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Pausanias · Description of Greece §10.23.1-10.23.7

Divine Wrath at Delphi and Galatian Rout

Passage 442 of 465 · Greek

Summary

The Gallic army at Delphi faces divine retribution through earthquakes, thunderbolts, and phantoms of heroes. Suffering from severe frost, falling rocks, and a surprise rear attack by the Phocians, they retreat in confusion as Brennus is wounded, eventually falling into a state of Panic.

§10.23.1Βρέννῳ δὲ καὶ τῇ στρατιᾷ τῶν τε Ἑλλήνων οἱ ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀθροισθέντες ἀντετάξαντο, καὶ τοῖς βαρβάροις ἀντεσήμαινε τὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ταχύ τε καὶ ὧν ἴσμεν φανερώτατα.
Against Brennus and his army, those of the Greeks who had gathered at Delphi drew themselves up, and signs from the god were shown against the barbarians, both quickly and most clearly of all that we know.
ἥ τε γὰρ γῆ πᾶσα, ὅσην ἐπεῖχεν ἡ τῶν Γαλατῶν στρατιά, βιαίως καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐσείετο τῆς ἡμέρας, βρονταί τε καὶ κεραυνοὶ συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο·
For the whole earth, as much as the army of the Gauls occupied, was violently shaken for the greater part of the day, and continuous thunder and lightning occurred.
§10.23.2καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐξέπληττόν τε τοὺς Κελτοὺς καὶ δέχεσθαι τοῖς ὠσὶ τὰ παραγγελλόμενα ἐκώλυον, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐκ ἐς ὅντινα κατασκήψαι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίον καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἐξῆπτε.
And these terrified the Celts and prevented them from hearing with their ears the orders given, while the things from heaven not only set on fire whomsoever they fell upon, but also set on fire those near them and their weapons alike.
τά τε τῶν ἡρώων τηνικαῦτά σφισιν ἐφάνη φάσματα, ὁ Ὑπέροχος καὶ ὁ Λαόδοκός τε καὶ Πύρρος· οἱ δὲ καὶ τέταρτον Φύλακον ἐπιχώριον Δελφοῖς ἀπαριθμοῦσιν ἥρωα.
And then the phantoms of the heroes appeared to them: Hyperochus, Laodocus, and Pyrrhus; and some count also a fourth, Phylacus, a local hero to Delphi.
§10.23.3ἀπέθανον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν παρὰ τὸ ἔργον τῶν Φωκέων ἄλλοι τε ἀριθμὸν πολλοὶ καὶ Ἀλεξίμαχος, ὃς ἐν τῇ μάχῃ ταύτῃ μάλιστα Ἑλλήνων ἡλικίας τε τῷ ἀκμάζοντι καὶ ἰσχύι σώματος καὶ τῷ ἐρρωμένῳ τοῦ θυμοῦ κατεχρήσατο ἐς τῶν βαρβάρων τὸν φόνον· Φωκεῖς δὲ εἰκόνα τοῦ Ἀλεξιμάχου ποιησάμενοι ἀπέστειλαν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐς Δελφούς.
And there died also in the action itself, of the Phocians themselves, many others in number and Aleximachus, who in this battle, more than any other of the Greeks, made full use of his prime of youth, bodily strength, and vigor of spirit for the slaughter of the barbarians; and the Phocians, having made a statue of Aleximachus, dedicated it to Apollo at Delphi.
§10.23.4τοιούτοις μὲν οἱ βάρβαροι παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν παθήμασί τε καὶ ἐκπλήξει συνείχοντο· τὰ δὲ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ πολλῷ σφᾶς ἔμελλεν ἀλγεινότερα ἐπιλήψεσθαι.
With such sufferings and terror were the barbarians beset throughout the whole day; but the events in the night were destined to overtake them with far more painful trials.
ῥῖγός τε γὰρ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ νιφετὸς ἦν ὁμοῦ τῷ ῥίγει, πέτραι τε ἀπολισθάνουσαι τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ μεγάλαι καὶ κρημνοὶ καταρρηγνύμενοι σκοπὸν τοὺς βαρβάρους εἶχον, καὶ αὐτοῖς οὐ κατὰ ἕνα ἢ δύο ἀλλὰ κατὰ τριάκοντα καὶ ἔτι πλείοσιν, ὡς ἕκαστοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ φρουροῦντες ἢ καὶ ἀναπαυόμενοι τύχοιεν, ἀθρόοις ἡ ἀπώλεια ἐγένετο ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμβολῆς τῶν κρημνῶν.
For there was a severe frost and snow together with the cold, and great rocks slipping from Parnassus and crags breaking off had the barbarians as their target, and for them, not by ones or twos, but by thirties and even more, as they happened to be guarding or resting together in the same place, destruction came upon them in crowds from the falling of the crags.
