Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §38.57.1-38.57.8

Conflicting Accounts of the Marriage of Scipio's Daughter to Gracchus

Passage 1444 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The author reviews different versions of the marriage between Scipio's daughter and the tribune Gracchus, presenting dramatic anecdotes of the betrothal and domestic dialogues, while highlighting the historical discrepancies regarding Scipio.

§38.57.1haec vel in laudatione posita ingentem magnitudinem animi moderantis ad civilem habitum honoribus significarent, quae exprobrando inimicus fatetur. §38.57.2huic Graccho minorem ex duabus fiiis — nam maior P. Cornelio Nasicae haud dubie a patre collocata erat — nuptam fuisse convenit. §38.57.3illud parum constat, utrum post mortem patris et desponsa sit et nupserit, an verae illae opiniones sint, Gracchum, cum L. Scipio in vincula duceretur, nec quisquam collegarum auxilio esset, §38.57.4iurasse sibi inimicitias cum Scipionibus, quae fuissent, manere, nec se gratiae quaerendae causa quicquam facere, sed, in quem carcerem reges et imperatores hostium ducentem vidisset P. Africanum, in eum se fratrem eius duci non passurum. §38.57.5senatum eo die forte in Capitolio cenantem consurrexisse et petisse, ut inter epulas Graccho filiam Africanus desponderet. §38.57.6quibus ita inter publicum sollemne sponsalibus rite factis cum se domum recepisset, Scipionem Aemiliae uxori dixisse filiam se minorem despondisse. §38.57.7cum illa, muliebriter indignabunda nihil de communi filia secum consultatum, adiecisset non, si Ti.
These things, even if placed in a funeral oration, would point to the immense greatness of a mind regulating itself to a citizen's status in the midst of honors—things which his enemy admits by way of reproach. It is agreed that the younger of his two daughters was married to this Gracchus—for the elder had undoubtedly been placed in marriage to P. Cornelius Nasica by her father. This point is not sufficiently clear: whether she was both betrothed and married after the death of her father, or whether those reports are true that, when L. Scipio was being led into chains and none of his colleagues was of any help, Gracchus swore that the enmity he had had with the Scipios remained, and that he was not doing anything to curry favor, but that he would not suffer the brother of P. Africanus to be led into that prison into which he had seen Africanus leading the kings and generals of the enemy. They say that the senate, which happened to be dining on the Capitol that day, rose up in a body and requested that Africanus should betroth his daughter to Gracchus during the banquet. When the betrothal had been duly performed in this way during the public ceremony, and when he had returned home, Scipio told his wife Aemilia that he had betrothed their younger daughter. When she, with womanly indignation that there had been no consultation with her about their common daughter, added that, even if he were giving her to Ti.
Graccho daret, §38.57.8expertem consilii debuisse matrem esse, laetum Scipionem tam concordi iudicio ei ipsi desponsam respondisse.
Gracchus, the mother ought not to have been excluded from the consultation, Scipio, delighted by such a harmonious judgment, replied that he had betrothed her to that very man.
haec de tanto viro quam et opinionibus et monumentis litterarum variarent, proponenda erant.
These matters concerning so great a man, since they vary so much both in reports and in written records, had to be set forth.

Notes

  1. §38.57.1animi moderantis ad civilem habitum honoribus — The present participle `moderantis` modifies the genitive `animi`. `ad civilem habitum` (to a citizen's status/standard) depends on `moderantis`, and `honoribus` (in the midst of/regarding honors) functions as an ablative of specification or circumstance.
  2. §38.57.3utrum post mortem patris et desponsa sit et nupserit, an verae illae opiniones sint — An alternative indirect question introduced by `utrum... an...` (whether... or...), functioning as the subject of the impersonal expression `parum constat` (it is not sufficiently clear).
  3. §38.57.4in quem carcerem reges et imperatores hostium ducentem vidisset P. Africanum, in eum — An instance of prolepsis (attraction) where the antecedent `carcerem` is incorporated into the relative clause (`in quem carcerem...`). It correlates with the pronoun `in eum` in the main clause, functioning equivalent to `in eum carcerem, in quem...`.
  4. §38.57.7nihil de communi filia secum consultatum — An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect speech (with `esse` omitted). `nihil` acts as the subject with the passive infinitive `consultatum [esse]`, used here either impersonally or with `nihil` as the subject, meaning 'that nothing had been consulted with her about their common daughter'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §38.57.1-38.57.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:38.57.1-38.57.8

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