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Roman History for
Latin Students

AMBUSH AT CAUDIUM, LIVY

AB URBE CONDITA BOOK 9.1–12.328

E D ITE D BY STEVEN M. CER UT T I

Roman History for
Latin Students
 This book is part of the Peter Lang Humanities list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
 Roman History for
Latin Students

Ambush at Caudium, Livy

Ab Urbe Condita Book 9.1–12.328

Edited by Steven M. Cerutti

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Livy, author. | Cerutti, Steven M., editor.
Title: Roman History for Latin Students: Ambush at Caudium, Livy
Ab Urbe Condita Book 9.1–12.328 / edited by Steven M. Cerutti.
Other titles: Ab urbe condita. Liber 9 | Ambush at Caudium,
Livy Ab urbe condita book 9.1–12.328
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2019.
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019024019 | ISBN 978-1-4331-6306-7 (hardback: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6307-4 (ebook pdf) | ISBN 978-1-4331-6308-1 (epub)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6309-8 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Livy. Ab urbe condita. Liber 9.
Caudine Forks, Battle of, Italy, 321 B.C. | Rome—History, Military.
Classification: LCC DG237.4 .C3 321 B.C..L58 2019 | DDC 937/.03—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019024019
DOI 10.3726/b14819

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

© 2019 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York

29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.

Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
 For Mom

In Loving Memory
of
Pat White
1934–2017

requiescat in pace
Among the myriad events of human history that would give one cause for awe must
unquestionably be what happened at this time.
—Cassius Dio (8.10) on the Roman defeat at the Caudine Forks
Cover Illustration: denarius minted in Rome circa 137 b.c. by Ti. Veturius, a mem-
ber of the same gens as the Roman consul featured in this story, probably a direct
descendant. The reverse type pictured here shows the formal ritual of accepting
an oath as practiced amongst the southern Italian societies of which the Samnites
were one. It depicts a youth kneeling left, clutching a pig as two warriors touch the
animal ceremonially with their swords, ROMA above.
 CONTENTS

Preface   xi
Acknowledgments   xiii
List of Abbreviations   xv
Introduction   1
Text. Ab Urbe Condita: Book 9.1–12.328   13
Commentary   27
Appendix I: Glossary of Political and Military Offices
and Proper Names and Places   95
Appendix II: Glossary of Grammatical Terms
and Rhetorical and Poetical Devices   101
Vocabulary   107
 PREFACE

I first heard the story of the Caudine Forks the year I taught at the Intercollegiate
Center for Classical Studies in Rome. A young assistant professor just out of graduate
school, I was one of three visiting faculty on the staff of James L. Franklin Jr., then
acting Mellon Professor-In-Charge, now Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. It
was spring semester and we were taking the students on a tour of Campania, using
the storied Villa Vergiliana, on the northwest corner of the Bay of Naples, as our
piede a terra. We had just left the amphitheatre at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, and
were headed east to Benevento and Trajan’s Arch. As our Gran Turismo conveyed us
ever higher into the Apennines along narrow switchback roads on that drear March
morning, Jim leaned over the back of his seat and said to me, “You know, it was right
around here that it happened.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“The Caudine Forks,” Jim Franklin said, and then proceeded to tell me the story
you are about to read. “Check out Livy,” he said. “Book Nine.”
That night after dinner, I rummaged the Villa’s library and among its modest
holdings I came across a well-used Oxford Latin text containing book 9 of Livy’s Ab
Urbe Condita. I ran some copies, conscripted some students, and every evening for
the rest of our stay there we read Livy’s account of how, in 321 b.c., the Samnites
ambushed the four consular legions of T. Veturius Calvinus and Sp. Postumius Albi-
nus in a narrow pass in the southern Apennine Mountains at a place Livy calls the
Furculae Caudinum.
xii  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

Many years and the better part of an academic career later—a career spent of
winter weeks and springtide afternoons guiding my third-semester Latin students ever
so gently through their First Catilinarian or Second Philippic—I would unexpectedly
re-visit Livy’s Furculae Caudinae. While updating the syllabus for my Age of Augus-
tus seminar and re-thinking the prose selection to accompany the usual component
of Horace and Vergil, Livy’s account of the ambush at Caudium surprisingly came
to mind from so many years ago. I recalled with no small mirth my little impromp-
tu reading group so hastily and heartily got together, and those lazy, drizzling Villa
nights; how accessible Livy’s Latin had seemed even then. But went I in search of a
good student edition and commentary, I found only the odd scholarly tome that in
no way addressed the grammatical needs of the intermediate student. So I set about
filling that void. The product of that endeavor and my industry is the volume you
have before you. I hope it will help you, and future students of Latin literature, enjoy
reading this story as much as I have over the years.

Steven M. Cerutti
Mother’s Day
Greenville, North Carolina
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This edition and commentary was written for one simple, albeit ambitious goal: to
make this compelling story accessible to students of Latin as early as their second year.
For this reason, I am especially indebted to my third-semester Latin students who
suffered through early drafts of this commentary and offered invaluable insights into
what information should be included that, after twenty-five years of teaching Latin,
still eluded even me. Therefore, I shall forever remain obligated to Andrea Tilley,
Katherine Estes, Jeffrey “B. J.” Totum, Ashton Pierce, Drew Kanz-O’Shea, and Taylor
Lilly, who wrestled with all the frustrations that a first draft must offer and whose in-
put made all subsequent drafts more effective teaching instruments. I also would like
to acknowledge Stephen P. Oakley’s excellent commentary on Book 9 of Livy’s Ab
Urbe Condita, whose influence informs nearly every page of this work. Penultimately,
I would be poor in thanks indeed were I not to include in this number L.R., who un-
derstood that those who write by the pound revise by the ounce that they might know
a hawk from a handsaw. Finally, thanks to Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whisky for
saving my life by making the bloody stuff so expensive.
To these and their efforts much of the accuracy of this commentary is owed;
whatever missteps have found their way into the following pages must end at my door,
behind which the menace of the years will find me bloodied but unbowed.
 ABBREVIATIONS

A. General

abl. ablative leg. legal

acc. accusative m. masculine
adj. adjective n. neuter
adv. adverb pass. passive
cf. confer (“compare”) pl. plural
comp. comparative q.v. quod vide (“which see”)
conj. conjunction refl. reflexive
correl. correlative rel. relative
dat. dative sc. scilicit (“supply from context”)
e.g. exempli gratia
(“for the sake of example”) sim. similar
encl. enclitic sing. singular
esp. especially spec. specifically
f. feminine subj. subjunctive
gen. genitive subst. substantive
i.e. id est (“that is”) superl. superlative
impers. impersonal s.v. sub voce (“under this heading”)
indecl. indeclinable usu. usually
inf. infinitive w. with
interrog. interrogative > derives from
xvi  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

B. Praenomina

A. Aulus P. Publius
Ap(p). Appius Q. Quintus
C. Gaius Ser. Servius
Cn. Gnaeus Sex. Sextus
D. Decimus Sp. Spurius
L. Lucius T. Titus
M. Marcus Ti. Tiberius
M’. Manius
 INTRODUCTION

I can think of no better way to introduce this edition than to quote the following
passage from Stephen P. Oakley’s authoritative commentary on Book 9 of Livy’s Ab
Urbe Condita, where he makes the following striking observation:

For the historian of the Samnite Wars these chapters are perhaps the most difficult
in books 6–10. For the student of Livy’s narrative artistry they are perhaps the most
impressive, containing a narrative that is emotionally charged and ultimately trag-
ic, and that provokes thought on important questions such as the cause of the Ro-
man disaster, the correct response to a major defeat, and the rightness of the Roman
vengeance.1

Thus Livy delivers the goods: the Roman army trapped and cornered through de-
ceit and treachery, blinded by the hubris of its own Roman arrogance; the Sam-
nites, too, blinded by the hubris of their refusal to acknowledge any authority as
greater than their own. Stalemate. It is a tale at times tragic, at times ironic—if
not absurd—and in the end, being a tale told by Livy, it is also, of course, a highly
moralistic one.
The capture and ambush of the four consular legions of T. Veturius Calvinus
and Sp. Postumius Albinus2 at the Caudine Forks in 321 b.c. set in motion a series
of events that would lead to the defeat and subjugation of the Samnite people, and
establish the hegemony of Rome throughout Italy. No student of Latin literature or
Roman history will read this account and come away unmoved by, or the lesser for it.
2  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

Rome and the Samnite Wars

The Samnites lived in the Apennine Mountains south of Rome, east of Capua, and
north of Lucania, and were one of Rome’s most formidable enemies during its emer-
gence as a republic. For half a century the two were at nearly continual warfare; thus
it suits most historians, and understandably so, to organize this period of Rome’s early
history around the mileposts of the First Samnite War (343–341 b.c.), the Second
Samnite War (326–304 b.c.), and the Third Samnite War (298–290 b.c.).
Situated in central Campania, the small but geographically strategic hamlet of
Capua often found itself caught-up in the tangle of every local dust up and regional
squabble as it struggled and strove to make alliances where it may. The First Samnite
War was, in fact, the result of Rome’s efforts to protect Capua—and, more important-
ly, Roman interests tied up with Capua—from Samnite aggression. But the conflict
would grow from a series of skirmishes and fisticuffs into a free-for-all that would
spread across the entire peninsula, eventually dragging the Etruscans, Umbrians, Pi-
centi, and even the Senone Gauls into the fray.
Our story deals with an important event that occurred during the Second Sam-
nite War, and marked a turning point in Roman resolve and determination to crush
the Samnite insurgency.

