§40.17.1eodem anno inter populum Carthaginiensem et regem Masinissam in re praesenti disceptatores Romani de agro fuerunt.
In the same year, Roman arbitrators acted on the spot to settle a dispute concerning land between the Carthaginian people and King Masinissa.
§40.17.2ceperat eum ab Carthaginiensibus pater Masinissae Gala; Galam Syphax inde expulerat, postea in gratiam soceri Hasdrubalis Carthaginiensibus dono dederat; §40.17.3Carthaginienses eo anno Masinissa expulerat.
Masinissa's father Gala had taken it from the Carthaginians; Syphax had expelled Gala from there, and afterwards had given it as a gift to the Carthaginians to curry favor with his father-in-law Hasdrubal; Masinissa had expelled the Carthaginians in that year.
haud minore certamine animorum, quam cum ferro et acie dimicarunt, res acta apud Romanos.
The case was pleaded before the Romans with no less passion of minds than when they fought with sword and battle line.
§40.17.4Carthaginienses, quod maiorum suorum fuisset, deinde ab Syphace ad se pervenisset, repetebant.
The Carthaginians demanded it back, because it had belonged to their ancestors and had subsequently come to them from Syphax.
Masinissa paterni regni agrum se et recepisse et habere gentium iure aiebat; et causa et possessione superiorem esse; §40.17.5nihil aliud se in ea disceptatione metuere, quam ne pudor Romanorum, dum vereantur, ne quid socio atque amico regi adversus communes suos atque illius hostes indulsisse videantur, damno sit.
Masinissa declared that he had both recovered the land of his father's kingdom and held it by the law of nations, and that he was superior both in his claim and in his possession; he said that he feared nothing else in that debate than that the modesty of the Romans might be a disadvantage to him, while they feared lest they should seem to have shown some indulgence to an allied and friendly king against their and his common enemies.
§40.17.6legati possessionis ius non mutarunt, causam integram Romam ad senatum reiecerunt.
The legates did not alter the right of possession, but referred the case undecided to the senate in Rome.
in Liguribus nihil postea gestum.
Among the Ligurians, nothing was done afterwards.
recesserant primum in devios saltus, deinde dimisso exercitu passim in vicos castellaque sua dilapsi sunt.
They had first retreated into out-of-the-way forest-passes, and then, having disbanded their army, they dispersed everywhere into their villages and forts.
§40.17.7consules quoque dimittere exercitum voluerunt, ac de ea re patres consuluerunt.
The consuls also wished to disband their army, and consulted the senate on that matter.
alterum ex iis dimisso exercitu ad magistratus in annum creandos venire Romam iusserunt, alterum cum legionibus suis Pisis hiemare.
The senate ordered one of them, after disbanding his army, to come to Rome to elect magistrates for the year, and the other to winter at Pisae with his legions.
§40.17.8fama erat Gallos Transalpinos iuventutem armare, nec, in quam regionem Italiae effusura se multitudo esset, sciebatur.
There was a rumor that the Transalpine Gauls were arming their youth, and it was not known into which region of Italy that multitude would pour itself.
ita inter se consules compararunt, ut Cn. Baebius ad comitia iret, quia M. Baebius frater eius consulatum petebat.
Therefore, the consuls arranged between themselves that Gnaeus Baebius should go to the comitia, because his brother Marcus Baebius was seeking the consulship.