§31.39.1corpus iam curabat consul, cum, venisse caduceatorem et quid venisset, nuntiatum est.
The consul was already taking care of his body, when it was announced that a herald had come and what he had come for.
§31.39.2responso tantum dato mane postero die fore copiam conveniendi, id quod quaesitum erat, nox dieique insequentis pars ad praecipiendum iter Philippo data est.
An answer only having been given that on the next morning there would be an opportunity of meeting—which was what had been sought—the night and a part of the following day were given to Philip for getting a start on his march.
§31.39.3montes, quam viam non ingressurum gravi agmine Romanum sciebat, petit.
He headed for the mountains, a route which he knew the Roman army, with its heavy baggage train, would not enter.
consul prima luce caduceatore datis indutiis dimisso haud ita multo post abisse hostem cum sensisset, ignarus, qua sequeretur, iisdem stativis frumentando dies aliquot consumpsit.
At dawn the consul, having dismissed the herald after granting the truce, when he realized not so long after that the enemy had departed, not knowing where to follow them, spent several days in the same permanent camp foraging.
§31.39.4Stuberram deinde petit atque ex Pelagonia frumentum, quod in agris erat, convexit.
Then he headed for Stuberra and brought in the grain that was in the fields from Pelagonia.
inde ad Pluinnam est progressus nondum conperto, quam regionem hostes petissent.
From there he proceeded to Pluinna, not yet having discovered which region the enemy had headed for.
§31.39.5Philippus cum primo ad Bruanium stativa habuisset, profectus inde transversis limitibus terrorem praebuit subitum hosti.
Philip, although he had first had his permanent camp near Bruanium, set out from there along transverse paths and caused sudden terror to the enemy.
movere itaque ex Pluinna Romani et ad Osphagum flumen posuerunt castra.
Therefore, the Romans moved from Pluinna and pitched their camp at the river Osphagus.
§31.39.6rex haud procul inde et ipse vallo super ripam amnis ducto — Erigonum incolae vocant — consedit.
The king himself also settled not far from there, having constructed a rampart over the bank of the river—which the inhabitants call Erigon.
§31.39.7inde satis comperto Eordaeam petituros Romanos, ad occupandas angustias, ne superare hostes artis faucibus inclusum aditum possent, praecessit.
Then, having sufficiently ascertained that the Romans were heading for Eordaea, he went ahead to occupy the narrow passes, so that the enemy might not be able to overcome the entrance shut in by a narrow gorge.
§31.39.8ibi alia vallo, alia fossa, alia lapidum congerie, ut pro muro essent, alia arboribus obiectis, ut aut locus postulabat aut materia suppeditabat, §31.39.9propere permuniit atque, ut ipse rebatur, viam suapte natura difficilem obiectis per omnes transitus operibus inexpugnabilem fecit.
There, partly with a rampart, partly with a ditch, partly with a pile of stones to serve as a wall, and partly by throwing down trees, as either the place demanded or the material supplied, he quickly fortified the position thoroughly and, as he himself believed, made a path, difficult by its very nature, impregnable by placing defenses across all the passages.
§31.39.10erant pleraque silvestria circa, incommoda phalangi maxime Macedonum, quae nisi ubi praelongis hastis velut vallum ante clipeos obiecit, quod ut fiat libero campo opus est, nullius admodum usus est.
Most of the surrounding area was wooded, which was extremely inconvenient for the phalanx of the Macedonians, which is of almost no use at all except when it presents its very long spears like a rampart before its shields, a thing which requires an open plain to be done.
§31.39.11Thracas quoque rumpiae, ingentis et ipsae longitudinis, inter obiectos undique ramos impediebant.
The Thracians also were impeded by their rumpiae, which were themselves of huge length, among the branches that barred them on every side.
§31.39.12Cretensium una cohors non inutilis erat; sed ea quoque ipsa, ut, si quis impetum faceret, in patentem vulneri ecum equitemque sagittas conicere poterat, ita adversus scuta Romana nec ad traiciendum satis magnam vim habebat, nec aperti quicquam erat, quod peterent.
One cohort of the Cretans was not useless; but even that itself, while it could launch arrows at a horse and horseman exposed to a wound if anyone made an attack, yet against the Roman shields it had neither sufficient force to penetrate, nor was there any open spot for them to aim at.
§31.39.13itaque id ut vanum teli genus senserunt esse, saxis passim tota valle iacentibus incessebant hostem.
Therefore, when they realized that this was an ineffective kind of weapon, they pelted the enemy with stones lying here and there throughout the whole valley.
ea maiore cum sonitu quam vulnere ullo pulsatio scutorum parumper succedentis Romanos tenuit.
This clattering of the shields, with a greater noise than any wound, held up the advancing Romans for a short time.
§31.39.14deinde, iis quoque spretis, partim testudine facta per adversos vadunt hostis, §31.39.15partim brevi circuitu cum in iugum collis evasissent, trepidos ex praesidiis stationibusque Macedonas deturbant et, ut in locis impeditis difficili fuga, plerosque etiam obtruncant.
Then, these too having been disregarded, some having formed a testudo advanced through the enemy in front of them, others, having ascended the ridge of the hill by a short detour, dislodged the trembling Macedonians from their posts and stations, and, as flight was difficult in places so obstructed, even slaughtered most of them.