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Livy · History of Rome §40.3.1-40.3.7

Philip's War Preparations and Forced Relocations

Passage 1506 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

While Marcius's report increases anxiety about Philip, it describes how Philip forced harsh defensive measures and preparations for war, including the forced migration of citizens and the suppression of potential opponents.

§40.3.1de Philippo auxerat curam Marcius: nam ita fecisse eum, quae senatui placuissent, fatebatur, ut facile appareret non diutius quam necesse esset facturum.
Marcius had increased the anxiety concerning Philip; for he reported that Philip had indeed done what had pleased the senate, but in such a way that it was easily apparent that he would not do so any longer than was necessary.
neque obscurum erat rebellaturum, §40.3.2omniaque, quae tunc ageret diceretque, eo spectare.
Nor was it obscure that he would rebel, and that everything which he was then doing and saying was directed to that end.
§40.3.3iam primum omnem fere multitudinem civium ex maritimis civitatibus cum familiis suis in Emathiam, quae nunc dicitur, quondam appellata Paeonia est, §40.3.4traduxit, Thracibusque et aliis barbaris urbes tradidit habitandas, fidiora haec genera hominum fore ratus in Romano bello.
To begin with, he removed almost the entire multitude of citizens from the maritime cities with their families to Emathia, as it is now called, which was formerly named Paeonia, and handed over the cities to be inhabited by Thracians and other barbarians, thinking that these classes of people would be more loyal in a Roman war.
§40.3.5ingentem ea res fremitum Macedonia tota fecit, relinquentesque penates suos cum coniugibus ac liberis pauci tacitum dolorem continebant; exsecrationesque in agminibus proficiscentium in regem vincente odio metum exaudiebantur.
This measure caused a huge murmur throughout the whole of Macedonia, and of those who were leaving their household gods with their wives and children, few could contain their silent grief; and curses against the king were heard in the columns of those setting out, their hatred conquering their fear.
§40.3.6his ferox animus omnes homines, omnia loca temporaque suspecta habebat.
Because of these things, his fierce mind held all men, all places, and all times in suspicion.
§40.3.7postremo negare propalam coepit satis tutum sibi quicquam esse, nisi liberos eorum, quos interfecisset, comprehensos in custodia haberet et tempore alium alio tolleret.
Finally, he began openly to deny that anything was safe enough for him unless he held in custody the children of those whom he had put to death, and removed them, one at one time, one at another.

Notes

  1. 40.3.1fatebatur — The subject of fatebatur (was confessing/reporting) is Marcius from the previous sentence. On the other hand, the accusative eum in the infinitive clause and the omitted subject of facturum [esse] refer to Philippus. Care must be taken with this shift of subjects.
  2. 40.3.2eo spectare — A continuation of the accusative and infinitive construction (indirect speech) governed by neque obscurum erat (nor was it obscure) in the preceding sentence. The subject is omnia (all things), meaning "that everything ... was directed to that end." The subjunctive verbs ageret and diceret in the relative clause are due to being in subordinate clauses within indirect speech.
  3. 40.3.4habitandas — The feminine plural accusative of the gerundive, agreeing with the preceding noun urbes, used predicatively to express purpose ("to be inhabited").
  4. 40.3.7alium alio — alium alio is a correlative expression meaning "one at one time, another at another," which combined with tempore denotes removing or eliminating people one after another over time.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §40.3.1-40.3.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:40.3.1-40.3.7

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