Livy: AB VRBE CONDITA LIBRI

[1] Scipio postquam in Siciliam uenit, uoluntarios milites ordinauit centuriauitque. ex iis trecentos iuuenes, florentes aetate et uirium robore insignes, inermes circa se habebat, ignorantes quem ad usum neque centuriati neque armati seruarentur. tum ex totius Siciliae iuniorum numero principes genere et fortuna trecentos equites qui secum in Africam traicerent legit, diemque iis qua equis armisque instructi atque ornati adessent edixit.

[1] Scipio, after he came into Sicily, organized and formed by centuries the volunteer soldiers. From these he had about him three hundred youths, flourishing in age and distinguished for the strength of their powers, unarmed, unaware for what use they were being kept, neither assigned to centuries nor armed. Then from the whole number of the younger men of all Sicily he chose three hundred cavalrymen, the foremost in birth and in fortune, to transport with him into Africa; and he proclaimed to them a day on which they should be present, equipped and adorned with horses and arms.

grauis ea militia, procul domo, terra marique multos labores magna pericula allatura uidebatur; neque ipsos modo sed parentes cognatosque eorum ea cura angebat. ubi dies quae dicta erat aduenit, arma equosque ostenderunt. tum Scipio renuntiari sibi dixit quosdam equites Siculorum tamquam grauem et duram horrere eam militiam: si qui ita animati essent, malle eos sibi iam tum fateri quam postmodo querentes segnes atque inutiles milites rei publicae esse; expromerent quid sentirent; cum bona uenia se auditurum.

that service, far from home, seemed likely to bring many labors and great perils by land and sea; and that anxiety was vexing not only them themselves but their parents and kinsmen. When the day that had been appointed arrived, they displayed their arms and horses. Then Scipio said that it had been reported to him that certain horsemen of the Sicilians shuddered at that service as heavy and hard: if any were so minded, he preferred that they confess it to him even now rather than later, complaining, to be sluggish and useless soldiers to the commonwealth; let them bring out what they felt; with good permission he would listen.

ubi ex iis unus ausus est dicere se prorsus, si sibi utrum uellet liberum esset, nolle militare, tum Scipio ei: 'quoniam igitur, adulescens, quid sentires non dissimulasti, uicarium tibi expediam cui tu arma equumque et cetera instrumenta militiae tradas et tecum hinc extemplo domum ducas exerceas docendum cures equo armisque.' laeto condicionem accipienti unum ex trecentis quos inermes habebat tradit. ubi hoc modo exauctoratum equitem cum gratia imperatoris ceteri uiderunt, se quisque excusare et uicarium accipere. ita trecentis Siculis Romani equites substituti sine publica impensa.

when from them one dared to say that, if it were free to him to choose either, he absolutely did not wish to serve in the military, then Scipio said to him: 'Since, then, young man, you have not dissimulated what you feel, I will furnish you a substitute to whom you are to hand over your arms, your horse, and the other instruments of military service, and whom you shall forthwith lead home from here with you, drill, and see to it that he be taught in horsemanship and arms.' To him, accepting the condition gladly, he assigns one of the three hundred whom he had kept unarmed. When the rest saw this cavalryman thus discharged with the favor of the commander, each man excused himself and accepted a substitute. Thus, for three hundred Sicilians Roman horsemen were put in their place without public expense.

docendorum atque exercendorum curam Siculi habuerunt, quia edictum imperatoris erat ipsum militaturum qui ita non fecisset. egregiam hanc alam equitum euasisse ferunt multisque proeliis rem publicam adiuuisse.

The Sicilians had the care of teaching and training, because there was an edict of the commander that he himself would do military service who had not done so thus. They report that this wing of cavalry turned out excellent and in many battles helped the commonwealth.

Legiones inde cum inspiceret, plurimorum stipendiorum ex iis milites delegit, maxime qui sub duce Marcello militauerant, quos cum optima disciplina institutos credebat tum etiam ab longa Syracusarum obsidione peritissimos esse urbium oppugnandarum; nihil enim paruum sed Carthaginis iam excidia agitabat animo. inde exercitum per oppida dispertit; frumentum Siculorum ciuitatibus imperat, ex Italia aduecto parcit; ueteres naues reficit et cum iis C. Laelium in Africam praedatum mittit; nouas Panhormi subducit, quia ex uiridi materia raptim factae erant, ut in sicco hibernarent.

Thence, when he was inspecting the legions, he chose from them soldiers of very many campaigns, especially those who had served under the leader Marcellus, whom he believed to have been trained in the best discipline and also, from the long siege of Syracuse, to be most expert at storming cities; for he was pondering nothing small, but already the destruction of Carthage in his mind. Thence he distributed the army through the towns; he orders grain from the Sicilian communities, he spares what had been brought from Italy; he refits the old ships and with them sends Gaius Laelius into Africa to raid; he hauls the new ones ashore at Panormus, because they had been made hastily from green timber, so that they might winter on dry land.

Praeparatis omnibus ad bellum Syracusas, nondum ex magnis belli motibus satis tranquillas, uenit. Graeci res a quibusdam Italici generis eadem ui qua per bellum ceperant retinentibus, concessas sibi ab senatu repetebant. omnium primum ratus tueri publicam fidem, partim edicto, partim iudiciis etiam in pertinaces ad obtinendam iniuriam redditis suas res Syracusanis restituit.

With everything prepared for war, he came to Syracuse, not yet sufficiently tranquil from the great commotions of war. The Greeks were reclaiming the properties granted to them by the senate from certain men of Italian stock, who were retaining them by the same force by which they had taken them during the war. Thinking first of all to safeguard the public faith, partly by edict, partly by judgments—even rendered against those pertinacious to maintain their injury—he restored their own goods to the Syracusans.

non ipsis tantum ea res sed omnibus Siciliae populis grata fuit, eoque enixius ad bellum adiuuerunt.

not only to them themselves was that matter pleasing, but to all the peoples of Sicily; and for that reason they assisted in the war the more strenuously.

Eadem aestate in Hispania coortum ingens bellum conciente Ilergete Indibili nulla alia de causa quam per admirationem Scipionis contemptu imperatorum aliorum orto: eum superesse unum ducem Romanis ceteris ab Hannibale interfectis [rebantur]; eo nec in Hispaniam caesis Scipionibus alium quem mitterent habuisse, et postquam in Italia grauius bellum urgeret, aduersus Hannibalem eum arcessitum. praeterquam quod nomina tantum ducum in Hispania Romani habeant, exercitum quoque inde ueterem deductum; trepida omnia et inconditam turbam tironum esse. nunquam talem occasionem liberandae Hispaniae fore.

In the same summer in Spain a vast war broke out, the Ilergete Indibilis inciting it for no other cause than that, through admiration of Scipio, there had arisen a contempt of the other generals: [they thought] that he alone survived as a leader for the Romans, the rest having been slain by Hannibal; for that reason, with the Scipios cut down in Spain, they had had no other whom they might send, and, after a more serious war began to press in Italy, he had been summoned against Hannibal. Besides the fact that the Romans in Spain have only the names of generals, the veteran army too had been led away from there; everything was in alarm and there was an unorganized crowd of raw recruits. Never would there be such an opportunity for the liberation of Spain.

seruitum ad eam diem aut Carthaginiensibus aut Romanis, nec in uicem his aut illis sed interdum utrisque simul. pulsos ab Romanis Carthaginienses: ab Hispanis, si consentirent, pelli Romanos posse, ut ab omni externo imperio soluta in perpetuum Hispania in patrios rediret mores ritusque. haec taliaque dicendo non populares modo sed Ausetanos quoque, uicinam gentem, concitat et alios finitimos sibi atque illis populos.

in servitude down to that day either to the Carthaginians or to the Romans, and not in turn to these or those but sometimes to both at once. that the Carthaginians had been driven out by the Romans; that the Romans could be driven out by the Spaniards, if they should agree together, so that, freed from every external imperial rule, in perpetuity Spain might return to ancestral customs and rites. by saying these and such things he stirs up not only his own people but also the Ausetani, a neighboring tribe, and other peoples adjacent to himself and to them as well.

itaque intra paucos dies triginta milia peditum quattuor ferme equitum in Sedetanum agrum, quo edictum erat, conuenerunt.

and so within a few days thirty thousand infantry and nearly four thousand cavalry assembled in the Sedetan territory, where it had been proclaimed.

[2] Romani quoque imperatores L. Lentulus et L. Manlius Acidinus, ne glisceret prima neglegendo bellum, iunctis et ipsi exercitibus per agrum Ausetanum hostico tamquam pacato clementer ductis militibus ad sedem hostium peruenere et trium milium spatio procul a castris eorum posuerunt castra. primo per legatos nequiquam temptatum ut discederetur ab armis; dein cum in pabulatores Romanos impetus repente ab equitibus Hispanis factus esset, summisso ab statione Romana equitatu equestre proelium fuit haud sane memorando in partem ullam euentu. sole oriente postero die armati instructique omnes mille ferme passus procul a castris Romanis aciem ostendere.

[2] The Roman commanders too, Lucius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, so that the war might not wax at the outset through neglect, joined their armies as well and, with the soldiers led with clemency through the Ausetan territory, hostile as though pacified, reached the seat of the enemy and pitched camp at a distance of three miles from their camp. At first an attempt was made in vain through legates to bring about a withdrawal from arms; then, when a sudden attack had been made upon the Roman foragers by Spanish horsemen, cavalry having been sent down from the Roman outpost there was a cavalry engagement, with an outcome in no way memorable to either side. With the sun rising on the following day, all armed and drawn up, they displayed their battle line about a mile from the Roman camp.

medii Ausetani erant; cornua dextrum Ilergetes, laeuum ignobiles tenebant Hispani populi; inter cornua et mediam aciem interualla patentia satis late fecerant qua equitatum, ubi tempus esset, emitterent. et Romani more suo exercitum cum instruxissent, id modo hostium imitati sunt ut inter legiones et ipsi patentes equiti relinquerent uias. ceterum Lentulus ei parti usum equitis fore ratus quae prior in dehiscentem interuallis hostium aciem equites emisisset, Ser.

in the center were the Ausetani; the Ilergetes held the right wing, ignoble Spanish peoples the left; between the wings and the middle of the battle-line they had made open intervals broad enough, through which they might send out the cavalry when the time should be. And the Romans, when they had drawn up their army in their accustomed manner, imitated only this of the enemy: that they too left open ways for the horse between the legions. But Lentulus, thinking that the use of cavalry would fall to that side which first should have launched horsemen into the enemy’s line gaping with intervals, Ser.

Cornelio tribuno militum imperat equites per patentes in hostium acie uias permittere equos iubeat. ipse coepta parum prospere pedestri pugna tantum moratus dum cedenti duodecimae legioni, quae in laeuo cornu aduersus Ilergetes locata erat, tertiam decimam legionem ex subsidiis in primam aciem firmamentum ducit, postquam aequata ibi pugna est, ad L. Manlium inter prima signa hortantem ac subsidia quibus res postulabat locis inducentem uenit; indicat tuta ab laeuo cornu esse; iam missum ab se Cornelium procella equestri hostes circumfusurum.

He orders Cornelius, a military tribune, to bid the cavalry to let the horses through the open lanes in the enemy’s battle line. He himself, the infantry fight having begun not very prosperously, delayed only so long as, while the 12th legion, which had been posted on the left wing against the Ilergetes, was giving way, he led the 13th legion from the reserves as a reinforcement into the front line; after the fight there was equalized in that quarter, he came to L. Manlius, exhorting among the foremost standards and bringing in reinforcements in the places which the situation demanded; he indicates that things are secure from the left wing; that Cornelius had already been sent by him to pour around the enemies with a cavalry squall.

Vix haec dicta dederat cum Romani equites in medios inuecti hostes simul pedestres acies turbarunt, simul equitibus Hispanorum uiam immittendi equos clauserunt. itaque omissa pugna equestri ad pedes Hispani descenderunt. Romani imperatores ut turbatos hostium ordines et trepidationem pauoremque et fluctuantia uiderunt signa, hortantur orant milites ut perculsos inuadant neu restitui aciem patiantur.

Scarcely had he spoken these words when the Roman horse, having ridden into the midst of the enemy, at once threw the infantry battle-lines into disorder, and at the same time closed the way for the Spanish horsemen to send in their horses. Therefore, abandoning the cavalry fight, the Spaniards dismounted to fight on foot. The Roman commanders, when they saw the enemy’s ranks disordered, and the trepidation and fear, and the standards wavering, exhort and entreat the soldiers to charge the panic-stricken and not allow the line to be restored.

non sustinuissent tam infestum impetum barbari, ni regulus ipse Indibilis cum equitibus ad pedes degressis ante prima signa peditum se obiecisset. ibi aliquamdiu atrox pugna stetit; tandem postquam ii qui circa regem seminecem restantem deinde pilo terrae adfixum pugnabant obruti telis occubuerunt, tum fuga passim coepta. plures caesi, quia equos conscendendi equitibus spatium non fuerat, et quia perculsis acriter institerunt Romani; nec ante abscessum est quam castris quoque exuerunt hostem.

the barbarians would not have withstood so hostile an onslaught, had not the regulus Indibilis himself, with his horsemen having dismounted to foot, thrown himself before the front standards of the infantry. There for some time a fierce battle stood; at last, after those who were around the king—first remaining half‑dead, then, fastened to the earth by a pilum, still fighting—were overwhelmed by missiles and fell, then flight began everywhere. More were cut down because there had been no room for the cavalry to mount their horses, and because the Romans pressed hard upon the panic‑stricken; nor was there any withdrawal before they had even stripped the enemy of his camp.

tredecim milia Hispanorum caesa eo die, mille octingenti ferme capti: Romanorum sociorumque paulo amplius ducenti, maxime in laeuo cornu, ceciderunt. pulsi castris Hispani aut qui ex proelio effugerant, sparsi primo per agros, deinde in suas quisque ciuitates redierunt.

thirteen thousand Spaniards were slain that day, about one thousand eight hundred captured; of the Romans and their allies a little more than two hundred fell, chiefly in the left wing. Driven from their camp, the Spaniards—or those who had fled from the battle—were scattered at first through the fields, then each returned to his own cities.

[3] Tum a Mandonio euocati in concilium conquestique ibi clades suas increpitis auctoribus belli legatos mittendos ad arma tradenda deditionemque faciendam censuere. quibus culpam in auctorem belli Indibilem ceterosque principes quorum plerique in acie cecidissent conferentibus tradentibusque arma et dedentibus sese, responsum est in deditionem ita accipi eos si Mandonium ceterosque belli concitores tradidissent uiuos; si minus, exercitum se in agrum Ilergetum Ausetanorumque et deinceps aliorum populorum inducturos. haec dicta legatis renuntiataque in concilium.

[3] Then, summoned by Mandonio into a council and there lamenting their disasters, after the authors of the war had been rebuked, they voted that envoys should be sent to hand over their arms and to make surrender. As they shifted the blame onto Indibilis, the author of the war, and the other chiefs—most of whom had fallen in the battle line—and as they were handing over their arms and surrendering themselves, it was answered that they would thus be received into surrender if they handed over alive Mandonio and the other instigators of the war; if not, that the army would be led into the territory of the Ilergetes and the Ausetani, and thereafter of other peoples. These things were said to the envoys and reported back in council.

ibi Mandonius ceterique principes comprehensi et traditi ad supplicium. Hispaniae populis reddita pax; stipendium eius anni duplex et frumentum sex mensum imperatum sagaque et togae exercitui, et obsides ab triginta ferme populis accepti.

there Mandonius and the other chiefs were apprehended and handed over to punishment. Peace was restored to the peoples of Hispania; a double stipend for that year and grain for six months were requisitioned, and cloaks and togas for the army, and hostages were received from about thirty peoples.

Ita Hispaniae rebellantis tumultu haud magno motu intra paucos dies concito et compresso, in Africam omnis terror uersus. C. Laelius nocte ad Hipponem Regium cum accessisset, luce prima ad populandum agrum sub signis milites sociosque in auxilium nauales duxit. omnibus pacis modo incuriose agentibus magna clades inlata; nuntiique trepidi Carthaginem terrore ingenti compleuere classem Romanam Scipionemque imperatorem—et fama fuerat iam in Siciliam transgressum—aduenisse.

Thus, with the tumult of a rebelling Spain incited and compressed with no great motion within a few days, all terror was turned toward Africa. When Gaius Laelius had approached Hippo Regius by night, at first light he led out the soldiers under the standards to ravage the countryside, and the naval allies as support. As all were acting carelessly in the manner of peace, a great calamity was inflicted; and panic-stricken messengers filled Carthage with enormous terror, that the Roman fleet and the commander Scipio—and the report had been that he had already crossed over into Sicily —had arrived.

nec quot naues uidissent nec quanta manus agros popularetur satis gnari omnia in maius metu augente accipiebant. itaque primo terror pauorque, dein maestitia animos incessit: tantum fortunam mutasse ut qui modo ipsi exercitum ante moenia Romana habuissent uictores stratisque tot hostium exercitibus omnes Italiae populos aut ui aut uoluntate in deditionem accepissent, ii uerso Marte Africae populationes et obsidionem Carthaginis uisuri forent, nequaquam pari ad patienda ea robore ac Romani fuissent. illis Romanam plebem, illis Latium iuuentutem praebuisse maiorem semper frequentioremque pro tot caesis exercitibus subolescentem: suam plebem imbellem in urbe, imbellem in agris esse; mercede parari auxilia ex Afris, gente ad omnem auram spei mobili atque infida.

not knowing well enough either how many ships they had seen or how great a band was plundering the fields, they took everything on the greater scale, fear augmenting. accordingly at first terror and panic, then sadness seized their spirits: that fortune had changed so much that those who just now themselves, as victors, had held an army before the Roman walls, and, with so many enemy armies laid low, had received all the peoples of Italy either by force or by will into surrender, these, with Mars turned against them, would be about to see the devastations of Africa and the siege of Carthage, by no means with equal strength for enduring these things as the Romans had been. to them the Roman plebs, to them the Latin youth had supplied reinforcements greater and ever more numerous, growing up in place of so many slain armies: their own plebs to be unwarlike in the city, unwarlike in the fields; that auxiliaries were being procured for pay from the Africans, a people mobile to every breeze of hope and unfaithful.

iam reges, Syphacem post conloquium cum Scipione alienatum, Masinissam aperta defectione infestissimum hostem. nihil usquam spei, nihil auxilii esse. nec Magonem ex Gallia mouere tumultus quicquam nec coniungere sese Hannibali, et Hannibalem ipsum iam et fama senescere et uiribus.

already the kings—Syphax, after the colloquy with Scipio, alienated; Masinissa, by open defection, a most hostile enemy. Nowhere any hope, nowhere any aid. Nor did the tumults move Mago from Gaul at all nor conjoin him with Hannibal; and Hannibal himself now was growing old both in fame and in strength.

[4] In haec deflenda prolapsos ab recenti nuntio animos rursus terror instans reuocauit ad consultandum quonam modo obuiam praesentibus periculis iretur. dilectus raptim in urbe agrisque haberi placet; mittere ad conducenda Afrorum auxilia; munire urbem, frumentum conuehere, tela arma parare; instruere naues ac mittere ad Hipponem aduersus Romanam classem. iam haec agentibus nuntius tandem uenit Laelium non Scipionem, copiasque quantae ad incursiones agrorum satis sint transuectas; summae belli molem adhuc in Sicilia esse.

[4] The minds, having slipped into bewailing these things at the recent news, an urgent terror recalled back again to take counsel as to by what method one might go to meet the present dangers. it is decided that a levy be held rapidly in the city and the fields; to send to hire African auxiliaries; to fortify the city, convey grain, prepare missiles and arms; to fit out the ships and send them to Hippo against the Roman fleet. now while they were doing these things, a report at last arrived: it was Laelius, not Scipio, and that forces sufficient for raids upon the countryside had been transported; that the main weight of the war was still in Sicily.

ita respiratum mittique ad Syphacem legationes aliosque regulos firmandae societatis causa coeptae. ad Philippum quoque missi qui ducenta argenti talenta pollicerentur ut in Siciliam aut in Italiam traiceret. missi et ad suos imperatores in Italiam ut omni terrore Scipionem retinerent; ad Magonem non legati modo sed uiginti quinque longae naues, sex milia peditum, octingenti equites, septem elephanti, ad hoc magna pecunia ad conducenda auxilia quibus fretus propius urbem Romanam exercitum admoueret coniungeretque se Hannibali.

thus there was a breathing-space, and legations began to be sent to Syphax and to other petty rulers for the purpose of strengthening the alliance. To Philip, too, men were sent to promise 200 talents of silver, that he should cross over into Sicily or into Italy. Messengers were sent also to their own imperators in Italy, that by every terror they might hold Scipio in check; and to Mago there were dispatched not only envoys but 25 long ships, 6,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, 7 elephants, and, in addition, a great sum of money for hiring auxiliaries—relying on which he should move his army nearer to the city of Rome and join himself to Hannibal.

Haec Carthagini parabant agitabantque, cum ad Laelium praedas ingentes ex agro inermi ac nudo praesidiis agentem Masinissa fama Romanae classis excitus cum equitibus paucis uenit. is segniter rem agi ab Scipione questus, quod non exercitum iam in Africam traiecisset perculsis Carthaginiensibus, Syphace impedito finitimis bellis; quem certum habere, si spatium ad sua ut uelit componenda detur, nihil sincera fide cum Romanis acturum. hortaretur stimularet Scipionem ne cessaret; se, quamquam regno pulsus esset, cum haud contemnendis copiis adfuturum peditum equitumque.

These things at Carthage they were preparing and agitating, when to Laelius, as he was driving huge spoils from a countryside unarmed and bare of garrisons, Masinissa came, roused by the report of the Roman fleet, with a few horsemen. He complained that the matter was being conducted sluggishly by Scipio, because he had not already transported the army into Africa—the Carthaginians being panic‑struck, Syphax hampered by neighboring wars; and he held it certain that, if time were granted him to arrange his own affairs as he wished, he would transact nothing with the Romans in sincere faith. He exhorted and stimulated Scipio not to delay; that he himself, although driven from his kingdom, would be present with forces of infantry and cavalry not to be despised.

nec ipsi Laelio morandum in Africa esse; classem credere profectam a Carthagine cum qua absente Scipione non satis tutum esset contrahi certamen.

nor that Laelius himself should delay in Africa; he believed the fleet to have set out from Carthage, with which, Scipio being absent, it would not be sufficiently safe to engage in battle.

