§419ἐπὶ δʼ ἑτέραν πόλιν ἐχώρει, Μετοῦλον, ἣ τῶν Ἰαπόδων ἐστὶ κεφαλή, κεῖται δʼ ἐν ὄρει σφόδρα ὑλώδει ἐπὶ δύο λόφων, οὓς διαιρεῖ χαράδρα στενή.
He marched against another city, Metulum, which is the capital of the Iapodes, and lies in a very woody mountain upon two hills which a narrow ravine divides.
καὶ ἡ νεότης ἦν ἀμφὶ τοὺς τρισχιλίους μαχίμους τε καὶ σφόδρα εὐόπλους· οἳ Ῥωμαίους τὰ τείχη σφῶν περιστάντας εὐκόλως ἀπεκρούοντο.
And the young men were about three thousand, both warlike and very well-armed; who easily repulsed the Romans as they surrounded their walls.
οἱ δὲ χῶμα ἤγειρον· καὶ οἱ Μετοῦλοι τό τε χῶμα νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐκτρέχοντες ἠνώχλουν, καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους μηχαναῖς κατεπόνουν, ἃς ἐσχήκεσαν ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου ὃν Δέκμος Βροῦτος ἐνταῦθα ἐπολέμησεν Ἀντωνίῳ τε καὶ τῷ Σεβαστῷ.
And the Romans raised a mound; and the Metulians, sallying out night and day, harassed them on the mound, and harassed the men from the wall with engines which they had kept from the war that Decimus Brutus fought there against Antony and Augustus.
πονοῦντος δὲ κἀκείνοις ἤδη τοῦ τείχους, οἵδʼ ὑπετείχισαν ἔνδοθεν, καὶ τὸ κεκμηκὸς ἐκλιπόντες μετεπήδησαν ἐς τὸ νεότευκτον· οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τὸ μὲν ἐκλειφθὲν λαβόντες ἐνέπρησαν, κατὰ δὲ τοῦ ἄλλου δύο χώματα ἔχουν, καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν γεφύρας τέσσαρας ἐξέτεινον ἐς τὸ τεῖχος.
And when their wall also was now failing, they built an inner wall, and abandoning the exhausted part, they leaped over into the newly-built one; and the Romans, taking the abandoned wall, set it on fire, and raised two mounds against the other wall, and from them extended four bridges to the wall.
γενομένων δὲ τούτων ὁ Καῖσαρ περιέπεμψέ τινας ἐς τὰ ὀπίσθια τῆς πόλεως, περισπᾶν τοὺς Μετούλους, τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις προσέταξε περᾶν ἐς τὰ τείχη. διὰ τῶν γεφυρῶν. καὶ αὐτὸς ἐς ὑψηλὸν πύργον ἀναβὰς ἑώρα.
When this was done, Caesar sent some around to the rear of the city to distract the Metulians, and ordered the others to cross over to the walls by the bridges; and he himself went up into a high tower and watched.
§420οἱ βάρβαροι δὲ τοῖς περῶσιν ὑπήντων τε ἐκ μετώπου κατὰ τὸ τεῖχος, καὶ ὑφεδρεύοντες ἕτεροι τὰς γεφύρας μακροῖς δόρασιν ὑπεκέντουν, μᾶλλόν τε ἐθάρρησαν μιᾶς γεφύρας καὶ δευτέρας ἐπʼ ἐκείνῃ πεσούσης.
But the barbarians met those who were crossing head-on along the wall, and others lying in wait underneath pierced the bridges with long spears, and they grew bolder when one bridge fell and a second one after it.
ὡς δὲ καὶ ἡ τρίτη συνέπεσε, φόβος ἤδη παντελὴς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐπεῖχε, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῆς τετάρτης ἐπέβαινεν, ἕως ὁ Καῖσαρ ἐκ τοῦ πύργου καταθορὼν ὠνείδιζεν αὐτούς.
And when the third also collapsed, a total fear now seized the Romans, and no one would step upon the fourth, until Caesar, leaping down from the tower, reproached them.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς οὐκ ἐρεθιζομένων, αὐτὸς ἀσπίδα λαβὼν ἐπὶ τὴν γέφυραν ἵετο δρόμῳ.
But even so, as they were not roused, he himself took a shield and rushed onto the bridge at a run.
συνέθεον δʼ αὐτῷ τῶν ἡγεμόνων Ἀγρίππας τε καὶ Ἱέρων καὶ ὁ σωματοφύλαξ Λοῦτος καὶ Οὐόλας, τέσσαρες οἵδε μόνοι, καὶ τῶν ὑπασπιστῶν ὀλίγοι.
And there ran with him of the commanders Agrippa and Hiero, and the bodyguard Lutius and Volas, these four alone, and a few of the shield-bearers.
ἤδη δʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν γέφυραν περῶντος, ἐν αἰδοῖ γενόμενος ὁ στρατὸς ἀνεπήδησεν ἄθρους.
But when he was already crossing the bridge, the army, moved by shame, rushed forward in a body.
