Action at Rome as the news reaches the city.
Nulla profecto alia gens tanta mole cladis non obruta esset. P. Furius Philus et M. Pomponius, praetores, senatum in curiam Hostiliam vocaverunt ut de urbis custodia consulerent; neque 300 enim dubitabant, deletis exercitibus, hostem ad oppugnandam Romam venturum. Tum Q. Fabius Maximus censuit equites expeditos et Appia et Latina via mittendos, qui obvios percunctando referant quae fortuna consulum atque exercituum sit et, si quid dii immortales reliquum Romani nominis fecerint, ubi 305 eae copiae sint; quo se Hannibal post proelium contulerit, quid paret, quid agat acturusque sit. Haec exploranda noscendaque per impigros iuvenes esse; illud per patres ipsos agendum ut tumultum ac trepidationem in urbe tollant, matronas publico arceant, comploratus familiarum coerceant, silentium per urbem 310 faciant, nuntios rerum omnium ad praetores deducendos curent, custodesque praeterea ad portas ponant qui prohibeant quemquam egredi urbe, cogantque homines nullam nisi urbe ac moenibus salvis salutem sperare.
Via Appia, with ruins of tombs
Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
Tum demum litterae a C. Terentio consule adlatae sunt: 315 L. Aemilium consulem exercitumque caesum; sese Canusii esse, reliquias tantae cladis velut ex naufragio colligentem; Poenum sedere ad Cannas. Tum private quoque per domos clades vulgatae sunt, adeoque totam urbem opplevit luctus ut sacrum anniversarium Cereris intermissum sit. Inde dictator ex auctoritate 320 patrum dictus M. Iunius et Ti. Sempronius magister equitum, dilectu edicto, iuniores ab annis septendecim et quosdam praetextatos scribunt. Quattuor ex his legiones et mille equites effecti. Item ad socios Latinumque nomen ad milites ex formula accipiendos mittunt. Arma, tela, alia parari iubent, et vetera 325 spolia hostium detrahunt templis porticibusque. (XXII.54.10–57.10, excerpts)
315. Canusii: Canusium, modern Canosa, a town in Apulia.
316. naufragio: naufragium, shipwreck.
317. vulgatae sunt (318): vulgare, to communicate, announce.
318. sacrum…Cereris (319): the major ritual celebration of the grain-goddess, Ceres, was the Cerealia, held on April 19; as the battle of Cannae took place on August 2, Livy must have in mind some other festival.
321. dilectu: dilectus, levy, draft.
322. praetextatos: boys under 17; the toga praetexta with its crimson band around the edge was worn until a boy became of age at 17 or 18 and assumed the toga virilis.
scribunt:enroll.
323. Latinum…nomen: (those of) Latin status, a class of allies who had special privileges; on the principle of divide et impera, Rome had a separate treaty with each of her allies.
ad…accipiendos (324):to enlist.
ex formula:in accordance with their treaty.
324. arma, tela: the former primarily defensive, the latter offensive.
325. spolia…detrahunt: to be used in case of need against the enemy.
326. quanto: ABL. OF DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE.
327. vel: here, adv., even.
indicio: DAT. OF PURPOSE.
quod:the fact that, introducing a noun cl. in appos. with res.
eam diem: for the gender, see on 130–31 above.
328. labare: to waver.
nulla…alia: with de re.
330. moverunt: sc. animos.
331. consulis Romam adventum: i.e., the return of Varro to Rome after his defeat at Cannae.
332. quo in tempore ipso (333): the prep. in was used in an ABL. OF TIME construction when a situation, rather than an exact time, was being described.
333. magno animo: ABL. OF DESCRIPTION.
consuli…redeunti (334): dat. with the compound adv. obviam, toward, to meet.
334. fuisset: SUBJUNCT. BY ATTRACTION, within the RESULT CL.
et…et (335):both…and.
itum…ab omnibus ordinibus sit (335): impers. pass. with ABL. OF AGENT, all classes went; this must have included even senators, some of whom had favored another battle with Hannibal.
335. frequenter: adv., in throngs.
336. desperasset: the subjunct. shows that this is the people’s reason, not Livy’s; because (as they said) he had not despaired. When one considers what a scapegoat Varro might have been, Livy is showing us here Roman character at its best; this magnificent morale plus the fact that, for whatever reason, Hannibal did not march directly on Rome enabled the Romans to survive Cannae and to persevere until (as was the rule in Roman history) they won the final victory, at the battle of Zama in 202 B.C.
The remarkable morale of the Romans.
Quanto autem maior ea clades superioribus cladibus fuerit, vel ea res indicio est, quod fides sociorum, quae ad eam diem firma steterat, tum labare coepit, nulla profecto alia de re quam quod desperaverant de imperio. Nec tamen eae clades defectionesque 330 sociorum moverunt ut pacis usquam mentio apud Romanos fieret, neque ante consulis Romam adventum nec postquam is rediit renovavitque memoriam acceptae cladis; quo in tempore ipso adeo magno animo civitas fuit ut consuli ex tanta clade, cuius ipse causa maxima fuisset, redeunti et obviam itum 335 frequenter ab omnibus ordinibus sit et gratiae actae quod de re publica non desperasset. (XXII.61.10–14, excerpts)
