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Livy · History of Rome §24.41.1-24.41.11

The Scipio Brothers' Campaign and Victories in Hispania

Passage 746 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The seesaw struggle between the Roman and Carthaginian forces in Spain is described, detailing how the Scipio brothers saved each other, secured the defection of Castulo, and successfully raised the sieges of Iliturgis and Bigerra.

§24.41.1eodem anno in Hispania varie res gestae.
In the same year, fortune was varied in Spain.
nam priusquam Romani amnem Hiberum transirent, ingentes copias Hispanorum Mago et Hasdrubal fuderunt.
For before the Romans crossed the river Ebro, Mago and Hasdrubal routed huge forces of the Spaniards.
§24.41.2defecissetque ab Romanis ulterior Hispania, ni P. Cornelius raptim traducto exercitu Hiberum dubiis sociorum animis in tempore advenisset.
And further Spain would have revolted from the Romans, had not Publius Cornelius, having hurriedly led his army across the Ebro, arrived in the nick of time when the minds of the allies were wavering.
§24.41.3primo ad Castrum Album — locus est insignis caede magni Hamilcaris — castra Romani habuere.
At first, the Romans held their camp at Castrum Album—a place notable for the death of the great Hamilcar.
§24.41.4arx erat munita et convexerant ante frumentum; tamen, quia omnia circa hostium plena erant, agmenque Romanum in, pune incursatum ab equitibus hostium fuerat et ad duo milia aut moratorum aut palantium per agros interfecta, cessere inde Romani propius pacata loca et ad montem Victoriae castra communivere.
The citadel was fortified and they had previously brought grain into it; nevertheless, because all the surroundings were filled with enemies, and the Roman column had been attacked with impunity by the enemy's cavalry, and about two thousand of either those lingering or wandering through the fields had been killed, the Romans withdrew from there to places nearer to peace and fortified their camp near Mount Victoria.
§24.41.5eo Cn. Scipio cum omnibus copiis et Hasdrubal Gisgonis filius, tertius Carthaginiensium dux, cum exercitu iusto advenit, contraque castra Romana trans fluuium omnes consedere.
Thither Gnaeus Scipio arrived with all his forces, and Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, the third Carthaginian general, with a regular army; and they all sat down opposite the Roman camp across the river.
P. Scipio cum expeditis clam profectus ad loca circa §24.41.6visenda haud fefellit hostes, oppressissentque eum in patentibus campis, ni tumulum in propinquo cepisset.
Publius Scipio, having set out secretly with light-armed troops to inspect the surrounding places, did not escape the notice of the enemy, and they would have overwhelmed him in the open plains, had he not occupied a nearby hill.
ibi quoque circumsessus adventu fratris obsidione eximitur.
Blockaded there too, he was delivered from the siege by the arrival of his brother.
§24.41.7Castulo, urbs Hispaniae valida ac nobilis et adeo coniuncta societate Poenis, ut uxor inde Hannibali esset, ad Romanos defecit.
Castulo, a strong and famous city of Spain, and so closely joined in alliance with the Carthaginians that Hannibal's wife was from there, revolted to the Romans.
§24.41.8Carthaginienses Iliturgim oppugnare adorti, quia praesidium ibi Romanum erat, videbanturque inopia maxime eum locum expugnaturi.
The Carthaginians began to attack Iliturgis, because there was a Roman garrison there, and it seemed that they would capture that place chiefly by starvation.
§24.41.9Cn. Scipio, ut sociis praesidioque ferret opem, cum legione expedita profectus inter bina castra — cum magna caede hostium urbem est ingressus et postero die eruptione aeque felici pugnavit.
Gnaeus Scipio, in order to bring aid to the allies and the garrison, having set out with a light-armed legion, between the two camps—entered the city with a great slaughter of the enemy, and on the following day fought with an equally successful sally.
§24.41.10supra duodecim milia hominum caesa duobus proeliis, plus mille hominum captum cum sex et triginta militaribus signis.
More than twelve thousand men were killed in the two battles, and more than a thousand men were captured with thirty-six military standards.
ita ab Iliturgi recessum est.
Thus the siege was raised from Iliturgis.
§24.41.11Bigerra inde urbs — socii et hi Romanorum erant — a Carthaginiensibus oppugnari coepta est.
Thereupon the city of Bigerra—these too were allies of the Romans—began to be besieged by the Carthaginians.
eam obsidionem sine certamine adveniens Cn. Scipio solvit.
Gnaeus Scipio, arriving, raised that siege without a battle.

Notes

  1. §24.41.2defecissetque ... ni ... advenisset — This is a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence using the pluperfect subjunctive. The apodosis with 'defecisset' is placed first for emphasis, followed by the negative condition introduced by 'ni' with 'advenisset'. The ablative absolute 'raptim traducto exercitu' subordinate to the 'ni' clause describes the manner of arrival.
  2. §24.41.4in, pune — This is widely understood as a typographical or manuscript error for the adverb 'impune' ('with impunity' or 'without loss to themselves'), which modifies the passive verb 'incursatum fuerat'.
  3. §24.41.8videbanturque ... expugnaturi — A personal construction of 'videor' taking the future active participle 'expugnaturi' as a nominative predicate (equivalent to 'they seemed likely to take'). It can be understood with the copula 'esse' omitted in a future active infinitive construction.
  4. §24.41.9inter bina castra — — The dash indicates an abrupt break or ellipsis of a participle/verb (such as 'penetrans' or 'transgressus') after the prepositional phrase 'inter bina castra' (between the two camps). Syntactically, it is understood in connection with 'profectus', meaning he set out and passed between the two camps to enter the city.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §24.41.1-24.41.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:24.41.1-24.41.11

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