Frontinus: STRATEGEMATA

Cum ad instruendam rei militaris scientiam unus ex numero studiosorumeius accesserim eique destinato, quantum cura nostra valuit, satisfecissevisus sim, deberi adhuc institutae arbitror operae, ut sollertia ducum facta, quae a Graecis una STRATEGEMATON appellatione comprehensa sunt, expeditis amplectar commentariis. Ita enim consilii quoque et providentiae exemplis succincti duces erunt, unde illis excogitandi generandique similia facultas nutriatur; praeterea continget, ne de eventu trepidet inventionis suae, qui probatis eam experimentis comparabit.

Since, for the instruction of the science of military affairs, I have entered as one from the number of its students, and to the matter thus destined I seem, so far as our care has availed, to have given satisfaction, I judge that something is still owed to the work undertaken: namely, that I should embrace in unencumbered commentaries the deeds of the ingenuity of commanders, which by the Greeks are comprehended under the single appellation STRATEGEMATON. For thus commanders too will be equipped with examples of counsel and providence, whence for them the capacity of devising and generating similar things may be nourished; moreover, it will come to pass that he will not tremble concerning the outcome of his own invention, who will match it with approved experiments.

Illud neque ignoro neque infitior, et rerum gestarum scriptores indagine operis sui hanc quoque partem esse complexos et ab auctoribus exemplorum, quidquid insigne aliquo modo fuit, traditum. Sed, ut opinor, occupatis velocitateconsuli debet. Longum est enim singula et sparsa per immensum corpus historiarum persequi, et hi, qui notabilia excerpserunt, ipso velut acervo rerum confuderunt legentem.

I neither am unaware of nor do I deny that the writers of deeds, in the investigation of their work, have encompassed this part as well, and that from the authors of exempla whatever was in any way notable has been transmitted. But, as I think, regard ought to be had for speed on behalf of the busy. For it is a long task to pursue particulars scattered through the immense corpus of histories, and those who have excerpted the notable things have, by the very heap of matters, as it were, confounded the reader.

Nostra sedulitas impendet operam, ut, quemadmodumres poscet, ipsum quod exigitur quasi ad interrogatum exhibeat.

Our sedulity will devote effort, so that, as the matter shall demand, it may exhibit the very thing which is exacted, as if in answer to an interrogatory.

Circumspectis enim generibus, praeparavi opportuna exemplorum veluti consilia. Quo magis autem discreta ad rerum varietatem apte collocarentur, in tres libros ea diduximus. In primo erunt exempla, quae competant proelio nondum commisso; in secundo, quae ad proelium et confectam pacationem pertineant; tertius inferendae solvendaeque obsidioni habebit STRATEGEMATA; quibus deinceps generibus suas species attribui.

For, the kinds having been surveyed, I have prepared opportune counsels, as it were, drawn from examples. And that the discrete items might be more aptly collocated to the variety of affairs, we have divided them into three books. In the first there will be examples which are suitable when battle has not yet been joined; in the second, those which pertain to battle and to accomplished pacification; the third will have STRATAGEMS for imposing and for lifting a siege; to which kinds, in due succession, their species are assigned.

Huic labori non iniuste veniam paciscar, ne me pro incurioso reprehendat,qui praeteritum aliquod a nobis reppererit exemplum. Quis enim ad percensenda omnia monumenta, quae utraque lingua tradita sunt, sufficiat?at multa et transire mihi ipse permisi. Quod me non sine causa fecisse scient, qui aliorum libros eadem promittentium legerint.

For this labor I shall not unjustly bargain for pardon, lest anyone who has found some example passed over by us reprehend me as incurious. For who would be sufficient to reckon through all the monuments that have been transmitted in both languages? And I myself have permitted many things to be passed over as well. They who have read the books of others promising the same will know that I have not done this without cause.

Verum facile erit sub quaque specie suggerere. Nam cum hoc opus, sicut cetera, usus potius aliorum quam meae commendationis causa aggressus sim, adiuvari me ab his, qui aliquid illi astruent, non argui credam.

In truth, it will be easy to supply under each species. For since I have undertaken this work, as the rest, rather for the use of others than for the sake of my own commendation, I shall think myself aided by those who will add something to it, not accused.

Si qui erunt, quibus volumina haec cordi sint, meminerint STRATEGICON et STRATEGEMATON perquam similem naturam discernere. Namque omnia, quae a duce provide, utiliter, magnifice, constanter fiunt, STRATEGICA habebuntur, si in specie eorum sunt, STRATEGEMATA. Horum propria vis in arte sollertiaque posita proficit tam ubi cavendus quam opprimendus hostis sit.

If there are any to whom these volumes are dear at heart, let them remember that the STRATEGICON and the STRATEGEMATON are distinguished by a very similar nature. For all things which by a leader are done providently, usefully, magnificently, steadfastly will be accounted STRATEGICA; if they are of their particular form, STRATEGEMATA. The proper force of these, grounded in art and shrewdness, proves effective both where the enemy must be warded against and where he must be crushed.

Qua in re cum verborum quoque illustris exstiterit effectus, ut factorum ita dictorum exempla posuimus.

In this matter, since the effect of words too has proved illustrious, we have set down examples, just as of deeds, so also of sayings.

Species eorum, quae instruant ducem in his, quae ante proelium gerenda sunt:

Species of those things which instruct the general in those matters which are to be done before battle:

I. De occultandis consiliis.
II. De explorandis consiliis hostium.
III.

1. On concealing counsels.
2. On exploring the enemy’s counsels.
3.

De constituendo statu belli.
IV. De transducendo exercitu per loca hosti infesta.
V. De evadendo ex locis difficillimis.

On establishing the status of war.
4. On conducting the army across places enemy-infested.
5. On escaping from the most difficult places.

VI. De insidiis in itinere factis.
VII. Quemadmodum ea, quibus deficiemur, videantur non deesse aut usus eorum expleatur.

6. On ambushes made on the march.
7. How the things in which we shall be deficient may appear not to be lacking, or their use may be supplied.

VIII. De distringendis hostibus.
IX. De seditione militum compescenda.

8. On distracting the enemies.
9. On suppressing the soldiers’ sedition.

X. Quemadmodum intempestiva postulatio pugnae inhibeatur.
XI. Quemadmodum incitandus sit ad proelium exercitus.
XII.

10. How an untimely demand for battle may be checked.
11. How the army should be incited to battle.
12.

De dissolvendo metu, quem milites ex adversis conceperint ominibus.

On dissolving the fear which the soldiers have conceived from adverse omens.

DE OCCULTANDIS CONSILIIS

ON CONCEALING COUNSELS

M. Porcius Cato devictas a se Hispaniae civitates existimabat in tempore rebellaturas fiducia murorum. Scripsit itaque singulis, ut diruerent munimenta, minatus bellum, nisi confestim obtemperassent, epistulasque universis civitatibus eodem die reddi iussit: unaquaeque urbium sibi soli credidit imperatum; contumaces conspiratio potuit facere, si omnibus idem denuntiari notum fuisset.

M. Porcius Cato judged that the civic communities of Spain which he had vanquished would in time rebel, in reliance on their walls. He therefore wrote to each that they should demolish their fortifications, threatening war unless they obeyed forthwith, and he ordered the letters to be delivered to all the civic communities on the same day: each of the cities believed that the command had been laid upon itself alone; a conspiracy could have made them contumacious, if it had been known that the same had been notified to all.

Himilco dux Poenorum, ut in Siciliam inopinatus appelleret classem, non pronuntiavit, quo proficisceretur, sed tabellas, in quibus scriptum erat, quam partem peti vellet, universis gubernatoribus dedit signatas praecepitque,ne quis legeret nisi vi tempestatis a cursu praetoriae navis abductus.

Himilco, Punic commander, in order that he might bring the fleet unanticipated to land in Sicily, did not announce whither he was setting out, but gave sealed tablets to all the pilots, in which it was written what part he wished to be made for, and he instructed that no one read them unless, by the force of a storm, he had been drawn off from the course of the flagship.

C. Laelius, ad Syphacem profectus legatus, quosdam ex tribunis et centurionibus per speciem servitutis ac ministerii exploratores secum duxit: ex quibus L. Statorium, quem, quia saepius in isdem castris fuerat, quidam ex hostibus videbantur agnoscere, occultandae condicionis eius causa baculo ut servum castigavit.

Gaius Laelius, sent as an envoy to Syphax, took with him as scouts certain of the tribunes and centurions under the guise of servitude and service: among them Lucius Statorius—whom, because he had more often been in the same camps, some of the enemy seemed to recognize—he, for the sake of concealing his condition, chastised with a staff, like a slave.

Tarquinius Superbus pater, principes Gabinorum interficiendos arbitratus, quia hoc nemini volebat commissum, nihil nuntio respondit, qui ad eum a filio erat missus; tantum virga eminentia papaverum capita, cum forte in horto ambularet, decussit. Nuntius sine responso reversus renuntiavitadulescenti Tarquinio, quid agentem patrem vidisset; ille intellexit idem esse eminentibus faciendum.

Tarquinius the Proud, the father, having judged that the princes of the Gabinians must be killed, because he wished this to be entrusted to no one, answered nothing to the messenger who had been sent to him by his son; only with a rod he lopped off the eminent heads of the poppies, as by chance he was walking in the garden. The messenger, returning without an answer, reported to the young Tarquinius what he had seen his father doing; he understood that the same thing was to be done to the eminent men.

C. Caesar, quod suspectam habebat Aegyptiorum fidem, per speciem securitatis inspectioni urbis atque operum ac simul licentioribus conviviis deditus, videri voluit captum se gratia locorum ad mores Alexandrinos vitamque deficere[t]: atque inter eam dissimulationem praeparatis subsidiis occupavit Aegyptum.

Gaius Caesar, because he held the good faith of the Egyptians suspect, under the semblance of security devoted himself to the inspection of the city and the works, and at the same time to more licentious convivialities; he wished to appear, captured by the grace of the places, to be lapsing into Alexandrian manners and way of life: and amid that dissimulation, with reinforcements prepared, he seized Egypt.

Ventidius Parthico bello adversus Pacorum regem, non ignarus Pharnaeumquendam, natione Cyrrhestem, ex his qui socii videbantur, omnia quae apud ipsos agerentur nuntiare Parthis, perfidiam barbari ad utilitates suas convertit. Nam quae maxime fieri cupiebat, ea vereri se ne acciderent, quae timebat, ea ut evenirent optare simulabat. Sollicitus itaque, ne Parthi ante transirent Euphraten, quam sibi supervenirent legiones, quas in Cappadocia trans Taurum habebat, studiose cum proditore egit, uti sollemni perfidia Parthis suaderet, per Zeugma traicerent exercitum, qua et brevissimumiter est et <d>emisso alveo Euphrates decurrit: namque si illa venirent,asseverabat se opportunitate collium usurum ad eludendos sagittarios, omnia autem vereri, si se infra <per> patentis campos proiecissent.

Ventidius, in the Parthian war against King Pacorus, not unaware that a certain Pharnaeus, by nation a Cyrrhestian, one of those who seemed to be allies, was reporting to the Parthians everything that was being done among them, turned the barbarian’s perfidy to his own utilities. For the things he most desired to be done, he pretended that he feared might happen; the things he feared, he simulated that he wished to come to pass. Being solicitous, therefore, lest the Parthians should cross the Euphrates before the legions that he had in Cappadocia beyond the Taurus came up to him, he dealt zealously with the traitor, that by his customary perfidy he should persuade the Parthians to carry their army across at Zeugma, where both the route is shortest and the Euphrates runs with its channel lowered: for if they should come that way, he asseverated that he would use the opportunity of the hills to elude the archers, but that he feared everything if they should throw themselves down below into the open plains.

Inducti hac affirmatione barbari inferiore itinere per circuitum adduxerunt exercitumdumque fusiores ripas et ob hoc operosiores ponte[s] iungunt instrumentaque moliuntur, quadraginta amplius dies impenderunt: quo spatio Ventidius ad contrahendas usus est copias eisque triduo, antequam Parthus adveniret, receptis acie commissa vicit Pacorum et interfecit. Mithridates, circumvallante Pompeio, fugam in proximum diem moliens, huius consilii obscurandi causa latius et usque ad applicitas hosti valles pabulatus, colloquia quoque cum pluribus avertendae suspicionis causa in posterum constituit, ignes etiam frequentiores per tota castra fieri iussit: secunda deinde vigilia praeter ipsa hostium castra agmen eduxit. Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus, cum Germanos, qui in armis erant, vellet opprimere nec ignoraret maiore bellum molitione inituros, si adventum tanti ducis praesensissent, profectioni[s] suae census obtexuit Galliarum: sub quibus inopinato bello affusus contusa immanium ferocia nationum provinciis consuluit.

