- 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-lat2:37.39.1-37.39.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Roman consul, supported by the eagerness of his soldiers, advanced the camp to force a battle, and Antiochus also led out his forces. Livy details the structure and deployment of the Roman legions, their allied and auxiliary units, and the reserve elephants.
consul postquam detractari certamen vidit, postero die in consilium advocavit, quid sibi faciendum esset, si Antiochus pugnandi copiam non faceret?
When the consul saw that a battle was being declined, on the following day he called a council to deliberate on what he ought to do if Antiochus did not offer an opportunity for fighting.
instare hiemem; aut sub pellibus1 habendos milites fore, aut, si concedere in hiberna vellet, differendum esse in aestatem bellum.
Winter was at hand; they would either have to keep the soldiers under tents, or, if he wished to retire into winter quarters, the war would have to be deferred until summer.
nullum umquam hostem Romani aeque contempserunt. conclamatum undique est, duceret2 extemplo et uteretur ardore militum, qui, tamquam non pugnandum cum tot milibus hostium, sed par numerus pecorum trucidandus esset,3 per fossas, per vallum castra invadere parati erant, si in proelium hostis non exiret. Cn. Domitius ad explorandum iter, et qua parte adiri hostium vallum posset, missus, postquam omnia certa rettulit, postero die propius admoveri castra placuit; tertio signa in medium campi prolata et instrui acies coepta est.
Never did the Romans hold any enemy in such contempt. A general shout arose from all sides that he should lead them on immediately and make use of the ardor of the soldiers, who, as if they had not to fight with so many thousands of enemies but to slaughter an equal number of cattle, were prepared to invade the camp through the ditches and over the rampart, if the enemy did not come out to battle. Gnaeus Domitius, having been sent to reconnoiter the route and to see on which side the enemy’s rampart could be approached, after he brought back reliable information on all points, it was decided on the following day that the camp should be moved closer; on the third day the standards were advanced into the middle of the plain, and they began to form the line of battle.
nec Antiochus ultra tergiversandum ratus, ne et suorum animos minueret detractando certamen et hostium spem augeret, et ipse copias eduxit, tantum progressus a castris, ut dimicaturum appareret.
Nor did Antiochus think he should delay any longer, lest he should both lower the spirits of his own men by declining battle and increase the hopes of the enemy; he too led out his forces, advancing so far from his camp that it was clear he would fight.
Romana acies unius prope formae fuit et hominum et armorum genere. duae legiones Romanae, duae socium ac Latini nominis erant; quina milia et quadringenos singulae habebant.
The Roman line of battle was of almost uniform appearance, both in the class of men and the kind of arms. There were two Roman legions and two of the allies and the Latin name; each of them contained five thousand four hundred men.
Romani mediam aciem, cornua Latini tenuerunt; hastatorum prima signa, dein principum erant, triarii postremos claudebant.
The Romans held the center of the line, the Latins the wings; the first standards were those of the hastati, next those of the principes, and the triarii closed the rear.
extra hanc velut iustam aciem a parte dextra consul Achaeorum caetratis immixtos auxiliares Eumenis, tria milia ferme peditum, aequata fronte instruxit; ultra eos equitum minus tria milia opposuit, ex quibus Eumenis octingenti, reliquus omnis Romanus equitatus erat;
Outside this regular line, as it were, on the right side, the consul drew up Eumenes’ auxiliaries mixed with the light-armed caetrati of the Achaeans, about three thousand infantry in an even front; beyond them he opposed less than three thousand cavalry, of whom eight hundred belonged to Eumenes, and all the rest was Roman cavalry;
extremos Trallis et Cretensis — quingentorum utrique numerum explebant — statuit.
at the very extremity he stationed the Trallians and Cretans, each completing the number of five hundred.
laevum cornu non egere videbatur obiectis talibus auxiliis, quia flumen ab ea parte ripaeque deruptae claudebant;
The left wing did not seem to need such auxiliary forces to be opposed, because the river and its steep banks closed it in;
quattuor tamen inde turmae equitum oppositae. haec summa copiarum erat Romanis, et duo milia mixtorum Macedonum Thracumque, qui voluntate secuti erant; hi praesidio castris relicti sunt.
nevertheless, four squadrons of cavalry were posted there. This was the total of the forces for the Romans, and two thousand of a mixed body of Macedonians and Thracians, who had followed of their own free will; these were left to guard the camp.
XVI elephantos post triarios in subsidio locaverunt; nam praeterquam quod multitudinem regiorum elephantorum — erant autem quattuor et quinquaginta — sustinere non videbantur posse, ne pari quidem numero Indicis Africi resistunt,4 sive quia magnitudine — longe enim illi praestant — sive robore animorum vincuntur.
They stationed sixteen elephants behind the triarii in reserve; for besides the fact that they did not seem able to withstand the great number of the king’s elephants—there were, moreover, fifty-four—African elephants do not resist Indian ones even in equal numbers, whether they are surpassed in size—for the latter are far superior—or in strength of spirit.
- 37.39.2sub pellibus
"Under skins" refers to remaining in leather tents in the field, as opposed to going into winter quarters (hiberna) in towns, indicating a harsher winter campaign.
- 37.39.3duceret
Imperfect subjunctive of indirect command, dependent on the implied verb of speaking in "conclamatum est" ("there was a general cry"). The subject is the consul.
- 37.39.4tamquam non pugnandum... esset
"tamquam" introduces a subjunctive of conditional comparison ("as if..."), accompanied by the impersonal gerundive construction "pugnandum [esset]" ("it had to be fought").
- 37.39.13Indicis Africi resistunt
"Africi" (African elephants, nominative plural) is the subject, and "Indicis" (Indian elephants, dative plural) is the object of the intransitive verb "resistunt" (resist). In antiquity, African forest elephants (which were smaller) were considered inferior in battle to the larger Indian elephants.