§34.39.1Romanos primo sustinebant in angustiis Lacedaemonii, ternaeque acies tempore uno locis diversis pugnabant; §34.39.2deinde crescente certamine nequaquam erat proelium par.
At first the Lacedaemonians held back the Romans in the narrow passages, and three lines of battle were fighting at one time in different places; then, as the contest grew, the battle was by no means equal.
missilibus enim Lacedaemonii pugnabant, a quibus se et magnitudine scuti perfacile Romanus tuebatur miles, et quod alii vani, §34.39.3alii leves admodum ictus erant.
For the Lacedaemonians were fighting with missiles, from which the Roman soldier protected himself very easily both by the size of his shield and because some of them were wide of the mark, others were very light blows.
nam propter angustias loci confertamque turbam non modo ad emittenda cum procursu, quo plurimum concitantur, tela spatium habebant, sed ne ut de gradu quidem libero ac stabili conarentur.
For on account of the narrowness of the place and the crowded throng, they not only lacked space to hurl their missiles with a run, by which they are most vigorously impelled, but they could not even attempt to do so from a free and firm stance.
§34.39.4itaque ex adverso missa tela nulla in corporibus, rara in scutis haerebant; §34.39.5ab circumstantibus ex superioribus locis vulnerati quidam sunt; mox progressos iam etiam ex tectis non tela modo sed tegulae quoque inopinantis perculerunt.
Therefore, of the missiles thrown from the front, none stuck in their bodies, and few in their shields; some were wounded by those standing around from higher places; soon, as they advanced, not only missiles but also tiles from the roofs struck them unawares.
§34.39.6sublatis deinde supra capita scutis continuatisque ita inter se, ut non modo ad caecos ictus sed ne ad inserendum quidem ex propinquo telum loci quicquam esset, testudine facta subibant.
Then, holding their shields above their heads and joining them together so closely that there was no space left not only for random blows but even for inserting a weapon from nearby, they advanced, having formed a testudo.
§34.39.7et primae angustiae paulisper sua hostiumque refertae turba tenuerunt; postquam in patentiorem viam urbis paulatim urgentes hostem processere, non ultra vis eorum atque impetus sustineri poterant.
And the first narrow passages held them back for a little while, packed as they were with their own crowd and that of the enemy; but after they advanced into a wider street of the city, gradually pushing back the enemy, the force and onset of the Romans could no longer be sustained.
§34.39.8cum terga vertissent Lacedaemonii et fuga effusa superiora peterent loca, Nabis quidem, ut capta urbe trepidans, quanam ipse evaderet, circumspectabat; §34.39.9Pythagoras cum ad cetera animo officioque ducis fungebatur, tum vero unus, ne caperetur urbs, causa fuit; succendi enim aedificia proxima muro iussit.
When the Lacedaemonians had turned their backs and in headlong flight were seeking the higher places, Nabis indeed, trembling as if the city were captured, was looking around to see where he himself might escape; Pythagoras, while in other matters he performed the duty and showed the spirit of a commander, then indeed was the sole cause why the city was not taken; for he ordered the buildings nearest to the wall to be set on fire.
§34.39.10quae cum momento temporis arsissent, ut adiuvantibus ignem, qui alias ad exstinguendum opem ferre solent, §34.39.11ruere in Romanos tecta, nec tegularum modo fragmenta sed etiam ambusta tigna ad armatos pervenire, et flamma late fundi, fumus terrorem etiam maiorem quam periculum facere.
When these had caught fire in a moment of time, as those who at other times were accustomed to bring help to extinguish it were now assisting the fire, roofs collapsed upon the Romans, and not only fragments of tiles but also half-burned beams reached the armed men, and the flame spread far and wide, and the smoke caused even greater terror than the danger.
§34.39.12itaque et qui extra urbem erant Romanorum, tum maxime impetum facientes recessere a muro, et qui iam intraverant, ne incendio ab tergo oriente intercluderentur ab suis, receperunt sese; §34.39.13et Quinctius, postquam, quid rei esset, vidit, receptui canere iussit.
Therefore both those of the Romans who were outside the city, although just then making a most vigorous attack, withdrew from the wall, and those who had already entered, lest they should be cut off from their own men by the fire rising from behind, retreated; and Quinctius, after he saw what the situation was, ordered the retreat to be sounded.
ita iam capta prope urbe revocati in castra redierunt.
Thus, when the city was already nearly captured, they were recalled and returned to the camp.