§3.48.1ἁμαρτημάτων ἐμπίπτουσι.
falls into errors.
πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἂν τίς φανείη στρατηγὸς ἀλογιστότερος Ἀννίβου, τίς καὶ σκαιότερος ἡγεμών, §3.48.2ὃς τοσούτων ἡγούμενος δυνάμεων καὶ τὰς μεγίστας ἐλπίδας ἔχων ἐν τούτοις τοῦ κατορθώσειν τοῖς ὅλοις, οὔτε τὰς ὁδοὺς οὔτε τόπους, ὡς οὗτοί φασιν, οὔτε ποῦ πορεύεται τὸ παράπαν οὔτε πρὸς τίνας ἐγίνωσκε, §3.48.3τὸ δὲ πέρας, οὐδʼ εἰ καθόλου [τοὐναντίον] δυνατοῖς ἐπιβάλλεται πράγμασιν;
For in the first place, what general would appear more thoughtless than Hannibal, and what leader more foolish, who, while leading such great forces and having in them the greatest hopes of succeeding in the whole enterprise, knew neither the roads nor the places, as these authors say, nor at all where he was marching, nor against whom, and finally, not even whether he was undertaking possible tasks at all?
§3.48.4ἀλλʼ ὅπερ οἱ τοῖς ὅλοις ἐπταικότες καὶ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐξαποροῦντες οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν, ὥστʼ εἰς ἀπρονοήτους καθιέναι τόπους μετὰ δυνάμεως, τοῦτο περιτιθέασιν οἱ συγγραφεῖς Ἀννίβᾳ τῷ τὰς μεγίστας ἐλπίδας ἀκεραίους ἔχοντι περὶ τῶν καθʼ αὑτὸν πραγμάτων.
But what those who have utterly failed and are in every way at a loss do not submit to—namely, to descend into unexplored places with an army—this the historians attribute to Hannibal, who had his greatest hopes intact regarding his own affairs.
§3.48.5ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐρημίας, ἔτι δʼ ἐρυμνότητος καὶ δυσχωρίας τῶν τόπων ἔκδηλον ποιεῖ τὸ ψεῦδος αὐτῶν.
Likewise, what they say about the desolation, and further the ruggedness and difficulty of the places, makes their falsehood clear.
§3.48.6οὐχ ἱστορήσαντες γὰρ ὅτι συμβαίνει τοὺς Κελτοὺς τοὺς παρὰ τὸν Ῥοδανὸν ποταμὸν οἰκοῦντας οὐχ ἅπαξ οὐδὲ δὶς πρὸ τῆς Ἀννίβου παρουσίας, οὐδὲ μὴν πάλαι προσφάτως δέ, μεγάλοις στρατοπέδοις ὑπερβάντας τὰς Ἄλπεις παρατετάχθαι μὲν Ῥωμαίοις, συνηγωνίσθαι δὲ Κελτοῖς τοῖς τὰ περὶ τὸν Πάδον πεδία κατοικοῦσι, καθάπερ ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων ἐδηλώσαμεν, §3.48.7πρὸς δὲ τούτοις οὐκ εἰδότες ὅτι πλεῖστον ἀνθρώπων φῦλον κατʼ αὐτὰς οἰκεῖν συμβαίνει τὰς Ἄλπεις, ἀλλʼ ἀγνοοῦντες ἕκαστα τῶν εἰρημένων ἥρω τινά φασιν ἐπιφανέντα συνυποδεῖξαι τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῖς.
For, not having inquired that it happened that the Celts living along the Rhone, not once or twice before Hannibal’s arrival, nor indeed long ago but recently, had crossed the Alps with great armies and lined up against the Romans, and fought alongside the Celts who inhabit the plains around the Po, as we have shown in the preceding books, and besides this, not knowing that a very large population of men happens to inhabit the Alps themselves, but being ignorant of each of the aforementioned things, they say that some hero appeared and helped show them the ways.
§3.48.8ἐξ ὧν εἰκότως ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς τὸ παραπλήσιον τοῖς τραγῳδιογράφοις.
As a result of which, they naturally fall into a state similar to the tragic poets.
καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνοις πᾶσιν αἱ καταστροφαὶ τῶν δραμάτων προσδέονται θεοῦ καὶ μηχανῆς διὰ τὸ τὰς πρώτας ὑποθέσεις ψευδεῖς καὶ παραλόγους λαμβάνειν, §3.48.9τούς τε συγγραφέας ἀνάγκη τὸ παραπλήσιον πάσχειν καὶ ποιεῖν ἥρωάς τε καὶ θεοὺς ἐπιφαινομένους, ἐπειδὰν τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀπιθάνους καὶ ψευδεῖς ὑποστήσωνται.
For indeed, for all of them, the denouements of their plays stand in need of a god and a machine, because they assume their original premises to be false and unreasonable, and it is necessary that the historians experience the same and make heroes and gods appear, whenever they lay down implausible and false beginnings.
πῶς γὰρ οἷόν τε παραλόγοις ἀρχαῖς εὔλογον ἐπιθεῖναι τέλος;
For how is it possible to put a reasonable end to unreasonable beginnings?
§3.48.10Ἀννίβας γε μὴν οὐχ ὡς οὗτοι γράφουσιν, λίαν δὲ περὶ ταῦτα πραγματικῶς ἐχρῆτο ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς.
Hannibal, however, not as these write, but very practically conducted his undertakings in these matters.
§3.48.11καὶ γὰρ τὴν τῆς χώρας ἀρετήν, εἰς ἣν ἐπεβάλετο καθιέναι, καὶ τὴν τῶν ὄχλων ἀλλοτριότητα πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐξητάκει σαφῶς, εἴς τε τὰς μεταξὺ δυσχωρίας ὁδηγοῖς καὶ καθηγεμόσιν ἐγχωρίοις ἐχρῆτο τοῖς τῶν αὐτῶν ἐλπίδων μέλλουσι κοινωνεῖν.
For he had clearly investigated both the fertility of the land into which he undertook to descend, and the hostility of the multitudes toward the Romans, and for the intervening difficult places he employed native guides and leaders who were going to share the same hopes.
§3.48.12ἡμεῖς δὲ περὶ τούτων εὐθαρσῶς ἀποφαινόμεθα διὰ τὸ περὶ τῶν πράξεων παρʼ αὐτῶν ἱστορηκέναι τῶν παρατετευχότων τοῖς καιροῖς, τοὺς δὲ τόπους κατωπτευκέναι καὶ τῇ διὰ τῶν Ἄλπεων αὐτοὶ κεχρῆσθαι πορείᾳ γνώσεως ἕνεκα καὶ θέας.
And we declare our opinion on these matters with confidence because we have inquired about the events from those who were present at the occasions, and we ourselves have reconnoitered the places and used the journey through the Alps for the sake of knowledge and personal observation.