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Livy · History of Rome §30.13.1-30.13.14

Syphax Brought before Scipio and His Defense

Passage 994 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Syphax is brought into Scipio's camp as a prisoner, prompting the crowd to marvel at his former greatness, while Scipio is moved by the recollection of their past alliance. Syphax confesses his error but attributes his hostility to the madness inspired by his marriage to Sophoniba, warning that Masinissa is now falling into the same trap.

§30.13.1Syphacem in castra adduci cum esset nuntiatum, omnis velut ad spectaculum triumphi multitudo effusa est.
When it was announced that Syphax was being brought into the camp, the entire multitude poured out as if to the spectacle of a triumph.
§30.13.2praecedebat ipse vinctus, sequebatur grex nobilium Numidarum.
He himself went first, bound, and a crowd of noble Numidians followed.
tum quantum quisque plurimum poterat, magnitudini Syphacis famaeque gentis victoriam suam augendo addebat: §30.13.3illum esse regem, cuius tantum maiestati duo potentissimi in terris tribuerint populi, Romanus Carthaginiensisque, ut Scipio imperator suus ad amicitiam eius petendam, §30.13.4relicta provincia Hispania exercituque, §30.13.5duabus quinqueremibus in Africam navigaverit, Hasdrubal Poenorum imperator non ipse modo ad eum in regnum venerit, sed etiam filiam ei nuptum dederit.
Then, as much as each one was able, they added to the greatness of Syphax and the fame of his nation by magnifying their own victory: [saying] that he was that king, to whose majesty the two most powerful peoples on earth, the Roman and the Carthaginian, paid such great deference that their general Scipio, in order to seek his friendship, having left behind his province of Spain and his army, sailed to Africa with two quinqueremes, and Hasdrubal, the general of the Carthaginians, not only came to him in his kingdom himself, but also gave him his daughter in marriage.
habuisse eum uno tempore in potestate duos imperatores Poenum Romanumque.
And that he had at one time under his power two generals, the Carthaginian and the Roman.
§30.13.6sicut ab dis immortalibus pars utraque hostiis mactandis pacem petisset, ita ab eo utrimque pariter amicitiam petitam.
Just as peace was sought from the immortal gods by both sides through the sacrifice of victims, so friendship had been sought from him by both sides equally.
§30.13.7iam tantas habuisse opes, ut Masinissam regno pulsum eo redegerit, ut vita eius fama mortis et latebris, ferarum modo in silvis rapto viventis, tegeretur.
Moreover, that he had possessed such great power that he had reduced Masinissa, when driven from his kingdom, to such a state that his life was covered only by the rumor of his death and by hiding-places, living on plunder in the forests like wild beasts.
§30.13.8his sermonibus circumstantium celebratus rex in praetorium ad Scipionem est perductus.
Honored by these speeches of the bystanders, the king was led into the praetorium to Scipio.
movit et Scipionem cum fortuna pristina viri praesenti fortunae conlata, tum recordatio hospitii dextraeque datae et foederis publice ac privatim iuncti.
And Scipio was moved, both by comparing the man's former fortune with his present fortune, and by the recollection of their hospitality, the right hands they had given, and the treaty joined both publicly and privately.
§30.13.9eadem haec et Syphaci animum dederunt in adloquendo victore.
These same things also gave courage to Syphax in addressing his victor.
nam cum Scipio, quid sibi voluisset, quaereret, qui non societatem solum abnuisset Romanam, §30.13.10sed ultro bellum intulisset, tum ille peccasse quidem sese atque insanisse fatebatur, sed non tum demum, cum arma adversus populum Romanum cepisset; §30.13.11exitum sui furoris eum fuisse, non principium; tum se insanisse, tum hospitia privata et publica foedera omnia ex animo eiecisse, cum Carthaginiensem matronam domum acceperit.
For when Scipio asked him what he had meant, who had not only refused the Roman alliance, but had even gone so far as to make war on them, he then confessed that he had indeed erred and been mad, but not only then at last, when he had taken up arms against the Roman people; that that had been the end of his madness, not the beginning; that he had been mad then, that he had cast out from his mind all private hospitalities and public treaties, when he received the Carthaginian matron into his house.
§30.13.12illis nuptialibus facibus regiam conflagrasse suam, illam furiam pestemque omnibus delenimentis animum suum avertisse atque alienasse nec conquiesse, donec ipsa manibus suis nefaria sibi arma adversus hospitem atque amicum induerit.
By those nuptial torches his palace had been set on fire; that fury and pestilence had, by all her flatteries, turned away and alienated his mind, and had not rested until she herself, with her own hands, put upon him those impious arms against his guest and friend.
§30.13.13perdito tamen atque adflicto sibi hoc in miseriis solacii esse, quod in omnium hominum inimicissimi sibi domum ac penates eandem pestem ac furiam transisse videat.
Yet, ruined and afflicted as he was, he had this consolation in his miseries: that he saw that same pestilence and fury had passed into the house and home of the man who was most hostile to him of all.
§30.13.14neque prudentiorem neque constantiorem Masinissam quam Syphacem esse, etiam iuventa incautiorem; certe stultius illum atque intemperantius eam quam se duxisse.
Masinissa was neither wiser nor more constant than Syphax, but even more incautious through youth; certainly he had married her more foolishly and intemperately than he himself had.

Notes

  1. 30.13.3illum esse regem — Accusative with infinitive construction in indirect speech (Oratio Obliqua), representing the contents of `addebat` from the previous section (§30.13.2). `illum` is the subject accusative of the infinitive `esse`.
  2. 30.13.4relicta provincia Hispania exercituque — Ablative absolute clause with the perfect passive participle `relicta` agreeing in gender and number with the nearest noun `provincia Hispania` (and also applying to `exercitu`).
  3. 30.13.5nuptum dederit — `nuptum` is the accusative supine (supine in -um) of the verb `nubo`, expressing purpose. Combined with `dare`, it forms the idiomatic phrase meaning 'to give in marriage'.
  4. 30.13.13hoc in miseriis solacii — `solacii` is a partitive genitive dependent on the neuter demonstrative pronoun `hoc` ('this of consolation' i.e., 'this consolation').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §30.13.1-30.13.14. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:30.13.1-30.13.14

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