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Lentienses Alamanni a Constantio Aug. pars caesi, pars fugati.

[1] Re hoc modo finita, ¹ et Lentiensibus, Alamannicis pagis, indictum est bellum, collimitia saepe Romana latius irrumpentibus. Ad quem procinctum imperator egressus, in Raetias camposque venit Caninos, et digestis diu consiliis, id visum est honestum et utile, ut eo cum militis parte ibidem opperiente,² Arbetio magister equitum cum validiore exercitus manu, relegens margines lacus Brigantiae pergeret, protinus barbaris congressurus. Cuius loci figuram breviter quantum ratio patitur, designabo.

[2] Inter montium celsorum amfractus, immani pulsu Rhenus exoriens, per scopulos extenditur altos,³ nullos advenas amnes⁴ adoptans, ut per⁵ cataractas inclinatione praecipiti funditur Nilus. Et navigari ab ortu poterat primigenio copiis exuberans propriis, ni ruenti curreret similis potius⁶ quam fluenti lenius amni.⁷

[3] Iamque ad plana volutus,⁸ altaque divortia riparum adradens, lacum invadit rotundum et vastum, quem Brigantiam accola Raetus appellat, perque quadringenta et sexaginta stadia longum, parique paene spatio late diffusum, horrore silvarum squalentium inaccessum, nisi qua vetus illa Romana virtus et sobria iter composuit latum, barbaris et natura locorum et caeli inclementia refragante.

[4] Hanc ergo paludem spumosis strependo⁹ verticibus amnis irrumpens, et undarum quietem permeans pigram, mediam velut finali intersecat libramento, et tamquam elementum perenni discordia separatum, nec aucto nec imminuto agmine quod intulit, vocabulo et viribus absolvitur integris, nec contagia deinde ulla perpetiens, oceani gurgitibus intimatur.

[5] Quodque est impendio mirum, nec stagnum aquarum rapido transcursu movetur, nec limosa subluvie tardatur properans flumen, et confusum misceri non potest corpus; quod, ni ita agi ipse doceret aspectus, nulla vi credebatur posse discerni.

[6] Sic Alpheus oriens in Arcadia, cupidine fontis Arethusae captus, scindens Ionium mare, ut fabulae ferunt, ad usque amatae confinia proruit nymphae.¹⁰

[7] Arbetio qui adventus barbarorum nuntiarent non exspectans dum¹¹ adessent, licet sciret aspera orta bellorum, in occultas delatus insidias, stetit¹² immobilis, malo repentino perculsus.

[8] Namque improvisi¹³ e latebris hostes exsiliunt, et sine parsimonia quicquid offendi poterat telorum genere multiplici configebant; nec enim resistere nostrorum quisquam potuit, nec aliud vitae subsidium, nisi discessu sperare veloci. Quocirca vulneribus declinandis intenti, incomposito agmine milites huc et illuc dispalantes, terga ferienda dederunt. Plerique tamen per angustas semitas sparsi, periculoque praesidio tenebrosae noctis extracti, revoluta iam luce, redintegratis viribus agmini quisque proprio sese consociavit. In quo casu ita tristi et inopino, abundans numerus armatorum, et tribuni desiderati sunt decem.

[9] Ob quae Alamanni sublatis animis ferocius incedentes secuto die¹⁴ prope munimenta Romana, adimente matutina nebula lucem, strictis mucronibus discurrebant, frendendo minas tumidas intentantes. Egressique repente scutarii, cum obiectu turmarum hostilium repercussi stetissent, omnes suos conspiratis mentibus ciebant ad pugnam.

[10] Verum cum plerosque recentis aerumnae documenta terrerent, et¹⁵ intuta fore residua credens haereret Arbetio, tres simul exsiluere tribuni, Arintheus agens vicem armaturarum rectoris, et Seniachus Seniauchus qui equestrem turmam comitum tuebatur, et Bappo ducens promotos.

[11] Qui cum commissis sibi militibus, pro causa communi se velut propria Deciorum veterum exemplo voventes, more¹⁶ fluminis hostibus superfusi, non iusto proelio sed discursionibus rapidis,¹⁷ universos in fugam coegere foedissimam. Qui dispersi laxatis ordinibus, dumque elabi properant impediti, corpora nudantes intecta, gladiorum hastarumque densis ictibus truncabantur.

[12] Multique cum equis interfecti iacentes, etiam tum eorum dorsis videbantur innexi; quo viso omnes e castris effusi, qui prodire in proelium cum sociis ambigebant, cavendi immemores, proterebant barbaram plebem, nisi quos fuga exemerat morte, calcantes cadaverum strues, et perfusi sanie peremptorum.

[13] Hocque exitu proelio terminate, imperator Mediolanum ad hiberna ovans revertit et laetus.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

Res Gestae (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Translations (1)

History Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 15.4 focus

[1] The affair thus ended, war was declared on the . . .¹ and Lentienses,² tribes of the Alamanni, who often made extensive inroads through the Roman frontier defences. On that expedition the emperor himself set out and came to Raetia and the Campi Canini;³ and after long and careful deliberation it seemed both honorable and expedient that, while he waited there with a part of the soldiers, Arbetio, commander of the cavalry, with the stronger part of the army should march on, skirting the shores of Lake Brigantia,⁴ in order to engage at once with the savages. Here I will describe the appearance of this place as briefly as my project allows.

