- Source
- Titi Livi ab urbe condita libri editionem priman, Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.11.1-2.11.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
In response to Porsinna's siege and plundering, the consul Valerius devised a plan to lure out the Etruscan raiders, successfully trapping and destroying them in an ambush.
Porsinna primo conatu repulsus consiliis ab oppugnanda urbe ad obsidendam versis,1 praesidio in Ianiculo locato ipse in plano ripisque Tiberis castra posuit navibus undique accitis et ad custodiam, ne quid Romam frumenti subvehi sineret, et ut praedatum milites trans flumen per occasiones aliis atque aliis locis traiceret;2
Porsinna, having been repulsed in his first attempt, turned his plans from assaulting the city to besieging it. Having stationed a garrison on the Janiculum, he himself pitched camp on the plain and the banks of the Tiber, having collected ships from all quarters both for guard, that he might not permit any corn to be conveyed to Rome, and that he might cross his soldiers over the river in various places as opportunities arose to plunder.
brevique adeo infestum omnem Romanum agrum reddidit, ut non cetera solum ex agris sed pecus quoque omne in urbem compelleretur, neque quisquam extra portas propellere auderet.
And in a short time he rendered the entire Roman territory so unsafe, that not only other things from the fields, but also all the cattle were driven into the city, and no one dared to drive them outside the gates.
hoc tantum licentiae3 Etruscis non metu magis quam consilio concessum. namque Valerius consul, intentus in occasionem multos simul et effusos inproviso adoriundi, in parvis rebus neglegens ultor gravem se ad maiora vindicem servabat.4
This great license was conceded to the Etruscans not so much through fear as by design. For the consul Valerius, intent on an opportunity of attacking a large number of them at once when they were scattered and off their guard, neglecting vengeance in small matters, was reserving himself as a formidable avenger for greater things.
itaque ut eliceret praedatores, edicit suis, postero die frequentes porta Esquilina, quae aversissima ab hoste erat, expellerent pecus, scituros id hostes ratus,5 quod in obsidione et fame servitia infida transfugerent.
Therefore, in order to lure out the plunderers, he ordered his men that on the following day they should drive out cattle in large numbers through the Esquiline gate, which was the most remote from the enemy, thinking that the enemy would know of it, because during a siege and famine, unfaithful slaves would desert.
et sciere perfugae indicio, multoque plures, ut in spem universae praedae,6 flumen traiciunt.
And they did know of it by the information of a deserter, and crossed the river in much greater numbers, in the hope of seizing the entire plunder.
P. Valerius inde T. Herminium cum modicis copiis ad secundum lapidem Gabina via occultum considere iubet, Sp. Larcium cum expedita iuventute ad portam Collinam stare, donec hostis praetereat, inde se obicere, ne sit ad flumen reditus.
Publius Valerius then ordered Titus Herminius to lie in ambush with a moderate force near the second milestone on the Gabinian road, and Spurius Larcius to stand with the light-armed youth at the Colline gate until the enemy should pass by, and then to throw themselves in the way, so that there would be no retreat to the river.
consulum alter T. Lucretius porta Naevia cum aliquot manipulis militum egressus, ipse Valerius Caelio monte cohortes delectas educit.
The other of the consuls, Titus Lucretius, marched out of the Naevian gate with several companies of soldiers, while Valerius himself led select cohorts down from the Caelian hill.
hique primi apparuere hosti; Herminius ubi tumultum sensit, consurgit ex insidiis versisque in Lucretium Etruscis terga caedit; dextra laevaque, hinc a porta Collina, illinc ab Naevia, redditus clamor:
And these first appeared to the enemy; Herminius, when he perceived the noise, rose from his ambush, and while the Etruscans were turned toward Lucretius, he cut down their rear; on the right and on the left, from the Colline gate on one side and from the Naevian on the other, the shout was returned.
ita caesi in medio praedatores neque ad pugnam viribus pares et ad fugam saeptis omnibus viis. finisque ille tam effuse vagandi Etruscis fuit.
Thus the plunderers, caught in the middle, were cut to pieces, being neither equal in strength for battle, and with all paths blocked for flight. And that was the end of the Etruscans’ wandering so loosely.
- 2.11.1consiliis ab oppugnanda urbe ad obsidendam versis
An ablative absolute construction where the noun consiliis is modified by the perfect passive participle versis. In ab oppugnanda urbe ad obsidendam, oppugnanda and obsidendam (with urbem understood) are gerundives qualifying their respective nouns, expressing the transition of plans 'from assaulting the city to besieging it.'
- 2.11.2navibus undique accitis et ad custodiam, ne quid Romam frumenti subvehi sineret, et ut praedatum milites trans flumen per occasiones aliis atque aliis locis traiceret
Following the ablative absolute navibus ... accitis, the expressions of purpose are coordinated asymmetrically with et ... et ...: a prepositional noun phrase (ad custodiam followed by a preventive ne clause) and a classical purpose clause (ut ... traiceret). praedatum is the supine in -um expressing purpose after the verb of motion traiceret.
- 2.11.4hoc tantum licentiae
The subject of the passive verb concessum [est] (with the copula omitted) is the demonstrative hoc. The neuter pronoun tantum is used substantively, governing the partitive genitive licentiae ('so much of license' or 'such great freedom').
- 2.11.4in parvis rebus neglegens ultor gravem se ad maiora vindicem servabat
The two noun phrases neglegens ultor (a negligent avenger) and gravem ... vindicem (a severe champion/avenger) stand in stark contrast. gravem ... vindicem is a predicative accusative qualifying the reflexive pronoun se, which is the direct object of servabat ('he was reserving himself as...').
- 2.11.5scituros id hostes ratus
The word ratus is the perfect active participle of the deponent verb reor (to think), modifying the main subject Valerius. It governs an accusative with infinitive clause: hostes scituros [esse] id ('that the enemy would know it').
- 2.11.6ut in spem universae praedae
The conjunction ut here introduces the prepositional phrase in spem to depict the subjective motivation or eager expectation of the soldiers: 'as if in the hope of [seizing] the entire plunder' or 'spurred by the hope of...'.