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Livy · History of Rome §28.34.1-28.34.12

Surrender of Mandonius and Scipio's Clemency

Passage 931 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The Spanish camp is captured, and Mandonius goes to Scipio to beg for mercy. Scipio shows clemency, sparing them while demanding only money for his troops' pay, and then sets out to rejoin Marcius.

§28.34.1castra eodem die Hispanorum praeter ceteram praedam cum tribus ferme milibus hominum capiuntur.
On the same day, the camp of the Spaniards was captured, along with the rest of the booty and about three thousand men.
§28.34.2Romani sociique ad mille et ducenti eo proelio ceciderunt, vulnerata amplius tria milia hominum.
About twelve hundred Romans and allies fell in that battle, and more than three thousand men were wounded.
minus cruenta victoria fuisset, si patentiore campo et ad fugam capessendam facili foret pugnatum.
The victory would have been less bloody if the battle had been fought in a more open plain and one easier for taking flight.
§28.34.3Indibilis abiectis belli consiliis nihil tutius in adflictis rebus experta fide et clementia Scipionis ratus, Mandonium fratrem ad eum mittit; §28.34.4qui advolutus genibus fatalem rabiem temporis eius accusat, cum velut contagione quadam pestifera non Ilergetes modo et Lacetani, sed castra quoque Romana insanierint.
Indibilis, having cast aside his plans for war and thinking that in their ruined fortunes nothing was safer than the experienced faith and clemency of Scipio, sent his brother Mandonius to him; who, having prostrated himself at Scipio's knees, blamed the fatal madness of that time, when, as if by some pestilential contagion, not only the Ilergetes and Lacetani but even the Roman camp had gone mad.
§28.34.5suam quidem et fratris et reliquorum popularium eam condicionem esse, ut aut, si ita videatur, reddant spiritum P. Scipioni ab eodem illo acceptunm, aut servati bis uni debitam vitam pro eo in perpetuum devoveant.
He stated that the condition of himself, his brother, and the rest of their countrymen was such that either, if it so pleased Scipio, they would return to Publius Scipio the life they had received from that very same man, or, having been twice saved, they would devote their indebted lives forever to him alone.
§28.34.6antea in causa sua fiduciam sibi fuisse nondum experta clementia eius; nunc contra nullam in causa, omnem in misericordia victoris spem repositam habere.
Previously, they had confidence in their own cause, since they had not yet experienced his clemency; now, on the contrary, they had no hope in their cause, but placed all their hope in the mercy of the victor.
§28.34.7mos vetustus erat Romanis, cum quo nec foedere nec aequis legibus iungeretur amicitia, non prius imperio in eum tamquam pacatum uti, quam omnia divina humanaque dedidisset, obsides accepti, arma adempta, praesidia urbibus imposita forent.
It was an ancient custom of the Romans, when friendship was joined with someone neither by treaty nor on equal terms, not to exercise authority over them as a pacified people until they had surrendered all things divine and human, hostages had been received, arms taken away, and garrisons placed in their cities.
§28.34.8Scipio multis invectus in praesentem Mandonium absentemque Indibilem verbis, illos quidem merito perisse ipsorum maleficio ait, victuros suo atque populi Romani beneficio.
Scipio, having assailed the present Mandonius and the absent Indibilis with many words, said that they indeed deserved to perish by their own wrongdoing, but would live by his favor and that of the Roman people.
§28.34.9ceterum se neque arma iis adempturum neque obsides imperaturum — quippe ea pignera timentium rebellionem esse —; se libera arma relinquere, solutos animos; §28.34.10neque se in obsides innoxios, sed in ipsos, si defecerint, saeviturum, nec ab inermi, sed ab armato hoste poenas expetiturum.
Furthermore, he said he would neither take away their arms nor demand hostages—since those were the pledges of those who feared rebellion—but that he left them their arms free and their minds unbound; and that he would not vent his wrath upon innocent hostages, but upon themselves if they should revolt, and would seek punishment not from an unarmed but from an armed enemy.
utramque fortunam expertis permittere sese, utrum propitios an iratos habere Romanos mallent.
He left it to those who had experienced both fortunes to choose whether they preferred to have the Romans favorable or angry.
§28.34.11ita dimissus Mandonius pecunia tantummodo imperata, ex qua stipendium militi praestari posset.
Thus Mandonius was dismissed, with only a sum of money imposed, from which pay could be provided for the soldiers.
§28.34.12ipse Marcio in ulteriorem Hispaniam praemisso, Silano Tarraconem remisso paucos moratus dies, dum imperatam pecuniam Ilergetes pernumerarent, cum expeditis Marcium iam adpropinquantem Oceano adsequitur.
Scipio himself, having sent Marcius ahead into Farther Spain and sent Silanus back to Tarraco, delayed for a few days until the Ilergetes paid the demanded money in full, and then, with light-armed troops, caught up with Marcius, who was already approaching the Ocean.

Notes

  1. §28.34.2vulnerata amplius tria milia hominum — Ellipsis of the verb sunt. amplius functions adverbially without affecting the case of the following numerals. tria milia hominum is the subject.
  2. §28.34.2minus cruenta victoria fuisset, si patentiore campo et ad fugam capessendam facili foret pugnatum — A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence in the past, using the pluperfect subjunctive. The conditional clause has foret pugnatum (equivalent to esset pugnatum), which is an impersonal passive of the intransitive verb pugno.
  3. §28.34.3experta fide et clementia — Ablative of comparison with experta (perfect participle of experior used adjectivally and passively), indicating the object of comparison for nihil tutius.
  4. §28.34.5ab eodem illo acceptum — The prepositional phrase ab eodem illo expresses the agent. It refers to the fact that their lives had previously been spared by the very same person (Scipio).
  5. §28.34.7cum quo nec foedere nec aequis legibus iungeretur amicitia — The subjunctive iungeretur (imperfect) is used in the relative clause because it characterizes a general class of people ("with whomsoever...") rather than referring to a specific individual (subjunctive of characteristic).
  6. §28.34.10utramque fortunam expertis — Substantivized perfect participle functioning as the dative complement of permittere, referring to "those who have experienced both fortunes" (i.e., Rome's wrath and clemency).

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §28.34.1-28.34.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:28.34.1-28.34.12

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