- 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-lat2:3.60.1-3.60.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Consul Valerius confronts the combined forces of the Aequi and Volsci on Mount Algidus, adopting a cautious strategy of delay. Taking advantage of the enemy dispersing their forces for plunder, he launches a successful surprise offensive against their unsettled ranks.
consules rebus urbanis conpositis fundatoque plebis statu in provincias diversi abiere. Valerius adversus coniunctos iam in Algido exercitus Aequorum Volscorumque sustinuit consilio bellum;
The consuls, having settled affairs in the city and established the status of the plebs, departed in different directions to their provinces. Valerius, against the forces of the Aequi and Volsci already united on Mount Algidus, sustained the war with caution;
quod si extemplo rem fortunae commisisset, haud scio an, qui tum animi ab decemvirorum infelicibus auspiciis Romanis hostibusque erant, magno detrimento certamen staturum fuerit.1 castris mille passuum ab hoste positis copias continebat.
for if he had immediately committed the issue to fortune, I do not know whether, given the spirits which then possessed both the Romans and their enemies from the unlucky auspices of the decemvirs, the contest would have ended with great detriment. Having pitched his camp a mile from the enemy, he kept his troops within it.
hostes medium inter bina castra spatium acie instructa conplebant, provocantibusque ad proelium responsum Romanus nemo reddebat.
The enemy filled the space between the two camps with their line of battle drawn up, and to those who provoked them to battle, not a single Roman returned an answer.
tandem fatigati stando ac nequiquam expectando certamen Aequi Volscique, postquam concessum propemodum de victoria2 credebant, pars in Hernicos, pars in Latinos praedatum abeunt; relinquitur magis castris praesidium quam satis virium ad certamen.
At length, weary of standing and waiting in vain for a contest, the Aequi and Volsci, after they believed that victory was almost conceded to them, departed, some into the territory of the Hernici, others into that of the Latins, to plunder; there was left in the camp rather a guard than a force sufficient for a contest.
quod ubi consul sensit, reddit inlatum antea terrorem instructaque acie ultro hostem lacessit. ubi illi conscientia, quid abesset virium,3 detractavere pugnam, crevit extemplo Romanis animus, et pro victis habebant paventes intra vallum.
When the consul perceived this, he returned the terror previously inflicted, and having drawn up his line of battle, voluntarily provoked the enemy. When they, from a consciousness of what force was wanting, declined the battle, the spirit of the Romans immediately rose, and they regarded those trembling within their rampart as already conquered.
cum per totum diem stetissent intenti ad certamen, nocti cessere. et Romani quidem pleni spei corpora curabant; haudquaquam pari hostes animo nuntios passim trepidi ad revocandos praedatores dimittunt. recurritur ex proximis locis; ulteriores non inventi.
Having stood all day intent on the contest, they retired for the night. And the Romans indeed, full of hope, took refreshment; the enemy, by no means in a similar state of mind, anxiously dispatched messengers in all directions to recall the plunderers. Those from the nearest places ran back; the more distant were not found.
ubi inluxit, egreditur castris Romanus vallum invasurus, ni copia pugnae fieret.4 et postquam multa iam dies erat neque movebatur quicquam ab hoste, iubet signa inferri consul; motaque acie indignatio Aequos et Volscos incessit, si victores exercitus vallum potius quam virtus et arma tegerent. igitur et ipsi efflagitatum ab ducibus signum pugnae accepere.
At dawn, the Roman marched out of the camp, intending to attack the rampart unless an opportunity for battle was offered. And after it was now late in the day and nothing was moved by the enemy, the consul ordered the standards to advance; and when the line of battle was moved, indignation seized the Aequi and Volsci, to think that a victorious army should be protected by a rampart rather than by courage and arms. Therefore, they too received the signal for battle, which they had eagerly demanded from their leaders.
iamque pars egressa portis erat, deincepsque alii servabant ordinem in suum quisque locum descendentes, cum consul Romanus, priusquam totis viribus fulta constaret hostium acies, intulit signa;
And now a part had gone out of the gates, and others in succession were keeping their order, descending each to his own place, when the Roman consul, before the enemy’s line of battle could stand supported by their whole strength, advanced his standards;
adortusque nec omnes dum eductos nec, qui erant, satis explicatis ordinibus, prope fluctuantem turbam trepidantium huc atque illuc circumspectantiumque se ac suos addito turbatis mentibus clamore atque impetu invadit.5
and having attacked them when not all were yet led out, and those who were had not sufficiently deployed their ranks, he invaded what was almost a fluctuating crowd of men trembling hither and thither and looking around at themselves and their comrades, adding a shout and a charge to their troubled minds.
rettulere primo pedem hostes; deinde, cum animos collegissent et undique duces, victisne cessuri essent, increparent, restituitur pugna.
At first, the enemy retreated; then, when they had collected their courage, and their leaders on all sides reproached them, asking if they were going to yield to the vanquished, the battle was restored.
- 3.60.2haud scio an ... staturum fuerit
The expression haud scio an indicates a tentative affirmation ('I rather think that...'). In the indirect question, the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional (which would originally be staturum fuisset) is expressed by the active future participle with fuerit (perfect subjunctive).
- 3.60.4concessum de victoria
An impersonal passive construction of an intransitive verb, meaning literally 'a concession was made concerning victory,' i.e., that victory had been conceded by the Romans.
- 3.60.5conscientia, quid abesset virium
conscientia is an ablative of cause. The clause quid abesset virium is an indirect question explanatory of conscientia, with virium functioning as a partitive genitive.
- 3.60.8vallum invasurus, ni copia pugnae fieret
The future participle invasurus expresses the purpose or intention of the main action, with the condition under which this purpose would be executed introduced by the ni ('unless') clause.
- 3.60.10adortusque ... invadit
The perfect participle adortus (with active meaning) takes nec omnes dum eductos... as its object, while the main verb invadit governs the direct object prope fluctuantem turbam... as its direct object.