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Livy · History of Rome §24.42.1-24.42.11

Victories at Munda and the Recovery of Saguntum

Passage 747 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

The Roman forces defeated the Carthaginians at Munda and Auringis. Following these successes, the Romans reclaimed Saguntum, the original cause of the war, restoring it to its former inhabitants, and destroyed the city of the Turdetani.

§24.42.1ad Mundam exinde ~ castra Punica mota, et Romani eo confestim secuti sunt.
From there the Carthaginian camp was moved to Munda, and the Romans immediately followed thither.
§24.42.2ibi signis conlatis pugnatum per quattuor ferme horas; egregieque vincentibus Romanis signum receptui est datum, quod Cn. Scipionis femur tragula confixum erat pavorque circa eum ceperat milites, ne mortiferum esset vulnus.
There they joined battle and fought for nearly four hours; and as the Romans were winning brilliantly, the signal for retreat was given, because Gnaeus Scipio's thigh had been pierced by a javelin, and fear had seized the soldiers around him lest the wound should be mortal.
§24.42.3ceterum haud dubium fuit, quin, nisi ea mora intervenisset, castra eo die Punica capi potuerint.
But there was no doubt that, had that delay not intervened, the Carthaginian camp could have been captured on that day.
iam non milites solum sed elephanti etiam usque ad vallum acti erant, superque ipsum novem et triginta elephanti pilis confixi.
Already not only the soldiers but even the elephants had been driven right up to the rampart, and on the rampart itself thirty-nine elephants had been transfixed by javelins.
§24.42.4hoc quoque proelio ad duodecim milia hominum dicuntur caesa, prope tria capta cum signis militaribus septem et quinquaginta.
In this battle also, about twelve thousand men are said to have been killed, and nearly three thousand captured, along with fifty-seven military standards.
§24.42.5ad Auringem inde urbem Poeni recessere et, ut territis instaret, secutus Romanus.
Thereupon the Carthaginians retreated to the city of Auringis, and the Roman followed to press upon them in their terror.
ibi iterum Scipio lecticula in aciem inlatus conflixit, nec dubia victoria fuit; minus tamen dimidio hostium quam antea, quia pauciores superfuerant, qui pugnarent, occisum.
There Scipio, carried into the battle line on a litter, fought again, and the victory was not in doubt; yet less than half as many of the enemy as before were killed, because there had survived fewer to fight.
§24.42.6sed gens nata instaurandis reparandisque bellis, Magone ad conquisitionem militum a fratre misso, brevi replevit exercitum animosque ad temptandum de integro certamen fecit; §24.42.7alii plerique milites, quippe pro parte totiens intra paucos dies victa, iisdem animis, quibus priores, eodemque eventu pugnavere: §24.42.8plus octo milia hominum caesa, haud multo minus quam mille captum et signa militaria quinquaginta octo; et spolia plurima Gallica fuere, aurei torques armillaeque, magnus numerus.
But that nation, born for renewing and repairing wars, when Mago was sent by his brother to levy soldiers, in a short time recruited the army and restored their courage to try the contest anew; the soldiers, most of whom were new, fought—as was natural for a side defeated so many times within a few days—with the same spirit as the previous ones, and with the same result: more than eight thousand men were killed, not much less than a thousand captured, and fifty-eight military standards taken; and there were very many Gallic spoils, golden torques and armlets in great numbers.
duo etiam insignes reguli Gallorum — Moeniacapto et Vismaro nomina erant — eo proelio ceciderunt.
Two distinguished chieftains of the Gauls also—Moeniacapto and Vismarus were their names—fell in that battle.
octo elephanti capti, tres occisi. —
Eight elephants were captured, three killed.
§24.42.9cum tam prosperae res in Hispania essent, verecundia Romanos tandem cepit, Saguntum oppidum, quae causa belli esset, octavum iam annum sub hostium potestate esse.
Since matters were so prosperous in Spain, shame at last seized the Romans that the town of Saguntum, which was the cause of the war, had now for eight years been under the power of the enemy.
§24.42.10itaque id oppidum vi pulso praesidio Punico receperunt cultoribusque antiquis, quos ex iis vis reliquerat belli, restituerunt; §24.42.11et Turdetanos, qui contraxerant eis cum Carthaginiensibus bellum, in potestatem redactos sub corona vendiderunt urbemque eorum delerunt.
And so they recovered that town by force, driving out the Carthaginian garrison, and restored it to its ancient inhabitants, whom the violence of war had spared from among them; and having brought into subjection the Turdetani, who had brought upon them the war with the Carthaginians, they sold them at auction as slaves and destroyed their city.

Notes

  1. 24.42.2egregieque vincentibus Romanis — Ablative absolute expressing time or circumstance ("when the Romans were winning brilliantly").
  2. 24.42.2ne mortiferum esset vulnus — Clause of fearing depending on the noun pavor, using ne with the imperfect subjunctive, expressing "fear lest the wound should be mortal."
  3. 24.42.3quin, nisi ea mora intervenisset, castra eo die Punica capi potuerint — A quin-clause introduced by the expression of doubt with a negative (haud dubium fuit). The nisi-clause represents a past contrary-to-fact condition, and the apodosis capi potuerint uses the perfect subjunctive instead of the pluperfect, which is a standard shift for verbs of possibility (posse) inside dependent clauses.
  4. 24.42.5minus tamen dimidio hostium quam antea... occisum — occisum [est] is used as an impersonal passive. dimidio is an ablative of measure of difference, meaning literally "less by half of the enemy than before," hence "less than half as many of the enemy as before were killed."
  5. 24.42.6instaurandis reparandisque bellis — Dative of the gerundive modifying the adjective nata ("born for"), expressing purpose ("born for renewing and repairing wars").

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §24.42.1-24.42.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:24.42.1-24.42.11

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