Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §38.33.1-38.33.11

Philopoemen's Invasion and Execution of Spartan Leaders

Passage 1420 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Philopoemen pitched camp in Lacedaemonian territory and demanded the surrender of the leaders of the defection. Those who surrendered were attacked by Achaean exiles and the mob, and many were executed without a proper trial.

§38.33.1qui veris initio exercitu indicto castra in finibus Lacedaemoniorum posuit,
At the beginning of spring, having summoned the army, he pitched camp in the territory of the Lacedaemonians.
§38.33.2legatos deinde misit ad deposcendos auctores defectionis, et civitatem in pace futuram, si id fecisset, pollicentis, §38.33.3et illos nihil indicta causa passuros.
Then he sent ambassadors to demand the authors of the defection, promising that the state would remain in peace if they did so, and that those men would suffer nothing without their cause being pleaded.
silentium prae metu ceterorum fuit; quos nominatim depoposcerat, ipsi se ituros professi sunt, fide accepta a legatis vim abfuturam, donec causam dixissent.
There was silence among the rest through fear; but those whom he had demanded by name declared that they themselves would go, having received an assurance from the ambassadors that no violence would be used until they had pleaded their cause.
§38.33.4ierunt etiam alii illustres viri, et advocati privatis, et quia pertinere causam eorum ad rem publicam censebant.
Other illustrious men also went, both as advocates for the individuals and because they thought that their cause concerned the state.
§38.33.5numquam alias exules Lacedaemoniorum Achaei secum adduxerant in finis, quia nihil aeque alienaturum animos civitatis videbatur; §38.33.6tunc exercitus totius prope antesignani exules erant.
At no other time had the Achaeans brought Lacedaemonian exiles with them into their territory, because it seemed that nothing would so alienate the minds of the citizens; on this occasion, the exiles were almost the vanguard of the whole army.
hi venientibus Lacedaemoniis ad portam castrorum agmine facto occurrerunt; et primo lacessere iurgiis, deinde, altercatione orta, cum accenderentur irae, ferocissimi exulum impetum in Lacedaemonios fecerunt.
These men, having formed a column, met the Lacedaemonians as they approached the gate of the camp; and at first they provoked them with insults, then, an altercation having arisen, as anger was inflamed, the most violent of the exiles made an attack on the Lacedaemonians.
§38.33.7cum illi deos et fidem legatorum testarentur, et legati et praetor summovere turbam et protegere Lacedaemonios vinclaque iam quosdam inicientis arcere.
While they called upon the gods and the faith of the ambassadors, both the ambassadors and the praetor moved the crowd back, protected the Lacedaemonians, and kept off those who were already casting chains on some of them.
§38.33.8crescebat tumultu concitato turba; et Achaei ad spectaculum primo concurrebant; §38.33.9deinde vociferantibus exulibus, quae passi forent, et orantibus opem adfirmantibusque simul numquam talem occasionem habituros, si eam praetermisissent; foedus, quod in Capitolio, quod Olympiae, quod in arce Athenis sacratum fuisset, irritum per illos esse; §38.33.10priusquam alio de integro foedere obligarentur, noxios puniendos esse, accensa his vocibus multitudo ad vocem unius, qui, ut ferirent, inclamavit, saxa coniecit.
The crowd increased as the tumult was excited; and the Achaeans at first ran together to see the spectacle; then, as the exiles vociferated what they had suffered, implored help, and at the same time declared that they would never have such an opportunity if they let this one slip; and that the treaty, which had been consecrated on the Capitol, at Olympia, and on the citadel at Athens, was made void by those men; and that before they were bound by another treaty entirely anew, the guilty ought to be punished, the multitude, inflamed by these words, at the voice of a single man who shouted to strike, threw stones.
atque ita decem septem, quibus vincula per tumultum iniecta erant, interfecti sunt.
And thus seventeen men, on whom chains had been cast during the tumult, were killed.
§38.33.11sexaginta tres postero die comprehensi, a quibus praetor vim arcuerat, non quia salvos vellet, sed quia perire causa indicta nolebat, obiecti multitudini iratae, cum aversis auribus pauca locuti essent, damnati omnes et traditi sunt ad supplicium.
On the following day, sixty-three who had been arrested, from whom the praetor had kept off violence, not because he wished them to be safe, but because he did not want them to perish without their cause being pleaded, were set before the angry multitude; and when they had spoken a few words to deaf ears, they were all condemned and delivered to execution.

Notes

  1. ¦p.385¦pollicentis — Accusative plural ending in `-is` (equivalent to the classical `-es`), modifying the preceding noun `legatos` (ambassadors) and governing the following accusative-with-infinitive construction `civitatem ... futuram [esse]`.
  2. §38.33.6lacessere — Historical infinitive, with the nominative pronoun `hi` (the exiles) as its subject. It is used in place of an imperfect indicative to make the narrative more vivid.
  3. §38.33.11causa indicta — Ablative absolute consisting of `causa` and `indictus` (with the negative prefix `in-`). It literally means "their cause being unpleaded," meaning "without a hearing" or "unheard."

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §38.33.1-38.33.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:38.33.1-38.33.11

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