Plutarch,
Life of Flamininus
Plut G Grac
Plutarch,
Life of Gaius Gracchus
Plut Mar
Plutarch,
Life of Marius
Plut Marc
Plutarch,
Life of Marcellus
Plut Mor
Plutarch
Moralia
Plut Pom
Plutarch,
Life of Pompey
Plut Popl
Plutarch,
Life of Poplicola
Plut Pyr
Plutarch,
Life of Pyrrhus
Plut Rom
Plutarch,
Life of Romulus
Plut Sul
Plutarch,
Life of Sulla
Plut Tib Grac
Plutarch,
Life of Tiberius Gracchus
Polyb
Polybius,
The Histories
Prop
Propertius, Sextus Aurelius,
Carmina
Sall
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus),
Bellum Iugurthinum
(
War Against Jugurtha
)
Sall Hist
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus),
Histories
Strabo
Strabo,
Geographica
(
The Geography
)
Suet Caes
Suetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranqillus),
Life of Julius Caesar
Suet Tib
Suetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranqillus),
Life of Tiberius
(
de vita Caesarum, The Twelve Caesars
—lit., “On the Life of the Caesars”)
Tac Hist
Tacitus, Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius,
Historiae
(
Histories
)
Ter Ad
Terence (Publius Terentius Afer),
Adelphi
(The Brothers)
Ter Hec
Terence (Publius Terentius Afer),
Hecyra
(
The Mother-in-Law
)
Theo
Theophrastus,
De Causis Plantarum
(
On the Origins of Plants
)
Val Max
Valerius Maximus,
Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
(
Memorable Acts and Sayings
)
Var Ling Lat
Varro, Marcus Terentius,
De lingua Latina
Var Rust
Varro, Marcus Terentius,
De re rustica
Virg Aen
Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro),
Aeneid
Virg Geo
Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro),
Georgica
(Georgics)
Zon
Zonaras, John,
Extracts of History
(Cassius Dio epitomes)
Dedication, this page: Translation of “La Trebbia”
The dawn of an ill-omened day has whitened the heights. The camp awakes. Below, the river swirls and roars where a squadron of Numidian light cavalry waters its horses. Everywhere sounds the clear call of Roman buglers, for in spite of Scipio’s disapproval, the lying auguries, the Trebbia in flood, the wind and the rain, Consul Sempronius, new to office and vainglorious, has ordered the symbols of his authority, the bundled axe and rods or fasces, to be raised and his state attendants to advance.
On the horizon, Gallic villages were on fire, reddening the dark sky with baleful bursts of flame. In the distance the trumpeting of elephants could be heard, and there, under a bridge, leaning with his back against an arch, Hannibal was listening, thoughtful and exultant, to the muffled tread of legions on the march.
Introduction
Cicero’s wonderful letters allow us insight into the quality of life in the late Roman Republic.
1 “I am coming to hope…” Cic Fam 175 (9 1).
2 Eventually, a young man Plut Sull 31 1–2.
3 “What a disaster!” Plut Sull 31 6.
4 “And look at the man himself” Cic Rosc Am 46 135.
5 “Only let us be firm on one point” Cic Fam 177 (9 2).
6 a handbook on agriculture Var Rust De re rustica.
7 “If I have leisure to visit Tusculum” Cic Fam 179 (9 5).
8 “If you don’t come to me” Op. cit., 180 (9 4).
9 “These days you are now spending” Op. cit., 181 (9 6).
10 “To every man” Macaulay, Horatius stanza 27.
1. A New Troy
Variants of the Aeneas story were current. I have mostly depended on Virgil’s canonical account, his epic poem the Aeneid, but have also made use of a somewhat different version of events in Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
1 (some said) the celebrated Palladium According to other traditions, the Palladium had been stolen by Ulysses and the Greek hero Diomedes, and ended up variously at Athens, Sparta, or Rome.
2 According to another narrative Dio of H 1 46.
3 Aeneas looked wonderingly Virg Aen 1 421–25.
4 “Now this second Paris” Ibid., 4 215–17.
5 Aeneas the True Virg Aen passim.
6 “So stop upsetting yourself” Op. cit., 4 360–61.
7 Neither love nor compact Ibid., 4 624–29.
8 a memorial was still standing Dio of H 1 64 4–5.
9 Seven years had passed Ibid., 1 65 1.
2. Kings and Tyrants
The story of the birth and early days of Romulus and Remus is drawn from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, and Livy. The basic story is unchallenged, but the details vary and were hotly debated.
1 “Hercules, who was the greatest commander” Dio of H 1 41 1.