Hannibal's Arrival in Italy and Publius' Preparation — Polybius, The Histories Book 3 (3.56.1–3.56.6), Greek & English

§3.56.1

Ἀννίβας δὲ συναθροίσας ὁμοῦ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν κατέβαινε καὶ τριταῖος¹ ἀπὸ τῶν προειρημένων κρημνῶν διανύσας ἥψατο τῶν ἐπιπέδων, πολλοὺς μὲν ἀπολωλεκὼς τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὑπό τε τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐν τῇ καθόλου πορείᾳ, πολλοὺς δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν κρημνῶν καὶ τῶν δυσχωριῶν κατὰ τὰς Ἄλπεις, οὐ μόνον ἄνδρας, ἔτι δὲ πλείους ἵππους καὶ ὑποζύγια.

Hannibal, having assembled his entire force together, began his descent, and on the third day after leaving the aforementioned cliffs, he completed his journey and reached the plains. He had lost many of his soldiers in the course of the entire march to the enemy and the rivers, and many to the cliffs and difficult passes in the Alps—not only men, but even more horses and pack-animals.

§3.56.3

τέλος δὲ τὴν μὲν πᾶσαν πορείαν ἐκ Καινῆς πόλεως ἐν πέντε μησὶ ποιησάμενος τὴν δὲ τῶν Ἄλπεων ὑπερβολὴν ἡμέραις δεκαπέντε κατῆρε² τολμηρῶς εἰς τὰ περὶ τὸν Πάδον πεδία καὶ τὸ τῶν Ἰνσόμβρων ἔθνος, ἔχων τὸ διασῳζόμενον μέρος τῆς μὲν τῶν Λιβύων δυνάμεως πεζοὺς μυρίους καὶ δισχιλίους, τῆς δὲ τῶν Ἰβήρων εἰς ὀκτακισχιλίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ τοὺς πάντας οὐ πλείους ἑξακισχιλίων, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ στήλῃ τῇ περὶ τοῦ πλήθους ἐχούσῃ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἐπὶ Λακινίῳ διασαφεῖ.

At last, having completed the entire journey from Kaine Polis in five months and the crossing of the Alps in fifteen days, he boldly descended into the plains around the Padus and the territory of the Insubres. He had with him the surviving portion of his forces: twelve thousand infantry of the Libyan force, about eight thousand of the Iberian, and not more than six thousand cavalry in all, as he himself makes clear on the tablet at Lacinium which bears an inscription concerning the numbers.

§3.56.5

κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιρούς, ὡς ἐπάνω προεῖπα, Πόπλιος ἀπολελοιπὼς τὰς δυνάμεις Γναΐῳ τἀδελφῷ καὶ παρακεκληκὼς αὐτὸν ἔχεσθαι τῶν ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ πραγμάτων καὶ πολεμεῖν ἐρρωμένως Ἀσδρούβᾳ, κατέπλευσε μετʼ ὀλίγων αὐτὸς εἰς Πίσας.

At about the same time, as I stated above, Publius, having left his forces to his brother Gnaeus, and having exhorted him to manage the affairs in Iberia and to make war vigorously against Hasdrubal, himself sailed back with a few attendants to Pisae.

§3.56.6

ποιησάμενος δὲ τὴν πορείαν διὰ Τυρρηνίας καὶ παραλαβὼν τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἑξαπελέκεων³ στρατόπεδα τὰ προκαθήμενα καὶ προσπολεμοῦντα τοῖς Βοίοις ἧκε πρὸς τὰ περὶ τὸν Πάδον πεδία καὶ καταστρατοπεδεύσας ἐπεῖχε τοῖς πολεμίοις, σπεύδων συμβαλεῖν εἰς μάχην.

Having made his way through Tyrrhenia and taken over the legions under the praetors which were stationed on the frontier and engaged in war with the Boii, he arrived at the plains around the Padus, and having encamped, he kept watch on the enemy, eager to engage them in battle.

Syntax notes3 items

3.56.1τριταῖος
The adjective τριταῖος is used predicatively to modify the subject (Hannibal), functioning adverbially to mean 'on the third day.' In Greek, adjectives expressing time frequently modify the subject in this manner.
3.56.3κατῆρε
An intransitive use of καταίρω (or κατάγω), meaning 'to arrive' or 'to descend' at the end of a journey. Originally a nautical term meaning 'to put into port,' it is commonly applied here to the arrival of a land army.
3.56.6ἑξαπελέκεων
Genitive plural of the noun ἑξαπελέκυς (one with six axes). This is Polybius's distinctive Greek rendering for the Roman 'praetor,' derived from the fact that a praetor was accompanied by six lictors carrying fasces (which contained axes).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.56.1-3.56.6