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Livy · History of Rome §7.24.1-7.24.11

Rout of the Gauls and Election of Camillus as Consul

Passage 380 of 1770 · Latin

Summary

Although the Roman army temporarily wavered due to the wounding of consul Popilius, they defeated the Gauls following his encouragement. Owing to the consuls' incapacitation, Camillus was appointed dictator to hold the elections, and was subsequently elected consul, restoring the patrician hold on the office.

§7.24.1necdum certa Romanis victoria erat; alia in campum degressis supererat moles; §7.24.2namque multitudo Gallorum sensum omnem talis damni exsuperans, velut nova rursus exoriente acie, integrum militem adversus victorem hostem ciebat; §7.24.3stetitque suppresso impetu Romanus, et quia iterum fessis subeunda dimicatio erat, et quod consul, dum inter primores incautus agitat, laevo umero matari prope traiecto cesserat parumper ex acie.
Not yet was the victory certain for the Romans; another struggle remained for those who had descended into the plain; for the multitude of the Gauls, overcoming all sense of such a loss, just as if a new battleline were rising again, was rousing fresh soldiers against the victorious enemy; and the Roman stood, his charge checked, both because the struggle had to be undergone again by the weary men, and because the consul, while he was moving carelessly among the foremost fighters, had withdrawn for a short time from the battleline, his left shoulder having been nearly transfixed by a Celtic javelin.
§7.24.4iamque omissa cunctando victoria erat, cum consul vulnere alligato revectus ad prima signa “quid stas, miles?” inquit;
And already the victory was on the point of being lost by delaying, when the consul, his wound having been bound up, rode back to the front standards and said, "Why do you stand still, soldier?
“non cum Latino Sabinoque hoste res est, quem victum armis socium ex hoste facias; §7.24.5in beluas strinximus ferrum; hauriendus aut dandus est sanguis.
It is not with a Latin or Sabinian enemy that you have to deal, whom, when conquered by arms, you might make an ally instead of an enemy; we have drawn the sword against beasts; blood must be drawn or given.
propulistis a castris, supina valle praecipites egistis, stratis corporibus hostium superstatis; conplete eadem strage campos, qua montis replestis.
You have repulsed them from the camp, you have driven them headlong down the sloping valley, you stand upon the prostrate bodies of your enemies; fill the plains with the same slaughter with which you filled the mountains.
§7.24.6nolite expectare, dum stantes vos fugiant; inferenda sunt signa et vadendam in hostem. ” §7.24.7his adhortationibus iterum coorti pellunt loco primos manipulos Gallorum; cuneis deinde in medium agmen perrumpunt.
Do not wait until they flee from you as you stand still; the standards must be advanced and you must march against the enemy." Roused again by these exhortations, they drove the first maniples of the Gauls from their position; then they broke through the middle of the army's column with wedge formations.
§7.24.8inde barbari dissipati, quibus nec certa imperia nec duces essent, vertunt impetum in suos; fusique per campos et praeter castra etiam sua fuga praelati, quod editissimum inter aequales tumulos occurrebat oculis, arcem Albanam petunt.
Thereupon the scattered barbarians, since they had neither certain commands nor leaders, turned their attack upon their own men; and being dispersed over the plains and even carried past their own camp in their flight, they made for the Alban citadel, which presented itself to their eyes as the highest point among the level hills.
§7.24.9consul non ultra castra insecutus, quia et vulnus degravabat et subicere exercitum tumulis ab hoste occupatis nolebat, praeda omni castrorum militi data victorem exercitum opulentumque Gallicis spoliis Romam reduxit.
The consul, not pursuing beyond the camp because both his wound was growing heavier and he was unwilling to expose his army under the hills occupied by the enemy, having given all the booty of the camp to the soldiers, led back to Rome his victorious army, rich with Gallic spoils.
§7.24.10moram triumpho vulnus consulis attulit eademque causa dictatoris desiderium senatui fecit, ut esset, qui aegris consulibus comitia haberet.
His wound brought a delay to his triumph, and the same cause produced in the senate a desire for a dictator, so that there might be someone to hold the elections while the consuls were incapacitated.
§7.24.11dictator L. Furius Camillus dictus, addito magistro equitum P. Cornelio Scipione, reddidit patribus possessionem pristinam consulatus.
Lucius Furius Camillus was named dictator, with Publius Cornelius Scipio added as master of the horse, and he restored to the patricians their ancient possession of the consulship.
ipse ob id meritum ingenti patrum studio creatus consul collegam Ap. Claudium Crassum dixit.
He himself, on account of this service, was elected consul with the great enthusiasm of the patricians, and named Appius Claudius Crassus as his colleague.

Notes

  1. 7.24.1degressis — Dative plural of the perfect active participle degressus (having descended). It is used either substantively or modifying the omitted Romanis (the Romans), functioning as a dative of disadvantage or reference with the verb supererat.
  2. 7.24.3fessis subeunda dimicatio erat — A passive periphrastic construction expressing necessity or obligation using the gerundive (subeunda erat). The agent (the weary soldiers) is expressed by the dative of agent (fessis).
  3. 7.24.5hauriendus aut dandus est sanguis — A gerundive construction expressing necessity. It contrasts the alternative between drawing the enemy's blood (haurire) and offering one's own blood (dare).
  4. 7.24.6stantes vos — Accusative plural. 'stantes' is a present participle modifying 'vos', which functions as the direct object of the transitive verb 'fugiant' ('flee from'). It means 'you while standing still'.
  5. 7.24.10aegris consulibus — An ablative absolute construction expressing cause or circumstance ('since the consuls were incapacitated'). It refers to both consuls: Scipio, who was ill, and Popilius, who was wounded.

Cite this passage

Livy, History of Rome §7.24.1-7.24.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.24.1-7.24.11

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