- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:15.9.1-15.9.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The meeting between Hannibal and Publius ends without agreement, and both sides prepare for a decisive battle at dawn for global supremacy. Publius (Scipio) arranges his army in a unique alignment, placing the principes directly behind the hastati with open intervals to counter the enemy's elephants.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν διαλεχθέντες αὑτοῖς Ἀννίβας καὶ Πόπλιος ἐχωρίσθησαν, ἀσύμβατον ποιησάμενοι τὴν κοινολογίαν.
After discussing these matters with each other, Hannibal and Publius parted, having failed to reach an agreement in their conference.
εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐπαύριον ἅμα τῷ φωτὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξῆγον ἀμφότεροι καὶ συνίσταντο τὸν ἀγῶνα, Καρχηδόνιοι μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς σφετέρας σωτηρίας καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην πραγμάτων, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἀρχῆς καὶ δυναστείας.
On the following day, at dawn, both led out their forces and marshaled them for the struggle—the Carthaginians for their own safety and their possessions in Libya, the Romans for the empire and sovereignty of the whole world.
ἐφʼ ἃ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐπιστήσας1 συμπαθὴς γένοιτο κατὰ τὴν ἐξήγησιν;
Who, indeed, could turn his attention to these events and remain unmoved as he narrates them?
οὔτε γὰρ δυνάμεις πολεμικωτέρας οὔθʼ ἡγεμόνας ἐπιτυχεστέρους τούτων2 καὶ μᾶλλον ἀθλητὰς γεγονότας τῶν κατὰ πόλεμον ἔργων εὕροι τις ἂν ἑτέρους, οὐδὲ μὴν ἆθλα μείζω τὴν τύχην ἐκτεθεικυῖαν τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις τῶν τότε προκειμένων·
For one could not find other forces more warlike, nor generals more successful than these and more thoroughly trained as athletes in the works of war; nor, indeed, has Fortune ever proposed greater prizes to combatants than those which then lay before them.
οὐ γὰρ τῆς Λιβύης αὐτῆς οὐδὲ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἔμελλον κυριεύειν οἱ τῇ μάχῃ κρατήσαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὅσα νῦν πέπτωκεν ὑπὸ τὴν ἱστορίαν. ὃ καὶ συνέβη γενέσθαι μετʼ ὀλίγον.
For those who conquered in the battle were destined to become masters not of Libya alone, nor of Europe, but also of all other parts of the inhabited world which now fall under the scope of history—a result which actually came to pass shortly afterward.
πλὴν ὁ μὲν Πόπλιος ἔθηκε τὰς τάξεις τῶν ἰδίων δυνάμεων τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον.
However, Publius drew up the order of his own forces in the following manner.
πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς ἁστάτους καὶ τὰς τούτων σημαίας ἐν διαστήμασιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις τοὺς πρίγκιπας, τιθεὶς τὰς σπείρας οὐ κατὰ τὸ τῶν πρώτων σημαιῶν διάστημα, καθάπερ ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις, ἀλλὰ καταλλήλους3 ἐν ἀποστάσει διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐλεφάντων· τελευταίους δʼ ἐπέστησε τοὺς τριαρίους.
First he placed the hastati and their maniples at intervals; behind these he placed the principes, arranging their cohorts not opposite the intervals of the first maniples, as is the custom among the Romans, but directly behind them at a distance, on account of the great number of elephants in the enemy’s army; and in the rear he stationed the triarii.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν κεράτων ἔταξε κατὰ μὲν τὸ λαιὸν Γάιον Λαίλιον, ἔχοντα τοὺς Ἰταλικοὺς ἱππέας, κατὰ δὲ τὸ δεξιὸν μέρος Μασαννάσαν μετὰ πάντων τῶν ὑφʼ ἑαυτὸν ταττομένων Νομάδων.
On the wings he posted, on the left, Gaius Laelius with the Italian cavalry, and on the right, Masanissa with all the Numidians who were subject to his command.
τὰ δὲ διαστήματα τῶν πρώτων σημαιῶν ἀνεπλήρωσε ταῖς τῶν γροσφομάχων σπείραις, παραγγείλας τούτοις προκινδυνεύειν, ἐὰν δʼ ἐκβιάζωνται κατὰ τὴν τῶν θηρίων ἔφοδον, ἀποχωρεῖν, τοὺς μὲν καταταχοῦντας4 διὰ τῶν ἐπʼ εὐθείας διαστημάτων εἰς τοὐπίσω τῆς ὅλης δυνάμεως, τοὺς δὲ περικαταλαμβανομένους εἰς τὰ πλάγια παρίστασθαι διαστήματα κατὰ τὰς σημαίας.
The intervals of the first maniples he filled up with the cohorts of the velites, ordering them to be the first to engage the enemy; and if they should be forced back by the charge of the beasts, they were to retreat, those who were fleet of foot passing through the straight intervals to the rear of the entire army, and those who were being overtaken slipping aside into the lateral intervals along the maniples.
- 15.9.3ἐπιστήσας
An idiomatic ellipsis of ἐπιστήσας τὸν νοῦν ('paying attention to' or 'directing one's mind to'), functioning here as a conditional or temporal participle ('if/when one turns one's attention to...'). It coordinates with the potential optative ἂν γένοιτο.
- 15.9.4τούτων
Genitive plural of the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος, serving as a genitive of comparison after the comparative adjectives πολεμικωτέρας and ἐπιτυχεστέρους. In this context, it refers back to both the two armies and the two generals.
- 15.9.7καταλλήλους
Used with the phrase ἐν ἀποστάσει ('at a distance'), meaning Scipio arranged the principes 'parallel to' or 'directly behind' (in alignment with) the maniples of the front-line hastati. This explains Scipio's tactical deviation from the usual Roman quincunx pattern, in which the cohorts of the second line covered the intervals (διάστημα) of the first line.
- 15.9.10καταταχοῦντας
Accusative plural participle, probably from καταταχέω or καταταχύνω (meaning 'to outrun' or 'to run fast enough to not be overtaken'). It stands in sharp contrast to the following passive participle περικαταλαμβανομένους ('those who were being overtaken'), distinguishing the retreat tactics based on the physical state and speed of the soldiers.