§21.28.1Galli occursant in ripa cum variis ululatibus cantuque moris sui quatientes scuta super capita vibrantesque dextris tela, §21.28.2quamquam et ex adverso terrebat tanta vis navium cum ingenti sono fluminis et clamore vario nautarum militumque, et qui nitebantur perrumpere impetum fluminis et qui ex altera ripa traicientes suos hortabantur; §21.28.3et iam satis paventes adverso tumultu terribilior ab tergo adortus clamor castris ab Hannone captis.
The Gauls ran to meet them on the bank with various howls and songs according to their custom, shaking their shields over their heads and brandishing weapons in their right hands, although from the opposite side they were also terrified by such a force of ships, with the immense noise of the river and the diverse shouting of sailors and soldiers, both of those who were striving to break the force of the river and of those who from the other bank were encouraging their comrades as they crossed; and while they were already sufficiently terrified by the tumult in front, a more terrible shout attacked them from behind, their camp having been captured by Hanno.
mox et ipse aderat, ancepsque terror circumstabat et e navibus tanta vi armatorum in terram evadente et ab tergo inprovisa premente acie.
Soon he himself was present, and a double terror surrounded them, with such a force of armed men landing on the shore from the ships, and an unexpected battle line pressing from the rear.
§21.28.4Galli postquam utroque vim facere conati pellebantur, qua patere visum maxime iter, perrumpunt trepidique in vicos passim suos diffugiunt.
After the Gauls, having attempted to resist on both sides, were repulsed, they broke through where the way seemed most open, and in panic fled in all directions to their own villages.
Hannibal ceteris copiis per otium traiectis spernens iam Gallicos tumultus castra locat.
Hannibal, having crossed the rest of his forces at leisure, now despising the Gallic tumults, pitched his camp.
§21.28.5elephantorum traiciendorum varia consilia fuisse credo, certe variat memoria actae rei.
I believe there were various plans for crossing the elephants; certainly, the memory of the action varies.
quidam congregatis ad ripam elephantis tradunt ferocissimum ex iis inritatum ab rectore suo, cum refugientem in aquam sequeretur, traxisse gregem, ut quemque timentem altitudinem destitueret vadum, impetu ipso fluminis in alteram ripam rapiente.
Some report that, when the elephants were gathered at the bank, the fiercest of them, provoked by his keeper, when he pursued him as he fled into the water, drew the herd after him, and as the shallows failed each one who feared the depth, the very force of the river swept them to the opposite bank.
§21.28.6ceterum magis constat ratibus traiectos; id ut tutius consilium ante rem foret, ita acta re ad fidem pronius est.
However, it is more generally agreed that they were crossed on rafts; as this would have been a safer plan before the event, so, now that it has been done, it is more credible.
§21.28.7ratem unam ducentos longam pedes quinquaginta latam a terra in amnem porrexerunt, quam, ne secunda aqua deferretur, pluribus validis retinaculis parte superiore ripae religatam pontis in modum humo iniecta constraverunt, ut beluae audacter velut per solum ingrederentur; §21.28.8altera ratis aeque lata, longa pedes centum, ad traiciendum flumen apta, huic copulata est; tum elephanti per stabilem ratem tamquam viam praegredientibus feminis acti ubi in minorem adplicatam transgressi sunt, §21.28.9extemplo resolutis, quibus leviter adnexa erat, vinculis ab actuariis aliquot navibus ad alteram ripam pertrahitur.
They stretched out one raft, two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, from the land into the river, which, lest it should be carried down by the current, they secured to the upper part of the bank with several strong ropes, and covered it with earth thrown upon it in the manner of a bridge, so that the beasts might step onto it boldly as if on solid ground; another raft of equal width, one hundred feet long, suitable for crossing the river, was joined to this one; then the elephants, driven along the stable raft as if it were a road, with the females leading the way, when they had stepped onto the smaller raft attached to it, immediately, the ropes by which it had been loosely fastened being untied, it was towed to the opposite bank by some fast-sailing ships.
§21.28.10ita primis expositis alii deinde repetiti ac traiecti sunt.
Thus, the first having been landed, the others were then fetched and crossed in turn.
nihil sane trepidabant, donec continenti velut ponte agerentur; primus erat pavor, cum soluta ab ceteris rate in altum raperentur; §21.28.11ibi urgentes inter se cedentibus extremis ab aqua trepidationis aliquantum edebant, donec quietem ipse timor circumspectantibus aquam fecisset.
They felt no fear indeed as long as they were driven along what seemed a continuous bridge; their first panic arose when, the raft being untied from the rest, they were swept into the deep water; there, crowding one another, while those on the outside shrank back from the water, they caused a good deal of alarm, until fear itself brought quiet as they looked around at the water.
§21.28.12excidere etiam saevientes quidam in flumen; sed pondere ipso stabiles deiectis rectoribus quaerendis pedetemptim vadis in terram evasere.
Some, becoming wild, even fell into the river; but stable by their very weight, having thrown off their keepers, they escaped to the land by seeking shallows step by step.