- 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-lat2:30.35.1-30.35.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
The Roman cavalry returns to assault the Carthaginian rear, securing a decisive victory at the Battle of Zama. Hannibal escapes to Hadrumetum and then to Carthage, where he admits the defeat of the war and the necessity of peace.
in tempore Laelius ac Masinissa, pulsos per aliquantum spatii secuti equites, revertentes1 in aversam hostium aciem incurrere. is demum equitum impetus perculit hostem.
In good time, Laelius and Masinissa, having pursued the routed cavalry for some distance, returned and charged into the rear of the enemy’s battle-line. This charge of the cavalry at last broke the enemy.
multi circumventi in acie caesi; multi per patentem circa campum fuga sparsi tenente omnia equitatu passim interierunt.
Many, surrounded in the line, were slain; many, scattered in flight through the open plain around, perished here and there, since the cavalry held every part.
Carthaginiensium sociorumque caesa eo die supra viginti milia; par ferme numerus captus cum signis militaribus centum triginta duobus, elephantis undecim. victores ad mille et quingentos cecidere.
Of the Carthaginians and their allies, more than twenty thousand were slain on that day; an almost equal number was captured, along with one hundred and thirty-two military standards and eleven elephants. The victors lost about fifteen hundred men.
Hannibal cum paucis equitibus inter tumultum elapsus Hadrumetum perfugit, omnia et integro proelio et inclinante acie, priusquam excederet pugna, expertus et confessione etiam Scipionis omniumque peritorum militiae illam laudem adeptus, singulari arte aciem eo die instruxisse:2
Hannibal, having escaped with a few horsemen during the confusion, fled to Hadrumetum, having tried every resource both when the battle was undecided and when the line was wavering, before he left the field, and having won, even by the admission of Scipio and of all those skilled in military affairs, the praise of having drawn up his line on that day with singular skill:
elephantos in prima fronte, quorum fortuitus impetus atque intolerabilis vis signa sequi et servare ordines, in quo plurimum spei ponerent,3 Romanos prohiberent;
the elephants on the front line, whose sudden charge and irresistible force might prevent the Romans from following their standards and keeping their ranks, in which they placed the greatest part of their hope;
deinde auxiliares ante Carthaginiensium aciem, ne homines mixti ex conluuione omnium gentium, quos non fides teneret, sed merces, liberum receptum fugae haberent, simul primum ardorem atque impetum hostium excipientes fatigarent ac, si nihil aliud, vulneribus suis ferrum hostile hebetarent;
then the auxiliaries in front of the Carthaginian line, so that men mixed from the refuse of all nations, who were held not by loyalty but by pay, might not have a free retreat for flight, while at the same time they might receive and tire out the first ardour and charge of the enemy, and, if nothing else, blunt the enemy’s swords with their wounds;
tum, ubi omnis spes esset, milites Carthaginienses Afrosque, ut, omnibus rebus aliis pares, eo, quod integri cum fessis ac sauciis pugnarent, superiores essent; Italicos intervallo quoque diremptos, incertos, socii an hostes essent,4 in postremam aciem summotos.
then, where all hope lay, the Carthaginian and African soldiers, so that, being equal in all other respects, they might be superior in this, that they, being fresh, would fight against those who were tired and wounded; the Italians, also separated by an interval (since it was uncertain whether they were allies or enemies), were removed to the rear line.
hoc edito velut ultimo virtutis opere Hannibal cum Hadrumetum refugisset, accitusque inde Carthaginem sexto ac tricesimo post anno, quam puer inde profectus erat,5 redisset, fassus in curia est non proelio modo se sed bello victum, nec spem salutis alibi quam in pace impetranda esse.
When Hannibal, after performing this as if it were his last work of valour, had fled to Hadrumetum, and being summoned from there to Carthage, had returned in the thirty-sixth year after he had departed from there as a boy, he admitted in the senate-house that he had been conquered not only in a battle but in the war, and that there was no hope of safety anywhere else than in obtaining peace.
- 30.35.1revertentes
A nominative plural present participle modifying the subject Laelius ac Masinissa. In the preceding phrase, equites functions as the direct object (pulsos equites, the routed enemy cavalry) of the deponent participle secuti, indicating that those who returned from the pursuit were the Roman commanders.
- 30.35.5singulari arte aciem eo die instruxisse
A perfect infinitive acting either in apposition to explain the content of the praise (laudem) or in indirect discourse (A.C.I.) with the omitted subject accusative eum. This infinitive introduces the sequence of A.C.I. constructions detailing Hannibal's tactical formations in sections 30.35.6 to 30.35.9.
- 30.35.6in quo plurimum spei ponerent
The relative pronoun quo is neuter singular because its antecedent is not a single word but the entire preceding verbal phrase signa sequi et servare ordines. Spei is a partitive genitive dependent on plurimum.
- 30.35.9incertos, socii an hostes essent
The accusative plural adjective incertos modifies the preceding Italicos. The clause socii an hostes essent is a double indirect question dependent on incertos, taking the subjunctive imperfect essent according to the sequence of tenses.
- 30.35.10sexto ac tricesimo post anno, quam puer inde profectus erat
A tmesis of the temporal conjunction postquam ("after"), operating in correlation with the ablative of measure of time sexto ac tricesimo anno to express the temporal interval.