- 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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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:25.13.1-25.13.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
In response to the famine in Capua, the Carthaginian general Hanno collects grain, but transport is delayed due to the Campanians' negligence. Exploiting this opportunity, the Roman consul Fulvius launches a surprise attack on the Carthaginian camp, sparking a fierce battle at dawn.
cum Hannibal circa Tarentum, consules ambo in Samnio essent, sed circumsessuri Capuam viderentur, quod malum diuturnae obsidionis esse solet, iam famem Campani sentiebant, quia sementem facere prohibuerant eos Romani exercitus.
While Hannibal was around Tarentum and both consuls were in Samnium, though they seemed about to besiege Capua, the Campanians were already feeling the famine, an evil which is customary in a long siege, because the Roman armies had prevented them from sowing.
itaque legatos ad Hannibalem miserunt orantes, ut, priusquam consules in agros suos educerent legiones, viaeque omnes hostium praesidiis insiderentur, frumentum ex propinquis locis convehi iuberet Capuam.
Therefore, they sent envoys to Hannibal, entreating him that, before the consuls should lead their legions into their territory and all the roads should be occupied by the enemy’s garrisons, he would order grain to be conveyed to Capua from the neighboring districts.
Hannibal Hannonem ex Bruttiis cum exercitu in Campaniam transire et dare operam, ut frumenti copia fieret Campanis, iussit.
Hannibal ordered Hanno to cross from the Bruttian territory into Campania with his army, and to take care that an abundance of grain should be provided for the Campanians.
Hanno ex Bruttiis profectus cum exercitu vitabundus1 castra hostium consulesque, qui in Samnio erant, cum Benevento iam adpropinquaret, tria milia passuum ab ipsa urbe loco edito castra posuit;
Hanno, having set out from the Bruttian territory with his army, avoiding the enemy’s camp and the consuls who were in Samnium, when he was already approaching Beneventum, pitched his camp on an elevated spot three miles from the city itself.
inde ex sociis circa populis, quo2 aestate comportatum erat, devehi frumentum in castra iussit praesidiis datis, quae commeatus eos prosequerentur.
Thence he ordered grain to be conveyed into his camp from the surrounding allied peoples, where it had been collected during the summer, having provided guards to escort those supplies.
Capuam inde nuntium misit, qua die in castris ad accipiendum frumentum praesto essent omni undique genere vehiculorum iumentorumque ex agris contracto.
He then sent a messenger to Capua, stating on what day they should be ready at the camp to receive the grain, having collected from the fields every kind of vehicle and beast of burden from all sides.
id pro cetera socordia neglegentiaque a Campanis actum: paulo plus quadringenta vehicula missa et pauca praeterea iumenta. ob id castigatis ab Hannone, quod ne fames quidem, quae mutas accenderet bestias,3 curam eorum stimulare posset, alia prodicta dies ad frumentum maiore apparatu petendum.
This matter was conducted by the Campanians with their usual sluggishness and negligence; a little more than four hundred vehicles were sent, and few beasts of burden besides. Having been chastised by Hanno for this, because not even hunger, which would rouse dumb beasts, could stimulate their care, another day was appointed for seeking the grain with a larger preparation.
ea omnia, sicut acta erant, cum enuntiata Beneventanis essent, legatos decem extemplo ad consules — circa Bovianum castra Romanorum erant — miserunt.
When all these things, just as they had occurred, were reported to the people of Beneventum, they immediately sent ten envoys to the consuls — the Roman camp was around Bovianum.
qui cum auditis quae ad Capuam agerentur, inter se comparassent, ut alter in Campaniam exercitum duceret, Fulvius, cui ea provincia obvenerat, profectus nocte Beneventi moenia est ingressus.
When they, having heard what was being done at Capua, had arranged between themselves that one of them should lead an army into Campania, Fulvius, to whom that province had fallen, set out by night and entered the walls of Beneventum.
ex propinquo cognoscit Hannonem cum exercitus parte profectum frumentatum; per quaestorem Campanis datum frumentum; duo milia plaustrorum, inconditam inermemque aliam turbam advenisse; per tumultum ac trepidationem omnia agi, castrorumque formam et militarem ordinem inmixtis agrestibus et servis sublatum.
From nearby, he learned that Hanno had set out with a part of his army to forage; that the grain was being distributed to the Campanians by the quaestor; that two thousand wagons and another disorderly, unarmed crowd had arrived; that everything was being done in tumult and trepidation, and that the form of a camp and military order had been destroyed, because rustics and slaves were mixed in.
his satis compertis consul militibus edicit, signa tantum armaque in proximam noctem expedirent: castra Punica oppugnanda esse.
Having sufficiently ascertained these facts, the consul ordered his soldiers to get ready only their standards and arms for the coming night: that the Punic camp must be attacked.
quarta vigilia profecti sarcinis omnibus impedimentisque Beneventi relictis paulo ante lucem cum ad castra pervenissent, tantum pavoris iniecerunt, ut, si in plano castra posita essent, haud dubie primo impetu capi potuerint.4
Setting out at the fourth watch, leaving all their baggage and impediments at Beneventum, when they had arrived at the camp shortly before dawn, they struck such panic that, if the camp had been situated on flat ground, it could undoubtedly have been taken at the first assault.
altitudo loci et munimenta defenderunt, quae nulla ex parte adiri nisi arduo ac difficili ascensu poterant.
The height of the place and the fortifications defended them, which could be approached from no direction except by a steep and difficult ascent.
luce prima proelium ingens accensum est. nec vallum modo tutantur Poeni, sed, ut quibus locus aequior esset, deturbant nitentis per ardua hostes.
At dawn, a huge battle was kindled. The Carthaginians did not only defend their rampart, but, as they had the advantage of the ground, they threw down the enemy as they strove up the steep ascent.
- 25.13.4vitabundus
Adjectives with the suffix -bundus often assume a participle-like character. In classical Latin, particularly in historians like Livy, they can govern a direct accusative (here, castra hostium consulesque) as their object.
- 25.13.5quo
A relative adverb meaning 'whither' or 'to which place.' It refers back to the preceding phrase ex sociis circa populis as the physical location where the grain had been brought, meaning 'from the surrounding allied peoples, to whose territory [the grain] had been conveyed during the summer.'
- 25.13.7quae mutas accenderet bestias
A clause with the subjunctive (accenderet, imperfect) introduced by the relative pronoun quae. This is a relative clause of characteristic, imparting the nuance of 'such hunger as would rouse even dumb beasts.'
- 25.13.12capi potuerint
The apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (si in plano castra posita essent) embedded within a consecutive ut clause (ut... capi potuerint). While the independent apodosis would typically require the pluperfect subjunctive potuissent (or indicative potuerunt), it becomes the perfect subjunctive potuerint due to the result clause. This is a characteristic usage in Livy.