Humanitext Reader

Livy · History of Rome §32.12.1-32.12.10

Pincer Attack at the Gorge and Macedonian Flight

Passage 1089 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Upon receiving a smoke signal from the flanking detachment on the summit, the Roman consul launched a frontal attack; caught in a pincer, the Macedonian forces panicked and fled toward Thessaly, though difficult terrain prevented a complete Roman pursuit.

§32.12.1interim die tertio cum verticem, quem petierant, Romani cepisse ac tenere se fumo significarent, tum vero trifariam divisis copiis consul valle media cum militum robore succedit, cornua dextra laevaque admovet castris; §32.12.2nec segnius hostes obviam eunt.
Meanwhile, on the third day, when the Romans indicated by smoke that they had captured and were holding the summit which they had sought, then indeed the consul, having divided his forces into three parts, advanced through the middle of the valley with the strength of his soldiers, and moved his right and left wings toward the camp; nor did the enemy advance to meet them any less sluggishly.
et dum aviditate certaminis provecti extra munitiones pugnant, haud paulo superior est Romanus miles et virtute et scientia et genere armorum; §32.12.3postquam multis vulneratis interfectisque recepere se regii in loca aut munimento aut natura tuta, verterat periculum in Romanos temere in loca iniqua nec facilis ad receptum angustias progressos.
And while, carried forward by their eagerness for battle, they fought outside the fortifications, the Roman soldier was not a little superior both in courage, skill, and the type of weapons; after many had been wounded and killed, the king's troops retreated into places safe either by fortification or by nature, and the danger had turned upon the Romans, who had recklessly advanced into unfavorable ground and into passes from which retreat was not easy.
§32.12.4neque impunita temeritate inde recepissent sese, ni clamor primum ab tergo auditus, dein pugna etiam coepta amentis repentino terrore regios fecisset.
Nor would they have retreated from there without paying for their rashness, had not a shout first heard from behind, and then even the beginning of a battle, thrown the king's men into panic with sudden terror.
§32.12.5pars in fugam effusi sunt; pars, magis quia locus fugae deerat, quam quod animi satis esset ad pugnam, cum substitissent, ab hoste et a fronte et ab tergo urgente circumventi sunt.
Some were scattered in flight; others, rather because they lacked a place for flight than because they had enough courage for battle, when they made a stand, were surrounded by the enemy pressing them both from the front and from behind.
§32.12.6deleri totus exercitus potuit, si fugientis persecuti victores essent; §32.12.7sed equitem angustiae locorumque asperitas, peditem armorum gravitas impediit.
The entire army could have been destroyed if the victors had pursued the fugitives; but the narrow passages and the ruggedness of the terrain hindered the cavalry, and the weight of their arms hindered the infantry.
§32.12.8rex primo effuse ac sine respectu fugit; dein quinque milium spatium progressus, cum ex iniquitate locorum, id quod erat, suspicatus esset, sequi non posse hostem, substitit in tumulo quodam dimisitque suos per omnia iuga vallesque, qui palatos in unum colligerent.
The king at first fled in disorder and without looking back; then, having advanced a distance of five miles, when from the unfavorable nature of the terrain he suspected—as was indeed the case—that the enemy could not follow, he halted on a certain hill and sent out his men through all the ridges and valleys to collect the stragglers into one place.
§32.12.9non plus duobus milibus hominum amissis cetera omnis multitudo, velut signum aliquod secuta, in unum cum convenisset, frequenti agmine petunt Thessaliam.
Having lost not more than two thousand men, all the rest of the multitude, as if following some signal, when they had assembled in one place, headed for Thessaly in a crowded column.
§32.12.10Romani, quoad tutum fuit, insecuti caedentes spoliantesque caesos, castra regia, etiam sine defensoribus difficili aditu, diripiunt; atque ea nocte in suis castris manserunt.
The Romans, pursuing as far as it was safe, slaying and despoiling the slain, plundered the king's camp, which, even though without defenders, was difficult of access; and they remained that night in their own camp.

Notes

  1. 32.12.1se — The subject accusative of the infinitive clause `cepisse ac tenere`. Since it refers back to the subject of the main clause (`Romani`, embedded within the relative clause), the reflexive pronoun `se` is used.
  2. 32.12.3progressos — An active perfect participle modifying `Romanos`, which is the accusative object of the preposition `in`. The adverb `temere` modifies this participle, and the accusative phrases `in loca iniqua... angustias` denote the direction of the action expressed by this participle.
  3. 32.12.4recepissent sese, ni — A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence in the past (using the pluperfect subjunctive). For the main clause `recepissent` (the apodosis), the conditional clause introduced by `ni` (= nisi) has the verb `fecisset` (the protasis).
  4. 32.12.6potuit — In a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence where the protasis is in the pluperfect subjunctive (`essent`), the auxiliary verb of possibility `possum` in the apodosis is expressed in the indicative perfect (`potuit`). In Latin, verbs of ability, obligation, or possibility regularly take the indicative even in potential or hypothetical conclusions.
  5. 32.12.8qui ... colligerent — The relative pronoun `qui` takes the imperfect subjunctive `colligerent` to form a relative clause of purpose (= ut ii colligerent, 'in order to collect').

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §32.12.1-32.12.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:32.12.1-32.12.10

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.