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Cornelius Nepos · Hannibal §6.1-6.4

Return to Africa and Defeat at the Battle of Zama

Passage 6 of 13 · Latin

Summary

Hannibal is recalled to Africa to defend his fatherland and faces Publius Scipio, the son of the Scipio he had previously defeated. After failed peace negotiations, Hannibal is defeated at the Battle of Zama and retreats to Hadrumetum, where he gathers new forces.

§6.1Hinc invictus patriam defensum revocatus bellum gessit adversus P. Scipionem, filium eius Scipionis, quem ipse primo apud Rhodanum, iterum apud Padum, tertio apud Trebiam fugarat.
From here, recalled undefeated to defend his fatherland, he waged war against Publius Scipio, the son of that Scipio whom he himself had routed first at the Rhone, a second time at the Po, and a third time at the Trebia.
§6.2cum hoc exhaustis iam patriae facultatibus cupivit impraesentiarum bellum componere, quo valentior postea congrederetur.
With this man, since the resources of his fatherland were already exhausted, he desired for the present to bring the war to an end, so that he might engage later with greater strength.
inde colloquium convenit, condiciones non convenerunt.
Thereupon, an interview was agreed upon, but the terms were not agreed upon.
§6.3post id factum paucis diebus apud Zamam cum eodem conflixit; pulsus (incredibile dictu) biduo et duabus noctibus Hadrumetum pervenit, quod abest ab Zama circiter milia passuum trecenta.
A few days after this event, he clashed with the same man near Zama; having been defeated, he reached Hadrumetum (incredible to relate) in two days and two nights, which is about three hundred miles distant from Zama.
§6.4in hac fuga Numidae, qui simul cum eo ex acie excesserant, insidiati sunt ei, quos non solum effugit, sed etiam ipsos oppressit.
In this flight, the Numidians, who had left the battle line together with him, laid an ambush for him, from whom he not only escaped but even crushed them themselves.
Hadrumeti reliquos e fuga collegit, novis dilectibus paucis diebus multos contraxit.
At Hadrumetum, he gathered the remaining fugitives, and by new levies contracted many men within a few days.

Notes

  1. §6.1defensum — Accusative supine of purpose, modifying the participle revocatus, expressing the purpose of the action ("recalled to defend").
  2. §6.2quo valentior postea congrederetur — The ablative relative pronoun quo introduces a clause of purpose containing a comparative (valentior), equivalent to ut eo. The verb congrederetur is in the imperfect subjunctive due to the sequence of tenses after cupivit.
  3. §6.3dictu — Ablative supine of respect/specification, modifying the adjective incredibile ("incredible to relate/say").
  4. §6.4Hadrumeti — Locative case of a second-declension singular noun, indicating the place where ("at Hadrumetum").

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal §6.1-6.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo023.humanitext-lat2:6.1-6.4

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