[5] Ab hoc sermone dimisso Masinissa Laelius postero die naues praeda onustas ab Hippone soluit, reuectusque in Siciliam mandata Masinissae Scipioni exposuit. iisdem ferme diebus naues quae ab Carthagine ad Magonem missae erant inter Albingaunos Ligures Genuamque accesserunt. in iis locis tum forte Mago tenebat classem; qui legatorum auditis uerbis iubentium exercitus quam maximos comparare, extemplo Gallorum et Ligurum—namque utriusque gentis ingens ibi multitudo erat—concilium habuit; et missum se ad eos uindicandos in libertatem ait et, ut ipsi cernant, mitti sibi ab domo praesidia; sed quantis uiribus quanto exercitu id bellum geratur, in eorum potestate esse.

[5] With this conversation dismissed, on the next day Laelius loosed the ships laden with booty from Hippo, and, having been carried back to Sicily, set forth to Scipio Masinissa’s mandates. In almost the same days the ships which had been sent from Carthage to Mago put in between the Albingauni Ligurians and Genoa. In those places at that time by chance Mago was holding the fleet; and, when he had heard the words of the envoys ordering that armies as great as possible be procured, he immediately held a council of Gauls and Ligurians—for a vast multitude of both peoples was there—and said that he had been sent to vindicate them into liberty and that, as they themselves see, reinforcements were being sent to him from home; but with how great forces, with how large an army that war should be waged was in their power.

duos exercitus Romanos, unum in Gallia, alterum in Etruria esse; satis scire Sp. Lucretium se cum M. Liuio iuncturum; multa milia armanda esse ut duobus ducibus duobus exercitibus Romanis resistatur. Galli summam ad id suam uoluntatem esse dicere; sed cum una castra Romana intra fines, altera in finitima terra Etruria prope in conspectu habeant, si palam fiat auxiliis adiutum ab sese Poenum, extemplo infestos utrimque exercitus in agrum suum incursuros. ea ab Gallis desideraret quibus occulte adiuuari posset: Liguribus, quod procul agro urbibusque eorum castra Romana sint, libera consilia esse; illos armare iuuentutem et capessere pro parte bellum aequum esse.

that there are two Roman armies, one in Gaul, the other in Etruria; he knows well that Sp. Lucretius will join himself with M. Livius; many thousands must be armed so that resistance may be made to two Roman leaders with two armies. The Gauls say that their utmost good will is for this; but since they have one Roman camp within their borders, the other in neighboring land, Etruria, almost in sight, if it becomes public that the Punic has been aided by help from them, immediately hostile armies from both sides will make incursions into their territory. He would desire from the Gauls those things by which he could be aided secretly: for the Ligurians, because the Roman camps are far from their fields and cities, their counsels are free; that it is fair for them to arm their youth and to take up the war on their side.

Ligures haud abnuere: tempus modo duorum mensum petere ad dilectus habendos. interim Mago milites Gallos dimissis clam per agros eorum mercede conducere; commeatus quoque omnis generis occulte ad eum a Gallicis populis mittebantur. M. Liuius exercitum uolonum ex Etruria in Galliam traducit, iunctusque Lucretio, si se Mago ex Liguribus propius urbem moueat, obuiam ire parat, si Poenus sub angulo Alpium quietus se contineat, et ipse in eadem statione circa Ariminum Italiae praesidio futurus.

the Ligurians did not refuse: they asked only for a period of two months to hold levies. meanwhile, once the assembly was dismissed, Mago began secretly to hire Gallic soldiers for pay throughout their fields; supply of every kind, too, was being sent to him covertly by the Gallic peoples. Marcus Livius transferred the army of volunteers from Etruria into Gaul, and, joined with Lucretius, if Mago should move from among the Ligurians nearer to the city, he prepared to go to meet him; but if the Punic commander should keep himself quiet under the angle of the Alps, he himself, in the same station about Ariminum, would be a safeguard for Italy.

[6] Post reditum ex Africa C. Laeli et Scipione stimulato Masinissae adhortationibus et militibus praedam ex hostium terra cernentibus tota classe efferri accensis ad traiciendum quam primum, interuenit maiori minor cogitatio Locros urbem recipiendi, quae sub defectionem Italiae desciuerat et ipsa ad Poenos. spes autem adfectandae eius rei ex minima re adfulsit. latrociniis magis quam iusto bello in Bruttiis gerebantur res, principio ab Numidis facto et Bruttiis non societate magis Punica quam suopte ingenio congruentibus in eum morem; postremo Romani quoque milites iam contagione quadam rapto gaudentes, quantum per duces licebat, excursiones in hostium agros facere.

[6] After the return from Africa of Gaius Laelius and Scipio—Scipio having been spurred by Masinissa’s exhortations—and with the soldiers, seeing booty being carried out from the enemy’s land by the whole fleet, fired to cross over as soon as possible, a lesser thought intervened with the greater: the recovering of the city of Locri, which, at the time of Italy’s defection, had itself also defected to the Carthaginians. But a hope of attempting that matter shone out from the smallest circumstance. In Bruttium affairs were being conducted more by latrociny than by a just war, the beginning having been made by the Numidians, and the Bruttians, conforming to that pattern not so much by Punic alliance as by their own nature; finally the Roman soldiers also, now by a certain contagion rejoicing in rapine, made excursions into the enemy’s fields, so far as their commanders allowed.

ab iis egressi quidam urbe Locrenses circumuenti Regiumque abstracti fuerant. in eo captiuorum numero fabri quidam fuere, adsueti forte apud Poenos mercede opus in arce Locrorum facere. hi cogniti ab Locrensium principibus qui pulsi ab aduersa factione, quae Hannibali Locros tradiderat, Regium se contulerant, cum cetera percontantibus, ut mos est qui diu absunt, quae domi agerentur exposuissent, spem fecerunt si redempti ac remissi forent arcem se iis tradituros; ibi se habitare fidemque sibi rerum omnium inter Carthaginienses esse.

Some Locrians, having gone out from the city, were surrounded by them and dragged off to Rhegium. Among that number of captives there were certain craftsmen, accustomed, as it happened, under the Punics to do work for hire in the citadel of the Locrians. These men, recognized by the chiefs of the Locrians who, driven out by the adverse faction which had handed Locri over to Hannibal, had withdrawn to Rhegium, when—others asking about the rest, as is the custom with those long absent—they had set forth what was being done at home, inspired hope that, if they were ransomed and sent back, they would hand over the citadel to them; that they lived there and enjoyed full confidence in all matters among the Carthaginians.

itaque, ut qui simul desiderio patriae angerentur simul cupiditate inimicos ulciscendi arderent, redemptis extemplo iis remissisque cum ordinem agendae rei composuissent signaque quae procul edita obseruarent, ipsi ad Scipionem Syracusas profecti, apud quem pars exsulum erat, referentes ibi promissa captiuorum cum spem ab effectu haud abhorrentem consuli fecissent, tribuni militum cum iis M. Sergius et P. Matienus missi iussique ab Regio tria milia militum Locros ducere; et Q. Pleminio propraetori scriptum ut rei agendae adesset.

And so, as men who at once were tormented by longing for their fatherland and were burning with the desire to avenge their enemies, when those men had been ransomed straightway and sent back, and when they had arranged the order of the business to be carried out and the signals which, displayed from afar, they should observe, they themselves set out to Scipio at Syracuse, with whom a part of the exiles was; and reporting there the promises of the captives, when they had given the consul a hope not out of harmony with achievement, the military tribunes M. Sergius and P. Matienus were sent with them and were ordered to lead from Regium three thousand soldiers to Locri; and a letter was written to Q. Pleminius the propraetor that he should be present for the business to be transacted.

Profecti ab Regio, scalas ad editam altitudinem arcis fabricatas portantes, media ferme nocte ex eo loco unde conuenerat signum dedere proditoribus arcis; qui parati intentique et ipsi scalas ad id ipsum factas cum demisissent pluribusque simul locis scandentes accepissent, priusquam clamor oreretur in uigiles Poenorum, ut in nullo tali metu sopitos, impetus est factus. quorum gemitus primo morientium exauditus, deinde subita consternatio ex somno et tumultus cum causa ignoraretur, postremo certior res aliis excitantibus alios. iamque ad arma pro se quisque uocabat: hostes in arce esse et caedi uigiles; oppressique forent Romani nequaquam numero pares, ni clamor ab iis qui extra arcem erant sublatus incertum unde accidisset omnia uana augente nocturno tumultu fecisset.

Having set out from Rhegium, carrying ladders fabricated to the elevated height of the citadel, about the middle of the night from the place where it had been agreed they gave the signal to the betrayers of the citadel; who, ready and intent, when they too had let down ladders made for that very purpose and had admitted men climbing up at several places at once, before a shout could arise against the Punic sentries—since, as men under no such fear, they were asleep—an assault was made. First the groan of the dying among them was distinctly heard, then a sudden consternation out of sleep and a tumult while the cause was unknown, and at last the matter was more certain as some roused others. And now each was calling to arms for himself: that enemies were in the citadel and the sentries were being cut down; and the Romans, by no means equal in number, would have been overwhelmed, if a shout raised by those who were outside the citadel, from an uncertain source, had not—by augmenting the nocturnal tumult—made everything seem a vain alarm.

itaque uelut plena iam hostium arce territi Poeni omisso certamine in alteram arcem—duae sunt haud multum inter se distantes—confugiunt. oppidani urbem habebant, uictoribus praemium in medio positam; ex arcibus duabus proeliis cottidie leuibus certabatur. Q. Pleminius Romano, Hamilcar Punico praesidio praeerat.

And so, as though the citadel were already full of enemies, the terrified Carthaginians, the contest abandoned, fled for refuge into the other citadel—there are two, not much distant from each other. The townspeople held the city, set in the middle as the prize for the victors; from the two citadels there were light skirmishes fought daily. Q. Pleminius was in command of the Roman garrison, Hamilcar of the Punic garrison.

arcessentes ex propinquis locis subsidia copias augebant: ipse postremo ueniebat Hannibal, nec sustinuissent Romani nisi Locrensium multitudo, exacerbata superbia atque auaritia Poenorum, ad Romanos inclinasset.

summoning reliefs from neighboring places, they were augmenting their forces: Hannibal himself at last was coming, and the Romans would not have withstood, had not the multitude of the Locrians, exacerbated by the pride and avarice of the Punics, inclined to the Romans.

[7] Scipioni ut nuntiatum est in maiore discrimine Locris rem uerti ipsumque Hannibalem aduentare, ne praesidio etiam periclitaretur haud facili inde receptu, et ipse a Messana L. Scipione fratre in praesidio ibi relicto cum primum aestu fretum inclinatum est ~naues mari secundo misit. et Hannibal a Buloto amni—haud procul is ab urbe Locris abest—nuntio praemisso ut sui luce prima summa ui proelium cum Romanis ac Locrensibus consererent dum ipse auersis omnibus in eum tumultum ab tergo urbem incautam adgrederetur, ubi luce coeptam inuenit pugnam, ipse nec in arcem se includere, turba locum artum impediturus, uoluit, neque scalas quibus scanderet muros attulerat. sarcinis in aceruum coniectis cum haud procul muris ad terrorem hostium aciem ostendisset, cum equitibus Numidis circumequitabat urbem, dum scalae quaeque alia ad oppugnandum opus erant parantur, ad uisendum qua maxime parte adgrederetur: progressus ad murum scorpione icto qui proximus eum forte steterat, territus inde tam periculoso casu receptui canere cum iussisset, castra procul ab ictu teli communit.

[7] When it was announced to Scipio that at Locri the affair was turning into greater peril and that Hannibal himself was approaching, lest he also should imperil the garrison, with no easy retreat from there, he himself from Messana, his brother Lucius Scipio left there in garrison, as soon as the strait’s tide set had slackened, ~sent ships with a following sea. And Hannibal, from the river Bulotus—it is not far from the city of Locri—after sending ahead a message that his men at first light should with the utmost force join battle with the Romans and the Locrians, while he himself, with all turned away toward that tumult, would assail the city from the rear unguarded, when he found the fight begun at daybreak, he himself neither wished to shut himself up in the citadel, intending to clog the narrow place with a crowd, nor had he brought ladders with which to scale the walls. With the baggage heaped together in a pile, when he had shown a battle line not far from the walls to strike terror into the enemy, he was riding around the city with Numidian horsemen, while ladders and whatever other things were needed for assault were being prepared, to inspect by what part especially he should attack: having advanced to the wall, when the man who had by chance stood nearest him was struck by a scorpion-shot, frightened then by so perilous an mishap, when he had ordered the call to retreat to be sounded, he fortifies a camp far from the cast of a missile.

classis Romana a Messana Locros aliquot horis multo die superante accessit; expositi omnes e nauibus et ante occasum solis urbem ingressi sunt.

The Roman fleet from Messana reached Locri in several hours, with much of the day remaining; all, having been disembarked from the ships, entered the city before the setting of the sun.

Postero die coepta ex arce a Poenis pugna, et Hannibal iam scalis aliisque omnibus ad oppugnationem paratis subibat muros cum repente in eum nihil minus quam tale quicquam timentem patefacta porta erumpunt Romani. ad ducentos, improuidos cum inuasissent, occidunt: ceteros Hannibal, ut consulem adesse sensit, in castra recipit, nuntioque misso ad eos qui in arce erant ut sibimet ipsi consulerent nocte motis castris abiit. et qui in arce erant igni iniecto tectis quae tenebant ut is tumultus hostem moraretur, agmen suorum fugae simili cursu ante noctem adsecuti sunt.

On the next day the battle was begun from the citadel by the Carthaginians, and Hannibal, now with ladders and all other things for assault prepared, was approaching the walls when suddenly, the gate having been thrown open, the Romans burst out against him, he suspecting nothing of the sort. about two hundred, having fallen upon them unawares, they kill: the rest Hannibal, when he perceived that the consul was present, received into the camp; and, a message having been sent to those who were in the citadel that they should look to themselves, with the camp moved by night he departed. and those who were in the citadel, fire having been cast upon the roofs which they were holding so that that tumult might delay the enemy, by a course like flight overtook the column of their men before night.

[8] Scipio ut et arcem relictam ab hostibus et uacua uidit castra, uocatos ad contionem Locrenses grauiter ob defectionem incusauit; de auctoribus supplicium sumpsit bonaque eorum alterius factionis principibus ob egregiam fidem aduersus Romanos concessit. publice nec dare nec eripere se quicquam Locrensibus dixit; Romam mitterent legatos; quam senatus aequum censuisset, eam fortunam habituros. illud satis scire, etsi male de populo Romano meriti essent, in meliore statu sub iratis Romanis futuros quam sub amicis Carthaginiensibus fuerint.

[8] When Scipio saw both the citadel left by the enemy and the camp empty, having called the Locrians to an assembly he gravely reproached them for defection; upon the instigators he exacted punishment, and he granted their goods to the chiefs of the other faction for their outstanding fidelity toward the Romans. He said that publicly he would neither give nor snatch away anything from the Locrians; let them send envoys to Rome; whatever fortune the senate should judge equitable, that they would have. This they might know well enough: although they had ill deserved of the Roman people, they would be in a better state under Romans angered than they had been under Carthaginian friends.

ipse Pleminio legato praesidioque quod arcem ceperat ad tuendam urbem relicto, cum quibus uenerat copiis Messanam traiecit.

He himself, leaving Pleminius the legate and the garrison which had taken the citadel behind to protect the city, crossed over to Messana with the forces with which he had come.

Ita superbe et crudeliter habiti Locrenses ab Carthaginiensibus post defectionem ab Romanis fuerant ut modicas iniurias non aequo modo animo pati sed prope libenti possent; uerum enimuero tantum Pleminius Hamilcarem praesidii praefectum, tantum praesidiarii milites Romani Poenos scelere atque auaritia superauerunt ut non armis sed uitiis uideretur certari. nihil omnium quae inopi inuisas opes potentioris faciunt praetermissum in oppidanos est ab duce aut a militibus; in corpora ipsorum, in liberos, in coniuges infandae contumeliae editae. iam auaritia ne sacrorum quidem spoliatione abstinuit; nec alia modo templa uiolata sed Proserpinae etiam intacti omni aetate thesauri, praeterquam quod a Pyrrho, qui cum magno piaculo sacrilegii sui manubias rettulit, spoliati dicebantur.

Thus the Locrians had been treated so arrogantly and cruelly by the Carthaginians after their defection from the Romans that they could bear moderate injuries not with an even temper but almost with willingness; but indeed Pleminius so surpassed Hamilcar, the prefect of the garrison, and the Roman garrison-soldiers so surpassed the Phoenicians in wickedness and avarice, that it seemed a contest not in arms but in vices. Nothing of all the things that make the wealth of a more powerful man hateful to the needy was left undone against the townspeople by the commander or by the soldiers; upon their own persons, upon their children, upon their wives, unspeakable outrages were perpetrated. Already greed did not refrain even from the spoliation of sacred things; and not only were other temples violated, but even the treasures of Proserpina, untouched in every age—except that they were said to have been despoiled by Pyrrhus, who, with great expiation for his sacrilege, brought back the spoils.

ergo sicut ante regiae naues laceratae naufragiis nihil in terram integri praeter sacram pecuniam deae quam asportabant extulerant, tum quoque alio genere cladis eadem illa pecunia omnibus contactis ea uiolatione templi furorem obiecit atque inter se ducem in ducem, militem in militem rabie hostili uertit.

therefore, just as before the royal ships, lacerated by shipwrecks, had brought out to land nothing intact except the sacred money of the goddess which they were carrying off, so then too, by another kind of disaster, that same money, upon all who had been touched by that violation of the temple, cast madness and turned them among themselves, leader against leader, soldier against soldier, with hostile rage.

[9] Summae rei Pleminius praeerat; militum pars sub eo quam ipse ab Regio adduxerat, pars sub tribunis erat. rapto poculo argenteo ex oppidani domo Plemini miles fugiens sequentibus quorum erat, obuius forte Sergio et Matieno tribunis militum fuit; cui cum iussu tribunorum ademptum poculum esset, iurgium inde et clamor, pugna postremo orta inter Plemini milites tribunorumque, ut suis quisque opportunus aduenerat multitudine simul ac tumultu crescente. uicti Plemini milites cum ad Pleminium cruorem ac uolnera ostentantes non sine uociferatione atque indignatione concurrissent probra in eum ipsum iactata in iurgiis referentes, accensus ira domo sese proripuit uocatosque tribunos nudari ac uirgas expediri iubet.

[9] Pleminius was in command of the whole affair; part of the soldiers were under him—those whom he himself had led from Rhegium—part were under the tribunes. A soldier of Pleminius, after snatching a silver cup from a townsman’s house, as he fled with the owners pursuing him, happened by chance to meet the military tribunes Sergius and Matienus; and when by the tribunes’ order the cup was taken from him, thereupon a quarrel and shouting arose, and at last a fight, between Pleminius’s soldiers and those of the tribunes, as each man’s adherents arrived to help, the crowd and the tumult at once increasing. Pleminius’s soldiers, defeated, rushed to Pleminius, displaying blood and wounds, not without outcry and indignation, reporting the insults hurled against himself in the brawls; inflamed with anger, he burst out of his house and ordered the summoned tribunes to be stripped, and the rods to be made ready.

dum spoliandis iis—repugnabant enim militumque fidem implorabant—tempus teritur, repente milites feroces recenti uictoria ex omnibus locis, uelut aduersus hostes ad arma conclamatum esset, concurrerunt; et cum uiolata iam uirgis corpora tribunorum uidissent, tum uero in multo impotentiorem subito rabiem accensi sine respectu non maiestatis modo sed etiam humanitatis, in legatum impetum lictoribus prius indignum in modum mulcatis faciunt. tum ipsum ab suis interceptum et seclusum hostiliter lacerant et prope exsanguem naso auribusque mutilatis relinquunt.

while time is being wasted in stripping them—for they were resisting and imploring the faith of the soldiers—, suddenly soldiers, fierce from the recent victory, from all quarters, as if a call to arms had been raised against enemies, ran together; and when they had seen the bodies of the tribunes already violated by rods, then indeed, inflamed into a much more unbridled sudden frenzy, without regard not only for majesty but even for humanity, they make an attack upon the legate, the lictors first having been beaten in a manner unworthy. then him, intercepted and cut off from his own, they lacerate in hostile fashion and leave nearly bloodless, with nose and ears mutilated.

His Messanam nuntiatis Scipio post paucos dies Locros hexere aduectus cum causam Plemini et tribunorum audisset, Pleminio noxa liberato relictoque in eiusdem loci praesidio, tribunis sontibus iudicatis et in uincla coniectis ut Romam ad senatum mitterentur, Messanam atque inde Syracusas rediit. Pleminius impotens irae, neglectam ab Scipione et nimis leuiter latam suam iniuriam ratus nec quemquam aestimare alium eam litem posse nisi qui atrocitatem eius patiendo sensisset, tribunos attrahi ad se iussit, laceratosque omnibus quae pati corpus ullum potest suppliciis interfecit, nec satiatus uiuorum poena insepultos proiecit. simili crudelitate et in Locrensium principes est usus quos ad conquerendas iniurias ad P. Scipionem profectos audiuit; et quae antea per libidinem atque auaritiam foeda exempla in socios ediderat, tunc ab ira multiplicia edere, infamiae atque inuidiae non sibi modo sed etiam imperatori esse.

With this reported to Messana, Scipio, after a few days, was conveyed to Locri in a hexere; and when he had heard the case of Pleminius and of the tribunes, Pleminius, released from blame and left in command of the garrison of that same place, but the tribunes adjudged guilty and cast into chains to be sent to Rome to the senate, he returned to Messana and thence to Syracuse. Pleminius, unrestrained in anger, thinking that his injury had been neglected by Scipio and too lightly dealt with, and that no one else could assess that suit unless he had felt its atrocity by suffering it, ordered the tribunes to be dragged to him, and, mangled with every torment which any body can suffer, he killed them; nor, sated by the punishment of the living, did he cast them out unburied. With similar cruelty he dealt also with the leading men of the Locrians, whom he heard had set out to Publius Scipio to complain of their wrongs; and the foul precedents which he had previously exhibited among allies through lust and avarice, then in his anger he multiplied, to the disgrace and odium not only of himself but even of the general.

