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Livy · History of Rome §29.36.1-29.36.12

Supplies for Africa and Operations in Italy

Passage 979 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

This chunk describes the supply of provisions from Sardinia to the Roman army in Africa, the battles between consul Sempronius and Hannibal in southern Italy, and the judicial trials conducted by consul Cornelius against rebellious Etruscans.

§29.36.1praeter convectum undique ex populatis circa agris frumentum commeatusque ex Sicilia atque Italia advectos, Cn.
In addition to the grain collected from all sides from the devastated fields around, and the supplies brought from Sicily and Italy, Cn.
Octavius propraetor ex Sardinia ab Ti.
Octavius, the propraetor, brought a huge quantity of grain from Sardinia, from the praetor Ti.
Claudio praetore, cuius ea provincia erat, ingentem vim frumenti advexit; §29.36.2horreaque non solum ea, quae iam facta erant, repleta, sed nova aedificata.
Claudio, whose province that was; and not only were those granaries which had already been built filled, but new ones were constructed.
vestimenta exercitui deerant; id mandatum Octavio, ut cum praetore ageret, si quid ex ea provincia comparari ac mitti posset.
Clothing was lacking for the army; this task was mandated to Octavius, to treat with the praetor to see if anything could be procured from that province and sent.
§29.36.3ea quoque haud segniter curata res; mille ducentae togae brevi spatio et duodecim milia tunicarum missa.
This matter also was managed with no sluggishness; twelve hundred togas and twelve thousand tunics were sent within a short space of time.
§29.36.4aestate ea qua haec in Africa gesta sunt, P. Sempronius consul, cui Bruttii provincia erat, in agro Crotoniensi cum Hannibale in ipso itinere tumultuario proelio conflixit.
In the same summer in which these things were done in Africa, the consul P. Sempronius, whose province was the Bruttii, clashed with Hannibal in the Crotonian territory during his very march in a tumultuous battle.
§29.36.5agminibus magis quam acie pugnatum est.
The fight was conducted by marching columns rather than in a regular battle line.
Romani pulsi, et tumultu verius quam pugna ad mille et ducenti de exercitu consulis interfecti; §29.36.6in castra trepide reditum, neque oppugnare tamen ea hostes ausi.
The Romans were repulsed, and through confusion rather than a regular battle, up to twelve hundred of the consul's army were killed; they returned to the camp in alarm, yet the enemy did not dare to attack it.
ceterum silentio proximae noctis profectus inde consul, praemisso nuntio ad P. Licinium proconsulem, ut suas legiones admoveret, copias coniunxit.
But, setting out from there in the silence of the following night, the consul, having sent a messenger ahead to the proconsul P. Licinius to move his legions, joined his forces.
ita duo duces, duo exercitus ad Hannibalem redierunt; nec mora dimicandi facta est, §29.36.7cum consuli duplicatae vires, Poeno recens victoria animos faceret.
Thus two leaders and two armies returned to Hannibal; nor was there any delay in fighting, since the doubled strength gave courage to the consul, and the recent victory gave courage to the Carthaginian.
§29.36.8in primam aciem suas legiones Sempronius induxit, in subsidiis locatae P. Licinii legiones.
Sempronius led his own legions into the front line, while the legions of P. Licinius were placed in reserve.
consul principio pugnae aedem Fortunae Primigeniae vovit, si eo die hostes fudisset; §29.36.9composque eius voti fuit.
At the beginning of the battle, the consul vowed a temple to Fortuna Primigenia if he should rout the enemy on that day; and he obtained his vow.
fusi ac fugati Poeni, supra quattuor milia armatorum caesa, paulo minus trecenti vivi capti et equi quadraginta et undecim militaria signa.
The Carthaginians were routed and put to flight, over four thousand armed men were slain, slightly less than three hundred taken alive, along with forty horses and eleven military standards.
perculsus adverso proelio Hannibal Crotonem exercitum reduxit.
Hannibal, struck by this adverse battle, withdrew his army to Croton.
§29.36.10Eodem tempore M. Cornelius consul in altera parte Italiae non tam armis quam iudiciorum terrore Etruriam continuit, totam ferme ad Magonem ac per eum ad spem novandi res versam.
At the same time, the consul M. Cornelius, in another part of Italy, kept Etruria in check not so much by arms as by the terror of trials, since almost the whole of it had turned to Mago, and through him to the hope of a revolution.
§29.36.11eas quaestiones ex senatus consulto minime ambitiose habuit; multique nobiles Etrusci, qui aut ipsi ierant aut miserant ad Magonem de populorum suorum defectione, primo praesentes erant condemnati; §29.36.12postea conscientia sibimet ipsi exilium consciscentes, cum absentes damnati essent, corporibus subtractis bona tantum, quae publicari poterant, pigneranda poenae praebebant.
He conducted these inquisitions by decree of the senate with no partiality; and many noble Etruscans, who had either gone themselves or sent messengers to Mago concerning the defection of their peoples, were at first condemned while present; afterwards, taking exile upon themselves out of consciousness of guilt, when they were condemned in their absence, having withdrawn their persons, they offered only such of their goods as could be confiscated to be seized for their punishment.

Notes

  1. §29.36.5agminibus magis quam acie pugnatum est — A military contrast showing that the battle was fought in marching columns (agminibus) rather than in a regular battle line (acie). This is expressed through an impersonal passive construction of the intransitive verb pugnare.
  2. §29.36.7cum consuli duplicatae vires, Poeno recens victoria animos faceret — The datives consuli and Poeno function as indirect objects of the verbal phrase animos faceret. In the first clause (consuli), one must supply an omitted plural verb (animos facerent) corresponding to the plural subject vires.
  3. §29.36.10spem novandi res — A structure where the gerund novandi directly governs the accusative object res. While classical Latin usually prefers the gerundive construction (novandarum rerum), this is a more concise usage with a gerund governing a direct object.
  4. §29.36.12corporibus subtractis — An ablative absolute composed of the noun corpus and the participle of subtrahere. It literally means 'their bodies having been withdrawn', meaning they withdrew themselves from custody, i.e., fled or went into hiding.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §29.36.1-29.36.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:29.36.1-29.36.12

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