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Livy · History of Rome §45.9.1-45.9.7

End of the War and the Rise and Fall of Macedon

Passage 1735 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The complete end of the Macedonian War is marked, along with a historical overview of the Macedonian kingdom from its first king, Caranus, to Perseus, including its rise under Philip II and Alexander the Great, its subsequent division, and its final collapse after 150 years.

§45.9.1maximam partem copiarum Amphipolis, reliquas propinquae urbes acceperunt.
Amphipolis received the greatest part of the forces, and the neighboring cities received the rest.
§45.9.2hic finis belli, cum quadriennium continuum bellatum esset, inter Romanos ac Persea fuit idemque finis incluti per Europae plerumque atque Asiam omnem regni.
This was the end of the war between the Romans and Perseus, after it had been waged continuously for four years, and at the same time the end of a kingdom renowned through most of Europe and all of Asia.
§45.9.3vicensimum ab Carano, qui primus regnabat, Persea numerabant.
They numbered Perseus as the twentieth from Caranus, who was the first to reign.
Perseus Q. Fulvio L. Manlio consulibus regnum accepit, a senatu rex est appellatus M. Iunio A. Manlio consulibus; regnavit undecim annos.
Perseus received the kingdom in the consulship of Q. Fulvius and L. Manlius, and was styled king by the senate in the consulship of M. Iunius and A. Manlius; he reigned for eleven years.
§45.9.4Macedonum gens obscura admodum fama usque ad Philippum, Amyntae filium, fuit; inde ac per eum crescere cum coepisset, Europae se tamen finibus continuit, Graeciam omnem et partem Threciae atque Illyrici amplexa.
The nation of the Macedonians was of very obscure fame down to Philip, the son of Amyntas; when from that time and through him it began to grow, it nevertheless confined itself within the boundaries of Europe, embracing all of Greece and a part of Thrace and Illyricum.
§45.9.5superfudit deinde se in Asiam, et tredecim annis, quibus Alexander regnavit, primum omnia, qua Persarum prope inmenso spatio imperium fuerat, suae dicionis fecit; §45.9.6Arabas hinc Indiamque, qua terrarum ultumos finis rubrum mare amplectitur, peragravit.
Then it poured itself over into Asia, and in the thirteen years during which Alexander reigned, first made subject to its own dominion all those parts where the empire of the Persians had extended over an almost boundless space; thence he traversed the Arabs and India, where the Red Sea embraces the ultimate boundaries of the earth.
§45.9.7tum maximum in terris Macedonum regnum nomenque; inde morte Alexandri distractum in multa regna, dum ad se quisque opes rapiunt, laceratis viribus a summo culmine fortunae ad ultimum finem centum quinquaginta annos stetit.
At that time the kingdom and name of the Macedonians was the greatest in the world; thence, after the death of Alexander, distracted into many kingdoms while each snatched wealth for himself, with its strength torn apart, it stood for one hundred and fifty years from the highest summit of fortune to its ultimate end.

Notes

  1. §45.9.1Amphipolis — The singular place name Amphipolis is the subject of the first clause, where the singular verb accepit is omitted. The main verb acceperunt is plural to agree with the subject of the second clause, the plural noun propinquae urbes.
  2. §45.9.2bellatum esset — This is an impersonal passive third-person singular form of the intransitive verb bello, meaning 'war was waged.' It forms a clause with cum + pluperfect subjunctive expressing circumstance or time.
  3. §45.9.2regni — regni is a genitive modifying the noun finis (end). The adjective incluti modifies regni, with the prepositional phrase per Europae plerumque atque Asiam omnem (through most of Europe and all of Asia) inserted between them. In Europae plerumque, the genitive Europae depends on plerumque (neuter accusative singular used substantively, 'the greater part of Europe').
  4. §45.9.3consulibus — This is an ablative absolute construction of the type 'noun + noun (or adjective),' here meaning 'when Q. Fulvius and L. Manlius were consuls,' a traditional Roman way of designating the year (179 BC). The same applies to M. Iunio A. Manlio consulibus (178 BC) below.
  5. §45.9.7rapiunt — In the clause introduced by the conjunction dum (while), although the subject is the singular indefinite pronoun quisque (each), the verb rapiunt is plural, reflecting the plural meaning (synesis, or agreement according to sense).

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §45.9.1-45.9.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:45.9.1-45.9.7

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