Led on by this affirmation, the barbarians brought their army by a lower route in a circuit; and while they were joining the broader banks and on this account more toilsome with bridge[s] and were contriving the implements, they expended more than 40 days: in which span Ventidius used the time to concentrate his forces, and, having recovered them within three days before the Parthian should arrive, with battle joined he conquered Pacorus and slew him. Mithridates, Pompey encircling him, scheming an escape for the next day, for the sake of obscuring this plan foraged more widely and even up to the valleys adjoined to the enemy; he also appointed conferences with several for the morrow for the sake of averting suspicion, and he ordered more frequent fires to be made throughout the whole camp: then at the second watch he led the column out past the very camp of the enemy. Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus Germanicus, when he wished to oppress the Germans who were in arms and was not unaware that they would enter upon the war with greater molition if they had anticipated the arrival of so great a leader, veiled his departure[s] under a census of the Gauls: under cover of which, having poured upon them with an unlooked-for war, the ferocity of the immense nations being bruised, he took thought for the provinces.

Claudius Nero, cum e re publica esset Hasdrubalem copiasque eius, antequam Hannibali fratri iungerentur, excidi idcircoque festinaret se Livio Salinatori collegae suo, cui bellum mandatum fuerat, parum fidenti viribus quae sub ipso erant, adiungere neque tamen discessum suum ab Hannibale, cui oppositus erat, sentiri vellet, decem milia fortissimorum militum elegit praecepitque legatis, quos relinquebat, ut eaedem stationes vigiliaeque agerentur, totidem ignes arderent, eadem facies castrorum servaretur, ne quid Hannibal suspicatus auderet adversus paucitatem relictorum.cum deinde in Umbria occultatis itineribus collegae se iunxisset, vetuit castra ampliari, ne quod signum adventus sui Poeno daret, detractaturopugnam, si consulum iunctas vires intellexisset. Igitur inscium duplicatis aggressus copiis superavit et velocius omni nuntio rediit ad Hannibalem: ita ex duobus callidissimis ducibus Poenorum eodem consilio alterum celavit, alterum oppressit.

Claudius Nero, since it was for the commonwealth that Hasdrubal and his forces should be cut off before they were joined to Hannibal his brother, and for that reason he hastened to join himself to Livius Salinator, his colleague, to whom the war had been mandated, who was not very confident in the forces which were under himself; yet he did not wish his departure from Hannibal, to whom he was opposed, to be perceived, chose ten thousand of the bravest soldiers and instructed the legates whom he was leaving behind that the same stations and watches be kept, the same number of fires burn, the same appearance of the camp be preserved, lest Hannibal, having suspected anything, should dare anything against the few left behind. Then, when in Umbria by concealed routes he had joined himself to his colleague, he forbade the camp to be enlarged, lest he give any sign of his arrival to the Punic, who would draw back from battle if he had understood the joined forces of the consuls. Therefore, having attacked him unaware with doubled forces, he defeated him and, more swiftly than any messenger, returned to Hannibal: thus, out of two most crafty leaders of the Poeni, by the same plan he concealed the one and crushed the other.

Themistocles exhortans suos ad suscitandos festinanter muros, quos iussu Lacedaemoniorum deiecerant, legatis Lacedaemone missis, qui interpellarent,respondit, venturum se ad diluendam hanc existimationem: et pervenit Lacedaemonem. Ibi simulato morbo aliquantum temporis extraxit; et postquam intellexit suspectam esse tergiversationem suam, contendit falsum <allatum> ad eos rumorem et rogavit, mitterent aliquos ex principibus,quibus crederent de munitione Athenarum. Suis deinde clam scripsit, ut eos qui venissent retinerent, donec refectis operibus confiteretur Lacedaemoniis, munitas esse Athenas neque aliter principes eorum redire posse, quam <si> ipse remissus foret: quod facile praestiterunt Lacedaemonii, ne unius interitum multorum morte pensarent.

Themistocles, exhorting his own to raise up in haste the walls, which by order of the Lacedaemonians they had thrown down, when envoys had been sent from Lacedaemon to interpellate,responded that he would come to wash away this estimation: and he arrived at Lacedaemon. There, with simulated sickness, he drew out some time; and after he understood his tergiversation to be suspected, he contended that a false report had been <brought> to them and asked that they send some from the principals,whom they would trust, concerning the fortification of Athens. He then secretly wrote to his people to detain those who had come, until, the works having been repaired, he should confess to the Lacedaemonians that Athens had been fortified and that their chiefs could not return otherwise than <if> he himself were sent back: which the Lacedaemonians readily performed, lest they balance the destruction of one with the death of many.

L. Furius, exercitu perducto in locum iniquum, cum constituisset occultare sollicitudinem suam, ne reliqui trepidarent, paulatim se inflectens, tamquam circuitu maiore hostem aggressurus, converso agmine ignarum rei quae agebatur exercitum incolumem reduxit.

L. Furius, when the army had been led into an unfavorable position, having resolved to occult his solicitude, lest the rest should be alarmed, gradually veering, as though about to attack the enemy by a wider circuit, with the column turned about led the army back in safety, the army unaware of what was being done.

Metellus Pius in Hispania interrogatus, quid postera die facturus esset, "tunicam meam, si eloqui posset", inquit, "comburerem." M. Licinius Crassus percunctanti, quo tempore castra moturus esset, respondit: "Vereris, ne tubam non exaudias?"

Metellus Pius in Spain, when interrogated what he would do on the following day, said, “my tunic—if it could speak—I would burn.” M. Licinius Crassus, to one inquiring at what time he was going to move camp, responded: “Do you fear that you will not hear the trumpet?”

DE EXPLORANDIS CONSILIIS HOSTIUM

ON EXPLORING THE ENEMIES' COUNSELS

Scipio Africanus, capta occasione mittendae ad Syphacem legationis, cum Laelio servorum habitu tribunos et centuriones electissimos ire iussit, quibus curae esset perspicere regias vires. Hi, quo liberius castrorum positionemscrutarentur, equum de industria dimissum tamquam fugientem persectati maximam partem munimentorum circumierunt: quae cum nuntiassent, incendio confectum bellum est.

Scipio Africanus, having seized the occasion for sending a legation to Syphax, together with Laelius ordered tribunes and most select centurions, in the attire of slaves, to go, whose charge it should be to inspect the royal forces. These men, in order the more freely to scrutinize the position of the camp, having intentionally let a horse loose and, as though pursuing one that was fleeing, went around the greater part of the fortifications: when they reported these things, the war was brought to an end by conflagration.

Q. Fabius Maximus bello Etrusco, cum adhuc incognitae forent Romanis ducibus sagaciores explorandi viae, fratrem Fabium Caesonem, peritum linguae Etruscae, iussit Tusco habitu penetrare Ciminiam silvam, intemptatam ante militi nostro: quod is adeo prudenter atque industrie fecit, ut transgressus silvam Umbros Camertes, cum animadvertisset non alienos nomini Romano, ad societatem compulerit.

Quintus Fabius Maximus, in the Etruscan war, when more sagacious ways of exploring were still unknown to Roman leaders, ordered his brother Fabius Caeso, skilled in the Etruscan tongue, to penetrate the Ciminian forest in Tuscan habit, a place previously unattempted by our soldiery: which he did so prudently and industriously that, having crossed the forest, when he had noticed that the Camertian Umbrians were not alien to the Roman name, he compelled them into alliance.

Carthaginienses, cum animadvertissent Alexandri ita magnas opes, ut Africae quoque immineret, unum ex civibus, virum acrem nomine Hamilcarem Rhodinum, iusserunt simulato exsilio ire ad regem omnique studio in amicitiam eius pervenire: qua is potitus consilia eius nota civibus suis faciebat.

The Carthaginians, when they had observed Alexander’s resources so great that he even threatened Africa, ordered one of the citizens, a keen man named Hamilcar the Rhodian, to go to the king under the pretense of exile and with every zeal to attain his friendship; which, once he had obtained it, he made his counsels known to his fellow-citizens.

Idem Carthaginienses miserunt, qui per speciem legatorum longo tempore Romae morarentur exciperentque consilia nostrorum. M. Cato in Hispania, quia ad hostium consilia alia via pervenire non potuerat, iussit trecentos milites simul impetum facere in stationem hostium raptumque unum ex his in castra perferre incolumem: tortus ille omnia suorum arcana confessus est.

The Carthaginians likewise sent men who, under the guise of legates, would remain for a long time at Rome and would intercept the counsels of our people. M. Cato in Spain, because he had not been able to reach the enemy’s counsels by another route, ordered three hundred soldiers at once to make an assault on the enemy’s station and to carry off one of them into the camp unharmed: tortured, that man confessed all the arcana of his people.

C. Marius consul bello Cimbrico et Teutonico ad excutiendam Gallorumet Ligurum fidem litteras eis misit, quarum pars prior praeceperat, ne interiores, quae praesignatae erant, ante certum tempus aperirentur: easdem postea ante praestitutum diem repetiit et, quia resignatas reppererat, intellexit hostilia agitari.

C. Marius, consul, in the Cimbrian and Teutonic war, to shake out the loyalty of the Gauls and Ligurians, sent letters to them, of which the first part had enjoined that the inner ones, which were pre-sealed, not be opened before a set time: the same he later demanded back before the pre-stipulated day, and, because he found them unsealed, he understood that hostile measures were being agitated.

[Est et aliud explorandi genus, quo ipsi duces nullo extrinsecus adiutorio per se provident, sicut]

[There is also another kind of exploration, by which the leaders themselves, with no extrinsic aid, make provision by themselves, just as]

Aemilius Paulus consul, bello Etrusco apud oppidum Vetuloniam demissurus exercitum in planitiem, contemplatus procul avium multitudinemcitatiore volatu ex silva consurrexisse, intellexit aliquid illic insidiarumlatere, quod et turbatae aves et plures simul evolaverant. Praemissis igitur exploratoribus comperit decem milia Boiorum excipiendo ibi Romanorumagmini imminere, eaque alio quam exspectabatur latere missis legionibus circumfudit.

Aemilius Paulus, consul, in the Etruscan war, when he was about to send the army down into the plain near the town of Vetulonia, having observed from afar that a multitude of birds had sprung up from the wood in a swifter flight, understood that some ambush was lurking there, since the birds had been disturbed and a greater number had flown out at once. Therefore, with scouts sent ahead, he ascertained that ten thousand of the Boii were there threatening to intercept the Roman column; and, sending the legions by a side other than was expected, he encompassed them.

Similiter Tisamenus, Orestis filius, cum audisset iugum ab hostibus natura munitum teneri, praemisit sciscitaturos, quid rei foret; ac referentibuseis non esse verum, quod opinaretur, ingressus iter, ubi vidit ex suspectoiugo magnam vim avium simul evolasse neque omnino residere, arbitratus latere illic agmen hostium: itaque circumducto exercitu elusit insidiatores.

Similarly Tisamenus, son of Orestes, when he had heard that a ridge, fortified by nature, was held by the enemies, sent ahead men to inquire what the matter was; and when they reported that what he supposed was not true, he entered upon the march; but when he saw from the suspected ridge a great force of birds fly out at once and not settle at all, he judged that the enemy’s column was lying hidden there: and so, with the army led around, he outwitted the ambushers.

Hasdrubal, frater Hannibalis, iunctum Livii et Neronis exercitum, quamquam hoc illi non duplicatis castris dissimularent, intellexit, quod ab itinere strigosiores notabat equos et coloratiora hominum, ut ex via, corpora.

Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, understood that the army of Livius and Nero had been joined, although they disguised this by not having the camps doubled, because he noted the horses more gaunt from the march and the bodies of the men more colored, as from the road.

DE CONSTITUENDO STATU BELLI

ON DETERMINING THE STATE OF WAR

Alexander Macedo, cum haberet vehementem exercitum, semper eum statum belli elegit, ut acie confligeret.

Alexander the Macedonian, when he had a powerful army, always chose that state of war, to clash in the battle-line.