[2] Between the defiles of lofty mountains the Rhine rises and pours with mighty current over high rocks, without receiving tributary streams, just as the Nile with headlong descent pours over the cataracts. And it could be navigated from its very source, since it overflows with waters of its own, did it not run along like a torrent rather than a quietly flowing river.

[3] And now rolling to level ground and cutting its way between high and widely separated banks, it enters a vast round lake, which its Raetian neighbour calls Brigantia;⁵ this is four hundred and sixty stades long and in breadth spreads over an almost equal space; it is inaccessible through the bristling woods of the gloomy forest except where that old-time practical Roman ability, in spite of the opposition of the savages, the nature of the region, and the rigour of the climate, constructed a broad highroad.

[4] Into this pool, then, the river bursts roaring with frothing eddies, and cleaving the sluggish quiet of the waters, cuts through its midst as if with a boundary line. And as if the element were divided by an everlasting discord, without increasing or diminishing the volume which it carried in, it emerges with name and force unchanged, and without thereafter suffering any contact it mingles with Ocean’s flood.

[5] And what is exceeding strange, neither is the lake stirred by the swift passage of the waters nor is the hurrying river stayed by the foul mud of the lake, and though mingled they cannot be blended into one body; but if one’s very sight did not prove it to be so, one would not believe it possible for them to be kept apart by any power.

[6] In the same way the river Alpheus, rising in Arcadia and falling in love with the fountain Arethusa, cleaves the Ionian Sea, as the myth tells us, and hastens to the retreat⁶ of the beloved nymph.

[7] Arbetio did not wait for the coming of messengers to announce the arrival of the savages, although he knew that a dangerous war was on foot, and when he was decoyed into a hidden ambuscade, he stood immovable, overwhelmed by the sudden mischance.

[8] For the enemy sprang unexpectedly out of their lurking-places and without sparing pierced with many kinds of weapons everything within reach; and in fact not one of our men could resist, nor could they hope for any other means of saving their lives than swift flight. Therefore the soldiers, bent on avoiding wounds, straggled here and there in disorderly march, exposing their backs to blows. Very many however, scattering by narrow by-paths and saved from danger by the protecting darkness of the night, when daylight returned recovered their strength and rejoined each his own company. In this mischance, so heavy and so unexpected, an excessive number of soldiers and ten tribunes were lost.

[9] As a result the Alamanni, elated in spirit, came on more boldly the following day against the Roman works; and while the morning mist obscured the light they rushed about with drawn swords, gnashing their teeth and giving vent to boastful threats. But the targeteers⁷ suddenly sallied forth, and when they were driven back by the opposition of the enemy’s battalions, and were at a standstill, with one mind they called out all their comrades to the fight.

[10] But when the majority were terrified by the evidence of the recent disaster, and Arbetio hesitated, believing that the sequel would be dangerous, three tribunes sallied forth together: Arintheus, lieutenant-commander of the heavy-armed bodyguard, Seniauchus, leader of a squadron of the household cavalry,⁸ and Bappo, an officer of the veterans.⁹

[11] They with the soldiers under their command, devoting themselves on behalf of the common cause, like the Decii of old,¹⁰ poured like a torrent upon the enemy, and not in a pitched battle, but in a series of swift skirmishes, put them all to most shameful flight. And as they scattered with broken ranks and encumbered by their haste to escape, they exposed themselves unprotected, and by many a thrust of swords and spears were cut to pieces.

[12] And many, as they lay there, slain horse and man together, seemed even then to be sitting fast upon the back of their mounts. On seeing this, all who had been in doubt about going into battle with their comrades poured forth from the camp, and careless of all precaution trod under foot the horde of savages, except those whom flight had saved from death, trampling on heaps of dead bodies and drenched with the blood of the slain.

[13] The battle thus done and ended, the emperor returned in triumph and joy to Milan, to pass the winter.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. The lac. (12 letters) contained the name of another tribe of the Alamanni, which cannot be supplied.

2. ibidem opperiente, Her. added in lac. indicated by Schneider; pater for parte without lac., V.

3. exoriens per, scripsi; exoriens per praeruptos, Val. in lac. of 11 letters; pulsurhen . pulos, V.

4. altos, scripsi.;

5. nullos advenas am, Gronov added in lac. of 10 letters extenditur nes, V.

6. per, Val. added in lac. of 3 letters. similis potius, Val.; sim (lac. of 8 letters), quam, V.

7. lenius amni, scripsi in lac. of 6 letters.

8. ad plana volutus, Petschenig; ad (lac. 7 letters) solutus, V.

9. strependo, G; stridendo, Traube; stertendo from tertendo.

10. proruit (progreditur, G) nymphae, Arbetio expectans, BG; progrontusque barbaros (lac. of 2 1/5 lines) barbaros dum, V.

11. proruit (progreditur, G) nymphae, Arbetio expectans, BG; progrontusque barbaros (lac. of 2 1/5 lines) barbaros dum, V.

12. insidias stetit, E, Val.; insi (lac. of 6 letters), TV.

13. namque inprovisi, Langen added in lac. of 7 letters; visi, V.

14. secuto die, Clark; se cotidie, VI,

15. et intuta, Val.; intota, V.

16. Qui cum comnmissis uouentes, more, Her. (cf. xvi. 10, 3; xxiii. 5, 19); promote (lac. 30 letters) missis sibi (lac. of 11 letters) causa communis velut propri (lac. of 18 letters) ueterum exemplo usuentere, V.

17. rapidis, Her. in lac. of 9 letters.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 15.4

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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Lentienses Alamanni a Constantio Aug. pars caesi, pars fugati.

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