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Livy · History of Rome §6.10.1-6.10.9

Recovery of Nepete and Response to the Allies

Passage 324 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The Roman army assaulted and recovered Nepete, executing the leaders of the surrender and restoring order to the allied city. When the Latins and Hernici explained their failure to supply troops, the senate deemed they had a cause for war but lacked the opportunity.

§6.10.1videbatur plus in ea urbe recipienda laboris fore, non eo solum, quod tota hostium erat, sed etiam quod parte Nepesinorum prodente civitatem facta erat deditio.
It seemed that there would be more difficulty in recovering that city, not only because it was entirely in the hands of the enemy, but also because the surrender had been made through the betrayal of the state by a part of the Nepesines.
§6.10.2mitti tamen ad principes eorum placuit, ut secernerent se ab Etruscis fidemque, quam inplorassent ab Romanis, ipsi praestarent.
Nevertheless, it was decided that messengers be sent to their leading men, urging them to separate themselves from the Etruscans and themselves display the good faith which they had implored from the Romans.
§6.10.3unde cum responsum allatum esset nihil suae potestatis esse, Etruscos moenia custodiasque portarum tenere, primo populationibus agri terror est oppidanis admotus;
When the reply was brought back from them that nothing was in their power, and that the Etruscans held the walls and the guards of the gates, terror was first brought upon the townspeople by the devastation of their fields.
§6.10.4deinde, postquam deditionis quam societatis fides sanctior erat, fascibus sarmentorum ex agro conlatis ductus ad moenia exercitus conpletisque fossis scalae admotae, et clamore primo impetuque oppidum capitur.
Then, since the pledge of surrender was more sacred to them than that of alliance, the army was led to the walls with bundles of brushwood collected from the fields; and the ditches having been filled, the ladders were applied, and at the first shout and assault the town was captured.
§6.10.5Nepesinis inde edictum, ut arma ponant, parcique iussum inermi; Etrusci pariter armati atque inermes caesi.
Then a decree was issued to the Nepesines to lay down their arms, and order was given to spare the unarmed; the Etruscans, whether armed or unarmed, were slain alike.
Nepesinorum quoque auctores deditionis securi percussi; innoxiae multitudini redditae res, oppidumque cum praesidio relictum.
The authors of the surrender among the Nepesines were also beheaded with the axe; their property was restored to the innocent multitude, and the town was left with a garrison.
§6.10.6ita duabus sociis urbibus ex hoste receptis victorem exercitum tribuni cum magna gloria Romam reduxerunt.
Thus, the two allied cities having been recovered from the enemy, the tribunes led the victorious army back to Rome with great glory.
eodem anno ab Latinis Hernicisque res repetitae quaesitumque, cur per eos annos militem ex instituto non dedissent.
In the same year, satisfaction was demanded from the Latins and the Hernici, and they were asked why during those years they had not provided soldiers according to the treaty.
§6.10.7responsum frequenti utriusque gentis concilio est nec culpam in eo publicam nec consilium fuisse, quod suae iuventutis aliqui apud Volscos militaverint; §6.10.8eos tamen ipsos pravi consilii poenam habere, nec quemquam ex iis reducem esse; militis autem non dati causam terrorem adsiduum a Volscis fuisse, quam pestem adhaerentem lateri suo tot super alia aliis bellis exhauriri nequisse. §6.10.9quae relata patribus magis tempus quam causam non visa belli habere.
At a crowded council of both nations, it was answered that there had been neither public blame nor public intent in the fact that some of their youth had served among the Volscians; "that those very men, however, had suffered the punishment for their wicked counsel, and none of them had returned; and that the cause of the soldiers not being given was the constant terror from the Volscians, which plague clinging to their side could not be shaken off by so many wars, one upon another." These answers, when reported to the senators, seemed to lack a suitable opportunity [for war] rather than a cause for war.

Notes

  1. 6.10.1videbatur plus in ea urbe recipienda laboris fore — The accusative and infinitive clause plus ... laboris fore (where fore is futurum esse) acts as the subject of the impersonal videbatur. laboris is a partitive genitive depending on plus. in ea urbe recipienda is a gerundive construction meaning 'in recovering that city.'
  2. 6.10.3nihil suae potestatis esse — suae potestatis is a possessive or predicative genitive meaning 'belonging to their own power.' The subject of esse is nihil, forming an accusative and infinitive clause in indirect discourse: 'that nothing was in their power.'
  3. 6.10.4postquam deditionis quam societatis fides sanctior erat — Usually, postquam ('after') takes the perfect indicative, but here the imperfect erat is used to denote a continuing state, conveying a causal nuance of 'now that' or 'since [it was the case that].'
  4. 6.10.5parcique iussum inermi — Because parcere ('to spare') is an intransitive verb governing the dative (inermi), its passive is used impersonally (parci). Here, the passive infinitive parci depends on the impersonal passive verb iussum [est], meaning literally 'it was ordered that sparing be done to the unarmed.'
  5. 6.10.8quam pestem adhaerentem lateri suo ... exhauriri nequisse — quam pestem is a connecting relative (relative connection) referring back to terrorem, meaning 'which plague.' nequisse is the perfect infinitive of nequire ('to be unable'), forming an accusative and infinitive construction in indirect discourse, coordinate with fuisse.
  6. 6.10.9magis tempus quam causam non visa belli habere — The position of non is displaced; it logically modifies the verb visa [sunt] ... habere ('they seemed not to have'). The comparative structure contrasts tempus ('opportunity/time') with causam belli ('cause for war'): 'they seemed to lack the opportunity rather than a cause for war.'

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §6.10.1-6.10.9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:6.10.1-6.10.9

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