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Livy · History of Rome §35.46.1-35.46.13

Antiochus Marches on Chalcis and Faces Rejection

Passage 1275 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Following the dismissal of the Aetolian council, King Antiochus and the leaders advance on Chalcis as their first target; however, the Chalcidians reject them, stating that as they are free they need no champion and will make no treaty without Roman authority.

§35.46.1ita dimisso concilio multitudo omnis in suas civitates dilapsa est;
When the council was thus dismissed, the entire multitude dispersed to their respective cities.
§35.46.2rex postero die cum apocletis eorum, unde bellum ordiretur, consultabat.
On the following day, the king consulted with their "apocleti" as to where they should begin the war.
optimum visum est Chalcidem, frustra ab Aetolis nuper temptatam, primum adgredi; et celeritate magis in eam rem quam magno conatu et apparatu opus esse.
It seemed best to attack Chalcis first, which had recently been attempted in vain by the Aetolians; and they judged that there was need of speed rather than of great effort and preparation for this undertaking.
§35.46.3itaque cum mille peditibus rex, qui ab Demetriade secuti erant, profectus per Phocidem est, et alio itinere principes Aetoli iuniorum paucis evocatis ad Chaeroniam occurrerunt et decem constratis navibus secuti sunt.
Therefore the king, setting out with a thousand infantry who had followed him from Demetrias, marched through Phocis, and the Aetolian leaders, having summoned a few of the younger men, met him by another route at Chaeronea and followed with ten decked ships.
§35.46.4rex ad Salganea castris positis navibus ipse cum principibus Aetolorum Euripum traiecit, et, cum haud procul portu egressus esset, magistratus quoque Chalcidensium et principes ante portam processerunt.
Having pitched his camp at Salganeus, the king himself with the Aetolian leaders crossed the Euripus in ships, and, when he had landed not far from the port, the magistrates and leading men of the Chalcidians also came out before the gate.
pauci utrimque ad colloquium congressi sunt.
A few from both sides met for a conference.
§35.46.5Aetoli magno opere suadere, ut salva Romanorum amicitia regem quoque adsumerent socium atque amicum: §35.46.6neque enim eum inferendi belli, sed liberandae Graeciae causa in Europam traiecisse, et liberandae re, non verbis et simulatione, quod fecissent Romani; §35.46.7nihil autem utilius Graeciae civitatibus esse quam utramque complecti amicitiam; ita enim ab utriusque iniuria tutas alterius semper praesidio et fiducia fore.
The Aetolians earnestly urged them to receive the king also as an ally and friend, while preserving their friendship with the Romans: for they argued that he had crossed into Europe not for the purpose of waging war, but of liberating Greece, and of liberating it in reality, not in words and pretence, as the Romans had done; moreover, that nothing was more useful to the states of Greece than to embrace both friendships; for in this way they would always be secure from injury by either, through the protection and confidence of the other.
§35.46.8nam si non recepissent regem, viderent, quid patiendum iis extemplo foret, cum Romanorum procul auxilium, hostis Antiochus, cui resistere suis viribus non possent, ante portas esset.
For if they did not receive the king, they should consider what they would have to suffer immediately, since the aid of the Romans was far off, while their enemy Antiochus, whom they could not resist with their own strength, was before their gates.
§35.46.9ad haec Micythio, unus ex principibus, mirari se dixit, ad quos liberandos Antiochus relicto regno suo in Europam traiecisset: §35.46.10nullam enim civitatem se in Graecia nosse, quae aut praesidium habeat, aut stipendium Romanis pendat, aut foedere iniquo adligata quas nolit leges patiatur: §35.46.11itaque Chalcidenses neque vindice libertatis ullo egere, cum liberi sint, neque praesidio, cum pacem eiusdem populi Romani beneficio et libertatem habeant.
To this Micythio, one of their leading men, replied that he wondered whom Antiochus had crossed into Europe to deliver, leaving his own kingdom: for he knew of no city in Greece that either had a garrison, or paid tribute to the Romans, or, bound by an unequal treaty, was forced to submit to laws it did not wish; therefore, the Chalcidians had no need of any champion of liberty, since they were free, nor of a garrison, since by the favour of the same Roman people they possessed both peace and liberty.
§35.46.12amicitiam regis non aspernari, nec ipsorum Aetolorum.
They did not reject the friendship of the king, nor that of the Aetolians themselves.
id primum eos pro amicis facturos, si insula excedant atque abeant: §35.46.13nam ipsis certum esse non modo non recipere moenibus, sed ne societatem quidem ullam pacisci nisi ex auctoritate Romanorum.
But the first thing they could do as friends would be to depart and withdraw from the island: for they were firmly resolved not only not to receive him within their walls, but not even to ally themselves in any treaty except by the authority of the Romans.

Notes

  1. 35.46.5suadere — Historical infinitive. It functions as equivalent to the imperfect indicative (suadebant), used with a third-person plural subject (Aetoli) to lend vividness to the narrative.
  2. 35.46.6liberandae — Gerundive (genitive feminine singular). The word `causa` is understood as carried over from the preceding phrase `liberandae Graeciae causa`, meaning 'for the sake of liberating (Greece in reality).'
  3. 35.46.8viderent — Subjunctive imperfect representing a command in indirect discourse (Oratio Obliqua). A direct command (such as the imperative 'videte' or a hortatory subjunctive) is shifted to the imperfect subjunctive due to sequence of tenses after the past narrative context.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §35.46.1-35.46.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.46.1-35.46.13

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