8 itaque extemplo mitti ad Samnites placuit. Data mandata, ut preces Campanorum, responsum senatus amicitiae Samnitium memor, deditionem postremo factam Samnitibus exponerent; peterent pro societate amicitiaque ut dediticiis suis parcerent neque in eum agrum qui populi Romani fac Io tus esset hostilia arma inferrent; si leniter agendo parum proficerent, denuntiarent Samnitibus populi Romani senatusque verbis ut Capua urbe Campanoque agro abstinerent. I Haec legatis agentibus in concilio Samnitium adeo est ferociter responsum ut non solum gesturos se esse dicerent id bellum, sed magistratus eorum e curia egressi stantibus legatis praefectos cohortium vocarent iisque clara voce 12 imperarent ut praedatum in agrum Campanum extemplo proficiscerentur.

BOOK IX

Battle of the Caudine Pass

11. Sequitur hunc annum nobilis clade Romana Caudina 2 pax, T. Veturio Calvino, Sp. Postumio consulibus. Samnites eo. anno imperatorem C. Pontium, Herenni filium,

B.C.

habuerunt, patre longe prudentissimo natum, primum ipsum bellatorem ducemque. Is, ubi legati qui ad deden- 3 das res missi erant pace infecta redierunt, “ne nihil actum inquit "hac legatione censeatis, expiatum est quidquid ex foedere rupto irarum in nos caelestium fuit. Satis scio, 4 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 5 mitigandosque homines potuit quam quod nos fecimus? Res hostium in praeda captas, quae belli iure nostrae videbantur, remisimus; auctores belli, quia vivos non 6

1. I. nobilis: famous; cf. 22,

7, I. - pax: it was guaranteed by the consuls and other officers in order to save their army (see 9, 5, 4); but it was not ratified by the senate, and there was therefore, strictly speaking, no peace.

2. C. Pontium: the name is of course Latinized; the Oscan form was Gavios Pompties. - Herenni: a praenomen; in 23, 43, 9 it is a nomen. — primum: of the first rank.

3. legati: after an overwhelming defeat in the preceding year, the Samnites had sent envoys to Rome to offer restitution (ad dedendas res); the Romans had accepted the prisoners and such articles of plunder as were identified by their owners, but refused to entertain proposals of peace. ne ... censeatis: a parenthetical clause of purpose; see on 1, 28, 5 teneat.- foedere: the one made

at the end of the First Samnite
War in 341, which, according to
Livy, had been violated by the
Samnites in 327. - irarum: see on
I, 7, 2.

4. dis: the gods were witnesses (cf. § 7 arbitris) of the treaty and exacted restitution from those who violated it. cordi fuit: it was pleasing; a peculiar use of the predicate dative; cf. the use of frugi as an indeclinable adjective, and for a full discussion of such datives see Roby's Latin Grammar, Part 2, Preface, p. xxv ff. repetitiae fuerant: by the gods; the Romans had made no demands. For the form of the verb see on I, 2, I.

5. in praeda: as plunder; cf. the similar use of in beneficio; e.g. 4, 7, 9 tribuni quoque plebi certamen sine effectu in beneficio apud primores patrum reliquere.

6. auctores: according to Livy

potuimus, perfunctos iam fato dedidimus; bona eorum, ne quid ex contagione noxae remaneret penes nos, Romam 7 portavimus. Quid ultra tibi, Romane, quid foederi, quid dis arbitris foederis debeo? Quem tibi tuarum irarum, quem meorum suppliciorum iudicem feram? Neminem 8 neque populum neque privatum fugio. Quod si nihil cum potentiore iuris humani relinquitur inopi, at ego ad deos vindices intolerandae superbiae confugiam et precabor ut 9 iras suas vertant in eos quibus non suae redditae res, non alienae adcumulatae satis sint; quorum saevitiam non mors noxiorum, non deditio exanimatorum corporum, non bona sequentia domini deditionem exsatient; qui placari nequeant, nisi hauriendum sanguinem laniandaque viscera 10 nostra praebuerimus. Iustum est bellum, Samnites, quibus necessarium, et pia arma quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquiII tur spes. Proinde, cum rerum humanarum maximum momentum sit, quam propitiis rem, quam adversis agant dis,

8, 39, 12 ff. only one man, Brutulus Papius, was named as the instigator of the war, and the Samnites decided to surrender him to the Romans; he, however, committed suicide, and they delivered his body, together with his property. In this passage Livy has in mind another tradition, the one followed by Appian, that several authors of the war were named and their bodies surrendered.- -noxae: guilt; connect with both quid and contagione.

7. arbitris: the word means more than witnesses. The gods were judges, who determined whether or not the conditions

had been fulfilled, and, if not, inflicted punishment. — feram : propose; a reference to the custom of appointing an arbitrator to decide between two parties in dispute. — neminem : ¿.e.. as judge.

8. cum in his relations with. —at ego: see on 1, 28, 9. — vindices: cf. 2, 24, 2.

10. iustum, pia: the first adj. has reference to man, the second to the gods. - necessarium: the Romans had gladly accepted an excuse for war and now threatened the complete subjugation of the Samnites.

11. momentum: influence, determining factor; the subject of