Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor), 28.30

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[1]

About the same time along the Baetis River Hanno, Mago's prefect, who-had been sent from Gades with a small force of Africans, enlisting Spaniards for pay, armed about four thousand young men.

[2] Then stripped of his camp by Lucius Marcius, while the largest part of his troops were lost in the confusion of its capture, some also lost in the flight, since the cavalry pursued the scattered fugitives, Hanno himself with a small number only escaped.

[3] While these things were going on along the Baetis River, Laelius meantime sailed down the strait into the Ocean and came with his fleet to Carteia. ¹ This city is situated on the coast of the Ocean, where the sea begins to open out after the narrow entrance. ²

[4] Of Gades, as has been said above, he had hoped without a battle to gain possession by betrayal, ³ since men actually came into the Roman camp to make such a promise. But the betrayal was prematurely revealed, and Mago arrested all the conspirators and turned them over to Adherbal, the magistrate, ⁴ to be transported to Carthage.

[5] Adherbal placed the conspirators on a quinquereme and after sending it in advance, because it was slower than a trireme, himself followed with eight triremes at no great distance.

[6] The quinquereme was already entering the strait when Laelius, also on a quinquereme, sailed out from the harbour of Carteia followed by seven triremes, and steered for Adherbal and his triremes, feeling quite sure that the quinquereme, caught in the swift current of the strait, could not reverse its course in the face of the tide. The Carthaginian in the unexpected situation was troubled for the moment and uncertain whether to follow his quinquereme or to turn his prows towards the enemy.

[7] That hesitation in itself deprived him of the power to refuse a battle; for they were already within range and the enemy was pressing them from all sides.

[8] The tide also had deprived them of control of their ships. Nor was the fight like a naval battle; for here there was no initiative, no skill or strategy.

[9] The nature of the strait and its tide alone controlled the entire engagement, carrying men, vainly struggling to row in the opposite direction, against their own ships or those of the enemy. And one might have seen a fleeing ship swung about by a swirl and borne against the victors, and a pursuing ship, ⁵ if it chanced upon an opposite current, turning away as if in flight.

[10] In actual combat now one ship, aiming to ram a ship of the enemy with its beak, turning aslant would itself receive the blow of the other's beak. Another ship, exposing its beam to the enemy, would suddenly be swung and turned bow foremost.

[11] While- between the triremes an indecisive battle controlled by chance was in progress, the Roman quinquereme, whether because she was steadier by reason of her weight or more easily steered as her more numerous banks of oars ⁶ cleft the whirling waters, sank two triremes and shooting past another swept away the oars on one side.

[12] In addition she would have seriously damaged the rest of the ships with which she had closed, had not: Adherbal with five remaining ships crossed over to Africa under sail.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor). Medford, MA. .

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Sage, Evan T.; Schlesinger, Alfred C., translators. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959. (Loeb Classical Library))

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 28.30 focus

[1] per idem tempus ad Baetim fluvium Hanno, praefectus Magonis, missus a Gadibus cum parva manu Afrorum, mercede Hispanos sollicitando ad quattuor milia iuvenum armavit.

[2] castris deinde exutus ab L. Marcio, maxima parte militum inter tumultum captorum castrorum, quibusdam etiam in fuga amissis, palatos persequente equite, cum paucis ipse effugit.

[3] dum haec ad Baetim fluvium geruntur Laelius interim freto in Oceanum evectus ad Carteiam classe accessit. urbs ea in ora Oceani sita est, ubi primurn primum e faucibus angustis panditur mare.

[4] Gades sine certamine per proditionem recipiendi, ultro qui eam ren rem pollicerentur in castra Romana venientibus, spes, sicut ante dictum est, fuerat. sed patefacta inmatura proditio est, conprensosque omnes Mago Adherbali praetori Carthaginem devehendos tradit.

[5] Adherbal coniuratis in quinqueremem inpositis, praemissaque ea, quia tardior quam triremis erat, ipse cum octo triremibus modico intervallo sequitur.

[6] iam fretum intrabat quinqueremis, cum Laelius et ipse in quinqueremi e portu Carteiae sequentibus septem triremibus evectus in Adherbalem ac triremes invehitur, quinqueremem satis credens deprensam rapido in freto in adversum aestum reciprocari non posse.

[7] Poenus in re subita parumper incertus trepidavit, utrum quinqueremem sequeretur, an in hostes rostra converteret.