A Brief Life of Livy

Titus Livius was born between the years 64–59 b.c., placing his death, at age 76, be-
tween 12–17 a.d. His family home was at Patavium (Padua), in the northern province
of Cisalpine Gaul. About Livy’s life we are sure of little—about his family history, we
can be sure of even less. In the words of P. G. Walsh, Livy was “the most nebulous
figure of all the greater historians of the ancient world.”3
Lack of any record of advancement on the cursus honorum suggests that neither
Livy nor his family achieved senatorial stripe. Livy’s education was probably based
on the study of philosophy and rhetoric, for he wrote several philosophical dialogues,
none of which survive. All that we have is what endures of the Ab Urbe Condita, his
annalistic history of Rome whose incomplete collection of extant volumes reveals
very little about the man who wrote them.4 Toward the end of his life Livy retired to
Patavium, where he died shortly before the emperor Augustus.5
The widely held view is that Livy spent most of his adult life in Rome.6 He would
have moved there shortly after the Battle of Actium in 31 b.c.—when Octavian, Julius
Caesar’s grandnephew and heir, adopted the name Augustus to become Rome’s first
emperor—and no later than Augustus’ failed “moral” legislation of 28 b.c. Livy’s deci-
sion to move to Rome was no doubt a practical one: only in the capital could he access
the tabularia that would inform the annales of his history.7 Even having done that, his
task would be daunting thanks to the paucity of Roman records, and at some point Livy
apparently became so frustrated that he considered abandoning the project altogether.8
 Introduction 3

Livy’s family, if not of the senatorial class, apparently did not lack some small
measure of entree to the cachet enjoyed by those who sported the latus clavus along
the broader boulevards of the capital. Not long after arriving in Rome, Livy’s rising
star came to eclipse the Julio-centric orbits of those satellites who would put him in
the same room as the princeps, although he would never penetrate the inner sanc­
tum of Rome’s literary illuminati. He was a member neither of Maecenas’ patronage,
which counted Vergil, Horace, and Ovid among its clientele, nor that of Messalla,
which included Tibullus, Lygdamus, and Sulpicia.
But did he even need, much less want to be in that number? To the contrary,
there is much to suggest that toward playing the part of the “court historian” his
affections did in no way tend—especially if Livy possessed sufficient means to permit
him to pursue his literary goals free from the imperial generosities on which his con-
temporaries ungenerously relied. Moreover, unlike Vergil and Horace, whose families
were devastated by the proscriptions and confiscations of the Second Triumvirate,
Livy was still a teenager when Calpurnia awaked from a feverish kip in March of
44 b.c. and besought her husband not go to the senate that day. Perhaps Livy felt re-
lieved not to be obligated to the Julian Medici, thereby steering clear of any pressure
to infect his history with the same status quo ante bellum whoopla that pervaded the
iambs and dactyls of Vergil and Horace. Indeed, not being blackened by the brush
of the proscriptions might very well explain why Rome’s young and future historian
célèlebre was able to win Augustus’ friendship on his own merits. According to Tac-
itus (Ann. 4.34), the two were on intimate terms, an assertion supported by the fact
that Livy was entrusted with the education of the young and future emperor Claudius
(Suet. Claud. 41.1).
Yet even if Livy wished to remain isolate of Augustus’ patronage and his jingo-
istic propaganda, that doesn’t mean he didn’t sport a little jingo of his own, and he
needed no Medici to provide him a canvas on which to spread it. That being said,
Livy does make it clear in his praefatio that he certainly did embrace many of the same
moral and pro patria ideologies espoused by the emperor. And nowhere in his Ab Urbe
Condita are these patriotic values better seen on parade than in the story that occupies
this present edition.

Summary of Events

Livy closes Book 8 at the end of 322 b.c., with the decisive Roman victory over the
Samnites in Apulia, and the Samnites’ failure to negotiate a formal peace with their
Roman conquerors. Book 9 opens with the events of the following year, which begins
with the Samnite reaction to the Romans’ arrogant refusal to grant their embassy the
peace they sought at the end of Book 8.
With his opening sentence, Livy informs his audience that the new year (321 b.c.)
brings with it the Pax Caudina (sequitur hunc annum nobilis clade Romana Caudina pax),
the unfortunate result of an infamous (nobilis) defeat inflicted upon four Roman le-
4  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

gions led by the consuls T. Veturius Calvinus and Sp. Postumius Albinus, after the
Samnite army traps them in a place Livy calls the Furculae Caudinae, a narrow pass
in the southern Apennines near Caudium. While this event is sometimes referred to
as the “Battle of the Caudine Forks,” no actual battle took place. Outside of a brief
flurry of needless violence visited by the Samnites upon some of the more obstinate
Romans, not a single pilum was thrown in anger, and neither side took casualties.
At least not physical ones. There remained, however, the emotional scars the
Romans would endure thanks to the humiliating terms of the peace dictated by the
young Samnite commander, Gaius Pontius. But humiliation has its price, and the
Samnites would pay dearly for inflicting it. If Rome was ever the sleeping giant, the
Samnites awakened him at Caudium.
Livy wastes no time introducing Pontius, son of the wise and wizened Herennius
Pontius. Upon learning that the Samnite legates who went north to seek peace with
Rome have returned cloaked in diplomatic failure, Pontius addresses his warriors in a
hortative tirade in which he bemoans the Samnites’ frustration with Roman subjuga-
tion. The Samnite people have had more than enough of Roman saevitia et superbia,
and he means to cure the Romans of their brutality and arrogance. Roman superbia
is intoleranda, and Pontius declares that he will tolerate this intolerable arrogance no
longer. He concludes by declaring that his people should take heart because, thanks
to the hubris of Roman oppression, the gods now champion the Samnite cause and
support their renewal of the war. Intent on using the Romans’ own superbia against
them, Pontius leads his army to a secluded region near Caudium to winkle out the
Roman legionnaires that are presently reconnoitering in the vicinity.
And it is a reconnaissance in force. Four legiones conscripti—close to twenty thou-
sand infantry and twelve hundred cavalry—are advancing their Roman standards deep
into Samnite country, with the consuls Calvinus and Postumius, both seasoned impe­
ratores (the two shared the consulship in 334 b.c.), at the head of this formidable host.9
Upon learning that the Roman army is encamped at nearby Calatia, due east of
Capua, Pontius dispatches ten of his soldiers disguised as local shepherds to graze their
flocks near the Roman camp.10 Each “shepherd” is instructed to disinform the Roman
commanders that the Samnite army is at that very moment besieging Luceria, an ally
of Rome on the Adriatic side of the southern Apennine range. The Romans are easily
taken in by this fiction as, according to Livy, it was a rumor already circulating among
the rank and file. In fact, Pontius knows that the Romans, driven by the hubris of
their own superbia, need little impetus to send them dashing off in all directions for a
chance to inflict upon the Samnites another dose of their saevitia as well.
But where there’s hubris, there’s always plenty of hubris to go around, as Pontius
soon will learn. The consuls, confronted with this disinformation, now have a crucial
decision to make as to which route to take to Luceria. Livy writes, duae ad Luceriam
ferebant viae, altera praeter oram superi maris, patens apertaque sed quanto tutior tanto fere
longior, altera per Furculas Caudinas, brevior. Two roads lead to Luceria; the first is a
coastal one, offering a safer journey through friendly territory, but also one that will
take considerably longer to traverse, skirting the Apennine mountains as it favors the
 Introduction 5

Adriatic littoral; the second is a more direct route, shorter and faster, but one that
will take the Roman army into the mountains and through the Caudine Pass. Believ-
ing Luceria to be in imminent danger of falling to this fictitious Samnite assault, the
consuls do what Pontius hopes they will do: they choose the quicker route through
the mountains and unwittingly lead their precious legions not into the position of
being liberators of Luceria, but rather into the predicament of needing liberators of
their own.
Livy provides a detailed description of the Caudine Pass, but its geographical
accuracy has been called into question and no certain location has ever been estab-
lished.11 As Livy describes it, an advancing army will be forced by the constraints
of the topography to enter the pass through a narrow opening at one side and exit
through a similarly constricted one on the other. The Roman army enters this double
bottleneck on the north-west side, traversing a widening plain flanked by towering
cliffs. Upon reaching the opposite, south-east end of the pass, they find the second
bottleneck deliberately blocked by a felling of trees strewn with large boulders. Real-
izing that they have just marched their legions into a mousetrap, the consuls attempt
a hasty withdrawal the way they had come, but upon returning to the north-west en-
trance, they find the Samnites have now blocked it as well. As Samnite soldiers slowly
reveal themselves in arms and high feather on the peaks and ridges surrounding the
Caudine plain below, the consuls come to grasp fully the ugly truth of their situation:
they have quite hastily and unwisely led the entire standing army of Rome into what
can only be described as a textbook military fandango.12 Pontius has got the drop on
them; the jig is up.
It is lonely at the top, however, and uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
Pontius, upon realizing that his bold plan has in fact succeeded and all eyes now look
to him, knows not what to do with this tiger he has caught by the tail. Seeking advice
from one whose experience with tigers such as these far outmatches his own, he sends
a messenger to his father, Herennius, informing him of the situation and seeking his
counsel. Herennius responds that Pontius should let the Romans go free and un-
scathed. Understandably unsatisfied with this response, he sends the messenger back.
When the messenger returns a second time, his father’s advice is now to slaughter all
the captured Romans to a man. With there being such inconsistency between the two
responses, Pontius summons his father to the camp.
Old Herennius arrives and tells Pontius the same thing: he has but two choices:
either (1) let them all go free and unscathed (thereby securing a potential future ally
in Rome), or (2) slaughter the ensnared legionnaires to the man (thereby ensuring
that there will be no chance of a Roman retaliation for many generations); there is,
he says, no third option. When the son catechizes the father as to what would be the
result if a middle course of action were taken, and the Romans were set free unharmed
but with new and stricter laws imposed on them, Herennius sagely responds: “That
sentiment is the kind that neither produces friends nor removes enemies.” The old
man further warns his son not to take any action that will needlessly provoke the
anger of the Romans, as they know not how to suffer defeat.13 So, the father.
6  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

