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Livy · History of Rome §44.44.1-44.44.8

Return of Young Scipio and Developments at Amphipolis

Passage 1724 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Consul Paulus finally experiences the joy of victory after his missing younger son, P. Scipio, returns safely. Meanwhile, in Amphipolis, Diodorus uses a ruse to send away the Thracian garrison and shuts the city gates.

§44.44.1consulem, cum se in castra victor recepisset, ne sincero gaudio frueretur, cura de minore filio stimulabat.
When the consul had returned as victor to the camp, anxiety about his younger son tormented him, preventing him from enjoying unalloyed joy.
§44.44.2P. Scipio is erat, Africanus et ipse postea deleta Carthagine appellatus, naturalis consulis Pauli filius, adoptione Africani nepos.
This was P. Scipio, who was himself afterwards called Africanus after the destruction of Carthage, the natural son of the consul Paulus, and by adoption the grandson of Africanus.
§44.44.3is septumum decumum tunc annum agens, quod ipsum curam augebat, dum effuse sequitur hostes, in partem aliam turba ablatus erat; et serius cum redisset, tunc demum, recepto sospite filio, victoriae tantae gaudium consul sensit.
He was then in his seventeenth year, which itself increased the anxiety, and while eagerly pursuing the enemy, he had been carried away in another direction by the crowd; and when he returned quite late, only then, with his son recovered safe and sound, did the consul feel the joy of so great a victory.
§44.44.4Amphipolim cum iam fama pugnae pervenisset concursusque matronarum in templum Dianae, quam Tauropolon vocant, ad opem exposcendam fieret, Diodorus, qui praeerat urbi, metuens, ne Thraces, quorum duo milia in praesidio erant, urbem in tumultu diriperent, ab subornato ab se per fallaciam in tabellarii speciem litteras in foro medio accepit.
When the news of the battle had already reached Amphipolis, and a rush of matrons was being made to the temple of Diana, whom they call Tauropolos, to implore her aid, Diodorus, who was in charge of the city, fearing lest the Thracians, of whom two thousand were in the garrison, should plunder the city in the confusion, received a letter in the middle of the forum from a man suborned by himself to look like a courier.
§44.44.5scriptum in iis erat ad Emathiam classem Romanam adpulsam esse agrosque circa vexari; orare praefectos Emathiae, ut praesidium adversus populatores mittat.
In it was written that the Roman fleet had put in at Emathia and that the surrounding fields were being ravaged; and that the governors of Emathia begged him to send a garrison against the plunderers.
§44.44.6his lectis hortatur Thracas, ut ad tuendam Emathiae oram proficiscantur: magnam eos caedem praedamque palatis passim per agros Romanis facturos.
Having read this, he urged the Thracians to set out to protect the coast of Emathia, telling them that they would inflict great slaughter and take much booty from the Romans who were scattered here and there through the fields.
§44.44.7simul elevat famam adversae pugnae: quae si vera foret, alium super alium recentes ex fuga venturos fuisse.
At the same time, he minimized the rumor of the defeat, saying that if it were true, fresh fugitives from the flight would have been coming one after another.
§44.44.8per hanc causam Thracibus ablegatis, simul transgressos eos Strymonem vidit, portas clausit.
Having sent away the Thracians on this pretext, as soon as he saw them cross the Strymon, he closed the gates.

Notes

  1. 44.44.1ne sincero gaudio frueretur — A negative clause of purpose with the imperfect subjunctive frueretur. It expresses the effect or intent of the anxiety (stimulabat) preventing the consul's joy. The deponent verb fruor takes the ablative complement sincero gaudio.
  2. 44.44.3quod ipsum — The neuter nominative singular of the relative pronoun quod, with the intensive pronoun ipsum, referring back to the fact of his age (being in his seventeenth year). It is parenthetically inserted into the clause.
  3. 44.44.4ab subornato ab se per fallaciam in tabellarii speciem — The preposition ab governs the ablative singular masculine of the perfect passive participle used substantively, subornato ('from one suborned'). The second ab se indicates the agent of the participle ('by himself'), and in tabellarii speciem expresses the likeness or disguise ('into the appearance of a courier').
  4. 44.44.5orare — An infinitive in indirect discourse depending on scriptum in iis erat. Its subject accusative is praefectos, expressing the reported request: 'that the governors were begging'.
  5. 44.44.7venturos fuisse — Represents the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence in indirect discourse. The direct form venturi fuerunt (or venissent) is converted into the future active participle with fuisse after the verb of saying implied by elevat.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §44.44.1-44.44.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:44.44.1-44.44.8

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