Hannibal's Ambush and the Luring of Romans Across the Trebia — Livy, History of Rome Book 21 (21.54.1–21.54.9), Latin & English

§21.54.1

erat in medio rivus praealtis utrimque clausus ripis et circa obsitus palustribus herbis et, quibus inculta ferme vestiuntur, virgultis vepribusque. quem ubi equites quoque tegendo¹ satis latebrosum locum circumvectus ipse oculis perlustravit, “hic erit locus,” Magoni fratri ait “quem teneas.

In the middle there was a stream, enclosed on both sides by very high banks, and overgrown around with marshy weeds and with brushwood and brambles, with which uncultivated places are generally covered. When he himself had ridden around and surveyed with his own eyes this place, which was sufficiently hidden even for concealing cavalry, he said to his brother Mago, “This will be the place for you to hold.

§21.54.2

delige centenos viros ex omni pedite atque equite, cum quibus ad me vigilia prima venias;

Choose a hundred men each from all the infantry and cavalry, with whom you are to come to me at the first watch;

§21.54.3

nunc corpora curare tempus est.” ita praetorium missum. mox cum delectis Mago aderat. “robora virorum cerno” inquit Hannibal; “sed uti numero etiam, non animis modo valeatis, singuli vobis novenos² ex turmis manipulisque vestri similes eligite. Mago locum monstrabit, quem insideatis: hostem caecum ad has belli artes habetis.” ita mille equitibus, mille peditibus dimissis Hannibal prima luce Numidas equites transgressos Trebiam flumen obequitare iubet hostium portis iaculandoque in stationes elicere ad pugnam hostem, iniecto deinde certamine cedendo sensim citra flumen pertrahere.

now it is time to refresh your bodies.” Thus the council of war was dismissed. Soon Mago was present with the chosen men. ”I see the strength of the men,” said Hannibal; “but so that you may be strong in number also, not only in spirit, let each of you choose nine men like yourselves from your troops and maniples. Mago will show you the place which you are to occupy in ambush; you have an enemy blind to these arts of war.” Having thus sent off a thousand cavalry and a thousand infantry, Hannibal at dawn ordered the Numidian cavalry, having crossed the river Trebia, to ride up to the gates of the enemy, and by throwing javelins at the guards, to entice the enemy to battle, and then, once the fight was started, by retreating gradually, to draw them across to this side of the river.

§21.54.5

haec mandata Numidis; ceteris ducibus peditum equitumque praeceptum, ut prandere omnes iuberent, armatos deinde instratisque equis signum expectare.³

These instructions were given to the Numidians; the other commanders of the infantry and cavalry were ordered to command everyone to eat breakfast, and then, armed and with their horses saddled, to await the signal.

§21.54.6

Sempronius ad tumultum Numidarum primum omnem equitatum, ferox ea parte virium, deinde sex milia peditum, postremo omnes copias ab destinato iam ante consilio avidus certaminis eduxit.

Sempronius, at the uproar of the Numidians, led out first all the cavalry, being confident in that arm of his forces, then six thousand infantry, and finally all his troops, eager for battle, in accordance with a plan already determined beforehand.

§21.54.7

erat forte brumae tempus et nivalis dies in locis Alpibus Appenninoque interiectis, propinquitate etiam fluminum ac paludum praegelidis.

It happened to be the winter solstice and a snowy day in the places lying between the Alps and the Apennines, which were exceedingly cold also due to the proximity of rivers and marshes.

§21.54.8

ad hoc raptim eductis hominibus atque equis, non capto ante cibo, non ope ulla ad arcendum frigus adhibita, nihil caloris inerat, et quidquid⁴ aurae fluminis adpropinquabant, adflabat acrior frigoris vis.

Moreover, as the men and horses had been led out in haste, without having first taken food, and without any means being used to keep out the cold, there was no warmth in them, and the closer they approached the cold air of the river, the more sharply did the force of the cold blow upon them.

§21.54.9

ut vero refugientes Numidas insequentes aquam ingressi sunt — et erat pectoribus tenus aucta nocturno imbri —, tum utique egressis rigere omnibus corpora, ut vix armorum tenendorum potentia esset, et simul lassitudine et procedente iam die fame etiam deficere.⁵

But when, pursuing the fleeing Numidians, they entered the water—and it was swollen up to their chests by the night’s rain—then indeed, when they had come out, the bodies of all were so stiff with cold that they had scarcely the power to hold their weapons, and at the same time they were failing from fatigue and, as the day advanced, also from hunger.

Syntax notes5 items

21.54.1tegendo
Dative of the gerund, expressing purpose or suitability ("for concealing") and modifying the adjective latebrosum.
21.54.3novenos
A distributive numeral ("nine each"), meaning that each (singuli) of the 200 originally selected men was to choose nine others. This made groups of ten (one leader plus nine men), resulting in a total of 1000 infantry and 1000 cavalry (2000 in total).
21.54.5expectare
Infinitive depending on the preceding subjunctive iuberent ("should order"). Its subject accusative is the preceding omnes, which agrees with the accusative plural armatos. instratis equis is an ablative absolute.
21.54.8quidquid
Used adverbially to express degree ("the more / the closer", equivalent to quo magis). adpropinquabant (whose implied subject is the Roman men and horses) governs the dative aurae.
21.54.9rigere ... deficere
Historical infinitives functioning as main verbs with subjects in the nominative. egressis is a dative of reference ("for those who had come out of the river").

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:21.54.1-21.54.9