- 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-lat2:35.26.1-35.26.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
While Nabis prepares for the siege with naval training, Philopoemen, inexperienced in naval warfare, launches an ancient ship as his flagship but suffers a defeat. Undeterred, he resolves to turn the tide in the land battles where his expertise lies.
comparaverat et tyrannus modicam classem ad prohibenda, si qua obsessis mari summitterentur, praesidia,1 tres tectas naves et lembos pristisque, tradita vetere classe ex foedere Romanis.
The tyrant had also prepared a modest fleet to prevent any reinforcements from being sent by sea to the besieged: three decked ships, and some cutter-boats and swift-boats, since his old fleet had been surrendered to the Romans according to the treaty.
harum novarum navium agilitatem ut experiretur, simul ut omnia satis apta ad certamen essent, provectos in altum cotidie remigem militemque simulacris navalis pugnae exercebat,2 in eo ratus verti spem obsidionis, si praesidia maritima interclusisset.
In order to test the agility of these new ships, and at the same time to ensure that everything was sufficiently prepared for battle, he daily exercised the rowers and soldiers, after they had sailed out into the deep sea, with mock naval battles, thinking that the hope of the siege turned on this, if he could shut out any reinforcements from the sea.
praetor Achaeorum sicut terrestrium certaminum arte quemvis clarorum imperatorum vel usu vel ingenio aequabat, ita rudis in re navali erat, Arcas, mediterraneus homo, externorum etiam omnium, nisi quod in Creta praefectus auxiliorum militaverat, ignarus. navis erat quadriremis vetus, capta annis LXXX ante, cum Crateri uxorem Nicaeam a Naupacto Corinthum veheret.
Just as the praetor of the Achaeans, in the art of land battles, equaled any of the famous generals whether in experience or in natural ability, so he was inexperienced in naval affairs, being an Arcadian, an inland man, and ignorant of all foreign affairs as well, except that he had served as a commander of auxiliary forces in Crete. He was ignorant. There was an old quadrireme, captured eighty years before, when it was carrying Nicaea, the wife of Craterus, from Naupactus to Corinth.
huius fama motus — fuerat enim nobile in classe regia quondam navigium — deduci ab Aegio putrem iam admodum et vetustate dilabentem iussit.
Induced by the reputation of this vessel — for it had once been a famous ship in the royal fleet — he ordered it, though now extremely decayed and falling to pieces from old age, to be launched from Aegium.
hac tum praetoria nave praecedente classes, cum in ea Patrensis Tiso praefectus classis veheretur, occurrerunt a Gytheo Laconum naves; et primo statim incursu ad novam et firmam navem vetus, quae per se ipsa omnibus compagibus aquam acciperet,3 divulsa est, captique omnes, qui in nave erant.
While this flagship was leading the fleet, and Tiso of Patrae, the commander of the fleet, was sailing in it, the ships of the Lacedaemonians came to meet them from Gytheum; and at the very first clash against a new and strong ship, the old one, which of itself was taking in water through all its joints, was shattered to pieces, and all who were on board were captured.
cetera classis praetoria nave amissa, quantum quaeque remis valuit, fugerunt. ipse Philopoemen in levi speculatoria nave fugit nec ante fugae finem, quam Patras ventum est, fecit.4 nihil ea res animum militaris viri et multos experti casus imminuit; quin contra, si in re navali, cuius esset ignarus, offendisset, eo plus in ea, quorum usu calleret, spei nactus,5 breve id tyranno gaudium se effecturum adfirmabat.
The rest of the fleet, having lost their flagship, fled as fast as each ship could by rowing. Philopoemen himself fled in a light scouting vessel, and did not make an end to his flight until he reached Patrae. This event in no way diminished the spirit of a man who was a soldier and experienced in many vicissitudes; on the contrary, if he had stumbled in naval affairs, of which he was ignorant, he gained all the more hope in those matters in which he was skilled by experience, and asserted that he would make that joy of the tyrant a brief one.
- 35.26.1ad prohibenda, si qua obsessis mari summitterentur, praesidia
The preposition ad expressing purpose is construed with the gerundive prohibenda and the noun praesidia in the accusative ('to prevent reinforcements'). Interposed within this phrase is the conditional clause si qua... with the subjunctive imperfect summitterentur expressing a hypothetical condition in the past, creating a hyperbaton.
- 35.26.2provectos in altum cotidie remigem militemque ... exercebat
provectos is the perfect passive participle (masculine accusative plural) of proveho, agreeing in sense with the collective singular nouns remigem militemque ('the rowers and the soldiers'). It functions as the direct object of the verb exercebat ('he exercised them, who had sailed out...').
- 35.26.8quae per se ipsa omnibus compagibus aquam acciperet
In this relative clause, the verb acciperet is in the subjunctive imperfect. This subjunctive functions either as a subjunctive of characteristic describing the state or defect of the old ship, or carries a concessive force ('although it was of itself taking in water...').
- 35.26.9nec ante fugae finem, quam Patras ventum est, fecit
nec ante ... quam is a tmesis of the conjunction antequam. The main verb is fecit with fugae finem as its direct object ('he did not make an end of his flight'), while the temporal clause contains ventum est, an impersonal passive of the intransitive verb venio, followed by the accusative of place Patras ('until it was come to Patrae').
- 35.26.10eo plus ... spei nactus
eo is an ablative of degree of difference modifying plus ('all the more'). spei is a partitive genitive dependent on plus ('more of hope'). Together, the phrase means 'having obtained all the more hope.'