[8] ipsa cunctatio facultatem detractandae pugnae ademit; ian iam enim sub ictu teli erant, et undique instabant hostes. aestus quoque arbitrium moderandi naves ademerat. neque erat navali pugna similis, quippe ubi nihil voluntarium, nihil artis aut consilii esset.

[9] una natura freti aestusque, totius certaminis potens, suis, alienis navibus nequiquam remigio in contrarium tendentes invehebat; et fugientem navem videres vertice retro intortam victoribus inlatam, et sequentem, si in contrarium tractum incidisset maris, fugientis modo sese avertentem.

[10] iam in ipsa pugna haec, cum infesta rostro peteret hostium navem, obliqua ipsa ictum alterius rostri accipiebat; illa, cum transversa obiceretur hosti, repente intorta in proram circumagebatur.

[11] cum inter triremes fortuna regente anceps proelium misceretur, quinqueremis Romana seu pondere tenacior, seu pluribus remorum ordinibus scindentibus vertices cum facilius regeretur, duas triremes suppressit, unius praelata impetu lateris alterius remos detersit;

[12] ceterasque, quas indepta esset, mulcasset, ni cum reliquis quinque navibus Adherbal velis in Africam transmisisset.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 28.30 focus

[1]

per idem tempus ad Baetim fluuium Hanno praefectus Magonis missus a Gadibus cum parua manu Afrorum, mercede Hispanos sollicitando ad quattuor milia iuuenum armauit.

[2] castris deinde exutus ab L. Marcio , maxima parte militum inter tumultum captorum castrorum, quibusdam etiam in fuga amissis, palatos persequente equite, cum paucis ipse effugit.

[3] dum haec ad Baetim fluuium geruntur, Laelius interim freto in Oceanum euectus ad Carteiam classe accessit. urbs ea in ora Oceani sita est, ubi primum e faucibus angustis panditur mare.

[4] Gades sine certamine per proditionem recipiendi, ultro qui eam rem pollicerentur in castra Romana uenientibus, spes, sicut ante dictum est, fuerat. sed patefacta immatura proditio est, comprensosque omnes Mago Adherbali praetori Carthaginem deuehendos tradit.

[5] Adherbal coniuratis in quinqueremem impositis praemissaque ea, quia tardior quam triremis erat, ipse cum octo triremibus modico interuallo sequitur.

[6] iam fretum intrabat quinqueremis cum Laelius et ipse in quinqueremi ex portu Carteiae sequentibus septem triremibus euectus in Adherbalem ac triremes inuehitur, quinqueremem satis credens deprensam rapido in freto in aduersum aestum reciprocari non posse.

[7] Poenus in re subita parumper incertus trepidauit utrum quinqueremem sequeretur an in hostes rostra conuerteret. ipsa cunctatio facultatem detractandae pugnae ademit;

[8] iam enim sub ictu teli erant et undique instabant hostes. aestus quoque arbitrium moderandi naues ademerat; neque erat nauali pugna similis, quippe ubi nihil uoluntarium, nihil artis aut consilii esset.

[9] una natura freti aestusque totius certaminis potens suis, alienis nauibus nequiquam remigio in contrarium tendentes inuehebat; et fugientem nauem uideres, uertice retro intortam uictoribus inlatam, et sequentem, si in contrarium tractum incidisset maris, fugientis modo sese auertentem.

[10] iam in ipsa pugna haec cum infesta rostro peteret hostium nauem, obliqua ipsa ictum alterius rostri accipiebat: illa cum transuersa obiceretur hosti, repente intorta in proram circumagebatur.

[11] cum inter triremes fortuna regente anceps proelium misceretur, quinqueremis Romana seu pondere tenacior seu pluribus remorum ordinibus scindentibus uertices cum facilius regeretur, duas triremes suppressit, unius, praelata impetu, lateris alterius remos detersit;

[12] ceterasque quas indepta esset mulcasset, ni cum reliquis quinque nauibus Adherbal uelis in Africam transmisisset.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Livy in Fourteen Volumes. Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Schlesinger, Alfred C., editors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959 (printing).) — 28.30 focus

[1]

per idem tempus ad Baetim fluvium Hanno, praefectus Magonis, missus a Gadibus cum parva manu Afrorum, mercede Hispanos sollicitando ad quattuor milia iuvenum armavit.

[2] castris deinde exutus ab L. Marcio, maxima parte militum inter tumultum captorum castrorum, quibusdam etiam in fuga amissis, palatos persequente equite, cum paucis ipse effugit.

[3] dum haec ad Baetim fluvium geruntur, Laelius interim freto in Oceanum evectus ad Carteiam classe accessit. urbs ea in ora Oceani sita est, ubi primum e faucibus angustis panditur mare.

