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Livy · History of Rome §40.49.1-40.49.7

Surrender of Alce and Allegiance of Thurrus

Passage 1552 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After devastating Celtiberia and receiving the surrender of numerous towns, Gracchus besieged and captured Alce. Thurrus, a powerful chieftain, surrendered and requested both his life and permission to serve with the Romans, becoming a faithful ally.

§40.49.1ab hoc proelio Gracchus duxit ad depopulandam Celtiberiam legiones.
After this battle, Gracchus led the legions to plunder Celtiberia.
et cum ferret passim cuncta atque ageret, populique alii voluntate alii metu iugum acciperent, centum tria oppida intra paucos dies in deditionem accepit, praeda potitus ingenti est.
And as he was carrying off and driving away everything everywhere, and while some peoples accepted the yoke voluntarily, others through fear, within a few days he received one hundred and three towns into surrender, obtaining a huge booty.
convertit inde agmen retro, §40.49.2unde venerat, ad Alcen, atque eam urbem oppugnare institit.
From there he turned his army back, to where he had come, to Alce, and set about besieging that city.
§40.49.3oppidani primum impetum hostium sustinuerunt; deinde cum iam non armis modo sed etiam operibus oppugnarentur, diffisi praesidio urbis in arcem universi concesserunt: postremo §40.49.4et inde praemissis oratoribus in dicionem se suaque omnia Romanis permiserunt.
The townspeople sustained the first onslaught of the enemy; then, when they were now being attacked not only by arms but also by siege works, losing confidence in the protection of the city, they withdrew as a body into the citadel; finally, having sent envoys ahead from there too, they surrendered themselves and all their possessions to the power of the Romans.
magna inde praeda facta est.
From there great booty was made.
multi captivi nobiles in potestatem venerunt, inter quos et Thurri filii duo et filia.
Many noble captives fell into their hands, among whom were also the two sons and the daughter of Thurrus.
§40.49.5regulus hic earum gentium erat, longe potentissimus omnium Hispanorum.
This man was a petty king of those tribes, by far the most powerful of all the Spaniards.
audita suorum clade, missis qui fidem venienti in castra ad Gracchum peterent, venit.
Having heard of the disaster of his people, after sending messengers to ask for safe-conduct as he came into the camp to Gracchus, he came.
et primum quaesivit ab eo, liceretne sibi ac suis vivere.
And first he asked him whether it was permitted for him and his people to live.
§40.49.6cum praetor victurum respondisset, quaesivit iterum, si cum Romanis militare liceret.
When the praetor had replied that they would live, he asked again whether it was permitted to serve as a soldier with the Romans.
§40.49.7id quoque Graccho permittente, “sequar” inquit “vos adversus veteres socios meos, quoniam illos ad me propiunt suspicere. ” secutus est inde Romanos, fortique ac fideli opera multis locis rem Romanam adiuvit.
Gracchus permitting this also, he said, "I will follow you against my former allies, since they are beginning to suspect me." From there he followed the Romans, and with brave and faithful service in many places he assisted the Roman cause.

Notes

  1. 40.49.1ferret passim cuncta atque ageret — The expression ferre et agere (literally 'to carry off and drive away') is a standard Latin idiom for plundering and pillaging, where ferre refers to portable property and agere to livestock.
  2. 40.49.3diffisi praesidio — The perfect participle diffisi of the semi-deponent verb diffido (to distrust, despair of) governs the dative praesidio, functioning here as a participle of cause ('distrusting' or 'having lost confidence in').
  3. 40.49.5missis qui fidem venienti in castra ad Gracchum peterent — An ablative absolute construction where the object of missis (such as iis or nuntiis) is omitted. The following relative clause qui... peterent uses the subjunctive to express purpose. The dative present participle venienti modifies an implied dative pronoun sibi (referring to Thurrus), indicating a request for safe-conduct for him as he approached Gracchus's camp.
  4. 40.49.6victurum — A future infinitive victurum [esse] with the accusative subject eum (referring to Thurrus) omitted, forming an indirect statement governed by the verb of speaking respondisset.
  5. 40.49.7quoniam illos ad me propiunt suspicere — A difficult passage with many textual variants in the manuscripts. Based on propiunt (considered by some editors to be a corruption of piget 'it displeases' or similar) and suspicere ('to suspect'), this is interpreted contextually as 'since they (my former allies) are beginning to view me with suspicion.'

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §40.49.1-40.49.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:40.49.1-40.49.7

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