§10.23.5ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἡλίῳ ἀνίσχοντι οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐπῄεσάν σφισιν ἐκ τῶν Δελφῶν, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ στράτευμα εὐθεῖαν, οἱ Φωκεῖς δὲ ἅτε καὶ μᾶλλον ἔχοντες τῶν χωρίων ἐμπείρως κατέβησάν τε διὰ τῆς χιόνος κατὰ τὰ ἀπότομα τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ καὶ ἔλαθον κατὰ νώτου γενόμενοι τοῖς Κελτοῖς, ἠκόντιζόν τε ἐς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐτόξευον σὺν οὐδενὶ ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων δείματι.
And at the rising of the sun, the Greeks advanced upon them from Delphi, the others taking the straight path to the army, but the Phocians, inasmuch as they had greater experience of the country, came down through the snow along the precipitous parts of Parnassus and secretly got behind the Celts, and hurled javelins at them and shot arrows with no fear of the barbarians.
§10.23.6οἱ δὲ ἀρχομένης μὲν τῆς μάχης, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ περὶ τὸν Βρέννον —οὗτοι δὲ μήκιστοί τε ἦσαν καὶ ἀλκιμώτατοι τῶν Γαλατῶν—τότε μὲν ὑπὸ προθυμίας ἔτι ἀντεῖχον βαλλόμενοί τε πανταχόθεν καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον ὑπὸ τοῦ ῥίγους, μάλιστα οἱ τραυματίαι, ταλαιπωροῦντες· ὡς δὲ καὶ ὁ Βρέννος ἔλαβε τραύματα, ἐκεῖνον μὲν λιποψυχήσαντα ἐκκομίζουσιν ἐκ τῆς μάχης, οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι πανταχόθεν σφίσιν ἐγκειμένων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑπέφευγόν τε ἄκοντες καὶ ἑαυτῶν τοὺς ἀδυνάτους διὰ τραύματα ἕπεσθαι καὶ ἀρρωστίαν φονεύουσιν.
At the beginning of the battle, and especially those around Brennus—who were the tallest and bravest of the Gauls—at that time still held out through eagerness, though they were being hit from all sides and were suffering no less from the cold, especially the wounded; but when Brennus also received wounds, they carried him out of the battle after he fainted, and the barbarians, with the Greeks pressing upon them from all sides, began to retreat against their will, and they slaughtered those of their own who were unable to follow due to wounds and sickness.
§10.23.7καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐστρατοπεδεύσαντο ἔνθα νὺξ κατελάμβανεν ἀναχωροῦντας, ἐν δὲ τῇ νυκτὶ φόβος σφίσιν ἐμπίπτει Πανικός· τὰ γὰρ ἀπὸ αἰτίας οὐδεμιᾶς δείματα ἐκ τούτου φασὶ γίνεσθαι.
And they encamped where night overtook them as they retreated, and during the night a Panic fear fell upon them; for they say that terrors arising from no cause come from this god.
ἐνέπεσε μὲν ἐς τὸ στράτευμα ἡ ταραχὴ περὶ βαθεῖαν τὴν ἑσπέραν, καὶ ὀλίγοι τὸ κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐγένοντο οἱ παραχθέντες ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ, ἐδόξαζόν τε οὗτοι κτύπου τε ἐπελαυνομένων ἵππων καὶ ἐφόδου πολεμίων αἰσθάνεσθαι· μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολὺ καὶ ἐς ἅπαντας διέδρα ἡ ἄγνοια.
The confusion fell upon the army in the late evening, and at first those who were driven out of their minds were few, and these imagined that they perceived both the noise of horses charging and the onset of enemies; and not long afterward, the delusion spread to them all.

Notes

  1. §10.23.1ὧν ἴσμεν — Relative attraction of the relative pronoun ἃ to the genitive of the omitted antecedent ἐκείνων (partitive genitive modifying the superlative φανερώτατα). The underlying structure is φανερώτατα ἐκείνων ἃ ἴσμεν ("most clearly of those things which we know").
  2. §10.23.2οἱ μὲν — The demonstrative pronoun in the masculine plural nominative οἱ μὲν refers contextually to the preceding βρονταί τε καὶ κεραυνοί (thunder and lightning), agreeing in gender with the masculine noun κεραυνοί (lightning bolts) which dominates the construction.
  3. §10.23.5ἔλαθον κατὰ νώτου γενόμενοι — A construction of the verb λανθάνω (ἔλαθον) with a supplementary participle (γενόμενοι), indicating that the action of the subject was performed secretly or without being noticed. It is translated as "they secretly got behind" or "they got behind them escaping notice."

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §10.23.1-10.23.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.23.1-10.23.7

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