- 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-lat2:7.14.1-7.14.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The dictator Sulpicius, though concerned about the bad precedent, yields to the soldiers' demands and secretly consults with Tullius. He prepares a clever stratagem using armed muleteers to simulate a large cavalry force as the Romans engage the Gauls in battle.
dictator quamquam rem bonam exemplo haud probabili actam censebat, tamen facturum, quod milites vellent, in se recepit Tulliumque secreto, quaenam haec res sit aut quo acta more, percunctatur.
Although the dictator thought that a good thing had been done by a hardly commendable precedent, he nevertheless undertook that he would do what the soldiers wished, and secretly questioned Tullius as to what this matter was or by what custom it had been done.
Tullius magno opere a dictatore petere,1 ne se oblitum disciplinae militaris, ne sui neve imperatoriae maiestatis crederet; multitudini concitatae, quae ferme auctoribus similis esset, non subtraxisse se ducem, ne quis alius, quales mota creare multitudo soleret, existeret;
Tullius earnestly begged of the dictator that he would not believe him to have been forgetful of military discipline, of himself, or of the commander’s majesty; that he had not withdrawn himself as a leader from the excited multitude, which was generally similar to its instigators, lest some other person, of the kind an excited multitude was accustomed to create, should arise;
nam se quidem nihil non arbitrio imperatoris acturum; illi quoque tamen videndum magno opere esse, ut exercitum in potestate haberet; differri non posse adeo concitatos animos; ipsos sibi locum ac tempus pugnandi sumpturos, si ab imperatore non detur.
for he indeed would do nothing except by the will of the commander; yet that he also must take great care to keep the army in his power; that minds so excited could not be put off; that they themselves would take for themselves the place and time of fighting, if it were not given by the commander.
dum haec loquuntur, iumenta forte pascentia extra vallum Gallo abigenti2 duo milites Romani ademerunt. in eos saxa coniecta a Gallis, deinde ab Romana statione clamor ortus ac procursum utrimque est.
While they were speaking of these things, two Roman soldiers took away from a Gaul who was driving them off some beasts of burden that happened to be grazing outside the rampart. Stones were thrown at them by the Gauls, then a shout arose from the Roman outpost, and there was a rush from both sides.
iamque haud procul iusto proelio res erat, ni celeriter diremptum certamen per centuriones esset.3 adfirmata certe eo casu Tulli apud dictatorem fides est; nec recipiente iam dilationem re in posterum diem edicitur acie pugnaturos.
And now the matter was not far from a regular battle, had the contest not been quickly broken off by the centurions. At all events, by that chance, the credibility of Tullius with the dictator was confirmed; and as the situation no longer admitted of delay, it was proclaimed that they would fight in battle array on the following day.
dictator tamen, ut qui magis animis quam viribus fretus ad certamen descenderet,4 omnia circumspicere atque agitare coepit, ut arte aliqua terrorem hostibus incuteret. sollerti animo rem novam excogitat, qua deinde multi nostri atque externi imperatores, nostra quoque quidam aetate, usi sunt.
The dictator, however, as one who went down to the contest relying more on spirit than on strength, began to look around and ponder everything, so that he might strike terror into the enemy by some artifice. With a clever mind he devised a new plan, which afterwards many of our own and foreign commanders, and some in our own age too, have used.
mulis strata detrahi iubet binisque tantum centunculis relictis agasones partim captivis partim aegrorum armis ornatos inponit. his fere mille effectis centum admiscet equites et nocte super castra in montes evadere ac silvis se occultare iubet neque inde ante moveri, quam ab se acceperint signum.
He ordered the packsaddles to be taken off the mules, and leaving only two small cloths on each, he put upon them the muleteers, adorned partly with the arms of prisoners and partly with those of the sick. Having made up about a thousand of these, he mixed a hundred horsemen with them, and ordered them by night to go up into the mountains above the camp and hide themselves in the woods, and not to move from there before they received the signal from him.
ipse, ubi inluxit, in radicibus montium extendere aciem coepit sedulo, ut adversus montes5 consisteret hostis.
He himself, when it grew light, began to extend his line at the foot of the mountains on purpose, so that the enemy might stand facing the mountains.
instructo vani terroris apparatu, qui quidem terror plus paene veris viribus profuit, primo credere duces Gallorum non descensuros in aequum Romanos; deinde, ubi degressos repente viderunt, et ipsi avidi certaminis in proelium ruunt, priusque pugna coepit, quam signum ab ducibus daretur.
When the preparation for this empty terror was set in order—which terror indeed was of more use than almost real strength—at first the leaders of the Gauls believed that the Romans would not descend into the plain; then, when they suddenly saw them having come down, they too, eager for a contest, rushed into battle, and the fight began before the signal was given by the leaders.
- 7.14.2petere
An historical infinitive (infinitivus historicus), functioning equivalently to an imperfect indicative (petebat), used to vividly depict the urgent negotiation. Its subject is the nominative Tullius.
- 7.14.4Gallo abigenti
Dative of separation (dativus separationis). It points to the person from whom something is taken by the verb ademerunt, and is translated as 'from the Gaul who was driving [them] off'.
- 7.14.5res erat, ni ... esset
An irregular conditional construction, where the apodosis is in the imperfect indicative (res erat) and the protasis in the pluperfect subjunctive (ni ... esset). This emphasizes the imminent reality of the outcome ('the matter was already almost [a battle], had it not been...').
- 7.14.6ut qui ... descenderet
The construction ut qui + subjunctive (descenderet) expresses cause or reason based on the character of the subject (dictator), meaning 'as one who was going down [to the contest]...'.
- 7.14.9adversus montes
Adversus is a preposition taking the accusative, meaning 'facing' or 'towards'. Sulpicius arranges his line so that the enemy would stand facing the mountains, ensuring that the fake Roman cavalry descending from the mountains would appear in their rear or flank.