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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §20.12.1-20.12.3

Pyrrhus's Ominous Dream and Failed Night Attack

Passage 957 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Pyrrhus has an ominous dream before his night attack, but proceeds anyway under pressure from his friends. During the advance, a wounded baby elephant triggers panic among the Greek forces, leading to a Roman victory.

§20.12.1ἐν τῇ νυκτί, ἐν ᾗ τὴν στρατιὰν ἀπάξειν ὁ Πύρρος ἔμελλεν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τῷ Ῥωμαίων ἐπιθησόμενος χάρακι λάθρα, ἔδοξε κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτοῦ τοὺς πλείους ὀδόντας καὶ πλῆθος αἵματος ἐκ τοῦ στόματος φέρεσθαι.
During the night in which Pyrrhus was about to lead his army to the mountain to attack the Roman camp secretly, it seemed to him in his sleep that most of his teeth fell out and a great quantity of blood poured from his mouth.
§20.12.2ταραχθεὶς δὲ διὰ τὴν ὄψιν καὶ μεγάλην ἔσεσθαι συμφορὰν μαντευόμενος — ἤδη γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ πρότερον τοιαύτην ὄψιν ἐνυπνίου θεασαμένῳ δεινή τις συνέβη δυσποτμία — ἐβούλετο μὲν ἐπισχεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, οὐκ ἴσχυσε δὲ νικῆσαι τὴν πεπρωμένην ἐναντιουμένων τῶν φίλων πρὸς τὴν ἀναβολὴν καὶ μὴ μεθεῖναι τὸν καιρὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ἀξιούντων.
Troubled by this vision and divining that some great disaster would happen—for already on a previous occasion when he had seen such a dream-vision a terrible misfortune had befallen him—he wished to hold back that day, but he was unable to overcome destiny, since his friends opposed the postponement and demanded that they should not let the opportunity slip from their hands.
§20.12.3ἀναβάντων δὲ τῶν σὺν τῷ Πύρρῳ μετὰ τῶν ἐλεφάντων αἴσθησιν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι λαβόντες σκυμνίον ἐλέφαντος τιτρώσκουσιν, ὃ πολλὴν ἀκοσμίαν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐνεποίησε καὶ φυγήν·
When those with Pyrrhus had ascended with the elephants, the Romans, perceiving them, wounded a young elephant, which caused great disorder and flight among the Greeks.
οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι δύο μὲν ἐλεφάντας ἀποκτείνουσιν, ὀκτὼ δὲ κατακλείσαντες εἰς χωρίον ἀνέξοδον παραδόντων τῶν ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς Ἰνδῶν ζῶντας παραλαμβάνουσι, τῶν δὲ στρατιωτῶν πολὺν φόνον ἐργάζονται.
The Romans killed two elephants, and having shut up eight in a place with no exit, they took them alive as the Indians who were upon them surrendered, and they wrought great slaughter among the soldiers.

Notes

  1. 19.13ἔδοξε — Used either impersonally or with Pyrrhus as the implied subject ("it seemed [to him] in his sleep"). It governs the accusative and infinitive construction (A.C.I.) with the infinitives `ἐκπεσεῖν` and `φέρεσθαι`, whose subject accusatives are `τοὺς πλείους ὀδόντας` and `πλῆθος αἵματος` respectively.
  2. 20.12.2ἐναντιουμένων τῶν φίλων — Genitive absolute construction with the present participles `ἐναντιουμένων` and `ἀξιούντων`, expressing the cause or reason ("since his friends opposed... and demanded...").
  3. 14ἀναβάντων δὲ τῶν σὺν τῷ Πύρρῳ — Genitive absolute construction expressing time ("when those with Pyrrhus had ascended"). Since the subject of the participle phrase (`τῶν σὺν τῷ Πύρρῳ`) is different from the main subject (`οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι`), this independent construction is used.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §20.12.1-20.12.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:20.12.1-20.12.3

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