The Celtic Double Front and Death of Atilius — Polybius, The Histories Book 2 (2.28.1–2.28.11), Greek & English

§2.28.1

κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν συμβαινόντων.¹ οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Αἰμίλιον ἀκηκοότες μὲν τὸν εἰς τὰς Πίσας κατάπλουν τῶν στρατοπέδων, οὔπω δὲ προσδοκῶντες αὐτὰ συνεγγίζειν, τότε σαφῶς ἐκ τοῦ περὶ τὸν λόφον ἀγῶνος ἔγνωσαν διότι τελέως ἐγγὺς εἶναι συμβαίνει τὰς οἰκείας αὐτῶν δυνάμεις.

events happening at that very moment. Aemilius and his men, though they had heard of the landing of the legions at Pisa, but did not yet expect them to be near, then clearly knew from the battle around the hill that their own forces had in fact come extremely close.

§2.28.2

διὸ καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἱππεῖς παραυτίκα βοηθήσοντας ἐξαπέστελλον τοῖς ἐν τῷ λόφῳ διαγωνιζομένοις, αὐτοὶ δὲ κατὰ τὰς εἰθισμένας τάξεις διακοσμήσαντες τοὺς πεζοὺς προῆγον ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους.

Therefore, they immediately sent out the cavalry to help those fighting on the hill, while they themselves, having drawn up the infantry in their usual order, advanced against the enemy.

§2.28.3

οἱ δὲ Κελτοὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ἄλπεων Γαισάτους προσαγορευομένους ἔταξαν πρὸς τὴν ἀπʼ οὐρᾶς ἐπιφάνειαν, ᾗ προσεδόκων τοὺς περὶ τὸν Αἰμίλιον, ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις τοὺς Ἴνσομβρας·

The Celts, on their part, stationed those who came from the Alps and were called Gaesatae facing the rear, where they expected Aemilius and his men, and behind them the Insubres;

§2.28.4

πρὸς δὲ τὴν κατὰ πρόσωπον τοὺς Ταυρίσκους καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τάδε τοῦ Πάδου κατοικοῦντας Βοίους παρενέβαλον, τὴν ἐναντίαν μὲν στάσιν ἔχοντας τοῖς προειρημένοις, βλέποντας δὲ πρὸς τὴν τῶν τοῦ Γαΐου στρατοπέδων ἔφοδον.

and facing the front they drew up the Taurisci and the Boii, who lived on this side of the Po, stationed back-to-back with those mentioned before, but facing the attack of Gaius’s legions.

§2.28.5

τὰς δʼ ἁμάξας καὶ συνωρίδας ἐκτὸς ἑκατέρου τοῦ κέρατος παρέστησαν, τὴν δὲ λείαν εἴς τι τῶν παρακειμένων ὀρῶν φυλακὴν περιστήσαντες ἥθροιζον.

They placed their wagons and chariots outside both wings, and gathered the booty onto one of the adjacent hills, setting a guard around it.

§2.28.6

γενομένης δʼ ἀμφιστόμου τῆς τῶν Κελτῶν δυνάμεως, οὐ μόνον καταπληκτικὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρακτικὴν εἶναι συνέβαινε τὴν τάξιν.

Since the Celtic force was facing both ways, their formation happened to be not only formidable but also effective.

§2.28.7

οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἴνσομβρες καὶ Βοῖοι τὰς ἀναξυρίδας ἔχοντες καὶ τοὺς εὐπετεῖς τῶν σάγων περὶ αὑτοὺς ἐξέταξαν.

The Insubres and Boii, then, drew up for battle wearing their trousers and light cloaks.

§2.28.8

οἱ δὲ Γαισάται διά τε τὴν φιλοδοξίαν καὶ τὸ θάρσος ταῦτʼ ἀπορρίψαντες γυμνοὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ὅπλων πρῶτοι τῆς δυνάμεως κατέστησαν, ὑπολαβόντες οὕτως ἔσεσθαι πρακτικώτατοι διὰ τό τινας τῶν τόπων βατώδεις ὄντας ἐμπλέκεσθαι τοῖς ἐφάμμασι² καὶ παραποδίζειν τὴν τῶν ὅπλων χρείαν.

But the Gaesatae, from love of glory and sheer courage, threw these aside and took their stand naked at the very front of the army, with only their weapons, supposing that they would be most effective in this way, since some parts of the ground were covered with brambles which might get entangled in their clothes and hinder the use of their weapons.

§2.28.9

τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον αὐτὸς ὁ κατὰ τὸν λόφον ἐνειστήκει κίνδυνος, ἅπασιν ὢν σύνοπτος, ὡς ἂν ἅμα τοσούτου πλήθους ἱππέων ἀφʼ ἑκάστου τῶν στρατοπέδων ἀναμὶξ ἀλλήλοις συμπεπτωκότος.

At first, then, the battle itself around the hill began, in full view of everyone, as so great a multitude of cavalry from each of the armies had fallen upon one another in a confused mass.

§2.28.10

ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ συνέβη Γάιον μὲν τὸν ὕπατον παραβόλως ἀγωνιζόμενον ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ³ τελευτῆσαι τὸν βίον, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς βασιλέας ἐπανενεχθῆναι τῶν Κελτῶν· τοὺς δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱππεῖς κινδυνεύσαντας ἐρρωμένως τέλος ἐπικρατῆσαι τοῦ τόπου καὶ τῶν ὑπεναντίων.

At this juncture, it happened that the consul Gaius, fighting with reckless courage in hand-to-hand combat, lost his life, and his head was carried back to the kings of the Celts; but the Roman cavalry, after a fierce struggle, finally gained possession of the ground and prevailed over their opponents.

§2.28.11

μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν πεζικῶν στρατοπέδων ἤδη σύνεγγυς ὄντων ἀλλήλοις ἴδιον ἦν καὶ θαυμαστὸν τὸ συμβαῖνον οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ τότε παροῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ποτε μετὰ ταῦτα δυναμένοις ὑπὸ τὴν ὄψιν λαμβάνειν ἐκ τῶν⁴

After this, when the infantry forces were already close to each other, what happened was unique and amazing, not only to those who were present at that very time, but also to any who were afterwards able to picture the scene from the...

Syntax notes4 items

2.28.1κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν συμβαινόντων
A genitive plural present participle qualifying the definite article τῶν at the very end of the previous chunk (§2.27.8). It forms part of the phrase ἔκ τε τῶν προσαγγελλομένων τεκμαιρόμενοι καὶ τῶν... ('concluding from both the reports and the...'), meaning 'from the events happening at that very moment.'
2.28.8τοῖς ἐφάμμασι
Dative plural. Dative plural of ἔφαμμα ('cloak', 'overgarment'). Since the ground was brambly (βατώδεις), the brambles would get entangled in their cloaks (ἐφάμμασι), hindering the use of their weapons.
2.28.10ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ
A Greek idiom literally meaning 'in the law of hands,' but conventionally used to mean 'in hand-to-hand combat' or 'in close fight.'
2.28.11ἐκ τῶν
An incomplete phrase at the end of the chunk. It consists of the preposition ἐκ and the article τῶν, which would be followed by a noun like ἱστοριῶν ('from the accounts/histories') in the next chunk.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.28.1-2.28.11