- 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-lat2:36.38.1-36.38.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Proconsul Minucius repels a sudden night attack by the Ligurians, and consul Cornelius wins a decisive victory over the Boii, leading to their surrender, despite the exaggerated numbers reported by the writer Valerius Antias.
sub idem fere tempus Ligures lege sacrata1 coacto exercitu nocte improviso castra Q. Minucii proconsulis adgressi sunt.
At about the same time, the Ligurians, having assembled an army under a sacred law, made a sudden night attack on the camp of the proconsul Quintus Minucius.
Minucius usque ad lucem intra vallum militem instructum tenuit intentus, ne qua transcenderet hostis munimenta. prima luce duabus simul portis eruptionem fecit. nec primo impetu, quod speraverat, Ligures pulsi sunt; duas amplius horas2 dubium certamen sustinuere;
Minucius kept his soldiers drawn up inside the rampart until dawn, anxiously watchful lest the enemy should scale the fortifications at any point. At dawn, he made a sally from two gates simultaneously. Nor were the Ligurians repulsed on the first charge, as he had hoped; for more than two hours they maintained a doubtful struggle;
postremo, cum alia atque alia agmina erumperent, et integri fessis succederent ad pugnam, tandem Ligures, inter cetera etiam vigiliis confecti, terga dederunt. caesa supra quattuor milia hostium; ex Romanis sociisque minus trecenti perierunt.
finally, as fresh cohorts kept sallying forth one after another, and fresh men succeeded the weary in the battle, the Ligurians, exhausted among other things by their night vigil, at last turned and fled. More than four thousand of the enemy were slain; of the Romans and allies, fewer than three hundred perished.
duobus fere post mensibus P. Cornelius consul cum Boiorum exercitu signis collatis egregie pugnavit.
About two months later, the consul Publius Cornelius fought a pitched battle with the army of the Boii with outstanding success.
duodetriginta milia hostium occisa Antias Valerius scribit, capta tria milia et quadringentos,3 signa militaria centum viginti quattuor, equos mille ducentos triginta, carpenta ducenta quadraginta septem; ex victoribus mille quadringentos octoginta quattuor cecidisse.
Valerius Antias writes that twenty-eight thousand of the enemy were killed, three thousand four hundred captured, together with one hundred and twenty-four military standards, one thousand two hundred and thirty horses, and two hundred and forty-seven wagons; and that of the victors, one thousand four hundred and eighty-four fell.
ubi ut in numero scriptori parum fidei sit,4 quia in augendo eo non alius intemperantior est, magnam tamen victoriam fuisse apparet, quod et castra capta sunt et Boi post eam pugnam extemplo dediderunt sese, et quod supplicatio eius victoriae causa decreta ab senatu victimaeque maiores caesae.
Although in this matter little credit is due to the writer in respect to the numbers, since no other is more unrestrained in exaggerating them, yet it is clear that there was a great victory, because their camp was captured, the Boii surrendered immediately after that battle, and a thanksgiving on account of that victory was decreed by the senate and the larger victims sacrificed.
- 36.38.1lege sacrata
The phrase lege sacrata refers to an ancient Italian military enlistment practice where soldiers bound themselves by a sacred oath under pain of a curse. Grammatically, it is an ablative of manner or means modifying coacto exercitu (ablative absolute).
- 36.38.3duas amplius horas
The comparative amplius (more) is used without the conjunction quam (than). When amplius (or plus, minus) is thus inserted alongside a number, it does not affect the case of the numerical expression (duas horas, accusative of duration of time), meaning "for more than two hours."
- 36.38.6capta tria milia et quadringentos
This is part of the accusative and infinitive construction governed by scribit. While the participle capta agrees in the neuter plural with the neuter plural noun milia, the subsequent numeral quadringentos is in the masculine plural accusative. This is an instance of synesis (agreement according to sense), as milia refers here to male captives (soldiers).
- 36.38.7ubi ut in numero scriptori parum fidei sit
The word ubi functions as a relative connection referring back to the previous sentence. ut... sit is a concessive clause ("although... may be") with the subjunctive sit. scriptori (to the writer) is a dative of reference or possession modifying the phrase parum fidei ("little credit [belongs] to the writer").