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Livy · History of Rome §34.18.1-34.18.5

Cato's Leadership and Shared Hardship with His Soldiers

Passage 1185 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The consul faced greater difficulty in subduing the enemy than his predecessors, yet he approached every task with outstanding mental strength and energy. He set an example by competing with the common soldiers in frugality and labor, enjoying no privilege other than his office and command.

§34.18.1eo maiorem habebat difficultatem in subigendis hostibus, quam qui primi venerant in Hispaniam, quod ad illos taedio imperii Carthaginiensium Hispani deficiebant, §34.18.2huic ex usurpata libertate in servitutem velut adserendi erant; et ita mota omnia accepit, ut alii in armis essent, alii obsidione ad defectionem cogerentur nec, nisi in tempore subventum foret, ultra sustentaturi fuerint.
He had so much the greater difficulty in subduing the enemy than those who had first come to Spain, because the Spaniards used to revolt to them out of weariness of the Carthaginian rule, whereas for him, they had to be claimed, as it were, into servitude from an usurped liberty; and he received everything in such a state of disturbance that some were in arms, others were being forced to defection by siege, and they would not have held out any longer unless help had been brought in time.
§34.18.3sed in consule ea vis animi atque ingenii fuit, ut omnia maxima minimaque per se adiret atque ageret nec cogitaret modo imperaretque, §34.18.4quae in rem essent, sed pleraque ipse per se transigeret nec in quemquam omnium gravius severiusque quam in semet ipsum imperium exerceret, §34.18.5parsimonia et vigiliis et labore cum ultimis militum certaret nec quicquam in exercitu suo praecipui praeter honorem atque imperium haberet.
But there was in the consul such force of mind and character that he approached and performed all things, both the greatest and the least, by himself, and did not only plan and command what was to the advantage of the state, but transacted most of them himself, nor did he exercise his command more heavily and severely against anyone of all than against himself, contending in frugality, watchfulness, and labor with the lowest of the soldiers, and having nothing extraordinary in his army except his honor and command.

Notes

  1. 34.18.1eo... quod — The ablative 'eo' functions as an ablative of degree of difference ('by so much'), correlating with the following causal 'quod' clause, thereby creating an emphatic construction: 'all the more... because...'.
  2. 34.18.2ex usurpata libertate in servitutem velut adserendi erant — The phrase 'adserere aliquem in servitutem' is a Roman legal term meaning 'to claim someone as a slave' in court. It is used here metaphorically: the Spaniards, who had enjoyed a self-arrogated 'liberty' (usurpata libertate), had to be claimed back into 'servitude' (servitutem) by the consul. The agent is expressed by the dative 'huic'.
  3. 34.18.2sustentaturi fuerint — This is a subjunctive periphrasis representing a past contrary-to-fact apodosis ('they would not have held out') adapted to a subordinate consecutive 'ut' clause. The active future participle ('sustentaturi') is combined with the perfect subjunctive of sum ('fuerint').
  4. 34.18.4quae in rem essent — The phrase 'in rem esse' is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be of advantage' or 'to be useful'. Introduced by the relative 'quae' (with its antecedent omitted), it functions as the object of 'cogitaret modo imperaretque'. The subjunctive 'essent' is due to attraction to the surrounding consecutive 'ut' clause or represents a generic characterization.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §34.18.1-34.18.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.18.1-34.18.5

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