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Livy · History of Rome §33.39.1-33.39.7

Meeting of Roman Envoys and Antiochus at Lysimachia

Passage 1157 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Lucius Cornelius and other envoys sent by the senate meet King Antiochus at Lysimachia, where they engage in a heated discussion and express the senate's strong disapproval of Antiochus' territorial expansions in Asia and his crossing into Europe.

§33.39.1sub hoc tempus et L. Cornelius, missus ab senatu ad dirimenda inter Antiochum Ptolomaeumque reges certamina, §33.39.2Selymbriae substitit, et decem legatorum P. Lentulus a Bargyliis, P. Villius et L. Terentius ab Thaso Lysimachiam petierunt.
About this time, Lucius Cornelius also, sent by the senate to settle the disputes between Kings Antiochus and Ptolemy, halted at Selymbria, and of the ten envoys, Publius Lentulus from Bargyliae, and Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius from Thasos made for Lysimachia.
eodem et ab Selymbria L. Cornelius et ex Thracia paucos post dies Antiochus convenerunt.
Lucius Cornelius from Selymbria and, a few days later, Antiochus from Thrace assembled at the same place.
§33.39.3primus congressus cum legatis et deinceps invitatio benigna et hospitalis fuit; ut de mandatis statuque praesenti Asiae agi coeptum est, animi exasperati sunt.
The first meeting with the envoys, and the subsequent invitation, was kind and hospitable; but when they began to treat of the instructions and the present state of Asia, their minds became exasperated.
§33.39.4Romani omnia acta eius, ex quo tempore ab Syria classem solvisset, displicere senatui non dissimulabant restituique et Ptolomaeo omnes civitates, quae dicionis eius fuissent, §33.39.5aequum censebant; nam quod ad eas civitates attineret, §33.39.6quas a Philippo possessas Antiochus per occasionem, averso Philippo in Romanum bellum, intercepisset, id vero ferendum non esse, Romanos per tot annos terra marique tanta pericula ac labores exhausisse, Antiochum belli praemia habere.
The Romans did not conceal that all his actions, from the time he had set sail with his fleet from Syria, displeased the senate, and they deemed it just that all the cities which had been under the dominion of Ptolemy should be restored to him; for as far as concerned those cities which, having been possessed by Philip, Antiochus had intercepted on occasion, while Philip was distracted by the Roman war, that indeed was not to be borne, that the Romans should have exhausted such great dangers and labors by land and sea for so many years, while Antiochus held the rewards of the war.
§33.39.7sed ut in Asiam adventus eius dissimulari ab Romanis tamquam nihil ad eos pertinens potuerit, quid? quod iam etiam in Europam omnibus navalibus terrestribusque copiis transierit, quantum a bello aperte Romanis indicto abesse? illum quidem, etiam si in Italiam traiciat, negaturum; Romanos autem non expectaturos, ut id posset facere.
But though his arrival in Asia might have been ignored by the Romans as if it pertained nothing to them, what of the fact that he has now also crossed into Europe with all his naval and land forces? How far is this from a war openly declared on the Romans? He indeed, even if he should cross into Italy, will deny it; but the Romans will not wait for him to be able to do that.

Notes

  1. §33.39.2Selymbriae — The locative case of Selymbria, identical in form to the genitive singular, functioning adverbially to mean 'at Selymbria'.
  2. §33.39.3agi coeptum est — An impersonal passive construction. In Latin, when the complementary infinitive is passive (here, agi), the verb coepi ('to begin') is regularly attracted into the passive form (coeptum est).
  3. §33.39.7ut ... potuerit — A concessive ut-clause ('although / even granting that...'), taking the perfect subjunctive potuerit to admit a past possibility. It sets up the main clause starting with quid.
  4. §33.39.7quid? quod — An idiomatic interrogative formula meaning 'What of the fact that...?' or 'What shall we say to the fact that...?'. quid is an independent interrogative, and quod introduces a noun clause stating a fact.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §33.39.1-33.39.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:33.39.1-33.39.7

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