C. Caesar bello civili, cum veteranum exercitum haberet, hostium autem tironem esse sciret, acie semper decertare studuit.

Gaius Caesar, in the civil war, since he had a veteran army, and knew that the enemy were tyros, always strove to decide the issue by a pitched battle.

Fabius Maximus adversus Hannibalem, successibus proeliorum insolentem,recedere ab ancipiti discrimine et tueri tantummodo Italiam constituitCunctatorisque nomen et per hoc summi ducis meruit.

Fabius Maximus, against Hannibal, insolent from the successes of battles, resolved to withdraw from a twofold peril and to guard only Italy, and by this he merited the name Cunctator and, through this, that of a supreme general.

Byzantii adversus Philippum omne proeliandi discrimen evitantes, omissa etiam finium tutela, intra munitiones oppidi se receperunt assecutique sunt, ut Philippus obsidionalis morae impatiens recederet.

The Byzantines, against Philip, avoiding every peril of battling, with even the guardianship of the borders abandoned, withdrew within the fortifications of the town, and achieved that Philip, impatient of the siege-delay, withdrew.

Hasdrubal, Gisgonis filius, secundo Punico bello in Hispania victum exercitum, cum P. Scipio instaret, per urbes divisit: ita factum est, ut Scipio, ne oppugnatione plurium oppidorum distringeretur, in hiberna suos reduceret.

Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, in the Second Punic War in Spain, after the army had been defeated and while P. Scipio was pressing on, divided it among the cities: thus it came about that Scipio, so that he might not be distracted by the siege of several towns, led his men back into winter quarters.

Themistocles adventante Xerxe, quia neque proelio pedestri neque tutelae finium neque obsidioni credebat sufficere Athenienses, auctor fuit eis liberos et coniuges in Tro<e>zena et in alias amendandi relictoque oppido statum belli ad navale proelium transferendi.

Themistocles, with Xerxes approaching, since he believed that the Athenians were sufficient neither for a land battle nor for the protection of the borders nor for a siege, advised them to send their children and spouses to Troezen and to other places, and, with the town left behind, to transfer the state of the war to a naval engagement.

Idem fecit in eadem civitate Pericles adversum Lacedaemonios. Scipio, manente in Italia Hannibale, transmisso in Africam exercitu necessitatem Carthaginiensibus imposuit revocandi Hannibalem: sic a domesticis finibus <in> hostile<s> transtulit bellum.

The same did Pericles in the same city against the Lacedaemonians. Scipio, with Hannibal remaining in Italy, the army having been transferred into Africa, imposed upon the Carthaginians the necessity of recalling Hannibal: thus from domestic borders into hostile ones he transferred the war.

Athenienses, cum Deceliam castellum ipsorum Lacedaemonii communissentet frequentius vexarentur, classem, quae Peloponensum infestare[n]t,miserunt consecutique sunt, ut exercitus Lacedaemoniorum, qui Deceliae erat, revocaretur.

The Athenians, when the Lacedaemonians had fortified Decelia and they were being harassed more frequently, sent a fleet to infest the Peloponnesus, and they achieved that the army of the Lacedaemonians which was at Decelia be recalled.

Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus, cum Germani more suo e saltibus et obscuris latebris subinde impugnarent nostros tutumque regressumin profunda silvarum haberent, limitibus per centum viginti milia passuum actis non mutavit tantum statum belli, sed et subiecit dicioni suae hostes, quorum refugia nudaverat.

Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus, when the Germans, in their wont, kept assailing our men from the forests and obscure lurking-places and had a safe return into the deep woods, by frontier-lines driven for one hundred twenty miles not only changed the state of the war, but also subjected to his dominion the enemies, whose refuges he had laid bare.

DE TRANSDUCENDO EXERCITU PER LOCA HOSTI INFESTA

ON LEADING AN ARMY THROUGH ENEMY-INFESTED PLACES

Aemilius Paulus consul, cum in Lucanis iuxta litus angusto itinere exercitum duceret et Tarentini ei classe insidiati agmen eius scorpionibus agressi essent, captivos lateri euntium praetexuit: quorum respectu hostes inhibuere tela.

Aemilius Paulus, consul, when in Lucania near the shore he was leading the army by a narrow route and the Tarentines had laid an ambush for him with a fleet and had attacked his column with scorpions, screened the flank of the marchers with captives; out of regard for whom the enemies held back their missiles.

Agesilaus Lacedaemonius, cum praeda onustus ex Phrygia rediret insequerenturque hostes et ad locorum opportunitatem lacesserent agmen eius, ordinem captivorum ab utroque latere exercitus sui explicuit: quibus dum parcitur ab hoste, spatium transeundi habuerunt Lacedaemonii.

Agesilaus the Lacedaemonian, when he was returning from Phrygia laden with booty and the enemy were pursuing and, taking advantage of the opportunity of the places, were harrying his column, deployed the rank of captives on either flank of his army: while these were spared by the enemy, the Lacedaemonians had space for passing through.

Idem, tenentibus angustias Thebanis, per quas transeundum habebat, flexit iter, quasi Thebas contenderet: exterritis Thebanis digressisque ad tutanda moenia repetitum iter, quo destinaverat, emensus est nullo obsistente. Nicostratus, dux Aetolorum, adversus Epirotas, cum ei aditus in fines eorum angusti fierent, per alterum locum irrupturum se ostendens, omni illa ad prohibendum occurrente Epirotarum multitudine, reliquit suos paucos, qui speciem remanentis exercitus praeberent: ipse cum cetera manu, quo non exspectabatur aditu, intravit.

The same man, the Thebans holding the narrows through which he had to pass, bent his route, as if he were making for Thebes: the Thebans, terrified and having withdrawn to guard the walls, he traversed the route resumed, which he had intended, with no one opposing. Nicostratus, leader of the Aetolians, against the Epirotes, when the approaches into their borders were becoming narrow for him, showing that he would break in through another place, with all that multitude of the Epirotes running to prevent it, left his few men to present the appearance of an army remaining: he himself, with the rest of the band, entered by an approach where he was not expected.

Autophradates Perses, cum in Pisidiam exercitum duceret et angustiasquasdam Pisidae occuparent, simulata vexatione traiciendi instituit reducere: quod cum Pisidae credidissent, ille nocte validissimam manum ad eundem locum occupandum praemisit ac postero die totum traiecit exercitum.

Autophradates the Persian, when he was leading his army into Pisidia and the Pisidians were occupying certain narrow passes, feigning difficulty of crossing he set about withdrawing; and when the Pisidians had believed this, he by night sent ahead a very strong band to occupy the same place, and on the following day he brought his whole army across.

Philippus, Macedonum rex, Graeciam petens, cum Thermopylas occupatas audiret et ad eum legati Aetolorum venissent acturi de pace, retentis eis ipse magnis itineribus ad angustias pertendit securisque custodibuset legatorum reditus exspectantibus inopinatus Thermopylas traiecit.

Philip, king of the Macedonians, making for Greece, when he heard that Thermopylae were occupied and ambassadors of the Aetolians had come to him to treat about peace, with them detained, he himself by great marches pressed on to the narrows, and, with the guards carefree and expecting the return of the legates, he crossed Thermopylae unexpectedly.

Iphicrates, dux Atheniensium, adversus Anaxibium Lacedaemonium in Hellesponto circa Abydon, cum transducendum exercitum haberet per loca, quae stationibus hostium tenebantur, alterum autem latus eius transitus abscisi montes premerent, alterum mare allueret, aliquamdiu moratus, cum incidisset frigidior solito dies et ob hoc nemini suspectus, delegit firmissimos quosque, quibus oleo ac mero calefactis praecepit, ipsam oram maris legerent, abruptiora tranarent: atque ita custodes angustiaruminopinatos oppressit a tergo.

Iphicrates, commander of the Athenians, against Anaxibius the Lacedaemonian in the Hellespont around Abydos, when he had to lead his army across through places which were held by enemy outposts—one side of the pass pressed by sheer-cut mountains, the other washed by the sea—after delaying for some time, when a day colder than usual had set in and on account of this he was suspected by no one, he chose the stoutest men, and, after warming them with oil and unmixed wine, instructed them to pick their way along the very shore of the sea and to swim the steeper stretches; and so he overwhelmed the guards of the narrows, unawares, from the rear.

Cn. Pompeius, cum flumen transire propter oppositum hostium exercitum non posset, assidue producere et reducere in castra instituit: deinde, in eam dem<um> persuasionem hoste perducto, ne ullam viam ad progressum Romanorum teneret, repente impetu facto transitum rapuit.

Gnaeus Pompeius, since he could not cross the river because of the enemy’s army set opposite, assiduously set to draw out and draw back into camp; then, when the enemy had been brought at last into this persuasion—that he held no route against the Romans’ advance—suddenly, an impetus having been made, he seized the crossing.

Alexander Macedo, prohibente rege Indorum Poro traici exercitum per flumen Hydaspen, adversus aquam assidue procurrere iussit suos: et ubi eo more exercitationis assecutus est, <ne> qui<d> a Poro adversa ripa caveretur, per superiorem partem subitum transmisit exercitum.

Alexander the Macedonian, with Porus, king of the Indians, preventing the army from being ferried across the river Hydaspes, ordered his men to run forward assiduously against the water; and when by that mode of exercise he had brought it about that nothing was being guarded against by Porus on the opposite bank, he sent the army across by the upper part, by surprise.

Idem, quia Indi fluminis traiectu prohibebatur ab hoste, diversis locis in flumen equites instituit immittere et transitum minari; cumque exspectationebarbaros intentos teneret, insulam paulo remotiorem primum exiguo, deinde maiore praesidio occupavit atque inde in ulteriorem ripam transmisit: ad quam manum opprimendam cum universi se hostes effudissent,ipse libero vado transgressus omnes copias coniunxit.

The same man, because he was being prevented by the enemy from a crossing of the Indus river, set about sending cavalry into the river at different places and threatening a passage; and when by this expectation he kept the barbarians intent, he seized an island a little more remote, first with a small garrison, then with a larger garrison, and from there sent across to the farther bank: and when all the enemies had poured out to crush that detachment, he himself, having crossed by an open ford, united all the forces.

Xenophon, ulteriorem ripam Armeniis tenentibus, duos iussit quaeri aditus; et cum a <vado> inferiore repulsus esset, transiit ad superius, inde quoque prohibitus hostium occursu repetit vadum inferius, iussa quidem militum parte subsistere, [et] quae, cum Armenii ad inferioris vadi tutelam redissent, per superius transgrederetur: Armenii, credentes decursuros omnes, decepti sunt a remanentibus; hi cum resistente nullo vadum superassent,transeuntium suorum fuere propugnatores.

Xenophon, with the farther bank being held by the Armenians, ordered two approaches to be sought; and when he had been driven back from the lower , he crossed to the upper; being prevented there also by the encounter of the enemy, he returned to the lower ford, a part of the soldiers indeed having been ordered to halt, [and] which, when the Armenians had returned to the guard of the lower ford, would cross over by the upper: the Armenians, believing that all would run down, were deceived by those who remained; these, with no one resisting, had surmounted the ford, and were the defenders of their own who were crossing.

P. Claudius consul primo bello Punico, cum a Regio Messanam traicere militem nequiret, custodientibus fretum Poenis, sparsit rumorem, quasi bellum iniussu populi inceptum gerere non posset, classemque in Italiam versus se agere simulavit: digressis deinde Poenis, qui profectioni eius habuerant fidem, circumactas naves appulit Siciliae.

P. Claudius, consul in the First Punic War, when he could not ferry the soldiery from Rhegium to Messana, with the Poeni guarding the strait, spread a rumor, as if he were unable to wage the war, begun without the people’s order, and he pretended that he was steering the fleet toward Italy; then, when the Poeni, who had put faith in his departure, had drawn off, having turned the ships around he brought them to Sicily.

Lacedaemoniorum duces, cum Syracusas navigare destinassent et Poenorum dispositam per litus classem timerent, decem Punicas naves, quas captivas habebant, veluti victrices primas iusserunt agi, aut a latere iunctis aut puppe religatis suis: qua specie deceptis Poenis transierunt.

The leaders of the Lacedaemonians, when they had determined to sail to Syracuse and were fearing the Punic fleet disposed along the shore, ordered ten Punic ships, which they had as captives, to be led first as if victors, either with their own ships joined at the side or with the stern fastened to theirs: by this appearance, the Poeni having been deceived, they crossed.