[10] Iam comitiorum appetebat tempus cum a P. Licinio consule litterae Romam allatae se exercitumque suum graui morbo adflictari, nec sisti potuisse ni eadem uis mali aut grauior etiam in hostes ingruisset; itaque quoniam ipse uenire ad comitia non posset, si ita patribus uideretur, se Q. Caecilium Metellum dictatorem comitiorum causa dicturum. exercitum Q. Caecili dimitti e re publica esse; [nam] neque usum eius ullum in praesentia esse, cum Hannibal iam in hiberna suos receperit, et tanta incesserit in ea castra uis morbi ut nisi mature dimittantur nemo omnium superfuturus uideatur. ea consuli a patribus facienda ut e re publica fideque sua duceret permissa.

[10] Already the time of the comitia was approaching, when a letter from Publius Licinius, consul, was brought to Rome, stating that he and his army were afflicted by a grave sickness, nor could it have been checked unless the same force of the malady, or even a heavier one, had burst upon the enemies; and so, since he himself could not come to the elections, if it should seem good to the Fathers, he would name Quintus Caecilius Metellus dictator for the sake of the elections. That it was for the public interest that the army of Quintus Caecilius be dismissed; [for] there was no use of it at all at the present, since Hannibal had already withdrawn his men into winter‑quarters, and so great a force of disease had fallen upon that camp that, unless they were discharged in good time, it seemed that no one at all would survive. These things were permitted to the consul by the Fathers to do, as he judged to be for the public interest and in accordance with his own good faith.

ciuitatem eo tempore repens religio inuaserat inuento carmine in libris Sibyllinis propter crebrius eo anno de caelo lapidatum inspectis, quandoque hostis alienigena terrae Italiae bellum intulisset eum pelli Italia uincique posse si mater Idaea a Pessinunte Romam aduecta foret. id carmen ab decemuiris inuentum eo magis patres mouit quod et legati qui donum Delphos portauerant referebant et sacrificantibus ipsis Pythio Apollini omnia laeta fuisse et responsum oraculo editum maiorem multo uictoriam quam cuius ex spoliis dona portarent adesse populo Romano. in eiusdem spei summam conferebant P. Scipionis uelut praesagientem animum de fine belli quod depoposcisset prouinciam Africam.

At that time a sudden religio seized the state, upon a carmen having been found in the Sibylline Books—consulted because stones had been cast down from heaven more frequently that year—declaring that whenever an alien-born enemy should bring war upon the land of Italy, he could be driven from Italy and conquered, if the Idaean Mother were brought to Rome from Pessinus. This carmen, found by the decemvirs, moved the senators all the more because both the envoys who had carried a gift to Delphi reported that, as they themselves sacrificed to Pythian Apollo, all had been favorable, and that a response issued by the oracle declared that a victory much greater than that for whose spoils they were carrying the gifts was at hand for the Roman people. They were adding to the sum of this same hope the mind of P. Scipio, as though presaging the end of the war, in that he had demanded the province of Africa.

itaque quo maturius fatis ominibus oraculisque portendentis sese uictoriae compotes fierent, id cogitare atque agitare quae ratio transportandae Romam deae esset.

therefore, in order that the more swiftly, with the fates, omens, and oracles portending it, they might become partakers of victory, they began to consider and agitate the question what plan there might be for transporting the goddess to Rome.

[11] Nullasdum in Asia socias ciuitates habebat populus Romanus; tamen memores Aesculapium quoque ex Graecia quondam hauddum ullo foedere sociata ualetudinis populi causa arcessitum, tunc iam cum Attalo rege propter commune aduersus Philippum bellum coeptam amicitiam esse —facturum eum quae posset populi Romani causa—, legatos ad eum decernunt M. Ualerium Laeuinum qui bis consul fuerat ac res in Graecia gesserat, M. Caecilium Metellum praetorium, Ser. Sulpicium Galbam aedilicium, duos quaestorios Cn. Tremelium Flaccum et M. Ualerium Faltonem. iis quinque naues quinqueremes ut ex dignitate populi Romani adirent eas terras ad quas concilianda maiestas nomini Romano esset decernunt.

[11] As yet the Roman people had no allied cities in Asia; nevertheless, mindful that Aesculapius too had once been summoned from Greece, when it was not yet bound by any treaty, for the sake of the people’s health, and that now already a friendship had been begun with King Attalus because of the common war against Philip —that he would do what he could for the Roman people’s cause—, they decree ambassadors to him: M. Valerius Laevinus, who had been consul twice and had conducted operations in Greece; M. Caecilius Metellus, of praetorian rank; Ser. Sulpicius Galba, of aedilician rank; two of quaestorian rank, Cn. Tremelius Flaccus and M. Valerius Falto. For them they decree five quinquereme ships, that, in accordance with the dignity of the Roman people, they might approach those lands where majesty was to be conciliated to the Roman name.

legati Asiam petentes protinus Delphos cum escendissent, oraculum adierunt consulentes ad quod negotium domo missi essent perficiendi eius quam sibi spem populoque Romano portenderet. responsum esse ferunt per Attalum regem compotes eius fore quod peterent: cum Romam deam deuexissent, tum curarent ut eam qui uir optimus Romae esset hospitio exciperet. Pergamum ad regem uenerunt.

the envoys, making for Asia, as soon as they had ascended to Delphi, approached the oracle, consulting about the business for the accomplishing of which they had been sent from home—what hope it portended to themselves and to the Roman people. they report that the response was that through King Attalus they would become in possession of what they sought: when they had conveyed the goddess down to Rome, then they should take care that she be received with hospitality by the man who was the best man in Rome. they came to Pergamum to the king.

is legatos comiter acceptos Pessinuntem in Phrygiam deduxit sacrumque iis lapidem quam matrem deum esse incolae dicebant tradidit ac deportare Romam iussit. praemissus ab legatis M. Ualerius Falto nuntiauit deam apportari; quaerendum uirum optimum in ciuitate esse qui eam rite hospitio acciperet. Q. Caecilius Metellus dictator ab consule in Bruttiis comitiorum causa dictus exercitusque eius dimissus, magister equitum L. Ueturius Philo.

He, having courteously received the envoys, escorted them to Pessinus in Phrygia and handed over to them the sacred stone which the inhabitants said was the Mother of the Gods, and ordered it to be carried to Rome. M. Valerius Falto, sent ahead by the envoys, announced that the goddess was being brought; that the best man in the state must be sought to receive her with proper hospitality. Q. Caecilius Metellus, appointed dictator by the consul in Bruttium for the sake of the elections, had his army dismissed; the master of the horse was L. Veturius Philo.

comitia per dictatorem habita. consules facti M. Cornelius Cethegus P. Sempronius Tuditanus absens cum prouinciam Graeciam haberet. praetores inde creati Ti. Claudius Nero M. Marcius Ralla L. Scribonius Libo M. Pomponius Matho.

The comitia were held by the dictator. Consuls were made Marcus Cornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, absent, since he held Greece as his province. Then praetors were created Tiberius Claudius Nero, Marcus Marcius Ralla, Lucius Scribonius Libo, and Marcus Pomponius Matho.

comitiis peractis dictator sese magistratu abdicauit.

With the elections completed, the dictator abdicated his magistracy.

Ludi Romani ter, plebeii septiens instaurati. curules erant aediles Cn. et L. Cornelii Lentuli. Lucius Hispaniam prouinciam habebat; absens creatus absens eum honorem gessit.

The Roman Games three times, the Plebeian seven times, were renewed. The curule aediles were Cn. and L. Cornelii Lentuli. Lucius held Spain as his province; elected while absent, while absent he bore that honor.

Ti. Claudius Asellus et M. Iunius Pennus plebeii aediles fuerunt. aedem Uirtutis eo anno ad portam Capenam M. Marcellus dedicauit septimo decimo anno postquam a patre eius primo consulatu uota in Gallia ad Clastidium fuerat. et flamen Martialis eo anno est mortuus M. Aemilius Regillus.

Ti. Claudius Asellus and M. Iunius Pennus were plebeian aediles. In that year M. Marcellus dedicated the temple of Virtus at the Capenan Gate, in the 17th year after it had been vowed by his father in his 1st consulship in Gaul, at Clastidium. And the flamen of Mars, M. Aemilius Regillus, died that year.

[12] Neglectae eo biennio res in Graecia erant. itaque Philippus Aetolos desertos ab Romanis, cui uni fidebant auxilio, quibus uoluit condicionibus ad petendam et paciscendam subegit pacem. quod nisi omni ui perficere maturasset, bellantem eum cum Aetolis P. Sempronius proconsul, successor imperii missus Sulpicio cum decem milibus peditum et mille equitibus et triginta quinque rostratis nauibus, haud paruum momentum ad opem ferendam sociis, oppressisset.

[12] In that biennium affairs in Greece had been neglected. Therefore Philip forced the Aetolians, abandoned by the Romans—on whose aid alone they relied—to sue for and settle peace on whatever terms he wished. And had he not hastened to complete this with all force, P. Sempronius, proconsul, sent as successor in command to Sulpicius, with ten thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, and thirty-five beaked ships—a no small momentum for bringing help to the allies—would have crushed him while he was warring with the Aetolians.

uixdum pace facta nuntius regi uenit Romanos Dyrrachium uenisse Parthinosque et propinquas alias gentes motas esse ad spem nouandi res Dimallumque oppugnari. eo se auerterant Romani ab Aetolorum quo missi erant auxilio, irati quod sine auctoritate sua aduersus foedus cum rege pacem fecissent. ea cum audisset Philippus ne qui motus maior in finitimis gentibus populisque oreretur magnis itineribus Apolloniam contendit, quo Sempronius se receperat misso Laetorio legato cum parte copiarum et quindecim nauibus in Aetoliam ad uisendas res pacemque si posset turbandam.

Scarcely had the peace been made when a messenger came to the king that the Romans had come to Dyrrhachium, and that the Parthini and other neighboring peoples had been stirred to the hope of renewing the state of affairs, and that Dimallum was under assault. Thither the Romans had turned themselves away from the Aetolians, to whose aid they had been sent, angered because, without their authority, contrary to the treaty with the king, they had made peace. When Philip heard these things, lest any greater commotion should arise among the bordering tribes and peoples, he hastened by great marches to Apollonia, to which place Sempronius had withdrawn, Laetorius the legate having been sent with part of the forces and fifteen ships into Aetolia to inspect affairs and, if he could, to disturb the peace.

Philippus agros Apolloniatium uastauit et ad urbem admotis copiis potestatem pugnae Romano fecit; quem postquam quietum muros tantummodo tueri uidit, nec satis fidens uiribus ut urbem oppugnaret et cum Romanis quoque, sicut cum Aetolis, cupiens pacem si posset, si minus, indutias facere, nihil ultra inritatis nouo certamine odiis in regnum se recepit.

Philip devastated the fields of the Apolloniates and, with his forces brought up to the city, offered battle to the Roman; but when he saw him remain quiet, merely defending the walls, and, not sufficiently confident in his strength to assault the city, and also wishing, as with the Aetolians, to make peace with the Romans if he could, if not, a truce, he did nothing further—so as not to inflame the hatreds with a new contest—and withdrew to his kingdom.

Per idem tempus taedio diutini belli Epirotae temptata prius Romanorum uoluntate legatos de pace communi ad Philippum misere, satis confidere conuenturam eam adfirmantes si ad conloquium cum P. Sempronio imperatore Romano uenisset. facile impetratum—neque enim ne ipsius quidem regis abhorrebat animus—ut in Epirum transiret. Phoenice urbs est Epiri; ibi prius conlocutus rex cum Aeropo et Derda et Philippo, Epirotarum praetoribus, postea cum P. Sempronio congreditur.

At the same time, out of weariness of the long war, the Epirotes, after first testing the will of the Romans, sent envoys to Philip about a common peace, affirming that they were confident it would be arranged if he should come to a conference with P. Sempronius, the commander of the Romans. It was easily obtained—for not even the king’s own mind shrank from it—that he should cross into Epirus. Phoenice is a city of Epirus; there the king first conferred with Aeropus and Derda and Philip, praetors of the Epirotes, afterwards he met with P. Sempronius.

adfuit conloquio Amynander Athamanum rex, et magistratus alii Epirotarum et Acarnanum. primus Philippus praetor uerba facit et petit simul ab rege et ab imperatore Romano ut finem belli facerent darentque eam Epirotis ueniam. P. Sempronius condiciones pacis dixit ut Parthini et Dimallum et Bargullum et Eugenium Romanorum essent, Atintania, si missis Romam legatis ab senatu impetrasset, ut Macedoniae accederet.

Amynander, king of the Athamanians, was present at the colloquy, and other magistrates of the Epirotes and of the Acarnanians. Philip the praetor spoke first and asked both of the king and of the Roman imperator to make an end of the war and to grant that pardon to the Epirotes. P. Sempronius stated the conditions of peace: that the Parthini and Dimallum and Bargullum and Eugenium should be of the Romans, and that Atintania, if by sending ambassadors to Rome it should obtain this from the senate, should be appended to Macedonia.

in eas condiciones cum pax conueniret, ab rege foederi adscripti Prusia Bithyniae rex, Achaei Boeoti Thessali Acarnanes Epirotae: ab Romanis Ilienses, Attalus rex, Pleuratus, Nabis Lacedaemoniorum tyrannus, Elei Messenii Athenienses. haec conscripta consignataque sunt, et in duos menses indutiae factae donec Romam mitterentur legati ut populus in has condiciones pacem iuberet; iusseruntque omnes tribus, quia uerso in Africam bello omnibus aliis in praesentia leuari bellis uolebant. P. Sempronius pace facta ad consulatum Romam decessit.

when peace came together on those conditions, the following were enrolled in the treaty on the king’s side: Prusias, king of Bithynia, the Achaeans, Boeotians, Thessalians, Acarnanians, Epirotes: on the Roman side, the Ilians, King Attalus, Pleuratus, Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians, the Eleans, Messenians, Athenians. These things were written down and sealed, and a truce for two months was made until envoys should be sent to Rome, that the people might order peace on these conditions; and all the tribes ordered it, because with the war turned to Africa they wished all the other wars to be lightened for the present. P. Sempronius, peace having been made, departed to Rome for the consulship.

[13] M. Cornelio P. Sempronio consulibus—quintus decimus is annus belli Punici erat—prouinciae Cornelio Etruria cum uetere exercitu, Sempronio Bruttii ut nouas scriberet legiones decretae: praetoribus M. Marcio urbana, L. Scribonio Liboni peregrina et eidem Gallia, M. Pomponio Mathoni Sicilia, Ti. Claudio Neroni Sardinia euenit. P. Scipioni cum eo exercitu, cum ea classe quam habebat, prorogatum in annum imperium est; item P. Licinio ut Bruttios duabus legionibus obtineret quoad eum in prouincia cum imperio morari consuli e re publica uisum esset. et M. Liuio et Sp. Lucretio cum binis legionibus quibus aduersus Magonem Galliae praesidio fuissent prorogatum imperium est, et Cn. Octauio ut cum Sardiniam legionemque Ti. Claudio tradidisset ipse nauibus longis quadraginta maritimam oram, quibus finibus senatus censuisset, tutaretur.

[13] With M. Cornelius and P. Sempronius as consuls—the 15th year of the Punic war—provinces were assigned: to Cornelius, Etruria with the veteran army; to Sempronius, Bruttium, that he should enroll new legions, were decreed; to the praetors, to M. Marcius the urban jurisdiction, to L. Scribonius Libo the foreign, and to that same man, Gaul; to M. Pomponius Matho, Sicily; to Ti. Claudius Nero, Sardinia, fell by lot. For P. Scipio, with that army, with that fleet which he had, his imperium was prolonged for a year; likewise for P. Licinius, that he should hold Bruttium with two legions as long as it seemed to the consul, in the interest of the commonwealth, for him to remain in the province with imperium, was fitting. And for M. Livius and Sp. Lucretius, with the two legions with which they had been on garrison duty in Gaul against Mago, imperium was prolonged; and for Cn. Octavius, that, when he had handed over Sardinia and the legion to Ti. Claudius, he himself should protect with forty long ships the maritime coast, within whatever boundaries the senate had decreed.

M. Pomponio praetori in Sicilia Cannensis exercitus duae legiones decretae; T. Quinctius Tarentum, C. Hostilius Tubulus Capuam pro praetoribus, sicut priore anno, cum uetere uterque praesidio obtinerent. de Hispaniae imperio, quos in eam prouinciam duos pro consulibus mitti placeret latum ad populum est. omnes tribus eosdem L. Cornelium Lentulum et L. Manlium Acidinum pro consulibus, sicut priore anno tenuissent, obtinere eas prouincias iusserunt.

M. Pomponius, praetor in Sicily, was assigned two legions of the Cannensian army; T. Quinctius was [assigned] Tarentum, C. Hostilius Tubulus Capua, as pro-praetors, just as in the previous year, each to hold them with the old garrison. Concerning the command of Spain, it was brought before the people which two men it should please to be sent into that province as pro-consuls. All the tribes ordered that the same L. Cornelius Lentulus and L. Manlius Acidinus, as pro-consuls, should hold those provinces, as they had held them the previous year.

consules dilectum habere instituerunt et ad nouas scribendas in Bruttios legiones et in ceterorum—ita enim iussi ab senatu erant—exercituum supplementum.

The consuls began to hold a levy, for enrolling new legions in Bruttium, and for the supplement of the rest of the armies—for thus they had been ordered by the Senate.

[14] Quamquam nondum aperte Africa prouincia decreta erat occultantibus id, credo, patribus ne praesciscerent Carthaginienses, tamen in eam spem erecta ciuitas erat in Africa eo anno bellatum iri finemque bello Punico adesse. impleuerat ea res superstitionum animos, pronique et ad nuntianda et ad credenda prodigia erant; eo plura uolgabantur: duos soles uisos, et nocte interluxisse, et facem Setiae ab ortu solis ad occidentem porrigi uisam: Tarracinae portam, Anagniae et portam et multis locis murum de caelo tactum: in aede Iunonis Sospitae Lanuui cum horrendo fragore strepitum editum. eorum procurandorum causa diem unum supplicatio fuit, et nouendiale sacrum quod de caelo lapidatum esset factum.

[14] Although Africa had not yet been openly decreed as a province, the fathers concealing this, I believe, lest the Carthaginians should get foreknowledge, nevertheless the community had been raised to the hope that in Africa that year war would be waged and that the end of the Punic War was at hand. That matter had filled minds with superstitions, and they were prone both to announce and to believe prodigies; therefore the more were being spread abroad: that two suns had been seen, and that in the night it had shone, and that at Setia a torch was seen to be stretched from sunrise to sunset: that at Tarracina a gate, and at Anagnia both a gate and in many places the wall, had been struck from the sky: that in the temple of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium, with a horrendous crash, a clatter was emitted. For the sake of procuring these there was a one-day supplication, and a novendial sacred rite was performed because there had been a stone-fall from the sky.

eo accessit consultatio de matre Idaea accipienda, quam, praeterquam quod M. Ualerius unus ex legatis praegressus actutum in Italia fore nuntiauerat, recens nuntius aderat Tarracinae iam esse. haud paruae rei iudicium senatum tenebat qui uir optimus in ciuitate esset; ueram certe uictoriam eius rei sibi quisque mallet quam ulla imperia honoresue suffragio seu patrum seu plebis delatos. P. Scipionem Cn. filium eius qui in Hispania ceciderat, adulescentem nondum quaestorium, iudicauerunt in tota ciuitate uirum bonorum optimum esse.—id quibus uirtutibus inducti ita iudicarint, sicut traditum a proximis memoriae temporum illorum scriptoribus libens posteris traderem, ita meas opiniones coniectando rem uetustate obrutam non interponam.

To this there was added a consultation about receiving the Idaean Mother, which, besides the fact that M. Valerius, one of the legates who had gone ahead, had announced would be immediately in Italy, a fresh report was at hand that she was already at Tarracina. No small matter’s decision held the senate: who the best man in the state was; each would certainly prefer a true victory in that matter for himself than any commands or honors conferred by the vote either of the fathers or of the plebs. They judged P. Scipio, the son of Cn., of the one who had fallen in Spain, a youth not yet of quaestorian rank, to be in the whole state the best man among the good. — By what virtues, being induced, they thus judged, just as it has been handed down by the writers nearest in memory to those times I would gladly hand down to posterity; so I will not insert my own opinions by conjecturing about a matter buried by antiquity.

P. Cornelius cum omnibus matronis Ostiam obuiam ire deae iussus; isque eam de naue acciperet et in terram elatam traderet ferendam matronis. postquam nauis ad ostium amnis Tiberini accessit, sicut erat iussus, in salum naue euectus ab sacerdotibus deam accepit extulitque in terram. matronae primores ciuitatis, inter quas unius Claudiae Quintae insigne est nomen, accepere; cui dubia, ut traditur, antea fama clariorem ad posteros tam religioso ministerio pudicitiam fecit.

P. Cornelius, having been ordered to go with all the matrons to Ostia to meet the goddess; and that he should receive her from the ship and, once lifted onto land, hand her over to the matrons to be borne. After the ship approached the mouth of the river Tiber, just as he had been ordered, borne out into the open sea on the ship, he received the goddess from the priests and brought her forth onto land. The matrons, the foremost of the commonwealth, among whom the name of one, Claudia Quinta, is distinguished, received her; whose reputation, previously doubtful, as it is handed down, by so religious a ministry made her chastity more renowned to posterity.

eae per manus, succedentes deinde aliae aliis, omni obuiam effusa ciuitate, turibulis ante ianuas positis qua praeferebatur atque accenso ture precantibus ut uolens propitiaque urbem Romanam iniret, in aedem Uictoriae quae est in Palatio pertulere deam pridie idus Apriles; isque dies festus fuit. populus frequens dona deae in Palatium tulit, lectisterniumque et ludi fuere, Megalesia appellata.

they, from hand to hand, others then succeeding others, with the whole city poured out to meet her, with censers set before the doorways along which she was being borne, and with the incense kindled praying that, willing and propitious, she might enter the city of Rome, carried the goddess to the temple of Victory, which is on the Palatine, on the day before the Ides of April; and that day was a feast-day. the people in throngs brought gifts to the goddess into the Palatine, and there were a lectisternium and games, called the Megalesia.

