1 38. xxxiv. 9. There is no agreement as to the date of the construction of the walls (XXXIV. xxxviii. 2 and the note).
2 B.C. 184
3 The decree of 196 B.C. (XXXIII. xxxii. 5; Polybius XVIII. xlvi.) named no Peloponnesian state except Corinth, the others being omitted, presumably, because they were already free. The speaker is therefore inexact in his quotation, although omnium primos is exact to the extent that Corinth was the first state mentioned in the decree.
4 The case of Capua was frequently brought up by Greek critics of Rome: cf., e.g., XXXI. xxix. 11.
5 This must be regarded as a fair statement of the situation, even if the Greeks themselves were mainly to blame. Lycortas appears to mean by the last clause that such liberty as the Achaeans possess under a treaty that was nominally aequum is the gift of the Romans (precaria), but that the Romans by virtue of their imperium could take away their gift as easily as they could make it. The reply of Claudius confirms this.
6 B.C. 184
7 A copy of the decree by which Lacedaemon was taken into the League would doubtless be set up in the temple at Aegium.
8 For the thought cf. sect. 21 below and the note. Lycortas was the father of Polybius, and therefore, even if any corresponding speech in Polybius were preserved, we should find it impossible to judge how much of the version of Livy was genuine. Its sophistry is evident, and it is difficult to see how even a supporter of Philopoemen could have honestly maintained that Lacedaemon had equal rights in the League. But, genuine or imaginary, the speech seems to picture fairly the actual situation that existed in Greece, and its accuracy suggests that Livy had some evidential basis for his composition. For an excellent and well-documented discussion of this question, see Larsen, “Was Greece Free between 196 and 146 B.C.?” in Classical Philology 30, 1935, 193-214. Larsen's findings agree in general with the point of view of this note, although he does not use this speech as evidence.
9 B.C. 184
10 The Achaeans, recognizing the inevitability of changes, ask that these changes be enforced upon them by Rome, to spare them the humiliation of breaking their oaths by repealing laws which they had sworn to obey.
11 The praetors were clearly warned by the experience of Acidinus (xxix. 4-5 above and the note), and tried to avoid giving the senate an excuse to refuse their triumphs.
12 B.C. 184
13 Since the negative always prevailed in such circumstances, a complete deadlock and suspension of public business were threatened.
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