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Livy · History of Rome §28.29.1-28.29.12

Execution of Ringleaders and the End of the Mutiny

Passage 926 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Scipio severely rebukes the mutineers and sentences the ringleaders to death. Afterwards, the executions are carried out before the assembled army, and the soldiers renew their oath of allegiance to Scipio and receive their pay, bringing the mutiny at Sucro to a complete end.

§28.29.1Coriolanum quondam damnatio iniusta, miserum et indignum exilium, ut iret ad oppugnandam patriam, impulit; revocavit tamen a publico parricidio privata pietas: §28.29.2vos qui dolor, quae ira incitavit? stipendiumne diebus paucis imperatore aegro serius numeratur satis digna causa fuit, cur patriae indiceretis bellum, cur ad Ilergetes descisceretis a populo Romano, cur nihil divinarum humanarumve rerum inviolatum vobis esset? §28.29.3insanistis profecto, milites, nec maior in corpus meum vis morbi quam in vestras mentes invasit. §28.29.4horret animus referre quid crediderint homines, quid speraverint, quid optaverint: auferat omnia inrita oblivio, si potest; si non, utcumque silentium tegat. §28.29.5non negaverim tristem atrocemque vobis visam orationem meam: quanto creditis facta vestra atrociora esse quam dicta mea? et me ea, quae fecistis, pati aequum censetis; vos ne dici quidem omnia aequo animofertis? §28.29.6sed ne ea quidem ipsa ultra exprobrabuntur.
Once, an unjust condemnation, a wretched and undeserved exile, impelled Coriolanus to go to attack his country; yet private piety recalled him from public parricide. What pain, what anger incited you? Was the fact that your pay was paid a few days later, while your general was sick, a sufficiently worthy cause for you to declare war on your country, to revolt from the Roman people to the Ilergetes, and for nothing of divine or human affairs to be left unviolated by you? You were surely mad, soldiers, and no greater force of disease invaded my body than invaded your minds. My mind shudders to recall what men believed, what they hoped for, what they desired; let oblivion sweep everything away as void, if it can; if not, let silence cover it in whatever way possible. I would not deny that my speech seemed sad and harsh to you; by how much more harsh do you believe your deeds to be than my words? And do you think it fair that I should suffer those things which you have done, while you do not even bear with an equal mind that they should all be spoken of? But not even those very things will be reproached any further.
utinam tam facile vos obliviscamini eorum, quam ego obliuiscar. §28.29.7itaque quod ad universos vos attinet, si erroris paenitet, satis superque poenarum habeo. §28.29.8Albius Calenus et Atrius Umber et ceteri nefariae seditionis auctores sanguine luent quod admiserunt; vobis supplicii eorum spectaculum non modo non acerbum sed laetum etiam, si sana mens rediit, debet esse: de nullis enim quam de vobis infestius aut inimicius consuluerunt. ” §28.29.9Vix finem dicendi fecerat cum ex praeparato simul omnium rerum terror oculis auribusque est offusus. §28.29.10exercitus, qui corona contionem circumdederat, gladiis ad scuta concrepuit; §28.29.11praeconis audita vox citantis nomina damnatorum in consilio; nudi in medium protrahebantur, et simul omnis apparatus supplicii expromebatur; deligati ad palum virgisque caesi et securi percussi, adeo torpentibus metu qui aderant, ut non modo ferocior vox adversus atrocitatem poenae sed ne gemitus quidem exaudiretur.
Would that you might forget them as easily as I shall forget them. Therefore, as far as you all are concerned, if you repent of your error, I have enough and more than enough of punishment. Albius Calenus, Atrius Umber, and the other authors of this impious mutiny shall atone with their blood for what they committed; for you, the spectacle of their punishment ought to be not only not bitter, but even joyful, if a sound mind has returned; for they took counsel more hostilely or inimically against none than against you. Scarcely had he made an end of speaking when, from a prearranged plan, a terror of all things at once was poured over their eyes and ears. The army, which had surrounded the assembly in a ring, clashed their swords against their shields; the voice of a herald was heard summoning the names of those condemned in the council; they were dragged naked into the midst, and at the same time all the apparatus of punishment was brought out; bound to the stake, beaten with rods, and beheaded with axes, while those present were so benumbed by fear that not only was no fiercer voice heard against the severity of the punishment, but not even a groan. Then they were all dragged away from the midst, and the place having been cleared, the soldiers, summoned by name, swore allegiance to Publius Scipio before the military tribunes, and their pay was paid in full to each individual by name.
§28.29.12tracti inde de medio omnes, purgatoque loco citati milites nominatim apud tribunos militum in verba P. Scipionis iurarunt, stipendiumque ad nomen singulis persolutum est. hunc finem exitumque seditio militum coepta apud Sucronem habuit.
This end and outcome the mutiny of the soldiers begun at Sucro had.

Notes

  1. §28.29.1miserum et indignum exilium — A nominative noun phrase functioning in apposition to the preceding damnatio iniusta (unjust condemnation), explaining the concrete and undeserved consequence of that judgment.
  2. §28.29.2diebus paucis imperatore aegro serius — diebus paucis is an ablative of degree of difference modifying the comparative adverb serius (later), meaning "a few days later". imperatore aegro is an ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun and an adjective, indicating the circumstance "while the general was sick".
  3. §28.29.4auferat omnia inrita oblivio — auferat is a jussive/optative subjunctive ("let oblivion take away / may oblivion sweep away"). inrita is the neuter accusative plural of the adjective irritus, functioning as a predicative accusative with the object omnia, meaning "sweep away all things as void/useless".
  4. §28.29.5non negaverim — First-person singular perfect active subjunctive, used as a potential subjunctive to express a polite or cautious assertion ("I would not deny").
  5. §28.29.5quanto — Ablative of degree of difference modifying the comparative adjective atrociora (more harsh), meaning "by how much".
  6. §28.29.11torpentibus metu qui aderant — An ablative absolute construction where the head pronoun (such as iis), which would act as the subject in the ablative, is omitted and modified by the relative clause qui aderant (those who were present). It translates to "with those who were present being so benumbed by fear".

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §28.29.1-28.29.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:28.29.1-28.29.12

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