Not so much, the son. Pontius, it seems, has ideas of his own. Rejecting his fa-
ther’s advice, he chooses what he thinks is a middle course of action, and in so doing
makes a catastrophic miscalculation. When the captured consuls Calvinus and Pos-
tumius, in what can only be described as a state of denial, lead a desperate envoy to
Pontius demanding their right to either a pax aequa (an honorable peace on equal
terms in the form of a sponsio), or else an outright fight on open ground, both demands
are summarily rejected.
Instead, Pontius has some demands of his own. The terms of the new sponsio
are to be thus: the Romans are to quit Samnite lands forever; they will withdraw all
Roman colonies from Samnite territory;14 they will surrender 600 equites to be held
by the Samnites as hostages to guarantee the new peace; they will surrender all their
weapons and the trappings of their offices. Then it gets personal. Pontius means to
cure the Romans of their saevitia et superbia by inflicting a little of his own. Before he
agrees to release them, Pontius makes a final, fatal demand: the Romans must strip to
their bare tunics and crawl under the yoke of the vanquished.15
It may be lonely at the top, but it is hell at the bottom. When word of their fate
reaches the Roman army down in the Caudine Pass, panic grips the rank and file. Since
any recourse to fight or make flight has been denied them, they have no choice but
to pitch tents and await the indignity of the yoke. Things look bleak for the future of
Roman hegemony until, at last and at length, all are somewhat buoyed by the highly
emotional and rhetorical speech of senior legate L. Lentulus: if capitulation to the yoke
is the only way to save the army, then capitulate they must. By doing this (and only
this), Lentulus explains, will they save the legions of Rome, and by saving the legions
of Rome, they save Rome herself. He appeals to both the memory of his father and the
future of his fatherland. It is a remarkable piece of oratory and a rhetorical tour-de-force.
Rhetorical tour-de-forces notwithstanding, commeth the hour for the Romans
to strip, fall to their knees, and crawl under the yoke. Only after this ultimate indig-
nation are they released by their Samnite captors to scuttle off into the gloaming.
In shame and tears and only the tunics on their backs the Roman legionnaires leave
the Caudine Pass in a halting, jerking frieze of jutting elbows and bended knees as
evening’s blue shadows grow longer.
With night nipping at their unsandalled heels they crawl to Capua town where
they are well-received by their ally, though in their shame, they refuse to enter the
city. The Capuans supply the infantry with new kit and the equites with fresh horses.
That same night the army presses on to Rome. Rumor, however, ever fleet of foot, has
already reached the capital with news of the debacle and Rome is now in a public state
of mourning. The soldiers therefore decide to steal into the city under cover of darkness,
the better to avoid the disgrace of facing their fellow citizens and furious senators.
After the Romans depart, the Capuans hold a special concilium where concerns
are voiced about the severity of the Roman defeat and humiliation at the hands of the
Samnites, who seem to many to have won a great and decisive victory. Once again,
things look grim for the future of Roman hegemony until Aulus Calavius rises to
speak and some very pro Roman words ring the air. In his speech, ironically, Calavius
 Introduction 7

echoes many of the caveats expressed by Herennius to his son: the Romans know not
how to suffer defeat; it is dangerous to underestimate their resolve; they will soon
return in force and destroy the Samnites.
Meanwhile, next day in the Roman senate the furious senators meet. On the
docket are what punitive measures should be taken toward Calvinus and Postumi-
us for leading the state’s legions so recklessly into an obvious trap, thus entangling
Rome in a shameful sponsio with the Samnites. Postumius delivers a moving speech,
explaining why he chose the action that he took, and assumes full responsibility for its
consequences: the Roman people are not bound by his actions; let him and his con-
sular colleague be shackled and surrendered to the Samnites as Fetial Law requires.
Postumius proves himself a gifted orator and an adept rhetorician; the senators lean
toward leniency, so greatly moved are they by his words and candor.
All candor aside, for the newly-elected tribunes of the plebs. For them, Postumi-
us’ speech comes a day late and, as it were, a denarius short. After more haranguing
on both sides a decision is reached: Postumius and his colleague Calvinus are to be
cashiered along with everyone else who formally signed on to the dishonorable sponsio
at Caudium. In accordance with Fetial Law they are to be shackled and surrendered
to the Samnites as sponsors of a new peace they hope will release them from this
shameful one.
The story ends where it began, at Caudium. Only now the Roman delegation
stands before Pontius with Postumius and the other legates who swore to the sponsio
in shackles. The Romans offer Postumius and the others as sponsors of a new sponsio
and as ransom for the 600 equites currently being held as hostages. But as the Romans
attempt to close the deal, Postumius suddenly declares that he is no longer a Roman
citizen, but a Samnite, and attacks his own fetial, in effect nullifying the entire peace
process. Seeing this as another example of his enemy’s superbia, Pontius delivers an
excoriating condemnation of Roman diplomacy that echoes his words at the begin-
ning of the story. Yet his words, fiery and echoing though they be, the young Samnite
commander realizes hold but an empty threat; the Samnites now understand that the
war the Romans will soon revisit upon them will be one that the Romans have, in
fact, already won. The final clause of the saga is unambiguous, and in the arrangement
of its syntax Livy literally allows the Romans to have the last word (Samnites simul
rebellasse et vicisse crederent Romanum).
At the heart of this story is the Roman concept of shame (pudor), particularly
in the context of military surrender (deditio). It was a long-standing Roman tradition
never to admit defeat in war. As Livy instructs his readers through Lentulus: Foeda
atque ignominiosa deditio est. Surrender is vile and ignominious.16 It is a sentiment
worthy of a Roman Ode (indeed, Horace and Livy were contemporaries). As Appian
observes (Iberica 13.79), the only terms of surrender ever deemed utterable to the
Roman way of thinking were those that might gargle up an enemy’s throat crushed
by the heel of a Roman jackboot. In the collected sententiae of Publilius Syrus (404,
Friedrich ed.) one finds: Non novit virtus calamitati cedere. Courage knows not how to
yield to calamity.
8  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

Nor, for that matter, did the Romans know how to yield to the Samnites. It had
always been Roman tradition to impose peace rather than to seek it (pacem dare not
pacem petere).17 Perhaps Seneca put it best (De Providentia 2.6): Etiam si cecidit de genu
pugnat. Even if he falls, he fights from his knees.
But at Caudium they didn’t fight from their knees, they crawled away on them.
Given the end game they were facing, there was no other choice for the Romans but
to endure the ordeal of the yoke, and return to fight another day. And on that day,
and that day would come soon, the Roman legions would return to Caudium with
their terrible, swift swords unlimbered, and reprisal would run its red course.

Livy’s Storytelling Style

Livy’s history abounds with accounts of critical battles and intense personal struggles
and triumphs meant to be illustrative of the unshakable Roman spirit. Livy’s overar-
ching mission in the Ab Urbe Condita is to portray the relentless self-advancement
of Roman ideals through the exploits of extraordinary individuals, from the arrival
of Aeneas, to the establishment of a republic that will become an empire to rule the
world. These individuals are archetypal in nature, paradigms of the highest moral
conduct. Indeed, in the praefatio to his work, Livy apologizes for seemingly adding an-
other brick to the pile that is recorded Roman history; yet he goes on to state that if he
hopes to accomplish anything that will set him apart from his antecedents, it is that
his account will focus on the actions and achievements of the individual who, per-
severing through all that death and danger dare, forged the pages of Roman history.
Livy’s account of the Roman disaster at the Caudine Forks is an example of just
such a saga. A set-piece, it can be plucked from the pages of Livy’s encyclopedic work
and read and enjoyed and analyzed on its own. And when one does this it becomes
clear that the work has been carefully crafted as a literary endeavor, a cautionary tale,
rather than as something intended to stand on the measure of its historical accuracy
or significance in the larger context of the Samnite Wars.