Philippus, cum angustias maris, quae STENA appellantur, transnavigare propter Atheniensium classem, quae opportunitatem loci custodiebat, non posset, scripsit Antipatro Thraciam rebellare, praesidiis quae ibi reliquerat interceptis: sequeretur omnibus omissis. Quae ut epistulae interciperentur ab hoste, curavit: Athenienses, arcana Macedonum excepisse visi, classem abduxerunt; Philippus nullo prohibente angustias freti liberavit.

Philip, since he could not sail across the narrows of the sea, which are called STENA, on account of the Athenians’ fleet, which was guarding the opportunity of the place, wrote to Antipater that Thrace was rebelling, the garrisons which he had left there having been intercepted: he should follow, everything else being set aside. He took care that these letters be intercepted by the enemy: the Athenians, seeming to have caught the arcana of the Macedonians, withdrew the fleet; Philip, with no one hindering, cleared the narrows of the strait.

Idem, quia Cherronessum, quae iuris Atheniensium erat, occupare prohibebatur, tenentibus transitum non Byzantiorum tantum, sed Rhodiorumquoque et Chiorum navibus, conciliavit animos eorum reddendo naves, quas ceperat, quasi sequestres futuros ordinandae pacis inter se atque Byzantios, qui causa belli erant: tractaque per magnum tempus postulatione, cum de industria subinde aliquid in condicionibus retexeret, classem per id tempus praeparavit eaque in angustias freti imparato hoste subitus evasit.

The same man, because he was being prevented from occupying the Chersonese, which was under the jurisdiction of the Athenians, with the passage held not by the Byzantines only but also by Rhodian and Chian ships, won over their minds by returning the ships which he had taken, on the pretense that they would be sequesters for the arranging of peace between himself and the Byzantines, who were the cause of the war; and with the demand drawn out for a long time—since by design he kept from time to time unweaving something in the conditions—he prepared a fleet during that interval, and with it he suddenly made his way into the narrows of the strait, the enemy unprepared.

Chabrias Atheniensis, cum adire portum Samiorum obstante navali hostium praesidio non posset, paucas e suis navibus praeter portum missas iussit transire, arbitratus, qui in statione erant, persecuturos: hisque per hoc consilium avocatis, nullo obstante portum cum reliqua adeptus est classe.

Chabrias the Athenian, since he was not able to approach the harbor of the Samians, the naval guard of the enemy standing in the way, ordered a few of his ships to be sent to pass by the harbor, thinking that those who were on station would pursue; and with these drawn off by this stratagem, with no one opposing, he attained the harbor with the rest of the fleet.

DE EVADENDO EX LOCIS DIFFICILLIMIS

ON ESCAPING FROM THE MOST DIFFICULT PLACES

Q. Sertorius in Hispania, cum a tergo instante hoste flumen traicere haberet, vallum in ripa eius in modum cavae lunae duxit et oneratum materiis incendit: atque ita exclusis hostibus flumen libere transgressus est.

Q. Sertorius in Spain, when with the enemy pressing from the rear he had to cross a river, constructed a rampart on its bank in the manner of a hollow moon, and, having loaded it with materials, set it on fire: and thus, with the enemies shut out, he crossed the river freely.

Similiter Pelopidas Thebanus bello Thessalico transitum quaesivit. Namque castris ampliorem locum supra ripam complexus, vallum cervolis et alio materiae genere constructum incendit: dumque ignibus submoventurhostes, ipse fluvium superavit.

Similarly Pelopidas the Theban, in the Thessalian war, sought a crossing. For indeed, having encompassed with the camp a larger area above the bank, he set on fire a rampart constructed of hurdles and another kind of material: and while the enemies were driven back by the flames, he himself crossed the river.

Q. Lutatius Catulus, cum a Cimbris pulsus unam spem salutis haberet, si flumen liberasset, cuius ripam hostes tenebant, in proximo monte copias ostendit, tamquam ibi castra positurus. Ac praecepit suis, ne sarcinas solverentaut onera deponerent ne<ve> quis ab ordinibus signisque discederet; et quo magis persuasionem hostium confirmaret, pauca tabernacula in conspectu erigi iussit ignesque fieri et quosdam vallum struere, quosdam in lignationem, ut conspicerentur, exire: quod Cimbri vere agi existimantes et ipsi castris delegerunt locum dispersique in proximos agros ad comparanda ea, quae mansuris necessaria sunt, occasionem dederunt Catulo non solum flumen traiciendi, sed etiam castra eorum infestandi.

Q. Lutatius Catulus, when he had been repulsed by the Cimbri and had one hope of salvation, namely if he should free the river whose bank the enemies were holding, displayed his forces on the nearest mountain, as though he were going to pitch camp there. And he instructed his men not to loosen the packs or set down the burdens, nor that anyone should depart from the ranks and standards; and in order the more to confirm the enemies’ persuasion, he ordered a few tents to be set up in sight and fires to be made, and some to build the rampart, some to go out, so as to be seen, for wood-gathering. The Cimbri, thinking that these things were truly being done, likewise chose a place for a camp and, scattered into the neighboring fields to procure the things which are necessary for those who are going to remain, gave Catulus the opportunity not only of crossing the river, but also of infesting their camp.

Croesus, cum Halyn vado transire non posset neque navium aut pontis faciendi copiam haberet, fossa superiore parte post castra deducta alveum fluminis a tergo exercitus sui reddidit.

Croesus, since he could not cross the Halys by a ford and had no means of ships or of making a bridge, with a ditch drawn on the upper side behind the camp, made the channel of the river at the back of his army.

Cn. Pompeius Brundisii, cum excedere[t] Italia et transferre bellum proposuisset, instante a tergo Caesare conscensurus classem quasdam obstruxit vias, alias parietibus intersaepsit, alias intercidit fossis easque sudibus erectis praeclusas operuit cratibus, humo aggesta, quosdam aditus, qui ad portum ferebant, trabibus transmissis et in densum ordinem structis, ingenti mole tutatus. Quibus perpetratis ad speciem retinendae urbis raros pro moenibus sagittarios reliquit, ceteras copias sine tumultu ad naves deduxit: navigantem eum mox sagittarii quoque per itinera nota degressi parvis navigiis consecuti sunt.

Gnaeus Pompeius at Brundisium, when he had proposed to withdraw from Italy and transfer the war, with Caesar pressing on his rear, being about to embark the fleet, blocked certain roads, fenced off others with walls, cut others through with ditches, and those approaches closed with upright stakes he covered with hurdles, with earth heaped on; and certain accesses that led to the harbor he safeguarded by beams thrown across and piled in a dense order, with a huge mass. These things accomplished, for the appearance of retaining the city he left a few archers along the walls, and led the rest of the forces down to the ships without tumult: as he was sailing, the archers too, having gone down by known paths, followed him in small craft.

C. Duellius consul in portu Syracusano, quem temere intraverat, obiecta ad ingressum catena clausus universos in puppem rettulit milites atque ita resupina navigia magna remigantium vi concitavit: levatae prorae super catenam processerunt. Qua parte superata transgressi rursus milites proras presserunt, in quas versum pondus decursum super catenam dedit navibus.

The consul C. Duellius, in the Syracusan port, which he had entered rashly, when he was shut in by a chain thrown across the entrance, shifted all the soldiers to the stern and thus, with the ships back‑tilted, impelled them by the great force of the oarsmen: the raised prows advanced over the chain. With that part overcome, the soldiers, once across, pressed the prows down again, and the weight, turned toward them, gave the ships a downward run over the chain.

Lysander Lacedaemonius, cum in portu Atheniensium cum tota classe obsideretur, obrutis hostium navibus ab ea parte, qua faucibus angustissimis influit mare, milites suos clam in litus egredi iussit et subiectis rotis naves ad proximum portum Munychiam traiecit.

Lysander the Lacedaemonian, when he was being besieged in the port of the Athenians with his whole fleet, the ships of the enemy having been overwhelmed on that side where the sea flows in through the narrowest straits, ordered his soldiers secretly to go out onto the shore, and, wheels placed beneath, transported the ships to the nearest port, Munychia.

Hirtuleius legatus Q. Sertorii, cum in Hispania inter duos montes abruptos longum et angustum iter ingressus paucas duceret cohortes comperissetque ingentem manum hostium adventare, fossam transversam inter montes pressit vallumque materia exstructum incendit atque ita interclusohoste evasit.

Hirtuleius, legate of Q. Sertorius, when in Spain, having entered between two abrupt mountains upon a long and narrow route and leading a few cohorts, and having learned that a vast band of enemies was approaching, blocked the pass with a transverse ditch between the mountains and set fire to a rampart constructed of timber, and thus, with the enemy cut off, he escaped.

C. Caesar bello civili, cum adversus Afranium copias educeret et recipiendise sine periculo facultatem non haberet, sicut constiterat, prima et secunda acie <in armis permanente, tertia autem acie> furtim a tergo ad opus applicata, quindecim pedum fossam fecit, intra quam sub occasum solis armati se milites eius receperunt.

C. Caesar in the civil war, when he was leading out his forces against Afranius and had no means of withdrawing himself without peril, as had been settled, with the first and second battle-line remaining in arms, but the third battle-line stealthily applied at the rear to the work, made a trench of fifteen feet, within which, toward sunset, his soldiers, armed, withdrew themselves.

Pericles Atheniensis, a Peloponnensiis in eum locum compulsus, qui undique abruptis cinctus duos tantum exitus habebat, ab altera parte fossam ingentis latitudinis duxit velut hostis excludendi causa, ab altera limitem agere coepit, tamquam per eum erupturus. Hi qui obsidebant, cum per fossam, quam ipse fecerat, exercitum Periclis non crederent evasurum, universi a limite obstiterunt: Pericles, pontibus, quos praeparaverat, fossae iniectis, suos, quis non resistebatur, emisit.

Pericles the Athenian, forced by the Peloponnesians into that place which, girded on all sides by precipices, had only two exits, on the one side drew a ditch of enormous breadth, as if for the purpose of excluding the enemy; on the other he began to drive a limes, as though about to erupt along it. Those who were besieging, since they did not believe that Pericles’ army would escape by the ditch which he himself had made, all in a body stood opposed at the limes: Pericles, with the bridges which he had prepared thrown over the ditch, sent his men out where he was not being resisted.

Lysimachus, ex his unus in quos opes Alexandri transierunt, cum editumcollem castris destinasset, imprudentia autem suorum in inferiorem deductus vereretur ex superiore hostium incursum, triplices fossas intra vallum obiecit; deinde simplicibus fossis circa omnia tentoria ductis tota castra confodit et intersaepto hostium aditu, simul humo quoque et frondibus,quas fossis superiecerat, <fallentibus, eruptione> facta in superiora evasit.

Lysimachus, one of those into whom the resources of Alexander passed, when he had designated a raised hill for a camp, but, having been led down into a lower place through the imprudence of his own men, and fearing an incursion of the enemy from the higher ground, set triple fosses within the rampart; then, simple fosses having been drawn around all the tents, he riddled the whole camp, and, the approach of the enemy having been cut off, while the soil also and the fronds which he had thrown upon the fosses were <deceiving, a sally having been made>, he made his way up to the higher ground.

C. Fonteius Crassus in Hispania cum tribus milibus hominum praedatumprofectus <locoque iniquo circumventus> ab Hasdrubale, ad primos tantum ordines relato consilio, incipiente nocte, quo tempore minime exspectabatur, per stationes hostium perrupit.

Gaius Fonteius Crassus in Spain, having set out with 3,000 men to plunder, and surrounded in an unfavorable position by Hasdrubal, with the plan communicated only to the front ranks, as night was beginning—at a time when it was least expected—broke through the enemy outposts.

L. Furius, exercitu perducto in locum iniquum, cum constituisset occultaresollicitudinem suam, ne reliqui trepidarent, paulatim inflectit iter, tamquam circuitu maiore hostem aggressurus: converso agmine ignarum rei quae agebatur exercitum incolumem reduxit.

L. Furius, after leading the army into an unfavorable place, when he had resolved to conceal his solicitude, lest the rest should panic, gradually bends the route, as though about to attack the enemy by a greater circuit; with the column turned about, he led back the army—unaware of what was afoot—safe.

