Translator's Preface
THE completion of this VIIIth volume closes a longstanding gap between the early years of the Second
Punic War and the beginning of the Fourth Decade
in Vol. IX, published in 1935. Events narrated in
Books XXVIII-XXX fall within the years 207-201 B.C. A few chapters only in Book XXVIII are given
to campaigns in Greece against Philip, much more
space to Scipio's success in driving the Carthaginians
out of Spain, not without a mutiny in his own army;
and in the next year comes the threat of another
invasion of Italy, this time by Mago from the Ligurian
coast. Book XXIX, completing the conquest of
Spain, includes the introduction of the worship of
Cybele, the brutal treatment of Locri by Pleminius,
Scipio's sailing from Sicily, his landing on African
soil, together with a digression on the adventures of
Masinissa in exile. In Book XXX we have preliminary engagements resulting in defeat for Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, and in captivity for Syphax,
with a tragic end for Sophoniba; then the failure of
Mago's plans, followed by his death on shipboard;
Hannibal's departure at last from Italy and landing
in Africa; the disastrous “Battle of Zama,” and his
flight to the coast; finally the peace, and Scipio's
return in triumph to Rome-a triumph for which
Livy can spare but two words of description. So ends
the Third Decade.
The publishers of the
Cambridge Ancient History
have again kindly permitted us to base several maps
upon theirs in Vols. VIII and IX, with such alterations
as were required for our purposes. As for Africa
and Numidia, the campaign of 1943 has so stimulated
interest in the geography of Tunisia that it seemed
only proper to use a map with modern names, many
of them still fresh in memory, and to add ancient
names only where required by readers of Livy, or for
other reasons desirable. We have accordingly depended chiefly upon French originals, military and
archaeological, including the
Atlas archéologique,
cited several times in the Appendix. To the Director
of the American Geographical Society, Dr. John K.
Wright, we are indebted for the friendly help of a
specialist. On this map, in place of Livy's unsupported Maesulii for Masinissa's people, we have
followed the usual practice of substituting the
Massylii of Polybius, Appian and the
Periochae of
Livy's Books XXIV, XXVIII, XXIX, reinforced by
Strabo's
μασυλιεῖς, and
μασυλεῖς cited from a fragment of Polybius, not to mention poets from Virgil
to Claudian. It is to be regretted that military
operations in Tunisia could not have shed some ray of
light upon the problem of Zama-Margaron-Naraggara, which is here relegated to an Appendix.
Book 29 has been edited by T. A. Dorey and C. W.F.
Lydall, Havant, 1968, 1969; a sixth edition of Book 30
by H. E. Butler and H. Scullard (1939) appeared in
1954; and a corrected reprint of the Oxford text(1935)
of Books 26-30, R. S. Conway and S. K. Johnson, in
1953.
The War with Hannibal, A. deSélincourt (Penguin
Classics, Harmondsworth 1965), is a translation of
Books 21-30.
