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Livy · History of Rome §37.46.1-37.46.11

Acilius's Triumph and the News of Defeat in Spain

Passage 1371 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

While affairs are conducted in Asia, proconsul Acilius celebrates a magnificent triumph in Rome, although the public joy is dampened by news of a defeat in Spain, and the senate takes measures to address the shortage of colonists in Gaul.

§37.46.1dum haec ad Asia geruntur, duo fere sub idem tempus cum triumphi spe proconsules de provinciis Romam redierunt, Q. Minucius ex Liguribus,
While these things were being done in Asia, about the same time two proconsuls returned from their provinces to Rome with the hope of a triumph: Q. Minucius from the Ligurians, and M'.
§37.46.2M’. Acilius ex Aetolia.
Acilius from Aetolia.
auditis utriusque rebus gestis Minucio negatus triumphus, Acilio magno consensu decretus; isque triumphans de rege Antiocho et Aetolis urbem est invectus.
Having heard the achievements of both, a triumph was denied to Minucius, but decreed to Acilius with great consensus; and he, triumphing over King Antiochus and the Aetolians, entered the city.
§37.46.3praelata ad eo triumpho sunt signa militaria ducenta triginta, et argenti infecti tria milia pondo, signati tetrachmum Atticum centum decem tria milia, cistophori ducenta undequinquaginta, vasa argentea caelata multa magnique ponderis; §37.46.4tulit et suppellectilem regiam argenteam ac vestem magnificam, coronas aureas, dona sociarum civitatium, quadraginta quinque, spolia omnis generis.
In that triumph there were carried before him two hundred and thirty military standards, three thousand pounds of uncoined silver, one hundred and thirteen thousand coins of minted Attic tetradrachms, two hundred and forty-nine thousand cistophori, and many silver vessels of embossed work and of great weight; he also displayed the royal silver furniture and magnificent clothing, forty-five golden crowns, which were gifts from the allied states, and spoils of every kind.
captivos nobiles, Aetolos et regios duces, sex et triginta duxit.
He led thirty-six noble captives, Aetolian and royal generals.
§37.46.5Damocritus, Aetolorum dux, paucos ante dies, cum e carcere noctu effugisset, ad ripa Tiberis consecutis custodibus, priusquam comprehenderetur, gladio se transfixit.
Damocritus, the general of the Aetolians, a few days before, when he had escaped from prison by night, having been overtaken by his guards at the bank of the Tiber, ran himself through with a sword before he could be captured.
§37.46.6milites tantum, qui sequerentur currum, defuerunt; alioqui magnificus et spectaculo et fama rerum triumphus fuit.
Only the soldiers to follow the chariot were lacking; otherwise, the triumph was magnificent both as a spectacle and in the fame of his achievements.
§37.46.7huius triumphi minuit laetitiam nuntius ex Hispania tristis, adversa pugna ad Bastetanis ductu L. Aemilii proconsulis apud oppidum Lyconem cum Lusitanis sex milia de Romano exercitu cecidisse, §37.46.8ceteros paventis intra vallum compulsos aegre castra defendisse et ad modum fugientium magnis itineribus ad agrum pacatum reductos.
The joy of this triumph was diminished by sad news from Spain: that in an unsuccessful battle against the Lusitanians in the territory of the Bastetani under the leadership of the proconsul L. Aemilius near the town of Lyco, six thousand of the Roman army had fallen, and that the rest, panic-stricken, had been driven inside the rampart and had with difficulty defended the camp, and had been led back by forced marches to the pacified territory in the manner of fugitives.
§37.46.9haec ex Hispania nuntiata.
These were the reports from Spain.
ex Gallia legatos Placentinorum et Cremonensium L.
From Gaul, the praetor L.
§37.46.10Aurunculeius praeterad senatum introduxit.
Aurunculeius introduced the envoys of the Placentines and Cremonenses to the senate.
iis querentibus inopiam colonorum, aliis belli casibus, aliis morbo absumptis, quosdam taedio accolarum Gallorum reliquisse colonias, decrevit senatus, uti C. Laelius consul, si ei videretur, sex milia familiarum conscriberet, quae ad eas colonias dividerentur, et ut L. Aurunculeius praetertriumviros crearet ad eos colonos deducendos.
Upon their complaining of the scarcity of colonists, some having been carried off by the casualties of war, others by disease, and some having left the colonies out of weariness of their neighboring Gauls, the senate decreed that the consul C. Laelius, if it seemed good to him, should enlist six thousand families to be distributed among those colonies, and that the praetor L. Aurunculeius should create triumvirs for conducting those colonists.
§37.46.11creati M. Atilius Serranus L. Valerius P. F. Flaccus L. Valerius C. F. Tappo.
There were created M. Atilius Serranus, L. Valerius Flaccus, son of Publius, and L. Valerius Tappo, son of Gaius.

Notes

  1. 37.46.1dum haec ad Asia geruntur — The textual reading `ad Asia` is grammatically irregular, likely representing a corruption of either `in Asia` or `ad Asiam`. Based on Livy's usage and the context, it is here interpreted as "while these things were being transacted in/around Asia."
  2. 37.46.3cistophori ducenta undequinquaginta — The numeral `ducenta undequinquaginta` (249) is understood with the ellipse of `milia` (thousands), meaning "249,000 cistophori," which is standard in Livy's tallies of war booty to match the scale of other large sums.
  3. 37.46.7adversa pugna ad Bastetanis ductu L. Aemilii proconsulis apud oppidum Lyconem cum Lusitanis sex milia de Romano exercitu cecidisse — This is an accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction explanatory of `nuntius`. The subject of the infinitive `cecidisse` is `sex milia`, and `ductu L. Aemilii proconsulis` functions as an ablative absolute indicating the commander under whose leadership the defeat occurred.
  4. 37.46.10iis querentibus inopiam colonorum — An ablative absolute with the present participle `querentibus` ("on their complaining of..."). The following clauses, `aliis... absumptis` (ablative absolute) and `quosdam... reliquisse` (A.c.I.), function as indirect speech detailing the grounds of their complaints.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §37.46.1-37.46.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:37.46.1-37.46.11

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