Ring Composition and Literary Structure

As a set-piece, the story exhibits clear evidence of a deliberate literary structure, a ring
composition that can be seen on many levels. What follows is a basic, rudimentary
outline for the benefit of the student new to the subject. Certainly, to the framework
presented below, many more recurrent patterns of imagery and echoes of key words
and phrases can be added, and students are encouraged to seek them out as they work
their way through the text.
The first ring (A1—A2): Livy begins the story with a speech delivered by a fiery
C. Pontius, after the Samnite embassy, sent to Rome at the end of Book 8, has returned
(redierunt) having been rejected by the Romans (9.1.4–23) even though the Samnites
 Introduction 9

are prepared to surrender one of their own citizens responsible for breaking the peace.
Livy ends the story with a parallel scene: a second fiery speech by Pontius before his
tribunal at Caudium directed at the Roman embassy offering the surrender of Postumius
for agreeing to the shameful peace struck at the Caudine Forks (9.11.292–319). Like
the Samnites at the beginning of the story, the Romans return (redierunt) to their camp
having failed to strike a deal. We can call these two parallel scenes that frame the
ring as: the surrender of a Samnite citizen and the rejection of the Samnite embassy
explained in a speech by Pontius (a1), and the surrender of a Roman citizen and the
rejection of the Roman embassy, explained as well through a speech by Pontius (a2).
The scene that follows Pontius’ speech (9.2.24–29), describes the mobilization
of Samnite forces to intercept the Roman army at Calatia, and the disguising of Sam-
nite soldiers as local shepherds in order to trick the Romans into believing that the
Samnite army is on the point of overtaking the town of Luceria. Likewise, the scene
that precedes Pontius’ rejection of the embassy at the end of the story entails the
mobilization of Roman forces, along with a change of identity, when Postumius de-
clares himself to be no longer a Roman but a Samnite citizen, and then physically
attacks the Roman fetial, thereby nullifying the peace process, an action that Pontius
interprets as an example of Roman trickery and cites as reason for rejecting the envoy
(9.10.281–291). We can call these two scenes b1 and b2 respectively: mobilization of
military forces and changes of identity.
The third corresponding ring is found at 9.3.66–87 (c1) and at 9.8.202–9.272 (c2).
In c1, there is debate in the Samnite camp between Pontius and his father Herennius
concerning what course of action to take regarding the trapped Roman legions; in
c2, we have debate in the Roman senate concerning what course of action to take in
order to disentangle the Roman state from the disgraceful peace struck at Caudium.
The final ring (d1—d2) juxtaposes the patriotic speech of L. Lentulus (9.4.99–117),
in which the senior legate sways the Romany army into finding hope in capitulation
after their entrapment within the Caudine Forks, with the speech made by A. Calavi-
us (9.6.173–181) in the concilium of Capua. Both Lentulus’ speech (d1) and Calavius’
speech (d2) are pro Roman, and serve to reverse what appears to be the majority
opinion (both among the Romans and the Capuans), that the possibility of Roman
hegemony is now in jeopardy thanks to the disgrace of the Roman army at Caudium.
The centerpiece of the story (e) is, as one would expect, the actual sending of the
Roman army under the yoke of the vanquished (9.5.148–151). Livy’s account of the
event is extraordinarily brief and all but devoid of detail, an astonishingly flat denoue-
ment given that it is this event that propels the entire story. Incredibly, the account
of the Romans passing under the yoke is a mere 41 words and consists of only two sen-
tences, each of nearly equal length: the first describes the Romans as they pass under
the yoke (20 words), the second describes the Samnites’ reaction to the Romans pass-
ing under the yoke (21 words). This can only have been a deliberate construct of Livy,
as e also occupies lines 148–151, dividing the story into nearly equal halves (if you
do not include the lines of the coda [f], see below). As the centerpiece of the story,
the yoke literally and figuratively joins the two halves of the ring structure together.
10  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

The argument for ring composition is further supported by the final paragraph
(9.12.320–328), which acts as a coda (f), standing outside the ring structure of the
narrative, and reinforcing a sense of finality and conclusion. While it adds nothing
new to the saga, it delivers the moral of the story by providing a lens through which
Livy invites his audience to view the certain and indisputable outcome of these
events from the Samnites’ perspective: the final conquest of Rome over the Samnites
is a foregone conclusion.
For the beginning student a basic understanding of ring composition within the
story can be represented by the following outline:

A1 (9.1.4–23) The Samnites return to camp (redierunt, 9.1.4), their attempt at strik-
ing a peace (and surrender of a citizen responsible for the breaking of the peace)
with the Romans having failed.
B1 (9.2.24–29) Samnite military mobilization and change of identity (ten Sam-
nite soldiers disguise themselves as shepherds in order to deceive the Romans).
C1 (9.3.66–87) Debate among the Samnites.
D1 (9.4.99–114) The pro Roman speech of L. Lentulus.
E Centerpiece (9.5.148–151): the Roman legions pass under the
yoke.
D2 (9.6.173–181) The pro Roman speech of A. Calavius.
C2 (9.8.202–9.272) Debate among the Roman senators.
B2 (9.10.281–291) Roman military mobilization and change of identity (Pos-
tumius declares himself a Samnite citizen in order to deceive the Samnites).
A2 (9.11.292–319) The Romans return to their camp (redierunt, 9.11.319) after their
failed embassy to the Samnites (and attempted surrender of a citizen responsible
for the breaking of the peace has been rejected) to change the terms of the sponsio
struck under duress at the Caudine Forks.
F Coda (9.12.320–328): the Samnites realize that they have misplayed the entire
affair, and that the war the Romans are going to renew against them is one that the
Romans have already won.

How to Use This Book

Several features of this edition will, I trust, prove especially useful to both student and
teacher alike. Appendix I contains a glossary of proper names, places, and political and
military offices (consul, praetor, tribune, etc.), so that space in the commentary need
not be taken up with lengthy explanations and identifications of the numerous histori-
cal figures, their titles and official duties, and geographical locations. Entries for all prop-
er names and places are also indexed to their appearance in the Latin text, so readers do
not have to consult two different resources. Moreover, whenever a rhetorical device or
figure of speech is identified and discussed in the commentary, its name appears in small
capitals (e.g., anaphora, hendiadys, chiasmus, etc.), indicating that a definition of
 Introduction 11

the term can be found in the glossary of Appendix II. There is also a complete vocabu-
lary at the end of the volume. All dates are to be considered b.c. unless otherwise noted.
At 328 lines of Latin prose, this story is a convenient length for a semester’s read
at a pace that will allow ample time for the instructor to review specific grammar points
as they arise. The commentary divides the story into 29 units each covering between
approximately 3 to 40-plus lines of text, a reasonable range offering the instructor a wide
range of flexibility when assigning homework for students at the intermediate level.

Text and Edition

The textual tradition for Livy’s account of this story is for the most part sound. Where
textual problems have presented themselves, I have followed the suggestions of those
editors and philologists whose addenda and/or corrigenda presented the least amount
of difficulty for the student. I have numbered the lines of the text consecutively
(1–328). All references in the commentary to the text of Book 9 list the book, chap-
ter, and line numbers of this edition. The text, its line numbering, capitalization and
punctuation, are my own. For references to all other books of Livy, the convention
of this edition follows the standard format of citation by the book, chapter, and line
number following that of the 1913 OCT (Walters and Conway eds.) edition.

Notes

1. Oakley (A Commentary on Livy, Books VI–X, Volume III, Book IX), p. 3.

2. While the cognomen Albinus is part of Sp. Postumius’ historical name, Livy never uses it,
referring to him always as Sp. Postumius. Therefore, to avoid confusion, that is how he
shall be referred to throughout the commentary.
3. Walsh (Livy: His Historical Aims and Methods), p. 1.
4. The complete title would have been Historiarum ab urbe condita libri and would fill 142 vol-
umes. But only a small portion of these has survived. We have Books 1–10; Books 11–20
and 46–142 have been entirely lost, and all books after 45 exist only as summaries written
between the first and fourth centuries a.c.
5. As confirmed by a tomb inscription discovered in Padua (CIL 5.2975, Dessau 2919).
6. For the argument that he remained at Patavium for most of his life, see Syme (Tacitus), p. 137.
7. It is worth noting that Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Greek historian who also wrote a
history of Rome, settled in Rome around this time, no doubt for similar reasons.
8. See Pliny, Ep. 3.5.16. One must bear in mind, for example, that there existed no prose
literature written in the Latin language until after the Second Punic War, about the turn
of the second century before Christ.
9. That is, each consul commanded two consular legions. Conscripted or “drafted” legion-
naires characterized the main body of the Roman army at this early date. It would not be
until over two centuries later that the Marian reforms of 107 b.c. transformed the Roman
army from a conscripted citizen militia to a volunteer, mercenary army of highly trained
12  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

and disciplined professional soldiers. It would be under a more gradual transformation that
the Roman army abandoned the hoplite tactics of their Greek predecessors and instituted
the more adaptable maniples.
10. Calatia lay six miles southeast of Capua, six miles west of ad Novas, and fifteen miles west
of Caudium.
11. To this day, the exact location of the Caudine Forks is a matter of dispute. The valley
between Arienzo and Arpaia is the traditional location of the Caudine Forks, and most
scholars agree that it is the most likely site of the Samnite entrapment (see Oakley 2005,
pp. 54–60 for other possibilities and bibliography on the topography).
12. Oakley (A Commentary on Livy, Books VI–X, Volume III, Book IX), p.16 states that “L’s
description of the terrain of the Caudine Forks is imaginary, however he has exaggerated
its difficulties in such a way as to help absolve the Romans from their defeat.” He goes on
to point out that “L’s exaggerated description of the terrain helps explain the failure of
the Roman attempts to join battle and break out (9.3.1–4, 4.1) and hence supports the
notion that the Roman troops were, in a sense, undefeated.” See also Lipovsky (1981),
pp. 142–143.
13. In this Livy is perhaps following Ennius (Annales 513 [493], Skutch 1985): Qui vincit
non est victor nisi victus fatetur (“He who conquers is not the victor unless the conquered
acknowledges it”). The very frequency of the phrase victum se fateri (or confiteri, cf. Cic.
Tusc. 3.14; Livy, 3.28.10; 4.10.3; 30, 35, 11; 36, 45, 6; Lucan 3.234), more than implies
that to the Roman psychology only the admission of defeat by the conquered made victory
complete.
14. As a result of the treaty Rome would lose her colonies at Fregellae and Cales.
15. For a description of the yoke (iugum) see Livy 3.28.11: tribus hastis iugum fit humi fixis dua­
bus superque eas transversa una deligata; also Paul. Fest 92: sub quo victi transiebant. Hoc modo
fiebant: fixis duabus hasitis super eas ligabatur tertia; sub his victos distinctos transire cogebant.
16. On the subject of pudor and the Roman psyche, see Barton (Roman Honor: The Fire in the
Bones), esp. 137 and note 5.
17. See Klingner (“Vergil und die Idee des Fiedens”), esp. p. 616.