[4] Gades sine ¹ certamine per proditionem ² recipiendi, ultro qui eam rem pollicerentur in castra Romana venientibus, spes, sicut ante dictum est, fuerat. Sed³ patefacta inmatura proditio est, conprensosque omnes Mago Adherbali praetori Carthaginem devehendos tradit.

[5] Adherbal coniuratis in quinqueremem inpositis, praemissaque ea, quia tardior quam triremis erat, ipse cum octo triremibus modico intervallo sequitur.

[6] iam fretum intrabat quinqueremis cum Laelius et ipse in quinqueremi ex ⁴ portu Carteiae sequentibus septem triremibus evectus in Adherbalem ac triremes ⁵ invehitur, quinqueremem satis credens deprensam rapido in freto in adversum aestum reciprocari non posse.

[7] Poenus in re subita parumper incertus trepidavit ⁶ utrum quinqueremem sequeretur an in hostes rostra converteret.

[8] ipsa cunctatio facultatem detractandae pugnae ademit; iam enim sub ictu teli erant, et undique instabant hostes. aestus quoque arbitrium moderandi naves ademerat. neque erat navali pugna ⁷ similis, quippe ubi nihil voluntarium, nihil artis aut consilii esset.

[9] una natura freti aestusque totius certaminis potens suis, alienis navibus nequiquam remigio in contrarium tendentes invehebat; et ⁸ fugientem navem videres vertice retro intortam victoribus inlatam, et sequentem, si in ⁹ contrarium tractum incidisset maris, fugientis modo sese avertentem.

[10] iam isam in ipsa pugna haec, cum infesto ¹⁰ rostro peteret hostium navem, obliqua ipsa ictum alterius rostri accipiebat; illa, cum transversa obiceretur hosti, repente intorta in proram circumagebatur.

[12] ceterasque quas indepta esset mulcasset, ni cum reliquis quinque navibus Adherbal velis in Africam transmisisset.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 28.30 focus

[1]

During the time of these transactions, Hanno, the lieutenant-general of Mago, having been sent from Gades to the river Baetis with a small body of Africans, by tempting the Spaniards with money, armed as many as four thousand men;

[2] but afterwards, being deprived of his camp by Lucius Marcius, and losing the principal part of his troops in the confusion occasioned by its capture, and some also in the flight, for the cavalry pursued them closely while they were dispersed, he made his escape with a few attendants.

[3] During these transactions on the river Baetis, Laelius in the mean time, sailing out of the straits into the ocean, came with his fleet before Carteia, a city situated on the coast of the ocean, where the sea begins to expand itself, after being confined in a narrow strait.

[4] He had entertained hopes of having Gades betrayed to him without a contest, persons having come unsolicited into the Roman camp to make promises to that effect, as has been before mentioned. The plot was discovered before it was ripe, and all having been apprehended, were placed by Mago in the hands of Adherbal the praetor, to be conveyed to Carthage.

[5] Adherbal, having put the conspirators on board a quinquereme, sent it in advance, because it sailed slower than a trireme, and followed himself at a moderate distance with eight triremes.

[6] The quinquereme was just entering the strait, when Laelius, who had himself also sailed out of the harbour of Carteia in a quinquereme, followed by seven triremes, bore down upon Adherbal and his triremes, feeling assured that the trireme, when once caught in the rapid strait, would not be able to return against the opposing current. The Carthaginian, alarmed by the suddenness of the affair, hesitated for some little time whether he should follow the trireme, or turn his prows against the enemy.

[7] This very delay put it out of his power to decline an action, for they were now within a weapon's cast, and the enemy were bearing down upon him on all sides.

[8] The current also had rendered it impossible to manage the ships. Nor was the action like a naval engagement, inasmuch as it was in no respect subject to the control of the will, nor afforded any opportunity for the exercise of skill or method.

[9] The nature of the strait and the tide, which solely and en- tirely governed the contest, carried the ships against those of their own and the enemy's party indiscriminately, though striving in a contrary direction; so that you might see one ship which was flying whirled back by an eddy and driven against the victors, and another which was engaged in pursuit, if it had fallen into an opposite current, turning itself away as if for flight.

[10] And when actually engaged, one ship while bearing down upon another with its beak directed against it, assuming an oblique position itself, received a stroke from the beak of the other; while another which lay with its side exposed to the enemy, receiving a sudden impulse, was turned round so as to present its prow.

