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Livy · History of Rome §36.39.1-36.39.10

Fulvius' Ovation and Cornelius' Request for a Triumph

Passage 1319 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Fulvius Nobilior celebrates an ovation, and when consul Publius Cornelius requests a triumph after penalizing the Boii, tribune Sempronius argues for its postponement to ensure the completion of the war against the Ligurians.

§36.39.1per eosdem dies M. Fulvius Nobilior ex ulteriore Hispania ovans urbem est ingressus.
About the same time, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior entered the city in an ovation from Farther Spain.
§36.39.2argenti transtulit duodecim milia pondo, bigati argenti centum triginta, auri centum viginti septem pondo.
He brought with him twelve thousand pounds of silver, one hundred and thirty thousand silver bigati, and one hundred and twenty-seven pounds of gold.
§36.39.3P. Cornelius consul obsidibus a Boiorum gente acceptis agri parte fere dimidia eos multavit, quo, si vellet, populus Romanus colonias mittere posset.
The consul Publius Cornelius, having accepted hostages from the nation of the Boii, punished them by confiscating almost half of their territory, so that the Roman people, if they so wished, could send colonies there.
§36.39.4inde Romam ut ad triumphum haud dubium decedens exercitum dimisit, et adesse Romae ad diem triumphi iussit;
Withdrawing from there to Rome as if to an assured triumph, he disbanded his army and ordered them to be present in Rome on the day of the triumph.
§36.39.5ipse postero die, quam venit, senatu in aedem Bellonae vocato cum de rebus ab se gestis disseruisset, postulavit, ut sibi triumphanti liceret urbem invehi.
He himself, on the day after his arrival, having summoned the senate to the temple of Bellona, after discussing his achievements, requested that he be allowed to enter the city in triumph.
§36.39.6P. Sempronius Blaesus tribunus plebis non negandum Scipioni, sed differendum honorem triumphi censebat: bella Ligurum Gallicis semper iuncta fuisse; eas inter se gentes mutua ex propinquo ferre auxilia.
Publius Sempronius Blaesus, tribune of the plebs, argued that the honor of a triumph should not be denied to Scipio, but postponed; for the wars with the Ligurians were always linked with those of the Gauls, and these nations brought mutual aid to one another from close quarters.
§36.39.7si P. Scipio devictis acie Bois aut ipse cum victore exercitu in agrum Ligurum transisset, aut partem copiarum Q. Minucio misisset, qui iam tertium ibi annum dubio detineretur bello, debellari cum Liguribus potuisse;
If Publius Scipio, after defeating the Boii in battle, had either crossed over in person with his victorious army into the territory of the Ligurians, or sent a part of his forces to Quintus Minucius, who was now being detained there for a third year in a doubtful war, the war with the Ligurians could have been brought to an end.
§36.39.8nunc ad triumphum frequentandum deductos esse milites, qui egregiam navare operam rei publicae potuissent, possent etiam, si senatus, quod festinatione triumphi praetermissum esset, id restituere differendo triumpho vellet.
Now the soldiers had been brought back to swell the triumph, though they could have rendered outstanding service to the state, and could still do so, if the senate wished to correct by postponing the triumph what had been neglected through haste for it.
§36.39.9iuberent consulem cum legionibus redire in provinciam, dare operam, ut Ligures subigantur. nisi illi cogantur in ius iudiciumque populi Romani, ne Boios quidem quieturos; aut pacem aut bellum utrobique habenda.
They should order the consul to return to his province with his legions, and to take care that the Ligurians be subdued; unless they were forced to submit to the law and judgment of the Roman people, not even the Boii would remain quiet; either peace or war must be maintained in both places.
§36.39.10devictis Liguribus, paucos post menses proconsulem P. Cornelium multorum exemplo, qui in magistratu non triumphaverunt, triumphaturum esse.
Once the Ligurians were thoroughly defeated, a few months later, Publius Cornelius as proconsul would celebrate his triumph, following the example of many who did not triumph during their magistracy.

Notes

  1. §36.39.2bigati argenti centum triginta — bigati argenti refers to silver denarii stamped with a two-horse chariot (biga). The word milia (thousands) is omitted after the numeral centum triginta, a common elliptical style in ancient Roman inventories of booty.
  2. §36.39.3quo, si vellet, populus Romanus colonias mittere posset — quo is a conjunction introducing a purpose clause; although it usually accompanies a comparative, here it is used without one in the sense of ut eo ('in order that thereby...').
  3. §36.39.7debellari cum Liguribus potuisse — The apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact condition in indirect discourse. In direct speech, this would be debellari cum Liguribus potuit ('the war could have been finished', using the indicative perfect of a verb of possibility), which here becomes the perfect infinitive potuisse. debellari is an impersonal passive infinitive.
  4. §36.39.8qui egregiam navare operam rei publicae potuissent, possent etiam — A contrast of tenses within the relative clause. The pluperfect subjunctive potuissent expresses a past contrary-to-fact situation ('they could have rendered service'), while the imperfect subjunctive possent refers to a present potential or conditional situation ('they could still do so').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §36.39.1-36.39.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:36.39.1-36.39.10

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