P. Decius tribunus bello Samnitico Cornelio Cosso consuli iniquis locis deprehenso ab hostibus suasit, ut ad occupandum collem, qui erat in propinquo, modicam manum mitteret, seque ducem his qui mittebantur obtulit: avocatus in diversum hostis dimisit consulem, Decium autem cinxit obseditque. Illas quoque angustias noctu eruptione facta cum frustratus esset Decius, incolumis cum militibus consuli accessit.

P. Decius, a tribune in the Samnite war, when the consul Cornelius Cossus had been caught by the enemies in unfavorable places, advised him to send a small detachment to occupy a hill which was nearby, and he offered himself as leader to those who were being sent: the enemy, called away in a different direction, let the consul go, but encircled and besieged Decius. Those narrow straits too, when a breakout by night had been made and Decius had thus baffled them, he came unharmed with his soldiers to the consul.

Idem fecit sub Atilio Calatino consule is, cuius varie traditur nomen: alii Laberium, nonnulli Q. Caedicium, plurimi Calpurnium Flammamvocitatum scripserunt. Is cum demissum in eam vallem videret exercitum, cuius latera omnia<que> superiora hostis insederat, depoposcit et accepit trecentos milites, quos adhortatus, ut virtute sua exercitum servarent, in mediam vallem decucurrit: et ad opprimendos eos undique descendit hostis longoque et aspero proelio retentus occasionem consuli ad extrahendum exercitum dedit.

He did the same under the consul Atilius Calatinus, he whose name is variously handed down: some wrote “Laberius,” some “Q. Caedicius,” most “Calpurnius Flamma, commonly called.” He, when he saw the army let down into that valley, whose flanks and all the higher ground the enemy had occupied, requested and received three hundred soldiers, whom he exhorted to save the army by their valor, and he ran down into the middle of the valley: and to crush them the enemy descended from every side, and, detained by a long and rough battle, gave an occasion to the consul for extracting the army.

Q. Minucius consul in Liguria, demisso in angustias exercitu, cum iam omnibus obversaretur Caudinae cladis exemplum, Numidas auxiliares, tam propter ipsorum quam propter equorum deformitatem despiciendos, iussit adequitare faucibus, quae tenebantur. Primo intenti hostes, ne lacesserentur, stationem obiecerunt. De industria Numidae ad augendum sui contemptum labi equis et per ludibrium spectaculo esse affectaverunt.

Q. Minucius, consul in Liguria, with the army sent down into straits, when now the example of the Caudine disaster was presenting itself to all, ordered the Numidian auxiliaries—despised as much on account of their own deformity as of the deformity of their horses—to ride up to the defiles which were held. At first the enemy, intent lest they be provoked, threw out a picket. On purpose the Numidians, to augment contempt for themselves, affected to slip from their horses and, by way of mockery, to be a spectacle.

Ad novitatem rei laxatis ordinibus barbari in spectaculum usque resoluti sunt. Quod ubi animadverterunt Numidae, paulatim succedentes additis calcaribus per intermissas hostium stationes eruperunt: quorum deinde cum proximos in[cen]derentagros, necesse Liguribus fuit avocari ad defendenda sua inclusosqueRomanos emittere.

At the novelty of the affair, with their ranks loosened, the barbarians were relaxed even into a spectacle. When the Numidians noticed this, gradually advancing, with spurs applied, they burst through the enemy’s stations at the intervals; and then, as they set the nearest fields on fire, it was necessary for the Ligurians to be drawn off to defend their own, and to let out the Romans who were enclosed.

L. Sulla, bello sociali apud Aeserniam inter angustias deprehensus ab exercitu hostium, cui Duillius praeerat, colloquio petito de condicionibus pacis agitabat sine effectu: hostem tamen propter indutias neglegentia resolutumanimadvertens, nocte profectus relicto bucinatore, qui vigilias ad fidem remanentium divideret et quarta vigilia commissa consequeretur, incolumes suos cum omnibus impedimentis tormentisque in tuta perduxit. Idem adversus Archelaum praefectum Mithridatis in Cappadocia, iniquitatelocorum et multitudine hostium pressus, fecit pacis mentionem interpositoquetempore etiam indutiarum et per haec avocata intentione adversari[or]umevasit.

L. Sulla, in the Social War at Aesernia, caught in straits by the enemy’s army, which Duillius commanded, having sought a conference was negotiating about the conditions of peace without effect: yet noticing the enemy relaxed into negligence on account of the truce, setting out by night and leaving behind a trumpeter to divide the watches so as to keep up the belief of those remaining, and to follow when the fourth watch had begun, he led his men safe, with all the baggage and artillery, into secure places. The same man, against Archelaus, prefect of Mithridates, in Cappadocia, pressed by the inequality of the places and the multitude of the enemy, made mention of peace, and, a period of truce having also been interposed; and by these means, the attention of the adversaries having been called away, he escaped.

Hasdrubal, frater Hannibalis, cum saltum non posset evadere, faucibus eius obsessis, egit cum Claudio Nerone recepitque dimissum Hispania excessurum. Cavillatus deinde condicionibus dies aliquot extraxit, quibus omnibus non omisit per angustos tramites et ob id neglectos dimittere per partes exercitum: ipse deinde cum reliquis expeditis facile effugit.

Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, when he could not get out of the pass, its defiles being beset, negotiated with Claudius Nero and undertook that, if dismissed, he would withdraw from Spain. Then, cavilling at the conditions, he spun out several days, during all of which he did not omit to send off the army in parts through narrow by-paths and for that reason neglected; then he himself, with the remaining unencumbered troops, easily escaped.

Spartacus fossam, qua erat a M. Crasso circumdatus, caesis captivorum pecorumque corporibus noctu replevit et supergressus est.

Spartacus filled the ditch, by which he had been surrounded by M. Crassus, with the slain bodies of captives and of livestock by night, and crossed over it.

Idem, in Vesuvio obsessus ea parte, qua mons asperrimus erat ideoque incustoditus, ex vimine silvestri catenas conseruit: quibus demissus non solum evasit, verum etiam ex alio latere Clodium ita terruit, ut aliquot cohortes gladiatoribus quattuor et septuaginta cesserint.

The same man, besieged on Vesuvius on that side where the mountain was roughest and therefore unguarded, wove chains from woodland osiers: lowered by these he not only escaped, but also from the other flank so terrified Clodius that several cohorts yielded to seventy-four gladiators.

Idem, cum ab L. Varinio proconsule praeclusus esset, palis per modica intervalla fixis ante portam erecta cadavera, adornata veste atque armis, alligavit, ut procul intuentibus stationis species esset, ignibus per tota castra factis: imagine vana deluso hoste copias silentio noctis eduxit.

The same man, when he had been shut in by Lucius Varinius, proconsul, with stakes fixed at modest intervals before the gate he tied up upright cadavers, adorned with clothing and arms, so that to those looking from afar there might be the semblance of a station, with fires made throughout the whole camp: the enemy deluded by the empty image, he led out his forces in the silence of the night.

Brasidas dux Lacedaemoniorum, circa Amphipolim ab Atheniensium multitudine numero impar deprehensus, claudendum se praestitit, ut per longum coronae ambitum extenuaret hostilem frequentiam, quaque rarissimiobstabant, erupit.

Brasidas, leader of the Lacedaemonians, near Amphipolis, having been caught by the multitude of the Athenians, unequal in number, presented himself to be shut in, so that through the long ambit of the corona he might extenuate the hostile throng, and where the very few stood in the way, he broke out.

Iphicrates in Thracia, cum depresso loco castra posuisset, explorasset autem ab hoste proximum teneri collem, ex quo unus ad opprimendos ipsos descensus erat, nocte paucis intra castra relictis imperavit, multos ignes facerent, eductoque exercitu et disposito circa latera praedictae viae passus est transire barbaros: locorumque iniquitate, in qua ipse fuerat, in illos conversa, parte exercitus terga eorum cecidit, parte castra cepit. Darius, ut falleret Scythas discessu, canes atque asinos in castris reliquit: quos cum latrantes rudentesque hostis audiret, remanere Darium credidit. Eundem errorem obiecturi nostris Ligures per diversa loca buculos laqueis ad arbores alligaverunt, qui diducti frequentiore mugitu speciem remanentium praebebant hostium.

Iphicrates in Thrace, when he had pitched camp in a low-lying place, and had found by exploration that a nearby hill was held by the enemy, from which there was a single descent for overwhelming them themselves, at night, with a few left within the camp, ordered that they make many fires; and, the army having been led out and disposed around the sides of the aforesaid road, he allowed the barbarians to pass: and with the disadvantage of the ground, in which he himself had been, turned against them, with part of the army he fell upon their backs, with part he seized the camp. Darius, in order to deceive the Scythians as to his departure, left dogs and asses in the camp: when the enemy heard them barking and braying, he believed Darius was remaining. The Ligurians, to throw the same error before our men, tied bull-calves with nooses to trees in various places, which, when drawn apart, by more frequent lowing were presenting the appearance of enemies remaining.

Hanno, ab hostibus clausus, locum eruptioni maxime aptum aggestis levibus materiis incendit: tum hoste ad ceteros exitus custodiendos avocato milites per ipsam flammam eduxit, admonitos ora scutis, crura veste contegere.

Hanno, shut in by the enemies, having heaped light materials set on fire the place most apt for a sally: then, with the enemy drawn away to guard the other exits, he led the soldiers out through the very flame, having warned them to cover their faces with shields, their legs with clothing.

Hannibal, ut iniquitatem locorum et inopiam instante Fabio Maximo effugeret, noctu boves, quibus ad cornua fasciculos alligaverat sarmentorum,subiecto igne dimisit; cumque ipso motu adulescente flamma turbareturpecus, magna discursatione montes, in quos actum erat, collustravit.

Hannibal, in order to escape the disadvantage of the terrain and the want, with Fabius Maximus pressing, by night released oxen, to whose horns he had tied bundles of brushwood, fire set beneath; and when by the movement itself, as the flame was growing up, the herd was thrown into confusion, with great running about it lit up the mountains into which it had been driven.

Romani, qui ad speculandum concurrerant, primo prodigium opinati sunt; dein cum certa Fabio renuntiassent, ille insidiarum metu suos castris continuit:barbari obsistente nullo profecti sunt.

The Romans, who had run together to reconnoiter, at first supposed it a prodigy; then, when they had reported sure information to Fabius, he, for fear of ambush, kept his men within the camp:the barbarians, with no one opposing, set out.

DE INSIDIIS IN ITINERE FACTIS

ON AMBUSHES LAID ON THE MARCH

Fulvius Nobilior, cum ex Samnio in Lucanos exercitum duceret et cognovisset a perfugis hostes novissimum agmen eius aggressuros, fortissimamlegionem primo ire, ultima sequi iussit impedimenta. Ita factum pro occasione amplexi hostes diripere sarcinas coeperunt: Fulvius legionem, de qua supra dictum est, quinque cohortes in dextram viae partem direxit, quinque ad sinistram, atque ita praedationi intentos hostes explicato per utraque latera milite clausit ceciditque.

Fulvius Nobilior, when he was leading the army from Samnium into the land of the Lucanians and had learned from deserters that the enemies were going to attack his rearmost column, ordered the bravest legion to go first, the impedimenta (baggage-train) to follow last. Thus it was done; the enemies, seizing the opportunity, began to despoil the packs: Fulvius directed the legion of which mention was made above, five cohorts to the right side of the road, five to the left, and thus, with the soldiery deployed along both flanks, he enclosed and cut down the enemies intent on plunder.

Idem, hostibus tergum eius in itinere prementibus, flumine interveniente non ita magno, ut transitum prohiberet, moraretur tamen rapididate, alteram legionem in occulto citra flumen collocavit, ut hostes paucitate contempta audacius sequerentur: quod ubi factum est, legio, quae ob hoc disposita erat, ex insidiis hostem aggressa vastavit.

Likewise, with the enemies pressing his rear on the march, a river intervening—not so great as to prohibit a crossing, yet delaying by its rapidity—he placed another legion in hiding on this side of the river, so that the enemies, the paucity being contemned, would follow more boldly: and when this was done, the legion which had been positioned for this, attacking the enemy from ambush, devastated them.

Iphicrates in Thracia[m], cum propter condicionem locorum longum agmen deduceret et nuntiatum esset ei hostes summum id aggressuros, cohortes in utraque latera secedere et consistere iussit, ceteros suffugere et iter maturare; transeunte autem toto agmine lectissimos quosque retinuit et ita passim circa praedam occupatos hostes, iam etiam fatigatos, ipse requietis et ordinatis suis aggressus fudit exuitque praeda.

