- 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-lat2:38.22.1-38.22.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
After reserve Roman forces join the main column and take a brief rest, the Romans drive the retreating Gauls back into their camp, overwhelming their defenses with missile weapons and breaking through the guards at the gates.
sub idem tempus L. Manlius et C. Helvius, cum, quoad viam colles obliqui dederunt, escendissent, postquam ad invia ventum est, flexere iter in partem montis, quae una habebat iter, et sequi consulis agmen modico uterque intervallo velut ex composito coeperunt, quod primo optimum factu fuisset,1 in id necessitate ipsa compulsi;
At about the same time, Lucius Manlius and Gaius Helvius, having ascended as far as the sloping hills afforded a path, after they came to impassable places, turned their course towards that part of the mountain which alone had a path, and both began to follow the consul’s column at a moderate distance as if by agreement, being driven by necessity itself to that which at first would have been the best thing to do;
subsidia enim in talibus iniquitatibus locorum maximo saepe usui2 fuerunt, ut primis forte deturbatis secundi et tegant pulsos et integri pugnam excipiant.
for in such inequalities of terrain, reserves have often been of the greatest use, so that if by chance the first are repulsed, the second may both cover those who are driven back and, being fresh, take up the fight.
consul, postquam ad tumulos ab levi armatura captos prima signa legionum pervenerunt, respirare et conquiescere paulisper militem iubet; simul strata per tumulos corpora Gallorum ostentat, et, cum levis armatura proelium tale ediderit, quid ab legionibus, quid ab iustis armis, quid ab animis fortissimorum militum expectari? castra illis capienda esse,3 in quae compulsus ab levi armatura hostis trepidet.
The consul, after the first standards of the legions reached the hills captured by the light infantry, ordered the soldiers to take breath and rest for a little while; at the same time he pointed out the bodies of the Gauls strewn over the hills, and asked since the light infantry had produced such a battle, what was to be expected from the legions, what from the regular weapons, what from the courage of the bravest soldiers? They must take the camp, in which the enemy, driven by the light infantry, was in a panic.
praecedere tamen iubet levem armaturam, quae, cum staret agmen, colligendis per tumulos telis, ut missilia sufficerent, haud segne id ipsum tempus consumpserat.
Nevertheless, he ordered the light infantry to go ahead, who, while the column was standing still, had spent that very time not sluggishly in gathering weapons over the hills so that their missiles would suffice.
iam castris appropinquabant; et Galli, ne parum se munimenta sua tegerent, armati pro vallo constiterant. obruti deinde omni genere telorum, cum, quo plures atque densiores erant, eo minus vani quicquam intercideret teli,4 intra vallum momento temporis compelluntur stationibus tantum firmis ad ipsos aditus portarum relictis.
Now they were approaching the camp; and the Gauls, lest their fortifications protect them too little, had stood armed in front of the rampart. Then, overwhelmed by every kind of missile, since the more numerous and crowded they were, the less any missile fell in vain, they were driven inside the rampart in a moment of time, with only strong guard-posts left at the very entrances of the gates.
in multitudinem compulsam in castra vis ingens missilium telorum coniciebatur, et vulnerari multos clamor permixtus mulierum atque puerorum ploratibus significabat.
An immense force of missiles was thrown into the crowd driven into the camp, and the shouting, mixed with the wailing of women and children, indicated that many were being wounded.
in eos, qui portas stationibus suis clauserant, legionum antesignani pila coniecerunt. iis vero non vulnerabantur, sed transverberatis scutis plerique inter se conserti haerebant;5 nec diutius impetum Romanorum sustinuerunt.
Against those who had closed the gates with their guard-posts, the vanguard of the legions threw their javelins. By these indeed they were not wounded, but, their shields being pierced through, most of them stuck together, bound to one another; nor did they sustain the attack of the Romans any longer.
- 38.22.2quod primo optimum factu fuisset
quod is a relative pronoun referring back to the action of following the consul's column at a moderate distance. factu is a supine in the ablative modifying the adjective optimum ('best to do'). fuisset is a pluperfect subjunctive expressing a past counterfactual condition ('which at first would have been the best thing to do, though they did not do so originally').
- 38.22.3maximo usui
A dative of purpose (or service) showing the effect brought about by the subject subsidia. It forms a double dative construction meaning 'of the greatest use'.
- 38.22.5expectari? castra illis capienda esse
A passage in indirect speech (oratio obliqua) reporting the consul's words. The rhetorical question uses an accusative with infinitive (expectari), and the subsequent main clause also uses an accusative with infinitive with a gerundive of obligation (capienda esse). The logical subject of the gerundive is illis (dative of agent).
- 38.22.7quo plures atque densiores erant, eo minus vani quicquam intercideret teli
The correlative construction quo... eo... expresses proportion ('the more... the less...'). vani teli is a partitive genitive qualifying the pronoun quicquam ('any of useless weapon'). intercideret is in the subjunctive because it is in a clause introduced by the temporal/causal conjunction cum.
- 38.22.9transverberatis scutis plerique inter se conserti haerebant
transverberatis scutis is an ablative absolute ('their shields having been pierced through'). conserti is the perfect passive participle of conserere ('to bind/entangle together'). It graphically describes how the Roman javelins (pila) pierced through multiple shields at once, pinning them together and physically trapping the soldiers so they could not move.