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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §9.4.1-9.4.3

Disorderly Roman Retreat and Etruscan Plunder

Passage 673 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The general is forced to allow the disorderly retreat of the soldiers, and the army returns to Rome in confusion. The following day, the Etruscans learn of the Roman withdrawal, plunder their camp, and depart after ravaging the nearby territory.

§9.4.1ταῦθʼ ὁ στρατηγὸς μαθὼν ἠναγκάσθη πᾶσι δοῦναι τὸ παράγγελμα τῆς ἐξόδου δείσας τὴν ἀναρχίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ θράσος.
The general, having learned of this, was forced to give the order for departure to all, fearing their anarchy and audacity.
οἱ δʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ φυγῆς ἀνασωζόμενοι τάχει πολλῷ συνάπτουσι τῇ πόλει περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον.
And they, as if being saved from a rout, with great speed approached the city about dawn.
καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν τειχῶν ἀγνοήσαντες, ὅτι φίλιον ἦν στράτευμα, ὅπλα τʼ ἐνεδύοντο καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀνεκάλουν, ἥ τʼ ἄλλη πόλις, ὡς ἐπὶ συμφορᾷ μεγάλῃ, ταραχῆς ἐγεγόνει μεστὴ καὶ θορύβου· καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἀνέῳξαν αὐτοῖς τὰς πύλας οἱ φύλακες, ἢ λαμπράν τε ἡμέραν γενέσθαι καὶ γνωσθῆναι τὸ οἰκεῖον στράτευμα.
And those on the walls, not knowing that it was a friendly army, put on their armor and summoned one another, and the rest of the city, as if upon a great disaster, was full of confusion and tumult; and the guards did not open the gates to them until broad daylight had come and their own army was recognized.
§9.4.2ὥστε πρὸς τῇ αἰσχύνῃ, ἣν ἐκ τοῦ καταλιπεῖν τὸν χάρακα ἠνέγκαντο, καὶ κίνδυνον οὐ τὸν ἐλάχιστον αὐτοὺς ἀναρρῖψαι, σκότους ἀπιόντας διὰ τῆς πολεμίας ἀτάκτως.
So that, in addition to the shame which they incurred from leaving their camp, they also ran no small risk, departing in the dark through enemy territory without order.
εἴ γʼ οὖν τοῦτο καταμαθόντες οἱ πολέμιοι ἐκ παντὸς ἀπιοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἠκολούθησαν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυσεν ἅπασαν ἀπολωλέναι τὴν στρατιάν.
At any rate, if the enemy, having perceived this, had followed them by all means as they departed, nothing would have prevented the entire army from being destroyed.
τῆς δʼ ἀλόγου ταύτης ἀπάρσεως ἢ φυγῆς τὸ πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα ἐκ τοῦ δήμου μῖσος, ὥσπερ ἔφην, αἴτιον ἦν, καὶ ὁ φθόνος τῆς ἐκείνου τιμῆς, ἵνα μὴ θριάμβου καταγωγῇ §9.4.3κοσμηθεὶς ἐπιφανέστατος γένηται.
And of this irrational departure or flight, the cause was, as I said, the hatred on the part of the people toward their commander, and envy of his honor, so that he might not, by the celebration of a triumph, be adorned and become most illustrious.
τῇ δʼ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ μαθόντες οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ τὴν ἄπαρσιν τῶν Ῥωμαίων νεκρούς τʼ αὐτῶν ἐσκύλευσαν καὶ τραυματίας ἀράμενοι ἀπήνεγκαν τάς τε καταλειφθείσας ἐν τῷ χάρακι παρασκευάς — πολλαὶ δʼ ἦσαν ὡς εἰς χρόνιον παρεσκευασμέναι πόλεμον — διεφόρησαν, καὶ ὡς δὴ κρατοῦντες τῆς χώρας τῶν πολεμίων τὴν ἐγγυτάτω λεηλατήσαντες ἀπῆγον τὴν στρατιάν.
And on the following day, the Etruscans, having learned of the departure of the Romans, despoiled their dead, and carrying away the wounded they bore them off; and they plundered the supplies left behind in the camp—which were many, as having been prepared for a long-lasting war—and, as if indeed ruling the country, after they had plundered the nearest territory of the enemy, they led their army away.

Notes

  1. 9.4.1οὐ πρότερον ... ἢ λαμπράν τε ἡμέραν γενέσθαι — The construction οὐ πρότερον ... ἤ followed by accusative with infinitive clauses (γενέσθαι... and γνωσθῆναι...) indicates a temporal limitation, meaning "not... until". Here it expresses that the guards did not open the gates until broad daylight had come and their own army was recognized.
  2. 9.4.2ὥστε πρὸς τῇ αἰσχύνῃ ... καὶ κίνδυνον οὐ τὸν ἐλάχιστον αὐτοὺς ἀναρρῖψαι — An infinitive clause of result introduced by the conjunction ὥστε. The infinitive ἀναρρῖψαι (from κίνδυνον ἀναρρίπτω, "to run a risk") takes αὐτούς as its subject accusative, and combined with πρὸς τῇ αἰσχύνῃ ("in addition to the shame", πρός with dative), it describes the consequence of the soldiers' retreat.
  3. 9.4.2εἴ γʼ οὖν ... οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυσεν — A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis consists of εἰ with the past indicative (ἠκολούθησαν) and the apodosis of ἄν with the past indicative (ἐκώλυσεν), representing a hypothetical past event (the Etruscans pursuing them) and its imagined consequence (the destruction of the army).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §9.4.1-9.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.4.1-9.4.3

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