- 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-lat2:21.35.1-21.35.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Hannibal's army reaches the summit of the Alps; to encourage his exhausted soldiers, Hannibal points out the plains of Italy below, but the descent towards Italy proves to be an extremely steep and slippery road.
postero die iam segnius intercursantibus barbaris1 iunctae copiae, saltusque haud sine clade, maiore tamen iumentorum quam hominum pernicie, superatus.
On the following day, as the barbarians now attacked more sluggishly, the forces were united, and the pass was surmounted, not without loss, though with greater destruction of beasts of burden than of men.
inde montani pauciores iam et latrocinii magis quam belli more concursabant modo in primum modo in novissimum agmen, utcumque aut locus opportunitatem daret aut progressi morative aliquam occasionem fecissent.
From that point the mountaineers, fewer in number and behaving more like brigands than warriors, attacked now the vanguard, now the rearguard, whenever either the ground offered an opportunity or those who had gone ahead or lagged behind had created some opening.
elephanti sicut per artas praecipitesque vias magna mora agebantur, ita tutum ab hostibus, quacumque incederent, quia insuetis adeundi propius metus erat, agmen praebebant.
While the elephants were driven with great delay through the narrow and steep paths, yet wherever they went they rendered the column safe from the enemy, because those unaccustomed to them were afraid of approaching closer.
nono die in iugum Alpium perventum est per invia pleraque et errores, quos aut ducentium fraus aut, ubi fides iis non esset, temere initae valles a coniectantibus iter2 faciebant.
On the ninth day they reached the summit of the Alps, after traveling for the most part through trackless wastes and detours, which were caused either by the treachery of their guides or, when they were not trusted, by valleys entered at random by those trying to guess the route.
biduum in iugo stativa habita, fessisque labore ac pugnando quies data militibus; iumentaque aliquot, quae prolapsa in rupibus erant, sequendo vestigia agminis in castra pervenere.
For two days they remained encamped on the summit, and rest was given to the soldiers who were exhausted by toil and fighting; several beasts of burden, too, which had fallen among the rocks, reached the camp by following the tracks of the column.
fessis taedio tot malorum nivis etiam casus occidente iam sidere Vergiliarum3 ingentem terrorem adiecit.
To the men, already exhausted by the weariness of so many miseries, a fall of snow—the constellation of the Pleiades being now near its setting—added an immense terror.
per omnia nive oppleta cum signis prima luce motis segniter agmen incederet, pigritiaque et desperatio in omnium vultu emineret, praegressus signa Hannibal in promunturio quodam, unde longe ac late prospectus erat, consistere iussis militibus Italiam ostentat subiectosque Alpinis montibus Circumpadanos campos, moeniaque eos tum transcendere4 non Italiae modo sed etiam urbis Romanae; cetera plana, proclivia fore; uno aut summum altero proelio arcem et caput Italiae in manu ac potestate habituros.
When, at dawn, the standards having been moved, the column marched slowly through places completely covered with snow, and languor and despair were conspicuous on every face, Hannibal, having gone ahead of the standards, ordered the soldiers to halt on a certain prominence, from which there was a view far and wide, and pointed out Italy and the plains around the Po lying beneath the Alpine mountains, telling them that they were then scaling the walls not of Italy only, but even of the Roman city; that the rest of their way would be smooth and downhill; and that after one or at most a second battle, they would have the citadel and capital of Italy in their hand and power.
procedere inde agmen coepit iam nihil ne hostibus quidem praeter parva furta per occasionem temptantibus.
From there the column began to advance, with not even the enemy attempting anything further except small, opportunistic thefts.
ceterum iter multo, quam in ascensu fuerat, ut pleraque Alpium ab Italia sicut breviora ita5 adrectiora sunt, difficilius fuit. omnis enim ferme via praeceps, angusta, lubrica erat, ut neque sustinere se ab lapsu possent nec, qui paulum titubassent, haerere adfixi vestigio suo, aliique super alios et iumenta in homines occiderent.
But the descent was much more difficult than the ascent had been, as most of the slopes of the Alps on the Italian side, just as they are shorter, so are they steeper. For almost the entire path was steep, narrow, and slippery, so that they could neither prevent themselves from slipping, nor could those who stumbled even slightly keep their foothold, and they fell one over another, and the beasts of burden fell upon the men.
- 21.35.1intercursantibus barbaris
Ablative absolute, indicating the cause or circumstance for the main action iunctae (sunt) copiae.
- 21.35.4a coniectantibus iter
Substantive use of the present participle coniectantibus ('those guessing the way'). Combined with the preposition a in the ablative to express the agent, modifying the passive participle initae.
- 21.35.6occidente iam sidere Vergiliarum
Ablative absolute. It refers to the morning setting of the Pleiades (late October to early November), indicating the time of year and the onset of winter as they crossed the Alps.
- 21.35.9transcendere
Infinitive in indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive), depending on the idea of declaring or explaining implied in the preceding verb ostentat. The subsequent fore and habituros (esse) are likewise part of this indirect discourse.
- 21.35.11sicut... ita...
Correlative expression showing contrast. Here it means 'just as... so...', or concessively 'although... yet...', expressing that the Alps on the Italian side, just as they are shorter in distance, are correspondingly steeper.