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Livy · History of Rome §39.35.1-39.35.8

Philip's War Preparations and the Achaean Death Sentences

Passage 1482 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Philip decides to send his younger son Demetrius to Rome to gain time while preparing for war, while in the Peloponnese, the Achaeans condemn the Lacedaemonian exiles Areus and Alcibiades to death due to their hostile actions at Rome.

§39.35.1et legati a Philippi colloquio ita digressi sunt, ut prae se ferrent nihil eorum sibi placere, §39.35.2et Philippus minime, quin rebellandum esset, dubius.
And the envoys departed from the conference with Philip in such a way as to make it clear that none of those things pleased them, and Philip was by no means doubtful that he must rebel.
quia tamen immaturae ad id vires erant, §39.35.3ad moram interponendam Demetrium minorem filium mittere Romam simul ad purganda crimina, simul ad deprecandam iram senatus statuit, satis credens ipsum etiam iuvenem, quod Romae obses specimen indolis regiae dedisset, aliquid momenti facturum.
However, because his strength was not yet ripe for that, he decided to send his younger son Demetrius to Rome to gain time, both to clear him of the charges and to deprecate the anger of the senate, fully believing that even the young man himself, because he had given proof of his royal character as a hostage in Rome, would carry some weight.
§39.35.4interim per speciem auxilii Byzantiis ferendi, re ipsa ad terrorem regulis Thracum iniciendum profectus, perculsis iis uno proelio et Amadoco duce capto in Macedoniam rediit, missis ad accolas Histri fluminis barbaros, ut in Italiam irrumperent, sollicitandos.
Meanwhile, under the pretense of bringing aid to the Byzantines, but in reality having set out to strike terror into the chieftains of the Thracians, having thoroughly defeated them in a single battle and captured their leader Amadocus, he returned to Macedonia, after sending emissaries to stir up the barbarians dwelling near the river Hister to break into Italy.
§39.35.5et in Peloponneso adventus legatorum Romanorum, qui ex Macedonia in Achaiam ire iussi erant, exspectabatur; adversus quos ut praeparata consilia haberent, Lycortas praetor concilium indixit.
And in the Peloponnese, the arrival of the Roman envoys, who had been ordered to go from Macedonia into Achaea, was expected; in order that they might have their plans prepared against them, the praetor Lycortas called an assembly.
§39.35.6ibi de Lacedaemoniis actum: ex hostibus eos accusatores factos, et periculum esse, ne victi magis timendi forent, quam bellantes fuissent.
There the matter of the Lacedaemonians was discussed: that they had turned from enemies into accusers, and that there was a danger lest they, when defeated, should be more to be feared than they had been when waging war.
quippe in bello sociis Romanis Achaeos usos: §39.35.7nunc eosdem Romanos aequiores Lacedaemoniis quam Achaeis esse, ubi Areus etiam et Alcibiades, ambo exsules, suo beneficio restituti, legationem Romam adversus gentem Achaeorum ita de ipsis meritam suscepissent, adeoque infesta oratione usi essent, ut pulsi patria, non restituti in eam viderentur.
For in the war, the Achaeans had employed the Romans as allies; but now those same Romans were more favorable to the Lacedaemonians than to the Achaeans, seeing that even Areus and Alcibiades, both exiles restored by their own benefit, had undertaken an embassy to Rome against the nation of the Achaeans, which had deserved so well of them, and had used a speech so hostile that they seemed to have been driven from their country, not restored to it.
§39.35.8clamor undique ortus, referret nominatim de iis; et cum omnia ira, non consilio gererentur, capitis damnati sunt.
A shout arose from all sides that he should refer the matter specifically concerning them; and since everything was carried out in anger and not with wisdom, they were condemned to death.
paucos post dies Romani legati venerunt.
A few days later, the Roman envoys arrived.
his Clitore in Arcadia datum est concilium.
For them, an assembly was granted at Clitor in Arcadia.

Notes

  1. §39.35.2quin rebellandum esset — The adjective dubius accompanied by the negative adverb minime (by no means) expresses certainty and correlates with the following quin clause in the subjunctive. rebellandum esset is an impersonal passive periphrastic conjugation expressing necessity.
  2. §39.35.3ipsum etiam iuvenem... aliquid momenti facturum — An accusative with infinitive construction governed by the participle credens. ipsum etiam iuvenem functions as the subject accusative, and facturum (esse) as the future active infinitive. aliquid momenti is 'some of weight/influence', where momenti is a partitive genitive.
  3. §39.35.4missis ad accolas Histri fluminis barbaros, ut in Italiam irrumperent, sollicitandos — The ablative absolute missis (with nuntiis or legatis implied) is combined with the construction of purpose 'ad + accusative + gerundive' (ad ... sollicitandos). The gerundive sollicitandos agrees with the accusative noun barbaros, which in turn governs the purpose/result clause introduced by ut.
  4. §39.35.6sociis Romanis Achaeos usos — An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse (with esse omitted from usos esse). Achaeos is the subject, and the deponent verb utor (usos) governs the ablative (sociis Romanis), meaning 'the Achaeans had used the Romans as allies'. sociis functions as a predicative ablative.
  5. §39.35.7ita de ipsis meritam — The participle meritam modifies the preceding accusative noun gentem (on which Achaeorum depends). The idiom mereri de aliquo means 'to deserve well of someone / to confer benefits upon someone', thus qualifying the Achaean nation as having been highly deserving of the two exiles.
  6. §39.35.8referret nominatim de iis — Following clamor ortus, the imperfect subjunctive referret expresses an indirect command or demand. Syntactically, the subject of referret is the praetor (Lycortas), who presided over the assembly and had the authority to refer matters to it.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §39.35.1-39.35.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:39.35.1-39.35.8

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