Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §42.37.1-42.37.9

Embassies to Greece and Discontent of the Achaeans

Passage 1627 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Roman ambassadors are dispatched to Greece and neighboring regions. When the Lentuli seek support in the Peloponnesus, the Achaeans express indignation at being treated on equal terms with the Messenians and Eleans.

§42.37.1paucis post diebus Q. Marcius et A. Atilius et P. et Ser. Cornelii Lentuli et L. Decimius, legati in Graeciam missi, Corcyram peditum mille secum advexerunt; ibi inter se et regiones, quas obirent, et milites diviserunt.
A few days later, Quintus Marcius, Aulus Atilius, Publius and Servius Cornelius Lentulus, and Lucius Decimius, the ambassadors sent to Greece, arrived at Corcyra, bringing with them a thousand infantry; there they divided among themselves both the regions they were to visit and the soldiers.
§42.37.2L. Decimius missus est ad Gentium regem Illyriorum, quem si aliquem respectum amicitiae cum populo Romano habere cerneret, retentare aut etiam ad belli societatem perlicere iussus.
Lucius Decimius was sent to Gentius, king of the Illyrians, with instructions that, if he perceived him to have any regard for friendship with the Roman people, he should retain him or even entice him into an alliance for the war.
§42.37.3Lentuli in Cephallaniam missi, ut in Peloponnesum traicerent oramque maris in occidentem versi ante hiemem circumirent.
The Lentuli were sent to Cephallenia, so that they might cross over into the Peloponnesus and, turning to the west, go around the seacoast before winter.
§42.37.4Marcio et Atilio Epirus, Aetolia, Thessalia circumeundae adsignantur; inde Boeotiam atque Euboeam adspicere iussi, tum in Peloponnesum traicere; §42.37.5ibi congressuros se cum Lentulis constituunt.
To Marcius and Atilius, Epirus, Aetolia, and Thessaly were assigned to be visited; from there they were ordered to inspect Boeotia and Euboea, and then to cross over into the Peloponnesus; there they agreed that they would meet with the Lentuli.
priusquam digrederentur a Corcyra, litterae a Perseo adlatae sunt, quibus quaerebat, quae causa Romanis aut in Graeciam traiciendi copias aut urbes occupandi esset.
Before they departed from Corcyra, a letter was brought from Perseus, in which he inquired what reason the Romans had either for crossing forces into Greece or for occupying cities.
§42.37.6cui rescribi non placuit, nuntio ipsius, qui litteras attulerat, dici, praesidii causa ipsarum urbium Romanos facere.
It was decided not to write back to him, but to tell his messenger who had brought the letter that the Romans were doing this for the sake of protecting the cities themselves.
§42.37.7Lentuli circumeuntes Peloponnesi oppida, cum sine discrimine omnes civitates adhortarentur, ut, quo animo, qua fide adiuvissent Romanos Philippi primum, deinde Antiochi bello, eodem adversus Persea iuvarent, fremitum in contionibus movebant, §42.37.8Achaeis indignantibus eodem se loco esse, qui omnia a principiis Macedonici belli praestitissent Romanis, quo Messenii atque Elii, qui et Philippi bello hostes fuissent Romanis et pro Antiocho postea arma adversus populum Romanum tulissent ac, nuper in Achaicum contributi concilium, §42.37.9velut praemium belli se victoribus Achaeis tradi quererentur.
The Lentuli, going around the towns of the Peloponnesus, when they exhorted all the states without distinction to assist against Perseus with the same spirit and loyalty with which they had helped the Romans first in the war with Philip and then with Antiochus, provoked a murmur in the assemblies, since the Achaeans were indignant that they, who had performed every service to the Romans from the very beginning of the Macedonian war, should be in the same position as the Messenians and Eleans, who had been enemies to the Romans in the war with Philip and had afterwards borne arms against the Roman people for Antiochus, and, having recently been incorporated into the Achaean League, complained that they had been delivered to the victorious Achaeans as if they were the prize of war.

Notes

  1. 42.37.2quem si aliquem respectum — The relative pronoun `quem` refers back to the antecedent `Gentium`, but functions inside the conditional clause `si ... cerneret` as the subject accusative of the infinitive `habere` dependent on `cerneret` ('if he should perceive him to have...'). This incorporation of a relative pronoun into an embedded conditional clause is a characteristic Latin idiom.
  2. 42.37.6cui rescribi non placuit — The dative `cui` refers either to `litterae` (letter, treated in the plural) or to `Perseo`. The impersonal passive infinitive `rescribi` (to be written back) functions as the subject of the impersonal verb `placuit` (it was resolved). In coordination with this, the passive infinitive `dici` (to be told) is also dependent on `placuit`, introducing the accusative-and-infinitive clause `praesidii causa... Romanos facere` as its subject.
  3. 42.37.8eodem se loco esse... quo Messenii — This is a correlative construction showing comparison. `eodem ... loco ... quo` means 'in the same position as.' After `quo`, a verb like `essent` is understood for `Messenii atque Elii`, but these nominative subjects also directly connect as the subject of the following relative clause introduced by `qui` (ending with `quererentur`).

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §42.37.1-42.37.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:42.37.1-42.37.9

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