- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:21.34.1-21.34.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Hannibal is deceived by another mountain tribe pretending to be friendly and is ambushed in a narrow pass. Although the rearguard of the infantry fights hard to prevent total disaster, the column is split and Hannibal is forced to spend the night separated from his cavalry and baggage.
Perventum inde ad frequentem cultoribus1 alium, ut inter montanos, populum. ibi non bello aperto sed suis artibus, fraude et insidiis, est prope circumventus.
From there they came to another tribe, which was populous for mountaineers. There, not by open war but by their own arts, deceit and treachery, he was almost surrounded.
magno natu principes castellorum oratores ad Poenum veniunt, alienis malis, utili exemplo, doctos2 memorantes amicitiam malle quam vim experiri Poenorum;
Elderly chiefs of the strongholds came as envoys to the Carthaginian, stating that they, having learned from the misfortunes of others—a useful example—preferred to experience the friendship rather than the power of the Carthaginians;
itaque oboedienter imperata facturos; commeatum itinerisque duces et ad fidem promissorum obsides acciperet.3
therefore, they would obediently perform his commands; and they requested that he accept provisions, guides for the journey, and hostages as a pledge of their promises.
Hannibal nec temere credendum nec aspernandos ratus, ne repudiati aperte hostes fierent, benigne cum respondisset, obsidibus, quos dabant, acceptis et commeatu, quem in viam ipsi detulerant, usus, nequaquam ut inter pacatos composito agmine duces eorum sequitur.
Hannibal, thinking that he should neither trust them rashly nor reject them, lest they should become open enemies if rebuffed, gave a friendly answer, accepted the hostages they offered, and made use of the provisions they themselves had brought down to the road; but he followed their guides by no means as if marching through a peaceful country, but with his line of march strictly formed.
primum agmen elephanti et equites erant;
The vanguard consisted of the elephants and cavalry;
ipse post cum robore peditum circumspectans sollicitusque ad omnia incedebat. ubi in angustiorem viam et parte altera subiectam iugo insuper inminenti ventum est, undique ex insidiis barbari a fronte ab tergo coorti comminus eminus petunt, saxa ingentia in agmen devolvunt.
he himself followed behind with the main body of the infantry, looking around and anxious about everything. When they had come into a narrower path, which on one side was commanded by a ridge hanging over them from above, the barbarians, rising up from their ambushes on all sides, from front and rear, attacked them at close quarters and from a distance, and rolled huge rocks down upon the column.
maxima ab tergo vis hominum urgebat. in eos versa peditum acies haud dubium fecit, quin, nisi firmata extrema agminis fuissent, ingens in eo saltu accipienda clades fuerit.4
The greatest force of men was pressing from the rear. The line of infantry, turned against them, made it beyond doubt that, if the rear of the column had not been strengthened, a huge disaster would have been suffered in that pass.
tunc quoque ad extremum periculi ac prope perniciem ventum est. nam dum cunctatur Hannibal demittere agmen in angustias, quia non, ut ipse equitibus praesidio5 erat, ita peditibus quicquam ab tergo auxilii reliqui erat, occursantes per obliqua montani interrupto medio agmine viam insedere, noxque una Hannibali sine equitibus atque inpedimentis acta est.
Even then they came to the extremity of danger and almost to destruction. For while Hannibal hesitated to lead the column down into the narrow pass, because there was no protection left for the infantry from behind, as he himself was a protection to the cavalry, the mountaineers, rushing down across the slopes, broke the column in the middle and occupied the road; and one night was spent by Hannibal without his cavalry and baggage.
- 21.34.1frequentem cultoribus
The adjective frequentem ("populous", "crowded") is accompanied by the ablative of abundance cultoribus ("cultivators", "inhabitants"). The parenthetical clause ut inter montanos uses the restrictive ut ("as [is natural] among mountaineers"), modifying the degree of population relative to the mountainous region.
- 21.34.2doctos
A perfect participle in the accusative plural masculine, modifying the omitted subject accusative pronoun se (referring to the envoys themselves), which functions as the subject of the infinitive malle in indirect speech.
- 21.34.3acciperet
An imperfect subjunctive representing an indirect command. The imperative (or hortatory subjunctive) of direct speech is converted into the imperfect subjunctive following the past context of the narration.
- 21.34.7accipienda fuerit
The apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (nisi... fuissent) occurring inside a quin-clause introduced by haud dubium fecit. When a contrary-to-fact apodosis is placed in a subjunctive clause, it is expressed through a periphrastic conjugation combining the gerundive with fuerit (perfect subjunctive).
- 21.34.8equitibus praesidio
A double dative construction, combining the dative of purpose/service praesidio ("as a protection") with the dative of reference/interest equitibus ("for the cavalry").