Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §35.12.1-35.12.18

Aetolian Envoys Sent to Form an Anti-Roman Coalition

Passage 1241 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Dissatisfied with the post-war situation, the Aetolians send envoys to Nabis of Sparta, Philip of Macedon, and Antiochus of Syria to instigate a war against the Romans.

§35.12.1sed neque Boi neque Hispani, cum quibus eo anno bellatum erat, tam inimice infesti erant Romanis quam Aetolorum gens.
But neither the Boii nor the Spaniards, with whom war had been waged in that year, were as hostilely opposed to the Romans as the nation of the Aetolians.
§35.12.2ii post deportatos ex Graecia exercitus primo in spe fuerant et Antiochum in vacuam Europae possessionem venturum, nec Philippum aut Nabim quieturos.
After the armies had been withdrawn from Greece, they had at first been in the hope both that Antiochus would come into the vacant possession of Europe, and that neither Philip nor Nabis would remain quiet.
§35.12.3ubi nihil usquam moveri viderunt, agitandum aliquid miscendumque rati, ne cunctando senescerent consilia, concilium Naupactum indixerunt.
When they saw that nothing was being moved anywhere, thinking that they must stir up and throw something into confusion, lest by delaying their plans should grow old, they summoned a council to Naupactus.
§35.12.4ibi Thoas praetor eorum conquestus iniurias Romanorum statumque Aetoliae, quod omnium Graeciae gentium civitatiumque inhonoratissimi post eam victoriam essent, §35.12.5cuius causa ipsi fuissent, legatos censuit circa reges mittendos, qui non solum temptarent animos eorum, sed suis quemque stimulis moverent ad Romanum bellum.
There Thoas, their praetor, having complained of the wrongs done by the Romans and the state of Aetolia, because they were the least honored of all the nations and states of Greece after that victory, of which they themselves had been the cause, proposed that envoys should be sent around to the kings, who should not only sound out their minds but also stir each one with his own spurs to a Roman war.
§35.12.6Damocritus ad Nabim, Nicander ad Philippum, Dicaearchus, frater praetoris, ad Antiochum est missus.
Damocritus was sent to Nabis, Nicander to Philip, and Dicaearchus, the brother of the praetor, to Antiochus.
§35.12.7tyranno Lacedaemonio Damocritus ademptis maritimis civitatibus enervatam tyrannidem dicere; inde militem, inde naves navalesque socios habuisse; inclusum suis prope muris Achaeos videre dominantis in Peloponneso; §35.12.8numquam habiturum reciperandi sua occasionem, si eam, quae tum esset, praetermisisset; nullum exercitum Romanum in Graecia esse, nec Gytheum aut maritimos alios Laconas dignam causam existimaturos Romanos, cur legiones rursus in Graeciam transmittant.
To the Lacedaemonian tyrant, Damocritus said that with the maritime cities taken away, his tyranny was enervated; that from there he had held soldiers, from there ships and naval allies; and that, shut up almost within his own walls, he saw the Achaeans dominating in the Peloponnese; that he would never have an opportunity to recover his own if he let pass the one which then existed; that there was no Roman army in Greece, nor would the Romans think Gytheum or the other maritime Laconians a worthy cause to send legions back across to Greece.
§35.12.9haec ad incitandum animum tyranni dicebantur, ut, cum Antiochus in Graeciam traiecisset, conscientia violatae per sociorum iniurias Romanae amicitiae coniungeret se cum Antiocho.
These things were said to incite the mind of the tyrant, so that, when Antiochus had crossed into Greece, Nabis, from the consciousness of the Roman friendship violated through the wrongs of his allies, would join himself with Antiochus.
§35.12.10et Philippum Nicander haud dissimili oratione incitabat; erat etiam maior orationis materia, quo ex altiore fastigio rex quam tyrannus detractus erat, quoque plures ademptae res.
And Nicander was inciting Philip with a not dissimilar speech; there was even greater material for the speech, inasmuch as a king had been cast down from a higher pinnacle than a tyrant, and as more things had been taken away.
§35.12.11ad hoc vetusta regum Macedoniae fama peragratusque orbis terrarum victoriis eius gentis referebatur. et tutum vel incepto vel eventu se consilium adferre:
To this was added the ancient fame of the kings of Macedonia and the world traversed by the victories of that nation.
§35.12.12nam neque, ut ante se moveat Philippus, quam Antiochus cum exercitu transient in Graeciam, §35.12.13suadere, et, qui sine Antiocho adversus Romanos Aetolosque tam diu sustinuerit bellum, ei adiuncto Antiocho, sociis Aetolis, qui tum graviores hostes quam Romani fuerint, quibus tandem viribus resistere Romanos posse?
And he said that he was bringing a plan safe either in its undertaking or in its outcome: for he was not advising that Philip should move himself before Antiochus had crossed with an army into Greece, and to him who without Antiochus had sustained the war against the Romans and Aetolians for so long, with Antiochus joined, and with the Aetolians as allies, who were then more troublesome enemies than the Romans, with what forces indeed could the Romans resist?
§35.12.14adiciebat de duce Hannibale, nato adversus Romanos hoste, qui plures et duces et milites eorum occidisset, quam quot superessent. haec Philippo Nicander;
He added about the general Hannibal, a born enemy against the Romans, who had slain more of their generals and soldiers than those who survived.
§35.12.15alia Dicaearchus Antiocho; et omnium primum praedam de Philippo Romanorum esse dicere, victoriam Aetolorum; et aditum in Graeciam Romanis nullos alios quam Aetolos dedisse, et ad vincendum vires eosdem praebuisse.
These things Nicander said to Philip; Dicaearchus said other things to Antiochus; and first of all he said that the spoil from Philip belonged to the Romans, but the victory to the Aetolians; and that no others than the Aetolians had given the Romans access to Greece, and that the same had supplied the forces for winning.
§35.12.16deinde quantas peditum equitumque copias praebituri Antiocho ad bellum essent, quae loca terrestribus copiis, quos portus maritimis.
Then he told how great forces of infantry and cavalry they were going to supply to Antiochus for the war, what places for land forces, and what harbors for naval forces.
§35.12.17tum de Philippo et Nabide libero mendacio abutebatur: paratum utrumque ad rebellandum esse, et primam quamque occasionem reciperandi ea, quae bello amisissent, arrepturos.
Then concerning Philip and Nabis, he abused them with a free lie, saying that both were ready to rebel, and would seize the very first opportunity of recovering those things which they had lost in the war.
§35.12.18ita per totum simul orbem terrarum Aetoli Romanis concitabant bellum.
Thus, through the whole world at once, the Aetolians were stirring up war against the Romans.

