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Livy · History of Rome §21.33.1-21.33.11

Ambush by the Mountaineers and Hannibal's Counterattack

Passage 564 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

At dawn, Hannibal moves his army, but the march is put in jeopardy by the attack of the mountaineers, the difficult terrain, and the panic of the horses. Hannibal himself charges to rout the enemy, captures their stronghold and villages to feed his army, and advances further.

§21.33.1prima deinde luce castra mota et agmen reliquum incedere coepit. §21.33.2iam montani signo dato ex castellis ad stationem solitam conveniebant, cum repente conspiciunt alios arce occupata sua super caput inminentis, alios via transire hostis. §21.33.3utraque simul obiecta res oculis animisque immobiles parumper eos defixit; deinde, ut trepidationem in angustiis suoque ipsum tumultu misceri agmen videre, §21.33.4equis maxime consternatis, quidquid adiecissent ipsi terroris, satis ad perniciem fore rati, diversis rupibus, iuxta in vias ac devia adsueti, decurrunt. §21.33.5tum vero simul ab hostibus simul iniquitate locorum Poeni oppugnabantur, plusque inter ipsos, sibi quoque tendente, ut periculo primus evaderet, quam cum hostibus certaminis erat. §21.33.6equi maxime infestum agmen faciebant qui et clamoribus dissonis, quos nemora etiam repercussaeque valles augebant, territi trepidabant et icti forte aut vulnerati adeo consternabantur, ut stragem ingentem simul hominum ac sarcinarum omnis generis facerent; §21.33.7multosque turba, cum praecipites deruptaeque utrimque angustiae essent, in inmensum altitudinis deiecit, quosdam et armatos; sed ruinae maxime modo iumenta cum oneribus devolvebantur. §21.33.8quae quamquam foeda visu erant, stetit parumper tamen Hannibal ac suos continuit, ne tumultum ac trepidationem augeret; §21.33.9deinde, postquam interrumpi agmen vidit periculumque esse, ne exutum inpedimentis exercitum nequiquam incolumem traduxisset, decurrit ex superiore loco et, cum impetu ipso fudisset hostem, suis quoque tumultum auxit. §21.33.10sed is tumultus momento temporis, postquam liberata itinera fuga montanorum erant, sedatur, nec per otium modo sed prope silentio mox omnes traducti.
Then at dawn the camp was moved, and the rest of the army began to advance. Already the mountaineers, a signal having been given, were assembling from their strongholds at their usual post, when suddenly they beheld some of the enemy occupying their own stronghold and hanging over their heads, and others passing along the road. Both spectacles, presented at once to their eyes and minds, kept them motionless for a moment; then, when they saw the army thrown into confusion in the defile and disturbed by its own disorder, thinking that whatever terror they themselves might add would be sufficient for the destruction of the enemy, especially since the horses were terrified, they ran down from the various cliffs, accustomed as they were alike to paths and trackless ways. Then indeed the Carthaginians were assailed at once by the enemy and by the difficulty of the ground, and there was a greater struggle among themselves, each striving to be the first to escape from the danger, than with the enemy. It was the horses that made the line of march especially dangerous; for they, terrified by the discordant clamor which the woods and echoing valleys increased, were thrown into confusion, and if they happened to be struck or wounded, they became so frantic that they caused a great destruction of both men and baggage of every kind. The crowd, since the pass was steep and precipitous on both sides, cast many down into an immense depth, some of them even armed men; but it was the beasts of burden with their loads that rolled down, looking most of all like a falling building. Although these things were shocking to behold, yet Hannibal halted for a moment and kept his men back, lest he should increase the tumult and alarm; then, when he saw that the line of march was being broken and that there was danger lest he might have led the army across in safety but to no purpose if stripped of their baggage, he ran down from the higher ground and, although he routed the enemy by the very force of his charge, he also increased the confusion among his own men. But this tumult was settled in a moment of time, after the paths were cleared by the flight of the mountaineers; and soon all were led across, not only at leisure but almost in silence.
§21.33.11castellum inde, quod caput eius regionis erat, viculosque circumiectos capit, et captivo cibo ac pecoribus per triduum exercitum aluit; et quia nec a montanis primo perculsis nec loco magno opere impediebantur, aliquantum eo triduo viae confecit.
Then he captured the stronghold, which was the capital of that region, and the surrounding villages, and for three days fed his army with the captured food and cattle; and because they were not greatly impeded either by the mountaineers, who were at first thoroughly dismayed, or by the ground, they accomplished a considerable distance of the journey during those three days.

Notes

  1. §21.33.2alios arce occupata sua super caput inminentis, alios via transire hostis — arce occupata sua is an ablative absolute ("their own stronghold having been occupied"). alios... alios are accusatives acting as the objects of conspiciunt, qualifying hostis (an archaic accusative plural form for hostes). The first alios is modified by the present participle inminentis (for inminentes), while the second governs the infinitive transire.
  2. §21.33.4quidquid adiecissent ipsi terroris, satis ad perniciem fore rati — quidquid... terroris is a relative clause with the partitive genitive terroris ("whatever of terror they themselves might add"). adiecissent is a pluperfect subjunctive representing a future perfect in past time within a subordinate clause. fore (futurum esse) is the infinitive of the indirect discourse governed by the participle rati.
  3. §21.33.9periculumque esse, ne exutum inpedimentis exercitum nequiquam incolumem traduxisset — The clause with ne is introduced by periculum esse expressing apprehension ("danger lest..."). exutum is a perfect passive participle modifying exercitum and taking the ablative impedimentis. The juxtaposition of nequiquam and incolumem highlights the contrast ("safe, but to no purpose").

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §21.33.1-21.33.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:21.33.1-21.33.11

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