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History of Rome

§21.22.1-21.22.9

Defense of Spain Entrusted and Hannibal's Dream

Hannibal entrusts the defense of Spain to his brother Hasdrubal, providing him with infantry, cavalry, elephants, and a fleet. On his march toward the Ebro, Hannibal sees a vision in his sleep of a divine guide and a monstrous serpent symbolizing the devastation of Italy.

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§21.22.1

​neque Hispaniam neglegendam ratus, atque id eo minus, quod haud ignarus erat circumitam1 ab Romanis eam legatis ad sollicitandos principum animos, Hasdrubali fratri, viro inpigro, ​eam provinciam destinat firmatque Africis maxime praesidiis, peditum Afrorum undecim milibus octingentis quinquaginta, Liguribus trecentis, Balearibus quingentis.

​Nor did he think that Spain should be neglected, and all the less so because he was by no means ignorant that it had been visited by Roman envoys to solicit the minds of the chiefs; to his brother Hasdrubal, an active man, ​he assigned that province and strengthened it chiefly with African garrisons: eleven thousand eight hundred and fifty African infantry, three hundred Ligurians, and five hundred Balearians.

§21.22.3

​ad haec peditum auxilia additi equites Libyphoenices, mixtum Punicum Afris genus, quadringenti quinquaginta et Numidae Maurique accolae Oceani ad mille octingenti et parva Ilergetum manus ex Hispania, trecenti equites, et, ne quod terrestris deesset auxilii genus, elephanti viginti unus.

​To these auxiliary infantry were added four hundred and fifty Libyphoenician cavalry—a race mixed of Punic and African—and about eighteen hundred Numidians and Moors, dwellers near the Ocean, and a small band of Ilergetes from Spain, three hundred cavalry, and, lest any kind of land auxiliary should be lacking, twenty-one elephants.

§21.22.4

​classis praeterea data tuendae maritumae orae,2 quia, qua parte belli vicerant, ea tum quoque rem gesturos Romanos credi poterat, quinquaginta quinqueremes, quadriremes duae, triremes quinque; sed aptae instructaeque remigio triginta et duae quinqueremes erant et triremes quinque.

​Furthermore, a fleet was given to protect the sea-coast, because it could be believed that the Romans would also on this occasion conduct operations in that branch of warfare in which they had been victorious: fifty quinqueremes, two quadriremes, and five triremes; but only thirty-two quinqueremes and five triremes were fully equipped and manned with rowers.

§21.22.5

​ab Gadibus Carthaginem ad hiberna exercitus redit; atque inde profectus praeter Onusam urbem ad Hiberum per maritumam oram ducit.

​From Gades the army returned to Carthage for winter quarters; and setting out thence, Hannibal led his forces along the sea-coast past the city of Onusa to the Hiberus.

§21.22.6

​ibi fama est in quiete visum ab eo iuvenem divina specie, qui se ab Ioue diceret ducem in Italiam Hannibali missum: proinde sequeretur3 neque usquam a se deflecteret oculos.

​There, it is said, he saw in his sleep a youth of divine aspect, who said that he was sent by Jupiter to be Hannibal’s guide into Italy; therefore let him follow and never turn his eyes away from him.

§21.22.7

​pavidum primo nusquam circumspicientem aut respicientem secutum; deinde cura ingenii humani cum, quidnam id esset, quod respicere vetitus esset, agitaret animo, temperare oculis4 nequivisse;

​At first, in terror, he followed without looking around or behind him; then, with the curiosity natural to human minds, as he pondered what that could be which he was forbidden to look back at, he was unable to control his eyes.

§21.22.8

​tum vidisse post sese serpentem mira magnitudine cum ingenti arborum ac virgultorum strage ferri, ac post insequi cum fragore caeli nimbum.

​Then he saw behind him a serpent of wondrous size, moving along with a huge destruction of trees and bushes, and behind it followed a storm-cloud with the crashing of heaven.

§21.22.9

​tum, quae moles ea quidve prodigii esset, quaerentem audisse, vastitatem Italiae esse: pergeret porro ire nec ultra inquireret sineretque fata in occulto esse.

​Then, asking what that monstrous mass was or what portent it signified, he heard that it was the devastation of Italy; let him go straight on, and inquire no further, but suffer the fates to remain in darkness.

Syntax notes4 items
  1. 21.22.1circumitam

    Perfect passive infinitive of circumire with esse omitted. It forms an accusative with infinitive construction with eam (referring to Hispaniam) as its subject, depending on haud ignarus erat ('was not ignorant').

  2. 21.22.4tuendae maritumae orae

    Genitive (or dative) of the gerundive construction, expressing purpose, modifying classis data ('a fleet was given [for the purpose of] protecting the coastline').

  3. 21.22.6sequeretur

    Subjunctive of command (jussive subjunctive) in indirect speech. The imperative in direct speech (sequere, 'follow!') becomes an imperfect subjunctive due to the sequence of tenses dependent on historical past narrative (fama est... visum).

  4. 21.22.7temperare oculis

    Meaning 'to restrain one's eyes' (i.e., resist the urge to look). The verb temperare takes the dative (oculis) when meaning 'to control' or 'to restrain'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:21.22.1-21.22.9