Helps to Latin Translation at Sight Part 23

[Linenotes: 1. +a suis vatibus+, i.e. by the captured Etruscan soothsayer (_haruspex_).

1-2. +ab externis oraculis+, i.e. by the Delphic Oracle.

2-3. +iam in partem ... (alios) deos.+ Camillus had vowed to give to Apollo the tenth part of the spoils of Veii.

3-4. +alios ... spectare+, i.e. Juno. 'It was a Roman practice to invite the patron deity of a place or country to leave it, and to promise a more honourable wors.h.i.+p at Rome.' --Whibley.

5-6. +subrutis cuniculo+ = _undermined_. Camillus had a tunnel (_cuniculum--rabbit-burrow_, cf. _cony_) cut from the Roman camp under the wall to the Temple of Juno on the citadel of Veii.

7. +discurrunt+ = _run every man to his post_, cf. _ad arma discurritur_.

15. +tegulae+ = _tiles_, _roof-tiles_ (_tego_).

23. +senescit+ = _abates_, lit. _grows old_, _becomes exhausted_.]

+Results of the War.+ 'By the Conquest of Veii, Rome's territory, wealth, and population were largely increased. Rome was now emerging from the position of a federal capital of the Latins to become the mistress of a large country, when she was suddenly and unexpectedly overtaken by a disaster (+the Invasion of the Gauls+) which threatened not only her growth but her life.' --Ihne.

D22

THE INVASION OF THE GAULS, 390 B.C. (1)

_The Battle of the Allia._

Ibi tribuni militum non loco castris ante capto, non praemunito vallo, quo receptus esset, non deorum saltem, si non hominum, memores, nec auspicato nec litato instruunt aciem diductam in cornua, ne circ.u.mveniri mult.i.tudine hostium possent; {5} nec tamen aequari frontes poterant, c.u.m extenuando infirmam et vix cohaerentem mediam aciem haberent. Paulum erat ab dextera editi loci, quem subsidiariis repleri placuit; eaque res ut initium pavoris ac fugae, sic una salus fugientibus fuit. Nam Brennus, regulus {10} Gallorum, in paucitate hostium artem maxime timens, ratus ad id captum superiorem loc.u.m, ut, ubi Galli c.u.m acie legionum recta fronte concurrissent, subsidia in aversos transversosque impetum darent, ad subsidiarios signa convert.i.t, si eos loco depulisset, {15} haud dubius facilem in aequo campi tantum superanti mult.i.tudine victoriam fore; adeo non fortuna modo sed ratio etiam c.u.m barbaris stabat. In altera acie nihil simile Romanis, non apud duces, non apud milites erat. Pavor fugaque occupaverat animos et {20} tanta omnium oblivio, ut multo maior pars Veios, in hostium urbem, c.u.m Tiberis arceret, quam recto itinere Romam ad coniuges ac liberos fugerent.

LIVY, V. 38.

[Linenotes: 4. +nec litato+ = _without obtaining favourable omens_ (= ?a???e?e??).

4-5. +diductam in cornua+ = _extended (drawn out) towards the wings_.

6-7. +c.u.m ... haberent+ = _though they made_, concessive subjunctive.

8. +Paulum ... editi loci+ = lit. _a little piece of rising ground_.

10. +Brennus+ = lit. _King of the army_. Cf. the Saxon _Heretoga_.

13. +recta fronte+ = _front to front_. --Whibley.

14. +in aversos transversosque+ = _on their rear and flank_.

16-17. +superanti mult.i.tudine+ = i. _(the victory) would be (easy) to him superior_ (+superanti+) _in point of numbers_, or ii. abl, of cause--_as he was so much superior in numbers_.

21-22. +Veios, in hostium urbem.+ An exaggeration as Veii was in ruins.

22. +c.u.m T. arceret+ = _though the Tiber stood in their way_.]

+The Invasion of the Gauls.+ 'The most advanced tribe of the Gauls were the Senones who had settled on the Adriatic to the E. of Central Etruria. While the Romans reduced S. Etruria to a state of subjection, these Gauls suddenly crossed the Apennines, threatened Clusium, and then marched on Rome. +Thus for the first time the Gallic race was brought to the knowledge of the civilised world.+ The two armies met on July 18 at the small R. Allia, only 15 miles from Rome.' --Ihne.

D23

THE INVASION OF THE GAULS, 390 B.C. (2)

A. _The Battle of the Allia_ (cont.)

Parumper subsidiarios tutatus est locus; in reliqua acie simul est clamor proximis ab latere, ultimis ab tergo auditus, ignotum hostem prius paene quam viderent, non modo non temptato certamine sed ne clamore quidem reddito integri intactique {5} fugerunt; nec ulla caedes pugnantium fuit; terga caesa suomet ipsorum certamine in turba impedientium fugam. Circa ripam Tiberis, quo armis abiectis totum sinistrum cornu refugit, magna strages facta est, multosque imperitos nandi aut invalidos, {10} graves loricis aliisque tegminibus, hausere gurgites. Maxima tamen pars incolumis Veios perfugit, unde non modo praesidii quicquam, sed ne nuntius quidem cladis Romam est missus. Ab dextro cornu, quod procul a flumine et magis sub monte steterat, {15} Romam omnes petiere et ne clausis quidem portis urbis in arcem confugerunt.