καὶ πάλιν ἡ γέφυρα βαρηθεῖσα καταπίπτει, καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες ὑπʼ αὐτῆς ἀθρόοι κατεχώννυντο, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπέθανον αὐτῶν, οἱ δὲ συντριβέντες ἐφέροντο.
And again the bridge, being overloaded, fell down, and the men under it were buried together; some of them died, and others were carried away crushed.
ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ ἐπλήγη μὲν τὸ σκέλος τὸ δεξιὸν καὶ τοὺς βραχίονας ἄμφω, ἀνέδραμε δʼ ὅμως εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὸν πύργον μετὰ τῶν συμβόλων, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἔδειξεν ἐρρωμένον, μή τις ὡς ἀποθανόντος γένοιτο θόρυβος.
And Caesar was wounded in the right leg and both arms, but nevertheless he immediately ran back up to the tower with the standards, and showed himself to be well, lest any tumult should arise as if he were dead.
ἵνα δὲ μηδʼ οἱ πολέμιοι νομίσειαν αὐτὸν ἐνδώσειν ἀναχωρήσαντα, εὐθὺς ἑτέρας ἐπήγνυτο γεφύρας.
And so that the enemy also might not think he would give up and retreat, he immediately ordered other bridges to be constructed.
ὃ καὶ μάλιστα κατέπληξε τοὺς Μετούλους ὡς ὑπὸ γνώμης ἀμάχου πολεμουμένους.
This indeed especially struck the Metulians with terror, as they felt they were fighting against an invincible determination.
§421καὶ τῆς ἐπιούσης πρεσβευσάμενοι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμήρους τε πεντήκοντα ἔδοσαν, οὓς ὁ Καῖσαρ ἐπελέξατο, καὶ φρουρὰν ὑποσχόμενοι δέξεσθαι τὸν ὑψηλότερον λόφον τοῖς φρουροῖς ἀπέλιπον, αὐτοὶ δὲ μετεχώρουν ἐς τὸν ἕτερον.
And on the following day they sent ambassadors to him and gave fifty hostages whom Caesar selected; and promising to receive a garrison, they left the higher hill to the guards and themselves withdrew to the other.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐσελθοῦσα ἡ φρουρὰ τὰ ὅπλα αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευεν ἀποθέσθαι, οἱ δὲ ἠγανάκτησάν τε, καὶ τὰ γύναια σφῶν καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἐς τὸ βουλευτήριον συγκλείσαντες, καὶ φυλακὴν ἐπιστήσαντες, οἷς εἴρητο, εἴ τι ἀηδὲς γίγνοιτο περὶ αὐτούς, ἐμπρῆσαι τὸ βουλευτήριον, ἐπεχείρουν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις αὐτοὶ μετʼ ἀπονοίας.
But when the garrison entered and ordered them to lay down their arms, they were indignant, and shutting up their women and children in the council-chamber and stationing guards who were ordered, if any misfortune should happen to themselves, to set fire to the council-chamber, they themselves made a desperate attempt upon the Romans.
οἷα δʼ ὑψηλοτέροις ἐπιχειροῦντες ἐκ ταπεινοῦ, συνεχώσθησαν ἀθρόοι, καὶ οἱ φύλακες τὸ βουλευτήριον κατέπησαν, πολλαί τε τῶν γυναικῶν ἑαυτάς τε καὶ τὰ τέκνα διεχρῶντο, αἱ δὲ καὶ ζῶντα ἔτι φέρουσαι ἐς τὸ πῦρ ἐνήλαντο, ὡς ἀπολέσθαι τῶν Μετούλων τήν τε νεότητα πᾶσαν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ καὶ τῶν ἀχρείων τὸ πλέον τῷ πυρί.
But since they were attacking from a lower position against those who were higher, they were cut down in a body; and the guards set fire to the council-chamber, and many of the women killed themselves and their children, while others, carrying those who were still alive, leaped into the fire, so that all the young men of the Metulians perished in the battle, and the greater part of the non-combatants in the fire.
συγκατεφλέγη δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἡ πόλις, καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν ἴχνος μεγίστης ἐκεῖθι γενομένης.
And the city was burned down together with them, and no trace remained of what had been a very great city there.
Μετούλου δʼ ἁλούσης οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν Ἰαπόδων καταπλαγέντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐπέτρεψαν τῷ Καίσαρι.
And when Metulum was captured, the rest of the Iapodes, struck with terror, surrendered themselves to Caesar.
Ἰάποδες μὲν οὖν οἱ πέραν Ἄλπεων τότε πρῶτον Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκουσαν·
Thus the Iapodes beyond the Alps then for the first time submitted to the Romans.
καὶ αὐτῶν Ποσηνοὺς ἀποχωρήσαντος τοῦ Καίσαρος ἀποστάντας ἐπιπεμφθεὶς αὐτοῖς Μᾶρκος Ἕλουιος εἷλε, καὶ τοὺς μὲν αἰτίους ἔκτεινε, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἀπέδοτο.
And when the Poseni among them revolted after Caesar's departure, Marcus Helvius, being sent against them, captured them, and executed the guilty ones and sold the rest.