Bibliography

Barton, C. A. Roman Honor: The Fire in the Bones. Berkeley: University of California Press,
2001.
Klingner, F. “Vergil und die Idee des Fiedens.” In Römische Geistewelt: Essays zur lateinischen
Literatur, 614–644. Stuttgart: Reclam Verlagshaus, 1979.
Mellor, R. The Roman Historians. London and New York: Routledge, 1999.
Oakley, S. P. A Commentary on Livy, Books VI–X, Volume III, Book IX. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2005.
Syme, R. Tacitus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1958.
Walsh, P. G. Livy: His Historical Aims and Methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1967.
 TEXT

AB URBE CONDITA
Book 9.1–12.328

I
The New Year Begins Badly
9.1.1–3

1 Sequitur hunc annum nobilis clade Romana Caudina pax, T. Veturio Calvino, Sp.
Postumio consulibus. Samnites eo anno imperatorem C. Pontium Herenni filium
habuerunt, patre longe prudentissimo natum, primum ipsum bellatorem ducemque.

II
Pontius’ Speech
9.1.4–23

Is, ubi legati qui ad dedendas res missi erant pace infecta redierunt, “ne nihil actum”
inquit, “hac legatione censeatis, expiatum est quidquid ex foedere rupto irarum in nos 5
caelestium fuit. Satis scio, quibuscumque dis cordi fuit subigi nos ad necessitatem
dedendi res quae ab nobis ex foedere repetitae fuerant, iis non fuisse cordi tam superbe ab
Romanis foederis expiationem spretam. Quid enim ultra fieri ad placandos deos
mitigandosque homines potuit quam quod nos fecimus? Res hostium in praeda captas,
quae belli iure nostrae videbantur, remisimus; auctores belli, quia vivos non potuimus, 10
perfunctos iam fato dedidimus; bona eorum, ne quid ex contagione noxae remaneret
 14  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

penes nos, Romam portavimus. Quid ultra tibi, Romane, quid foederi, quid dis arbitris
foederis debeo? Quem tibi tuarum irarum, quem meorum suppliciorum iudicem feram?
Neminem, neque populum neque privatum, fugio. Quod si nihil cum potentiore iuris
15 humani relinquitur inopi, at ego ad deos vindices intolerandae superbiae confugiam et
precabor, ut iras suas vertant in eos quibus non suae redditae res, non alienatae
accumulatae satis sint; quorum saevitiam non mors noxiorum, non deditio exanimatorum
corporum, non bona sequentia domini deditionem exsatient placarique nequeant, nisi
hauriendum sanguinem laniandaque viscera nostra praebuerimus. Iustum est bellum,
20 Samnites, quibus necessarium, et pia arma, quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquitur spes.
Proinde, cum rerum humanarum maximum momentum sit quam propitiis rem,
quam adversis agant dis, pro certo habete priora bella adversus deos magis
quam homines gessisse, hoc quod instat ducibus ipsis dis gesturos.”

III
The Samnites Set the Trap
9.2.24–29

2 Haec non laeta magis quam vera vaticinatus, exercitu educto circa Caudium castra
25 quam potest occultissime locat. Inde ad Calatiam, ubi iam consules Romanos castraque
esse audiebat, milites decem pastorum habitu mittit pecoraque diversos alium alibi haud
procul Romanis pascere iubet praesidiis; ubi inciderint in praedatores, ut idem omnibus
sermo constet legiones Samnitium in Apulia esse, Luceriam omnibus copiis
circumsedere, nec procul abesse quin vi capiant.

IV
Rumors in the Roman Camp
9.2.30–33

30 Iam is rumor ante de industria vulgatus venerat ad Romanos, sed fidem auxere
captivi eo maxime quod sermo inter omnes congruebat. Haud erat dubium quin Lucerinis
opem Romanus ferret, bonis ac fidelibus sociis, simul ne Apulia omnis ad
praesentem terrorem deficeret: ea modo, qua irent, consultatio fuit.

V
Livy’s Description of the Caudine Forks
9.2.34–40

Duae ad Luceriam ferebant viae, altera praeter oram superi maris, patens
35 apertaque sed quanto tutior tanto fere longior, altera per Furculas Caudinas, brevior; sed
 Text 15

ita natus locus est: saltus duo alti angusti silvosique sunt montibus circa perpetuis inter se
iuncti. Iacet inter eos satis patens clausus in medio campus herbidus aquosusque, per
quem medium iter est; sed antequam venias ad eum, intrandae primae angustiae sunt et
aut eadem qua te insinuaveris retro via repetenda aut, si ire porro pergas, per alium
saltum artiorem impeditioremque evadendum. 40

VI
Into the Caudine Pass
9.2.41–45
In eum campum via alia per cavam rupem Romani demisso agmine cum ad alias
angustias protinus pergerent, saeptas deiectu arborum saxorumque ingentium obiacente
mole invenere. Cum fraus hostilis apparuisset, praesidium etiam in summo saltu
conspicitur. Citati inde retro, qua venerant, pergunt repetere viam; eam quoque clausam
sua obice armisque inveniunt. 45

VII
The Roman Reaction
9.2.46–3.65
Sistunt inde gradum sine ullius imperio stuporque omnium animos ac velut torpor
quidam insolitus membra tenet, intuentesque alii alios, cum alterum quisque compotem
magis mentis ac consilii ducerent, diu immobiles silent; deinde, ubi praetoria consulum
erigi videre et expedire quosdam utilia operi, quamquam ludibrio fore munientes perditis
rebus ac spe omni adempta cernebant, tamen, ne culpam malis adderent, pro se quisque 50
nec hortante ullo nec imperante ad muniendum versi castra propter aquam vallo
circumdant, sua ipsi opera laboremque irritum, praeterquam quod hostes superbe
increpabant, cum miserabili confessione eludentes. Ad consules maestos, ne advocantes
quidem in consilium, quando nec consilio nec auxilio locus esset, sua sponte legati ac
tribuni convenient militesque ad praetorium versi opem, quam vix di immortales ferre 55
poterant, ab ducibus exposcunt.
3 Querentes magis quam consultantes nox oppressit, cum pro ingenio quisque
fremerent: alius “per obices viarum;” alius “per adversa montium, per silvas, qua ferri
arma poterunt, eamus, modo ad hostem pervenire liceat quem per annos iam prope
triginta vincimus, omnia aequa et plana erunt Romano in perfidum Samnitem pugnanti;” 60
alius “quo aut qua eamus? Num montes moliri sede sua paramus? Dum haec
imminebunt iuga, qua tu ad hostem venies? Armati, inermes, fortes, ignavi, pariter
omnes capti atque victi sumus; ne ferrum quidem ad bene moriendum oblaturus est
hostis; sedens bellum conficiet.” His in vicem sermonibus qua cibi qua quietis immemor
nox traducta est. 65
 16  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

VIII
Pontius Seeks the Counsel of His Father Herennius
9.3.66–75
Ne Samnitibus quidem consilium in tam laetis suppetebat rebus; itaque universi
Herennium Pontium, patrem imperatoris, per litteras consulendum censent. Iam is gravis
annis non militaribus solum sed civilibus quoque abscesserat muneribus; in corpore
tamen adfecto vigebat vis animi consiliique. Is ubi accepit ad Furculas Caudinas inter
70 duos saltus clausos esse exercitus Romanos, consultus ab nuntio filii censuit omnes inde
quam primum inviolatos dimittendos. Quae ubi spreta sententia est iterumque eodem
remeante nuntio consulebatur, censuit ad unum omnes interficiendos. Quae ubi tam
discordia inter se velut ex ancipiti oraculo responsa data sunt, quamquam filius ipse in
primis iam animum quoque patris consenuisse in adfecto corpore rebatur, tamen consensu
75 omnium victus est ut ipsum in consilium acciret.

IX
The Arrival of Herennius
9.3.76–87
Nec gravatus senex plaustro in castra dicitur advectus vocatusque in consilium ita
ferme locutus esse, ut nihil sententiae suae mutaret, causas tantum adiceret: priore se
consilio, quod optimum duceret, cum potentissimo populo per ingens beneficium
perpetuam firmare pacem amicitiamque; altero consilio in multas aetates, quibus amissis
80 duobus exercitibus haud facile receptura vires Romana res esset, bellum differre; tertium
nullum consilium esse. Cum filius aliique princepes percontando exsequerentur, quid si
media via consilii caperetur, ut et dimitterentur incolumes et leges iis iure belli victis
imponerentur, “ista quidem sententia,” inquit “ea est, quae neque amicos parat nec
inimicos tollit. Servate modo quos ignominia irritaveritis: ea est Romana gens, quae
85 victa quiescere nesciat; vivet semper in pectoribus illorum quidquid istuc praesens
necessitas inusserit neque eos ante multiplices poenas expetitas a vobis quiescere sinet.”
Neutra sententia accepta Herennius domum e castris est avectus.

