§33.5.1Quinctius ad Thebas Phthioticas castra cum movisset, spem nactus per Timonem, principem civitatis, prodi urbem cum paucis equitum levisque armaturae ad muros successit.
When Quinctius had moved his camp towards Phthiotic Thebes, having gained hope through Timon, a leading citizen, that the city would be betrayed, he advanced to the walls with a few cavalry and light-armed troops.
§33.5.2ibi adeo frustrata spes est, ut non certamen modo cum erumpentibus, sed periculum quoque atrox subiret, ni castris exciti repente pedites equitesque in tempore subvenissent.
There his hope was so frustrated that he not only faced a battle with those sallying out, but would also have incurred a terrible danger, had not the infantry and cavalry, suddenly summoned from the camp, come to his aid in time.
§33.5.3et postquam nihil conceptae temere spei succedebat, urbis quidem amplius temptandae in praesentia conatu abstitit; §33.5.4ceterum satis gnarus iam in Thessalia regem esse, nondum comperto, quam in regionem venisset, milites per agros dimissos vallum caedere et parare iubet.
And after nothing of his rashly conceived hope turned out well, he desisted for the present from the attempt to make further trials upon the city; but, being already well aware that the king was in Thessaly, though not yet having ascertained into which region he had come, he ordered his soldiers, dispersed through the fields, to cut and prepare palisade-stakes.
§33.5.5vallo et Macedones et Graeci usi sunt, sed usum nec ad commoditatem ferendi nec ad ipsius munitionis firmamentum aptaverunt; §33.5.6nam et maiores et magis ramosas arbores caedebant, quam quas ferre cum armis miles posset, et cum castra his ante obiectis saepsissent, facilis molitio eorum valli erat.
Both Macedonians and Greeks used palisade-stakes, but they adapted their use neither to convenience of carrying nor to the strength of the fortification itself; for they would cut down trees larger and more branchy than a soldier could carry along with his arms, and when they had enclosed their camp by placing these before it, the removal of these stakes was easy.
§33.5.7nam et quia rari stipites magnarum arborum eminebant multique et validi rami praebebant, quod recte manu caperetur, duo aut summum tres iuvenes conixi arborem unam evellebant, §33.5.8qua evulsa portae instar extemplo patebat, nec in promptu erat, quod obmolirentur.
For since the trunks of the large trees stood far apart and many strong branches offered a secure handhold, two or at most three young men, exerting themselves together, would pull out a single tree, which being pulled out, an opening like a gate was immediately exposed, nor was there anything ready at hand to block it up.
§33.5.9Romanus leves et bifurcos plerosque et trium aut cum plurimum quattuor ramorum vallos caedit, ut et suspensis ab tergo armis ferat pluris simul apte miles; §33.5.10et ita densos offigunt inplicantque ramos, ut neque quis cuiusque palmae stipes, neque quae cuiusque stipitis palma sit, pervideri possit; §33.5.11et adeo acuti aliusque per alium inmissi rami locum ad inserendam manum non relincunt, §33.5.12ut neque prehendi, quod trahatur, neque trahi, cum inter se innexi rami vinculum in vicem praebeant, possit; et, si evulsus forte est unus, nec loci multum aperit, et alium reponere perfacile est.
The Roman cuts stakes that are light and mostly bifurcated, and with three or at most four branches, so that a soldier, with his arms hung on his back, may easily carry several of them at once; and they drive them in and entangle the branches so closely that it cannot be seen which branch belongs to which trunk, nor which trunk to which branch; moreover, the branches, being so sharp and inserted one through another, leave no room for inserting a hand, so that it is impossible either to grasp anything to pull, or to pull it, since the branches, intertwined among themselves, provide a mutual bond; and if by chance one is pulled out, it does not open up much space, and it is very easy to replace it with another.