- 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-lat2:31.33.1-31.33.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
King Philip and the Roman consul both make military preparations and send out cavalry for reconnaissance to discover the enemy's movements. The two scouting parties clash in a fierce but indecisive battle, and the location of the enemy's camp is ultimately revealed only through deserters.
Philippus impigre terra marique parabat bellum. navalis copias Demetriadem in Thessaliam contrahebat;
Philip was vigorously preparing for war by land and sea. He was concentrating his naval forces at Demetrias in Thessaly;
Attalum Romanamque classem principio veris ab Aegina ratus moturos, navibus maritumaeque orae praefecit Heraclidam, quem et ante praefecerat;
thinking that Attalus and the Roman fleet would move from Aegina at the beginning of spring, he put Heraclides, whom he had also appointed before, in command of the ships and the maritime coast;
ipse terrestris copias comparabat, magna se duo auxilia Romanis detraxisse credens, ex una parte Aetolos, ex altera Dardanos, faucibus ad Pelagoniam a filio Perseo interclusis.1
he himself was preparing land forces, believing that he had deprived the Romans of two great alliances: on one side the Aetolians, on the other the Dardanians, the passes to Pelagonia having been blocked by his son Perseus.
ab consule non parabatur, sed gerebatur iam bellum. per Dassaretiorum fines exercitum ducebat, frumentum, quod ex hibernis extulerat, integrum vehens, quod in usum militi satis esset praebentibus agris.
By the consul, war was not being prepared, but was already being waged. He was leading his army through the territory of the Dassaretii, carrying untouched the grain which he had brought out of winter quarters, since the fields supplied what was sufficient for the soldiers’ use.
oppida vicique partim voluntate, partim metu se tradebant; quaedam vi expugnata, quaedam deserta in montis propinquos refugientibus barbaris inveniebantur.
Towns and villages surrendered, partly voluntarily, partly through fear; some were taken by storm, some were found deserted, the barbarians fleeing into the neighboring mountains.
ad Lyncum stativa posuit prope flumen Bevum; inde frumentatum circa horrea Dassaretiorum mittebat. Philippus consternata quidem omnia circa pavoremque ingentem hominum cernebat, sed parum gnarus, quam partem petisset consul, alam equitum ad explorandum, quonam hostes iter intendissent, misit.
He established a permanent camp near Lyncus close to the river Bevus; from there he sent men to forage around the granaries of the Dassaretii. Philip, indeed, saw that everything around was in consternation and that there was huge panic among the people, but being little aware which direction the consul had taken, he sent a troop of cavalry to reconnoiter where the enemy had directed their march.
idem error apud consulem erat; movisse ex hibernis regem sciebat, quam regionem petisset, ignorans.
The same error was present with the consul; he knew that the king had moved from winter quarters, but was ignorant of which region he had sought.
is quoque speculatum miserat equites. hae duae alae ex diverso, cum diu incertis itineribus vagatae per Dassaretios essent, tandem in unum iter convenerunt. neutros fefellit, ut fremitus procul hominum equorumque exauditus est, hostes appropinquare.2 itaque priusquam in conspectum venirent, equos armaque expedierant; nec mora, ubi primum hostem videre, concurrendi facta est.
He also had sent cavalry to spy. These two squadrons, starting from opposite directions, after they had wandered for a long time by uncertain paths through the Dassaretii, finally met on one road. It escaped neither side, as soon as the noise of men and horses was heard from afar, that the enemy was approaching. Therefore, before they came into sight, they had readied their horses and weapons; and there was no delay, as soon as they saw the enemy, in clashing.
forte et numero et virtute, utpote lecti utrimque, haud impares, aequis viribus per aliquot horas pugnarunt. fatigatio ipsorum equorumque incerta victoria diremit proelium.
By chance, being well-matched both in number and in courage, as chosen men on both sides, they fought with equal strength for several hours. The exhaustion of themselves and their horses broke off the battle, with victory undecided.
Macedonum quadraginta equites, Romanorum quinque et triginta ceciderunt. neque eo magis explorati quicquam, in qua regione castra hostium essent, aut illi ad regem aut hi ad consulem rettulerunt;
Forty cavalrymen of the Macedonians and thirty-five of the Romans fell. Nor did they report anything more definite as to which region the enemy’s camp was in, either those to the king or these to the consul;
per transfugas cognitum est, quos levitas ingeniorum ad cognoscendas hostium res in omnibus bellis praebet.3
it was learned through deserters, whom the fickleness of their dispositions offers in all wars for learning the enemy’s affairs.
- 31.33.3faucibus ad Pelagoniam a filio Perseo interclusis
An ablative absolute construction. The logical subject is 'faucibus' (passes) and the participle is 'interclusis' (blocked). It explains the reason why the 'Dardanos' (Dardanians) mentioned earlier could not send aid to the Romans.
- 31.33.8neutros fefellit... hostes appropinquare
A construction using 'fallit' (to escape notice, deceive) impersonally. The accusative with infinitive clause 'hostes appropinquare' (that the enemy was approaching) serves as the subject, while 'neutros' (neither side) is the object. Literally, 'it did not escape the notice of either side that the enemy was approaching,' meaning both sides realized it.
- 31.33.11quos levitas ingeniorum ad cognoscendas hostium res in omnibus bellis praebet
The relative pronoun 'quos' is accusative, taking the preceding 'transfugas' (deserters) as its antecedent. It functions as the direct object of 'praebet' (offers, presents), whose subject is 'levitas ingeniorum' (fickleness of dispositions). The phrase 'ad cognoscendas ... res' is a gerundive construction expressing purpose.