X
Pontius Will Send the Romans
Under the Yoke of the Vanquished
9.4.88–98
4 Et in castris Romanis cum frustra multi conatus ad erumpendum capti essent et
iam omnium rerum inopia esset, victi necessitate legatos mittunt, qui primum pacem
90 aequam peterent; si pacem non impetrarent, uti provocarent ad pugnam. Tum Pontius
 Text 17

debellatum esse respondit et, quoniam ne victi quidem ac capti fortunam fateri scirent,
inermes cum singulis vestimentis sub iugum missurum; alias condiciones pacis aequas
victis ac victoribus fore: si agro Samnitium decederetur, coloniae abducerentur, suis inde
legibus Romanum ac Samnitem aequo foedere victurum; his condicionibus paratum se
esse foedus cum consulibus ferire; si quid eorum displiceat, legatos redire ad se vetuit. 95
Haec cum legatio renuntiaretur, tantus gemitus omnium subito exortus est tantaque
maestitia incessit ut non gravius accepturi viderentur, si nuntiaretur omnibus eo loco
mortem oppetendam essse.

XI
The Speech of L. Lentulus
9.4.99–119
Cum diu silentium fuisset nec consules aut pro foedere tam turpi aut contra foedus
tam necessarium hiscere possent, tum L. Lentulus, qui princeps legatorum virtute atque 100
honoribus erat: “Patrem meum” inquit, “consules, saepe audivi memorantem se in
Capitolio unum non fuisse auctorem senatui redimendae auro a Gallis civitatis, quando
nec fossa valloque ab ignavissimo ad opera ac muniendum hoste clausi essent et
erumpere, si non sine magno periculo, tamen sine certa pernicie possent. Quod si, illis ut
decurrere ex Capitolio armatis in hostem licuit, quo saepe modo obsessi in obsidentes 105
eruperunt, ita nobis aequo aut iniquo loco dimicandi tantummodo cum hoste copia esset,
non mihi paterni animi indoles in consilio dando deesset. Equidem mortem pro patria
praeclaram esse fateor et me vel devovere pro populo Romano legionibusque vel in
medios me immittere hostes paratus sum; sed hic patriam video, hic quidquid
Romanarum legionum est, quae nisi pro se ipsis ad mortem ruere volunt, quid habent 110
quod morte sua servent? ‘Tecta urbis,’ dicat aliquis, ‘et moenia et eam turbam a qua urbs
incolitur.’ Immo hercule produntur ea omnia deleto hoc exercitu, non servantur. Quis
enim ea tuebitur? Imbellis videlicet atque inermis multitudo. Tam hercule quam a
Gallorum impetu defendit. An a Veiis exercitum Camillumque ducem implorabunt? Hic
omnes spes opesque sunt, quas servando patriam servamus, dedendo ad necem patriam 115
deserimus ac prodimus. ‘At foeda atque ignominiosa deditio est.’ Sed ea caritas patriae
est ut tam ignominia eam quam morte nostra, si opus sit, servemus. Subeatur ergo ista,
quantacumque est, indignitas et pareatur necessitate, quam ne di quidem superant.
Ite, consules, redimite armis civitatem, quam auro maiores vestri redemerunt.”

XII
The Consuls Appeal to Pontius
9.5.120–130
5 Consules profecti ad Pontium in colloquium, cum de foedere victor agitaret, 120
negarunt iniussu populi foedus fieri posse nec sine fetialibus caerimoniaque alia sollemni.
 18  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

Itaque non, ut vulgo credunt Claudiusque etiam scribit, foedere pax Caudina sed per
sponsionem facta est. Quid enim aut sponsoribus in foedere opus esset aut obsidibus, ubi
precatione res transigitur, per quem populum fiat quo minus legibus dictis stetur, ut eum
125 ita Iuppiter feriat quemadmodum a fetialibus porcus feriatur? Spoponderunt consules,
legati, quaestores, tribuni militum, nominaque omnium qui spoponderunt exstant, ubi,
si ex foedere acta res esset, praeterquam duorum fetialium non exstarent; et propter
necessariam foederis dilationem obsides etiam sescenti equites imperati, qui capite
luerent, si pacto non staretur. Tempus inde statutum tradendis obsidibus exercituque
130 inermi mittendo.

XIII
The Consuls Return to Camp With Dire News
9.5.131–140

Redintegravit luctum in castris consulum adventus, ut vix ab iis abstinerent

manus, quorum temeritate in eum locum deducti essent, quorum ignavia foedius inde
quam venissent abituri: illis non ducem locorum, non exploratorem fuisse; beluarum
modo caecos in foveam missos. Alii alios intueri; contemplari arma mox tradenda et
135 inermes futuras dextras obnoxiaque corpora hosti; proponere sibimet ipsi ante oculos
iugum hostile et ludibria victoris et vultus superbos et per armatos inermium iter, inde
foedi agminis miserabilem viam per sociorum urbes, reditum in patriam ad parentes, quo
saepe ipsi maioresque eorum triumphantes venissent: se solos sine vulnere, sine ferro,
sine acie victos; sibi non stringere licuisse gladios, non manum cum hoste conferre; sibi
140 nequiquam arma, nequiquam vires, nequiquam animos datos.

XIV
The Romans Are Ordered to Strip and Disarm
9.5.141–147

Haec frementibus hora fatalis ignominiae advenit, omnia tristiora experiundo

factura quam quae praeceperant animis. Iam primum cum singulis vestimentis inermes
extra vallum exire iussi; et primi traditi obsides atque in custodiam abducti. Tum a
consulibus abire lictores iussi paludamentaque detracta; id tantam inter ipsos qui paulo
145 ante eos exsecrantes dedendos lacerandosque censuerant miserationem fecit, ut suae
quisque condicionis oblitus ab illa deformatione tantae maiestatis velut ab nefando
spectaculo averteret oculos.
 Text 19

XV
Under the Yoke of the Vanquished
9.5.148–151

Primi consules prope seminudi sub iugum missi; tum ut quisque gradu proximus
erat, ita ignominiae obiectus; tum deinceps singulae legiones. Circumstabant armati
hostes, exprobrantes eludentesque; gladii etiam plerisque intentati, et vulnerati quidam 150
necatique, si vultus eorum indignitate rerum acrior victorem offendisset.

XVI
March of Shame to Capua
9.6.152–156

6 Ita traducti sub iugum et, quod paene gravius erat, per hostium oculos, cum e saltu
evasissent, etsi velut ab inferis extracti tum primum lucem aspicere visi sunt, tamen ipsa
lux ita deforme intuentibus agmen omni morte tristior fuit. Itaque cum ante noctem
Capuam pervenire possent, incerti de fide sociorum et quod pudor praepediebat 155
circa viam haud procul Capua omnium egena corpora humi prostraverunt.

XVII
Reception at Capua
9.6.157–164

Quod ubi est Capuam nuntiatum, evicit miseratio iusta sociorum superbiam
ingenitam Campanis. Confestim insignia sua consulibus, fasces lictoribus, arma, equos,
vestimenta, commeatus militibus benigne mittunt; et venientibus Capuam cunctus senatus
populusque obviam egressus iustis omnibus hospitalibus privatisque et publicis fungitur 160
officiis. Neque illis sociorum comitas vultusque benigni et adloquia non modo
sermonem elicere, sed ne ut oculos quidem attollerent aut consolantes amicos contra
intuerentur efficere poterant: adeo super maerorem pudor quidam fugere colloquia et
coetus hominum cogebat.

XVIII
Departure From Capua for Rome
9.6.165–172

Postero die cum iuvenes nobiles missi a Capua ut proficiscentes ad finem 165
Campanum prosequerentur revertissent vocatique in curiam percontantibus maioribus
 20  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

natu multo sibi maestiores et abiectiores animi visos referent: adeo silens ac prope mutum
agmen incessisse; iacere indolem illam Romanam ablatosque cum armis animos; non
dare salutem, non salutantibus responsum, non hiscere quemquam prae metu potuisse,
170 tamquam ferentibus adhuc cervicibus iugum sub quod missi essent; habere Samnites
victoriam non praeclaram solum sed etiam perpetuam, cepisse enim eos non Romam,
sicut ante Gallos, sed—quod multo bellicosius fuerit—Romanam virtutem ferociamque.

XIX
At Capua the Future of Roman Hegemony Is Open for Debate
9.7.173–181

7 Cum haec dicerentur audirenturque et deploratum paene Romanum nomen in

concilio sociorum fidelium esset, dicitur A. Calavius, Ovi filius, clarus genere factisque,
175 tum etiam aetate verendus, longe aliter se habere rem dixisse: silentium illud obstinatum
fixosque in terram oculos et surdas ad omnia solacia aures et pudorem intuendae lucis
ingentem molem irarum ex alto animo cientis indicia esse; aut Romana se ignorare
ingenia aut silentium illud Samnitibus flebiles brevi clamores gemitusque excitaturum,
Caudinaeque pacis aliquanto Samnitibus quam Romanis tristiorem memoriam fore;
180 quippe suos quemque eorum animos habiturum, ubicumque congressuri sint; saltus
Caudinos non ubique Samnitibus fore.

