae pro tribunali agenda erant, peragit; inde cum se in praetorium recepisset, vocatum eum interrogat, velletne ad Masinissam reverti.
Scipio, when he had ordered the Numidian to be kept under guard, completed what was to be done before the tribunal; then, when he had retired to his pavilion, he summoned him and asked whether he wished to return to Masinissa.
§27.19.12cum effusis gaudio lacrimis cupere vero diceret, tum puero anulum aureum, tunicam lato clavo cum Hispano sagulo et aurea fibula equumque ornatum donat, iussisque prosequi, quoad vellet, equitibus dimisit.
When he, with tears of joy flowing, said that he did indeed desire it, he then presented the boy with a gold ring, a tunic with a broad stripe along with a Spanish cloak and a gold clasp, and an adorned horse, and dismissed him with horsemen ordered to escort him as far as he wished.

Notes

  1. 27.19.1pecunia rapta elephantisque praemissis — Two ablative absolute constructions are coordinated. In this context, `pecunia rapta` refers not to money plundered by the enemy, but to the army funds that Hasdrubal hastily secured (snatched up) from his own camp before his flight.
  2. 27.19.4sibi maximum nomen imperatoris esse ... regium nomen ... intolerabile esse — An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua) introduced by the main verb `dixit`. `sibi` is the reflexive pronoun referring to the main subject Scipio. `imperatoris` is a genitive of definition modifying `nomen`. In the second clause, `regium nomen ...` continues the same indirect discourse structure with `esse`.
  3. 27.19.5regalem animum in se esse... taciti iudicarent — While the first part `regalem animum in se esse` continues the accusative with infinitive in indirect discourse, the latter part `taciti iudicarent, vocis usurpatione abstinerent` represents an indirect command (which would be an imperative or jussive subjunctive in direct speech), hence the use of the imperfect subjunctive. The adjective `taciti` agrees with the subject (the Spaniards) adverbially, meaning 'silently' or 'in their hearts'.
  4. 27.19.6aspernantis — Genitive singular of the present participle of `aspernari` (deponent). It modifies `animi` or an implied `eius` (Scipio), meaning 'the greatness of mind of [him] disdaining [that title] from so high an elevation.'
  5. 27.19.9cur id aetatis in castris fuisset — An indirect question clause introduced by `cur`, with the verb `fuisset` in the pluperfect subjunctive. `id aetatis` is an idiomatic adverbial accusative of description/limitation, where the neuter pronoun `id` is paired with the partitive genitive `aetatis`, meaning 'at that age'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §27.19.1-27.19.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:27.19.1-27.19.12

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