- 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-lat2:44.36.1-44.36.14
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
The consul Paullus decides to avoid battle due to the exhaustion of his soldiers and the intense heat, ordering them to pitch camp instead. The young Nasica strongly urges an immediate attack, but the consul advises him to trust the wisdom of an experienced commander.
Tempus anni post circumactum solstitium erat; hora diei iam ad meridiem vergebat; iter multo pulvere et incalescente sole factum erat.
The season of the year was after the summer solstice; the hour of the day was already inclining toward noon; the march had been made through much dust and under a warming sun.
lassitudo et sitis iam sentiebatur et meridiem aestum magis accensurum cum mox adpareret,1 statuit sic adfectos recenti atque integro hosti non obicere;
Fatigue and thirst were already being felt, and since it was soon apparent that midday would increase the heat further, he decided not to expose the soldiers, thus affected, to a fresh and untouched enemy;
sed tantus ardor in animis ad dimicandum utcumque erat, ut consuli non minore arte ad suos eludendos quam ad hostes opus esset.2
but so great was the eagerness for fighting in their minds in any case, that the consul needed no less skill to elude his own men than to elude the enemy.
nondum omnibus instructis instabat tribunis militum, ut maturarent instruere; circumibat ipse ordines;
Before all were yet drawn up, he pressed the military tribunes to hasten to draw them up; he himself went around the ranks;
animos militum hortando in pugnam accendebat. ibi primo alacres signum poscebant; deinde, quantum incresceret aestus, et voltus minus vigentes et voces segniores erant, et quidam incumbentes scutis nixique pilis stabant tum iam aperte primis ordinibus inperat, metarentur frontem castrorum et inpedimenta constituerent.
by encouraging them, he kindled the spirits of the soldiers for battle. At first, they eagerly demanded the signal; then, as the heat increased, their faces became less vigorous and their voices more sluggish, and some stood leaning on their shields and resting on their spears. Then at last, he openly commanded the front ranks, to measure out the front of the camp and to deposit the baggage.
quod ubi fieri milites sensere, alii gaudere palam, quod fessos viae labore flagrantissimo aestu non coegisset pugnare;
When the soldiers perceived that this was being done, some openly rejoiced that he had not forced them, exhausted by the labor of the march and in the most burning heat, to fight;
legati circa imperatorem ducesque externi erant, inter quos et Attalus, omnes adprobantes, dum pugnaturum consulem credebant — neque enim ne his quidem cunctationem aperuerat suam —
around the commander were the legates and foreign leaders, among whom was also Attalus, all approving as long as they believed that the consul would fight—for indeed he had not revealed his hesitation even to these—
tunc mutatione consilii subita cum alii silerent, Nasica unus ex omnibus ausus est monere consulem, ne hostem ludificatum priores imperatores fugiendo certamen manibus emitteret:3
then, upon the sudden change of plan, while others were silent, Nasica alone of them all dared to advise the consul not to let the enemy, who had baffled former commanders by avoiding battle, slip from his hands:
vereri, ne, si nocte abeat, sequendus maximo labore ac periculo in intima Macedoniae sit, aestasque, sicut prioribus ducibus, per calles saltusque Macedonicorum montium vagando circumagatur.
he said he feared lest, if the enemy should depart by night, they would have to be followed with the greatest labor and danger into the interior of Macedonia, and the summer, just as under previous leaders, would be wasted in wandering through the paths and glades of the Macedonian mountains.
se magnopere suadere, dum in campo patenti hostem habeat, adgrediatur, nec oblatam occasionem vincendi amittat.
He strongly urged him to attack while he had the enemy in an open plain, and not to lose the offered opportunity of winning.
consul nihil offensus libera admonitione tam clari adulescentis “et ego” inquit “animum istum habui, Nasica, quem tu nunc habes, et, quem ego nunc habeo, tu habebis.
The consul, not at all offended by the frank advice of so illustrious a young man, said, “I too, Nasica, had that spirit which you now have, and you will have that which I now have.
multis belli casibus didici, quando pugnandum, quando abstinendum pugna sit. non operae est stanti nunc in acie docere,4 quibus de causis hodie quiesse melius sit. rationes alias reposcito; nunc auctoritate veteris imperatoris contentus eris.”
By many fortunes of war I have learned when we must fight and when we must abstain from fight. It is not worthwhile for me, standing now in the battle line, to explain for what reasons it is better to rest today. Ask for those reasons at another time; now you shall be satisfied with the authority of an old general.”
conticuit adulescens: haud dubie videre aliqua impedimenta pugnae consulem, quae sibi non apparerent.
The young man fell silent; without a doubt he believed that the consul saw some obstacles to battle that were not apparent to himself.
- 44.36.2meridiem aestum magis accensurum cum mox adpareret
In the clause introduced by the conjunction cum (since/as), the accusative with infinitive clause meridiem aestum magis accensurum [esse] (that midday would inflame the heat) depends on the impersonal verb adpareret. meridiem (accusative singular of meridies) is the subject accusative of the future active participle accensurum, while aestum (accusative singular of aestus) is its direct object.
- 44.36.3consuli non minore arte ad suos eludendos quam ad hostes opus esset
The impersonal construction opus est (there is need of) is used here with the dative of person consuli (the consul) and the ablative of thing needed non minore arte (with no less skill). ad suos eludendos (for eluding his own men) is a gerundive construction expressing purpose or applicability of the "skill."
- 44.36.9ne hostem ludificatum priores imperatores fugiendo certamen manibus emitteret
ludificatum is the perfect participle of the deponent verb ludificor (to baffle, elude) and thus has an active meaning ("having baffled"), taking priores imperatores (the former commanders) as its direct object and modifying hostem. fugiendo is a gerund in the ablative, governing the direct object certamen, expressing the means ("by avoiding battle").
- 44.36.13non operae est stanti nunc in acie docere
operae est (often equivalent to operae pretium est) is an idiomatic expression meaning "it is worthwhile" or "there is time/opportunity." The dative participle stanti (to one standing) refers to the implied subject (the consul himself) of the infinitive docere, implying an omitted mihi.