- 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
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.29.1-22.29.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
With the prompt assistance of Fabius, Minucius's endangered army is rescued, forcing Hannibal to sound the retreat. Acknowledging his error, Minucius proposes to his soldiers that they should join Fabius's camp and look up to him as their father and protector.
tum Fabius primo clamore paventium audito, dein conspecta procul turbata acie “ita est,” inquit “celerius quam timui deprendit fortuna temeritatem.
Then Fabius, having first heard the cry of those in panic, and then having seen from afar the troubled battle line, said, “So it is; fortune has caught rashness more quickly than I feared.
Fabio aequatus imperio1 Hannibalem et virtute et fortuna superiorem videt. sed aliud iurgandi suscensendique tempus erit; nunc signa extra vallum proferte: victoriam hosti extorqueamus, confessionem erroris civibus.”2
He who was made equal in command to Fabius sees Hannibal superior both in valor and in fortune. But there will be another time for chiding and being angry; now bring the standards forth outside the rampart: let us wrest victory from the enemy, and a confession of error from our fellow-citizens.”
iam magna ex parte caesis aliis, aliis circumspectantibus fugam Fabiana se acies repente velut caelo demissa ad auxilium ostendit.
When already some had been slain for the most part, and others were looking around for flight, the Fabians’ line of battle suddenly showed itself for assistance, as if sent down from heaven.
itaque priusquam ad coniectum teli veniret aut manum consereret, et suos a fuga effusa et ab nimis feroci pugna hostis continuit.3 qui solutis ordinibus vage dissipati erant, undique confugerunt ad integram aciem; qui plures simul terga dederant, conversi in hostem volventesque orbem nunc sensim referre pedem, nunc conglobati restare.4 ac iam prope una acies facta erat victi atque integri exercitus inferebantque signa in hostem, cum Poenus receptui cecinit, palam ferente Hannibale ab se Minucium, se ab Fabio victum.5
Therefore, before it came within throw of a missile or joined hand-to-hand fight, it both restrained its own men from headlong flight and the enemy from too fierce a fight. Those who, their ranks broken, had been scattered far and wide, fled from all sides to the untouched line; those who in larger numbers together had turned their backs, having turned against the enemy and forming a circle, now retreated step by step, now stood their ground in a mass. And now almost one single battle line had been formed of the defeated and the untouched army, and they were bearing the standards against the enemy, when the Carthaginian sounded the retreat, Hannibal openly declaring that Minucius had been beaten by him, but he himself by Fabius.
ita per variam fortunam diei maiore parte exacta cum in castra reditum esset, Minucius convocatis militibus “saepe ego” inquit “audivi, milites, eum primum esse virum, qui ipse consulat, quid in rem sit, secundum eum, qui bene monenti oboediat;6 qui nec ipse consulere nec alteri parere sciat, eum extremi ingenii esse.
Thus, the greater part of the day having been spent in varying fortune, when they had returned to the camp, Minucius, having called the soldiers together, said: “I have often heard, soldiers, that he is the first-rate man who himself determines what is advantageous; he is second-rate who obeys one who advises well; but he who knows neither how to determine for himself nor how to obey another, is of the lowest intellect.
nobis quoniam prima animi ingeniique negata sors est, secundam ac mediam teneamus et, dum imperare discimus, parere prudenti in animum inducamus.
Since the first lot of mind and intellect has been denied to us, let us hold the second and middle one, and, while we learn to command, let us resolve in our mind to obey the prudent man.
castra cum Fabio iungamus: ad praetorium eius signa cum tulerimus, ubi ego eum parentem appellavero, quod beneficio eius erga nos ac maiestate eius dignum est, vos, milites, eos, quorum vos modo arma ac dexterae texerunt, patronos salutabitis, et, si nihil aliud, gratorum certe nobis animorum gloriam dies hic dederit.”
Let us join our camp with Fabius: when we have carried our standards to his headquarters, where I shall address him as parent—which is worthy of his benefit toward us and of his dignity— you, soldiers, shall salute as patrons those whose arms and right hands just now protected you, and, if nothing else, this day will surely have given us the glory of grateful minds.”
- 22.29.2Fabio aequatus imperio
"Fabio" is a dative depending on "aequatus", and "imperio" is an ablative of respect. It refers to Minucius as "he who was made equal in command to Fabius," implying an ironic contrast to his current helplessness.
- 22.29.2victoriam hosti extorqueamus, confessionem erroris civibus
"hosti" and "civibus" are datives of separation (or disadvantage) with the verb "extorqueamus" (present subjunctive of hortatory). The parallel structure means "let us wrest victory from the enemy, [and] a confession of error from our citizens."
- 22.29.4et suos a fuga effusa et ab nimis feroci pugna hostis continuit
The correlative "et...et" means "both...and." The verb "continuit" (with the subject "Fabiana acies") takes two accusative objects: "suos" (his own men) and "hostis" (the enemy, archaic accusative plural for "hostes"). It means "it both restrained its own men from headlong flight and the enemy from too fierce a fight."
- 22.29.5nunc sensim referre pedem, nunc conglobati restare
The infinitives "referre" and "restare" are historical infinitives functioning as main verbs, with the subject being the plural noun continued from the relative clause "qui". This usage vividly describes past actions.
- 22.29.6palam ferente Hannibale ab se Minucium, se ab Fabio victum
"palam ferente Hannibale" is an ablative absolute. "ferente" (meaning "declaring" or "reporting") introduces an accusative with infinitive construction with the infinitive "esse" omitted: "[esse] victum." It contrasts "Minucium victum [esse] ab se" (that Minucius had been defeated by him) and "se victum [esse] ab Fabio" (that he himself had been defeated by Fabius).
- 22.29.8eum primum esse virum, qui ipse consulat... secundum eum, qui bene monenti oboediat
An accusative with infinitive construction ("eum... esse...") in indirect discourse dependent on the main verb "audivi." The verbs in the "qui" clauses ("consulat", "oboediat") are in the subjunctive mood (present) because they are subordinate clauses within indirect discourse.