- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:36.15.1-36.15.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Antiochus III, regretting his lack of success in Greece and the unreliability of his allies, retreats to the naturally fortified pass of Thermopylae to prepare against the advancing Romans. The text details the pass's topography and geographic context.
cum haec agebantur, Chalcide erat Antiochus, iam tum cernens nihil se ex Graecia praeter amoena Chalcide hiberna et infames nuptias petisse.1
While these things were being done, Antiochus was at Chalcis, already seeing that he had sought nothing from Greece except pleasant winter quarters at Chalcis and a disgraceful marriage.
tunc Aetolorum vana promissa incusare2 et Thoantem, Hannibalem vero non ut prudentem tantum virum sed prope vatem omnium, quae tum evenirent, admirari. ne tamen temere coepta segnitia insuper everteret, nuntios in Aetoliam misit, ut omni contracta iuventute convenirent Lamiam; et ipse eo decem milia fere peditum ex iis, qui postea venerant ex Asia, expleta et equites quingentos duxit.
Then he began to blame the empty promises of the Aetolians and Thoas, but to admire Hannibal, not only as a prudent man but almost as a prophet of all that was then happening. However, lest sloth should additionally ruin what had been rashly begun, he sent messengers into Aetolia, that they should gather at Lamia with all their youth assembled; and he himself led thither about ten thousand infantry, made up from those who had afterwards come from Asia, and five hundred cavalry.
quo cum aliquanto pauciores quam umquam antea convenissent, et principes tantummodo cum paucis clientibus essent, atque ii dicerent omnia sedulo ab se facta,3 ut quam plurimos ex civitatibus suis evocarent; nec auctoritate nec gratia nec imperio adversus detractantes militiam valuisse, destitutus undique et ab suis, qui morabantur in Asia, et ab sociis, qui ea, in quorum spem vocaverant,4 non praestabant, intra saltum Thermopylarum sese recepit.
When they had assembled there in considerably smaller numbers than ever before, and only the leaders were present with a few clients, and they said that everything had been diligently done by them to summon as many as possible from their states, but that they had been of no avail either by authority, favor, or command against those who refused military service; abandoned on all sides, both by his own men who remained in Asia and by his allies, who did not perform those things in hope of which they had summoned him, he retreated within the pass of Thermopylae.
id iugum, sicut Appennini dorso Italia dividitur, ita mediam Graeciam dirimit.
This mountain ridge, just as Italy is divided by the spine of the Apennines, so cuts through the middle of Greece.
ante saltum Thermopylarum in septentrionem versa Epirus et Perrhaebia et Magnesia et Thessalia est et Phthiotae Achaei et sinus Maliacus;
Before the pass of Thermopylae, facing north, lie Epirus, Perrhaebia, Magnesia, Thessaly, the Achaean Phthiotians, and the Malian gulf;
intra fauces ad meridiem vergunt Aetoliae pars maior et Acarnania et cum Locride Phocis et Boeotia adiunctaque insula Euboea et excurrente in altum velut promunturio Attica terra et sita ab tergo Peloponnesus.
within the pass, sloping toward the south, are the greater part of Aetolia, Acarnania, Phocis with Locris, Boeotia, the adjacent island of Euboea, the land of Attica extending into the deep like a promontory, and Peloponnesus situated at their back.
hoc iugum ab Leucate et mari ad occidentem verso per Aetoliam ad alterum mare orienti obiectum tendens ea aspreta rupesque interiectas habet, ut5 non modo exercitus sed ne expediti quidem facile ullas ad transitum calles inveniant.
This ridge, extending from Leucas and the sea facing west through Aetolia to the other sea facing east, has such rugged places and cliffs interspersed that not only an army but not even light-armed men can easily find any paths for passage.
extremos ad orientem montis Oetam vocant, quorum quod altissimum est Callidromon appellatur, in cuius valle ad Maliacum sinum vergente iter est non latius quam sexaginta passus.
The mountains at the eastern extremity they call Oeta, of which the highest is called Callidromon, in whose valley sloping toward the Malian gulf there is a road not wider than sixty paces.
haec una militaris via est, qua traduci exercitus, si non prohibeantur, possint.
This is the only military road by which armies, if they are not prevented, can be led across.
ideo Pylae et ab aliis, quia calidae aquae in ipsis faucibus sunt, Thermopylae locus appellatur, nobilis Lacedaemoniorum adversus Persas morte magis memorabili quam pugna.6
Therefore the place is called Pylae, and by others, because there are warm springs in the very pass, Thermopylae, famous for the death of the Lacedaemonians against the Persians, which was more memorable than the battle itself.
- 36.15.1nihil se ex Graecia praeter amoena Chalcide hiberna et infames nuptias petisse
Accusative with infinitive clause in indirect discourse. petisse is a contracted form of the perfect infinitive petiisse. Although it literally means 'had sought', in this context it carries the nuance of 'had attained' or 'gotten' as a result.
- 36.15.2incusare
Historical infinitive, functioning with the same narrative force as the imperfect indicative. The subsequent admirari is also a historical infinitive.
- 36.15.4omnia sedulo ab se facta
An accusative with infinitive clause functioning as the object of dicerent, with esse omitted from facta [esse].
- 36.15.5ea, in quorum spem vocaverant
The relative pronoun quorum refers to ea as its antecedent. The structure is spem in quorum [spem] vocaverant ('in the hope of which things they had summoned [Antiochus]'). The antecedent ea is the direct object of non praestabant.
- 36.15.9ea aspreta rupesque interiectas habet, ut...
The demonstrative adjective ea is proleptic, anticipating the subsequent result clause introduced by ut ('such rugged places... that...').
- 36.15.12nobilis Lacedaemoniorum adversus Persas morte magis memorabili quam pugna
The nominative adjective nobilis modifies the preceding noun locus. morte and pugna are ablatives of means or cause accompanying the comparative magis, meaning 'more famous for their death than for the battle itself'.