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Livy · History of Rome §34.43.1-34.43.9

Nabis' Embassy and the Debate on Consular Provinces

Passage 1210 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

At the start of the consulship of Scipio and Longus, an embassy from Nabis is received by the senate. Regarding the allocation of provinces, Scipio argues for assigning Macedonia to one consul due to the imminent threat of Antiochus and Hannibal, but the senate ultimately decrees Italy for both consuls.

§34.43.1principio anni, quo P. Scipio Africanus iterum et Ti. Sempronius Longus consules fuerunt, §34.43.2legati Nabidis tyranni Romam venerunt.
At the beginning of the year in which Publius Scipio Africanus for the second time and Tiberius Sempronius Longus were consuls, ambassadors of the tyrant Nabis came to Rome.
iis extra urbem in aede Apollinis senatus datus est.
An audience with the senate was granted to them outside the city in the temple of Apollo.
pax, quae cum T. Quinctio convenisset, ut rata esset, petierunt impetraruntque.
They petitioned that the peace, which had been agreed upon with Titus Quinctius, should be ratified, and they obtained it.
§34.43.3de provinciis cum relatum esset, senatus frequens in eam sententiam ibat, ut, quoniam in Hispania et Macedonia debellatum foret, consulibus ambobus Italia provincia esset.
When the question of the provinces was referred to them, a full senate was inclined to the opinion that, since the wars in Hispania and Macedonia had been brought to an end, both consuls should have Italy as their province.
§34.43.4Scipio satis esse Italiae unum consulem censebat; alteri Macedoniam decernendam esse. bellum grave ab Antiocho imminere. iam ipsum sua sponte in Europam transgressum; quid deinde facturum censerent, §34.43.5cum hinc Aetoli, haud dubii hostes, vocarent ad bellum, illinc Hannibal, Romanis cladibus insignis imperator, stimularet?
Scipio was of the opinion that one consul was enough for Italy, and that Macedonia should be decreed to the other; that a serious war was threatening from Antiochus, who had already of his own accord crossed over into Europe; what did they think he would do next, when on one side the Aetolians, undisputed enemies, were calling him to war, and on the other, Hannibal, a commander renowned for the disasters he had inflicted on the Romans, was urging him on?
§34.43.6dum de provinciis consulum disceptatur, praetores sortiti sunt; Cn. Domitio urbana iurisdictio, T. Iuventio peregrina evenit P. Cornelio Hispania ulterior, Sex. §34.43.7Digitio citerior duobus Cn. Corneliis Blasioni Sicilia, Merendae Sardinia.
While the discussion was going on concerning the provinces of the consuls, the praetors drew lots; the city jurisdiction fell to Gnaeus Domitius, the foreign jurisdiction to Titus Juventius, Further Hispania to Publius Cornelius, and Nearer Digitius obtained Nearer Hispania, and of the two Gnaeus Cornelii, Blasio obtained Sicily and Merenda Sardinia.
in Macedoniam novum exercitum transportari non placuit, §34.43.8eum, qui esset ibi, reduci in Italiam a Quinctio ac dimitti; item eum exercitum dimitti, qui cum M. Porcio Catone in Hispania esset; §34.43.9consulibus ambobus Italiam provinciam esse, et duas urbanas scribere eos legiones, ut dimissis, quos senatus censuisset, exercitibus octo omnino Romanae legiones essent.
It was not resolved that a new army should be transported into Macedonia, but that the one which was there should be brought back to Italy by Quinctius and disbanded; likewise, that the army should be disbanded which was with Marcus Porcius Cato in Hispania; and that both consuls should have Italy as their province, and that they should enlist two city legions, so that when the armies which the senate had decreed had been disbanded, there should be eight Roman legions in all.

Notes

  1. 34.43.4quid deinde facturum censerent — facturum is a future active infinitive with esse omitted, and its subject accusative eum (referring to Antiochus) is also understood. censerent is the imperfect subjunctive representing a rhetorical question in indirect discourse.
  2. 34.43.5cum hinc Aetoli... stimularet — The conjunction cum introduces the subjunctives vocarent and stimularet in a causal or circumstantial sense. The correlation hinc... illinc... (on this side... on that side...) contrasts the two external threats, the Aetolians and Hannibal.
  3. 34.43.8eum, qui esset ibi, reduci in Italiam a Quinctio ac dimitti — The infinitives reduci and dimitti (as well as esse and scribere in 43.9) continue the indirect discourse describing the senate's decrees. Though following non placuit (which was negative), the syntax here shifts to positive resolutions ('it was decreed that...'), governed by an implied verb of deciding.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §34.43.1-34.43.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:34.43.1-34.43.9

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