Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §44.21.1-44.21.11

Senate's Decrees on Military Levies and Command Assignments

Passage 1701 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

After hearing the legates' report on Macedonia, consul Lucius Aemilius brings the war before the senate. The senate decrees the recruitment of legions, qualifications for tribunes, and assignments for the praetors, while consul Licinius is tasked with managing the extensive levy.

§44.21.1legatis auditis tunc de bello referre sese L. Aemilius dixit.
Having heard the legates, Lucius Aemilius then said that he was bringing the matter of the war before the senate.
§44.21.2senatus decrevit, ut in octo legiones parem numerum tribunorum consules et populus crearent; creari autem neminem eo anno placere, nisi qui honorem gessisset.
The senate decreed that the consuls and the people should elect an equal number of tribunes for the eight legions; however, it was decided that no one should be elected that year unless he had already held a magistracy.
§44.21.3tum ex omnibus tribunis militum uti L. Aemilius in duas legiones in Macedoniam, quos eorum velit, eligat, et ut sollemni Latinarum perfecto L. Aemilius consul, Cn. Octavius praetor, cui classis obtigisset, in provinciam proficiscantur.
Then, from all the military tribunes, Lucius Aemilius was to choose those whom he wished for the two legions destined for Macedonia, and that, once the solemnity of the Latin Festival was completed, the consul Lucius Aemilius and the praetor Gnaeus Octavius, to whom the fleet had fallen by lot, should set out for their province.
§44.21.4additus est his tertius L. Anicius praetor, cuius inter peregrinos iurisdictio erat; eum in provinciam Illyricum circa Lychnidum Ap. Claudio succedere placuit.
To these, a third was added, the praetor Lucius Anicius, whose jurisdiction was between foreigners; it was decided that he should succeed Appius Claudius in the province of Illyricum near Lychnidus.
§44.21.5dilectus cura C. Licinio consuli inposita.
The care of the levy was imposed on the consul Gaius Licinius.
is septem milia civium Romanorum et equites ducentos scribere iussus et sociis nominis Latini septem milia peditum imperare, §44.21.6quadringentos equites, §44.21.7et Cn. Servilio Galliam obtinenti provinciam litteras mittere, ut sescentos equites conscriberet.
He was ordered to enlist seven thousand Roman citizens and two hundred cavalry, and to requisition from the allies of the Latin name seven thousand infantry, four hundred cavalry, and to send a letter to Gnaeus Servilius, who held the province of Gaul, to enlist six hundred cavalry.
§44.21.8hunc exercitum ad collegam primo quoque tempore mittere in Macedoniam iussus; neque in ea provincia plus quam duas legiones esse; eas repleri, ut sena milia peditum, trecenos haberent equites; §44.21.9ceteros pedites equitesque in praesidiis disponi.
He was ordered to send this army to his colleague in Macedonia at the very first opportunity; and it was decided that there should be no more than two legions in that province, and that these should be filled up so that they had six thousand infantry and three hundred cavalry each; the rest of the infantry and cavalry were to be distributed among the garrisons.
qui eorum idonei ad militandum non essent, dimitti.
Those of them who were not fit for military service were to be discharged.
decem praeterea milia peditum imperata sociis et octingenti equites.
In addition, ten thousand infantry and eight hundred cavalry were requisitioned from the allies.
§44.21.10id praesidii additum Anicio praeter duas legiones, quas portare in Macedoniam est iussus, quina milia peditum et ducenos habentes, trecenos equites.
This force of support was added to Anicius, in addition to the two legions which he was ordered to transport to Macedonia, each containing five thousand two hundred infantry and three hundred cavalry.
et in classem quinque milia navalium socium sunt scripta.
And for the fleet, five thousand naval allies were enlisted.
§44.21.11Licinius consul duabus legionibus obtinere provinciam iussus; eo addere sociorum decem milia peditum et sescentos equites.
The consul Licinius was ordered to hold his province with two legions; and to add to these ten thousand infantry and six hundred cavalry of the allies.

Notes

  1. §44.21.1referre — `referre` is a technical term meaning to bring a matter (here, `de bello`) before the senate for deliberation. `sese` is the subject accusative of the infinitive clause introduced by `dixit`, while the direct object of `referre` is implied from the context.
  2. §44.21.2nisi qui honorem gessisset — The subjunctive pluperfect `gessisset` represents an action prior to the time of the decree (`decrevit`), i.e., "whoever had held a magistracy." The infinitive `placere` (from the impersonal `placet`) continues the indirect discourse expressing the senate's decision.
  3. §44.21.3uti ... eligat — The present subjunctive `eligat` introduced by `uti` (an archaic or emphatic form of `ut`) retains the present tense of the original decree to vividly convey the decision, whereas the rule of sequence of tenses after the historical perfect `decrevit` would normally require the imperfect subjunctive (`eligeret`).
  4. §44.21.5scribere iussus et sociis ... imperare — The passive participle `iussus` (with `est` omitted) governs the two infinitives `scribere` and `imperare`. The structure indicates that the consul Licinius "was ordered" both to enlist Roman citizens and to make demands upon the allies.
  5. §44.21.10quina milia peditum et ducenos — The distributive numeral `quina` is used to mean "five thousand each" for the two legions. This is combined with `ducenos` to indicate that each legion was to have 5,200 infantry and 300 cavalry.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §44.21.1-44.21.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:44.21.1-44.21.11

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.