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Livy · History of Rome §40.38.1-40.38.9

Resettlement of Ligurians in Samnium and Bloodless Triumph

Passage 1541 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Cornelius and Baebius force the unexpectedly surrendered Apuan Ligurians to relocate to public land in Samnium, and subsequently celebrate a triumph without having fought any actual war, a first in Roman history.

§40.38.1Ligures, qui ante adventum in provinciam consulum non exspectassent bellum, improviso oppressi ad duodecim milia hominum dediderunt se.
The Ligurians, who had not expected war before the arrival of the consuls in the province, were surprised and overwhelmed, and about twelve thousand of them surrendered.
§40.38.2eos consulto per litteras prius senatu deducere ex montibus in agros campestres procul ab domo, ne reditus spes esset, Cornelius et Baebius statuerunt, nullum alium ante finem rati fore Ligustini belli.
Cornelius and Baebius, having first consulted the senate by letter, decided to remove them from the mountains into flat lands far from their homes, so that there would be no hope of return, believing that there would be no other end to the Ligurian war.
ager publicus populi Romani erat in Samnitibus, §40.38.3qui Taurasinorum f/terat.
There was public land of the Roman people among the Samnites, which had belonged to the Taurasini.
eo cum traducere Ligures Apuanos vellent, edixerunt, ut Ligures Apuani de montibus descenderent cum liberis coniugibusque, sua omnia secum portarent.
Since they wished to transfer the Apuan Ligurians there, they issued an edict that the Apuan Ligurians should descend from the mountains with their children and wives, and bring all their belongings with them.
§40.38.4Ligures saepe per legatos deprecati, ne penates, sedem in qua geniti essent, sepulcra maiorum cogerentur relinquere, arma obsides pollicebantur.
The Ligurians, frequently begging through envoys that they should not be forced to abandon their Penates, the home where they were born, and the graves of their ancestors, promised weapons and hostages.
§40.38.5postquam nihil impetrabant neque vires ad bellandum erant, edicto paruerunt.
When they could obtain nothing and had no strength to wage war, they obeyed the edict.
§40.38.6traducti sunt publico sumptu ad quadraginta milia liberorum capitum cum feminis puerisque.
About forty thousand free persons, including women and children, were transported at public expense.
argenti data centum et quinquaginta milia, unde in novas sedes compararent, quae opus essent.
A sum of one hundred and fifty thousand pieces of silver was given to them, from which they might procure what was necessary for their new homes.
agro dividendo dandoque iidem, §40.38.7qui traduxerant, Cornelius et Baebius praepositi.
For dividing and assigning the land, the same men, Cornelius and Baebius, who had transported them, were appointed.
postulantibus tamen ipsis quinqueviri ab senatu dati, quorum ex consilio agerent.
However, at their own request, a commission of five men was granted by the senate, according to whose advice they should act.
§40.38.8transacta re cum veterem exercitum Romam deduxissent, triumphus ab senatu est decretus.
The business having been settled, when they had led the veteran army back to Rome, a triumph was decreed by the senate.
§40.38.9hi omnium primi nullo bello gesto triumpharunt.
These were the first of all to triumph without having waged any war.
tantum hostiae ductae ante currum, quia nec quod ferretur neque quod duceretur captum neque quod militibus daretur, quicquam in triumphis eorum fuerat.
Only victims were led before the chariot, because there had been nothing in their triumph to be carried, nor any captive to be led, nor anything to be given to the soldiers.

Notes

  1. §40.38.1non exspectassent — Subjunctive pluperfect (syncopated form for exspectavissent) in a relative clause introduced by qui. Beyond stating the historical fact, it conveys a causal or characteristic nuance ('inasmuch as they had not expected').
  2. §40.38.2consulto per litteras prius senatu — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun senatu and the participle consulto, within which the adverbial phrase of means per litteras ('by letter') and the adverb prius ('beforehand') are embedded.
  3. §40.38.6liberorum capitum — liberorum is not the genitive of the noun liberi ('children'), but the genitive plural of the adjective liber ('free'). combined with capitum (genitive plural of caput, 'head' or 'person'), it means 'of free persons', which, followed by cum feminis puerisque ('with women and children'), encompasses the entire free population regardless of age or gender.
  4. §40.38.9quod ferretur neque quod duceretur captum neque quod militibus daretur — The verbs in these relative clauses (ferretur, duceretur, daretur) are in the imperfect subjunctive. This is not only due to the sequence of tenses after a past-tense main clause, but also represents the subjunctive of characteristic, defining things of such a kind that they 'were to be carried', 'were to be led', or 'were to be given'.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §40.38.1-40.38.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:40.38.1-40.38.9

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