[15] Cum de supplemento legionum quae in prouinciis erant ageretur, tempus esse a quibusdam senatoribus subiectum est quae dubiis in rebus utcumque tolerata essent, ea dempto iam tandem deum benignitate metu non ultra pati. erectis exspectatione patribus subiecerunt colonias Latinas duodecim quae Q. Fabio et Q. Fuluio consulibus abnuissent milites dare, eas annum iam ferme sextum uacationem militiae quasi honoris et beneficii causa habere cum interim boni obedientesque socii pro fide atque obsequio in populum Romanum continuis omnium annorum dilectibus exhausti essent. sub hanc uocem non memoria magis patribus renouata rei prope iam oblitteratae quam ira inritata est.

[15] When the matter of the supplement for the legions that were in the provinces was being handled, it was put forward by certain senators that the time had come to remove things which in doubtful circumstances had been tolerated somehow, and, with fear now at last taken away by the benignity of the gods, to endure them no longer. The senators, their expectation aroused, added that the twelve Latin colonies which, in the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Quintus Fulvius, had refused to give soldiers, had now for almost the sixth year been enjoying an exemption from military service, as if for the sake of honor and benefit, while meanwhile the good and obedient allies, for their loyalty and obedience toward the Roman People, had been exhausted by the continuous levies of all the years. At this utterance, it was not so much the memory in the senators of a matter by now almost obliterated that was renewed as their anger that was provoked.

itaque nihil prius referre consules passi, decreuerunt ut consules magistratus denosque principes Nepete Sutrio Ardea Calibus Alba Carseolis Sora Suessa Setia Circeiis Narnia Interamna—hae namque coloniae in ea causa erant—Romam excirent; iis imperarent, quantum quaeque earum coloniarum militum plurimum dedisset populo Romano ex quo hostes in Italia essent, duplicatum eius summae numerum peditum daret et equites centenos uicenos; si qua eum numerum equitum explere non posset pro equite uno tres pedites liceret dare; pedites equitesque quam locupletissimi legerentur mitterenturque ubicumque extra Italiam supplemento opus esset. si qui ex iis recusarent, retineri eius coloniae magistratus legatosque placere neque si postularent senatum dari priusquam imperata fecissent. stipendium praeterea iis coloniis in milia aeris asses singulos imperari exigique quotannis, censumque in iis coloniis agi ex formula ab Romanis censoribus data; dari autem placere eandem quam populo Romano; deferrique Romam ab iuratis censoribus coloniarum priusquam magistratu abirent.

and so, allowing the consuls to report nothing prior, they decreed that the consuls should summon to Rome the magistrates and ten leading men from Nepete, Sutrium, Ardea Cales, Alba, Carseoli, Sora, Suessa, Setia, Circeii, Narnia Interamna—for these colonies were in that case—and should order them that, as much as each of those colonies had at the most furnished of soldiers to the Roman people since enemies had been in Italy, it should give a doubled number of that sum of infantry, and horsemen a hundred and twenty each; if any should be unable to make up that number of horsemen, it should be permitted to give three foot-soldiers in place of one horseman; let the foot and horse be chosen as wealthy as possible and be sent wherever outside Italy there was need of a supplement. if any of them should refuse, it was resolved that the magistrates and envoys of that colony be detained, and that, even if they should request it, a meeting of the senate should not be granted before they had done the things commanded. moreover, that upon those colonies a levy be imposed and exacted yearly of one as on every thousand asses of bronze, and that a census be conducted in those colonies according to the formula given by the Roman censors; and that the same [formula] as for the Roman people be given; and that it be reported to Rome by the sworn censors of the colonies before they left office.

ex hoc senatus consulto accitis Romam magistratibus primoribusque earum coloniarum consules cum milites stipendiumque imperassent, alii aliis magis recusare ac reclamare: negare tantum militum effici posse: uix si simplum ex formula imperetur enisuros: orare atque obsecrare ut sibi senatum adire ac deprecari liceret: nihil se quare perire merito deberent admisisse; sed si pereundum etiam foret, neque suum delictum neque iram populi Romani ut plus militum darent quam haberent posse efficere. consules obstinati legatos manere Romae iubent, magistratus ire domum ad dilectus habendos: nisi summa militum quae imperata esset Romam adducta neminem iis senatum daturum. ita praecisa spe senatum adeundi deprecandique dilectus in iis duodecim coloniis per longam uacationem numero iuniorum aucto haud difficulter est perfectus.

From this senatorial decree, when the magistrates and the leading men of those colonies had been summoned to Rome and the consuls had ordered soldiers and a war-levy, some more, some less, refused and protested: they said that so many soldiers could not be produced; hardly, if the single quota according to the formula were ordered, would they exert themselves; they begged and besought that it be permitted them to approach the Senate and deprecate; that they had committed nothing for which they ought deservedly to perish; but if they must perish even so, neither their own fault nor the wrath of the Roman People could bring it about that they give more soldiers than they had. The consuls, obstinate, ordered the envoys to remain at Rome, the magistrates to go home to hold the levies: unless the total of soldiers that had been ordered were brought to Rome, no Senate would be granted them. Thus, hope cut off of approaching and deprecating the Senate, the levy in those twelve colonies—through the long vacation the number of the younger men having increased—was completed not with difficulty.

[16] Altera item res prope aeque longo neglecta silentio relata a M. Ualerio Laeuino est qui priuatis conlatas pecunias se ac M. Claudio consulibus reddi tandem aequum esse dixit; nec mirari quemquam debere in publica obligata fide suam praecipuam curam esse; nam praeterquam quod aliquid proprie ad consulem eius anni quo conlatae pecuniae essent pertineret, etiam se auctorem ita conferendi fuisse inopi aerario nec plebe ad tributum sufficiente. grata ea patribus admonitio fuit; iussisque referre consulibus decreuerunt ut tribus pensionibus ea pecunia solueretur; primam praesentem ii qui tum essent, duas tertii et quinti consules numerarent.

[16] Another matter likewise, neglected in almost as long a silence, was brought forward by M. Valerius Laevinus, who said that it was at last equitable that the monies contributed by private persons—contributions made in his and M. Claudius’s consulship—should be repaid; nor ought anyone to wonder that, with the public faith pledged, this was his chief concern; for besides the fact that something properly pertained to the consul of the year in which the monies had been contributed, he had also been the promoter of contributing thus to a needy treasury, the plebs not being sufficient for the tribute. That reminder was welcome to the senators; and the consuls being ordered to refer the matter, they decreed that that money should be paid in three installments: the first immediately by those who were then in office, the other two to be paid by the consuls of the 3rd and 5th years.

Omnes deinde alias curas una occupauit postquam Locrensium clades, quae ignoratae ad eam diem fuerant, legatorum aduentu uolgatae sunt; nec tam Plemini scelus quam Scipionis in eo aut ambitio aut neglegentia iras hominum inritauit. decem legati Locrensium obsiti squalore et sordibus in comitio sedentibus consulibus uelamenta supplicum, ramos oleae, ut Graecis mos est, porgentes ante tribunal cum flebili uociferatione humi procubuerunt. quaerentibus consulibus Locrenses se dixerunt esse, ea passos a Q. Pleminio legato Romanisque militibus quae pati ne Carthaginienses quidem uelit populus Romanus; orare uti sibi patres adeundi deplorandique aerumnas suas potestatem facerent.

Then one concern thereafter occupied all the other cares, after the disaster of the Locrians, which had been unknown until that day, was made public by the arrival of the envoys; nor so much did the crime of Pleminius as Scipio’s either ambition or negligence in the matter provoke men’s wrath. Ten envoys of the Locrians, covered in squalor and filth, while the consuls were sitting in the comitium, proffering the veils of suppliants, olive-branches, as is the Greek custom, before the tribunal, with a tearful outcry fell prostrate on the ground. When the consuls asked, they said they were Locrians, that they had suffered at the hands of Quintus Pleminius, the legate, and the Roman soldiers things which the Roman People would not wish even the Carthaginians to suffer; they begged that the Fathers would grant them permission to approach and to bewail their hardships.

[17] Senatu dato, maximus natu ex iis: 'scio, quanti aestimentur nostrae apud uos querellae, patres conscripti, plurimum in eo momenti esse si probe sciatis et quomodo proditi Locri Hannibali sint et quomodo pulso Hannibalis praesidio restituti in dicionem uestram; quippe si et culpa defectionis procul a publico consilio absit, et reditum in uestram dicionem appareat non uoluntate solum sed ope etiam ac uirtute nostra, magis indignemini bonis ac fidelibus sociis tam indignas tam atroces iniurias ab legato uestro militibusque fieri. sed ego causam utriusque defectionis nostrae in aliud tempus differendam arbitror esse duarum rerum gratia; unius ut coram P. Scipione, qui Locros recepit <et> omnium nobis recte perperamque factorum est testis, agatur; alterius quod qualescumque sumus tamen haec quae passi sumus pati non debuimus. non possumus dissimulare, patres conscripti, nos cum praesidium Punicum in arce nostra haberemus, multa foeda et indigna et a praefecto praesidii Hamilcare et ab Numidis Afrisque passos esse; sed quid illa sunt, conlata cum iis quae hodie patimur?

[17] When a senate-hearing was granted, the eldest of them said: “I know how greatly our complaints are valued among you, Conscript Fathers, that there is very much of moment in this: if you know well both how Locri was betrayed to Hannibal and how, with Hannibal’s garrison expelled, we were restored into your dominion. For if both the fault of the defection is far removed from any public counsel, and our return into your dominion appears not by will only but also by our help and valor, you should be the more indignant that to good and faithful allies such unworthy, such atrocious injuries are being done by your legate and soldiers. But I judge that the case of each of our defections should be deferred to another time for the sake of two considerations: first, that it be conducted in the presence of P. Scipio, who recovered Locri and is witness of all things done to us rightly and wrongly; second, that, whatever we are, nevertheless we ought not to have suffered these things which we have suffered. We cannot dissemble, Conscript Fathers, that when we had a Punic garrison in our citadel, we suffered many foul and unworthy things both from Hamilcar, the commander of the garrison, and from the Numidians and Africans; but what are those, compared with the things which we suffer today?”

cum bona uenia, quaeso, audiatis, patres conscripti, id quod inuitus eloquar. in discrimine est nunc humanum omne genus, utrum uos an Carthaginienses principes orbis terrarum uideat. si ex iis quae Locrenses aut ab illis passi sumus aut a uestro praesidio nunc cum maxime patimur aestimandum Romanum ac Punicum imperium sit, nemo non illos sibi quam uos dominos praeoptet.

By your good leave, I beg you, Conscript Fathers, to hear what I speak unwillingly. The whole human race is now in a crisis, whether it will behold you or the Carthaginians as princes of the world. If the Roman and the Punic dominion is to be judged from those things which we Locrians have either suffered at their hands, or which just now most especially we are suffering from your garrison, there is no one who would not prefer them over you as masters.

et tamen uidete quemadmodum in uos Locrenses animati sint. cum a Carthaginiensibus iniurias tanto minores acciperemus, ad uestrum imperatorem confugimus: cum a uestro praesidio plus quam hostilia patiamur, nusquam alio quam ad uos querellas detulimus. aut uos respicietis perditas res nostras, patres conscripti, aut ne ab dis quidem immortalibus quod precemur quicquam superest.

And yet see how the Locrians are disposed toward you. When from the Carthaginians we were receiving injuries so much lesser, we fled for refuge to your commander;
when from your garrison we suffer things worse than hostile deeds, to nowhere else than to you have we brought our complaints.
Either you will have regard for our ruined affairs, Conscript Fathers, or not even from the immortal gods is anything left which we may pray for.

'Q. Pleminius legatus missus est cum praesidio ad recipiendos a Carthaginiensibus Locros et cum eodem ibi relictus est praesidio. in hoc legato uestro—dant enim animum ad loquendum libere ultimae miseriae—nec hominis quicquam est, patres conscripti, praeter figuram et speciem neque Romani ciuis praeter habitum uestitumque et sonum Latinae linguae; pestis ac belua immanis, quales fretum quondam quo ab Sicilia diuidimur ad perniciem nauigantium circumsedisse fabulae ferunt. ac si scelus libidinemque et auaritiam solus ipse exercere in socios uestros satis haberet, unam profundam quidem uoraginem tamen patientia nostra expleremus: nunc omnes centuriones militesque uestros—adeo in promiscuo licentiam atque improbitatem esse uoluit—Pleminios fecit; omnes rapiunt, spoliant, uerberant, uolnerant, occidunt; constuprant matronas, uirgines, ingenuos raptos ex complexu parentium.

'Q. Pleminius, the legate, was sent with a garrison to recover Locri from the Carthaginians, and with that same garrison he was left there. In this your legate—for extremest miseries do indeed give spirit to speak freely—there is nothing of a human being, Conscript Fathers, except the figure and appearance, nor of a Roman citizen except the garb and clothing and the sound of the Latin tongue; a pest and a monstrous beast, such as tales report once sat around the strait by which we are divided from Sicily, to the ruin of sailors. And if he alone were content to exercise crime, lust, and avarice upon your allies, we would, by our patience, fill even that one deep chasm; but now he has made all your centurions and soldiers—so much did he will license and wickedness to be common—Pleminii: all seize, despoil, beat, wound, kill; they violate matrons and maidens and freeborn youths, snatched from the embrace of their parents.

cottidie capitur urbs nostra, cottidie diripitur; dies noctesque omnia passim mulierum puerorumque qui rapiuntur atque asportantur ploratibus sonant. miretur qui sciat, quomodo aut nos ad patiendum sufficiamus aut illos qui faciunt nondum tantarum iniuriarum satietas ceperit. neque ego exsequi possum nec uobis operae est audire singula quae passi sumus: communiter omnia amplectar.

every day our city is taken, every day it is plundered; day and night everywhere all things resound with the lamentations of women and children who are seized and carried off. let whoever knows marvel at how either we suffice to endure, or a surfeit of such great injuries has not yet taken those who do these things. nor can i recount, nor have you the leisure to hear, the particulars which we have suffered: i will take everything together.

nego domum ullam Locris, nego quemquam hominem expertem iniuriae esse; nego ullum genus sceleris, libidinis, auaritiae superesse quod in ullo qui pati potuerit praetermissum sit. uix ratio iniri potest uter casus ciuitati sit detestabilior, cum hostes bello urbem cepere an cum exitiabilis tyrannus ui atque armis oppressit. omnia quae captae urbes patiuntur passi sumus et cum maxime patimur, patres conscripti; omnia quae crudelissimi atque importunissimi tyranni scelera in oppressos ciues edunt Pleminius in nos liberosque nostros et coniuges edidit.

i deny that there is any house in Locri, i deny that any man is exempt from injury; i deny that any kind of crime, of lust, of avarice remains which, in any person who could endure it, has been left unattempted. scarcely can a reckoning be entered as to which mischance is more detestable for the community, whether when enemies took the city in war or when a ruin-bringing tyrant oppressed it by force and arms. all the things which captured cities suffer we have suffered and are right now suffering, conscript fathers; all the crimes which the most cruel and most importunate tyrants perpetrate upon oppressed citizens Pleminius has perpetrated upon us and our children and wives.

[18] 'Unum est de quo nominatim et nos queri religio infixa animis cogat et uos audire et exsoluere rem publicam uestram religione, si ita uobis uidebitur, uelimus, patres conscripti; uidimus enim cum quanta caerimonia non uestros solum colatis deos sed etiam externos accipiatis. fanum est apud nos Proserpinae, de cuius sanctitate templi credo aliquam famam ad uos peruenisse Pyrrhi bello, qui cum ex Sicilia rediens Locros classe praeterueheretur, inter alia foeda quae propter fidem erga uos in ciuitatem nostram facinora edidit, thesauros quoque Proserpinae intactos ad eam diem spoliauit atque ita pecunia in naues imposita ipse terra est profectus. quid ergo euenit, patres conscripti?

[18] 'There is one thing about which, in particular, both a religious scruple fixed in our minds compels us to complain, and we would wish you to hear it and to absolve your commonwealth from the religious obligation, if it so seems to you, senators; for we have seen with how great ceremony you not only worship your own gods but also receive foreign ones. There is among us a shrine of Proserpina, of the sanctity of whose temple I believe some report reached you in the war of Pyrrhus, who, when returning from Sicily and sailing past Locri with his fleet, among other foul crimes which he perpetrated in our city on account of our loyalty toward you, also despoiled the treasures of Proserpina, untouched to that day, and thus, the money having been put onto the ships, he himself set out by land. What then happened, senators?'

classis postero die foedissima tempestate lacerata omnesque naues quae sacram pecuniam habuerunt in litora nostra eiectae sunt; qua tanta clade edoctus tandem deos esse, superbissimus rex pecuniam omnem conquisitam in thesauros Proserpinae referri iussit. nec tamen illi unquam postea prosperi quicquam euenit, pulsusque Italia ignobili atque inhonesta morte temere nocte ingressus Argos occubuit. haec cum audisset legatus uester tribunique militum et mille alia quae non augendae religionis causa sed praesenti deae numine saepe comperta nobis maioribusque nostris referebantur, ausi sunt nihilominus sacrilegas admouere manus intactis illis thesauris et nefanda praeda se ipsos ac domos contaminare suas et milites uestros.

the fleet on the next day, torn by a most foul tempest, and all the ships which had the sacred money, were cast up onto our shores; taught by so great a disaster that there are gods after all, the most overbearing king ordered all the money that had been collected to be carried back into the treasures of Proserpina. nor yet did anything prosperous ever thereafter befall him, and, driven from Italy, having rashly entered Argos by night, he fell by an ignoble and dishonorable death. when your legate and the tribunes of the soldiers had heard these things, and a thousand others which were reported to us and to our ancestors not for the purpose of augmenting religion but often ascertained by the present numen of the goddess, nevertheless they dared to apply sacrilegious hands to those untouched treasures and to contaminate themselves and their homes, and your soldiers, with unspeakable plunder.

quibus per uos fidemque uestram, patres conscripti, priusquam eorum scelus expietis neque in Italia neque in Africa quicquam rei gesseritis, ne quod piaculi commiserunt non suo solum sanguine sed etiam publica clade luant.

on behalf of whom, by you and by your good faith, Conscript Fathers, before you expiate their crime and before you have transacted anything either in Italy or in Africa, we implore that they not pay for the piacular offense they have committed, not with their own blood alone but also with a public disaster.

'Quamquam ne nunc quidem, patres conscripti, aut in ducibus aut in militibus uestris cessat ira deae. aliquotiens iam inter se signis conlatis concurrerunt. dux alterius partis Pleminius, alterius duo tribuni militum erant.

'Although not even now, conscript fathers, does the goddess’s wrath cease either against your commanders or your soldiers. Already several times they have run together with standards joined in combat. The leader of one side was Pleminius; of the other, two military tribunes.

non acrius cum Carthaginiensibus quam inter se ipsi ferro dimicauerunt, praebuissentque occasionem furore suo Locros recipiendi Hannibali nisi accitus ab nobis Scipio interuenisset. at hercule milites contactos sacrilegio furor agitat, in ducibus ipsis puniendis nullum deae numen apparuit. immo ibi praesens maxime fuit.

not more fiercely with the Carthaginians than among themselves did they fight with steel, and they would have afforded Hannibal an occasion, by their frenzy, to retake Locri, had not Scipio, summoned by us, intervened. But, by Hercules, a fury agitates the soldiers, stained by sacrilege; in the very punishing of the commanders no numen of the goddess appeared. Nay, there she was most especially present.

uirgis caesi tribuni ab legato sunt: legatus deinde insidiis tribunorum interceptus, praeterquam quod toto corpore laceratus, naso quoque auribusque decisis exsanguis est relictus; recreatus dein legatus ex uolneribus tribunos militum in uincla coniectos, dein uerberatos seruilibus omnibus suppliciis cruciando occidit, mortuos deinde prohibuit sepeliri.

the tribunes were beaten with rods by the legate: then the legate, caught by the ambush of the tribunes, besides being lacerated over his whole body, with his nose and ears also cut off, was left bloodless; then the legate, recovered from his wounds, after the military tribunes had been cast into chains and then beaten, by torturing them with all servile punishments, crucifying them, he killed them, and then forbade the dead to be buried.

'Has dea poenas a templi sui spoliatoribus habet, nec ante desinet omnibus eos agitare furiis quam reposita sacra pecunia in thesauris fuerit. maiores quondam nostri graui Crotoniensium bello, quia extra urbem templum est, transferre in urbem eam pecuniam uoluerunt; noctu audita ex delubro uox est: abstinerent manus, deam sua defensuram. quia mouendi inde thesauros religio incussa erat, muro circumdari templum uoluerunt; ad aliquantum iam altitudinis excitata erant moenia cum subito conlapsa ruina sunt.

'The goddess exacts these penalties from the despoilers of her temple, nor will she cease to drive them with all the Furies before the sacred money has been replaced in the treasuries. Our ancestors once, in the grievous war with the Crotoniates, because the temple is outside the city, wished to transfer that money into the city; by night a voice was heard from the sanctuary: they should stay their hands, the goddess would defend what is hers. Because a scruple of religion had been struck into them against moving the treasures from there, they wished the temple to be surrounded by a wall; the walls had already been raised to some height when suddenly they collapsed in ruin.

sed et nunc et tunc et saepe alias dea suam sedem suumque templum aut tutata est aut a uiolatoribus grauia piacula exegit: nostras iniurias nec potest nec possit alius ulcisci quam uos, patres conscripti. ad uos uestramque fidem supplices confugimus. nihil nostra interest utrum sub illo legato sub illo praesidio Locros esse sinatis an irato Hannibali et Poenis ad supplicium dedatis.

but both now and then and often on other occasions the goddess has either safeguarded her own seat and her own temple or exacted grievous piacular penalties from violators: our injuries neither can nor might anyone else avenge but you, Conscript Fathers. To you and to your good faith we, suppliants, flee for refuge. It is no concern of ours whether you allow the Locrians to be under that legate, under that garrison, or hand them over for punishment to angry Hannibal and the Carthaginians.

non postulamus ut extemplo nobis, ut de absente, ut indicta causa credatis: ueniat, coram ipse audiat, ipse diluat. si quicquam sceleris quod homo in homines edere potest in nos praetermisit, non recusamus quin et nos omnia eadem iterum si pati possumus patiamur et ille omni diuino humanoque liberetur scelere.'

we do not ask that you at once believe us, as about an absent man, with no case stated: let him come, let him himself hear face to face, let him himself clear it away. if he has omitted anything of crime which a man can perpetrate upon men against us, we do not refuse that we too undergo all the same things again, if we can suffer them, and that he be freed from every divine and human crime.'

