- 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-lat2:23.45.1-23.45.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Marcellus encourages his soldiers by urging them to press hard on the Carthaginians, who have been weakened by the luxury of Capua, while Hannibal fiercely rebukes his own men by recalling their past victories and ordering them to storm Nola.
proelium erat anceps: summa vi et duces hortabantur et milites pugnabant. Marcellus victis ante diem tertium, fugatis ante paucos dies a Cumis, pulsis1 priore anno ab Nola ab eodem se duce, milite alio,2 instare iubet.
The battle was undecided; both the generals encouraged with their utmost strength and the soldiers fought. Marcellus ordered his men to press hard upon those who had been defeated three days before, put to flight from Cumae a few days before, and driven from Nola the previous year by himself as the same general, though with other soldiers.
non omnis esse in acie; praedantis vagari in agris; et qui pugnent, marcere Campana luxuria, vino et scortis omnibusque lustris per totam hiemem confectos.3
He said that not all of them were in the battle line; that those who were plundering were wandering in the fields; and that those who were fighting were sluggish, exhausted by Campanian luxury, wine, prostitutes, and all kinds of debauchery through the whole winter.
abisse illam vim vigoremque, dilapsa esse robora corporum animorumque, quibus Pyrenaei Alpiumque superata sint iuga. reliquias illorum virorum vix arma membraque sustinentis pugnare. Capuam Hannibali Cannas fuisse.
That strength and vigor, by which the peaks of the Pyrenees and the Alps had been overcome, had departed, and the robustness of their bodies and minds had melted away. It was only the remnants of those men, scarcely supporting their weapons and limbs, who were fighting. Capua had been a Cannae to Hannibal.
ibi virtutem bellicam, ibi militarem disciplinam, ibi praeteriti temporis famam, ibi spem futuri extinctam.
There their warlike valor, there their military discipline, there the glory of the past, there the hope of the future had been extinguished.
cum haec exprobrando hosti Marcellus suorum militum animos erigeret, Hannibal multo gravioribus probris increpabat:
While Marcellus was raising the spirits of his soldiers by thus reproaching the enemy, Hannibal was chiding his own men with much more severe reproaches:
arma signaque eadem se noscere, quae ad Trebiam Trasumennumque, postremo ad Cannas viderit habueritque; militem alium profecto se in hiberna Capuam duxisse, alium inde eduxisse.
He recognized the same weapons and standards which he had seen and possessed at the Trebia, at Trasumennus, and lastly at Cannae; but the soldiers he had led into winter quarters at Capua were surely different from those he had led out of there.
“legatumne Romanum et legionis unius atque alae magno certamine vix toleratis pugnam, quos binae acies consulares numquam sustinuerunt?4
“Are you, whom two consular armies could never withstand, now scarcely enduring in a great struggle the battle of a Roman lieutenant and of a single legion and an ala?
Marcellus tirone milite ac Nolanis subsidiis inultus nos iam iterum lacessit? ubi ille miles meus est, qui derepto ex equo C. Flaminio consuli caput abstulit? ubi, qui L. Paulum ad Cannas occidit?
Is Marcellus, with raw soldiers and Nolan reserves, now provoking us a second time with impunity? Where is that soldier of mine who, having dragged the consul Gaius Flaminius from his horse, cut off his head? Where is he who slew Lucius Paulus at Cannae?
ferrum nunc hebet? an dextrae torpent? an quid prodigii est aliud? qui pauci plures vincere soliti estis, nunc paucis plures vix restatis?5 Romam vos expugnaturos, si quis duceret, fortes lingua iactabatis;
Is your iron now blunt? Or are your right hands numb? Or is there some other prodigy? You who, being few, were accustomed to conquer many, do you now, being many, scarcely withstand a few? You used to boast, brave in tongue, that you would storm Rome if anyone would lead you.
en in minore re experiri vim virtutemque volo: expugnate Nolam, campestrem urbem, non flumine, non mari saeptam. hinc vos ex tam opulenta urbe praeda spoliisque onustos vel ducam, quo voletis, vel sequar.”
Behold, I wish to test your strength and valor in a smaller matter: storm Nola, a city in a plain, enclosed neither by river nor by sea. From here, loaded with booty and spoils from so rich a city, I will either lead you wherever you wish, or I will follow you.”
- 23.45.1victis... fugatis... pulsis
Datives governed by the verb 'instare' (to press upon). These participles modify an omitted 'hostibus' (the enemy), each phrase describing the enemy's past defeats by Marcellus.
- 23.45.1ab eodem se duce, milite alio
Ablative of attendant circumstance (or ablative absolute). 'se' refers to Marcellus himself as commander, contrasted with 'milite alio'. It indicates that the general is the same, but the soldiers are different.
- 23.45.2qui pugnent, marcere... confectos
Infinitive construction in indirect speech. The subject accusative of 'marcere' (to droop/wither) is an omitted pronoun 'eos' as the antecedent of 'qui pugnent', which is modified by 'confectos'.
- 23.45.7quos binae acies consulares numquam sustinuerunt
The relative pronoun 'quos' (accusative plural) refers to the subject of the main clause ('you', the subject of 'toleratis') as its antecedent, acting as the direct object of 'sustinuerunt' in the relative clause. It means 'you, whom even two consular armies could never withstand'.
- 23.45.9paucis plures vix restatis
An expression using contrast. 'paucis' (against a few) is the dative governed by the verb 'restatis' (to withstand/resist), while 'plures' (being more numerous) is the nominative agreeing with the subject 'vos'. It highlights the reversal of their past situation where few conquered many.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1