§741ὁ δʼ ἐπιτηρήσας νύκτα ἀσέληνον, καὶ χωρίον ἐν ᾧ Φούλουιος ἑσπερας τεῖχος μὲν οὐκ ἔφθανεν ἐγεῖραι, τάφρον δʼ ὀρυξάμενος καὶ διαστήματα ἀντὶ πυλῶν καταλιπὼν καὶ τὸ χῶμα προβαλὼν ἀντὶ τείχους ἡσύχαζεν, ἔς τε λόφον ὑπερκείμενον αὐτοῦ καρτερὸν ἔπεμψε λαθὼν ἱππέας, οἷς εἶρητο ἡσυχάζειν ἕως οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τὸν λόφον ὡς ἔρημον ἀνδρῶν καταλαμβάνωσι, τοῖς δʼ ἐλέφασι τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς ἐπιβήσας ἐκέλευσεν ἐς τὸ τοῦ Φουλουίου στρατόπεδον ἐσβιάζεσθαι διά τε τῶν διαστημάτων καὶ διὰ τῶν χωμάτων, ὡς δύναιντο.
And he, having watched for a moonless night and a place where Fulvius in the evening had not had time to raise a wall, but had dug a ditch, left spaces instead of gates, and thrown up a mound instead of a wall, and was resting quietly, secretly sent horsemen to a steep hill rising above him, who had been told to keep quiet until the Romans should occupy the hill, thinking it empty of men. Having mounted the Indians upon the elephants, he ordered them to force their way into the camp of Fulvius through the spaces and over the mounds, as best they could.
σαλπικτὰς δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ βυκανητάς τινας ἐξ ὀλίγου διαστήματος ἕπεσθαι κελεύσας, προσέταξεν, ὅταν ἔνδον γένωνται, τοὺς μὲν θόρυβον πολὺν ἐγείρειν περιθέοντας, ἵνα πολλοὶ δόξωσιν εἶναι, τοὺς δε ῥωμαΐζοντας βοᾶν ὅτι Φούλουιος ὁ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς κελεύει, τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐκλιπόντας, ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγγὺς λόφον ἀναπηδᾶν.
Having ordered some trumpeters and horn-blowers to follow them at a short distance, he commanded that, when they were inside, some should run about and raise a great clamor to make themselves seem many, while others, speaking the Roman language, should shout that Fulvius, the Roman general, ordered them to abandon the camp and flee up to the nearby hill.
τόδε μὲν ἦν τὸ στρατήγημα τοῦ Ἀννίβου, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν πρῶτα πάντα κατὰ νοῦν ἀπήντησεν· οἵτε γὰρ ἐλέφαντες ἐσῆλθον τοὺς φύλακας καταπατήσαντες, καὶ οἱ σαλπικταὶ τὸ αὑτῶν ἐποίουν, καὶ ὁ θόρυβος Ῥωμαίοις ἐξ εὐνῆς ἀνισταμένοις ἐν μελαίνῃ νυκτὶ ἀδόκητος ἐμπεσὼν ἐπιφοβώτατος ἦν, τῶν τε ῥωμαϊζόντων ἀκούοντες ὅτι παρήγγελται φεύγειν ἐς τὸν λόφον, περὶ τοῦτʼ ἐγίγνοντο.
This was the stratagem of Hannibal, and at first all of it succeeded according to his mind; for the elephants entered, trampling down the guards, the trumpeters did their part, and the unexpected clamor falling upon the Romans as they rose from their beds in the pitch-dark night was most terrifying, and hearing those who spoke the Roman language saying that they were ordered to flee to the hill, they turned their attention to this.
§742Φούλουιος δὲ ἀεί τινα προσδοκῶν ἐνέδραν, καὶ τοῦτο ὑποπτεύων ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς Ἀννίβου, εἴθʼ ὑπʼ οἰκείας τότε συνέσεως, εἴτε θεολήπτῳ γνώμῃ προσπεσών, εἴτε παρʼ αἰχμαλώτου τὰ ἀκριβέστατα μαθών, τοὺς χιλιάρχους ὀξέως ἐπέστησε ταῖς ἐς τὸ λόφον ἀγούσαις ὁδοῖς, κωλύειν τοὺς διʼ αὐτῶν φερομένους, καὶ μεταδιδάσκειν ὅτι τοῦτʼ οὐχ ὁ στρατηγὸς Ῥωμαίων ἀλλʼ Ἀννίβας ἐκήρυξεν ἐνεδρεύων.
