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Livy · History of Rome §34.16.1-34.16.10

Cato's Tactics and the Subjugation of Nearer Spain

Passage 1183 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Cato is praised for three tactical decisions during the battle, followed by the systematic subjugation of Nearer Spain, the surrender of various tribes, and the harsh enslavement of the repeatedly rebellious Bergistani.

§34.16.1tria eo die laudabilia fecisse putatur, unum, quod circumducto exercitu procul navibus suis castrisque, ubi spem nusquam nisi in virtute haberent, inter medios hostes proelium commisit. §34.16.2alterum, quod cohortes ab tergo hostibus obiecit; tertium, quod secundam legionem ceteris omnibus effusis ad sequendos hostes pleno gradu sub signis compositam instructamque subire ad portam castrorum iussit. §34.16.3nihil deinde a victoria cessatum.
On that day he is thought to have done three praiseworthy things: the first, that, having led his army far away from their ships and camp, where they had no hope anywhere except in their courage, he joined battle in the midst of the enemy. The second, that he threw cohorts against the enemy from behind; the third, that, while all the others had scattered to pursue the enemy, he ordered the second legion, kept in formation and drawn up under their standards, to advance at a rapid pace to the gate of the camp. After that, no rest was taken from victory.
cum receptui signo dato suos spoliis onustos in castra reduxisset, paucis horis noctis ad quietem datis ad praedandum in agros duxit. §34.16.4effusius, ut sparsis hostibus fuga, praedati sunt.
When, after the signal for retreat was given, he had led his men, laden with spoils, back to the camp, having allowed only a few hours of the night for rest, he led them into the fields to plunder. They plundered more widely, as the enemy had been scattered by flight.
quae res non minus quam pugna pridie adversa Emporitanos Hispanos accolasque §34.16.5eorum in deditionem compulit.
This circumstance, no less than the disastrous battle of the previous day, compelled the Spanish inhabitants of Emporiae and their neighbors to surrender.
multi et aliarum civitatium, qui Emporias perfugerant, dediderunt se.
Many also from other states, who had fled to Emporiae, surrendered themselves.
quos omnes appellatos benigne vinoque et cibo curatos domos dimisit. §34.16.6confestim inde castra movit, et, quacumque incedebat agmen, legati dedentium civitates suas occurrebant, §34.16.7et, cum Tarraconem venit, iam omnis cis Hiberum Hispania perdomita erat, captivique et Romani et socium ac Latini nominis, variis casibus in Hispania oppressi, donum consuli a barbaris reducebantur. §34.16.8fama deinde vulgatur consulem in Turdetaniam exercitum ducturum, et ad devios montanos “profectum etiam” falso perlatum est. §34.16.9ad hunc vanum et sine auctore ullo rumorem Bergistanorum civitatis septem castella defecerunt.
All of these he addressed kindly, refreshed with wine and food, and dismissed to their homes. He immediately moved his camp from there, and wherever the column marched, envoys of those surrendering their states came to meet him, and when he arrived at Tarraco, already all Spain on this side of the Ebro had been thoroughly subdued, and captives—both Romans and of the allies and the Latin name—who had been overwhelmed by various misfortunes in Spain, were being brought back by the barbarians as a gift to the consul. Then a rumor was spread that the consul was going to lead his army into Turdetania, and to the remote mountaineers it was falsely reported that "he had even set out." At this idle rumor, which was without any author, seven strongholds of the state of the Bergistani revolted.
eos educto exercitu consul sine memorando proelio in potestatem redegit. §34.16.10haud ita multo post eidem, regresso Tarraconem consule, priusquam inde quoquam procederet, defecerunt, iterum subacti;
Having led out his army, the consul reduced them to subjection without any noteworthy battle. Not long after, when the consul had returned to Tarraco, before he proceeded anywhere from there, the same people revolted and were subdued again; but the same mercy was not shown to the conquered.
sed non eadem venia victis fuit. sub corona veniere omnes, ne saepius pacem sollicitarent.
They were all sold as slaves, so that they would not disturb the peace any more.

Notes

  1. §34.16.1haberent — The verb is in the subjunctive mood (imperfect). This relative clause (introduced by ubi) is not merely narrative but is a relative clause of characteristic, showing the situation or result deliberately brought about by the consul to leave no alternative but bravery.
  2. §34.16.3nihil deinde a victoria cessatum — An impersonal passive construction. The neuter singular of the perfect passive participle of the intransitive verb cesso (to cease, slacken) is used with an implied est (cessatum est), literally meaning "nothing was slackened from victory." It emphasizes the unceasing nature of the action without specifying a particular agent.
  3. §34.16.7socium — An archaic or poetic contraction for the genitive plural sociorum. It is the genitive plural of the noun socius, standing in parallel with the following genitive phrase ac Latini nominis (and of the Latin name), both modifying captivi.
  4. §34.16.10veniere — The third-person plural perfect active indicative of the irregular verb veneo (to be sold, serving as the passive of vendo), equivalent to venierunt. The phrase sub corona veniere (literally "they were sold under a crown/wreath") is a standard idiom for prisoners of war being auctioned off as slaves.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §34.16.1-34.16.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.16.1-34.16.10

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