XX
At Rome Confusing Reports and Public Mourning
9.7.182–193

Iam et Romae sua infamis clades erat. Obsessos primum audierunt; tristior deinde
ignominiosae pacis magis quam periculi nuntius fuit. Ad famam obsidionis dilectus
haberi coeptus erat; dimissus deinde auxiliorum apparatus, postquam deditionem tam
185 foede factam acceperunt extemploque sine ulla publica auctoritate consensum in omnem
formam luctus est; tabernae circa forum clausae iustitiumque in foro sua sponte coeptum
prius quam indictum; lati clavi, anuli aurei positi: paene maestior exercitu ipso civitas
esse, nec ducibus solum atque auctoribus sponsoribusque pacis irasci sed innoxios etiam
milites odisse et negare urbe tectisve accipiendos. Quam concitationem animorum fregit
190 adventus exercitus etiam iratis miserabilis. Non enim tamquam in patriam revertentes ex
insperato incolumes sed captorum habitu vultuque ingressi sero in urbem ita se in suis
quisque tectis abdiderunt, ut postero atque insequentibus diebus nemo eorum forum aut
publicum aspicere vellet.
 Text 21

XXI
The New Year Approaches
Appointed Dictators Fail to Hold Elections
9.7.194–201

Consules in privato abditi nihil pro magistratu agere nisi quod expressum senatus
consulto est ut dictatorem dicerent comitiorum causa. Q. Fabium Ambustum dixerunt et 195
P. Aelium Paetum magistrum equitum; quibis vitio creatis suffecti M. Aemilius Papus
dictator, L. Valerius Flaccus magister equitum. Nec per eos comitia habita et quia
taedebat populum omnium magistratuum eius anni, res ad interregnum rediit. Interreges
Q. Fabius Maximus, M. Valerius Corvus. Is consules creavit Q. Publilium Philonem
tertium et L. Papirium Cursorem iterum haud dubio consensu civitatis, quod nulli ea 200
tempestate duces clariores essent.

XXII
Sp. Postumius Addresses the Senate
9.8.202–222

8 Quo creati sunt die, eo—sic enim placuerat patribus—magistratum inierunt

sollemnibusque senatus consultis perfectis de pace Caudina rettulerunt et Publilius, penes
quem facses erant, “dic, Sp. Postumi” inquit. Qui ubi surrexit, eodem illo vultu quo sub
iugum missus erat, “haud sum ignarus” inquit, “consules, ignominiae non honoris causa 205
me primum excitatum iussumque dicere, non tamquam senatorem sed tamquam reum qua
infelicis belli qua ignominiosae pacis. Ego tamen, quando neque de noxa nostra neque de
poena rettulistis, omissa defensione, quae non difficillima esset apud haud ignaros
fortunarum humanarum necessitatiumque, sententiam de eo de quo rettulistis paucis
peragam. Quae sententia testis erit mihine an legionibus vestris pepercerim, cum me seu 210
turpi seu necessaria sponsione obstrinxi; qua tamen, quando iniussu populi facta est, non
tenetur populus Romanus, nec quicquam ex ea praeterquam corpora nostra debentur
Samnitibus. Dedamur per fatiales nudi vinctique; exsolvamus religione populum, si qua
obligavimus, ne quid divini humanive obstet quo minus iustum piumque de integro
ineatur bellum. Interea consules exercitum scribere, armare, educere placet, nec prius 215
ingredi hostium fines quam omnia iusta in deditionem nostrum perfecta erunt. Vos, di
immortales, precor quaesoque, si vobis non fuit cordi Sp. Postumium et T. Veturium
consules cum Samnitibus prospere bellum gerere, at vos satis habeatis vidisse nos sub
iugum missos, vidisse sponsione infami obligatos, videre nudos vinctosque hostibus
deditos, omnem iram hostium nostris capitibus excipientes; novos consules legionesque 220
Romanas ita cum Samnite gerere bellum velitis, ut omnia ante nos consules bella gesta
sunt.”
 22  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

XXIII
Rebuttal of the Tribunes
9.8.223–231

Quae ubi dixit, tanta simul admiratio miseratioque viri incessit homines ut modo
vix crederent illum eundem esse Sp. Postumium qui auctor tam foedae pacis fuisset,
225 modo miserarentur quod vir talis etiam praecipuum apud hostes supplicium passurus
esset ob iram diremptae pacis. Cum omnes laudibus modo prosequentes virum in
sententiam eius pedibus irent, temptata paulisper intercessio est ab L. Livio et Q. Maelio,
tribunis plebis, qui neque exsolvi religione populum aiebant deditione sua, nisi omnia
Samnitibus, qualia apud Caudium fuissent, restituerentur; neque se pro eo quod
230 spondendo pacem servassent exercitum populi Romani poenam ullam meritos esse;
neque ad extremum, cum sacrosancti essent, dedi hostibus violarive posse.

XXIV
Postumius Responds to the Tribunes’ Veto
9.9.232–272

9 Tum Postumius “interea dedite” inquit, “profanos nos, quos salva religione
potestis; dedetis deinde et istos sacrosanctos cum primum magistratu abierint, sed, si me
audiatis, priusquam dedantur, hic in comitio virgis caesos, hanc iam ut intercalatae
235 poenae usuram habeant. Nam quod deditione nostra negant exsolvi religione populum, id
istos magis ne dedantur quam quia ita se res habeat dicere, quis adeo iuris fetialium
expers est qui ignoret? Neque ego infitias eo, patres conscripti, tam sponsiones quam
foedera sancta esse apud eos homines apud quos iuxta divinas religiones fides humana
colitur; sed iniussu populi nego quicquam sanciri posse quod populum teneat. An, si
240 eadem superbia, qua sponsionem istam expresserunt nobis Samnites, coegissent nos
verba legitima dedentium urbes nuncupare, deditum populum Romanum vos tribuni
diceretis et hanc urbem, templa, delubra, fines, aquas Samnitium esse? Omitto
deditionem, quoniam de sponsione agitur; quid tandem, si spopondissemus urbem hanc
relicturum populum Romanum? si incensurum? si magistratus, si senatum, si leges non
245 habiturum? si sub regibus futurum? Di meliora, inquis. Atqui non indignitas rerum
sponsionis vinculum levat; si quid est in quod obligari populus possit, in omnia potest. Et
ne illud quidem, quod quosdam forsitan moveat, refert, consul an dictator an praetor
spoponderit. Et hoc ipsi etiam Samnites iudicaverunt, quibus non fuit satis consules
spondere, sed legatos, quaestores, tribunos militum spondere coegerunt.
250 “Nec a me nunc quisquam quaesiverit quid ita spoponderim, cum id nec consulis
ius esset nec illis spondere pacem, quae mei non erat arbitrii pro vobis qui nihil
mandaveratis, possem. Nihil ad Caudium, patres conscripti, humanis consiliis gestum
est: di immortales et vestris et hostium imperatoribus mentem ademerunt. Nec nos in
bello satis cavimus et illi male partam victoriam male perdiderunt, dum vix locis quibus
 Text 23

vicerant credunt, dum quacumque condicione arma viris in arma natis auferre festinant. 255
An, si sana mens fuisset, difficile illis fuit, dum senes ab domo ad consultandum
accersunt, mittere Romam legatos? Cum senatu, cum populo de pace ac foedere agere?
Tridui iter expeditus erat; interea in indutiis res fuisset, donec ab Roma legati aut
victoriam illis certam aut pacem adferrent. Ea demum sponsio esset quam populi iussu
spopondissimus. Sed neque vos tulissetis nec nos spopondissimus; nec fas fuit alium 260
rerum exitum esse quam ut illi velut somnio laetiore quam quod mentes eorum capere
possent nequiquam eluderentur, et nostrum exercitum eadem quae impedierat fortuna
expediret, vanam victoriam vanior irritam faceret pax, sponsio interponeretur quae
neminem praeter sponsorem obligaret. Quid enim vobiscum, patres conscripti, quid cum
populo Romano actum est? Quis vos appellare potest, quis se a vobis dicere deceptum? 265
Hostis an civis? Hosti nihil spopondistis, civem neminem spondere pro vobis iussistis.
Nihil ergo vobis nec nobiscum est quibus nihil mandastis, nec cum Samnitibus cum
quibus nihil egestis. Samnitibus sponsores nos sumus, rei satis locupletes in id quod
nostrum est, in id quod praestare possumus, corpora nostra et animos; in haec saeviant, in
haec ferrum, in haec iras acuant. Quod ad tribunos attinet, consulite utrum praesens 270
deditio eorum fieri possit an in diem differatur; nos interim, T. Veturi, vosque ceteri vilia
haec capita luendae sponsioni feramus, et nostro supplicio liberemus Romana arma.”

XXV
Postumius’ Speech Falls on Deaf Ears
9.10.273–280

10 Movit patres conscriptos, cum causa tum auctor, nec ceteros solum sed tribunos
etiam plebei, ut se in senatus dicerent fore potestate. Magistratu inde se extemplo
abdicaverunt traditique fetialibus cum ceteris Caudium ducendi. Hoc senatus consulto 275
facto lux quaedam adfuisisse civitati visa est. Postumius in ore erat; eum laudibus ad
caelum ferebant, devotioni P. Deci consulis, aliis claris facinoribus aequabant: emersisse
civitatem ex obnoxia pace illius consilio et opera; ipsum se cruciatibus et hostium irae
offerre piaculaque pro populo Romano dare. Arma cuncti spectant et bellum: en umquam
futurum ut congredi armatis cum Samnite liceat. 280

XXVI
Postumius Is Surrendered to the Samnites
9.10.281–291

In civitate ira odioque ardente dilectus prope omnium voluntariorum fuit.