But Fulvius, always expecting some ambush and suspecting this in all the actions of Hannibal—whether prompted then by his own intelligence, or because he had arrived at a divinely inspired judgment, or having learned the exact truth from a prisoner—promptly stationed the military tribunes at the roads leading to the hill, to stop those who were rushing through them, and to instruct them that it was not the Roman general but Hannibal who had made this proclamation, laying an ambush.
αὐτὸς δὲ τοῖς χώμασι φυλακὰς ἀκριβεῖς ἐπιστήσας, μή τις ἔφοδος ἔξωθεν ἄλλη γένοιτο, ἐβοηδρόμει μεθʼ ἑτέρων ἀνὰ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἅπαντα ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς, καὶ ὀλίγους τοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐσελθόντας εἶναι.
He himself, having posted strict guards on the mounds lest any other attack should come from without, ran about with others to keep everything in the camp secure, and told them that those who had entered with the elephants were few.
δᾷδάς τε ἧπτε καὶ πῦρ πανταχόθεν ἤγειρε, καὶ καταφανὴς ἦν ἡ τῶν ἐσελθόντων ὀλιγότης, ὥστε αὐτῶν πάνυ καταφρονήσαντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, ἐς ὀργὴν ἐκ τοῦ πρὶν δέους μεταβαλόντες, εὐμαρῶς οἷα ψιλοὺς καὶ ὀλίγους διέφθειραν.
He had torches lit and fire raised on all sides, and the small number of those who had entered became plain, so that the Romans, utterly despising them and turning from their former fear to anger, easily destroyed them, since they were light-armed and few.
οἱ δὲ ἐλέφαντες οὐκ ἔχοντες εὐρύχωρον οὐδὲν ἐς ἀναστροφήν, εἰλούμενοι περὶ σκηνὰς καὶ φάτνας, ἐβάλλοντο πρὸς ἁπάντων ἐπιτυχῶς διὰ τὴν στενότητα τοῦ χωρίου καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν σωμάτων, μέχρι περιαλγοῦντές τε καὶ ἀγανακτοῦντες, καὶ ἐπιδραμεῖν ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους οὐκ ἔχοντες, τοὺς ἐπιβάτας σφῶν ἀπεσείοντο καὶ κατεπάτουν σὺν ὀργῇ καὶ βοῇ πάνυ ἠγριωμένοι, καὶ ἐξεπήδων ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου.
And the elephants, having no wide space to turn around, being crowded around tents and mangers, were hit effectively by everyone because of the narrowness of the place and the size of their bodies, until, being in extreme pain and rage, and not being able to charge against the enemy, they shook off their riders and trampled them underfoot in anger and with cries, being completely wild, and leaped out of the camp.
Φούλουιος μὲν δὴ Φλάκκος εὐσταθῶς καὶ εὐμηχάνως αἰφνιδίῳ συνενεχθεὶς ἐνέδρᾳ περιῆν τοῦ Ἀννίβου, καὶ τὸν στρατὸν περιέσωζεν ἀεὶ πεφρικότα τὰς Ἀννίβου μηχανάς·
Thus Fulvius Flaccus, having met an unexpected ambush with stability and resourcefulness, got the better of Hannibal and saved his army, which had always shuddered at the devices of Hannibal.
§743ὁ δʼ Ἀννίβας ἐπεὶ τῆς πείρας ἀπέτυχεν, ἐς Λευκανοὺς διελθὼν ἐχείμαζε, καὶ ἐπὶ τρυφῆς ἦν οὐ συνήθους, ἐρωμένην τε εἶχεν ἄγριος ἀνήρ.
And Hannibal, when he failed in this attempt, passed over into the territory of the Lucanians and spent the winter there, and was in unaccustomed luxury, and, though a fierce man, kept a mistress.
καὶ εὐθὺς αὐτῷ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐτρέπετο πάντα.
And immediately everything turned for the worse for him by degrees.
Φούλουιος δʼ ἐς Καπύην πρὸς τὸν συστράτηγον ἐπανῄει, καὶ τοῖς Καπυαίοις προσέβαλλον ἄμφω καρτερῶς, ἐπειγόμενοι χειμῶνος ἑλεῖν τὴν πόλιν, ἕως Ἀννίβας ἠρεμεῖ.
But Fulvius returned to Capua to his fellow-general, and both attacked the Capuans vigorously, hastening to take the city in the winter while Hannibal was inactive.
