§5.24.1ὡς δʼ ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ τοὺς σφετέρους ἔδοξαν γεγονέναι, δύο μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἑρμίνιός τε καὶ Λάρκιος διεφθαρμένων αὐτοῖς ἤδη τῶν σκεπαστηρίων διὰ τὰς συνεχεῖς πληγὰς ἀνεχώρουν ἐπὶ πόδα.
When they thought their men were in safety, two of them, Herminius and Lartius, since their defensive armor was already shattered by the continuous blows, retreated step by step.
Ὁράτιος δὲ μόνος ἀνακαλουμένων αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως τῶν θʼ ὑπάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν καὶ περὶ παντὸς ποιουμένων σωθῆναι τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τοῖς γειναμένοις οὐκ ἐπείσθη, ἀλλʼ ἔμενεν, ἔνθα τὸ πρῶτον ἔστη, κελεύσας τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἑρμίνιον λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὑπάτους, ὡς αὐτοῦ φράσαντος, ἀποκόπτειν τὴν γέφυραν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐν τάχει· ἦν δὲ μία κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους ξυλόφρακτος ἄνευ σιδήρου δεδεμένη ταῖς σανίσιν αὐταῖς, ἣν καὶ μέχρις ἐμοῦ τοιαύτην φυλάττουσι Ῥωμαῖοι· ἐπιστεῖλαι δὲ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὅταν τὰ πλείω τῆς γεφύρας λυθῇ καὶ βραχὺ τὸ λειπόμενον ᾖ μέρος, φράσαι πρὸς αὐτὸν σημείοις τισὶν ἢ φωνῇ γεγωνοτέρᾳ· τὰ λοιπὰ λέγων ἑαυτῷ μελήσειν.
But Horatius alone, though the consuls and the other citizens were calling him back from the city and making it of the utmost importance that such a man should be saved for his country and his parents, would not be persuaded, but remained where he had first stood, after bidding Herminius and his companion to tell the consuls, as though he himself said so, to cut down the bridge from the side of the city in all haste—for at that time there was only one bridge, made of wood and bound together with the planks themselves without any iron, which the Romans keep in that condition even to my day—and to instruct those men, when the greater part of the bridge was demolished and only a small part was left, to make it known to him by some signals or by a louder voice, saying that he himself would take care of the rest.
§5.24.2ταῦτʼ ἐπικελευσάμενος τοῖς δυσὶν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἵσταται τῆς γεφύρας καὶ τῶν ὁμόσε χωρούντων οὓς μὲν τῷ ξίφει παίων, οὓς δὲ τῷ θυρεῷ περιτρέπων πάντας ἀνέστειλε τοὺς ὁρμήσαντας ἐπὶ τὴν γέφυραν·
Having given these instructions to the two, he stood upon the bridge itself, and of those who came to close quarters, striking some with his sword and overturning others with his shield, he repulsed all who rushed upon the bridge.
οὐκέτι γὰρ εἰς χεῖρας αὐτῷ χωρεῖν ἐτόλμων οἱ διώκοντες ὡς μεμηνότι καὶ θανατῶντι· καὶ ἅμα οὐδὲ ῥᾴδιον αὐτῷ προσελθεῖν ὑπάρχον ἐξ εὐωνύμων μὲν καὶ δεξιῶν ἔχοντι πρόβλημα τὸν ποταμόν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ κατὰ πρόσωπον ὅπλων τε καὶ νεκρῶν σωρόν·
For the pursuers no longer dared to come to close quarters with him, looking upon him as a madman and one seeking death; and at the same time it was not even easy to approach him, since he had the river as a barrier on his left and right, and in front a heap of arms and dead bodies.
ἀλλʼ ἄπωθεν ἑστῶτες ἀθρόοι λόγχαις τε καὶ σαυνίοις καὶ λίθοις χειροπληθέσιν ἔβαλλον, οἷς δὲ μὴ παρῆν ταῦτα τοῖς ξίφεσι καὶ §5.24.3ταῖς ἀσπίσι τῶν νεκρῶν.
Standing in a mass at a distance, they threw spears, javelins, and stones as large as the hand could hold, and those who had none of these threw the swords and shields of the dead.
ὁ δʼ ἠμύνετο τοῖς ἐκείνων χρώμενος ὅπλοις κατʼ αὐτῶν καὶ ἔμελλεν ὥσπερ εἰκὸς εἰς ἀθρόους βάλλων ἀεί τινος τεύξεσθαι σκοποῦ.
But he defended himself by using their own weapons against them, and since he was throwing into a dense crowd, he was bound, as was natural, always to hit some mark.
ἤδη δὲ καταβελὴς ὢν καὶ τραυμάτων πλῆθος ἐν πολλοῖς μέρεσι τοῦ σώματος ἔχων, μίαν δὲ πληγὴν λόγχης, ἣ διὰ θατέρου τῶν γλουτῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ μηροῦ ἀντία ἐνεχθεῖσα ἐκάκωσεν αὐτὸν ὀδύναις καὶ τὴν βάσιν ἔβλαπτεν, ἐπειδὴ τῶν κατόπιν ἤκουσεν ἐμβοησάντων λελύσθαι τῆς γεφύρας τὸ πλέον μέρος, καθάλλεται σὺν τοῖς ὅπλοις εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ διανηξάμενος τὸ ῥεῦμα χαλεπῶς πάνυ· περὶ γὰρ τοῖς ὑπερείσμασι τῶν σανίδων σχιζόμενος ὁ ῥοῦς ὀξὺς ἦν καὶ δίνας ἐποίει μεγάλας· ἐξεκολύμβησεν εἰς τὴν γῆν οὐδὲν τῶν ὅπλων ἐν τῷ νεῖν ἀποβαλών.
And now, being overwhelmed with missiles and having a multitude of wounds in many parts of his body, and particularly one wound from a spear which, driven straight through one of his buttocks above the head of the thigh-bone, tormented him with pain and impeded his step, when he heard those behind him shouting out that the greater part of the bridge was demolished, he leaped with his arms into the river and swam across the stream with very great difficulty; for the current, dividing around the piles of the planks, was swift and made great eddies; yet he swam out to the land without losing any of his arms in his swimming.