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Livy · History of Rome §9.42.1-9.42.11

Battle of Allifae and the Hernician Revolt

Passage 480 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

While Fabius's command is prorogued, his colleague Volumnius achieves victories against the Sallentini. Proconsul Fabius defeats the Samnites at Allifae; the subsequent handling of the captured Hernicians drives the Hernician nations, except for a few, to declare war on Rome.

§9.42.1Fabius, alienae sortis victor belli, in suam provinciam exercitum reduxit.
Fabius, victorious in a war that belonged to another's lot, led his army back into his own province.
§9.42.2itaque ei ob res tam feliciter gestas, sicut priore anno populus continuaverat consulatum, ita senatus in insequentem annum, quo Ap.
Therefore, on account of his achievements so successfully performed, just as the people had continued his consulship in the preceding year, so the senate prorogued his command for the following year, in which Ap.
Claudius, L. Volumnius consules fuerunt, prorogavit maxime Appio adversante imperium.
Claudius and L. Volumnius were consuls, though Appius opposed it to the utmost.
§9.42.3Appium censorem petisse consulatum comitiaque eius ab L. Furio tribuno plebis interpellata, donec se censura abdicarit, in quibusdam annalibus invenio.
I find in certain annals that Appius, while censor, sought the consulship, and that his election was interrupted by L. Furius, tribune of the plebs, until he resigned his censorship.
creatus consul, §9.42.4cum collegae novum bellum Sallentini hostes decernerentur, Romae mansit, ut urbanis artibus opes augeret, quando belli decus penes alios esset.
Having been elected consul, when a new war against the Sallentinian enemy was decreed to his colleague, he remained in Rome, in order to increase his influence by urban arts, since the glory of war was in the hands of others.
Volumnium provinciae haud paenituit; §9.42.5multa secunda proelia fecit, aliquot urbes hostium vi cepit.
Volumnius was by no means dissatisfied with his province; he fought many successful battles and took several cities of the enemy by force.
praedae erat largitor et benignitatem per se gratam comitate adiuvabat militemque his artibus fecerat et periculi et laboris avidum.
He was a generous bestower of booty, and by his affability he enhanced his kindness, which was pleasing in itself, and by these arts he had made the soldier eager for both danger and labor.
§9.42.6Q. Fabius pro consule ad urbem Allifas cum Samnitium exercitu signis conlatis confligit.
Q. Fabius, as proconsul, clashed with the army of the Samnites in a pitched battle near the city of Allifae.
minime ambigua res fuit; fusi hostes atque in castra conpulsi.
The result was by no means doubtful; the enemy were routed and driven into their camp.
nec castra forent retenta, ni exiguum superfuisset diei; ante noctem tamen sunt circumsessa et nocte custodita, ne quis elabi posset.
Nor would the camp have been retained, had not a small portion of the day remained; yet before night they were surrounded, and guarded during the night, lest anyone should be able to escape.
§9.42.7postero die vixdum luce certa deditio fieri coepta, et pacti, qui Samnitium forent, ut cum singulis vestimentis emitterentur; ii omnes sub iugum missi.
On the following day, when it was scarcely yet clear light, surrender began to be made, and those who were of the Samnites agreed that they should be dismissed with a single garment each; they were all sent under the yoke.
§9.42.8sociis Samnitium nihil cautum; ad septem milia sub corona veniere.
No terms were made for the allies of the Samnites; about seven thousand were sold under the crown.
qui se civem Hernicum dixerat, seorsus in custodia habitus.
He who had declared himself a Hernician citizen was kept separately in custody.
eos omnes Fabius Romam ad senatum misit; §9.42.9et cum quaesitum esset, dilectu an voluntarii pro Samnitibus adversus Romanos bellassent,
Fabius sent them all to the senate at Rome; and when it had been inquired whether they had fought for the Samnites against the Romans by levy or as volunteers, they were given over to the Latin peoples to be guarded, and the new consuls, P.
§9.42.10per Latinos populos custodiendi dantur, iussique eam integram rem novi consules P. Cornelius Arvina, Q. Marcius Tremulus — hi enim iam creati erant — ad senatum referre.
Cornelius Arvina and Q. Marcius Tremulus—for these had already been elected—were ordered to refer that matter entire to the senate.
§9.42.11id aegre passi Hernici; concilium populorum omnium habentibus Anagninis in circo, quem Maritimum vocant, praeter Aletrinatem Ferentinatemque et Verulanum omnes Hernici nominis populo Romano bellum indixerunt.
The Hernicians took this ill; while the Anagnians were holding a council of all the peoples in the circus which they call Maritimus, all the nations of the Hernician name, except the Aletrinate, the Ferentinate, and the Verulan, declared war against the Roman people.

Notes

  1. 9.42.1alienae sortis — alienae sortis (of another's allotment) modifies belli (of the war). It refers to the fact that Fabius was victorious in the war in Etruria and Umbria, which had been allotted to his colleague Decius, not to himself.
  2. 9.42.4Volumnium provinciae haud paenituit — The impersonal verb paenitet (to regret, be dissatisfied with) takes the accusative of the person experiencing the feeling (Volumnium) and the genitive of the cause (provinciae). The clause means 'Volumnius was by no means dissatisfied with his province.'
  3. 9.42.6forent retenta, ni exiguum superfuisset diei — forent retenta (= essent retenta) and superfuisset are pluperfect subjunctives expressing a past contrary-to-fact condition. diei is a partitive genitive dependent on the neuter pronoun/adjective exiguum ('a small part of the day').
  4. 9.42.8sub corona veniere — veniere is an alternative form of venierunt from the verb veneo (to be sold), not from venio (to come). The phrase sub corona venire (literally, 'to be sold under a wreath/crown') is a Latin idiom meaning 'to be sold into slavery,' originating from the custom of placing wreaths on the heads of prisoners of war when they were auctioned.
  5. 9.42.10custodiendi dantur — The gerundive (future passive participle) custodiendi with the verb do (to give, assign) expresses purpose ('they are given over to be guarded').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §9.42.1-9.42.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:9.42.1-9.42.11

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