[19] Haec cum ab legatis dicta essent quaesissetque ab iis Q. Fabius detulissentne eas querellas ad P. Scipionem, responderunt missos legatos esse sed eum belli apparatu occupatum esse et in Africam aut iam traiecisse aut intra paucos dies traiecturum; et legati gratia quanta esset apud imperatorem expertos esse cum inter eum et tribunos cognita causa tribunos in uincla coniecerit, legatum aeque sontem aut magis etiam in ea potestate reliquerit. iussis excedere templo legatis, non Pleminius modo sed etiam Scipio principum orationibus lacerari. ante omnes Q. Fabius natum eum ad corrumpendam disciplinam militarem arguere: sic et in Hispania plus prope per seditionem militum quam bello amissum; externo et regio more et indulgere licentiae militum et saeuire in eos.

[19] When these things had been said by the envoys and Q. Fabius had inquired of them whether they had brought those complaints to P. Scipio, they replied that envoys had been sent, but that he was occupied with the apparatus of war and had either already crossed over into Africa or would cross within a few days; and that they had found by experience how great the legate’s favor was with the commander, since, the case having been heard between him and the tribunes, he had cast the tribunes into chains, but had left the legate, equally guilty or even more so, in that authority. When the envoys were ordered to withdraw from the temple, not Pleminius only but even Scipio was torn by the speeches of the leading men. Above all, Q. Fabius charged that he was born to corrupt military discipline: thus also in Spain almost more was lost through a mutiny of the soldiers than in war; after the foreign and royal fashion both to indulge the license of the soldiers and to rage against them.

sententiam deinde aeque trucem orationi adiecit: Pleminium legatum uinctum Romam deportari placere et ex uinculis causam dicere ac, si uera forent quae Locrenses quererentur, in carcere necari bonaque eius publicari: P. Scipionem quod de prouincia decessisset iniussu senatus reuocari, agique cum tribunis plebis ut de imperio eius abrogando ferrent ad populum: Locrensibus coram senatum respondere quas iniurias sibi factas quererentur eas neque senatum neque populum Romanum factas uelle; uiros bonos sociosque et amicos eos appellari; liberos coniuges quaeque alia erepta essent restitui: pecuniam quanta ex thesauris Proserpinae sublata esset conquiri duplamque pecuniam in thesauros reponi, et sacrum piaculare fieri ita ut prius ad collegium pontificum referretur, quod sacri thesauri moti aperti uiolati essent, quae piacula, quibus dis, quibus hostiis fieri placeret: milites qui Locris essent omnes in Siciliam transportari: quattuor cohortes sociorum Latini nominis in praesidium Locros adduci.

then he added to his oration an equally truculent sentence: that it was pleasing that Pleminius the legate be deported to Rome in chains and plead his cause from his shackles, and, if the things which the Locrians complained of were true, that he be killed in prison and his goods be made public; that Publius Scipio be recalled because he had departed from his province without the senate’s order, and that it be negotiated with the tribunes of the plebs that they should carry to the people a measure for abrogating his imperium; that the senate answer the Locrians face to face that the injuries which they complained had been done to them the senate and Roman people were unwilling to have been done; that they be styled good men, allies and friends; that children, wives, and whatever other things had been snatched away be restored; that the money, as much as had been removed from the treasuries of Proserpina, be sought out, and double the money be replaced in the treasuries; and that a piacular rite be performed, on condition that it first be referred to the college of pontiffs—because the sacred treasuries had been disturbed, opened, violated—as to what expiations, to which gods, with which victims it should be performed; that the soldiers who were at Locri all be transported to Sicily; that four cohorts of the allies of the Latin name be brought to Locri as a garrison.

Perrogari eo die sententiae accensis studiis pro Scipione et aduersus Scipionem non potuere. praeter Plemini facinus Locrensiumque cladem ipsius etiam imperatoris non Romanus modo sed ne militaris quidem cultus iactabatur: cum pallio crepidisque inambulare in gymnasio; libellis eum palaestraeque operam dare; aeque [segniter] molliter cohortem totam Syracusarum amoenitate frui; Carthaginem atque Hannibalem excidisse de memoria; exercitum omnem licentia corruptum, qualis Sucrone in Hispania fuerit, qualis nunc Locris, sociis magis quam hosti metuendum.

On that day, with zeal inflamed for Scipio and against Scipio, votes could not be taken. Besides Pleminius’s crime and the disaster of the Locrians, there were also allegations about the commander himself—of a bearing not Roman, nay not even military: that he walked about in the gymnasium in a pallium and crepidae; that he gave attention to little books and the palaestra; that, equally [sluggishly], softly, his whole cohort enjoyed the amenity of Syracuse; that Carthage and Hannibal had fallen out of memory; that the whole army had been corrupted by licence, such as it had been at Sucrone in Spain, such as now at Locri, to be feared more by allies than by the enemy.

[20] Haec quamquam partim uera partim mixta eoque similia ueris iactabantur, tamen uicit Q. Metelli sententia qui de ceteris Maximo adsensus de Scipionis causa dissensit: qui enim conuenire quem modo ciuitas iuuenem admodum unum reciperandae Hispaniae delegerit ducem, quem recepta ab hostibus Hispania ad imponendum Punico bello finem creauerit consulem, spe destinauerit Hannibalem ex Italia retracturum, Africam subacturum, eum repente, tamquam Q. Pleminium, indicta causa prope damnatum ex prouincia reuocari, cum ea quae in se nefarie facta Locrenses quererentur ne praesente quidem Scipione facta dicerent, neque aliud quam patientia aut pudor quod legato pepercisset insimulari posset? sibi placere M. Pomponium praetorem, cui Sicilia prouincia sorti euenisset, triduo proximo in prouinciam proficisci: consules decem legatos quos iis uideretur ex senatu legere quos cum praetore mitterent, et duos tribunos plebei atque aedilem; cum eo consilio praetorem cognoscere; si ea quae Locrenses facta quererentur iussu aut uoluntate P. Scipionis facta essent, ut eum de prouincia decedere iuberent; si P. Scipio iam in Africam traiecisset, tribuni plebis atque aedilis cum duobus legatis quos maxime idoneos praetor censuisset in Africam proficiscerentur, tribuni atque aedilis qui reducerent inde Scipionem, legati qui exercitui praeessent donec nouus imperator ad eum exercitum uenisset: si M. Pomponius et decem legati comperissent neque iussu neque uoluntate P. Scipionis ea facta esse, ut ad exercitum Scipio maneret bellumque ut proposuisset gereret. hoc facto senatus consulto, cum tribunis plebis actum est aut compararent inter se aut sorte legerent qui duo cum praetore ac legatis irent: ad collegium pontificum relatum de expiandis quae Locris in templo Proserpinae tacta ac uiolata elataque inde essent.

[20] Although these things, partly true, partly mixed and thus resembling truths, were being bandied about, nevertheless the opinion of Q. Metellus prevailed, who agreed with Maximus on the rest but dissented regarding Scipio: for how was it consistent that the same man whom the commonwealth had but lately, while very young, chosen as the sole leader for the recovery of Hispania, whom, Hispania recovered from the enemy, it had created consul to impose an end upon the Punic war, in the hope that he would draw Hannibal back from Italy and subdue Africa, should suddenly, like Q. Pleminius, be recalled from his province almost as though condemned without a hearing—when the Locrians said that the things impiously done against them had not even been done with Scipio present, nor could anything be imputed to him other than forbearance or modesty in that he spared his legate? His proposal was that M. Pomponius the praetor, to whom the province of Sicily had fallen by lot, set out for the province within the next three days; that the consuls choose from the Senate ten envoys whom they should send with the praetor, and two tribunes of the plebs and an aedile; that the praetor, with that council, conduct an inquiry; if the things which the Locrians complained had been done were done by the order or will of P. Scipio, that they should order him to depart from the province; if P. Scipio had already crossed over into Africa, that the tribunes of the plebs and the aedile should proceed to Africa with two envoys whom the praetor judged most suitable—the tribunes and the aedile to bring Scipio back from there, the envoys to command the army until a new commander should come to that army; if M. Pomponius and the ten envoys discovered that those deeds were neither by the order nor by the will of P. Scipio, that Scipio should remain with the army and wage the war as he had proposed. After this decree of the Senate was passed, it was arranged with the tribunes of the plebs that they either agree among themselves or draw lots as to which two should go with the praetor and the envoys; and reference was made to the college of pontiffs concerning the expiation of the things at Locri in the temple of Proserpina which had been touched and violated and carried out from there.

Tribuni plebis cum praetore et decem legatis profecti M. Claudius Marcellus et M. Cincius Alimentus; aedilis plebis datus est quem, si aut in Sicilia praetori dicto audiens non esset Scipio aut iam in Africam traiecisset, prendere tribuni iuberent, ac iure sacrosanctae potestatis reducerent. prius Locros ire quam Messanam consilium erat.

The tribunes of the plebs, together with the praetor and the ten legates, set out—M. Claudius Marcellus and M. Cincius Alimentus; an aedile of the plebs was appointed—the man whom, if either in Sicily Scipio should not be obedient to the praetor’s order or had already crossed into Africa, the tribunes were to command to seize, and by the right of their sacrosanct power to bring back. Their plan was to go to Locri before Messana.

[21 ] Ceterum duplex fama est quod ad Pleminium attinet. alii auditis quae Romae acta essent in exsilium Neapolim euntem forte in Q. Metellum unum ex legatis incidisse et ab eo Regium ui retractum tradunt: alii ab ipso Scipione legatum cum triginta nobilissimis equitum missum qui Q. Pleminium in catenas et cum eo seditionis principes conicerent. ii omnes seu ante Scipionis seu tum praetoris iussu traditi in custodiam Reginis sunt.

[21 ] However, there is a double report as regards Pleminius. Some, on hearing what had been done at Rome, relate that, as he was going into exile to Naples, he chanced to fall in with Q. Metellus, one of the legates, and by him was by force dragged back to Rhegium: others that by Scipio himself a legate was sent with thirty of the most noble of the equites to throw Q. Pleminius into chains and, along with him, the leaders of the sedition. All of them, whether previously by Scipio’s order or then by the praetor’s, were handed over into custody to the Rheginians.

Praetor legatique Locros profecti primam, sicuti mandatum erat, religionis curam habuere; omnem enim sacram pecuniam quaeque apud Pleminium quaeque apud milites erat conquisitam, cum ea quam ipsi secum attulerant, in thesauris reposuerunt ac piaculare sacrum fecerunt. tum uocatos ad contionem milites praetor signa extra urbem efferre iubet castraque in campo locat cum graui edicto si quis miles aut in urbe restitisset aut secum extulisset quod suum non esset: Locrensibus se permittere ut quod sui quisque cognosset prenderet, si quid non compareret repeteret; ante omnia libera corpora placere sine mora Locrensibus restitui; non leui defuncturum poena qui non restituisset. Locrensium deinde contionem habuit atque iis libertatem legesque suas populum Romanum senatumque restituere dixit; si qui Pleminium aliumue quem accusare uellet, Regium se sequeretur: si de P. Scipione publice queri uellent ea quae Locris nefarie in deos hominesque facta essent iussu aut uoluntate P. Scipionis facta esse, legatos mitterent Messanam; ibi se cum consilio cogniturum.

The praetor and the legates, having set out to Locri, first, just as it had been mandated, took care of religion; for all the sacred money, both that which had been collected with Pleminius and that with the soldiers, together with that which they themselves had brought with them, they replaced in the treasuries and performed an expiatory sacrifice. Then, the soldiers having been called to an assembly, the praetor orders the standards to be carried out beyond the city and pitches the camp in the plain, with a severe edict that if any soldier either had remained in the city or had carried off with him what was not his own: he allowed the Locrians this, that each might seize what he recognized as his own, and if anything did not appear, that he might reclaim it; before all else, that free persons be restored without delay to the Locrians; that he would not discharge with a light penalty the man who had not restored. Then he held an assembly of the Locrians and told them that the Roman People and the Senate were restoring their liberty and their own laws; if anyone wished to accuse Pleminius or anyone else, let him follow him to Rhegium; if they wished to complain publicly about P. Scipio—that the things which at Locri had been impiously done against gods and men had been done by the order or will of P. Scipio—let them send legates to Messana; there he would investigate with his council.

Locrenses praetori legatisque, senatui ac populo Romano gratias egerunt: se ad Pleminium accusandum ituros: Scipionem, quamquam parum iniuriis ciuitatis suae doluerit, eum esse uirum quem amicum sibi quam inimicum malint esse; pro certo se habere neque iussu neque uoluntate P. Scipionis tot tam nefanda commissa, sed aut Pleminio nimium [aut] sibi parum creditum, aut natura insitum quibusdam esse ut magis peccari nolint quam satis animi ad uindicanda peccata habeant. et praetori et consilio haud mediocre onus demptum erat de Scipione cognoscendi. Pleminium et ad duo et triginta homines cum eo damnauerunt atque in catenis Romam miserunt.

Locrenses gave thanks to the praetor and the legates, to the senate and the Roman people: that they would go to accuse Pleminius: Scipio, although he had grieved too little at the injuries to their civitas, was the sort of man whom they would prefer to have as a friend rather than as an enemy to be; they held for certain that neither by the order nor by the will of P. Scipio had so many and so nefarious things been committed, but either too much had been entrusted to Pleminius, or too little to themselves, or that it is by nature implanted in certain persons that they prefer that sins not be committed rather than to have spirit enough to vindicate the sins. And from both the praetor and the council a not mediocre burden was removed of inquiring about Scipio. They condemned Pleminius and two and thirty men with him and sent them in chains to Rome.

ipsi ad Scipionem profecti sunt ut ea quoque quae uolgata sermonibus erant de cultu ac desidia imperatoris solutaque disciplina militiae comperta oculis referrent Romam.

they themselves set out to Scipio, in order that they might also report back to Rome—verified with their own eyes—those matters which had been disseminated by common talk about the luxury and idleness of the commander and the loosened discipline of the soldiery.

[22] Venientibus iis Syracusas Scipio res, non uerba ad purgandum sese parauit. exercitum omnem eo conuenire, classem expediri iussit, tamquam dimicandum eo die terra marique cum Carthaginiensibus esset. quo die uenerunt hospitio comiter acceptis, postero die terrestrem naualemque exercitum, non instructos modo sed hos decurrentes, classem in portu simulacrum et ipsam edentem naualis pugnae ostendit; tum circa armamentaria et horrea bellique alium apparatum uisendum praetor legatique ducti.

[22] As they were coming to Syracuse, Scipio prepared deeds, not words, to clear himself. He ordered the whole army to assemble there, the fleet to be made ready, as though there must be fighting that day by land and sea with the Carthaginians. On the day they arrived, after being courteously received with hospitality, on the next day he showed the land and naval forces, not only drawn up but these running past in review, the fleet in the harbor giving a spectacle and itself too presenting a simulacrum of a naval battle; then the praetor and the legates were led to view the armories and granaries and other apparatus of war.

tantaque admiratio singularum uniuersarumque rerum incussa ut satis crederent aut illo duce atque exercitu uinci Carthaginiensem populum aut alio nullo posse, iuberentque quod di bene uerterent traicere et spei conceptae quo die illum omnes centuriae priorem consulem dixissent primo quoque tempore compotem populum Romanum facere; adeoque laetis inde animis profecti sunt, tamquam uictoriam non belli magnificum apparatum nuntiaturi Romam essent.

and so great an admiration of each and of all the things was struck into them that they believed the Carthaginian people could be conquered either by that leader and army or by no other; and they ordered him—may the gods turn it well—to cross over, and to make the Roman people, at the earliest possible time, compotent of the hope conceived on the day when all the centuries declared him the senior consul; and they set out thence with spirits so joyful, as though they were going to announce to Rome, not the magnificent apparatus of war, but victory.

Pleminius quique in eadem causa erant postquam Romam est uentum extemplo in carcerem conditi. ac primo producti ad populum ab tribunis apud praeoccupatos Locrensium clade animos nullum misericordiae locum habuerunt: postea cum saepius producerentur, iam senescente inuidia molliebantur irae; et ipsa deformitas Plemini memoriaque absentis Scipionis fauorem ad uolgum conciliabat. mortuus tamen prius in uinclis est quam iudicium de eo populi perficeretur.

Pleminius and those who were in the same case, after Rome was reached, were forthwith shut up in prison. and at first, brought before the people by the tribunes, they found no place for mercy among minds preoccupied by the disaster of the Locrians: afterwards, when they were produced more often, with ill‑will now growing old, their angers were being softened; and Pleminius’s very deformity and the memory of Scipio in his absence were winning favor with the common crowd. however, he died in chains before the people’s judgment concerning him was completed.

Hunc Pleminium Clodius Licinus in libro tertio rerum Romanarum refert ludis uotiuis quos Romae Africanus iterum consul faciebat conatum per quosdam quos pretio corruperat aliquot locis urbem incendere ut effringendi carceris fugiendique haberet occasionem; patefacto dein scelere delegatum in Tullianum ex senatus consulto.

This Pleminius, Clodius Licinus relates in the third book of Roman Affairs, at the votive games which Africanus, consul for the second time, was celebrating at Rome, to have attempted—through certain persons whom he had corrupted with a price—to set the city on fire in several places, so that he might have an occasion for breaking open the prison and fleeing; the crime then having been laid open, he was consigned, by decree of the senate, to the Tullianum.

De Scipione nusquam nisi in senatu actum, ubi omnes legatique et tribuni classem exercitum ducemque uerbis extollentes effecerunt ut senatus censeret primo quoque tempore in Africam traiciendum Scipionique permitteretur ut ex iis exercitibus qui in Sicilia essent ipse eligeret quos in Africam secum traiceret, quos prouinciae relinqueret praesidio.

Concerning Scipio, no business was transacted anywhere except in the senate, where all—both the legates and the tribunes—extolling in words the fleet, the army, and the commander, brought it about that the senate decreed that at the earliest possible time a crossing should be made into Africa, and that it be permitted to Scipio to choose from those armies which were in Sicily whom he would take across with him into Africa, and whom he would leave to the province as a garrison.

[23] Dum haec apud Romanos geruntur, Carthaginienses quoque cum speculis per omnia promunturia positis percontantes pauentesque ad singulos nuntios sollicitam hiemem egissent, haud paruum et ipsi tuendae Africae momentum adiecerunt societatem Syphacis regis, cuius maxime fiducia traiecturum in Africam Romanum crediderant. erat Hasdrubali Gisgonis filio non hospitium modo cum rege, de quo ante dictum est cum ex Hispania forte in idem tempus Scipio atque Hasdrubal conuenerunt, sed mentio quoque incohata adfinitatis ut rex duceret filiam Hasdrubalis. ad eam rem consummandam tempusque nuptiis statuendum—iam enim et nubilis erat uirgo—profectus Hasdrubal ut accensum cupiditate—et sunt ante omnes barbaros Numidae effusi in uenerem—sensit, uirginem a Carthagine arcessit maturatque nuptias; et inter aliam gratulationem ut publicum quoque foedus priuato adiceretur societas inter populum Carthaginiensem regemque, data ultro citroque fide eosdem amicos inimicosque habituros, iure iurando adfirmatur.

[23] While these things were being transacted among the Romans, the Carthaginians too, with lookouts set on all the promontories, inquiring and fearful at each report, had passed an anxious winter; they themselves also added no small momentum to the guarding of Africa by the alliance of King Syphax, in reliance upon whom especially they had believed the Roman would cross over into Africa. Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, had not only guest‑friendship with the king—of which mention was made before it was said that by chance from Spain at the same time Scipio and Hasdrubal met—but also a proposal of affinity had been initiated, that the king should take Hasdrubal’s daughter to wife. For the consummation of this matter and the fixing of a time for the nuptials—for already the maiden was of marriageable age—Hasdrubal set out; and when he perceived that he was inflamed with desire—and the Numidians, beyond all barbarians, are unrestrained in love—he summons the maiden from Carthage and hastens the nuptials; and, amid other congratulations, that a public treaty also might be added to the private one—an alliance between the Carthaginian people and the king—with good faith pledged on both sides that they would hold the same friends and enemies, it is affirmed by oath.

Ceterum Hasdrubal, memor et cum Scipione initae regi societatis et quam uana et mutabilia barbarorum ingenia essent, ueritus ne, si traiecisset in Africam Scipio, paruum uinculum eae nuptiae essent, dum accensum recenti amore Numidam habet perpellit blanditiis quoque puellae adhibitis ut legatos in Siciliam ad Scipionem mittat per quos moneat eum ne prioribus suis promissis fretus in Africam traiciat; se et nuptiis ciuis Carthaginiensis, filiae Hasdrubalis quem uiderit apud se in hospitio, et publico etiam foedere cum populo Carthaginiensi iunctum optare primum ut procul ab Africa, sicut adhuc fecerint, bellum Romani cum Carthaginiensibus gerant, ne sibi interesse certaminibus eorum armaque aut haec aut illa abnuentem alteram societatem sequi necesse sit: si non abstineat Africa Scipio et Carthagini exercitum admoueat, sibi necessarium fore et pro terra Africa in qua et ipse sit genitus et pro patria coniugis suae proque parente ac penatibus dimicare.

But Hasdrubal, mindful both of the alliance entered with the king by Scipio and of how vain and changeable the temperaments of barbarians are, fearing lest, if Scipio should cross over into Africa, those nuptials would be a small bond, while he keeps the Numidian inflamed with recent love, prevails upon him—blandishments of the girl too being employed—to send envoys to Sicily to Scipio, through whom he might warn him not to cross into Africa relying on his prior promises; that he, both by the nuptials with a Carthaginian citizen, the daughter of Hasdrubal whom he has seen at his house as a guest, and also joined by a public treaty with the Carthaginian people, desires first that, far from Africa, as they have done until now, the Romans and the Carthaginians conduct the war, lest it be necessary for him to take part in their contests and, refusing the arms of this side or that, to follow the other alliance: if Scipio does not abstain from Africa and brings an army up to Carthage, it will be necessary for him to fight both for the land of Africa in which he himself was born and for the fatherland of his wife and for his parent and Penates (household gods).