LIVY, v. 38.

[Linenotes: 2-3. +simul (= simul ac) ... auditus+ = _as soon as the shout was heard, by those nearest on the flank, by the most distant in the rear_.

'+Proximi+ denotes the Romans on the right wing, who were the first to be attacked; the Gauls after routing them pressed on to the rear of the Romans and attacked the centre and left wing (+ultimi+) from behind.' --Whibley.

7-8. +suomet ... fugam+ = _as they hindered their own flight by their struggling with one another in the crush_.]

11. +graves+ = _weighed down with_, equivalent to a pa.s.s. partic.

+hausere gurgites+ = _the currents sucked down_. --W 15. +sub monte+, i.e. the Colles Crustumini, which run parallel to the South bank of the Tiber.]

B. _July 18th, a Dies Nefastus._

Pharsalia tanti Causa mali. Cedant feralia nomina Cannae, Et d.a.m.nata diu Romanis Allia fastis.

LUCAN, _Phars._ vii. 407-9.

[Linenotes: 407. +Pharsalia+, Battle of, 48 B.C. Caesar signally defeated Pompey.

408. +feralia+ = _fatal_ (= +funesta+).

409. +fastis+, i.e. _Fasti consulares_, the registers of the higher magistrates. Cf. the Saxon Chronicle.]

+The Battle.+ 'The defeat of the Allia was never forgotten by the Romans. The panic (due to the strange appearance of the barbarians and their unwonted method of fighting) which alone had caused the defeat, struck so deep into their minds that for centuries afterwards the name and the sight of Gauls inspired them with terror.' --Ihne.

D24

THE INVASION OF THE GAULS, 390 B.C. (3)

_Roman Dignity and Courage._

Romae interim satis iam omnibus ut in tali re ad tuendam arcem compositis turba seniorum domos regressi adventum hostium obstinato ad mortem animo exspectabant. Qui eorum curules gesserant magistratus, ut in fortunae pristinae honorumque ac {5} virtutis insignibus morerentur, quae augustissima vestis est tensas ducentibus triumphantibusve, ea vest.i.ti medio aedium eburneis sellis sedere. Galli autem ingressi postero die urbem patente Collina porta in forum perveniunt; ubi eos plebis aedificiis {10} obseratis, patentibus atriis principum, maior prope cunctatio tenebat aperta quam clausa invadendi; adeo haud secus quam venerabundi intuebantur in aedium vestibulis sedentes viros, praeter ornatum habitumque humano augustiorem maiestate etiam, {15} quam vultus gravitasque oris prae se ferebat, simillimos dis. Ad eos velut ad simulacra versi c.u.m starent, M. Papirius, unus ex eis, dicitur Gallo barbam suam, ut tum omnibus promissa erat, permulcenti scipione eburneo in caput incusso iram {20} movisse, atque ab eo initium caedis ortum, ceteros in sedibus suis trucidatos; post principum caedem nulli deinde mortalium parci, diripi tecta, exhaustis inici ignes.

LIVY, v. 41 (sel.)

[Linenotes: 1. +ut in tali re+ = _considering the circ.u.mstances_.

3. +obstinato ad+ = _firmly resolved on_... --Rawlins.

4-5. +curules magistratus+ = _curule magistracies_, i.e. of Dictator, Censor, Consul, Praetor, Curule Aedile, who possessed the right of using _sellae curules_ (_the ivory chairs of State_), originally an emblem of kingly power.

5-6. +in fortunae ... insignibus+ = _in the emblems of their old rank_ (+fortunae+) _and office_ (+honorum+) _and prowess_ (+virtutis+ i.e. prizes for valour; e.g. _phalerae_ = _bosses_, _coronae_ = _crowns_).

7. +tensas+ = _state cars_ in which the statues of the G.o.ds were drawn in solemn procession to the Circensian games.

11. +obseratis+ = _shut up_, lit. _barred_, +ob + sera+, cf.

_sero_ = join.

14. +vestibulis+ = _entrance-courts_, only found in large houses.

14-15. +praeter ornatum habitumque+ = _not only in their garb and bearing_. --Whibley.

19. +ut tum ... erat+ = _worn long_ (+promissa+) _as was then the custom with all_, or _worn long in accordance with the fas.h.i.+on of the time_. --R.

20. +scipione eburneo+ = _the ivory staff_, one of the _insignia_ of the _triumphator_.

23. +exhaustis+ (sc. _aedibus_) = _when completely pillaged_.]

+Reference.+ Plutarch, _Camillus_, xxi. xxii.

D25

THE INVASION OF THE GAULS, 390 B.C. (4)

A. _Manlius Capitolinus and the Sacred Geese._

In summo custos Tarpeiae Manlius arcis Stabat pro templo et Capitolia celsa tenebat, Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.

Atque his auratis volitans argenteus anser 655 Porticibus Gallos in limine adesse canebat; Galli per dumos aderant, arcemque tenebant, Defensi tenebris et dono noctis opacae; Aurea caesaries ollis, atque aurea vestis; Virgatis lucent sagulis; tum lactea colla 660 Auro innectuntur; duo quisque Alpina coruscant Gaesa manu, scutis protecti corpora longis.