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Appian · The Illyrian Wars §525-527

Augustus's Capture of Promona and the Dalmatian War

Passage 9 of 10 · Greek

Summary

Caesar besieges and captures the Dalmatian fortress of Promona, disperses the forces of Testimus, and inflicts decimation on a Roman cohort that abandoned its post. He then burns Synodium and returns to Rome after being wounded at the siege of Setuia.

§525οἱ Δαλμάται δʼ ἐξ οὗ τὰς ὑπὸ Γαβινίῳ πέντε τάξεις ἀνῃρήκεσαν καὶ τὰ σημεῖα εἰλήφεσαν, ἐπαρθέντες ἐπὶ τῷδε τὰ ὅπλα οὐκ ἀπετέθειντο ἔτεσιν ἤδη δέκα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ Καίσαρος ἐπιόντος αὐτοῖς συμμαχήσειν ἀλλήλοις συνετίθεντο.
The Dalmatians, ever since they had destroyed the five cohorts under Gabinius and had taken their standards, elated by this, had not laid down their arms for ten years now, but even as Caesar was marching against them they agreed to ally with one another.
καὶ ἦσαν οἱ μαχιμώτατοι μυρίων καὶ δισχιλίων πλείους, ὧν στρατηγὸν Οὐέρσον αἱροῦνται.
And the most warlike of them were more than twelve thousand, of whom they chose Versus as general.
ὁ δὲ Πρωμόναν αὖθις, τὴν τῶν Λιβυρνῶν πόλιν, καταλαβὼν ὠχύρου, καὶ τἆλλα οὖσαν ἐκφυῶς ὀχυρωτάτην· ὄρειον γάρ ἐστι τὸ χωρίον, καὶ αὐτῷ περίκεινται λόφοι πάντοθεν ὀξεῖς οἷα πρίονες.
He, having occupied Promona again, the city of the Liburnians, fortified it, which was even otherwise remarkably strong; for the place is mountainous, and sharp hills like saws surround it on all sides.
ἐν μὲν δὴ τῇ πόλει τὸ πλέον ἦν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς λόφοις διέθηκεν Οὐέρσος φρούρια· καὶ πάντες ἐφεώρων τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἀφʼ ὑψηλοῦ.
In the city indeed was the greater part, but on the hills Versus stationed garrisons; and they all looked down upon the movements of the Romans from on high.
ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ ἐς μὲν τὸ φανερὸν πάντας ἀπετείχιζε, λάθρᾳ δὲ τοὺς εὐτολμοτάτους ἔπεμπε ζητεῖν ἄνοδον ἐς τὸν ἀκρότατον τῶν λόφων.
But Caesar openly began to construct a wall around them all, but secretly sent the most daring men to seek an ascent to the highest of the hills.
καὶ οἱ μέν, τῆς ὕλης αὐτοὺς ἐπικαλυπτούσης, νυκτὸς ἐμπίπτουσι τοῖς φύλαξιν εὐναζομένοις, καὶ κτείνουσιν αὐτούς, καὶ τῷ Καίσαρι κατέσεισαν ὑπὸ λύγῃ· ὁ δὲ τῆς τε πόλεως ἐς πεῖραν ᾔει τῷ πλέονι στρατῷ, καὶ ἐς τὸ εἰλημμένον ἄκρον ἑτέρους ἐφʼ ἑτέροις ἔπεμπεν, οἳ τοῖς ἄλλοις λόφοις ἐπικατῄεσαν.
And they, the woods concealing them, fell upon the guards asleep at night, and killed them, and waved a signal to Caesar at early dawn; and he went to attempt the city with the greater part of the army, and sent others after others to the captured peak, who descended upon the other hills.
φόβος τε καὶ θόρυβος ἦν τοῖς βαρβάροις ὁμοῦ πᾶσιν ἐπιχειρουμένοις πάντοθεν· μάλιστα δὲ οἱ ἐν τοῖς λόφοις ἔδεισαν διὰ τὸ ἄνυδρον, μὴ τῶν διόδων ἀφαιρεθῶσιν.
Fear and confusion fell upon all the barbarians at once, being attacked from all sides; and especially those on the hills feared on account of the lack of water, lest they should be cut off from their passages.
καὶ συμφεύγουσιν ἐς τὴν Πρωμόναν.
And they fled together into Promona.
§526ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ αὐτήν τε καὶ δύο λόφους, οἳ ἔτι ἐκρατοῦντο ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, ὁμοῦ περιετείχιζε, τεσσαράκοντα σταδίων περίμετρον.
But Caesar surrounded both the city itself and two hills, which were still held by the enemy, with a wall at the same time, forty stades in circumference.
κἀν τούτῳ Τέστιμον Δαλμάτην, στρατὸν ἕτερον ἄγοντα τοῖς ἐν Πρωμόνῃ συμμάχον, ὑπαντήσας ἐδίωκεν ἐς τὰ ὄρη, καὶ ἐφορῶντος ἔτι τοῦ Τεστίμου τὴν Πρωμόναν εἷλεν, οὔπω τῆς περιτειχίσεως τετελεσμένης.
And in the meantime, Testimus the Dalmatian, bringing another army as an ally to those in Promona, Caesar met and pursued into the mountains, and while Testimus was still looking on, he took Promona, before the circumvallation was completed.
ἐκδραμόντων γὰρ τῶν ἔνδον καὶ συνελαυνομένων ὀξέως, οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι φεύγουσιν αὐτοῖς ἐς τὴν πόλιν συνεσέπεσον, καὶ τὸ τρίτον τούτων ἔνδον ἔκτειναν· οἱ λοιποὶ δʼ ἐς τὴν ἄκραν ἀνέδραμον.
For as those inside sallied out and were sharply driven back, the Romans rushed into the city together with them as they fled, and killed a third of them inside; and the rest fled up to the citadel.
καὶ σπεῖρα Ῥωμαίων ἐφύλασσεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν πυλῶν.