[24] Cum his mandatis ab rege legati ad Scipionem missi Syracusis eum conuenerunt. Scipio quamquam magno momento rerum in Africa gerendarum magnaque spe destitutus erat, legatis propere priusquam res uolgaretur remissis in Africam litteras dat ad regem quibus etiam atque etiam monet eum ne iura hospitii secum neu cum populo Romano initae societatis neu fas fidem dexteras deos testes atque arbitros conuentorum fallat. ceterum quando neque celari aduentus Numidarum poterat—uagati enim in urbe obuersatique praetorio erant—et, si sileretur quid petentes uenissent, periculum erat ne uera eo ipso quod celarentur sua sponte magis emanarent, timorque in exercitum incederet ne simul cum rege et Carthaginiensibus foret bellandum, auertit a uero falsis praeoccupando mentes hominum, et uocatis ad contionem militibus non ultra esse cunctandum ait; instare ut in Africam quam primum traiciat socios reges.

[24] With these mandates from the king, envoys sent to Scipio met him at Syracuse. Scipio, although he had been left bereft of great weight for conducting affairs in Africa and of great hope, sent the envoys back quickly before the matter should be made public, and sends letters to the king in Africa, in which again and again he warns him not to violate the rights of hospitality with himself nor the alliance entered with the Roman people, nor divine law, pledged faith, the right hands, the gods as witnesses and arbiters of the agreements concluded. Moreover, since the arrival of the Numidians could not be concealed—for they had roamed about the city and had shown themselves at the praetorium—and, if it were kept silent what they had come seeking, there was danger lest the truth, for the very reason that it was concealed, should more of its own accord leak out, and fear should advance into the army lest there must be fighting at once with both the king and the Carthaginians, he diverted men’s minds from the truth by forestalling them with falsehoods, and, the soldiers having been called to an assembly, said that there must be no further delay; the allied kings, he said, were pressing that he cross over to Africa as soon as possible.

Masinissam prius ipsum ad C. Laelium uenisse querentem quod cunctando tempus tereretur: nunc Syphacem mittere legatos idem admirantem quae tam diuturnae morae sit causa postulantemque ut aut traiciatur tandem in Africam exercitus aut, si mutata consilia sint, certior fiat ut et ipse sibi ac regno suo possit consulere. itaque satis iam omnibus instructis apparatisque et re iam non ultra recipiente cunctationem, in animo sibi esse Lilybaeum classe traducta eodemque omnibus peditum equitumque copiis contractis quae prima dies cursum nauibus daret dis bene iuuantibus in Africam traicere. litteras ad M. Pomponium mittit ut, si ei uideretur, Lilybaeum ueniret ut communiter consulerent quas potissimum legiones et quantum militum numerum in Africam traiceret.

Masinissa had previously himself come to C. Laelius, complaining that by delaying time was being worn away; now Syphax was sending envoys, likewise marveling what the cause of so long a delay might be, and requesting that either the army at last be transported into Africa, or, if counsels have been changed, he be informed, so that he too may take counsel for himself and his kingdom. And so, since now everything was sufficiently equipped and prepared, and the matter no longer admitted procrastination, it was his intention, with the fleet transferred to Lilybaeum and with all the forces of foot and horse assembled there, to cross into Africa on the first day that, with the gods kindly aiding, would give a course to the ships. He sends letters to M. Pomponius that, if it should seem good to him, he should come to Lilybaeum, so that they might consult jointly which legions especially and what number of soldiers he should transport into Africa.

item circum oram omnem maritimam misit ut naues onerariae comprensae Lilybaeum omnes contraherentur.

Likewise he sent throughout the whole maritime coast that the cargo ships, once apprehended, to Lilybaeum all be brought together.

Quicquid militum nauiumque in Sicilia erat cum Lilybaeum conuenisset et nec urbs multitudinem hominum neque portus naues caperet, tantus omnibus ardor erat in Africam traiciendi ut non ad bellum duci uiderentur sed ad certa uictoriae praemia. praecipue qui superabant ex Cannensi exercitu milites illo non alio duce credebant nauata rei publicae opera finire se militiam ignominiosam posse. et Scipio minime id genus militum aspernabatur, ut qui neque ad Cannas ignauia eorum cladem acceptam sciret neque ullos aeque ueteres milites in exercitu Romano esse expertosque non uariis proeliis modo sed urbibus etiam oppugnandis.

Whatever of soldiers and ships there was in Sicily, when it had assembled at Lilybaeum, and neither the city could contain the multitude of men nor the harbor the ships, so great was the ardor in all to cross into Africa that they seemed to be led not to war but to certain rewards of victory. Especially the soldiers who survived from the army of Cannae believed that under that leader and no other, with service rendered to the commonwealth, they could end their ignominious military service. And Scipio did not at all spurn that kind of soldiers, since he knew that at Cannae the defeat had not been incurred through their cowardice, nor were there any soldiers in the Roman army equally veteran and experienced not only in various battles but even in besieging cities.

quinta et sexta Cannenses erant legiones. eas se traiecturum in Africam cum dixisset, singulos milites inspexit, relictisque quos non idoneos credebat in locum eorum subiecit quos secum ex Italia adduxerat, suppleuitque ita eas legiones ut singulae sena milia et ducenos pedites, trecenos haberent equites. sociorum item Latini nominis pedites equitesque de exercitu Cannensi legit.

The fifth and sixth legions were the Cannensian legions. When he had said that he would transport them into Africa, he inspected each soldier individually, and, leaving behind those whom he judged not suitable, he substituted in their place those whom he had brought with him from Italy; and he thus supplemented those legions so that each had six thousand two hundred infantry and three hundred cavalry. Likewise he levied from the Cannensian army infantry and cavalry of the allies of the Latin name.

[25] Quantum militum in Africam transportatum sit non paruo numero inter auctores discrepat. alibi decem milia peditum duo milia et ducentos equites, alibi sedecim milia peditum mille et sescentos equites, alibi parte plus dimidia rem auctam, quinque et triginta milia peditum equitumque in naues imposita <inuenio>. quidam non adiecere numerum, inter quos me ipse in re dubia poni malim. Coelius ut abstinet numero, ita ad immensum multitudinis speciem auget: uolucres ad terram delapsas clamore militum ait tantamque multitudinem conscendisse naues ut nemo mortalium aut in Italia aut in Sicilia relinqui uideretur.

[25] As to how many soldiers were transported into Africa, there is no small discrepancy among the authors. In one place, 10,000 infantry and 2,200 cavalry; elsewhere, 16,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry; elsewhere, the figure is increased by more than a half—35,000 infantry and cavalry were put on the ships, <inuenio>. Certain writers do not add a number, among whom I myself would prefer to be placed in a doubtful matter. Coelius, while he refrains from a number, nevertheless augments the appearance of the multitude to the immense: he says that birds fell to the ground at the clamor of the soldiers, and that so great a multitude boarded the ships that no mortal seemed to be left either in Italy or in Sicily.

Milites ut naues ordine ac sine tumultu conscenderent ipse eam sibi curam sumpsit: nauticos C. Laelius, qui classis praefectus erat, in nauibus ante conscendere coactos continuit: commeatus imponendi M. Pomponio praetori cura data: quinque et quadraginta dierum cibaria, e quibus quindecim dierum cocta, imposita. ut omnes iam in nauibus erant, scaphas circummisit ut ex omnibus nauibus gubernatoresque et magistri nauium et bini milites in forum conuenirent ad imperia accipienda. postquam conuenerunt, primum ab iis quaesiuit si aquam hominibus iumentisque in totidem dies quot frumentum imposuissent.

He himself took upon himself the care that the soldiers should embark the ships in order and without tumult: he had Gaius Laelius, who was commander of the fleet, keep the sailors—forced to embark beforehand—on the ships: the care of loading the provisions was given to Marcus Pomponius, the praetor: rations for 45 days, of which for 15 days cooked, were put aboard. When all were now on the ships, he sent skiffs around so that from all the ships both the helmsmen and the ship‑masters and two soldiers apiece might assemble in the Forum to receive orders. After they had assembled, first he asked of them whether they had water for the men and the beasts of burden for just as many days as they had loaded grain.

ubi responderunt aquam dierum quinque et quadraginta in nauibus esse, tum edixit militibus ut silentium quieti nautis sine certamine ad ministeria exsequenda bene oboedientes praestarent. cum uiginti rostratis se ac L. Scipionem ab dextro cornu, ab laeuo totidem rostratas et C. Laelium praefectum classis cum M. Porcio Catone—quaestor is tum erat—onerariis futurum praesidio. lumina in nauibus singula rostratae, bina onerariae haberent: in praetoria naue insigne nocturnum trium luminum fore.

when they answered that water for forty-five days was on the ships, then he proclaimed to the soldiers that they should provide silence—restful for the sailors—and, without contention, show good obedience for executing the ministrations. with twenty beaked ships he and L. Scipio would be on the right wing; on the left, as many beaked ships, and C. Laelius, prefect of the fleet, together with M. Porcius Cato—he was then quaestor—would serve as a guard for the transports. the ships should have lights: a single light for a beaked ship, two for a transport; on the flagship there would be a nocturnal signal of three lights.

Emporia ut peterent gubernatoribus edixit.—fertilissimus ager eoque abundans omnium copia rerum est regio, et imbelles—quod plerumque in uberi agro euenit —barbari sunt priusque quam ab Carthagine subueniretur opprimi uidebantur posse.—iis editis imperiis redire ad naues iussi et postero die bis bene iuuantibus signo dato soluere naues.

He ordered the helmsmen to make for the Emporia.—it is a most fertile land and therefore a region abounding in a plenty of all things it is a region, and the barbarians are unwarlike—which very often happens in a rich land—before succor could come from Carthage they seemed able to be crushed.—after these commands were issued they were ordered to return to the ships, and on the following day, the signal being given, with the auspices twice favorable, they loosed the ships.

[26] Multae classes Romanae e Sicilia atque ipso illo portu profectae erant; ceterum non eo bello solum—nec id mirum; praedatum enim tantummodo pleraeque classes ierant—sed ne priore quidem ulla profectio tanti spectaculi fuit; quamquam, si magnitudine classis aestimares, et bini consules cum binis exercitibus ante traiecerant et prope totidem rostratae in illis classibus fuerant quot onerariis Scipio tum traiciebat; nam praeter quadraginta longas naues quadringentis ferme onerariis exercitum trauexit. sed et bellum bello secundum priore ut atrocius Romanis uideretur, cum quod in Italia bellabatur tum ingentes strages tot exercituum simul caesis ducibus effecerant, et Scipio dux partim factis fortibus partim suapte fortuna quadam ~ingenti~ ad incrementa gloriae celebratus conuerterat animos, simul et mens ipsa traiciendi, nulli ante eo bello duci temptata, quod ad Hannibalem detrahendum ex Italia transferendumque et finiendum in Africa bellum se transire uolgauerat. concurrerat ad spectaculum in portum omnis turba non habitantium modo Lilybaei sed legationum omnium ex Sicilia quae et ad prosequendum Scipionem officii causa conuenerant et praetorem prouinciae M. Pomponium secutae fuerant; ad hoc legiones quae in Sicilia relinquebantur ad prosequendos commilitones processerant; nec classis modo prospectantibus e terra, sed terra etiam omnis circa referta turba spectaculo nauigantibus erat.

[26] Many Roman fleets had set out from Sicily and from that very harbor itself; however, not in this war alone—and that is not surprising; for the greater part of the fleets had gone merely to prey—but not even in the earlier one was any departure of so great a spectacle; although, if you judged by the magnitude of the fleet, both pairs of consuls with their pairs of armies had crossed before, and in those fleets there had been nearly as many beaked ships as transports as Scipio was then conveying; for besides forty long ships he carried the army across on almost four hundred transports. But both the war, second to the earlier, seemed more atrocious to the Romans, since both because it was being fought in Italy and because vast slaughters, with so many armies and their leaders cut down at once, had brought it about; and Scipio, the commander, celebrated for increments of glory in part by brave deeds, in part by a certain ~enormous~ fortune of his own, had turned minds to himself, and at the same time the very intention of crossing, attempted by no commander before in that war—since he had publicized that he was crossing to draw Hannibal away from Italy and to transfer and finish the war in Africa—contributed. A whole crowd had run together for the spectacle into the harbor, not only of the inhabitants of Lilybaeum but of all the embassies from Sicily, which had both assembled to escort Scipio for duty’s sake and had followed the praetor of the province, M. Pomponius; in addition the legions which were being left in Sicily had come forth to escort their fellow soldiers; and there was not only the fleet for those looking out from the land, but all the land round about, packed with a crowd, was a spectacle to those sailing.

[27] Ubi inluxit, Scipio e praetoria naue silentio per praeconem facto 'diui diuaeque' inquit 'qui maria terrasque colitis, uos precor quaesoque uti quae in meo imperio gesta sunt geruntur postque gerentur, ea mihi populo plebique Romanae sociis nominique Latino qui populi Romani quique meam sectam imperium auspiciumque terra mari amnibusque sequuntur bene uerruncent, eaque uos omnia bene iuuetis, bonis auctibus auxitis; saluos incolumesque uictis perduellibus uictores spoliis decoratos praeda onustos triumphantesque mecum domos reduces sistatis; inimicorum hostiumque ulciscendorum copiam faxitis; quaeque populus Carthaginiensis in ciuitatem nostram facere molitus est, ea ut mihi populoque Romano in ciuitatem Carthaginiensium exempla edendi facultatem detis.'

[27] When it grew light, Scipio, from the flagship, silence having been made through the herald, said: “Divine gods and goddesses, who cultivate the seas and the lands, I pray and beseech you that the things which under my imperium have been done, are being done, and hereafter shall be done, may turn out well for me, for the Roman people and plebs, for the allies and the Latin name, who are of the Roman people, and who follow my faction, imperium, and auspices by land, by sea, and by rivers; and that you may well aid all these things and augment them with good increases. Do you set us up safe and sound—public enemies conquered—victors adorned with spoils, laden with booty, and in triumph, restored home with me. Grant abundance for avenging our personal enemies and our public foes; and whereas the Carthaginian people has endeavored to do things against our commonwealth, grant to me and to the Roman people the faculty of setting examples upon the commonwealth of the Carthaginians.”

Secundum has preces cruda exta caesa uictima, uti mos est, in mare proiecit tubaque signum dedit proficiscendi. uento secundo uehementi satis prouecti celeriter e conspectu terrae ablati sunt; et a meridie nebula occepit ita uix ut concursus nauium inter se uitarent; lenior uentus in alto factus. noctem insequentem eadem caligo obtinuit: sole orto est discussa, et addita uis uento.

After these prayers, he cast the raw entrails of the slain victim, as is the custom, into the sea, and with the trumpet gave the signal for setting out. Carried forward sufficiently by a favorable, quite vehement wind, they were quickly borne out of sight of land; and from the south a fog began, so that they scarcely avoided collisions of the ships with one another; on the deep the wind became gentler. The same murk held the following night: with the sun risen it was dispelled, and force was added to the wind.

iam terram cernebant. haud ita multo post gubernator Scipioni ait non plus quinque milia passuum Africam abesse; Mercuri promunturium se cernere; si iubeat eo dirigi, iam in portu fore omnem classem. Scipio, ut in conspectu terra fuit, precatus deos uti bono rei publicae suoque Africam uiderit, dare uela et alium infra nauibus accessum petere iubet.

by now they could discern land. Not much later the helmsman said to Scipio that Africa was no more than five miles away; that he saw the Promontory of Mercury; if he ordered a course to be directed there, the whole fleet would already be in port. Scipio, when the land was in sight, after praying to the gods that he might behold Africa for the good of the Republic and his own, ordered the sails to be set and another approach farther down for the ships to be sought.

uento eodem ferebantur; ceterum nebula sub idem ferme tempus quo pridie exorta conspectum terrae ademit et uentus premente nebula cecidit. nox deinde incertiora omnia fecit; itaque ancoras ne aut inter se concurrerent naues aut terrae inferrentur iecere. ubi inluxit, uentus idem coortus nebula disiecta aperuit omnia Africae litora.

they were borne by the same wind; however, at nearly the same time as on the day before the fog arose, it took away the sight of land, and the wind, with the fog pressing, fell. Night then made everything more uncertain; and so they cast anchors, lest either the ships run together with one another or be driven upon the land. When it grew light, the same wind, having sprung up, with the fog scattered, opened all the shores of Africa.

Scipio quod esset proximum promuntorium percontatus cum Pulchri promunturium id uocari audisset, 'placet omen;' inquit 'huc dirigite naues.' eo classis decurrit, copiaeque omnes in terram expositae sunt.

Scipio, having inquired what promontory was nearest, when he heard that it was called the Fair Promontory, said, “The omen pleases me; steer the ships hither.” Thither the fleet made for, and all the troops were put ashore.

Prosperam nauigationem sine terrore ac tumultu fuisse permultis Graecis Latinisque auctoribus credidi. Coelius unus praeterquam quod non mersas fluctibus naues ceteros omnes caelestes maritimosque terrores, postremo abreptam tempestate ab Africa classem ad insulam Aegimurum, inde aegre correctum cursum exponit, et prope obrutis nauibus iniussu imperatoris scaphis, haud secus quam naufragos, milites sine armis cum ingenti tumultu in terram euasisse.

I have believed from very many Greek and Latin authorities that the navigation was prosperous, without terror and tumult. Coelius alone, apart from the fact that the ships were not submerged by the waves, sets forth all the other celestial and maritime terrors, and finally that the fleet, snatched by a tempest from Africa to the island Aegimurus, from there with difficulty corrected its course, and that, the ships being nearly overwhelmed, without the order of the commander, in skiffs—no otherwise than shipwrecked men—the soldiers without arms, with immense tumult, made it to land.

[28] Expositis copiis Romani castra in proximis tumulis metantur. iam non in maritimos modo agros conspectu primum classis dein tumultu egredientium in terram pauor terrorque peruenerat, sed in ipsas urbes; neque enim hominum modo turba mulierum puerorumque agminibus immixta omnes passim compleuerat uias, sed pecora quoque prae se agrestes agebant, ut relinqui subito Africam diceres. urbibus uero ipsis maiorem quam quem secum attulerant terrorem inferebant; praecipue Carthagini prope ut captae tumultus fuit.

[28] With the forces disembarked, the Romans mark out a camp on the nearest knolls. By now fear and terror had reached not only the maritime fields—first at the sight of the fleet, then at the tumult of those disembarking onto land—but the cities themselves; for not only had a crowd of people, mingled with columns of women and boys, filled all the roads everywhere, but the countryfolk too were driving their herds before them, so that you would say Africa was being suddenly abandoned. And they were importing into the cities themselves a terror greater than that which they themselves had brought along; especially at Carthage there was tumult almost as if it had been captured.

nam post M. Atilium Regulum et L. Manlium consules, annis prope quinquaginta, nullum Romanum exercitum uiderant praeter praedatorias classes quibus escensiones in agros maritimos factae erant, raptisque quae obuia fors fecerat prius recursum semper ad naues quam clamor agrestes conciret fuerat. eo maior tum fuga pauorque in urbe fuit. et hercule neque exercitus domi ualidus neque dux quem opponerent erat.

for after the consulship of Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius, for nearly fifty years, they had seen no Roman army except predatory fleets, by which landings had been made upon the coastal fields; and, having snatched whatever chance had thrown in their way, there had always been a return to the ships before the outcry could stir up the countryfolk. therefore the flight and fear in the city were then the greater. and indeed there was neither a strong army at home nor a commander whom they might oppose.

Hasdrubal Gisgonis filius genere, fama, diuitiis, regia tum etiam adfinitate, longe primus ciuitatis erat; sed eum ab ipso illo Scipione aliquot proeliis fusum pulsumque in Hispania meminerant nec magis ducem duci parem quam tumultuarium exercitum suum Romano exercitui esse. itaque uelut si urbem extemplo adgressurus Scipio foret, ita conclamatum ad arma est portaeque raptim clausae et armati in muris uigiliaeque et stationes dispositae ac nocte insequenti uigilatum est. postero die quingenti equites, speculatum ad mare turbandosque egredientes ex nauibus missi, in stationes Romanorum inciderunt.

Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, by birth, fame, riches, and then also by royal affinity, was by far the first man of the state; but they remembered that he had been routed and driven in several battles by that very Scipio himself in Spain, and that neither was the leader equal to the leader, any more than his tumultuary army to the Roman army. Therefore, as if Scipio were immediately about to attack the city, such a cry to arms was raised, and the gates were hastily shut, and armed men were on the walls and watches and outposts were arranged, and during the following night there was a keeping of watch. On the next day five hundred horsemen, sent to reconnoiter the sea and to throw into disorder those disembarking from the ships, fell upon the Roman pickets.

iam enim Scipio, classe Uticam missa, ipse haud ita multum progressus a mari tumulos proximos ceperat; equites et in stationibus locis idoneis posuerat et per agros miserat praedatum.

for already Scipio, with the fleet sent to Utica, he himself, not having advanced very far from the sea had seized the nearest mounds; and he had posted the cavalry both at outposts in suitable places and had sent them through the fields to plunder.

[29] Hi cum Carthaginiensi equitatu proelium cum commisissent, paucos in ipso certamine, plerosque fugientes persecuti, in quibus praefectum quoque Hannonem, nobilem iuuenem, occiderunt. Scipio non agros modo circa uastauit sed urbem etiam proximam Afrorum satis opulentam cepit; ubi praeter cetera, quae extemplo in naues onerarias imposita missaque in Siciliam erant, octo milia liberorum seruorumque capitum sunt capta.

[29] When these had engaged the Carthaginian cavalry in battle, they killed a few in the very contest, but the majority while pursuing the fugitives—among whom also the commander Hanno, a noble young man. Scipio not only laid waste the fields round about, but also took a neighboring city of the Africans, quite opulent; where, besides the rest, which had immediately been put aboard transport ships and sent to Sicily, eight thousand heads of free and slave persons were captured.

Laetissimus tamen Romanis in principio rerum gerendarum aduentus fuit Masinissae; quem quidam cum ducentis haud amplius equitibus, plerique cum duum milium equitatu tradunt uenisse. ceterum cum longe maximus omnium aetatis suae regum hic fuerit plurimumque rem Romanam iuuerit, operae pretium uidetur excedere paulum ad enarrandum quam uaria fortuna usus sit in amittendo reciperandoque paterno regno.—militanti pro Carthaginiensibus in Hispania pater ei moritur; Galae nomen erat. regnum ad fratrem regis Oezalcem pergrandem natu—ita mos apud Numidas est—peruenit.

