Philopoemen's Tactical Skill and Ambush Plan — Livy, History of Rome Book 35 (35.28.1–35.28.11), Latin & English

§35.28.1

erat autem Philopoemen praecipuae in ducendo agmine locisque capiendis solertiae atque usus,¹ nec belli tantum temporibus, sed etiam in pace ad id maxime animum exercuerat.

Philopoemen, moreover, possessed exceptional skill and experience in leading a column and occupying positions, and he had trained his mind to this very thing with the greatest care, not only in times of war but also in peace.

§35.28.2

ubi iter quopiam faceret et ad difficilem transitu saltum venisset, contemplatus ab omni parte loci naturam, cum solus iret, secum ipse agitabat animo, cum comites haberet, ab his quaerebat, si hostis eo loco apparuisset, quid, si a fronte, quid, si ab latere hoc aut illo, quid, si ab tergo adoriretur, capiendum consilii foret;² posse instructos recta acie, posse inconditum agmen et tantummodo aptum viae occurrere.³

Whenever he was making a journey anywhere and had come to a pass difficult to traverse, having contemplated the nature of the place from every side, if he was going alone, he would ponder with himself in his mind, and if he had companions, he would ask them, if the enemy had appeared in that place, what plan should be adopted, whether they should attack from the front, or from this side or that, or from the rear; that it was possible for them to meet in a regular line of battle, or in a column disordered and fit only for the road.

§35.28.4

quem locum ipse capturus esset, cogitando aut quaerendo exequebatur, aut quot armatis, aut quo genere armorum — plurimum enim interesse — usurus; quo impedimenta, quo sarcinas, quo turbam inermem reiceret;

What position he himself should occupy, he would work out by thinking or asking, or how many armed men, or what kind of armor — for it made a very great difference — he should use; where he should send back the baggage, where the bundles, where the unarmed crowd;

§35.28.5

quanto ea aut quali praesidio custodiret, et utrum pergere, qua coepisset ire, via, an eam, qua venisset, repetere melius esset;

with how great or what kind of guard he should protect them, and whether it would be better to proceed by the road on which he had begun to go, or to retrace that by which he had come;

§35.28.6

castris quoque quem locum caperet, quantum munimento amplecteretur loci, qua opportuna aquatio, qua pabuli lignorumque copia esset; qua postero die castra moventi tutum maxime iter, quae forma agminis esset.

also what place he should take for a camp, how much space he should enclose with a rampart, where there was convenient watering, where there was an abundance of forage and wood; by which route it was safest for one moving the camp on the following day, and what should be the form of the column.

§35.28.7

his curis cogitationibusque ita ab ineunte aetate animum agitaverat, ut nulla ei nova in tali re cogitatio esset.

With these cares and reflections he had so exercised his mind from his early youth that no new thought could occur to him in such a situation.

§35.28.8

et tum omnium primum agmen constituit; dein Cretensis auxiliares et quos Tarentinos vocabant equites, binos secum trahentis equos, ad prima signa misit et iussit equitibus subsequi super torrentem, unde aquari possent, rupem occupavit; eo impedimenta omnia et calonum turbam collectam armatis circumdedit et pro natura loci castra communivit; tabernacula statuere in aspretis et inaequabili solo difficile erat.

And then, first of all, he halted the column; then he sent the Cretan auxiliaries and the horsemen whom they called Tarentines, each leading two horses with him, to the front signs, and ordered the cavalry to follow after them up above the torrent, from where they could get water, and he occupied a ridge; there he surrounded all the baggage and the gathered crowd of camp-servants with armed men, and fortified the camp according to the nature of the place; it was difficult to pitch tents on rough and uneven ground.

§35.28.10

hostes quingentos passus aberant. ex eodem rivo utrique cum praesidio levis armaturae aquati sunt; et priusquam, qualia propinquis castris solent,⁴ contraheretur certamen, nox intervenit. postero die apparebat pugnandum pro aquatoribus circa rivum esse. nocte in valle a conspectu hostium aversa, quantam multitudinem locus occulere poterat, condidit caetratorum.

The enemy were five hundred paces away. Both parties drew water from the same stream under the protection of light infantry; and before a skirmish could be engaged, such as is usual when camps are close together, night intervened. On the following day, it was apparent that they must fight for the water-carriers around the stream. During the night, in a valley turned away from the sight of the enemy, he hid as great a multitude of targeteers as the place was able to conceal.

Syntax notes4 items

35.28.1praecipuae in ducendo agmine locisque capiendis solertiae atque usus
Genitive of quality acting as the predicate of the imperfect verb erat, describing Philopoemen as possessing "exceptional skill and experience."
35.28.3quid ... capiendum consilii foret
Indirect question. consilii is a partitive genitive qualifying quid ("what plan"). capiendum foret (equivalent to capiendum esset) is a passive periphrastic conjugation expressing obligation.
35.28.3posse ... occurrere
Accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse. Although the subject is omitted, it can contextually refer to the enemy (hostes) or their own forces, representing Philopoemen's anticipation of how they might meet.
35.28.10qualia propinquis castris solent
A comparative clause with the omission of an infinitive verb (such as fieri or accidere). propinquis castris is an ablative absolute, and the phrase means "such [skirmishes] as are accustomed [to happen] when camps are close together."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:35.28.1-35.28.11