Iphicrates in Thrace, when on account of the condition of the locations he was leading a long column and it had been announced to him that the enemies would attack its head, ordered the cohorts to withdraw to both sides and to take their stand, the rest to run for cover and to hasten the march; but when the whole column was passing, he held back each of the choicest men, and thus, with the enemies everywhere occupied about the plunder, now even fatigued, he himself, his own having been rested and arrayed, attacked, routed them, and stripped them of the booty.

Boii in silva Litana, quam transiturus erat noster exercitus, succiderunt arbores ita, ut parte exigua sustentatae starent, donec impellerentur; delitueruntdeinde ad extremas ipsi ingressoque silvam hoste <per> proximas ulteriores impulerunt: eo modo propagata pariter supra Romanos ruina magnam manum eliserunt.

The Boii, in the Litanian forest, which our army was about to traverse, cut down trees in such a way that, supported by a scant part, they stood until they were pushed; then they themselves hid at the extremities, and, the enemy having entered the forest, they drove the farther ones through the nearer: in that way, with the ruin propagated equally over the Romans, they crushed a great company.

QUEMADMODUM EA, QUIBUS DEFICI<E>MUR, VIDEANTUR NON DEESSE AUT USUS EORUM EXPLEATUR

HOW THE THINGS IN WHICH WE ARE DEFICIENT SEEM NOT TO BE LACKING, OR THEIR USE MAY BE FULFILLED

L. Caecilius Metellus, quia usu navium, quibus elephantos transportaret,deficiebatur, iunxit dolia constravitque tabulatis ac super ea positos per Siculum fretum transmisit.

L. Caecilius Metellus, because he was deficient in the use of ships by which he might transport the elephants, joined casks and covered them with planking, and, with the elephants set upon these, transported them across the Sicilian strait.

Hannibal, cum in praealti fluminis transitum elephantos non posset compellere nec navium aut materiarum, quibus rates construerentur, copiam haberet, iussit ferocissimum elephantum sub aure vulnerari et eum, qui vulnerasset, tranato statim flumine procurrere: elephantus exasperatus ad persequendum doloris sui auctorem tranavit amnem et reliquis idem audendi fecit exemplum.

Hannibal, since he could not compel the elephants to the crossing of a very deep river, nor did he have a supply of ships or of materials with which rafts might be constructed, ordered the fiercest elephant to be wounded under the ear, and the man who had wounded it to dash forward at once, the river having been swum: the elephant, exasperated to pursue the author of his pain, swam across the stream and made an example for the rest to dare the same.

Carthaginiensium duces instructuri classem, quia sparto deficiebantur, crinibus tonsarum mulierum ad funes efficiendos usi sunt. Idem Massilienses et Rhodii fecerunt.

The leaders of the Carthaginians, about to equip a fleet, because they were lacking in esparto, made use of the hair of shorn women to fashion ropes. The Massiliotes and the Rhodians did the same.

M. Antonius a Mutina profugus cortices pro scutis militibus suis dedit. Spartaco copiisque eius scuta ex vimine fuerunt, quae coriis tegebantur.

Marcus Antonius, a fugitive from Mutina, gave bark in place of shields to his soldiers. For Spartacus and his forces, the shields were of wicker, which were covered with hides.

[Non alienus, ut arbitror, hic locus est referendi factum Alexandri Macedonis illud nobile, qui per deserta Africae itinera gravissima siti cum exercitu affectus oblatam sibi a milite in galea aquam spectantibus universis effudit, utilior exemplo temperantiae, quam si communicare potuisset.]

[Not out of place, as I judge, is this place for recounting that noble deed of Alexander the Macedonian, who, while traveling through the desert routes of Africa, he and his army afflicted with most grievous thirst, poured out, with all looking on, the water offered to him in a helmet by a soldier—more useful as an example of temperance than if he had been able to share it.]

DE DISTRINGENDIS HOSTIBUS

ON CONSTRAINING THE ENEMIES

Coriolanus, cum ignominiam damnationis suae bello ulcisceretur, populationem patriciorum agrorum inhibuit, deustis vastatisque plebeiorum,ut discordiam moveret, qua consensus Romanorum distringeret<ur>. Hannibal Fabium, cui neque virtute neque artibus bellandi par erat, ut infamia distringeret, agris eius abstinuit, ceteros populatus. Contra ille, ne suspecta civibus fides esset, magnitudine animi effecit, publicatis possessionibussuis.

Coriolanus, while avenging by war the ignominy of his condemnation, restrained the ravaging of the patricians’ fields, the plebeians’ having been burned and laid waste,ut he might stir discord, by which the consensus of the Romans would be strained. Hannibal, with respect to Fabius, to whom he was equal neither in virtue nor in the arts of waging war, in order to burden him with infamy, abstained from his lands, having devastated the others. In turn he, lest his good faith be suspect to the citizens, by greatness of spirit brought it about that his own possessions were made public property.

Fabius Maximus quinto consul, cum Gallorum et Umbrorum, Etruscorum,Samnitium adversus populum Romanum exercitus coissent, contra quos et ipse trans Appenninum in <Sentin>ate castra communiebat, scripsit Fulvio et Postumio, qui in praesidio urbi erant, copias ad Clusium moverent.quibus assecutis ad sua defendenda Etrusci Umbrique deverterunt: relictos Samnites Gallosque Fabius et collega Decius aggressi vicerunt.

Fabius Maximus, consul for the fifth time, when the armies of the Gauls and Umbrians, Etruscans,Samnites had come together against the Roman people, against whom he too, across the Apennine, at <Sentin>ate was fortifying a camp, wrote to Fulvius and Postumius, who were in garrison for the city, to move the forces to Clusium.With this achieved the Etruscans and Umbrians turned aside to defend their own: the Samnites and Gauls, left behind, Fabius and his colleague Decius attacked and defeated.

M'. Curius adversus Sabinos, qui ingenti exercitu conscripto relictis finibus suis nostros occupaverant, occultis itineribus manum misit, quae desolatos agros eorum vicosque per diversa incenderunt: Sabini ad arcendamdomesticam vastitatem recesserunt; Curio contigit et vacuos infestare hostium fines et exercitum sine proelio avertere sparsumque caedere. T. Didius, paucitate suorum diffidens, cum in adventum earum legionum,quas exspectabat, traheret bellum et occurrere eis hostem comperisset, contione advocata aptari iussit milites ad pugnam ac de industria neglegentiuscustodiri captivos. Ex quibus pauci, qui profugerant, nuntiaverunt suis pugnam imminere: at illi, ne su<b ex>spectatione proelii diducerent viris, omiserunt occurrere eis, quibus insidiabantur: legiones tutissime nullo excipiente ad Didium pervenerunt.

M'. Curius, against the Sabines, who, having levied a huge army and left their own borders, had occupied our territory, sent by hidden routes a force which set on fire their deserted fields and their villages in various places: the Sabines withdrew to ward off domestic devastation; it fell to Curius both to infest the enemies’ empty borders and to turn away their army without a battle and to cut them down when scattered. T. Didius, distrusting the fewness of his own, while he was dragging out the war until the arrival of the legions he was expecting and had learned that the enemy was going to meet them, with an assembly called ordered the soldiers to be fitted out for battle and, on purpose, that the captives be guarded more negligently. Of these a few, who had escaped, reported to their own that battle was imminent: but they, lest under the su<b ex>spectation of battle they be drawn off in their forces, refrained from going to meet those for whom they were laying ambush: the legions, in the safest way, with no one intercepting, arrived to Didius.

Bello Punico quaedam civitates, quae a Romanis deficere ad Poenos destinaverant, cum obsides dedissent, quos recipere, antequam desciscerent, studebant, simulaverunt seditionem inter finitimos ortam, quam Romanorumlegati dirimere deberent, missosque eos velut contraria pignora retinueruntnec ante reddiderunt, quam ipsi reciperarent suos.

In the Punic War certain states, which had destined to defect from the Romans to the Punics, when they had given hostages—whom they were eager to receive back before they revolted—feigned a sedition arisen among neighboring peoples, which the legates of the Romans ought to settle; and, once these had been sent, they held them as if counter-pledges and did not return them before they themselves recovered their own.

Legati Romanorum, cum missi essent ad Antiochum regem, qui secum Hannibalem victis iam Carthaginiensibus habebat consiliumque eius adversusRomanos instruebat, crebris cum Hannibale colloquiis effecerunt, ut is regi fieret suspectus, cui gratissimus alioquin et utilis erat propter calliditatemet peritiam bellandi.

The legates of the Romans, when they had been sent to King Antiochus—who had with him Hannibal, the Carthaginians now having been conquered, and was arranging his counsel against the Romans—by frequent colloquies with Hannibal brought it about that he became suspect to the king, to whom otherwise he was most pleasing and useful because of his shrewdness and expertise in waging war.

Q. Metellus adversus Iugurtham bellum gerens missos ad se legatos eius corrupit, ut sibi proderent regem; cum et alii venissent, idem fecit; eodem consilio usus est et adversus tertios. Sed de captivitate Iugurthae res parum processit: vivum enim tradi sibi volebat. Plurimum tamen consecutus est: nam cum interceptae fuissent epistulae eius ad regios amicos scriptae, in omnis eos rex animadvertit spoliatusque consiliis amicos postea parare non potuit.

Q. Metellus, waging war against Jugurtha, corrupted his legates who had been sent to him, so that they might betray the king to him; when others also had come, he did the same; he used the same counsel also against a third group. But as to the captivity of Jugurtha the matter advanced too little: for he wanted him to be handed over to himself alive. Nevertheless he achieved very much: for when his epistles, written to his regal friends, had been intercepted, the king took action against all of them, and, despoiled of counsels, afterwards he could not procure friends.

C. Caesar, per exceptum quendam aquatorem cum comperisset Afranium Petreiumque castra noctu moturos, ut citra vexationem suorum hostilia impediret consilia, initio statim noctis vasa conclamare milites et praeter adversariorum castra agi mulos cum fremitu et sono iussit; continuere se, quos retentos volebat, arbitrati castra Caesarem movere.

C. Caesar, through a certain water-carrier who had been intercepted, when he had learned that Afranius and Petreius were going to move camp by night, so that he might impede the hostile counsels without vexation of his own men, at the very beginning of the night ordered the soldiers to call for the baggage to be packed, and that mules be driven past the adversaries’ camp with a roar and noise; they held back, those whom he wished to be detained, supposing that Caesar was moving his camp.

Scipio Africanus ad excipienda auxilia cum commeatibus Hannibali ven<ientia Min>ucium Thermum dimisit, ipse subventurus.

Scipio Africanus sent out Minucius Thermus to intercept the reinforcements with supplies coming to Hannibal, he himself intending to come to the aid.

Dionysius, Syracusanorum tyrannus, cum Afri ingenti multitudine traiecturi essent in Siciliam ad eum oppugnandum, castella pluribus locis communiit custodibusque praecepit, ut ea advenienti hosti dederent dimissiqueSyracusas occulte redirent. Afris necesse fuit capta castella praesidio obtinere: quos Dionysius, redactos ad quam voluerat paucitatem, paene iam par numero aggressus vicit, cum suos contraxisset et adversarios sparsisset.

Dionysius, tyrant of the Syracusans, when the Africans with an immense multitude were about to cross over into Sicily to besiege him, fortified little castles in several places and instructed the guards to hand them over to the enemy upon his arrival, and, once dismissed, to return secretly to Syracuse. The Africans had of necessity to hold the captured castles with a garrison; whom Dionysius, reduced to as small a number as he had wished, attacking them now almost equal in number, defeated, since he had drawn his own together and had scattered his adversaries.

Agesilaus Lacedaemonius, cum inferret bellum Tissaphernae, Cariam se petere simulavit, quasi aptius locis montuosis adversus hostem equitatu praevalentem pugnaturus. Per hanc consilii ostentationem avocato in Cariam Tissapherne, ipse Lydiam, ubi caput hostium regni erat, irrupit oppressisque, qui illic agebant, pecunia regia potitus est.

Agesilaus the Lacedaemonian, when he was bringing war against Tissaphernes, pretended that he was making for Caria, as if about to fight more aptly in mountainous places against an enemy prevailing in cavalry. Through this ostentation of counsel, with Tissaphernes drawn off into Caria, he himself burst into Lydia, where the capital of the enemy’s kingdom was, and, those who were conducting affairs there having been overpowered, he gained possession of the royal money.

