- 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-lat2:34.38.1-34.38.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
After inspecting the site of Sparta, Quinctius surrounded the city with his entire force and ordered his elite troops to attack from three directions where there were no walls. Enveloped by terror from all sides, the tyrant lost his composure and was driven to utter confusion.
et tunc quidem Quinctius satis eo terrore coercitis excursionibus hostium1 nihil praeter ipsius oppugnationem urbis superesse ratus, missis, qui omnis navalis socios a Gytheo accerserent,2 ipse interim cum tribunis militum ad visendum urbis situm moenia circumvehitur.
And then indeed Quinctius, thinking that nothing remained except the siege of the city itself, as the excursions of the enemy had been sufficiently checked by that terror, sent messengers to summon all the naval allies from Gytheum, while he himself in the meantime rode around the walls with the military tribunes to inspect the situation of the city.
fuerat quondam sine muro Sparta; tyranni nuper locis patentibus planisque obiecerant murum; altiora loca et difficilia aditu3 stationibus armatorum pro munimento obiectis tutabantur.
Sparta had once been without a wall; recently the tyrants had opposed a wall to the open and level places; the higher places and those difficult of access they protected by placing stations of armed men in front as a defense.
ubi satis omnia inspexit, corona oppugnandum ratus omnibus copiis — erant autem Romanorum sociorumque, simul peditum equitumque, simul terrestrium ac navalium copiarum, ad quinquaginta milia hominum — urbem cinxit.
When he had sufficiently inspected everything, thinking that it should be attacked with a ring of besiegers with all his forces—there were, moreover, of the Romans and allies, both infantry and cavalry, both land and naval forces, about fifty thousand men—he surrounded the city.
alii scalas, alii ignem, alii alia, quibus non oppugnarent modo sed etiam terrerent, portabant. iussi sublato clamore subire undique omnes, ut, qua primum occurrerent quave opem ferrent, ad omnia simul paventes Lacedaemonii ignorarent.
Some carried ladders, others fire, others other things with which they might not only attack but also terrify. They were ordered to advance from all sides with a shout raised, so that the Lacedaemonians, trembling at everything at once, might not know where first to oppose them or where to bring aid.
quod roboris in exercitu erat,4 trifariam divisum; parte una a Phoebeo, altera a Dictynneo, tertia ab eo loco, quem Heptagonias appellant — omnia autem haec aperta sine muro loca sunt — adgredi iubet.
What strength there was in the army he divided into three parts; one part he ordered to attack from the Phoebeum, another from the Dictynneum, and the third from that place which they call Heptagonias—all these, however, are open places without a wall.
cum tantus undique terror urbem circumvasisset, primo tyrannus et ad clamores repentinos et ad nuntios trepidos motus, ut quisque maxime laboraret locus,5 aut ipse occurrebat aut aliquos mittebat;
When such great terror from all sides had enveloped the city, at first the tyrant, moved both by the sudden shouts and by the trembling messengers, either went himself to oppose them or sent some men, according as each place was most hard pressed;
deinde circumfuso undique pavore ita obtorpuit, ut nec dicere, quod in rem esset,6 nec audire posset nec inops modo consilii sed vix mentis compos esset.
then, as terror poured in from all sides, he became so numb that he could neither speak what was to the purpose nor hear, and was not only devoid of counsel but scarcely in possession of his senses.
- 34.38.1satis eo terrore coercitis excursionibus hostium
An ablative absolute construction coercitis excursionibus. The ablative of the demonstrative adjective eo modifies terrore, and this whole phrase eo terrore functions as an ablative of means or cause modifying the perfect participle coercitis.
- 34.38.1missis, qui omnis navalis socios a Gytheo accerserent
An ablative absolute construction where the substantive noun subject of the perfect participle missis (such as nuntiis, 'messengers') is omitted. The clause introduced by the relative pronoun qui takes the imperfect subjunctive accerserent to express the purpose of the main subject (Quinctius).
- 34.38.2difficilia aditu
The supine in the ablative aditu from the noun aditus (approach, access) limits and modifies the adjective difficilia ('difficult in respect of approach').
- 34.38.5quod roboris in exercitu erat
The relative pronoun quod (neuter singular nominative) with the partitive genitive roboris forms a relative clause containing its own antecedent, meaning 'all the strength (elite force) that was in the army.' This entire phrase acts as the object of iubet and the logical subject of the infinitive adgredi.
- 34.38.6ut quisque maxime laboraret locus
ut quisque is used here with the subjunctive laboraret to form an adverbial clause of proportion, meaning 'according as each place was most in distress or hard-pressed.'
- 34.38.7quod in rem esset
The phrase in rem is an idiom meaning 'to the purpose, useful, or advantageous.' Since the antecedent is negated (nec...), the verb esset in the relative clause is in the subjunctive of characteristic (restrictive subjunctive).