Nevertheless, for the Romans, at the beginning of the operations, the advent of Masinissa was most joyful; some relate that he came with not more than two hundred horsemen, most with a cavalry of two thousand. But since this man was by far the greatest of all the kings of his age and very greatly assisted the Roman commonwealth, it seems worth the effort to digress a little to narrate what varied fortune he experienced in losing and recovering his paternal kingdom.—While he was serving for the Carthaginians in Spain, his father died; his name was Gala. The kingship passed to the king’s brother Oezalces, very advanced in age—such is the custom among the Numidians—.

haud multo post Oezalce quoque mortuo maior ex duobus filiis eius Capussa, puero admodum altero, paternum imperium accepit. ceterum cum magis iure gentis quam auctoritate inter suos aut uiribus obtineret regnum, exstitit quidam Mazaetullus nomine, non alienus sanguine regibus, familiae semper inimicae ac de imperio uaria fortuna cum iis qui tum obtinebant certantis. is concitatis popularibus, apud quos inuidia regum magnae auctoritatis erat, castris palam positis descendere regem in aciem ac dimicare de regno coegit.

Not long after, Oezalces too having died, the elder of his two sons, Capussa—since the other was a mere boy—received the paternal rule. But since he held the kingdom more by right of the clan than by authority among his own people or by forces, there arose a certain Mazaetullus by name, not unrelated by blood to the kings, of a family always inimical and contending for the imperium with those who at the time held it, with varying fortune. He, having roused the commons—among whom there was envy of kings of great authority—having openly pitched camp, forced the king to descend into the battle‑line and to fight it out for the kingdom.

in eo proelio Capussa cum multis principum cecidit. gens Maesuliorum omnis in dicionem imperiumque Mazaetulli concessit; regio tamen nomine abstinuit contentusque nomine modico tutoris puerum Lacumazen, qui stirpis regiae supererat, regem appellat. Carthaginiensem nobilem feminam, sororis filiam Hannibalis, quae proxime Oezalci regi nupta fuerat, matrimonio sibi iungit spe Carthaginiensium societatis, et cum Syphace hospitium uetustum legatis missis renouat, omnia ea auxilia praeparans aduersus Masinissam.

In that battle Capussa fell with many of the chiefs. The whole nation of the Maesulians passed into the dominion and imperium of Mazaetullus; he nevertheless abstained from the royal title and, content with the modest title of guardian, he called the boy Lacumazes, who survived of the royal stock, king. A noble Carthaginian woman, Hannibal’s sister’s daughter, who had most recently been married to King Oezalces, he joined to himself in matrimony in the hope of Carthaginian alliance; and with Syphax he renewed an ancient guest‑friendship by legates sent, preparing all those aids against Masinissa.

[30] Et Masinissa audita morte patrui, dein nece fratris patruelis, ex Hispania in Mauretaniam—Baga ea tempestate rex Maurorum erat—traiecit. ab eo supplex infimis precibus auxilium itineri, quoniam bello non poterat, quattuor milia Maurorum impetrauit. cum iis praemisso nuntio ad paternos suosque amicos cum ad fines regni peruenisset, quingenti ferme Numidae ad eum conuenerunt.

[30] And Masinissa, on hearing of the death of his paternal uncle, then the killing of his cousin, crossed from Hispania into Mauretania—Baga at that time was king of the Mauri—he crossed. From him, as a suppliant with the humblest entreaties, he obtained aid for his journey—since he could not do so by war—four thousand Mauri. With these, after sending a messenger ahead to his father’s friends and his own, when he had reached the borders of the kingdom, about five hundred Numidae gathered to him.

igitur Mauris inde sicut conuenerat retro ad regem remissis, quamquam aliquanto minor spe multitudo ~conueniret~, nec cum qua tantam rem adgredi satis auderet, ratus agendo ac moliendo uires quoque ad agendum aliquid conlecturum, proficiscenti ad Syphacem Lacumazae regulo ad Thapsum occurrit. trepidum agmen cum in urbem refugisset, urbem Masinissa primo impetu capit et ex regiis alios tradentes se recipit, alios uim parantes occidit; pars maxima cum ipso puero inter tumultum ad Syphacem quo primum intenderant iter peruenerunt. fama huius modicae rei in principio rerum prospere actae conuertit ad Masinissam Numidas, adfluebantque undique ex agris uicisque ueteres milites Galae et incitabant iuuenem ad reciperandum paternum regnum.

therefore, the Moors being sent back from there to the king, as had been agreed, although a somewhat smaller multitude than hoped ~should assemble~, nor one with which he quite dared to undertake so great a matter, he, thinking that by acting and by toiling he would also collect forces for doing something, as he was setting out, met Lacumaza, a little king, at Thapsus. when the panic‑stricken column had taken refuge into the city, Masinissa seizes the city at the first onset and, from the royal quarters, receives some who are surrendering themselves, and kills others who are preparing force; the greatest part, with the boy himself, amid the tumult reached Syphax, whither they had first intended their march. the report of this moderate affair, at the beginning of things conducted prosperously, turned the Numidians toward Masinissa, and on all sides from the fields and villages the veteran soldiers of Gala flowed in, and they incited the young man to recover his paternal kingdom.

numero militum aliquantum Mazaetullus superabat; nam et ipse eum exercitum quo Capussam uicerat et ex receptis post caedem regis aliquot habebat, et puer Lacumazes ab Syphace auxilia ingentia adduxerat. quindecim milia peditum Mazaetullo decem milia equitum erant, quibus cum Masinissa nequaquam tantum peditum equitumue habente acie conflixit. uicit tamen et ueterum militum uirtus et prudentia inter Romana et Punica arma exercitati ducis; regulus cum tutore et exigua Masaesuliorum manu in Carthaginiensem agrum perfugit.

In number of soldiers Mazaetullus surpassed him by quite a lot; for he himself both had the army with which he had conquered Capussa and also had several from among those received after the king’s murder, and the boy Lacumazes had brought in huge auxiliaries from Syphax. Mazaetullus had fifteen thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry, with which he engaged in battle with Masinissa, who by no means had so many infantry or cavalry. Nevertheless both the valor of the veteran soldiers and the prudence of a commander trained among Roman and Punic arms prevailed; the regulus, with his tutor and a small band of Masaesylians, fled into Carthaginian territory.

ita reciperato regno paterno Masinissa, quia sibi aduersus Syphacem haud paulo maiorem restare dimicationem cernebat, optimum ratus cum fratre patruele gratiam reconciliare, missis qui et puero spem facerent si in fidem Masinissae sese permisisset futurum eum in eodem honore quo apud Galam Oezalces quondam fuisset, et qui Mazaetullo praeter impunitatem sua omnia cum fide restitui sponderent, ambo praeoptantes exsilio modicam domi fortunam, omnia ne id fieret Carthaginiensibus de industria agentibus, ad sese perduxit.

Thus, the paternal kingdom having been recovered, Masinissa, because he saw that a conflict by no small amount greater remained for him against Syphax, judged it best to reconcile goodwill with his cousin; he sent men both to give the boy hope that, if he entrusted himself to the good faith of Masinissa, he would be in the same honor in which Oezalces had once been with Gala, and to pledge to Mazaetullus that, besides impunity, all his own things would be restored in good faith; and, both of them preferring a modest fortune at home to exile, while the Carthaginians were deliberately doing everything to prevent this from being brought to pass, he brought them over to himself.

[31] Hasdrubal tum forte cum haec gerebantur apud Syphacem erat; qui Numidae, haud sane multum ad se pertinere credenti utrum penes Lacumazen an Masinissam regnum Maesuliorum esset, falli eum magno opere ait si Masinissam eisdem contentum fore quibus patrem Galam aut patruum eius Oezalcem credat: multo maiorem indolem in eo animi ingeniique esse quam in ullo gentis eius unquam fuisset; saepe eum in Hispania rarae inter homines uirtutis specimen dedisse sociis pariter hostibusque; et Syphacem et Carthaginienses nisi orientem illum ignem oppressissent ingenti mox incendio cum iam nullam opem ferre possent arsuros; adhuc teneras et fragiles uires eius esse uixdum coalescens fouentis regnum. instando stimulandoque peruincit ut exercitum ad fines Maesuliorum admoueat atque in agro de quo saepe cum Gala non uerbis modo disceptatum sed etiam armis certatum fuerat, tamquam haud dubie iuris sui, castra locet. si quis arceat, id quod maxime opus sit, acie dimicaturum: sin per metum agro cedatur, in medium regni eundum.

[31] Hasdrubal by chance was with Syphax when these things were being transacted; and to the Numidian, who believed it scarcely concerned him much whether the kingdom of the Masaesylians was in the hands of Lacumazes or Masinissa, he declared that he was greatly deceived if he supposed Masinissa would be content with the same things with which his father Gala or his uncle Oezalces had been satisfied: there was in him a far greater natural disposition of spirit and of talent than had ever been in any man of his nation; he had often in Spain given a specimen of virtue rare among men, both to allies and to enemies alike; both Syphax and the Carthaginians, unless they crushed that fire while it was rising, would soon burn in a vast conflagration, when they could bring no aid; his forces as yet were tender and fragile, his fostering kingdom scarcely coalescing. By pressing and spurring he prevails upon him to move the army to the borders of the Masaesylians and to pitch camp in the territory about which there had often been controversy with Gala, not only in words but also contested by arms, as though it were unquestionably his right. If anyone should attempt to keep him off, that—which is most needed—he would fight it out in battle array; but if through fear the land be yielded, one must go into the midst of the kingdom.

aut sine certamine concessuros in dicionem eius Maesulios aut nequaquam pares futuros armis.

either that the Maesulii would, without contest, concede into his dominion, or that they would be by no means a match in arms.

His uocibus incitatus Syphax Masinissae bellum infert. et primo certamine Maesulios fundit fugatque; Masinissa cum paucis equitibus ex acie in montem—Bellum incolae uocant—perfugit. familiae aliquot cum mapalibus pecoribusque suis—ea pecunia illis est—persecuti sunt regem: cetera Maesuliorum multitudo in dicionem Syphacis concessit.

Incited by these voices, Syphax wages war on Masinissa. And in the first engagement he routs and puts to flight the Maesulii; Masinissa with a few horsemen fled from the battle line to a mountain—the inhabitants call it Bellum. Several families with their mapalia and their herds—this is their wealth—pursued the king; the rest of the multitude of the Maesulii surrendered into the dominion of Syphax.

quem ceperant exsules montem herbidus aquosusque est; et quia pecori bonus alendo erat, hominum quoque carne ac lacte uescentium abunde sufficiebat alimentis. inde nocturnis primo ac furtiuis incursionibus, deinde aperto latrocinio infesta omnia circa esse; maxime uri Carthaginiensis ager, quia et plus praedae quam inter Numidas et latrocinium tutius erat. iamque adeo licenter eludebant ut ad mare deuectam praedam uenderent mercatoribus adpellentibus naues ad id ipsum, pluresque quam iusto saepe in bello Carthaginienses caderent caperenturque.

the mountain which the exiles had seized is grassy and well-watered; and because it was good for rearing cattle, it also abundantly sufficed with provisions for men too, who fed on flesh and milk. From there, at first by nocturnal and furtive incursions, then by open brigandage, everything round about was made unsafe; the Carthaginian land was especially burned, because both there was more booty than among the Numidians and the brigandage was safer. And already they were mocking with such license that they sold the plunder carried down to the sea to merchants bringing in ships for that very purpose, and Carthaginians would often fall and be captured in numbers more than is just in war.

deplorabant ea apud Syphacem Carthaginienses infensumque et ipsum ad reliquias belli persequendas instigabant; sed uix regium uidebatur latronem uagum in montibus consectari;

the Carthaginians were deploring these things before Syphax and instigating even him, in his hostility, to pursue the remnants of the war; but it scarcely seemed regal to chase a brigand roaming in the mountains;

[32] Bucar ex praefectis regis, uir acer et impiger, ad id delectus. ei data quattuor milia peditum duo equitum, praemiorumque ingentium spe oneratus si caput Masinissae rettulisset aut uiuum—id uero inaestimabile gaudium fore— cepisset. palatos incurioseque agentes improuiso adortus, pecorum hominumque ingenti multitudine a praesidio armatorum exclusa Masinissam ipsum cum paucis in uerticem montis compellit.

[32] Bucar, one of the king’s prefects, a keen and indefatigable man, was selected for this. To him were given four thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, and he was loaded with the hope of immense rewards if he should bring back the head of Masinissa or should capture him alive—this indeed would be inestimable joy. Having attacked unexpectedly men who were scattered and acting carelessly, when an enormous multitude of cattle and men had been cut off from the protection of an armed escort, he drives Masinissa himself with a few into the summit of the mountain.

inde prope iam ut debellato nec praeda modo pecorum hominumque captorum missa ad regem sed copiis etiam, ut aliquanto maioribus quam pro reliquiis belli, remissis, cum quingentis haud amplius peditibus ducentisque equitibus degressum iugis Masinissam persecutus in ualle arta faucibus utrimque obsessis inclusit. ibi ingens caedes Maesuliorum facta: Masinissa cum quinquaginta haud amplius equitibus per anfractus montis ignotos sequentibus se eripuit. tenuit tamen uestigia Bucar, adeptusque eum patentibus prope Clupeam urbem campis ita circumuenit ut praeter quattuor equites omnes ad unum interfecerit.

then, now almost as if the war were finished, not only was the booty of the captured herds and men sent to the king, but the forces also, and these sent back as somewhat greater than was proportionate to the remnants of the war; having pursued Masinissa, as he had descended from the ridges with not more than 500 infantry and 200 cavalry, he shut him in a narrow valley, the passes on both sides blocked. there a huge slaughter of the Maesulians was made: Masinissa, with not more than 50 horsemen, through windings of the mountain unknown to his pursuers, rescued himself. nevertheless Bucar kept to his tracks, and, having overtaken him in the open plains near the city Clupea, he hemmed him in such that, except for four horsemen, he killed them all to a man.

cum iis ipsum quoque Masinissam saucium prope e manibus inter tumultum amisit. in conspectu erant fugientes; ala equitum dispersa lato campo quibusdam ut occurrerent per obliqua tendentibus quinque hostes sequebatur. amnis ingens fugientes accepit—neque enim cunctanter, ut quos maior metus urgeret, immiserant equos—raptique gurgite in obliquum praelati.

with them he almost lost from his hands Masinissa himself, wounded, amid the tumult. the fugitives were in sight; the wing of cavalry, scattered over the broad plain, with some aiming across on the slant to meet them, was pursuing five enemies. a vast river received the fugitives—for they had sent their horses in without delay, as men whom a greater fear was pressing—and, rapt by the current, they were borne athwart.

duobus in conspectu hostium in praerapidum gurgitem haustis, ipse perisse creditus ac duo reliqui equites cum eo inter uirgulta ulterioris ripae emerserunt. is finis Bucari sequendi fuit, nec ingredi flumen auso nec habere credenti se iam quem sequeretur. inde uanus auctor absumpti Masinissae ad regem rediit, missique qui Carthaginem gaudium ingens nuntiarent; totaque Africa fama mortis Masinissae repleta uarie animos adfecit.

with two, in the sight of the enemies, drawn down into the very‑rapid whirlpool, he himself was believed to have perished, and the two remaining horsemen with him emerged amid the brushwood of the farther bank. This was the end for Bucar of pursuing, since he did not dare to enter the river and believed that he no longer had anyone to follow. Thence the false reporter that Masinissa had been destroyed returned to the king, and men were sent to announce to Carthage great rejoicing; and all Africa, filled with the report of Masinissa’s death, affected minds in various ways.

Masinissa in spelunca occulta cum herbis curaret uolnus duorum equitum latrocinio per dies aliquot uixit. ubi primum ducta cicatrix patique posse uisus iactationem, audacia ingenti pergit ire ad regnum repetendum; atque in ipso itinere haud plus quadraginta equitibus conlectis cum in Maesulios palam iam quis esset ferens uenisset, tantum motum cum fauore pristino tum gaudio insperato quod quem perisse crediderant incolumem cernebant fecit ut intra paucos dies sex milia peditum armatorum quattuor equitum ad eum confluerent, iamque non in possessione modo paterni regni esset sed etiam socios Carthaginiensium populos Masaesuliorumque fines—id Syphacis regnum erat— uastaret. inde inritato ad bellum Syphace, inter Cirtam Hipponemque in iugis opportunorum ad omnia montium consedit.

Masinissa, in a hidden cave, while he was tending his wound with herbs, lived for several days by the latrociny of two horsemen. As soon as a scar was drawn and he seemed able to endure the jolting, with immense audacity he proceeds to go to retake the kingdom; and on the journey itself, having collected not more than forty horsemen, when he had come into the Maesulii, now openly declaring who he was, he produced such a commotion—both from their former favor and from the unexpected joy because they saw safe the one whom they had believed to have perished—that within two days six thousand armed foot-soldiers and four thousand horsemen flocked to him, and now he was not only in possession of his father’s kingdom, but he was also ravaging the peoples allied to the Carthaginians and the borders of the Masaesulii—that was the kingdom of Syphax— he laid waste. Thence, Syphax having been provoked to war, he encamped between Cirta and Hippo on the ridges of mountains advantageous for all purposes.

[33] Maiorem igitur iam rem Syphax ratus quam ut per praefectos ageret, cum filio iuuene—nomen Uermina erat—parte exercitus missa imperat ut circumducto agmine in se intentum hostem ab tergo inuadat. nocte profectus Uermina qui ex occulto adgressurus erat; Syphax autem interdiu aperto itinere ut qui signis conlatis acie dimicaturus esset mouit castra. ubi tempus uisum est quo peruenisse iam circummissi uideri poterant, et ipse leni cliuo ferente ad hostem cum multitudine fretus tum praeparatis ab tergo insidiis per aduersum montem erectam aciem ducit.

[33] Therefore Syphax, now judging the affair too great to be handled through prefects, sent off part of the army with his young son—his name was Vermina—and orders him, with the column led around, to strike the enemy, intent upon himself, from the rear. Vermina set out by night, intending to attack from a hidden position; but Syphax, by contrast, moved camp by day on an open march, as one who was going to fight with standards joined in a pitched battle. When the time seemed right—at which those who had been sent around could now be thought to have arrived—he himself too, with a gentle slope carrying him toward the enemy, relying both on his multitude and on the ambush prepared from behind, leads a line drawn up up the face of the mountain.

Masinissa fiducia maxime loci, quo multo aequiore pugnaturus erat, et ipse dirigit suos. atrox proelium et diu anceps fuit, loco et uirtute militum Masinissam, multitudine quae nimio maior erat Syphacem iuuante. ea multitudo diuisa cum pars a fronte urgeret pars ab tergo se circumfudisset, uictoriam haud dubiam Syphaci dedit, et ne effugium quidem patebat hinc a fronte hinc ab tergo inclusis.

Masinissa, trusting especially in the advantage of the locus, on which he was going to fight much more on equal terms, himself also deploys his men. The battle was atrocious and for a long time in suspense, the position and the virtus of the soldiers aiding Masinissa, the multitude, which was far too greater, aiding Syphax. That multitude, divided—since one part pressed from the front and another had poured itself around from the rear—gave Syphax an undoubted victory; and not even an escape lay open, with them shut in here from the front, here from the rear.

itaque ceteri pedites equitesque caesi aut capti: ducentos ferme equites Masinissa circa se conglobatos diuisosque turmatim in tres partes erumpere iubet, loco praedicto in quem ex dissipata conuenirent fuga. ipse qua intenderat inter media tela hostium euasit: duae turmae haesere; altera metu dedita hosti, pertinacior altera in repugnando telis obruta et confixa est. Uerminam prope uestigiis instantem in alia atque alia flectendo itinera eludens, taedio et desperatione tandem fessum absistere sequendo coegit; ipse cum sexaginta equitibus ad minorem Syrtim peruenit.

and so the rest of the infantry and cavalry were cut down or captured: Masinissa orders about two hundred horsemen, massed around him and divided by squadrons into three parts, to break out to the appointed place where, after a scattered flight, they should rendezvous. He himself, by the route he had aimed at, escaped through the midst of the enemy’s missiles: two troops were held fast; one, from fear, surrendered to the enemy, the other, more stubborn in resisting, was overwhelmed and transfixed by missiles. Eluding Vermina, who pressed close upon his tracks, by bending his routes now this way now that, he forced him, wearied at last by tedium and despair, to desist from pursuing; he himself with sixty horsemen reached the Lesser Syrtis.

ibi cum conscientia egregia saepe repetiti regni paterni inter Punica Emporia gentemque Garamantum omne tempus usque ad C. Laeli classisque Romanae aduentum in Africam consumpsit. haec animum inclinant ut cum modico potius quam cum magno praesidio equitum ad Scipionem quoque postea uenisse Masinissam credam; quippe illa regnanti multitudo, haec paucitas exsulis fortunae conueniens est.

there he, with the noble conscience of the paternal kingdom often sought again, spent all his time amid the Punic Emporia and the nation of the Garamantes until the arrival of C. Laelius and of the Roman fleet in Africa. these considerations incline my mind to believe that Masinissa later came to Scipio with a small rather than a great escort of horsemen; for that multitude befits one reigning, this paucity suits the fortune of an exile.

[34] Carthaginienses ala equitum cum praefecto amissa, alio equitatu per nouum dilectum comparato Hannonem Hamilcaris filium praeficiunt. Hasdrubalem subinde ac Syphacem per litteras nuntiosque, postremo etiam per legatos arcessunt; Hasdrubalem opem ferre prope circumsessae patriae iubent; Syphacem orant ut Carthagini, ut uniuersae Africae subueniat. ad Uticam tum castra Scipio ferme mille passus ab urbe habebat translata a mari, ubi paucos dies statiua coniuncta classi fuerant.

[34] The Carthaginians, the wing of cavalry with its prefect having been lost, after other cavalry had been procured through a new levy, appoint Hanno, son of Hamilcar, to command. They summon Hasdrubal and Syphax repeatedly by letters and messengers, and finally even by ambassadors; they order Hasdrubal to bring aid to a fatherland almost besieged; they beg Syphax to succor Carthage, to come to the relief of all Africa. Scipio then had his camp near Utica about 1,000 paces from the city, transferred from the sea, where for a few days the standing camp had been joined to the fleet.

