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Livy · History of Rome §37.14.1-37.14.7

Aemilius' Arrival and the Plan to Blockade Ephesus

Passage 1339 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Aemilius Regillus arrives at Samos to take over the naval command, where his predecessor Gaius Livius proposes a plan to blockade the harbor of Ephesus.

§37.14.1Piraei L. Aemilio Regillo succedenti ad navale imperium Epicrates occurrit; §37.14.2qui audita clade Rhodiorum, cum ipse duas tantum quinqueremes haberet, Epicratem cum quattuor navibus in Asiam secum reduxit; prosecutae etiam apertae Atheniensium naves sunt.
At the Piraeus, Epicrates met Lucius Aemilius Regillus, who was succeeding to the naval command; and Aemilius, having heard of the defeat of the Rhodians, although he himself had only two quinqueremes, took Epicrates back with him to Asia with his four ships; some open ships of the Athenians also accompanied them.
§37.14.3Aegaeo mari traiecit Chium.
He crossed the Aegean Sea to Chios.
eodem Timasicrates Rhodius cum duabus quadriremibus ab Samo nocte intempesta venit, deductusque ad Aemilium praesidii causa se missum ait, quod eam oram maris infestam onerariis regiae naves excursionibus crebris ab Hellesponto atque Abydo facerent.
To the same place came Timasicrates the Rhodian with two quadriremes from Samos in the dead of night, and having been brought to Aemilius, he said that he had been sent for the sake of protection, because the king's ships, by frequent excursions from the Hellespont and Abydos, were making that coast of the sea dangerous to merchantmen.
traicienti Aemilio a Chio Samum duae Rhodiae quadriremes, missae obviam ab Livio, et rex Eumenes cum duabus quinqueremibus occurrit.
As Aemilius was crossing from Chios to Samos, two Rhodian quadriremes, sent by Livius to meet him, and King Eumenes with two quinqueremes met him.
§37.14.4Samum postquam ventum est, accepta ab Livio classe et sacrificio, ut adsolet, rite facto Aemilius consilium advocavit.
After they had come to Samos, having received the fleet from Livius and duly performed the sacrifice, as is customary, Aemilius called a council.
ibi C. Livius — is enim est primus rogatus sententiam — neminem fidelius posse dare consilium dixit quam eum, qui id alteri suaderet, quod ipse, si in eodem loco esset, §37.14.5facturus fuerit: se in animo habuisse tota classe Ephesum petere et onerarias ducere multa saburra gravatas, §37.14.6atque eas in faucibus portus supprimere; §37.14.7et eo minoris molimenti ea claustra esse, quod in fluminis modum longum et angustum et vadosum ostium portus sit.
There Gaius Livius—for he was the first asked his opinion—said that no one could give advice more faithfully than he who advised another what he himself would have done if he had been in the same situation: that he had had in mind to head for Ephesus with the whole fleet, and to bring merchant vessels heavily laden with much ballast, and to sink them in the mouth of the port; and that this barrier would be of so much less trouble to construct, because the mouth of the port is long, narrow, and shallow, in the manner of a river.
ita adempturum se maris usum hostibus fuisse inutilemque classem facturum.
In this way, he said, he would have deprived the enemy of the use of the sea and made their fleet useless.

Notes

  1. §37.14.1Piraei — Locative singular of Piraeus. In the second declension, the locative takes the same ending -i as the genitive singular, meaning 'at the Piraeus'.
  2. §37.14.4sententiam — Retained accusative. The verb rogare takes a double accusative in the active ('to ask someone [acc.] for an opinion [acc.]'). When made passive (rogatus), the thing asked (sententiam) remains in the accusative.
  3. §37.14.4si in eodem loco esset, facturus fuerit — The apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional in indirect discourse. The direct form would be 'si... essem, fecissem' (or 'facturus fui'). In indirect discourse depending on the historical main verb dixit, this is represented by the active periphrastic form (future active participle with 'fuerit', the perfect subjunctive of sum).
  4. §37.14.7minoris molimenti — Genitive of quality (or description) used predicatively with 'esse', meaning '[that the barrier was] of less difficulty/effort' (i.e., easier to construct).
  5. §37.14.7adempturum se maris usum hostibus fuisse — The apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional in the accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction. It represents 'ademissem' or 'adempturus fui' ('I would have deprived') in direct discourse, expressed here by the future participle (adempturum) with 'fuisse'. 'hostibus' is a dative of separation with 'adempturum'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §37.14.1-37.14.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:37.14.1-37.14.7

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