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Livy · History of Rome §22.42.1-22.42.12

Paulus's Caution and the Discovery of Hannibal's Trap

Passage 636 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

In response to the suspicious retreat of the Carthaginian army, Varro is eager to advance along with the clamorous soldiers, while Paulus remains cautious and sends scouts who suspect a trap. Ultimately, through unfavorable auspices and the timely report of escaped slaves, the Romans narrowly escape destruction from Hannibal's ambush.

§22.42.1ubi inluxit, subductae primo stationes, deinde propius adeuntibus insolitum silentium admirationem fecit.
When it grew light, first the withdrawal of the outposts, and then, as they approached closer, the unusual silence caused astonishment.
§22.42.2tum satis comperta solitudine in castris concursus fit ad praetoria consulum nuntiantium fugam hostium adeo trepidam, ut tabernaculis stantibus castra reliquerint, quoque fuga obscurior esset, crebros etiam relictos ignis.
Then, when the emptiness in the camp was sufficiently established, a rush was made to the headquarters of the consuls by those announcing that the flight of the enemy was so hurried that they had left the camp with the tents standing, and, so that their flight might be more concealed, numerous fires had also been left.
§22.42.3clamor inde ortus, ut signa proferri iuberent ducerentque ad persequendos hostis ac protinus castra diripienda.
Thence a shout arose, bidding them to order the standards to be advanced and to lead them to pursue the enemy and immediately plunder the camp.
et consul alter velut unus turbae militaris erat; §22.42.4Paulus etiam atque etiam dicere providendum praecavendumque esse; postremo, cum aliter neque seditionem neque ducem seditionis sustinere posset, Marium Statilium praefectum cum turma Lucana exploratum mittit.
And one of the two consuls was just like one of the military crowd; Paulus kept saying again and again that they must look ahead and be on their guard; at last, since he could not otherwise withstand either the mutiny or the leader of the mutiny, he sent Marius Statilius, a prefect, with a Lucanian troop to reconnoiter.
§22.42.5qui ubi adequitavit portis subsistere extra munimenta ceteris iussis ipse cum duobus equitibus vallum intravit, speculatusque omnia cum cura renuntiat insidias profecto esse: §22.42.6ignes in parte castrorum, quae vergat in hostem, relictos; tabernacula aperta et omnia cara in promptu relicta; argentum quibusdam locis temere per vias velut obiectum ad praedam vidisse.
When he rode up to the gates, having ordered the others to stay outside the fortifications, he himself entered the rampart with two horsemen, and having carefully observed everything, he reported back that there was indeed an ambush: that fires had been left in the part of the camp which faced the enemy; that the tents were open and all valuable things left in plain sight; and that in certain places he had seen silver scattered carelessly through the streets as if thrown out for plunder.
§22.42.7quae ad deterrendos a cupiditate animos nuntiata erant, ea accenderunt, et clamore orto a militibus, ni signum detur, sine ducibus ituros, haudquaquam dux defuit: nam extemplo Varro signum dedit proficiscendi.
These things, which had been reported to deter their minds from greed, only inflamed them; and when a shout arose from the soldiers that if the signal were not given they would go without leaders, a leader was by no means lacking: for immediately Varro gave the signal for departure.
§22.42.8Paulus, cum ei sua sponte cunctanti pulli quoque auspicio non addixissent, nuntiari iam efferenti porta signa collegae iussit.
Paulus, since the sacred chickens also had not favored him with a good omen as he was hesitating of his own accord, ordered this to be announced to his colleague, who was already carrying the standards out of the gate.
§22.42.9quodquamquam Varro aegre est passus, Flamini tamen recens casus Claudique consulis primo Punico bello memorata navalis clades religionem animo incussit.
Although Varro took this hard, nevertheless the recent disaster of Flaminius and the famous naval defeat of the consul Claudius in the First Punic War struck a religious awe into his mind.
§22.42.10di prope ipsi eo die magis distulere quam prohibuere inminentem pestem Romanis: nam forte ita evenit, ut, cum referri signa in castra iubenti consuli milites non parerent, §22.42.11servi duo, Formiani unus, alter Sidicini equitis, qui Servilio atque Atilio consulibus inter pabulatores excepti a Numidis fuerant, profugerent eo die ad dominos; deductique ad consules nuntiant omnem exercitum Hannibalis trans proximos montes sedere in insidiis.
On that day, the gods themselves almost deferred rather than prevented the impending ruin of the Romans: for it happened by chance that, while the soldiers were not obeying the consul who ordered the standards to be carried back to the camp, two slaves, one of a man from Formiae, the other of a Sidicinian knight, who had been captured by the Numidians among the foragers during the consulship of Servilius and Atilius, escaped on that day to their masters; and having been brought to the consuls, they reported that the entire army of Hannibal was sitting in ambush behind the nearest hills.
§22.42.12horum opportunus adventus consules imperii potentes fecit, cum ambitio alterius suam primum apud eos prava indulgentia maiestatem solvisset.
The opportune arrival of these men made the consuls masters of their command, although the popularity-seeking of the one had first dissolved his own authority among them by a perverse indulgence.

Notes

  1. 22.42.1propius adeuntibus — The participle `adeuntibus` is the dative plural of the present participle `adeons`, functioning as a dative of reference or interest modifying `admirationem fecit` ("the silence caused astonishment to those approaching closer").
  2. 22.42.2nuntiantium — The genitive plural present participle `nuntiantium` modifies an implied noun such as `militum` (the soldiers who rushed to the headquarters), rather than the immediately preceding `consulum` (the consuls). If it modified `consulum`, it would mean that the consuls themselves were announcing the flight, which contradicts the context of Paulus's extreme caution.
  3. 22.42.2quoque — The word `quoque` here is not the adverb meaning "also," but is composed of the conjunction `quo` (introducing a purpose clause because of the comparative `obscurior`) and the enclitic conjunction `-que` ("and"), meaning "and so that by this."
  4. 22.42.4dicere — The infinitive `dicere` is a historical infinitive used with the subject `Paulus` in place of an imperfect indicative (`dicebat`) to vividly describe the urgency of the ongoing action.
  5. 22.42.10distulere — The alternative third-person plural perfect active form of `distulerunt`, with `di` (the gods) as its subject.
  6. 22.42.11profugerent — The imperfect subjunctive `profugerent` is governed by the consecutive `ut` clause introduced in §22.42.10 (`forte ita evenit, ut...`). In contrast, the subsequent verb `nuntiant` in `deductique... nuntiant` is in the indicative present (historical present), breaking away from the grammatical subordination of the result clause.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §22.42.1-22.42.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:22.42.1-22.42.12

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