Καπυαῖοι δέ, τῶν τροφῶν σφᾶς ἐπιλειπουσῶν καὶ οὐδαμόθεν ἄλλων ἐπεισαγομένων, ἐνεχείρισαν ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς στρατηγοῖς· ἐνεχείρισαν δὲ καὶ ὅσοι Λιβύων αὐτοὺς ἐφρούρουν, αὐτοῖς στρατηγοῖς, Ἄννωνι ἑτέρῳ καὶ Βώσταρι.
And the Capuans, as their food supplies failed them and no other could be imported from anywhere, surrendered themselves to the generals; and as many of the Libyans as were guarding them also surrendered, together with their own generals, another Hanno and Bostar.
Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ τῇ μὲν πόλει φρουρὰν ἐπέστησαν, καὶ ὅσους ηὗρον αὐτομολοῦντας, χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἀπέτεμον· Λιβύων δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἐπιφανεῖς ἐς Ῥώμην ἔπεμψαν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἀπέδοντο.
And the Romans placed a garrison in the city, and cut off the hands of as many as they found deserting; of the Libyans, they sent the prominent ones to Rome, and sold the rest.
καὶ Καπυαίων αὐτῶν τοὺς μὲν αἰτίους μάλιστα τῆς ἀποστάσεως ἀπέκτειναν, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων τὴν γῆν ἀφείλοντο μόνον.
And of the Capuans themselves, they put to death those who were chiefly responsible for the revolt, and from the others they only confiscated their land.
εὔφορος δʼ ἐστὶν ἐς σῖτον ἡ περὶ τὴν Καπύην πᾶσα· πεδιὰς γάρ ἐστιν.
All the land around Capua is fertile in grain; for it is a plain.
Καπύη μὲν δὴ πάλιν ἐς Ῥωμαίους ἐπανῆκτο, καὶ μέγα τοῦτο Λιβύων ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν πλεονέκτημα περιῄρητο.
Thus Capua was brought back again to the Romans, and this great advantage of the Libyans in Italy was taken away.
§744ἐν δὲ Βρεττίοις, οἳ μέρος εἰσὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας, ἀνὴρ ἐκ πόλεως Τισίας φρουρουμένης ὑπὸ τῶν Λιβύων, ἐθίσας ἀεί τι λῄζεσθαι καὶ φέρειν τῷ φρουράρχῳ, καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο αὐτῷ συνήθης ἐς πάντα γεγονὼς καὶ σχεδὸν συστράτηγος, ἤλγει τῶν φρουρῶν ἐς τὴν πατρίδα ὑβριζόντων συνθέμενος οὖν τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγῷ, καὶ πιστὰ δοὺς καὶ λαβών, ἑκάστοτέ τινας ὡς αἰχμαλώτους ἐσῆγεν ἐς τὴν ἄκραν, καὶ τὰ ὅπλα αὐτῶν ἐσέφερεν ὡς σκῦλα.
In Bruttium, which is a part of Italy, a man from the city of Tisia, which was garrisoned by the Libyans, having made it a habit always to plunder something and bring it to the garrison commander, and having thereby become intimate with him in all things and almost a fellow-commander, was grieved because the garrison was acting insolently towards his homeland. Having therefore made an agreement with the Roman general, and having given and received pledges of faith, he on each occasion brought some men into the citadel as if they were prisoners, and carried in their arms as spoils.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πλέονες ἐγένοντο, ἐξέλυσεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ὥπλισε, καὶ τὴν Λιβύων φρουρὰν ἀνεῖλε, καὶ παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ἄλλην ἐσηγάγετο.
When they became numerous, he released and armed them, destroyed the Libyan garrison, and brought in another from the Romans.
Ἀννίβου δὲ οὐ πολὺ ὕστερον παροδεύοντος αὐτούς, οἱ μὲν φρουροὶ καταπλαγέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ δέους ἐξέφυγον ἐς Ῥήγιον, οἱ δὲ Τισιᾶται παρέδωκαν αὑτοὺς τῷ Ἀννίβᾳ.
But not long afterwards, when Hannibal was passing by them, the garrison, struck with panic, fled to Rhegium, and the citizens of Tisia surrendered themselves to Hannibal.
καὶ ὁ Ἀννίβας τοὺς μὲν αἰτίους τῆς ἀποστάσεως ἔκαυσε, τῇ δὲ πόλει φρουρὰν ἐπέστησεν ἄλλην.
And Hannibal burned those who were responsible for the revolt, and placed another garrison in the city.