- 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-lat2:26.44.1-26.44.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Mago, the Carthaginian commander, disposes his forces and launches a sally, but Scipio's Roman army repels it with reinforcements and begins a general assault after noticing that the city walls are depleted of defenders.
* armaverat. cum terra marique instrui oppugnationem videret, et ipse copias ita disponit: oppidanorum duo milia ab ea parte, qua castra Romana erant, opponit, quingentis militibus arcem insidit, quingentos tumulo urbis in orientem verso inponit; multitudinem aliam, quo clamor, quo subita vocasset res, intentam ad omnia occurrere iubet.
[Mago] had armed [them]. When he saw that the siege was being prepared by land and sea, he himself also disposed his forces as follows: two thousand of the townsmen on that side where the Roman camp was, he posted; five hundred soldiers he stationed in the citadel, and five hundred he placed on the hill of the city turned toward the east; the rest of the multitude he ordered to run to assist at any point where a shout or a sudden emergency should call them, keeping alert to everything.
patefacta deinde porta eos, quos in via ferente ad castra hostium instruxerat, emittit. Romani duce ipso praecipiente parumper cessere, ut propiores subsidiis in certamine ipso summittendis1 essent.
Then, opening the gate, he sent out those whom he had drawn up in the street leading to the enemy’s camp. The Romans, at the command of their leader himself, fell back for a short time, so that they might be closer to the reserves to be sent forward in the battle itself.
et primo haud impares stetere acies; subsidia deinde identidem summissa e castris non averterunt solum in fugam hostis, sed adeo effusis institerunt, ut nisi receptui cecinisset,2 permixti fugientibus inrupturi fuisse in urbem viderentur.3
And at first the battle lines stood not unequal; then the reserves, repeatedly sent forward from the camp, not only turned the enemy to flight, but pressed upon them as they fled so in disorder that, if the signal for retreat had not been sounded, they seemed likely to have burst into the city along with the fugitives.
trepidatio vero non in proelio maior quam tota urbe fuit. multae stationes pavore atque fuga desertae sunt, relictique muri, cum, qua cuique erat proximum, desiluissent.
Indeed, the panic was no greater in the battle than throughout the whole city. Many guard posts were abandoned out of fear and flight, and the walls were left unguarded, since they had leaped down wherever was closest for each.
quod ubi egressus Scipio in tumulum, quem Mercuri vocant, animadvertit, multis partibus nudata defensoribus moenia esse, omnis e castris excitos ire ad oppugnandam urbem et ferre scalas iubet.
When Scipio, having gone up onto the hill which they call the Hill of Mercury, noticed this—that the walls were stripped of defenders in many parts—he ordered everyone summoned from the camp to go to assault the city and to carry ladders.
ipse trium prae se iuvenum validorum scutis oppositis — ingens enim iam vis omnis generis telorum e muris volabat — ad urbem succedit, hortatur, imperat quae in rem sunt, quodque plurimum ad accendendos militum animos intererat,4 testis spectatorque virtutis atque ignaviae cuiusque adest.
He himself, with the shields of three strong young men held before him—for already a huge force of all kinds of missiles was flying from the walls—advanced to the city, encouraged them, and gave such orders as the situation required; and, what was of the greatest importance for kindling the spirits of the soldiers, he was present as a witness and spectator of the courage and cowardice of each.
itaque in vulnera ac tela ruunt, neque illos muri neque superstantes armati arcere queunt, quin certatim ascendant.
And so they rushed into wounds and missiles, nor could either the walls or the armed men standing above keep them from climbing up in rivalry.
et ab navibus eodem tempore ea, quae mari adluitur, pars urbis oppugnari coepta est. ceterum tumultus inde maior quam vis adhibere poterat.5
At the same time, the part of the city washed by the sea began to be attacked from the ships. However, the confusion there was greater than the force they could apply.
dum adplicant, dum raptim exponunt scalas militesque, dum, qua cuique proximum est, in terram evadere properant, ipsa festinatione et certamine alii alios inpediunt.
While they were bringing the ships to land, while they were hurriedly landing the ladders and the soldiers, and while they were hastening to escape onto the land where it was closest for each, by their very haste and rivalry they hindered one another.
- 26.44.3subsidiis ... summittendis
Dative, dependent on the adjective propiores. It means 'so that they might be closer to the reserves to be sent forward in the battle.'
- 26.44.4nisi receptui cecinisset
Subjunctive pluperfect. The verb cecinisset is used impersonally with the dative receptui (for retreat), expressing the condition: 'if the signal for retreat had not been sounded.'
- 26.44.4inrupturi fuisse ... viderentur
Nominative with infinitive construction dependent on viderentur. The future infinitive inrupturi fuisse represents a past contrary-to-fact conditional apodosis in indirect discourse, meaning 'they seemed likely to have burst into.'
- 26.44.8quodque plurimum ... intererat
The relative pronoun quod refers to the fact of the following main clause (testis spectatorque ... adest 'his presence as a witness and spectator'), serving as an appositive parenthetical statement: 'and what was of the greatest importance.'
- 26.44.10tumultus inde maior quam vis adhibere poterat
vis (force) is the subject of adhibere poterat (meaning either what force could apply, or used actively in the sense of being applied). It indicates that the confusion (tumultus) caused by the attack from the ships was greater than the actual military force they could bring to bear.