[11] While the triremes were thus engaged in a doubtful and uncertain contest, in which every thing was governed by chance, the Roman quinquereme, whether being more manageable in consequence of its weight, or by means of more banks of oars making its way through the eddies, sunk two triremes, and swept off the oars from one side of another, while sailing by it with great violence.

[12] The rest too, had they come in its way, it would have disabled; but Adherbal, with his remaining four ships, sailed over into Africa.

History of Rome Perseus (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.) — 28.30 focus

[1]

Hanno, Mago's lieutenant, had been despatched during this time, with a small body of Africans to hire troops among the Spanish tribes, and succeeded in raising 4000 men.

[2] Soon afterwards, his camp was captured by L. Marcius, most of his men were killed in the assault, some during their flight by the pursuing cavalry; Hanno himself escaped with a handful of his men. Whilst this was going on at the Baetis Laelius sailed westward and brought up at Carteia, a city situated on that part of the coast where the Straits begin to widen into the ocean.

[3] Some men had come into the Roman camp with a voluntary offer to surrender the city of Gades, but the plot was discovered before it was ripe.

[4] All the conspirators were arrested and Mago handed them over to the custody of Adherbal for conveyance to Carthage.

[5] Adherbal placed them on board a quinquereme which was sent on in advance as it was a slower vessel than the eight triremes with which he followed shortly after The quinquereme was

[6] just entering the Straits when Laelius sailed out of the harbour of Carteia in another quinquereme followed by seven triremes.

[7] He bore straight down upon Adherbal, feeling quite sure that the quinquereme could not be brought round, as it was caught by the current sweeping through the channel.

[8] Surprised by this unsuspected attack, the Carthaginian general hesitated for a few moments whether to follow his quinquereme or turn his prows against the enemy.

[9] This hesitation put it out of his power to decline the contest, for they were now within range of one another's missiles, and the enemy were pressing on him on all sides. The strength of the tide prevented them from steering their ships as they wished.

[10] There was no semblance of a naval battle, no freedom of action, no room for tactics or maneuvers.

[11] The tidal currents completely dominated the action and carried the ships against their own side and against the enemy indiscriminately, in spite of all the efforts of the rowers.

[12] You might see a ship which was endeavouring to escape carried stem foremost against the victors, whilst the one pursuing it, if it got

[13] into an opposing current, was swept back as though it were the one in flight.

[14] And when they were actually engaged and one ship was making for another in order to ram it, it would swerve from its course and receive a side-blow from the other's beak, whilst the one which was coming broadside on would suddenly be swung round and present its prow. So the varying struggle of the triremes went on, directed and controlled by Chance.

[15] The Roman quinquereme answered the helm better, either because its weight made it steadier, or because it had more banks of oars to cut through the waves.

[16] It sank two triremes, and sweeping rapidly past a third sheared off all the oars on one side, and it would have disabled the rest if Adherbal had

[17] not got clear away with the remaining five, and crowding all sail reached Africa.

Notes on the current edition

Ab Urbe Condita With An English Translation, books 1-10, 21-45, with periochae 11-20

1. At the north end of the Bay of Gibraltar, about half-way between the Rock, Calpe, and Algeciras. Livy thinks of the Atlantic as beginning immediately beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and thus including nearly the whole of the Strait(Fretum Gaditanum). In 171 B.C. Carteia became a Latin colony; XLIII. iii. 3 f. Cf. also Strabo III. i. 7; Mela II. 96.

2. B.C. 206

3. Cf. above, xxiii. 6.

4. I.e. one of the two sufĕtes and at the same time a general. Cf. xxxvii. 2 (at Gades); XXX. vii. 5.

5. B.C. 206

6. If a quinquereme had but one bank of oars, each oar pulled by five men, as many now incline to believe, it remains unexplained how Livy in comparing a quinquereme in battle with triremes could simply say that the former had more ordines remorum, unless he thought that to be the case. In XXIV. xxxiv. 7 exteriore ordine remorum includes all the oars on one side of a ship but does not tell us whether in a single bank or in five. Certainly the quinquereme, however rowed, was a more impressive sight from the shore than a trireme even to a landlubber; cf. XXIX. xi. 4. For the whole question see A. Köster, Das antike Seewesen 143 ff.; and in Kromayer- Veith, Heerwesen, etc. 182 f.; 616 f.; W. W. Tarn, Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments 124 ff.; and-in Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXV. 137 ff., 156, 204 ff.; Starr, C.G., Class. Philol. XXXV. 353 ff.; 373.

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 28.30

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

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