And a Roman cohort was guarding them at the gates.
οἷς προσπίπτουσιν οἱ βάρβαροι νυκτὸς τετάρτης, καὶ ἐξέλιπεν ἡ σπεῖρα τὰς πύλας ὑπὸ δέους.
Upon whom the barbarians fell on the fourth night, and the cohort abandoned the gates out of fear.
ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ τοὺς μὲν πολεμίους ἀνέκοψε τῆς ὁρμῆς, καὶ τῆς ἐπιούσης εἷλε παραδόντας ἑαυτούς· τὴν δὲ σπεῖραν ἣ τὸ φυλάκιον ἐξέλιπε διακληρώσας, ἐζημίωσε θανάτῳ τὸ δέκατον, καὶ λοχαγοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ δεκάτῳ δύο.
But Caesar checked the enemy's rush, and on the following day took them as they surrendered themselves; and having decimated the cohort which abandoned the guardpost, he punished every tenth man with death, and two centurions in addition to the tenth.
καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐκέλευεν ἐκείνου τοῦ θέρους κριθὴν ἀντὶ σίτου τραφῆναι δίδοσθαι.
And he ordered the rest to be fed with barley instead of wheat during that summer.
§527οὕτω μὲν ἑάλω Πρωμόνα, Τέστιμος δʼ ὁρῶν διεσκέδασε τὸν στρατὸν ἑαυτοῦ, φεύγειν ἄλλους ἀλλαχοῦ· ὅθεν αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἐδύναντο οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι διώκειν ἐς πολύ, τήν τε διαίρεσιν σφῶν τὴν ἐς πολλὰ δείσαντες, καὶ τὴν ἀπειρίαν τῶν ὁδῶν καὶ τὰ ἴχνη τῆς φυγῆς συγκεχυμένα.
Thus indeed Promona was taken, and Testimus seeing this dispersed his army, some fleeing in one direction and some in another; wherefore the Romans were not able to pursue them far, fearing both their own division into many parts, and their ignorance of the roads, and the confused tracks of the flight.
Συνόδιον δʼ αἱροῦσι πόλιν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ὕλης, ἐν ᾗ τὸν Γαβινίου στρατὸν ἐνήδρευσαν οἱ Δαλμάται περὶ φάραγγι βαθείᾳ καὶ ἐπιμήκει καὶ μέσῃ δύο ὀρῶν, ἔνθα καὶ τὸν Καίσαρα ἐνήδρευον.
And they took Synodium, a city at the beginning of the wood, in which the Dalmatians had ambushed the army of Gabinius around a deep and long ravine between two mountains, where they were also ambushing Caesar.
ὁ δὲ τό τε Συνόδιον ἐνέπρησε, καὶ ἐς τὰ ὄρη περιπέμψας ἄνω στρατὸν ἑκατέρωθεν αὐτῷ συμπαρομαρτεῖν, αὐτὸς ᾔει διὰ τῆς φάραγγος, κόπτων τὴν ὕλην καὶ τὰς πόλεις αἱρῶν, καὶ πάντα ἐμπιπρὰς ὅσα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ᾕρει.
But he burned Synodium, and having sent a force around onto the mountains on either side to keep pace with him above, he himself went through the ravine, cutting down the wood and taking the cities, and burning everything that he took along the way.
πολιορκουμένης δὲ πόλεως Σετουΐας, ἐπῄει τις αὐτοῖς συμμαχία βαρβάρων, ἣν ὁ Καῖσαρ ὑπαντήσας ἐκώλυσεν ἐσδραμεῖν ἐς τὴν Σετουΐαν.
While the city of Setuia was being besieged, a certain allied force of barbarians came against them, which Caesar met and prevented from running into Setuia.
κἀν τῷ πόνῳ τῷδε ἐπλήγη λίθῳ τὸ γόνυ, καὶ ἐς πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐθεραπεύετο.
And in this labor he was struck on the knee with a stone, and was under treatment for many days.
ῥαΐσας δὲ ἐς Ῥώμην ἐπανῆλθεν, ὑπατεύσων σὺν Οὐολκατίῳ Τύλλῳ, Στατίλιον Ταῦρον ἐς τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ πολέμου καταλιπών.
But when he recovered, he returned to Rome to enter the consulship with Volcatius Tullus, leaving Statilius Taurus for the rest of the war.

Notes

  1. §525τὰ ὅπλα οὐκ ἀπετέθειντο — Translated as "had not laid down their arms," using the middle voice (here pluperfect) of the verb ἀποτίθημι, which literally means "had not put down their own arms," indicating that they actively refused to disarm themselves.
  2. §525ὑπὸ λύγῃ — Meaning "at early dawn" or "under the twilight." The noun λύγη refers to "twilight" or "darkness." Following the context of a night attack (νυκτὸς ἐμπίπτουσι), it indicates the dim light of dawn before the day fully broke.
  3. §526ἐπὶ τῷ δεκάτῳ δύο — This can be interpreted as "two in addition to the tenth" or "two for every tenth." In context, it means that while one-tenth of the cohort was executed, two centurions (λοχαγοί) from that tenth (or from the whole cohort) were also punished with death.
  4. §527περὶ φάραγγι — The preposition περί with the dative case here means "around" or "near" the ravine, describing the geographical setting where the ambush took place.

Cite this passage

Appian, The Illyrian Wars §525-527. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0551.tlg012.humanitext-grc2:525-527

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