Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §35.47.1-35.47.8

Antiochus' Retreat and Overtures to the Greeks

Passage 1276 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Following the failed attempt to capture Chalcis, King Antiochus retreats to Demetrias and, in consultation with the Aetolians, decides to sound out the Boeotians, Achaeans, and King Amynander of the Athamanes.

§35.47.1haec renuntiata regi ad naves, ubi restiterat, cum essent, in praesentia — neque enim iis venerat copiis, ut vi agere quicquam posset — reverti Demetriadem placuit.
When these things were reported to the king at the ships, where he had remained, it was resolved for the present—for he had not come with such forces as to be able to achieve anything by force—to return to Demetrias.
§35.47.2ibi, quoniam primum vanum inceptum evasisset, consultare cum Aetolis rex, quid deinde fieret.
There, since the first attempt had turned out in vain, the king consulted with the Aetolians as to what should be done next.
placuit Boeotos Achaeos Amynandrum regem Athamanum temptare.
It was decided to sound the Boeotians, the Achaeans, and Amynander, the king of the Athamanes.
§35.47.3Boeotorum gentem aversam ab Romanis iam inde a Brachylli morte, et quae secuta eam fuerant, censebant; §35.47.4Achaeorum Philopoemenem principem aemulatione gloriae in bello Laconum infestum invisumque esse Quinctio credebant.
They believed that the nation of the Boeotians had been alienated from the Romans ever since the death of Brachylles and the events which had followed it; they believed that Philopoemen, the chief of the Achaeans, out of rivalry for glory in the Laconian war, was hostile and hateful to Quinctius.
§35.47.5Amynander uxorem Apamam, filiam Alexandri cuiusdam Megalopolitani, habebat, qui se oriundum a magno Alexandro ferens filiis duobus Philippum atque Alexandrum et filiae Apamam nomina inposuerat; §35.47.6quam regiis iunctam nuptiis maior ex fratribus Philippus secutus in Athamaniam fuerat.
Amynander had for a wife Apama, the daughter of a certain Alexander of Megalopolis, who, boasting that he was descended from Alexander the Great, had given his two sons the names of Philip and Alexander, and to his daughter Apama; whom, when she was joined in royal marriage, the elder of the brothers, Philip, had followed into Athamania.
§35.47.7hunc forte ingenio vanum Aetoli et Antiochus inpulerant in spem Macedoniae regni, quod is vere regum stirpis esset, si Amynandrum Athamanesque Antiocho coniunxisset.
This man, who happened to be vain by nature, the Aetolians and Antiochus had incited into the hope of the Macedonian kingdom, on the ground that he was truly of royal descent, if he should join Amynander and the Athamanes to Antiochus.
§35.47.8et ea vanitas promissorum non apud Philippum modo sed etiam apud Amynandrum valuit.
And this vanity of promises prevailed not only with Philip but also with Amynander.

Notes

  1. 35.47.1cum essent — The conjunction cum with the imperfect subjunctive (essent) forms a temporal clause, where the subject is the neuter plural substantive phrase haec renuntiata (these reported things).
  2. 35.47.1iis venerat copiis, ut vi agere quicquam posset — The phrase iis copiis is an ablative of accompaniment (omitting the preposition cum), while ut introduces a clause of result/consequence correlating with iis (with such forces that he could...).
  3. 35.47.2consultare — This is a historical infinitive, used with the nominative subject rex to vividly describe an action in past time.
  4. 35.47.5se oriundum a magno Alexandro ferens — The participle ferens (from ferre) here means 'alleging' or 'boasting,' taking the accusative reflexive pronoun se and the predicate accusative/adjective oriundum.
  5. 35.47.6quam — This is a connecting relative pronoun (relative connection) standing at the beginning of the sentence, referring back to Apama and serving as the direct object of the transitive verb secutus fuerat.
  6. 35.47.7quod is vere regum stirpis esset — The subjunctive (essent) in the quod clause represents the subjective reason or allegation presented by the Aetolians to Philip (on the ground that he was...). The genitive stirpis is a genitive of quality.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §35.47.1-35.47.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.47.1-35.47.8

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