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Livy · History of Rome §5.35.1-5.35.6

Gallic Settlements and Roman Envoys Sent to Clusium

Passage 294 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The passage describes the subsequent migrations of various Gallic tribes (Cenomani, Boii, Senones, etc.) across the Alps into Italy, and details how the besieged inhabitants of Clusium sent ambassadors to Rome for aid, leading to the dispatch of Roman envoys to negotiate peace.

§5.35.1alia subinde manus Cenomanorum Etitovio duce vestigia priorum secuta eodem saltu favente Belloveso cum transcendisset Alpes, ubi nunc Brixia ac Verona urbes sunt, locos tenuere.
Immediately after, another band of Cenomani, under the leadership of Etitovius, following the tracks of those who had gone before, crossed the Alps through the same forest with the favor of Bellovesus, and occupied the places where the cities of Brixia and Verona now stand.
§5.35.2Libui considunt post hos Salluviique prope antiquam gentem Laevos Ligures incolentes circa Ticinum amnem.
After these, the Libui and the Salluvii settled near the Laevi Ligures, an ancient nation dwelling around the river Ticinus.
Poenino deinde Boi Lingonesque transgressi, cum iam inter Padum atque Alpes omnia tenerentur, Pado ratibus traiecto non Etruscos modo, sed etiam Umbros agro pellunt; intra Appenninum tamen sese tenuere.
Then the Boii and the Lingones, having crossed by the Poeninus pass, since everything between the Po and the Alps was already occupied, crossed the Po on rafts and drove not only the Etruscans but also the Umbrians from their land; they kept themselves, however, within the Apennines.
§5.35.3tum Senones, recentissimi advenarum, ab Utente flumine usque ad Aesim fines habuere.
Then the Senones, the most recent of the newcomers, held the territory from the river Utens as far as the Aesis.
hanc gentem Clusium Romamque inde venisse comperio; id parum certum est, solamne an ab omnibus Cisalpinorum Gallorum populis adiutam.
I find that this nation came from there to Clusium, and thence to Rome; but it is not sufficiently certain whether they were alone or aided by all the peoples of the Cisalpine Gauls.
§5.35.4Clusini novo bello exterriti cum multitudinem, cum formas hominum invisitatas cernerent et genus armorum audirentque saepe ab iis cis Padum ultraque legiones Etruscorum fusas, quamquam adversus Romanos nullum eis ius societatis amicitiaeve erat, nisi quod Veientes consanguineos adversus populum Romanum non defendissent, legatos Romam, qui auxilium ab senatu peterent, misere.
The Clusini, terrified by this new war, when they saw the multitude, the unfamiliar appearances of the men, and their kind of weapons, and heard that the legions of the Etruscans had often been routed by them both on this side of the Po and beyond it, although they had no right of alliance or friendship with the Romans, except that they had not defended their kinsmen of Veii against the Roman people, sent ambassadors to Rome to seek aid from the senate.
§5.35.5de auxilio nihil impetratum; legati tres M. Fabi Ambusti filii missi, qui senatus populique Romani nomine agerent cum Gallis, ne, a quibus nullam iniuriam accepissent, socios populi Romani atque amicos oppugnarent.
Regarding aid, nothing was obtained; but three ambassadors, sons of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, were sent to negotiate with the Gauls in the name of the senate and the Roman people, requesting that they should not attack the allies and friends of the Roman people, from whom they had received no injury.
§5.35.6Romanis eos bello quoque, si res cogat, tuendos esse; sed melius visum bellum ipsum amoveri, si posset, et Gallos, novam gentem, pace potius cognosci quam armis.
They stated that they must be defended by the Romans even by war, if circumstances should compel it; but that it seemed better for the war itself to be averted, if possible, and for the Gauls, a new nation, to be made known through peace rather than by arms.

Notes

  1. 5.35.1favente Belloveso — Ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun Bellovesus in the ablative and the present participle favente (from faveo) in the ablative, meaning 'with the favor of Bellovesus' or 'under Bellovesus's patronage'.
  2. 5.35.2Poenino — Ellipsis of Poenino (saltu). It is an ablative of route or place, meaning 'by way of the Poeninus pass'.
  3. 5.35.3solamne an ... adiutam — An accusative and infinitive construction within the indirect question introduced by id parum certum est. The terms solam [fuisse] and [hanc gentem] ab omnibus ... adiutam [esse], with hanc gentem as the subject, are linked by the disjunctive particles -ne ... an, with the infinitives fuisse and esse omitted.
  4. 5.35.4nisi quod — A restrictive and exceptive conjunctive phrase meaning 'except that' or 'save only that'. Here it introduces the sole exception (not having defended their kinsmen of Veii) to the statement that they had no rights of alliance or friendship with the Romans.
  5. 5.35.4qui auxilium ab senatu peterent — A relative clause of purpose, consisting of the relative pronoun qui and the imperfect subjunctive peterent. It translates as 'who should seek aid from the senate' or 'in order to seek aid from the senate'.
  6. 5.35.6Romanis eos bello quoque ... tuendos esse — An indirect statement (the verb of saying is omitted in context). Tuendos esse is the passive periphrastic conjugation expressing necessity or obligation. Romanis is the dative of agent with the gerundive, and eos (referring to the Clusini) is the subject accusative.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §5.35.1-5.35.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.35.1-5.35.6

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