Livy, Periochae 101-105

A large part of Livy's History of Rome since the Foundation is now lost, but fortunately we have an excerpt, called the Periochae, which helps us reconstruct the general scope. This translation was made by Jona Lendering.

From Book 101

[101.1] [66 BCE] After he had defeated Mithridates during the night, Gnaeus Pompey forced him to flee to the Bosporan kingdom.

[101.2] Pompey accepted the surrender of Tigranes and restored him to his own kingdom, Armenia, after he had deprived him of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia.

[101.3] There was a conspiracy by those who had been running for consul and had been condemned for bribery. They tried to kill the consuls, but the [First Catilinarian] conspiracy was suppressed.

[101.4] [65] Gnaeus Pompey, pursuing Mithridates, reached the most distant and hitherto unknown peoples. The Hiberians and Albanians were defeated in battle when they denied him passage.

[101.5] It^note[Book 101.] also contains an account of the flight of Mithridates through the country of the Colchians and Heniochians, and affairs in the Bosporan kingdom.

From Book 102

[102.1] Gnaeus Pompey organized Pontus as a province.

[102.2] Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, made war against his father

[102.3] and besieged him in his palace. When the poison Mithridates took did not kill him, he asked help from a Gallic soldier named Bitocus, who killed him.

[102.4] [63] Gnaeus Pompey subdued the Jews and captured their shrine at Jerusalem, which had never before been violated.^note[There is more here.]

[102.5] Lucius Catilina, who had twice been defeated during consular elections, conspired with praetor Lentulus, Cethegus and many others. They wanted to kill the consuls and senators, set fire to the city, and overthrow the republic. Their army was ready in Etruria.

[102.6] The conspiracy was suppressed by the energy of Marcus Tullius Cicero.

[102.7] When Catilina had been expelled from the city, the other conspirators were executed.

From Book 103

[103.1] [62] Catilina and his army were destroyed by proconsul Gaius Antonius.

[103.2] Publius Clodius, accused of having entered in woman's dress into a sanctuary that men were not allowed to enter, and of violating the wife ...^note[Lacuna.] of the priest Metellus, was acquitted.

[103.3] Praetor Gaius Pontinus subdued the rebellious Allobrogians near Solo.

[103.4] Publius Clodius was transferred to the plebs.

[103.5] [61] Gaius [Julius] Caesar subdued the Lusitanians.^note[There is more there.]

[103.6] [60] When this man was a candidate for the consulship, and wanted to seize control of the republic, a pact was concluded between the three leading citizens, Gnaeus Pompey, Marcus Crassus, and Gaius Caesar.

[103.7] [59] When Caesar was consul, agrarian laws were passed after much strife, against the wishes of the Senate and the other consul, Marcus Bibulus.

[103.8] Proconsul Gaius Antonius had little success in his war in Thrace.

[103.9] [58] Marcus Cicero was exiled by a law of the tribune of the plebs Publius Clodius, because he had ordered the executions of Roman citizens without trial.

[103.10] Caesar, who had gone to the Gallic provinces, subdued the Helvetians, a nomadic tribe that wanted to cross through Caesar's province Narbonensis, wishing to settle somewhere else.

[103.11] It^note[Book 103.] also contains an account of the country of Gaul.

[103.12] When Pompey celebrated a triumph over the ...^note[Lacuna.] the children of Mithridates, and Tigranes son of Tigranes, he was saluted by all those present with the surname The Great. 

From Book 104

[104.1] The first part of this book contains an account of the country and customs of Germania.

[104.2] Gaius Caesar led his army against the Germans, who had, commanded by Ariovistus, invaded Gaul. This had been requested by the Aedui and Sequani, whose country had been occupied. With a speech, Caesar suppressed panic among his soldiers, caused by fear of the new enemies. Having defeated the Germans in battle, he expelled them from Gaul.

[104.3] [57] Marcus Cicero, backed by Pompey, tribune Titus Annius Milo and others, returned from exile, amid great rejoicing on the part of the Senate and all Italy.

[104.4] The food supply was assigned to Gnaeus Pompey for a period of five years.

[104.5] Caesar accepted the surrender of the Belgian tribes of the Ambiani, Suessioni, Viruomandi, and Atrebates, whose numbers were very large, after he had defeated them in battle. He proceeded against the Nervians, another Belgian tribe, and fought a difficult battle against these aggressors, wiping them out so thoroughly that of 60,000 warriors only 500 survived, and of 600 aristocrats only 3.

[104.6] A law was carried that Cyprus should be organized as a province and the royal funds should be confiscated, and Marcus [Porcius] Cato was sent to administer the matter.

[104.7] King Ptolemy [XII Auletes] of Egypt left his realm and came to Rome after he had been maltreated by his subjects.

[104.8] [56] Gaius Caesar defeated the Veneti, a tribe near the Ocean, in a naval battle. It^note[Book 104.] also contains an account of the successful wars of his deputies.

From Book 105

[105.1] When  the elections were vetoed by tribune Gaius Cato, the senators put on their mourning cloaks. 

[105.2] Marcus Cato ran for praetor, but was defeated. Vatinius was elected.

[105.3] [55] When this same man^note[Cato.] tried to obstruct a law in which provinces were allotted to the consuls for five years (Hispania to Pompey, Syria and the Parthian war to Crassus), he was put into irons by tribune Gaius Trebonius, who had proposed the law.

[105.4] [54] Proconsul Aulus Gabinius brought Ptolemy back to the kingdom of Egypt, and expelled Archelaus, who had proclaimed himself king [as husband of queen Berenice IV].

[105.5] After he had defeated German tribes in Gaul, Caesar crossed the Rhine and subdued a nearby part of Germania. He proceeded across the Ocean to Britain, at first with little success because of bad weather, but on a second occasion with better luck. He killed a large number of enemies and subdued a part of the island.