Notes

  1. 35.12.2post deportatos ex Graecia exercitus — An instance of the "ab urbe condita" construction, where the combination of the noun and the passive perfect participle operates as a noun clause meaning "after the withdrawal of the armies from Greece."
  2. 35.12.4iniurias Romanorum — The genitive Romanorum is here understood as a subjective genitive, expressing "the wrongs committed by the Romans" against the Aetolians.
  3. 35.12.9conscientia violatae per sociorum iniurias Romanae amicitiae — The genitive noun-participle structure violatae ... Romanae amicitiae depends on the ablative of cause conscientia, meaning "from the consciousness of having violated the Roman friendship through the wrongs of his allies."
  4. 35.12.12ut ante se moveat Philippus, quam Antiochus ... transient — The conjunction ante...quam ("before") is split by hyperbaton, enclosing the subject Philippus and the verb moveat. It introduces a temporal clause meaning "before Philip should move himself." The verb transient represents the future perfect.
  5. 35.12.13qui sine Antiocho adversus Romanos Aetolosque tam diu sustinuerit bellum, ei — The antecedent of the relative pronoun qui is the following dative pronoun ei (referring to Philip). The subjunctive sustinuerit is used in a characterizing relative clause, conveying the nature of Philip's past resilience, with a concessive or causal nuance.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §35.12.1-35.12.18. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.12.1-35.12.18

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.