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Livy · History of Rome §36.3.1-36.3.14

Preparations for War and the Consul's Departure

Passage 1283 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

In preparation for the war with King Antiochus, envoys are sent and travel restrictions are placed on senators in Rome. A dispute over naval exemption with colonists is resolved, and after consulting the fetials on the declaration of war, the consul summons the army to Brundisium and departs.

§36.3.1legati terni in Africam ad Carthaginienses et in Numidiam ad frumentum rogandum, quod in Graeciam portaretur, missi, pro quo pretium solveret populus Romanus.
Three envoys each were sent to Africa to the Carthaginians and to Numidia to request grain to be transported to Greece, for which the Roman people were to pay the price.
§36.3.2adeoque in apparatum curamque eius belli civitas intenta fuit, §36.3.3ut P. Cornelius consul ediceret, qui senatores essent quibusque in senatu sententiam dicere liceret, quique minores magistratus essent, ne quis eorum longius ab urbe Roma abiret, quam unde eo die redire posset, neve uno tempore quinque senatores ab urbe Roma abessent.
And to such an extent was the state intent upon the preparation and care for that war, that the consul Publius Cornelius issued an edict that those who were senators, those who were permitted to speak their opinion in the senate, and those who were minor magistrates, none of them should depart further from the city of Rome than from where they could return on the same day, and that no more than five senators should be absent from the city of Rome at one time.
§36.3.4in comparanda impigre classe C. Livium praetorem contentio orta cum colonis maritimis paulisper tenuit.
While the praetor Gaius Livius was actively preparing the fleet, a dispute that arose with the maritime colonists detained him for a short time.
§36.3.5nam cum cogerentur in classem, tribunos plebi appellarunt; ab iis ad senatum reiecti sunt.
For when they were being compelled into service in the fleet, they appealed to the tribunes of the plebs; by them they were referred back to the senate.
senatus ita, ut ad unum omnes consentirent, decrevitvacationem rei navalis eis colonis non esse.
The senate, in such a way that all to a man agreed, decreed that there was no exemption from naval service for those colonists.
§36.3.6Ostia et Fregenae et Castrum Novum et Pyrgi et Antium et Tarracina et Minturnae et Sinuessa fuerunt, quae cum praetore de vacatione certarunt.
Ostia, Fregenae, Castrum Novum, Pyrgi, Antium, Tarracina, Minturnae, and Sinuessa were the places which contended with the praetor concerning the exemption.
§36.3.7consul deinde M’. Acilius ex senatus consulto ad collegium fetialium rettulit, ipsine utique regi Antiocho indiceretur bellum, an satis esset ad praesidium aliquod eius nuntiari; §36.3.8et num Aetolis quoque separatim indici iuberent bellum, et num prius societas et amicitia eis renuntianda esset quam bellum indicendum.
Then the consul Manius Acilius, in accordance with a decree of the senate, referred to the college of fetials the question whether war should indeed be declared on King Antiochus in person, or whether it was sufficient for it to be announced to some garrison of his; and whether they would order war to be declared on the Aetolians also separately, and whether their alliance and friendship must be renounced before war was declared.
§36.3.9fetiales responderunt, iam ante sese, cum de Philippo consulerentur, decrevisse nihil referre, ipsi coram an ad praesidium nuntiaretur; §36.3.10amicitiam renuntiatam videri, cum legatis totiens repetentibus res nec reddi nec satisfieri aequum censuissent; §36.3.11Aetolos ultro sibi bellum indixisse, cum Demetriadem, sociorum urbem, §36.3.12per vim occupassent, Chalcidem terra marique oppugnatum issent, regem Antiochum in Europam ad bellum populo Romano inferendum traduxissent.
The fetials replied that they had already decreed before, when they were consulted about Philip, that it made no difference whether the announcement was made to him in person or to a garrison; that friendship was deemed to have been renounced when, though envoys demanded restitution so many times, they had judged it fair that neither restitution be made nor satisfaction given; the Aetolians had of their own accord declared war on them, since they had occupied Demetrias, a city of the allies, by force, had gone to attack Chalcis by land and sea, and had brought King Antiochus over into Europe to wage war on the Roman people.
§36.3.13omnibus iam satis comparatis M’. Acilius consul edixit, ut quos L. Quinctius milites conscripsisset et quos sociis nominique Latino imperasset, quos secum in provinciam ire oporteret, et tribuni militum legionis primae et tertiae, ut ii omnes Brundisium idibus Mais convenirent.
Now that all things were sufficiently prepared, the consul Manius Acilius issued an edict that the soldiers whom Lucius Quinctius had enlisted, and those whom he had demanded from the allies and the Latin name, who were required to go with him into the province, and the military tribunes of the first and third legions, should all assemble at Brundisium on the Ides of May.
§36.3.14ipse a. d. quintum nonas Maias paludatus urbe egressus est.
He himself departed from the city in general's cloak on the fifth day before the Nones of May.
per eosdem dies et praetores in provincias profecti sunt.
During the same days, the praetors also set out for their provinces.

Notes

  1. §36.3.5vacationem rei navalis eis colonis non esse — An accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction introduced by the verb `decrevit`. `vacationem` is the subject accusative of the infinitive `esse`, while `eis colonis` functions as a dative of possession (dativus possessivus), meaning 'that those colonists did not have an exemption (from naval service).'
  2. §36.3.12oppugnatum issent — `oppugnatum` is the accusative supine (former supine) of the transitive verb `oppugno`, used with the verb of motion `issent` (third-person plural subjunctive pluperfect of `eo`) to express purpose ('went to attack').
  3. §36.3.13ut — The conjunction `ut` is used twice in a single sentence (`ut quos...` and `ut ii omnes...`). Due to the complexity of the sentence structure caused by long relative clauses and insertions, the conjunction `ut` introducing the content of the edict is repeated to clarify its connection with the main verb, a pleonastic or anacoluthic usage found in Latin prose.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §36.3.1-36.3.14. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:36.3.1-36.3.14

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