- 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-lat2:22.8.1-22.8.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
News of another defeat, the surrounding of Centenius' cavalry by Hannibal, reaches Rome and causes deep anxiety. In this crisis, the state resorts to the exceptional popular election of Fabius Maximus as dictator to fortify the city and prepare for defense.
priusquam satis certa consilia essent, repens alia nuntiatur clades, quattuor milia equitum cum C. Centenio propraetore missa ad collegam ab Servilio consule in Umbria, quo post pugnam ad Trasumennum auditam averterant iter, ab Hannibale circumventa.1 eius rei fama varie homines affecit:
Before sufficiently certain plans could be formed, another sudden defeat was reported: that four thousand cavalry, sent under the propraetor Gaius Centenius to his colleague by the consul Servilius into Umbria, to which they had turned their course after hearing of the battle at Trasumennus, had been surrounded by Hannibal. The news of this event affected people in various ways.
pars occupatis maiore aegritudine animis levem ex comparatione priorum ducere recentem equitum iacturam;
One part, their minds being occupied with a greater sorrow, considered the recent loss of the cavalry light in comparison with the previous defeats;
pars non id, quod acciderat, per se aestimare, sed, ut in affecto corpore quamvis levis causa magis quam in valido gravior sentiretur, ita tum aegrae et adfectae civitati quodcumque adversi incideret, non rerum magnitudine sed viribus extenuatis, quae nihil, quod adgrauaret pati possent, aestimandum esse.2
another part did not estimate what had happened by itself, but, just as in an afflicted body any cause, however slight, is felt more than a heavier one in a healthy body, so they thought that for the city, then sick and afflicted, whatever adversity befell must be estimated not by the magnitude of the event, but by its exhausted strength, which could bear nothing that would add to its burden.
itaque ad remedium iam diu neque desideratum nec adhibitum, dictatorem dicendum, civitas confugit. et quia et consul aberat a quo uno dici posse videbatur, nec per occupatam armis Punicis Italiam facile erat aut nuntium aut litteras mitti, quod numquam ante eam diem factum erat, dictatorem populus creavit Q. Fabium Maximum et magistrum equitum M. Minucium Rufum;
Therefore the state resorted to a remedy now for a long time neither desired nor employed, the appointment of a dictator. And because both the consul was absent, by whom alone it was seen that one could be appointed, and it was not easy for either a messenger or letters to be sent through an Italy occupied by Punic arms, what had never been done before that day, the people created Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator, and Marcus Minucius Rufus master of the horse;
iisque negotium ab senatu datum, ut muros turresque urbis firmarent et praesidia disponerent, quibus locis videretur, pontesque rescinderent fluminum: pro urbe ac penatibus dimicandum esse, quando Italiam tueri nequissent.3
and to them the task was assigned by the senate that they should strengthen the walls and towers of the city, and dispose guards in whatever places seemed fit, and break down the bridges of the rivers: they must fight for the city and their household gods, since they had been unable to defend Italy.
- 22.8.1quattuor milia equitum ... circumventa
The perfect participle circumventa is in the neuter plural, agreeing with the neuter plural numeral noun quattuor milia, which functions as the subject of the infinitive clause dependent on nuntiatur (with esse understood). Although equitum is masculine plural, the grammatical agreement is strictly with milia.
- 22.8.4aestimandum esse
This is an infinitive of the gerundive (aestimandum esse), depending on the indirect discourse structure initiated by the historical infinitives ducere and aestimare in the preceding sentences. It functions impersonally with the clause quodcumque adversi incideret as its virtual subject. The dative civitati can be construed either as a dative of reference or as a dative of agent with the gerundive.
- 22.8.7quando Italiam tueri nequissent
The verb nequissent in the clause introduced by the causal conjunction quando is in the pluperfect subjunctive because the entire statement is in indirect discourse (suboblique clause), representing the thoughts or words of the senate linked to the gerundive of obligation dimicandum esse ('that they must fight').
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1