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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §14.8.1

Weakening of the Celts Through Gluttony and Indolence

Passage 900 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The Celts, during their second expedition against Rome, became fat and weak in the Alban territory due to overeating, heavy drinking, and an idle lifestyle in the shade, losing their stamina rapidly during training.

§14.8.1οἱ Κελτοὶ τῇ Ῥώμῃ ἐκ δευτέρου ἐπιστρατεύσαντες τὴν χώραν τὴν Ἀλβανὴν ἐπόρθουν· ἔνθα μὲν πολλῆς ἅπαντες ἐδωδῆς ἐμπιμπλάμενοι, πολὺν δὲ πίνοντες ἄκρατον οἶνον — ἔστι δὲ ὁ τῇδε φυόμενος μετὰ τὸν Φαλερινὸν ἥδιστος οἴνων μελικράτῳ μάλιστα προσεμφερής — ὕπνον τε πλείονα τοῦ συνήθους αἱρούμενοι καὶ δίαιταν ὑπὸ σκιαῖς ὡς τὰ πολλὰ ἔχοντες τοσαύτην ἔλαβον ἐπίδοσιν εἰς πολυσαρκίαν τε καὶ ἁπαλότητα καὶ οὕτως ἐξεθηλύνθησαν τὰς δυνάμεις, ὥσθʼ, ὁπότε γυμνάζειν ἐπιβάλοιντο τὰ σώματα καὶ διαπονεῖν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις, κόπτεσθαι μὲν ἄσθματι συνεχεῖ τὰ πνεύματα, ῥεῖσθαι δʼ ἱδρῶτι πολλῷ τὰ μέλη, θᾶττον δὲ ἀφίστασθαι τῶν πόνων ἢ κελευσθεῖεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγεμόνων.
The Celts, having marched against Rome for a second time, were plundering the Alban territory; there, as they all gorged themselves on abundant food and drank much unmixed wine—and the wine growing in those parts is, next to the Falernian, the sweetest of wines and very similar to mead—and as they took more sleep than customary and lived for the most part in the shade, they increased so much in fleshiness and flabbiness, and were so enervated in their strength, that, whenever they attempted to exercise their bodies and train in arms, their breath was distressed by continual gasping, their limbs flowed with abundant sweat, and they abandoned their labours sooner than they were ordered to do so by their commanders.

Notes

  1. 12ἐμπιμπλάμενοι ... ἔχοντες — These nominative participles (ἐμπιμπλάμενοι, πίνοντες, αἱρούμενοι, ἔχοντες) express the cause or attendant circumstances for the main verbs (ἔλαβον, ἐξεθηλύνθησαν).
  2. p.v.4p.253ὥσθʼ, ὁπότε γυμνάζειν ἐπιβάλοιντο ... — The main verbs of the result clause introduced by ὥστε are infinitives (κόπτεσθαι, ῥεῖσθαι, ἀφίστασθαι), within which a temporal clause expressing past repetition (ὁπότε + optative ἐπιβάλοιντο) is inserted.
  3. p.v.4p.253ἢ κελευσθεῖεν — A clause introduced by ἢ (than), correlating with the comparative θᾶττον (sooner). The optative κελευσθεῖεν, similar to the ὁπότε clause, expresses a past repeated situation or a general possibility within a comparative clause: "sooner than they were ordered (to stop) by their commanders."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §14.8.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:14.8.1

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