- 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-lat2:36.16.1-36.16.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Antiochus fortifies the pass at Thermopylae and dispatches Aetolian forces, but upon the arrival of the Roman consul, he fears being bypassed and requests the Aetolians to guard the mountain summits; despite internal disagreement, a portion of the Aetolians occupies peaks including Callidromon.
haudquaquam pari tum animo Antiochus intra portas loci eius castris positis munitionibus insuper saltum impediebat et, cum duplici vallo fossaque et muro etiam, qua res postulabat, ex multa copia passim iacentium lapidum permunisset omnia, satis fidens numquam ea1 vim Romanum exercitum facturum, Aetolos ex quattuor milibus — tot enim convenerant — partim ad Heracleam praesidio obtinendam, quae ante ipsas fauces posita est, partim Hypatam mittit, et Heracleam haud dubius consulem oppugnaturum,2 et iam multis nuntiantibus circa Hypatam omnia evastari.
Antiochus, by no means with an equal spirit at that time, having pitched his camp within the gates of that place, was additionally obstructing the pass with fortifications; and, when he had thoroughly fortified everything, where the situation required, with a double rampart and ditch, and even a wall, from a great abundance of stones lying about here and there, sufficiently trusting that the Roman army would never force a passage through there, he sent the Aetolians, out of four thousand—for so many had assembled—partly to hold Heraclea with a garrison, which is situated before the very pass, partly to Hypata, doubting not that the consul would attack Heraclea, and as many were already reporting that everything around Hypata was being laid waste.
consul depopulatus Hypatensem primo deinde Heracleensem agrum, inutili utrobique auxilio Aetolorum, in ipsis faucibus prope fontes calidarum aquarum adversus regem posuit castra. Aetolorum utraeque manus Heracleam sese incluserunt.
The consul, having first ravaged the territory of Hypata and then that of Heraclea, the assistance of the Aetolians being useless in both places, pitched his camp against the king in the very pass, near the warm springs. Both bodies of the Aetolians shut themselves up in Heraclea.
Antiochum, cui, priusquam hostem cerneret, satis omnia permunita et praesidiis obsaepta videbantur, timor incessit, ne quas per imminentia iuga calles inveniret ad transitum Romanus;
Antiochus, to whom, before he saw the enemy, everything seemed sufficiently fortified and blocked by garrisons, was seized with fear lest the Roman should find some paths for passage through the overhanging ridges;
nam et Lacedaemonios quondam ita a Persis circuitos fama erat, et nuper Philippum ab iisdem Romanis;
for there was a report that the Lacedaemonians had once been so surrounded by the Persians, and recently Philip by the same Romans;
itaque nuntium Heracleam ad Aetolos mittit, ut hanc saltem sibi operam eo bello praestarent, ut vertices circa montium occuparent obsiderentque, ne qua transire Romani possent.
therefore he sent a messenger to the Aetolians at Heraclea, that they should perform at least this service for him in that war, to occupy and guard the summits of the mountains around, lest the Romans should be able to pass anywhere.
hoc nuntio audito dissensio inter Aetolos orta est. pars imperio parendum regis atque eundum censebant,3 pars subsistendum Heracleae ad utramque fortunam, ut, sive victus ab consule rex esset, in expedito haberent integras copias ad opem propinquis ferendam civitatibus suis, sive vinceret, ut dissipatos in fugam Romanos persequerentur.
On hearing this message, a disagreement arose among the Aetolians. A part thought that they should obey the command of the king and go, another part that they should remain at Heraclea to await either fortune, so that, if the king should be defeated by the consul, they might have their forces intact and ready to bring help to their neighboring states, or if he should win, they might pursue the Romans scattered in flight.
utraque pars non mansit modo in sententia sua, sed etiam exsecuta est consilium: duo milia Heracleae substiterunt; duo trifariam divisa Callidromum et Rhoduntiam et Tichiunta — haec nomina cacuminibus sunt4 — occupavere.
Both parties not only remained in their opinion, but even executed their plan: two thousand stayed at Heraclea; two thousand, divided into three parts, occupied Callidromon, Rhoduntia, and Tichiuns—these are the names of the summits.
- 36.16.3ea
The word 'ea' is an adverb of route meaning 'by that way' or 'through there'. While grammatically it could be interpreted as a neuter accusative plural meaning 'against those (fortifications),' it is far more natural in this context to take it as an adverb indicating passage or path, particularly alongside 'vim facere' (to force a passage).
- 36.16.4haud dubius consulem oppugnaturum
The expression 'haud dubius' (doubting not, confident) introduces the accusative with infinitive clause '[consulem] oppugnaturum [esse]'. Here, 'consulem' is the subject accusative and 'oppugnaturum' is the future active participle agreeing with it, showing Antiochus' confidence that the consul would attack Heraclea, rather than Antiochus himself attacking the consul.
- 36.16.9pars ... censebant
Although the subject 'pars' (part, portion) is a grammatically singular noun, the verb 'censebant' is plural. This is a classic example of construction according to sense (synesis / constructio ad sensum), where the verb agrees with the plural meaning of the collective noun rather than its grammatical singular form.
- 36.16.11haec nomina cacuminibus sunt
The noun 'cacuminibus' is a dative of possession used in combination with 'sunt' (literally, 'these names are to the summits'), indicating ownership or attribution: 'these are the names of the summits'.