- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:21.28.1-21.28.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Hannibal, in cooperation with Hanno who launched a surprise attack from behind, defeated the Gauls and established his camp. Subsequently, he safely transported the elephants across the Rhône River by connecting and towing a system of large rafts covered with earth.
Galli occursant in ripa cum variis ululatibus cantuque moris sui quatientes scuta super capita vibrantesque dextris tela, quamquam et ex adverso terrebat tanta vis navium cum ingenti sono fluminis et clamore vario nautarum militumque, et qui nitebantur perrumpere impetum fluminis et qui ex altera ripa traicientes suos hortabantur;1
The Gauls ran to meet them on the bank with various howls and songs according to their custom, shaking their shields over their heads and brandishing weapons in their right hands, although from the opposite side they were also terrified by such a force of ships, with the immense noise of the river and the diverse shouting of sailors and soldiers, both of those who were striving to break the force of the river and of those who from the other bank were encouraging their comrades as they crossed;
et iam satis paventes adverso tumultu terribilior ab tergo adortus clamor castris ab Hannone captis.2 mox et ipse aderat, ancepsque terror circumstabat et e navibus tanta vi armatorum in terram evadente et ab tergo inprovisa premente acie.
and while they were already sufficiently terrified by the tumult in front, a more terrible shout attacked them from behind, their camp having been captured by Hanno. Soon he himself was present, and a double terror surrounded them, with such a force of armed men landing on the shore from the ships, and an unexpected battle line pressing from the rear.
Galli postquam utroque vim facere conati pellebantur, qua patere visum maxime iter, perrumpunt trepidique in vicos passim suos diffugiunt. Hannibal ceteris copiis per otium traiectis spernens iam Gallicos tumultus castra locat.
After the Gauls, having attempted to resist on both sides, were repulsed, they broke through where the way seemed most open, and in panic fled in all directions to their own villages. Hannibal, having crossed the rest of his forces at leisure, now despising the Gallic tumults, pitched his camp.
elephantorum traiciendorum varia consilia fuisse credo, certe variat memoria actae rei. quidam congregatis ad ripam elephantis tradunt ferocissimum ex iis inritatum ab rectore suo, cum refugientem in aquam sequeretur, traxisse gregem, ut quemque timentem altitudinem destitueret vadum,3 impetu ipso fluminis in alteram ripam rapiente.
I believe there were various plans for crossing the elephants; certainly, the memory of the action varies. Some report that, when the elephants were gathered at the bank, the fiercest of them, provoked by his keeper, when he pursued him as he fled into the water, drew the herd after him, and as the shallows failed each one who feared the depth, the very force of the river swept them to the opposite bank.
ceterum magis constat ratibus traiectos; id ut tutius consilium ante rem foret, ita4 acta re ad fidem pronius est.
However, it is more generally agreed that they were crossed on rafts; as this would have been a safer plan before the event, so, now that it has been done, it is more credible.
ratem unam ducentos longam pedes quinquaginta latam a terra in amnem porrexerunt, quam, ne secunda aqua deferretur, pluribus validis retinaculis parte superiore ripae religatam pontis in modum humo iniecta constraverunt, ut beluae audacter velut per solum ingrederentur;
They stretched out one raft, two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, from the land into the river, which, lest it should be carried down by the current, they secured to the upper part of the bank with several strong ropes, and covered it with earth thrown upon it in the manner of a bridge, so that the beasts might step onto it boldly as if on solid ground;
altera ratis aeque lata, longa pedes centum, ad traiciendum flumen apta, huic copulata est; tum elephanti per stabilem ratem tamquam viam praegredientibus feminis acti ubi in minorem adplicatam transgressi sunt, extemplo resolutis, quibus leviter adnexa erat, vinculis ab actuariis aliquot navibus ad alteram ripam pertrahitur.
another raft of equal width, one hundred feet long, suitable for crossing the river, was joined to this one; then the elephants, driven along the stable raft as if it were a road, with the females leading the way, when they had stepped onto the smaller raft attached to it, immediately, the ropes by which it had been loosely fastened being untied, it was towed to the opposite bank by some fast-sailing ships.
ita primis expositis alii deinde repetiti ac traiecti sunt. nihil sane trepidabant, donec continenti velut ponte agerentur; primus erat pavor, cum soluta ab ceteris rate in altum raperentur;
Thus, the first having been landed, the others were then fetched and crossed in turn. They felt no fear indeed as long as they were driven along what seemed a continuous bridge; their first panic arose when, the raft being untied from the rest, they were swept into the deep water;
ibi urgentes inter se cedentibus extremis5 ab aqua trepidationis aliquantum edebant, donec quietem ipse timor circumspectantibus aquam fecisset.
there, crowding one another, while those on the outside shrank back from the water, they caused a good deal of alarm, until fear itself brought quiet as they looked around at the water.
excidere etiam saevientes quidam in flumen; sed pondere ipso stabiles deiectis rectoribus quaerendis pedetemptim vadis in terram evasere.
Some, becoming wild, even fell into the river; but stable by their very weight, having thrown off their keepers, they escaped to the land by seeking shallows step by step.
- 21.28.2qui nitebantur ... qui ... hortabantur
These are relative clauses with omitted antecedents (eorum in each case) introduced by qui, serving to break down and describe the 'sailors and soldiers' (nautarum militumque) into two specific active groups.
- 21.28.3castris ab Hannone captis
An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun castris and the perfect participle captis, indicating the cause or circumstances of the shout (clamor) arising from the rear.
- 21.28.5destitueret vadum
With vadum ('the shallow water') as the subject, quemque timentem ('each fearful elephant') as the object, and destitueret ('to abandon/leave') as the verb, this is a figurative expression meaning 'the shallows failed them' or 'they lost their footing'.
- 21.28.6ut tutius consilium ante rem foret, ita
The correlative structure ut... ita... is used here to create an adversative contrast ('while..., yet...'). The verb foret (= esset) in the former clause is an imperfect subjunctive expressing a counterfactual potential in the past ('as it would have been a safer plan before the event, so now...').
- 21.28.11cedentibus extremis
An ablative absolute construction consisting of the present participle cedentibus and the substantivized adjective extremis ('those on the outside'), denoting the cause of the panic (trepidatio) as the outer elephants shrank back from the water.