Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §33.33.1-33.33.8

Acclamation of Flamininus and Praise of Roman Virtue

Passage 1151 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After the games, the excited crowd rushed to honor the Roman general Flamininus. The Greeks praised the extraordinary virtue of the Romans, who crossed seas at their own expense and risk to secure the liberty of others and establish justice worldwide.

§33.33.1ludis vero dimissis cursu prope omnes tendere ad imperatorem Romanum, §33.33.2ut ruente turba in unum adire, contingere dextram cupientium, coronas lemniscosque iacientium haud procul periculo fuerit. §33.33.3sed erat trium ferme et triginta annorum, et cum robur iuventae tum gaudium ex tam insigni gloriae fructu vires suppeditabat. §33.33.4nec praesens tantummodo effusa est laetitia, sed per multos dies gratis et cogitationibus et sermonibus renovata: §33.33.5esse aliquam in terris gentem, §33.33.6quae sua inpensa, suo labore ac periculo bella gerat pro libertate aliorum nec hoc finitimis aut propinquae vicinitatis hominibus aut terris continentibus iunctis praestet, §33.33.7sed maria traiciat, ne quod toto orbe terrarum iniustum imperium sit, ubique ius, fas, lex potentissima sint. §33.33.8una voce praeconis liberatas omnis Graeciae atque Asiae urbes; hoc spe concipere audacis animi fuisse, ad effectum adducere et virtutis et fortunae ingentis.
Indeed, when the games were dismissed, almost everyone ran towards the Roman general, so that, with the crowd rushing to one place, for those who desired to approach and touch his right hand, and those who threw garlands and ribbons, it was not far from dangerous. But he was about thirty-three years of age, and both the strength of his youth and the joy arising from such a remarkable fruit of glory supplied him with vigor. Nor was this joy poured out only at the present moment, but for many days it was renewed in both grateful thoughts and conversations: that there was some nation on earth which, at its own expense, its own labor and risk, waged wars for the liberty of others, and did not perform this service only for neighbors or people of close vicinity or those joined to them on the same continent, but crossed seas, so that there should be no unjust rule anywhere in the whole world, and that justice, divine law, and human law should be everywhere most powerful. That by the single voice of a herald, all the cities of Greece and Asia had been set free; that to conceive this in hope was the mark of a daring mind, but to bring it to effect was the part of both singular valor and immense fortune.

Notes

  1. §33.33.1tendere — Historical infinitive. The subject is 'prope omnes', used instead of the imperfect indicative ('tendebant') to create a vivid description.
  2. §33.33.2fuerit — Perfect subjunctive. Used in a consecutive clause ('ut... fuerit') to emphasize a past historical fact as an actual result.
  3. §33.33.3trium ferme et triginta annorum — Genitive of quality (or description), expressing the age of the subject (Flamininus) as being about thirty-three years.
  4. §33.33.5esse — Accusative with infinitive in indirect speech (oratio obliqua). It introduces the content of the 'cogitationibus et sermonibus' (thoughts and conversations) mentioned in §33.33.4, governing the subsequent clauses up to 'ad effectum adducere' in §33.33.8.
  5. §33.33.8audacis animi — Predicate genitive of quality, meaning 'characteristic of' or 'showing'. The subject is the infinitive phrase 'hoc spe concipere' (to conceive this in hope).

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §33.33.1-33.33.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:33.33.1-33.33.8

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