- 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-lat2:21.58.1-21.58.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
With the first signs of spring, Hannibal begins his march into Etruria, but his army is struck by a violent storm and freezing cold while crossing the Apennines. Suffering severe casualties, they are forced to halt for two days.
haud longi inde temporis,1 dum intolerabilia frigora erant, quies militi data est;
After that, for only a short time, while the cold was unbearable, rest was given to the soldiers;
et ad prima ac dubia signa veris profectus ex hibernis in Etruriam ducit, eam quoque gentem, sicut Gallos Liguresque, aut vi aut voluntate adiuncturus.2
and at the first and doubtful signs of spring, having set out from winter quarters, he led his army into Etruria, intending to win over that nation also, just as he had the Gauls and Ligurians, either by force or of their own free will.
transeuntem Appenninum3 adeo atrox adorta tempestas est, ut Alpium prope foeditatem superaverit. vento mixtus imber cum ferretur in ipsa ora, primo, quia aut arma omittenda erant aut contra enitentes vertice intorti adfligebantur, constitere;
As he was crossing the Apennines, so fierce a storm assailed him that it almost surpassed the dreadfulness of the Alps. When the rain mixed with wind was driven straight into their faces, at first they halted, because either their arms had to be dropped, or, if they struggled against it, they were whirled around by the tempest and dashed to the ground;
dein, cum iam spiritum includeret nec reciprocare animam sineret, aversi a vento parumper consedere.
then, when it now took away their breath and did not allow them to draw air, they turned away from the wind and sat down for a short while.
tum vero ingenti sono caelum strepere et inter horrendos fragores micare ignes; capti auribus et oculis metu omnes torpere.4
Then indeed the heavens resounded with a mighty roar, and flashes of lightning gleamed amidst terrifying crashes; deprived of their hearing and sight, everyone was paralyzed with fear.
tandem effuso imbre, cum eo magis accensa vis venti esset, ipso illo, quo deprensi erant, loco castra ponere necessarium visum est.
At length, when the rain poured down and the force of the wind was thereby all the more excited, it seemed necessary to pitch camp on that very spot where they had been overtaken.
id vero laboris velut de integro initium fuit: nam nec explicare quicquam nec statuere poterant nec, quod statutum esset, manebat omnia perscindente vento et rapiente.
But this was, as it were, a fresh beginning of their labor; for they could neither unfold nor pitch anything, nor did what had been pitched remain standing, since the wind was tearing everything to pieces and sweeping it away.
et mox aqua levata vento cum super gelida montium iuga concreta esset, tantum nivosae grandinis deiecit,5 ut omnibus omissis procumberent homines tegminibus suis magis obruti quam tecti; tantaque vis frigoris insecuta est, ut ex illa miserabili hominum iumentorumque strage cum se quisque attollere ac levare vellet, diu nequiret, quia torpentibus rigore nervis vix flectere artus poterant.
And soon, when the water raised by the wind was frozen above the icy ridges of the mountains, it discharged such a quantity of snowy hail that, abandoning everything, the men fell prostrate, rather buried than protected by their own coverings; and so great a force of cold followed, that when anyone wished to raise and lift himself up from that miserable heap of men and beasts, for a long time he was unable, because, their muscles being numbed with the stiffening cold, they could scarcely bend their joints.
deinde, ut tandem agitando sese6 movere ac recipere animos et raris locis ignis fieri est coeptus, ad alienam opem quisque inops tendere.
Afterwards, when at length by shaking themselves they began to move and recover their spirits, and fires began to be made in a few places, each helpless man stretched out his hands toward the help of others.
biduum eo loco velut obsessi mansere. multi homines, multa iumenta, elephanti quoque ex iis, qui proelio ad Trebiam facto superfuerant, septem absumpti.
For two days they remained in that place as if besieged. Many men, many beasts of burden, and also seven of the elephants that had survived the battle at the Trebia, perished.
- 21.58.1haud longi inde temporis
A genitive of quality or description modifying the noun 'quies', or a genitive of time, functioning adverbially to express duration: 'for no long time thereafter'.
- 21.58.2adiuncturus
The future active participle indicating the intention or purpose of the subject (Hannibal): 'intending to win over' or 'with the purpose of joining'.
- 21.58.3transeuntem Appenninum
The present participle 'transeuntem' is in the accusative case, modifying the implied direct object (eum, referring to Hannibal) of the main verb 'adorta est'. Thus: 'as he was crossing the Apennines (a storm assailed him)'.
- 21.58.5strepere ... micare ... torpere
These are historical infinitives, used instead of imperfect (or perfect) indicative verbs to present a rapid, vivid, and dramatic sequence of events in past time.
- 21.58.8deiecit
Used impersonally (or with 'tempestas' or the heavens understood as the subject), meaning 'it discharged' or 'poured down' a large quantity of hail.
- 21.58.10agitando sese
The ablative of the gerund 'agitando' takes the reflexive pronoun 'sese' as its direct object, meaning literally 'by shaking/stirring themselves' to restore circulation.