- 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-lat2:38.29.1-38.29.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
To counter the stubborn resistance of the Samaei, the Romans employ highly skilled Achaean slingers to suppress their sallies. After a four-month siege, the Romans scale the walls at night, forcing the Samaei to surrender, and the citizens are sold into slavery.
nec ab Samaeis quicquam, quo1 aut opera aut hostis arceri posset, praetermissum est.
Nor was anything omitted by the Samaei by which either the works or the enemy could be kept off.
duabus tamen maxime resistebant rebus, una, interiorem semper iuxta validum pro diruto novum obstruentes murum, altera,2 eruptionibus subitis nunc in opera hostium, nunc in stationes; et plerumque his proeliis superiores erant.
Yet they resisted chiefly by two means: one, by always building a new, strong wall on the inside close to the one that had been destroyed; the other, by sudden sallies, now against the works of the enemy, now against their outposts; and in these battles they were generally superior.
una ad coercendos inventa, haud magna memoratu, res est.
One means was devised to restrain them, a thing not very remarkable to relate.
centum funditores ab Aegio et Patris et Dymis acciti. a pueris3 ii more quodam gentis saxis globosis, quibus ferme harenae immixtis strata litora sunt,4 funda mare apertum incessentes exercebantur.
One hundred slingers were summoned from Aegium, Patrae, and Dyme. From childhood, according to a certain custom of their nation, they used to practice throwing with a sling at the open sea, using the round stones with which the shores are generally covered, mixed with sand.
itaque longius certiusque et validiore ictu quam Baliaris funditor eo telo usi sunt.
Thus they used that weapon at a longer range, with greater accuracy, and with a more powerful blow than the Balearic slinger.
et est non simplicis habenae,5 ut Baliarica aliarumque gentium funda, sed triplex scutale, crebris suturis duratum, ne fluxa habena volutetur in iactu glans, sed librata cum sederit, velut nervo missa excutiatur.
And it is not of a single strap, like the Balearic sling and that of other nations, but has a triple thong, hardened with frequent stitches, so that the bullet, when thrown, does not roll about in a loose strap, but, resting in a balanced position, is discharged as if shot from a bowstring.
coronas modici circuli magno ex intervallo loci adsueti traicere non capita solum hostium vulnerabant, sed quem locum destinassent oris.
Accustomed to shoot through rings of moderate size from a great distance, they would wound not only the heads of the enemy, but whatever part of the face they had aimed at.
hae fundae Samaeos cohibuerunt, ne tam crebro neve tam audacter erumperent, adeo ut precarentur ex muris Achaeos, ut parumper abscederent et se cum Romanis stationibus pugnantis quiete spectarent.
These slings restrained the Samaei so that they did not make sallies so frequently or so boldly, to such an extent that they begged the Achaeans from the walls to withdraw for a little while and quietly watch them fighting with the Roman outposts.
quattuor menses obsidionem Same sustinuit. cum ex paucis cotidie aliqui eorum caderent aut vulnerarentur, et qui supererant fessi et corporibus et animis essent, Romani nocte per arcem, quam † Cyneatidem vocant — nam urbs in mare devexa in occidentem vergit —, muro superato in forum pervenerunt.
Same sustained the siege for four months. Since some of them fell or were wounded daily from their small number, and those who survived were exhausted in both body and mind, the Romans, having scaled the wall at night by way of the citadel which they call Cyneatides — for the city, sloping down toward the sea, faces the west —, made their way into the forum.
Samaei postquam captam partem urbis ab hostibus senserunt, cum coniugibus ac liberis in maiorem refugerunt arcem. inde postero die dediti direpta urbe sub corona6 omnes venierunt.
The Samaei, after they perceived that a part of the city had been captured by the enemy, fled with their wives and children into the larger citadel. Surrendering from there on the following day, they were all sold under the crown after the city had been plundered.
- 38.29.1quo
The ablative of means of the relative pronoun referring back to quicquam. The verb posset in the relative clause is in the subjunctive mood expressing characteristic or purpose.
- 38.29.2una ... altera ...
Appositives to duabus ... rebus (two means). However, una (the first) is explained by a nominative participle phrase obstruentes (describing the subject's method), while altera (the second) is explained by an ablative noun phrase eruptionibus (ablative of means), showing a grammatical asymmetry.
- 38.29.4a pueris
A Latin idiom meaning "from childhood." The preposition a denotes a temporal point of origin.
- 38.29.4quibus ferme harenae immixtis strata litora sunt
The relative pronoun quibus in the ablative refers to saxis and acts as the ablative of means/instrument with strata sunt (are covered/strewn). harenae is a dative depending on immixtis (perfect participle agreeing with quibus). "With which, mixed for the most part with sand, the shores are covered."
- 38.29.6non simplicis habenae
Genitive of quality (description) acting as a predicate of est (the subject of which is funda) at the beginning of the sentence. "(The sling) is not of a single strap."
- 38.29.11sub corona
A Latin historical idiom meaning "to be sold as slaves." It derives from the custom of placing chaplets (corona) on the heads of prisoners of war when they were put up for auction. venierunt is the perfect tense of veneo (to be sold).