Rescriptae ex eodem milite novae legiones ductusque ad Caudium exercitus. Praegressi
fetiales ubi ad portam venere, vestem detrahi pacis sponsoribus iubent, manus post
tergum vinciri. Cum apparitor verecundia maiestatis Postumi laxe vinciret, “Quin tu”
 24  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

285 inquit, “adducis lorum, ut iusta fiat deditio!” Tum, ubi in coetum Samnitium et ad
tribunal ventum Ponti est, A. Cornelius Arvina fetialis ita verba fecit. “Quandoque hisce
homines iniussu populi Romani Quiritium foedus ictum iri spoponderunt atque ob eam
rem noxam nocuerunt, ob eam rem quo populus Romanus scelere impio sit solutus hosce
homines vobis dedo.” Haec dicenti fetiali Postumius genū femur quanta maxime poterat
290 vi perculit et clara voce ait se Samnitem civem esse, illum legatum fetialem a se contra
ius gentium violatum: eo iustius bellum gesturos.

XXVII
Pontius Denounces the Roman Embassy
9.11.292–310

11 Tum Pontius “nec ego istam deditionem accipiam,” inquit, “nec Samnites ratam
habebunt. Quin tu, Sp. Postumi, si deos esse censes, aut omnia irrita facis aut pacto stas?
Samniti populo omnes quos in potestate habuit aut pro iis pax debetur. Sed quid ego te
295 appello, qui te captum victori cum qua potes fide restituis? Populum Romanum appello;
quem si sponsionis ad Furculas Caudinas factae paenitet, restituat legiones intra saltum
quo saeptae fuerunt. Nemo quemquam deceperit; omnia pro infecto sint; recipiant arma
quae per pactionem tradiderunt; redeant in castra sua; quidquid pridie habuerunt quam in
colloquium est ventum habeant; tum bellum et fortia consilia placeant, tum sponsio et pax
300 repudietur. Ea fortuna, iis locis quae ante pacis mentionem habuimus geramus bellum;
nec populus Romanus consulum sponsionem nec nos fidem populi Romani accusemus.
Numquamne causa defiet cur victi pacto non stetis? Obsides Porsinnae dedistis:
furto eos subduxistis. Auro civitatem a Gallis redemistis: inter accipiendum aurum caesi
sunt. Pacem nobiscum pepigistis ut legiones vobis captas restitueremus: eam pacem
305 irritam facitis. Et semper aliquam fraudi speciem iuris imponitis. Non probat populus
Romanus ignominiosa pace legiones servatas? Pacem sibi habeat, legiones captas victori
restituat; hoc fide, hoc foederibus, hoc fetialibus caerimoniis dignum erat. Ut tu quidem
quod petisti per pactionem habeas, tot cives incolumes, ego pacem quam hos tibi
remittendo pactus sum non habeam, hoc tu, A. Corneli, hoc vos, fetiales, iuris gentibus
310 dicitis?”

XXVIII
Pontius Rejects the Roman Embassy
9.11.311–319

“Ego vero istos quos dedi simulatis nec accipio nec dedi arbitror, nec moror quo
minus in civitatem obligatam sponsione commissa iratis omnibus dis, quorum eluditur
numen, redeant. Gerite bellum, quando Sp. Postumius modo legatum fetialem genu
perculit. Ita di credent Samnitem civem Postumium, non civem Romanum esse et a
 Text 25

Samnite legatum Romanum violatum: eo vobis iustum in nos factum esse bellum. Haec 315
ludibria religionum non pudere in lucem proferre et vix pueris dignas ambages senes ac
consulares fallendae fidei exquirire! I, lictor, deme vincula Romanis; moratus sit nemo
quo minus ubi visum fuerit abeant!” Et illi quidem, forsitan et publica, sua certe liberata
fide ab Caudio in castra Romana inviolati redierunt.

XXIX
The Samnites Have Underestimated Their Enemy
9.12.320–328

12 Samnitibus pro superba pace infestissimum cernentibus renatum bellum, 320

omniaque quae deinde evenerunt non in animis solum sed prope in oculis esse; et sero ac
nequiquam laudare senis Ponti utraque consilia, inter quae se media via lapsos victoriae
possessionem pace incerta mutasse; et beneficii et maleficii occasione amissa pugnaturos
cum eis quos potuerint in perpetuum vel inimicos tollere vel amicos facere. Adeoque
nullodum certamine inclinatis viribus post Caudinam pacem animi mutaverant, ut 325
clariorem inter Romanos deditio Postumium quam Pontium incruenta victoria inter
Samnites faceret, et geri posse bellum Romani pro victoria certa haberent, Samnites simul
rebellasse et vicisse crederent Romanum.
 COMMENTARY

I
The New Year Begins Badly
9.1.1–3

9.1.1–2. sequitur…consulibus: Livy begins Book 9 and the new year (321), a
heartbeat after the closing events of Book 8. sequitur hunc annum…Caudina pax:
a common construction of Livy when initiating a new year, often attaching an
adjective or modifying phrase to illustrate why a particular year was notable (or
not). In this case, the adjective nobilis. clade Romana: ablative (cause), construe
with nobilis. For similar constructions see Livy 6.1.1, 8.12.4 8.22.1. hunc annum:
the adverbial accusative (duration of time); note how the demonstrative pronoun
anticipates eo anno in the next sentence (see note below). sequitur: note the pres-
ent tense, for vividness: “The Caudine peace, well known for the Roman military
disaster, follows for the duration of this year.” The fallout following the disgrace
at the Caudine Forks lasted only for the year 321. It was resolved with the defeat
of the Samnites at Luceria in the following year (320). T. Veturio Calvino, Sp.
Postumio consulibus: an ablative absolute in asyndeton: “with Titus Veturius
Calvinus [and] Spurius Postumius as consuls.” consulibus: ablative in apposition
to T. Veturio, Sp. Postumio. The standard formula for Roman dating. Both men had
served together as consuls in 334 (8.16). This was the first time since the passing
of the Lex Genucia of 342 (G. Rotondi, Leges Publicae Populi Romani [Georg Olms
28  ROMAN HISTORY FOR LATIN STUDENTS

1962], 224 and 226), allowing consular colleagues to serve a second term together
after a period of ten years, that a pair returned to office.
9.1.2–3. Samnites…ducemque: C. Pontius, the Samnite commander and his father
Herennius. imperatorem…filium…natum…bellatorem ducemque: all five accusa-
tives are in apposition to Pontium, object of habuerunt. “The Samnites had in that
year Gaius Pontius, son of Herennius, as their war-time commander…” eo anno: ab-
lative of point of time. patre longe prudentissimo: ablative of description (or source)
with natum (> nascor), “born of a father, a man by far the most wise.” longe: construe
with prudentissimo, “by far the most prudent man…” (for the adverb in this context
cf. 1.49.9, 3.25.5, 8.29.9, 21.4.8 and 40.4.4). This observation of Herennius’ sagacity,
however, should not be overlooked as simply a stock phrase, as his advice will soon
play a pivotal role in the story. Note how Livy contrasts the father’s reserved wisdom
with the son’s hasty belligerence. bellatorem ducemque: an example of hendiadys
that further underscores Pontius’ aggressive nature; bellator occurs only five times in
Livy, and only in books 1–9 (cf. 1.59.9, 5.20.6, 7.26.13, 8.8.17).

II
Pontius’ Speech
9.1.4–23

9.1.4–6. is…fuit: although Livy does not state that Pontius is addressing the Samnite
army, the reference at 9.1.3 (bellatorem ducemque), the description of the mobilization
of the army immediately after his speech (9.2.24–28), and the powerful rhetorical
nature of the speech puts the reader in mind of a military hortatio. is: i.e., Pontius.
legati…redierunt: the Samnite embassy sent to Rome at the end of Book 8 (8.39),
after their defeat in Apulia; they brought with them the corpse of Papius Brutulus,
the Samnite noble who had broken the treaty of 341 (for the treaty see 8.2.4, and for
the violation, 8.22.7–23.1) that caused the resumption of the war. ad dedendas res:
“for the purpose of conducting a formal surrender,” i.e., the surrender of Brutulus who,
rather than having to undergo the humiliation of being surrendered to the Romans,
committed suicide. pace infecta: ablative absolute, “with the peace having failed.”
The exact phrase is repeated from 8.37.2 (infecta pace) when the Samnites’ attempt
to seek peace with Rome is rejected by the Romans at the end of Book 8. Continuity
of language is part of Livy’s ability as an historian and storyteller to keep his narra-
tive compelling from year to year. ne…censeatis: a negative purpose clause. nihil
actum: (sc. esse) an indirect statement dependent on censeatis. hac legatione: ablative
(means). expiatum est: the main verb of the sentence, subject is the quidquid clause.
irarum…caelestium: genitives modifying quidquid (note how the hyperbaton of the
two genitives brackets the prepositional phrase in nos). “Whatever of heavenly out-
rages there were (fuit) against us (in nos) due to the treaty having been broken (ex
foedere rupto) has been atoned for (expiatum est).”
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