- 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-lat2:2.51.1-2.51.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Following the destruction of the Fabii, the Roman consuls lead campaigns against the Etruscans and Veientines. Despite some initial setbacks and a rash assault on the Janiculum, the Romans ultimately crush the enemy through an ambush and a pincer movement, suppressing the war.
cum haec accepta clades est, iam C. Horatius et T. Menenius consules erant. Menenius adversus Tuscos victoria elatos confestim missus.
When this defeat was heard of, Gaius Horatius and Titus Menenius were already consuls. Menenius was immediately sent against the Etruscans, who were elated by their victory.
tum quoque male pugnatum est, et Ianiculum hostes occupavere; obsessaque urbs foret super bellum annona premente — transierant enim Etrusci Tiberim —, ni Horatius consul | ex Volscis esset revocatus.1 adeoque id bellum ipsis institit moenibus, ut primo pugnatum ad Spei sit aequo Marte, iterum ad portam Collinam.
Then too the battle went badly, and the enemy occupied the Janiculum; and the city would have been besieged, with scarcity of provisions pressing upon them in addition to the war — for the Etruscans had crossed the Tiber — if the consul Horatius had not | been recalled from the Volsci. And that war pressed so close to the very walls that at first they fought near the Temple of Hope with equal fortune, and a second time at the Colline Gate.
ibi quamquam parvo momento superior Romana res fuit, meliorem tamen militem recepto pristino animo in futura proelia id certamen fecit. A. Verginius et Sp. Servilius consules fiunt.
There, although the Roman advantage was of very little importance, yet that contest, by restoring their former spirit, made the soldiers better for future battles. Aulus Verginius and Spurius Servilius became consuls.
post acceptam proxima pugna cladem Veientes abstinuere acie; populationes erant, et velut ab arce Ianiculo passim in Romanum agrum impetus dabant;
After receiving the defeat in the last battle, the Veientines abstained from open field action; there were plunderings, and as if from the citadel of Janiculum, they made incursions everywhere into the Roman territory.
non usquam pecora tuta, non agrestes erant. capti deinde eadem arte sunt, qua ceperant Fabios. secuti dedita opera passim ad inlecebras propulsa pecora praecipitavere in insidias.2
Nowhere were the cattle safe, nor were the husbandmen. Then they were captured by the same art by which they had captured the Fabii. Having followed on purpose the cattle driven out here and there as decoys, they rushed headlong into an ambush.
quo plures erant, maior caedes fuit. ex hac clade atrox ira maioris cladis causa atque initium fuit. traiecto enim nocte Tiberi castra Servili consulis adorti sunt oppugnare. inde fusi magna caede in Ianiculum se aegre recepere.
The more numerous they were, the greater was the slaughter. From this defeat, a fierce anger was the cause and beginning of a greater defeat. For, having crossed the Tiber by night, they attempted to storm the camp of the consul Servilius. Driven thence with great slaughter, they retreated with difficulty to the Janiculum.
confestim consul et ipse transit Tiberim, castra sub Ianiculo communit. postero die luce orta nonnihil et hesterna felicitate pugnae ferox,3 magis tamen quod inopia frumenti quamvis in praecipitia, dum celeriora essent, agebat consilia, temere adverso Ianiculo ad castra hostium aciem erexit foediusque inde pulsus, quam pridie pepulerat, interventu collegae ipse exercitusque est servatus.
Immediately the consul himself also crossed the Tiber and fortified a camp below the Janiculum. On the following day at dawn, somewhat emboldened by the yesterday’s success of the battle, but more because the scarcity of grain drove him to plans, however headlong, provided they were speedier, he rashly marched his army up the Janiculum against the enemy’s camp, and being repulsed from there more shamefully than he had repulsed the enemy the day before, he himself and his army were saved by the intervention of his colleague.
inter duas acies Etrusci, cum in vicem his atque illis terga darent, occidione occisi. ita oppressum temeritate felici Veiens bellum.
Between the two armies, the Etruscans, as they turned their backs in turn to these and to those, were slaughtered to utter destruction. Thus the Veientine war was suppressed by a happy rashness.
- 2.51.2obsessaque urbs foret... ni Horatius consul ex Volscis esset revocatus
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The verb of the apodosis foret is an alternative form of esset, representing obsessa esset (subjunctive pluperfect). The inserted clause annona premente is an ablative absolute expressing cause or attendant circumstance.
- 2.51.5secuti dedita opera passim ad inlecebras propulsa pecora praecipitavere in insidias
secuti (having followed) is a perfect active participle from the deponent verb sequor, modifying the subject of the sentence, the Veientines. praecipitavere is a shortened form of praecipitaverunt used here either intransitively or with the reflexive pronoun se omitted ("they rushed headlong"). propulsa pecora (the driven cattle) is the direct object of secuti.
- 2.51.7postero die luce orta nonnihil et hesterna felicitate pugnae ferox...
A sentence with a complex structure. The main clause skeleton is consul (Servilius) ... temere adverso Ianiculo ad castra hostium aciem erexit (the consul rashly marched his army up the Janiculum against the enemy's camp). ferox (emboldened) modifies the subject, followed by the causal clause quod... agebat consilia (because [scarcity of grain] drove him to plans). dum celeriora essent is a restrictive clause ("provided that they were speedier"). adverso Ianiculo is an ablative of route meaning "up the Janiculum."