- 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-lat2:25.8.1-25.8.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Philemenus and other Tarentine youths contact Hannibal to make a secret treaty, and by repeatedly passing through the gates at night under the pretext of hunting, they disarm the guards' suspicion and prepare for the betrayal.
huius atrocitas poenae duarum nobilissimarum in Italia Graecarum civitatium animos inritavit cum publice tum etiam singulos1 privatim, ut quisque2 tam foede interemptos aut propinquitate aut amicitia contingebat.
The atrocity of this punishment provoked the feelings of two of the most noble Greek states in Italy, both publicly as communities and also individually as private citizens, according as each person was connected either by kinship or by friendship with those who had been so foully slain.
ex iis tredecim fere nobiles iuvenes Tarentini coniuraverunt, quorum principes Nico et Philemenus erant. hi priusquam aliquid moverent, conloquendum cum Hannibale rati, nocte per speciem venandi urbe egressi ad eum proficiscuntur.
Among these, about thirteen noble Tarentine youths formed a conspiracy, of whom the leaders were Nico and Philemenus. These, before they should make any move, thinking that they must confer with Hannibal, went out of the city by night under the pretext of hunting and set out to him.
et cum haud procul castris abessent, ceteri silva prope viam sese occuluerunt, Nico et Philemenus progressi ad stationes comprehensique, ultro id petentes, ad Hannibalem deducti sunt.
And when they were not far from the camp, the others hid themselves in a wood near the road, while Nico and Philemenus, having advanced to the outposts and been arrested—since they themselves voluntarily requested this—were conducted to Hannibal.
qui cum et causas consilii sui et, quid pararent, exposuissent, conlaudati oneratique promissis iubentur,3 ut fidem popularibus facerent praedandi causa se urbe egressos, pecora Carthaginiensium, quae pastum propulsa essent, ad urbem agere:
When they had explained both the reasons for their plan and what they were preparing, they were praised and laden with promises, and were ordered to drive to the city the cattle of the Carthaginians which had been driven out to pasture, in order to convince their fellow citizens that they had left the city for the purpose of plundering.
tuto ac sine certamine id facturos promissum est. conspecta ea praeda iuvenum est, minusque iterum ac saepius id eos audere miraculo fuit.
It was promised that they would do this safely and without a fight. That booty of the youths was seen, and it was less of a wonder that they dared to repeat this a second time and more often.
congressi cum Hannibale rursus fide sanxerunt liberos Tarentinos leges suas suaque omnia habituros neque ullum vectigal Poeno pensuros praesidiumve invitos recepturos; prodito praesidio hospitia Romana praedam Carthaginiensium fore.
Having met with Hannibal again, they ratified by a pledge that the Tarentines should be free, possessing their own laws and all their own property, and should pay no tribute to the Carthaginian, nor receive a garrison against their will; and that, once the garrison was betrayed, the Roman quarters should be the booty of the Carthaginians.
haec ubi convenerunt, tunc vero Philemenus consuetudinem nocte egrediundi redeundique in urbem frequentiorem facere.4 et erat venandi studio insignis, canesque et alius apparatus sequebatur;
When these terms were agreed upon, then indeed Philemenus began to make more frequent his habit of going out and returning to the city at night. And he was remarkable for his passion for hunting, and dogs and other equipment accompanied him;
captumque ferme aliquid aut ab hoste ex praeparato adlatum reportans donabat aut praefecto aut custodibus portarum. nocte maxime commeare propter metum hostium credebant.
and bringing back generally something caught or brought by prearrangement from the enemy, he would present it either to the commander or to the guards of the gates. They believed that he went back and forth chiefly at night on account of fear of the enemy.
ubi iam eo consuetudinis5 adducta res est, ut, quocumque noctis tempore sibilo dedisset signum, porta aperiretur, tempus agendae rei Hannibali visum est.
When the matter had now been brought to such a point of habit that at whatever time of night he gave the signal with a whistle, the gate would be opened, the time for executing the deed seemed ripe to Hannibal.
tridui viam aberat; ubi, quo minus mirum esset6 uno eodemque loco stativa eum tam diu habere, aegrum simulabat.
He was three days’ journey away; there, in order that it might be less surprising that he kept a stationary camp in one and the same place for so long, he pretended to be sick.
Romanis quoque, qui in praesidio Tarenti erant, suspecta esse iam segnis mora eius desierat.
For the Romans also, who were in the garrison of Tarentum, his inactive delay had already ceased to be suspected.
- 25.8.1singulos
The masculine accusative plural singulos is an agreement by sense (constructio ad sensum), referring to the individual citizens (cives, masculine) of the states (civitates, feminine). It stands in contrast with publice ("as communities / collectively"), balanced by singulos privatim ("as individuals privately").
- 25.8.2ut quisque
The conjunction ut followed by the imperfect indicative contingebat expresses a proportional relationship ("according as each...").
- 25.8.6iubentur
The main verb iubentur ("they are ordered") takes the infinitive agere ("to drive") as its direct complement. The intervening clause ut fidem popularibus facerent is a purpose clause ("in order that they might make their fellow citizens believe..."), which in turn governs the accusative and infinitive construction se urbe egressos [esse].
- 25.8.9facere
A historical infinitive, functioning as a main verb with the subject Philemenus in the sense of an imperfect indicative ("began to make" or "was making").
- 25.8.11eo consuetudinis
The genitive consuetudinis ("of habit") is a partitive genitive dependent on the adverb of degree eo ("to that point/degree"), meaning "to such a point of habit."
- 25.8.12quo minus mirum esset
The conjunction quo is used instead of ut to introduce the purpose clause because of the comparative minus. The accusative with infinitive clause eum... habere serves as the subject of mirum esset.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 2