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History of Rome

§31.40.1-31.40.10

Capture of Celetrum and Aetolian Mobilization

The Roman army overcomes the narrow passes, captures Celetrum and Pelium, and withdraws to Apollonia. Meanwhile, King Philip is distracted by multiple fronts, and the Aetolians, encouraged by Rome's success and other developments, rise in arms.

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§31.40.1

​ita angustiae minore certamine, quam quod1 animis proposuerant, superatae et in Eordaeam perventum, ubi pervastatis passim agris in Elimiam consul se recepit. inde impetum in Orestidem facit et oppidum Celetrum est adgressus in paene insula situm;

​Thus the narrow passes were overcome with less of a struggle than they had anticipated in their minds, and they arrived in Eordaea, where, after the fields had been thoroughly devastated everywhere, the consul withdrew into Elimia. From there he made an attack on Orestis and assaulted the town of Celetrum, situated on a peninsula;

§31.40.2

​lacus moenia cingit; angustis faucibus unum ex continenti iter est. primo situ ipso freti clausis portis abnuere imperium;

​a lake surrounds the walls; there is only one path from the mainland by a narrow neck. At first, relying on the location itself, having closed their gates, they refused to submit;

§31.40.3

​deinde, postquam signa ferri ac testudine succedi ad portam2 obsessasque fauces agmine hostium viderunt, priusquam experirentur certamen, metu in deditionem venerunt.

​then, after they saw the standards being advanced and the gate being approached under a testudo, and the neck being occupied by a column of enemies, before they tried a battle, they surrendered out of fear.

§31.40.4

​ab Celetro in Dassaretios processit urbemque Pelion vi cepit. servitia inde cum cetera praeda abduxit, ​libera capita sine pretio dimisit oppidumque iis reddidit praesidio valido imposito; nam et sita opportune urbs erat ad impetus in Macedoniam faciendos.

​From Celetrum he proceeded into the territory of the Dassaretii and took the city of Pelium by force. He carried off the slaves from there, along with the rest of the booty, ​but released the free persons without ransom and restored the town to them, after placing a strong garrison; for the city was opportunely situated for making incursions into Macedonia.

§31.40.6

​ita peragratis hostium agris consul in loca pacata ad Apolloniam, unde orsus bellum erat, copias reduxit.

​Thus, after traversing the enemy’s fields, the consul led back his forces to the pacified regions near Apollonia, from where he had begun the war.

§31.40.7

​Philippum averterant Aetoli et Athamanes et Dardani et tot bella repente alia ex aliis locis exorta.

​The Aetolians, the Athamaniens, the Dardanians, and so many wars having suddenly arisen, one after another, from different places, had distracted Philip.

§31.40.8

​adversus Dardanos, iam recipientes ex Macedonia sese, Athenagoran cum expeditis peditibus ac maiore parte equitatus misit, iussum instare ab tergo abeuntibus et carpendo postremum agmen segniores eos ad movendos domo exercitus efficere.

​Against the Dardanians, who were already withdrawing from Macedonia, he sent Athenagoras with light-armed infantry and the greater part of the cavalry, with orders to press upon them from behind as they departed, and by harassing their rear guard to make them more sluggish in moving their armies from home.

§31.40.9

​Aetolos Damocritus praetor, qui morae ad decernendum bellum ad Naupactum fuerat, idem proximo concilio ad arma conciverat post famam equestris ad Ottolobum pugnae Dardanorumque et Pleurati cum Illyriis transitum3 in Macedoniam, ​ad hoc classis Romanae adventum Oreum et super circumfusas tot Macedoniae gentes maritimam quoque instantem obsidionem.

​The Aetolians had been aroused to arms at the next council by the very same Damocritus, the praetor, who had been a cause of delay for deciding on war at Naupactus, after the news of the cavalry battle at Ottolobus and the crossing of the Dardanians and of Pleuratus with the Illyrians into Macedonia, ​and in addition to this, the arrival of the Roman fleet at Oreus, and, besides so many nations surrounding Macedonia, a maritime blockade also threatening them.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 31.40.1minore certamine, quam quod

    minore certamine is an ablative of manner accompanied by quam quod ("than that which they had anticipated"). quod is a relative pronoun referring to an implied certamen.

  2. 31.40.3testudine succedi ad portam

    succedi is an impersonal passive infinitive ("approach being made"), coordinated with signa ferri in an accusative and infinitive construction (without an accusative subject).

  3. 31.40.9post famam ... transitum

    The preposition post governs famam (accusative). Furthermore, transitum (crossing), and in section 10, adventum (arrival) and obsidionem (blockade) are also coordinated as accusatives governed by post.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:31.40.1-31.40.10