Hanno nequaquam satis ualido non modo ad lacessendum hostem sed ne ad tuendos quidem a populationibus agros equitatu accepto id omnium primum egit ut per conquisitionem numerum equitum augeret; nec aliarum gentium aspernatus, maxime tamen Numidas—id longe primum equitum in Africa est genus —conducit. iam ad quattuor milia equitum habebat, cum Salaecam nomine urbem occupauit quindecim ferme milia ab Romanis castris. quod ubi Scipioni relatum est, 'aestiua sub tectis equitatus.' inquit 'sint uel plures, dum talem ducem habeant.' eo minus sibi cessandum ratus quo illi segnius rem agerent, Masinissam cum equitatu praemissum portis obequitare atque hostem ad pugnam elicere iubet: ubi omnis multitudo se effudisset grauiorque iam in certamine esset quam ut facile sustineri posset, cederet paulatim; se in tempore pugnae obuenturum.

Hanno, by no means sufficiently strong not only for provoking the enemy but not even for protecting the fields from depredations, upon receiving the cavalry did this first of all: through a requisition he would augment the number of horsemen; nor did he spurn men of other nations, yet especially he hires Numidians—that is by far the foremost kind of cavalry in Africa. He already had about four thousand horsemen when he seized a city by the name of Salaeca, about fifteen miles from the Roman camp. When this was reported to Scipio, “let there be even more summer-quarters under roofs for the cavalry,” he said, “so long as they have such a leader.” Thinking that he himself ought to delay all the less in proportion as they were handling the matter more sluggishly, he orders Masinissa, sent ahead with the cavalry, to ride up to the gates and draw the enemy out to battle: when the whole multitude had poured out and was already heavier in the fight than could easily be sustained, he should yield gradually; he himself would come up at the right time for the battle.

tantum moratus quantum satis temporis praegresso uisum ad eliciendos hostes, cum Romano equitatu secutus tegentibus tumulis, qui peropportune circa uiae flexus oppositi erant, occultus processit.

having delayed only as much as seemed sufficient time to the one who had gone ahead for drawing out the enemy, he followed with the Roman cavalry, under cover of shielding knolls which, very opportunely, were set opposite around the bends of the road, and advanced concealed.

Masinissa ex composito nunc terrentis, nunc timentis modo aut ipsis obequitabat portis aut cedendo, cum timoris simulatio audaciam hosti faceret, ad insequendum temere eliciebat. nondum omnes egressi erant uarieque dux fatigabatur, alios uino et somno graues arma capere et frenare equos cogendo, aliis ne sparsi et inconditi sine ordine sine signis omnibus portis excurrerent obsistendo. primo incaute se inuehentes Masinissa excipiebat; mox plures simul conferti porta effusi aequauerant certamen; postremo iam omnis equitatus proelio cum adesset, sustineri ultra nequiere; non tamen effusa fuga Masinissa sed cedendo sensim impetus eorum accipiebat donec ad tumulos tegentes Romanum equitatum pertraxit.

Masinissa, according to a pre-arrangement, now in the manner of one terrifying, now of one fearing, either was riding up to the very gates or by yielding; and since the simulation of fear produced audacity in the enemy, he was luring them rashly to pursue. Not yet had all gone out, and the leader was being wearied in various ways: by compelling some, heavy with wine and sleep, to take up arms and bridle their horses; by opposing others lest, scattered and unformed, without order, without standards, they should rush out through all the gates. At first Masinissa would take in those charging incautiously; soon more at once, packed together and poured out from the gate, had made the contest equal; finally, now that all the cavalry was present in the battle, they could no longer be held; yet not in an effused rout did Masinissa go, but by yielding little by little he received their onsets, until he drew them to the hills covering the Roman cavalry.

inde exorti equites et ipsi integris uiribus et recentibus equis Hannoni Afrisque pugnando ac sequendo fessis se circumfudere; et Masinissa flexis subito equis in pugnam rediit. mille fere qui primi agminis fuerant, quibus haud facilis receptus fuit, cum ipso duce Hannone interclusi atque interfecti sunt: ceteros ducis praecipue territos caede effuse fugientes per triginta milia passuum uictores secuti ad duo praeterea milia equitum aut ceperunt aut occiderunt. inter eos satis constabat non minus ducentos Carthaginiensium equites fuisse, et diuitiis quosdam et genere inlustres.

then the cavalry, bursting forth from there with their own forces intact and their horses fresh, surrounded Hanno and the Africans, worn out by fighting and by pursuing; and Masinissa, his horses suddenly wheeling, returned into the battle. about a thousand of those who had been in the van, for whom retreat was by no means easy, were cut off and slain along with the leader himself, Hanno. the rest, especially terrified by the leader’s slaughter, fleeing in wild rout, the victors pursued for thirty miles, and, moreover, either captured or killed two thousand horsemen. among them it was well agreed that not less than two hundred of the Carthaginian cavalry were there, and some were illustrious both in wealth and in birth.

[35] Eodem forte quo haec gesta sunt die naues quae praedam in Siciliam uexerant cum commeatu rediere, uelut ominatae ad praedam alteram repetendam sese uenisse. duos eodem nomine Carthaginiensium duces duobus equestribus proeliis interfectos non omnes auctores sunt, ueriti, credo, ne falleret bis relata eadem res: Coelius quidem et Ualerius captum etiam Hannonem tradunt.

[35] By chance on the same day on which these things were done, the ships which had carried the booty to Sicily returned with supplies, as if under an omen that they had come to retrieve another booty. Not all authorities assert that two Carthaginian commanders of the same name were slain in two cavalry battles, fearing, I believe, lest the same matter, reported twice, should mislead: Coelius indeed and Valerius even report that Hanno was captured.

Scipio praefectos equitesque prout cuiusque opera fuerat et ante omnes Masinissam insignibus donis donat; et firmo praesidio Salaecae imposito ipse cum cetero exercitu profectus, non agris modo quacumque incedebat populatis sed urbibus etiam quibusdam uicisque expugnatis late fuso terrore belli septimo die quam profectus erat magnam uim hominum et pecoris et omnis generis praedae trahens in castra redit, grauesque iterum hostilibus spoliis naues dimittit. inde omissis expeditionibus paruis populationibusque ad oppugnandam Uticam omnes belli uires conuertit, eam deinde si cepisset sedem ad cetera exsequenda habiturus. simul et a classe nauales socii, qua ex parte urbs mari adluitur, simul et terrestris exercitus ab imminente prope ipsis moenibus tumulo est admotus.

Scipio rewards the prefects and the horsemen, each according to his service, and before all Masinissa, with distinguished gifts; and, a firm garrison having been imposed on Salaeca, he himself set out with the rest of the army, and not only were the fields laid waste wherever he advanced, but certain cities also and villages were taken by storm, the terror of war spread far and wide; on the seventh day after he had set out, dragging a great quantity of men and cattle and booty of every kind, he returns to camp, and again he sends off ships heavy with enemy spoils. From there, abandoning small expeditions and ravagings, he turns all the forces of the war to the assaulting of Utica, which then, if he should take it, he would have as a base for executing the rest. At the same time both from the fleet the naval allies, on the side by which the city is washed by the sea, and likewise the land army from a hill looming close upon the walls themselves, were brought up.

tormenta machinasque et aduexerat secum, et ex Sicilia missa cum commeatu erant; et noua in armamentario multis talium operum artificibus de industria inclusis fiebant.

He had both brought siege-artillery and machines with him, and others had been sent from Sicily with the supply-train; and new ones were being made in the arsenal, many artificers of such works having been purposely shut in.

Uticensibus tanta undique mole circumsessis in Carthaginiensi populo, Carthaginiensibus in Hasdrubale ita si is mouisset Syphacem, spes omnis erat; sed desiderio indigentium auxilii tardius cuncta mouebantur. Hasdrubal intentissima conquisitione cum ad triginta milia peditum, tria equitum confecisset, non tamen ante aduentum Syphacis castra propius hostem mouere est ausus. Syphax cum quinquaginta milibus peditum, decem equitum aduenit confestimque motis a Carthagine castris, haud procul Utica munitionibusque Romanis consedit.

With the Uticans besieged on every side by so great a mass, all the hope was, for the Carthaginian people, in their own resources; for the Carthaginians, in Hasdrubal—if only he would set Syphax in motion; but owing to the want felt by those needing assistance, everything was slower to be stirred. Hasdrubal, by the most intent levy, when he had made up about 30,000 foot-soldiers and 3,000 horse, nevertheless did not dare to move his camp closer to the enemy before the arrival of Syphax. Syphax arrived with 50,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, and immediately, the camp having been moved from Carthage, he took up position not far from Utica and the Roman fortifications.

quorum aduentus hoc tamen momenti fecit ut Scipio, cum quadraginta ferme dies nequiquam omnia experiens obsedisset Uticam, abscederet inde inrito incepto. et—iam enim hiemps instabat—castra hiberna in promunturio, quod tenui iugo continenti adhaerens in aliquantum maris spatium extenditur, communit. uno uallo et naualia et castra amplectitur; iugo medio legionum castris impositis, latus ad septentrionem uersum subductae naues naualesque socii tenebant, meridianam uallem ad alterum litus deuexam equitatus.

The arrival of these, however, had this effect: that Scipio, when for almost forty days, trying everything in vain, he had besieged Utica, withdrew from there with his enterprise frustrated. And—for now indeed winter was drawing on—he fortified winter quarters on a promontory which, clinging to the mainland by a narrow ridge, extends out for some distance into the sea. With a single rampart he encompassed both the dockyards and the camp; with the legions’ camp set on the central ridge, the ships hauled up and the naval allies held the side turned toward the north, while the cavalry held the southern valley sloping down to the other shore.

haec in Africa usque ad extremum autumni gesta.

These things in Africa were done up to the end of autumn.

[36] Praeter conuectum undique ex populatis circa agris frumentum commeatusque ex Sicilia atque Italia aduectos, Cn. Octauius propraetor ex Sardinia ab Ti. Claudio praetore cuius ea prouincia erat ingentem uim frumenti aduexit; horreaque non solum ea quae iam facta erant repleta, sed noua aedificata. uestimenta exercitui deerant; id mandatum Octauio ut cum praetore ageret si quid ex ea prouincia comparari ac mitti posset. ea quoque haud segniter curata res; mille ducentae togae breui spatio, duodecim milia tunicarum missa.

[36] Besides the grain conveyed from all sides from the ravaged fields around, and the supplies brought from Sicily and Italy, Gnaeus Octavius, propraetor, brought from Sardinia, from Tiberius Claudius the praetor—whose province it was—an immense quantity of grain; and the granaries not only of those which had already been built were filled, but new ones were constructed. Clothing was lacking for the army; this was entrusted to Octavius, to deal with the praetor as to whether anything could be procured from that province and sent. This matter too was by no means neglected: within a short time 1,200 togas and 12,000 tunics were sent.

Aestate ea qua haec in Africa gesta sunt P. Sempronius consul cui Bruttii prouincia erat in agro Crotoniensi cum Hannibale in ipso itinere tumultuario proelio conflixit. agminibus magis quam acie pugnatum est. Romani pulsi, et tumultu uerius quam pugna ad mille et ducenti de exercitu consulis interfecti; in castra trepide reditum, neque oppugnare tamen ea hostes ausi.

In that summer in which these things were done in Africa, Publius Sempronius, the consul, to whom Bruttium was the province, in the Crotonian countryside clashed with Hannibal in a tumultuary battle on the very march. It was fought by columns rather than in a battle-line. The Romans were driven back, and in a tumult rather than a battle about 1,200 of the consul’s army were slain; there was a hasty, panic-stricken return to camp, nor did the enemy, however, dare to assault it.

ceterum silentio proximae noctis profectus inde consul praemisso nuntio ad P. Licinium proconsulem ut suas legiones admoueret copias coniunxit. ita duo duces duo exercitus ad Hannibalem redierunt; nec mora dimicandi facta, cum consuli duplicatae uires, Poeno recens uictoria animos faceret. in primam aciem suas legiones Sempronius induxit; in subsidiis locatae P. Licini legiones.

However, setting out from there in the silence of the next night, the consul, after sending ahead a messenger to P. Licinius the proconsul that he should bring up his legions, joined forces. Thus two leaders, two armies, returned to Hannibal; nor was any delay made for fighting, since the consul had doubled strength, while the recent victory was giving heart to the Carthaginian. Sempronius led his own legions into the front battle-line; in the reserves were stationed the legions of P. Licinius.

consul principio pugnae aedem Fortunae Primigeniae uouit si eo die hostes fudisset; composque eius uoti fuit. fusi ac fugati Poeni; supra quattuor milia armatorum caesa, paulo minus trecenti uiui capti et equi quadraginta undecim militaria signa. perculsus aduerso proelio Hannibal Crotonem exercitum reduxit.

At the beginning of the battle the consul vowed a temple to Fortune Primigenia if on that day he should rout the enemy; and he obtained the fulfillment of that vow. The Punic forces were routed and put to flight; more than four thousand armed men were cut down, a little less than three hundred were taken alive, and forty horses and eleven military standards. Shaken by the adverse battle, Hannibal led his army back to Croton.

Eodem tempore M. Cornelius consul in altera parte Italiae non tam armis quam iudiciorum terrore Etruriam continuit, totam ferme ad Magonem ac per eum ad spem nouandi res uersam. eas quaestiones ex senatus consulto minime ambitiose habuit; multique nobiles Etrusci qui aut ipsi ierant aut miserant ad Magonem de populorum suorum defectione, primo praesentes erant condemnati, postea conscientia sibimet ipsi exsilium consciscentes cum absentes damnati essent, corporibus subtractis bona tantum quae publicari poterant pigneranda poenae praebebant.

At the same time, the consul M. Cornelius, in the other part of Italy, held Etruria in check not so much by arms as by the terror of the courts, almost the whole having turned to Mago and, through him, to the hope of renewing the state. He conducted those inquiries, by decree of the senate, in the least ambitious manner; and many noble Etruscans who either had gone themselves or had sent to Mago about the defection of their peoples were at first condemned when present; later, their conscience inducing them to resolve upon exile for themselves, when they had been condemned in their absence, their persons being withdrawn, only their goods—which could be made public—were left to be pledged to the penalty.

[37] Dum haec consules diuersis regionibus agunt, censores interim Romae M. Liuius et C. Claudius senatum recitauerunt. princeps iterum lectus Q. Fabius Maximus; notati septem, nemo tamen qui sella curuli sedisset. sarta tecta acriter et cum summa fide exegerunt.

[37] While the consuls were conducting these things in different regions, meanwhile at Rome the censors Marcus Livius and Gaius Claudius recited the senate-roll. The princeps, chosen again, was Quintus Fabius Maximus; seven were censured, yet none who had sat in the curule chair. They enforced the upkeep of buildings vigorously and with the utmost good faith.

uiam e foro bouario [et] ad Ueneris circa foros publicos et aedem Matris Magnae in Palatio faciendam locauerunt. uectigal etiam nouum ex salaria annona statuerunt. sextante sal et Romae et per totam Italiam erat; Romae pretio eodem, pluris in foris et conciliabulis et alio alibi pretio praebendum locauerunt.

they let out on contract the making of a road from the Forum Boarium [and] to the Temple of Venus near the public fora, and to the temple of the Great Mother on the Palatine. They also established a new tax on the salt annona. Salt was at a sextans both at Rome and throughout all Italy; at Rome it was to be supplied at the same price, at a higher price in the market-places and meeting-places, and at a different price from place to place.

id uectigal commentum alterum ex censoribus satis credebant populo iratum quod iniquo iudicio quondam damnatus esset, et in pretio salis maxime oneratas tribus quarum opera damnatus erat [credebant]; inde Salinatori Liuio inditum cognomen.

They believed that that tax had been contrived by one of the censors, who was quite angry with the people because he had once been condemned by an unjust judgment; and they [they believed] that, in the price of salt, the tribes by whose agency he had been condemned were most heavily burdened; hence the cognomen Salinator was bestowed upon Livius.

Lustrum conditum serius quia per prouincias dimiserunt censores ut ciuium Romanorum in exercitibus quantus ubique esset referretur numerus. censa cum iis ducenta quattuordecim milia hominum. condidit lustrum C. Claudius Nero.

The lustrum was concluded later, because the censors sent out through the provinces that it be reported how great everywhere was the number of Roman citizens in the armies. With these counted, there were registered 214,000 men. C. Claudius Nero concluded the lustrum.

duodecim deinde coloniarum, quod nunquam antea factum erat, deferentibus ipsarum coloniarum censoribus censum acceperunt ut quantum numero militum, quantum pecunia ualerent in publicis tabulis monumenta exstarent. equitum deinde census agi coeptus est; et ambo forte censores equum publicum habebant. cum ad tribum Polliam uentum esset in qua M. Liui nomen erat, et praeco cunctaretur citare ipsum censorem, 'cita' inquit Nero 'M. Liuium'; et siue ex residua uetere simultate siue intempestiua iactatione seueritatis inflatus M. Liuium quia populi iudicio esset damnatus equum uendere iussit.

Then, of twelve colonies—what had never before been done—the censors of those very colonies, reporting, they accepted the census, so that records might stand in the public tablets as to how much they amounted to in number of soldiers and how much they were worth in money. Then the census of the equestrians began to be conducted; and by chance both censors held the public horse. When it was come to the Pollia tribe, in which the name of M. Livius was, and the crier hesitated to summon the censor himself, “Summon,” said Nero, “M. Livius”; and whether from a lingering old enmity or inflated by an untimely vaunting of severity, he ordered M. Livius, because he had been condemned by the judgment of the people, to sell his horse.

item M. Liuius cum ad tribum Arniensem et nomen collegae uentum est, uendere equum C. Claudium iussit duarum rerum causa, unius quod falsum aduersus se testimonium dixisset, alterius quod non sincera fide secum in gratiam redisset. aeque foedum certamen inquinandi famam alterius cum suae famae damno factum est exitu censurae. cum in leges iurasset C. Claudius et in aerarium escendisset, inter nomina eorum quos aerarios relinquebat dedit collegae nomen.

likewise M. Livius, when they had come to the Arniensian tribe and to his colleague’s name, ordered C. Claudius to sell his horse for two reasons: one, that he had given false testimony against him; the other, that he had not returned into favor with him in sincere good faith. An equally foul contest of besmirching the other’s reputation, with damage to their own reputation, was made the outcome of the censorship. When C. Claudius had sworn to the laws and had gone up into the aerarium, he entered his colleague’s name among the names of those whom he was leaving as aerarii.

deinde M. Liuius in aerarium uenit; praeter Maeciam tribum, quae se neque condemnasset neque condemnatum aut consulem aut censorem fecisset, populum Romanum omnem, quattuor et triginta tribus, aerarios reliquit, quod et innocentem se condemnassent et condemnatum consulem et censorem fecissent neque infitiari possent aut iudicio semel aut comitiis bis ab se peccatum esse: inter quattuor et triginta tribus et C. Claudium aerarium fore; quod si exemplum haberet bis eundem aerarium relinquendi, C. Claudium nominatim se inter aerarios fuisse relicturum. prauum certamen notarum inter censores; castigatio inconstantiae populi censoria et grauitate temporum illorum digna. in inuidia censores cum essent, crescendi ex iis ratus esse occasionem Cn. Baebius tribunus plebis diem ad populum utrique dixit.

then M. Livius came into the treasury; except for the Maecian tribe, which had neither condemned him nor, when he had been condemned, made him either consul or censor, he left the entire Roman people, the thirty-four tribes, as aerarians, because they had both condemned him though innocent and, after condemning him, had made him consul and censor, nor could they deny that either by the one judgment or twice by the elections a fault had been committed by them: among the thirty-four tribes even C. Claudius would be an aerarian; and if he had a precedent for leaving the same man an aerarian twice, he would have left C. Claudius by name among the aerarians. a crooked contest of marks between the censors; a chastisement of the people’s inconstancy that was censorial and worthy of the gravity of those times. when the censors were in ill-odour, thinking that there was an opportunity to grow from this, Cn. Baebius, tribune of the plebs, appointed a day before the people for both.

ea res consensu patrum discussa est ne postea obnoxia populari aurae censura esset.

That matter was settled by the consensus of the Fathers, lest thereafter the censorship be subject to the popular breeze.

[38] Eadem aestate in Bruttiis Clampetia a consule ui capta, Consentia et Pandosia et ignobiles aliae ciuitates uoluntate in dicionem uenerunt. et cum comitiorum iam appeteret tempus, Cornelium potius ex Etruria ubi nihil belli erat Romam acciri placuit. is consules Cn. Seruilium Caepionem et C. Seruilium Geminum creauit.

[38] In the same summer, in Bruttium, Clampetia was taken by force by the consul; Consentia and Pandosia, and other undistinguished communities, came into dominion by their own will. And since the time of the comitia was now approaching, it was decided that Cornelius should be summoned to Rome from Etruria, where there was nothing of war. He created the consuls Cn. Servilius Caepio and C. Servilius Geminus.

inde praetoria comitia habita. creati P. Cornelius Lentulus P. Quinctilius Uarus P. Aelius Paetus P. Uillius Tappulus; hi duo cum aediles plebis essent, praetores creati sunt. consul comitiis perfectis ad exercitum in Etruriam redit.

then the praetorian comitia were held. P. Cornelius Lentulus, P. Quinctilius Varus, P. Aelius Paetus, P. Villius Tappulus were elected; these two, though they were aediles of the plebs, were elected praetors. The consul, the comitia having been completed, returned to the army in Etruria.

Sacerdotes eo anno mortui atque in locum eorum suffecti: Ti. Ueturius Philo flamen Martialis in locum M. Aemili Regilli, qui priore anno mortuus erat, creatus inauguratusque; in M. Pomponi Mathonis auguris et decemuiri locum creati decemuir M. Aurelius Cotta, augur Ti. Sempronius Gracchus admodum adulescens, quod tum perrarum in mandandis sacerdotiis erat. quadrigae aureae eo anno in Capitolio positae ab aedilibus curulibus C. Liuio et M. Seruilio Gemino, et ludi Romani biduum instaurati; item per biduum plebeii ab aedilibus P. Aelio P. Uillio; et Iouis epulum fuit ludorum causa.

The priests who died that year and those appointed in their place: Ti. Veturius Philo was created and inaugurated flamen of Mars in place of M. Aemilius Regillus, who had died the previous year; in the place of M. Pomponius Matho, augur and decemvir, there were created decemvir M. Aurelius Cotta and augur Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, a very young man—something at that time very rare in the entrusting of priesthoods. Golden quadrigae were set up that year on the Capitol by the curule aediles C. Livius and M. Servilius Geminus, and the Roman Games were renewed for two days; likewise for two days the Plebeian (Games) by the aediles P. Aelius and P. Villius; and there was a banquet of Jupiter on account of the games.