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Cornelius Nepos · Hannibal §3.1-3.4

Conquest of Hispania and the March Across the Alps

Passage 3 of 13 · Latin

Summary

The passage describes Hannibal's ascension to supreme command at a young age, his conquest of Spain, and his subsequent military march into Italy by crossing the Pyrenees and the treacherous Alps.

§3.1Hac igitur qua diximus aetate cum patre in Hispaniam profectus est, cuius post obitum, Hasdrubale imperatore suffecto, equitatui omni praefuit.
Therefore, at this age which we have mentioned, he set out for Spain with his father, after whose death, when Hasdrubal was substituted as commander, he was in charge of all the cavalry.
hoc quoque interfecto exercitus summam imperii ad eum detulit.
When this man too was killed, the army conferred the supreme command upon him.
id Karthaginem delatum publice comprobatum est.
This, having been reported to Carthage, was publicly approved.
§3.2sic Hannibal minor quinque et viginti annis natus imperator factus proximo triennio omnes gentes Hispaniae bello subegit, Saguntum, foederatam civitatem, vi expugnavit, tres exercitus maximos comparavit.
Thus Hannibal, became commander when he was less than twenty-five years of age, and in the next three years subdued all the peoples of Spain by war, took Saguntum, an allied city, by force, and prepared three very large armies.
§3.3ex his unum in Africam misit, alterum cum Hasdrubale fratre in Hispania reliquit, tertium in Italiam secum duxit.
Of these, he sent one to Africa, left another in Spain with his brother Hasdrubal, and led the third with him into Italy.
ut saltum Pyrenaeum transiit, quacumque iter fecit, cum omnibus incolis confiixit: neminem nisi victum dimisit.
As soon as he crossed the Pyrenean pass, wherever he made his way, he clashed with all the inhabitants; he let no one go unless they were defeated.
§3.4ad Alpes posteaquam venit, qua Italiam ab Gallia seiungunt, quas nemo umquam cum exercitu ante eum praeter Herculem Graium transierat (quo facto is hodie saltus Graius appellatur), Alpicos conantes prohibere transitu concidit, loca patefecit, itinera muniit, effecit ut ea elephantus ornatus ire posset, qua antea unus homo inermis vix poterat repere.
After he came to the Alps, where they separate Italy from Gaul—which no one before him, except the Greek Hercules, had ever crossed with an army (by which deed that pass is today called the Graian pass)—he cut down the Alpine tribesmen who were attempting to block his passage, opened up the country, constructed roads, and made it possible for a fully equipped elephant to go where before a single unarmed man could scarcely crawl.
hac copias traduxit in Italiamque pervenit.
By this route he led his forces across and arrived in Italy.

Notes

  1. §3.1Hac igitur qua diximus aetate — The relative pronoun qua is attracted into the case of the noun aetate which it modifies, functioning adjectivally within the relative clause. In a standard word order, it would be equivalent to hac aetate, quam diximus ('at this age, which we have mentioned').
  2. §3.1cuius post obitum — A linking relative (relative connection). The genitive relative pronoun cuius refers back to patre (Hamilcar) from the preceding sentence, modifying post obitum to mean 'after his death'.
  3. §3.1id Karthaginem delatum publice comprobatum est. — id is a neuter singular pronoun referring to the act of conferring the supreme command. delatum is a perfect passive participle agreeing with id, functioning circumstantially (temporal) in relation to the main verb comprobatum est ('when this was reported to Carthage').
  4. §3.2minor quinque et viginti annis natus — The comparative minor is followed by the ablative of comparison annis, which along with natus forms an expression of age meaning 'born younger than twenty-five years' (i.e., 'less than twenty-five years of age').
  5. §3.4effecit ut ea elephantus ornatus ire posset — effecit ut followed by the subjunctive posset introduces a noun clause of result ('he brought it about that / he made it possible that'). ea is a pronominal adverb of place ('by that route / there') which correlates with the following relative adverb qua ('where').

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal §3.1-3.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo023.humanitext-lat2:3.1-3.4

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