DE SEDITIONE MILITUM COMPESCENDA

ON QUELLING THE SEDITION OF SOLDIERS

Aulus Manlius consul, cum comperisset coniurasse milites in hibernis Campaniae, ut iugulatis hospitibus ipsi res invaderent eorum, rumorem sparsit, eodem loco hibernaturos: atque ita <dilato> coniuratorum consilio Campaniam periculo liberavit et ex occasione nocentes puniit.

Aulus Manlius, consul, when he had discovered that the soldiers had conspired in the winter-quarters of Campania, to cut the throats of their hosts and themselves seize their property, spread a rumor that they would winter in the same place: and thus, with the conspirators’ plan deferred, he freed Campania from danger and, seizing the occasion, punished the guilty.

L. Sulla, cum legiones civium Romanorum perniciosa seditione furerent, consilio restituit sanitatem efferatis. Propere enim annuntiari iussit, hostem adesse, et ad arma vocantium clamorem tolli, signa canere: discussa seditio est universis adversus hostem consentientibus.

Lucius Sulla, when the legions of Roman citizens were raging with a pernicious sedition, by counsel restored sanity to the savage men. For he ordered it to be swiftly announced that the enemy was at hand, and that the shout of those calling to arms be raised, the signals to sound: the sedition was dispersed, as all agreed together against the enemy.

Cn. Pompeius, trucidato ab exercitu Mediolani senatu, ne tumultum moveret, si solos evocasset nocentes, mixtos eis, qui extra delictum erant, venire iussit. Ita et noxii minore cum metu, quia non segregati ideoque non ex causa culpae videbantur arcessiri, paruerunt et illi, quibus integra erat conscientia, custodiendis quoque nocentibus attenderunt, ne illorum fuga inquinarentur.

Gnaeus Pompeius, when the senate at Mediolanum (Milan) had been butchered by the army, lest he arouse a tumult, since he would have done so if he had summoned the guilty alone, ordered those who were outside the offense to come mixed in with them. Thus both the guilty, with less fear—because they were not segregated and therefore did not seem to be being summoned on account of fault—obeyed; and those whose conscience was intact also attended to guarding the guilty, lest they be tainted by their flight.

C. Caesar, cum quaedam legiones eius seditionem movissent, adeo ut in perniciem quoque ducis viderentur consurrecturae, dissimulato metu processit ad milites postulantibusque missionem ultro minaci vultu dedit: exauctoratos paenitentia coegit satisfacere imperatori obsequentioresque in reliqua opera se dare.

Gaius Caesar, when certain of his legions had stirred up a sedition, to such an extent that they seemed about to rise even to the leader’s ruin, with his fear dissembled advanced to the soldiers and, when they demanded discharge, of his own accord granted it with a menacing countenance: once cashiered, he compelled them by repentance to make satisfaction to the commander and to give themselves more compliant to the remaining tasks.

QUEMADMODUM INTEMPESTIVA POSTULATIO PUGNAE INHIBEATUR

HOW AN UNTIMELY POSTULATION OF BATTLE MAY BE INHIBITED

Q. Sertorius, quod experimento didicerat imparem se universo Romanorumexercitui, ut barbaros quoque inconsulte pugnam exposcentes doceret, adductis in conspectum duobus equis, praevalido alteri, alteri admodum exili duos admovit iuvenes similiter affectos, robustum et gracilem. Ac robustiori imperavit equo exili universam caudam abrumpere, gracili autem valentiorem per singulos <pilos> vellere. Cumque gracilis fecisset, quod imperatum erat, validissimus cum infirmis equi cauda sine effectu luctaretur, "naturam", inquit Sertorius, "Romanarum cohortium per hoc vobis exemplum ostendi, milites: insuperabiles sunt universas aggredienti;easdem lacerabit et carpet, qui per partes attemptaverit."

Q. Sertorius, because by experiment he had learned himself unequal to the entire Roman army, in order to teach the barbarians too, who were demanding battle incautiously, brought into view two horses, one very strong, the other very slender, and placed near them two youths similarly endowed, a robust one and a gracile one. And he ordered the more robust to break off the entire tail of the slender horse, but the gracile to pluck the stronger one’s tail hair by single hairs. And when the gracile had done what was commanded, the most powerful struggled without effect with the tail of the weak horse; “by this example,” said Sertorius, “I have shown you the nature of the Roman cohorts, soldiers: they are insuperable to one who attacks them all together; the same will be torn and plucked by him who shall attempt them by parts.”

Idem, cum videret suos pugnae signum inconsulte flagitantes crederetque rupturos imperium, nisi congrederentur, permisit turmae equitum ad lacessendos hostes ire laborantique submisit alias et sic recepit omnes tuti<u>sque et sine noxa ostendit, quis exitus flagitatam pugnam mansisset: obsequentissimis inde eis usus est.

The same man, when he saw his own men rashly demanding the signal for battle and believed that they would break the command unless they engaged, permitted a squadron of cavalry to go to provoke the enemy, and, when it was struggling, he sent in others to support it, and thus he drew them all back more safely and without harm showed what outcome would have awaited the battle that had been demanded: thereafter he employed them as most obedient.

Agesilaus Lacedaemonius, cum adversus Thebanos castra super ripam posuisset multoque maiorem hostium manum esse intellegeret et ideo suos arcere a cupiditate decernendi vellet, dixit responso deum se ex collibus pugnare iussum et ita exiguo praesidio ad ripam posito accessit in colles: quod Thebani pro metu interpretati transierunt flumen et, cum facile depulissent praesidium, ceteros insecuti avidius iniquitate locorum a paucioribusvicti sunt.

Agesilaus the Lacedaemonian, when he had pitched camp against the Thebans above the riverbank and understood that the enemy’s force was much greater, and therefore wished to restrain his men from the desire of deciding the issue, said that by an oracle of the gods he had been ordered to fight from the hills; and so, with a small garrison stationed at the bank, he withdrew into the hills: which the Thebans, interpreting as fear, crossed the river and, when they had easily driven off the garrison, pursuing the rest too eagerly, were defeated by fewer men through the disadvantage of the terrain.

Scorylo, dux Dacorum, cum sciret dissociatum armis civilibus populum Romanum neque tamen sibi temptandum arbitraretur, quia externo bello posset concordia inter cives coalescere, duos canes in conspectu populariumcommisit iisque acerrime inter ipsos pugnantibus lupum ostendit, quem protinus canes omissa inter se ira aggressi sunt: quo exemplo prohibuit barbaros ab impetu Romanis profuturo.

Scorylo, leader of the Dacians, since he knew that the Roman people were sundered by civil arms and yet judged that he ought not to make an attempt himself, because by an external war concord among the citizens could coalesce, set two dogs to fight in the sight of his people, and while they were fighting most fiercely between themselves, he showed a wolf, whom the dogs immediately, dropping their anger between themselves, attacked: by this example he restrained the barbarians from a charge that would have profited the Romans.

QUEMADMODUM INCITANDUS SIT AD PROELIUM EXERCITUS

HOW THE ARMY IS TO BE INCITED TO BATTLE

M. Fabius et Cn. Manlius consules adversus Etruscos propter seditionesdetractante proelium exercitu ultro simulaverunt cunctationem, donec milites probris hostium coacti pugnam deposcerent iurarentque se ex ea victores redituros.

M. Fabius and Cn. Manlius, consuls, against the Etruscans, because the army, on account of seditions, was shirking battle, of their own accord simulated delay, until the soldiers, compelled by the reproaches of the enemy, demanded battle and swore that they would return from it as victors.

Fulvius Nobilior, cum adversus Samnitium numerosum exercitum et successibus tumidum parvis copiis necesse haberet decertare, simulavit unam legionem hostium corruptam a se ad proditionem imperavitque ad eius rei fidem tribunis et primis ordinibus et centurionibus, quantum quisque numeratae pecuniae aut auri argentique haberet, conferret, ut repraesentari merces proditoribus posset; se autem his qui contulissent pollicitus est consummata victoria ampla insuper praemia daturum: quae persuasio Romanis alacritatem attulit et fiduciam, unde etiam praeclara victoria commisso statim bello parata est.

Fulvius Nobilior, since he had of necessity to contend with small forces against a numerous army of Samnites, puffed up by successes, feigned that one legion of the enemy had been corrupted by him to treachery, and ordered the tribunes and the first ranks and the centurions to contribute as much counted money or gold and silver as each had, so that the price might be paid on the spot to the traitors; moreover he promised those who had contributed that, the victory consummated, he would give ample rewards besides: which persuasion brought to the Romans alacrity and confidence, whence also a distinguished victory, the battle having been joined immediately, was procured.

C. Caesar adversus Germanos et Ariovistum pugnaturus confusis suorumanimis pro contione dixit, nullius se eo die opera nisi decimae legionis usurum: quo consecutus est, ut decimani tamquam praecipuae fortitudinis testimonio cogerentur et ceteri pudore, ne penes alios gloria virtutis esset. Q. Fabius, quia egregie sciebat et Romanos eius esse libertatis, quae contumelia exasperaretur, et a Poenis nihil iustum aut moderatum exspectabat,misit legatos Carthaginem de condicionibus pacis: quas cum illi iniquitatis et insolentiae plenas re<t>tulissent, exercitus Romanorum ad pugnandum concitatus est.

Gaius Caesar, about to fight against the Germans and Ariovistus, with the minds of his own men in confusion, said before the assembly that he would use the services of no one that day except the 10th Legion: by which he achieved that the men of the 10th, as though by a testimony of preeminent fortitude, were constrained, and the rest by shame, lest the glory of virtue be in the hands of others. Quintus Fabius, because he knew excellently both that the Romans were of that liberty which is exasperated by contumely, and that from the Phoenicians (Carthaginians) he expected nothing just or moderate, sent envoys to Carthage about terms of peace: which, when those men had reported as full of iniquity and insolence, the army of the Romans was stirred to fight.

Agesilaus, Lacedaemoniorum dux, cum prope ab Orchomeno, socia civitate, castra haberet comperissetque plerosque ex militibus pretiosissima rerum deponere intra munimenta, praecepit oppidanis, ne quid ad exercitum suum pertinens reciperetur, quo ardentius dimicaret miles, qui sciret sibi pro omnibus suis pugnandum.

Agesilaus, leader of the Lacedaemonians, when he had his camp near Orchomenus, an allied city, and had discovered that very many of the soldiers were depositing the most precious of their possessions within the fortifications, instructed the townspeople that nothing pertaining to his army should be received, in order that the soldier, knowing that he had to fight on behalf of all his own things, might contend the more ardently.

Epaminondas, dux Thebanorum, adversus Lacedaemonios dimicaturus,ut non solum viribus milites sui, verum etiam affectibus adiuvarentur, pronuntiavit in contione destinatum Lacedaemoniis, si victoria poterentur, omnes virilis sexus interficere, uxoribus autem eo rum et liberis in servitutem abductis Thebas diruere: qua denuntiatione concitati primo impetu Thebani Lacedaemonios expugnaverunt.

Epaminondas, leader of the Thebans, about to fight against the Lacedaemonians, so that his soldiers might be aided not only by strengths but also by affections, proclaimed in the assembly that it had been destined by the Lacedaemonians, if they should be able to gain victory, to kill all of the male sex, and, their wives and children having been led away into servitude, to raze Thebes: by which denunciation aroused, at the first onset the Thebans overpowered the Lacedaemonians.

eot<yc>hidas, dux Lacedaemoniorum, classe pugnaturus eodem die, quo vicerant socii, quamvis ignarus actae rei vulgavit nuntiatam sibi victoriampartium, quo constantiores ad pugnam milites haberet.

Leotychidas, leader of the Lacedaemonians, about to fight with the fleet on the same day on which the allies had conquered, although ignorant of what had been done, proclaimed that a victory for their side had been announced to him, so that he might have soldiers more constant for the fight.

Aulus Postumius proelio, quo cum Latinis conflixit, oblata specie duorum in equis iuvenum animos suorum erexit, Pollucem et Castorem adesse dicens, ac sic proelium restituit.

Aulus Postumius, in the battle in which he clashed with the Latins, lifted the spirits of his men by the appearance that presented itself of two youths on horseback, saying that Pollux and Castor were present, and thus restored the battle.

Archidamus Lacedaemonius adversus Arcades bellum gerens arma in castris statuit et circa ea duci equos noctu clam imperavit: quorum vestigia mane, tamquam Castor et Pollux perequitassent, ostendens affuturos eosdemipsis proeliantibus persuasit.

