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Livy · History of Rome §2.62.1-2.62.5

Campaigns and Ravaging against the Aequi and Sabines

Passage 123 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

In the war against the Aequi, a sudden storm forces the Romans to withdraw from attacking the camp, while in the campaign against the Sabines, the consul Aemilius devastates the land but leaves the war unfinished after the enemy retreats to safer ground.

§2.62.1eodem anno Valerius consul cum exercitu in Aequos profectus cum hostem ad proelium elicere non posset, castra oppugnare est adortus.
In the same year, the consul Valerius, having set out with his army against the Aequi, since he could not entice the enemy into battle, attempted to assault their camp.
prohibuit foeda tempestas cum grandine ac tonitribus caelo deiecta.
A terrible storm with hail and thunder, cast down from the sky, prevented this.
§2.62.2admirationem deinde auxit signo receptui dato adeo tranquilla serenitas reddita, ut velut numine aliquo defensa castra oppugnare iterum religio fuerit.
The wonder was then increased because, when the signal for retreat was given, so tranquil a serenity returned that to attack again a camp defended as if by some divine power became a matter of religious scruple.
omnis ira belli ad populationem agri vertit.
All the fury of war was turned to the devastation of the countryside.
alter consul Aemilius in Sabinis bellum gessit.
The other consul, Aemilius, conducted the war in the territory of the Sabines.
§2.62.3et ibi, quia hostis moenibus se tenebat, vastati agri sunt.
And there, because the enemy kept themselves within their walls, the fields were devastated.
§2.62.4incendiis deinde non villarum modo sed etiam vicorum, quibus frequenter habitabatur, Sabini exciti cum praedatoribus occurrissent, ancipiti proelio digressi postero die rettulere castra in tutiora loca.
Then, aroused by the burning not only of country-houses but also of villages, which were thickly populated, the Sabines came out to meet the plunderers; having parted after an indecisive battle, they moved their camp on the following day to safer positions.
§2.62.5id satis consuli visum, cur pro victo relinqueret hostem, integro inde decedens bello.
This seemed to the consul a sufficient reason why he should leave the enemy as if defeated, departing thence with the war still unfinished.

Notes

  1. 2.62.4quibus frequenter habitabatur — The passive imperfect of the intransitive verb habitare (to dwell) is used impersonally here to mean "in which it was thickly inhabited" (i.e., "which were thickly populated"). The relative pronoun quibus functions as an ablative of place where without a preposition.
  2. 2.62.5integro inde decedens bello — The phrase integro... bello is an ablative absolute using the adjective integer ("untouched," "undecided"), denoting the attendant circumstance ("with the war still unfinished") accompanying the present participle decedens ("departing"), whose subject is the consul Aemilius.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §2.62.1-2.62.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.62.1-2.62.5

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