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Livy · History of Rome §38.11.1-38.11.9

Terms of the Peace Treaty with the Aetolians

Passage 1398 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The specific terms of the peace treaty concluded between the Aetolians and Rome are detailed, including respecting Roman sovereignty, military non-passage, return of captives, hostages, and territorial non-recovery.

§38.11.1diu iactati Aetoli tandem, ut condiciones pacis convenirent, effecerunt.
The long-harassed Aetolians finally brought it about that the terms of peace should be agreed upon.
fuerunt autem hae: §38.11.2“imperium maiestatemque populi Romani gens Aetolorum conservato sine dolo malo; ne quem exercitum, qui adversus socios amicosque eorum ducetur, per fines suos transire sinito, neve ulla ope iuvato; §38.11.3hostis eosdem habeto quos populus Romanus, armaque in eos ferto, bellumque pariter gerito; §38.11.4perfugas fugitivos captivos reddito Romanis sociisque, praeterquam si qui capti, cum domos redissent, iterum capti sunt, aut si qui eo tempore ex iis capti sunt, qui tum hostes erant Romanis, cum intra praesidia Romana Aetoli essent; §38.11.5aliorum qui comparebunt intra dies centum Corcyraeorum magistratibus sine dolo malo tradantur; qui non comparebunt, quando quisque eorum primum inventus erit, reddatur; §38.11.6obsides quadraginta arbitratu consulis Romanis dato ne minores duodecim annorum neu maiores quadraginta, §38.11.7obses ne esto praetor, praefectus equitum, scriba publicus, neu quis, qui ante obses fuit apud Romanos; Cephallania extra pacis leges esto. ” §38.11.8de pecuniae summa, quam penderent, pensionibusque eius nihil ex eo, quod cum consule convenerat, mutatum; pro argento si aurum dare mallent, darent, convenit, dum pro argenteis decem aureus unus valeret. §38.11.9“quae urbes, qui agri, qui homines Aetolorum iuris aliquando fuerunt, qui eorum T. Quinctio Cn. Domitio consulibus postve eos consules aut armis subacti aut voluntate in dicionem populi Romani venerunt, ne quem eorum Aetoli recepisse velint; Oeniadae cum urbe agrisque Acarnanum sunto. ” his legibus foedus ictum cum Aetolis est.
They were, moreover, as follows:\n "The nation of the Aetolians shall maintain the dominion and majesty of the Roman people without malice; they shall not permit any army, which is being led against their allies and friends, to pass through their territory, nor shall they assist them with any aid;\n they shall hold the same enemies as the Roman people, bear arms against them, and wage war in common;\n they shall return deserters, runaways, and captives to the Romans and their allies, except if any of those captured, after they had returned home, were captured again, or if any were captured at that time from among those who were then enemies to the Romans when the Aetolians were within the Roman garrisons;\n of the others who shall appear, let them be delivered without malice to the magistrates of the Corcyraeans within one hundred days; those who shall not appear, as soon as each of them is first found, let them be returned;\n they shall give forty hostages to the Romans at the discretion of the consul, not younger than twelve years nor older than forty;\n no praetor, commander of cavalry, public scribe, nor anyone who has previously been a hostage among the Romans, shall be a hostage; Cephallania shall be excluded from the terms of the peace."\n Concerning the sum of money which they were to pay, and its instalments, nothing was changed from what had been agreed upon with the consul; it was agreed that if they preferred to give gold instead of silver, they might do so, provided that one gold piece should be worth ten silver pieces.\n "Whatever cities, whatever lands, whatever men once belonged to the jurisdiction of the Aetolians, which, in the consulship of Titus Quinctius and Gnaeus Domitius or after those consuls, either were subdued by arms or voluntarily came under the dominion of the Roman people, the Aetolians shall not wish to recover any of them; Oeniadae with its city and lands shall belong to the Acarnanians." Under these terms, the treaty was struck with the Aetolians.

Notes

  1. 38.11.2conservato — Future imperative, 2nd or 3rd person singular. Here it functions as a 3rd person singular imperative agreeing with the subject gens Aetolorum. The future imperative is frequently used in treaty texts to indicate enduring obligations.
  2. 38.11.4cum intra praesidia Romana Aetoli essent — A cum clause with the imperfect subjunctive, indicating a past period when the Aetolians were within the Roman lines (garrisons). This conditional clause strictly defines the scope of the exception.
  3. 38.11.6ne minores duodecim annorum neu maiores quadraginta — The comparative adjectives minores and maiores are followed by the genitive of comparison (or quality) annorum (which is also understood after quadraginta). It indicates the age limits: 'not younger than twelve years nor older than forty'.
  4. 38.11.8darent — Imperfect subjunctive, representing an imperative (or permission/obligation) in indirect speech, in sequence of tenses with the main past verb convenit. It expresses the permission: 'they might give [gold] if they preferred'.
  5. 38.11.9ne quem eorum Aetoli recepisse velint — An expression of negative command or prohibition in treaty language. The present subjunctive velint with the perfect infinitive recepisse expresses a strong prohibition: 'the Aetolians shall not wish to recover any of them'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §38.11.1-38.11.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:38.11.1-38.11.9

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