Archidamus the Lacedaemonian, waging war against the Arcadians, set up the arms in the camp and secretly ordered horses to be led around them by night; showing their tracks in the morning, as though Castor and Pollux had ridden past, he persuaded them that those same would be present to them as they fought.

Pericles, dux Atheniensium, initurus proelium, cum animadvertisset lucum, ex quo utraque acies conspici poterat, densissimae opacitatis, vastum alioquin et Diti patri sacrum, ingentis illic staturae hominem, altissimis coturnis et veste purpurea <et> coma venerabilem, in curru candidorum equorum sublimem constituit, qui dato signo pugnae proveheretur et voce Periclem nomine appellans cohortaretur eum diceretque deos Atheniensibus adesse: quo paene ante coniectum teli hostes terga verterunt.

Pericles, leader of the Athenians, about to enter battle, when he had noticed a grove, from which both battle-lines could be seen, of very dense shadow, otherwise vast and sacred to Father Dis, set up there a man of huge stature, august with the highest cothurni and a purple robe and hair, aloft in a chariot of white horses, who, when the signal for battle was given, should be borne forward and, with his voice, addressing Pericles by name, should exhort him and say that the gods were present to the Athenians: at which the enemy turned their backs almost before a missile was hurled.

L. Sulla, quo paratiorem militem ad pugnandum haberet, praedici sibi a diis futura simulavit, postremo etiam in conspectu exercitus, priusquam in aciem descenderet, signum modicae amplitudinis, quod Delphis sustulerat,orabat petebatque, promissam victoriam maturaret.

L. Sulla, in order that he might have the soldiery more prepared for fighting, simulated that future things were being pre-dicted to him by the gods; finally, even in the sight of the army, before he descended into the battle-line, a standard of moderate amplitude, which he had taken up from Delphi, he would implore and petition, that it might hasten the promised victory.

C. Marius sagam quandam ex Syria habuit, a qua se dimicationum eventus praediscere simulabat.

Gaius Marius had a certain seeress from Syria, from whom he feigned that he foreknew the outcomes of combats.

Q. Sertorius, cum barbaro et rationis indocili milite uteretur, cervam candidam insignis formae per Lusitaniam ducebat et ab ea se, quae agenda aut vitanda essent, praenoscere asseverabat, ut barbari ad omnia tamquam divinitus imperata oboedirent.

Q. Sertorius, while employing barbarian soldiery indocile to reason, led a white hind of distinguished form through Lusitania and asseverated that from it he foreknew the things that ought to be done or avoided, so that the barbarians would obey everything as if divinely commanded.

[Hoc genere strategematon non tantum ea parte utendum est, qua imperitosexistimabimus esse, apud quos his utemur, sed multo magis ea, qua talia erunt, quae excogitabuntur, ut a diis monstrata credantur.]

[With this kind of stratagems, one must employ not only that aspect in which we shall reckon those, among whom we shall use these, to be unskilled, but much more that by which the things excogitated will be such as to be believed to have been demonstrated by the gods.]

Alexander Macedo sacrificaturus inscripsit medicamento haruspicis manum, quam ille extis erat suppositurus. Litterae significabant victoriam Alexandro dari: quas cum iecur calidum rapuisset et a rege militi esset ostensum, auxit animum tamquam deo spondente victoriam.

Alexander the Macedonian, about to sacrifice, inscribed with a medicament the hand of the haruspex, which he was about to put under the entrails. The letters signified that victory was being given to Alexander: and when the warm liver had snatched them up and it had been shown by the king to the soldiery, it increased courage as though a god were pledging victory.

Idem fecit <S>udines haruspex proelium Eumene cum Gallis commissuro.

The same thing did <S>udines the haruspex, when Eumenes was about to join battle with the Gauls.

Epaminondas Thebanus adversus Lacedaemonios, fiduciam suorum religione adiuvandam ratus, arma, quae ornamentis affixa in templis erant, nocte subtraxit persuasitque militibus deos iter suum sequi, ut proeliantibus ipsis adessent.

Epaminondas the Theban, against the Lacedaemonians, thinking that the confidence of his own should be aided by religion, removed by night the arms which had been affixed as ornaments in the temples, and persuaded the soldiers that the gods were following their march, so as to be present to them as they fought.

Agesilaus Lacedaemonius, cum quosdam Persarum cepisset, quorum habitus multum terroris praefert, quotiens veste tegitur, nudatos militibus suis ostendit, ut alba corpora et umbratica contemnerentur.

Agesilaus the Lacedaemonian, when he had captured certain Persians, whose appearance, whenever it is covered with clothing, presents much terror, showed them stripped to his soldiers, so that their white and shade-bred bodies might be despised.

Gelo, Syracusarum tyrannus, bello adversum Poenos suscepto, cum multos cepisset, infirmissimum quemque praecipue ex auxiliaribus, qui nigerrimierant, nudatum in conspectum suorum produxit, ut persuaderet contemnendos.

Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, a war having been undertaken against the Carthaginians, when he had captured many, he led forth, stripped, especially each weakest one from among the auxiliaries, who were the blackest, into the sight of his own men, in order to persuade them that they were to be contemned.

Cyrus, rex Persarum, ut concitaret animos popularium, tota die in excidenda silva quadam eos fatigavit; deinde postridie praestitit eis liberalissimasepulas et interrogavit, utro magis gauderent. Cumque ei praesentia probassent, "atqui per haec", inquit, "ad illa perveniendum est: nam liberi beatique esse, nisi Medos viceritis, non potestis", atque ita eos ad cupiditatemproelii concitavit.

Cyrus, king of the Persians, in order to excite the spirits of his compatriots, wearied them for the whole day in cutting down a certain forest; then on the next day he provided for them the most liberal banquets and asked which of the two they rejoiced in more. And when they approved the present things, “but in fact through these,” he said, “one must arrive at those: for you cannot be free and blessed unless you conquer the Medes,” and thus he stirred them to a desire for battle.

L. Sulla, quia adversus Archelaum praefectum Mithridatis apud Pir<ae>eapigrioribus ad proelium militibus utebatur, opere eos fatigando compulit ad poscendum ultro pugnae signum.

L. Sulla, because he was using rather sluggardly soldiers for battle against Archelaus, prefect of Mithridates, at the Piraeus, by tiring them out with work compelled them to demand, of their own accord, the signal for combat.

Fabius Maximus veritus, ne qua fiducia navium, ad quas refugium erat, minus constanter pugnaret exercitus, incendi eas, priusquam iniret proelium, iussit.

Fabius Maximus, fearing lest by some confidence in the ships, to which there was a refuge, the army would fight less constantly, ordered them to be burned before he entered battle.

DE DISSOLVENDO METU, QUEM MILITES EX ADVERSIS CONCEPERINT OMINIBUS

ON DISSOLVING THE FEAR WHICH THE SOLDIERS HAVE CONCEIVED FROM ADVERSE OMENS

Scipio, ex Italia in Africam transportato exercitu, cum egrediens nave prolapsus esset et ob hoc attonitos milites cerneret, id quod trepidationem afferebat, constantia et magnitudine animi in hortationem convertit et "<pl>audite", inquit, "milites, Africam oppressi."

Scipio, with the army transported from Italy into Africa, when, as he was disembarking, he had slipped from the ship and on account of this saw the soldiers thunderstruck, turned that which was bringing trepidation into exhortation by constancy and greatness of spirit, and said, "<pl>hear, soldiers, we have overpowered Africa."

C. Caesar, cum forte conscendens navem lapsus esset, "teneo te, terra mater", inquit: qua interpretatione effecit, ut repetiturus illas a quibus proficiscebatur terras videretur.

C. Caesar, when by chance, as he was boarding the ship, he had slipped, said, "I hold you, Mother Earth"; by which interpretation he effected that he seemed about to revisit those lands from which he was setting out.

T. Sempronius Gracchus consul, acie adversus Picentes directa, cum subitus terrae motus utrasque partis confudisset, exhortatione confirmavit suos et impulit, consternatum superstitione invaderent hostem, adortusque devicit.

T. Sempronius Gracchus, consul, with the battle-line drawn up against the Picentes, when a sudden earthquake had thrown both sides into confusion, by exhortation heartened his own and urged them on to attack the enemy, confounded by superstition, and, having assailed them, he conquered.

Sertorius, cum equitum scuta extrinsecus equorumque pecora cruenta subito prodigio apparuissent, victoriam portendi interpretatus est, quoniam illae partes solerent hostili cruore respergi.

Sertorius, when the shields of the horsemen on the outside and the droves of the horses appeared blood-stained by a sudden prodigy, interpreted that victory was portended, since that side was wont to be spattered with enemy blood.

Epaminondas Thebanus contristatis militibus, quod ex hasta eius ornamentum infulae more dependens ventus ablatum in sepulchrum Lacedaemoniicuiusdam depulerat, "nolite", inquit, "milites, trepidare; Lacedaemoniissignificatur interitus: sepulchra enim funeribus ornantur."

Epaminondas the Theban, with the soldiers saddened because an ornament hanging from his spear in the manner of a fillet, carried off by the wind, had been driven into the tomb of a certain Lacedaemonian, said, "Do not, soldiers, be alarmed; the destruction of the Lacedaemonian is signified: for sepulchers are adorned for funerals."

Idem, cum fax de caelo nocte delapsa eos qui animadverterunt terruisset, "lumen", inquit, "hoc numina ostendunt."

The same man, when a torch from the sky, having slipped down at night, had terrified those who noticed it, said, "The numina are showing this as a light."

Idem, instante adversus Lacedaemonios pugna, cum sedile in quo resederat succubuisset et id vulgo pro tristi [exciperetur] significatione confusi milites interpretarentur, "immo", inquit, "vetamur sedere."

The same man, with the battle pressing against the Lacedaemonians, when the seat on which he had sat down had collapsed and the soldiers, confounded, interpreted it—since by the crowd it [was received] as an ominous signification—“nay rather,” he said, “we are forbidden to sit.”

L. Sulpicius Gallus defectum lunae imminentem, ne pro ostento exciperent milites, praedixit futurum, additis rationibus causisque defectionis.

L. Sulpicius Gallus foretold that an eclipse of the moon was imminent, lest the soldiers take it for a portent, adding the explanations and causes of the eclipse.

Agathocles Syracusanus adversus Poenos, simili eiusdem sideris deminutionequia sub diem pugnae ut prodigio milites sui consternati erant, ratione qua id accideret exposita docuit, quidquid illud foret, ad rerum naturam, non ad ipsorum propositum pertinere.

Agathocles of Syracuse, against the Carthaginians, when his soldiers on the day of battle were consternated as at a prodigy by a similar diminution of the same star, having set forth the rationale by which it occurred, taught that, whatever it was, it pertained to the nature of things, not to their purpose.

Pericles, cum in castra eius fulmen decidisset terruissetque milites, advocata contione lapidibus in conspectu omnium collisis ignem excussit sedavitque conturbationem, cum docuisset similiter nubium attritu excuti fulmen.

Pericles, when lightning had fallen into his camp and had terrified the soldiers, after calling an assembly, by colliding stones in the sight of all he struck out fire and allayed the perturbation, since he had shown that in a similar way lightning is struck out by the attrition of clouds.

Timotheus Atheniensis adversus Corcyraeos navali proelio decertaturus gubernatori suo, qui proficiscenti iam classi signum receptui coeperat dare, quia ex remigibus quendam sternutantem audierat, "miraris", inquit, "ex tot milibus unum perfrixisse?"

Timotheus the Athenian, about to contend against the Corcyraeans in a naval battle, said to his helmsman—who had begun to give the signal for retreat to the fleet now setting out, because he had heard someone among the rowers sneezing—“Do you marvel that, out of so many thousands, one has caught a chill?”

Chabri<a>s Atheniensis classe dimicaturus, excusso ante navem ipsius fulmine, exterritis per tale prodigium militibus, "nunc", inquit, "potissimumineunda pugna est, cum deorum maximus Iuppiter adesse numen suum classi nostrae ostendit."

Chabrias the Athenian, about to contend with the fleet, when a thunderbolt had been hurled in front of his own ship and the soldiers were terrified by such a prodigy, said, "Now most especially is the battle to be entered upon, since Jupiter, greatest of the gods, has shown that his numen is present to our fleet."