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Livy · History of Rome §36.11.1-36.11.11

Antiochus's Marriage at Chalcis and Acarnanian Schemes

Passage 1291 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

King Antiochus married and spent the winter in luxury at Chalcis, causing his army's discipline to decay. In spring, he marched through Aetolia, while the subverted Acarnanian leaders used artifice to bring their state under his power.

§36.11.1rex Chalcidem a Demetriade, amore captus virginis Chalcidensis, Cleoptolemi filiae, cum patrem primo allegando, deinde coram ipse rogando fatigasset,
The king went from Demetrias to Chalcis, where, captured by love for a Chalcidian maiden, the daughter of Cleoptolemus, having worn out her father first by sending messengers and then by asking him in person, who was reluctant to bind himself to the condition of too heavy a fortune, at last having obtained his suit, he celebrated the nuptials as if in the midst of peace.
§36.11.2invitum se gravioris fortunae condicioni illigantem, tandem impetrata re tamquam in media pace nuptias celebrat et relicum hiemis, oblitus, quantas simul duas res suscepisset, bellum Romanum et Graeciam liberandam, omissa omnium rerum cura, in conviviis et vinum sequentibus voluptatibus ac deinde ex fatigatione magis quam satietate earum in somno traduxit.
And having forgotten how great two undertakings he had assumed at the same time—the Roman war and the liberation of Greece—and having cast aside all care for everything, he spent the rest of the winter in banquets and the pleasures that follow wine, and then, from fatigue rather than satiety of them, in sleep.
§36.11.3eadem omnis praefectos regios, qui ubique, ad Boeotiam maxime, praepositi hibernis erant, cepit luxuria; §36.11.4in eandem et milites effusi sunt, nec quisquam eorum aut arma induit aut stationem aut vigilias servavit aut quicquam, quod militaris operis aut muneris esset, fecit.
The same luxury seized all the king's officers, who had been placed in winter quarters everywhere, especially in Boeotia; the soldiers also abandoned themselves to the same, nor did any of them put on armor, or keep station or guard, or do anything that belonged to military work or duty.
§36.11.5itaque principio veris, cum per Phocidem Chaeroneam, quo convenire omnem undique exercitum iusserat, venisset, facile animadvertit nihilo severiore disciplina milites quam ducem hibernasse.
Therefore, at the beginning of spring, when he had come through Phocis to Chaeronea, where he had ordered the whole army to assemble from all sides, he easily perceived that the soldiers had spent the winter with no more severe discipline than their leader.
§36.11.6Alexandrum inde Acarnana et Menippum Macedonem Stratum Aetoliae copias ducere iussit; ipse Delphis sacrificio Apollini facto Naupactum processit.
From there he ordered Alexander the Acarnanian and Menippus the Macedonian to lead the forces to Stratus in Aetolia; he himself, having offered sacrifice to Apollo at Delphi, proceeded to Naupactus.
§36.11.7consilio principum Aetoliae habito via, quae praeter Calydonem et Lysimachiam fert ad Stratum, suis, qui per Maliacum sinum veniebant, occurrit.
Having held a council of the leaders of Aetolia, by the road which leads past Calydon and Lysimachia to Stratus, he met his own men, who were coming through the Malian gulf.
§36.11.8ibi Mnasilochus princeps Acarnanum, multis emptus donis, non ipse solum gentem regi conciliabat, sed Clytum etiam praetorem, penes quem tum summa potestas erat, in suam sententiam adduxerat.
There Mnasilochus, a leader of the Acarnanians, who had been bought with many gifts, was not only himself conciliating the nation to the king, but had also brought Clytus the praetor, in whose hands the supreme power then was, over to his opinion.
§36.11.9is cum Leucadios, quod Acarnaniae caput est, non facile ad defectionem posse cerneret impelli propter metum Romanae classis, quae cum Atilio quaeque circa Cephallaniam erat, arte eos est adgressus.
Since he perceived that the Leucadians, which is the capital of Acarnania, could not easily be induced to revolt because of their fear of the Roman fleet, which was with Atilius and around Cephallenia, he approached them with artifice.
§36.11.10nam cum in concilio dixisset tuenda mediterranea Acarnaniae esse et omnibus, qui arma ferrent, exeundum ad Medionem et Thyrreum, ne ab Antiocho aut Aetolis occuparentur, §36.11.11fuere qui dicerent nihil attinere omnis tumultuose concitari, satis esse quingentorum hominum praesidium.
For when he had said in the council that the inland parts of Acarnania must be defended, and that all who could bear arms must march out to Medion and Thyrrheum, so that they might not be occupied by Antiochus or the Aetolians, there were some who said that there was no need for everyone to be tumultuously mobilized, and that a garrison of five hundred men was sufficient.
eam iuventutem nactus, trecentis Medione, ducentis Thyrrei in praesidio positis, id agebat, ut pro obsidibus futuri venirent in potestatem regis.
Having obtained those youth, and having placed three hundred in garrison at Medion and two hundred at Thyrrheum, he was planning that they, being destined to serve as hostages, should fall into the power of the king.

Notes

  1. 36.11.2invitum se gravioris fortunae condicioni illigantem — The participle 'illigantem' modifies 'patrem' from the previous section. The reflexive pronoun 'se' refers to its logical subject 'patrem', and the dative phrase 'gravioris fortunae condicioni' functions as the indirect object of 'illigare'. It depicts the father's reluctance to bind himself (se) to the terms of an excessively heavy fortune (i.e., a politically hazardous royal marriage).
  2. 36.11.2ex fatigatione magis quam satietate earum — The genitive pronoun 'earum' refers back to 'voluptatibus', functioning as an objective (or causal) genitive. It means 'from fatigue caused by them, rather than from being satiated with them'.
  3. 36.11.5nihilo severiore disciplina milites quam ducem hibernasse — An accusative-and-infinitive construction (dependent on 'animadvertit'), where 'milites' is the subject accusative and 'hibernasse' (= 'hibernavisse') is the infinitive. 'Nihilo severiore disciplina' is an ablative of quality or description ('with discipline in no way more severe'). The comparative 'severiore' is modified by the ablative of degree of difference 'nihilo', compared with 'quam ducem' (meaning 'as much as their leader himself').
  4. 36.11.11id agebat, ut pro obsidibus futuri venirent in potestatem regis — The idiom 'id agere ut' with the subjunctive means 'to strive for / to scheme that'. The future participle 'futuri', agreeing with the subject of the 'ut'-clause (the youth), expresses destiny or purpose ('being destined to serve as'). 'Pro obsidibus' means 'as/in the place of hostages'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §36.11.1-36.11.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:36.11.1-36.11.11

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