Liv. 21.32.1P. Cornēlius cōnsul trīduō ferē post, quam Hannibal ā rīpā Rhodanī mōvit, quadrātō agmine ad castra hostium vēnerat, nūllam dīmicandī moram factūrus;The consul Publius Cornelius, about three days after Hannibal moved from the bank of the Rhône, had come to the enemy's camp with his army in battle order, intending to make no delay in fighting; Liv. 21.32.2cēterum ubi dēserta mūnīmenta nec facile sē tantum praegressōs adsecūtūrum videt, ad mare ac nāvēs rediit, tūtius faciliusque ita dēscendentī ab Alpibus Hannibalī occursūrus.but when he sees the fortifications deserted and that he would not easily overtake men who had gone so far ahead, he returned to the sea and his ships, intending to meet Hannibal more safely and easily in this way as he came down from the Alps. Liv. 21.32.3Nē tamen nūda auxiliīs Rōmānīs Hispānia esset, quam prōvinciam sortītus erat, Cn. Scīpiōnem frātrem cum maximā parte cōpiārum adversus Hasdrubalem mīsit, nōn ad tuendōs tantummodo veterēs sociōs conciliandōsque novōs sed etiam ad pellendum Hispāniā Hasdrubalem.However, so that Spain, the province which had fallen to him by lot, should not be bare of Roman auxiliaries, he sent his brother Gnaeus Scipio with the greatest part of his forces against Hasdrubal, not only to protect old allies and win new ones but also to drive Hasdrubal out of Spain.
Liv. 21.32.5Ipse cum admodum exiguīs cōpiīs Genuam repetit, eō, quī circā Padum erat exercitus, Ītaliam dēfēnsūrus.He himself, with quite small forces, makes his way back to Genua, intending to defend Italy with the army that was around the Po. Liv. 21.32.6Hannibal ab Druentiā campestrī maximē itinere ad Alpīs cum bonā pāce incolentium ea loca Gallōrum pervēnit.From the Durance, by a route mostly over level ground, Hannibal reached the Alps in complete peace with the Gauls who inhabit those parts. Liv. 21.32.7Tum, quamquam fāmā prius, quā incerta in maius vērō ferrī solent, praecepta rēs erat, tamen ex propinquō vīsa montium altitūdō nivēsque caelō prope inmixtae, tēcta īnfōrmia inposita rūpibus, pecora iūmentaque torrida frīgore, hominēs intōnsī et incultī, animālia inanimaque omnia rigentia gelū, cētera vīsū quam dictū foediōra, terrōrem renovārunt.Then, although the thing had been anticipated by report, by which uncertain matters are usually exaggerated beyond the truth, yet, seen at close quarters, the height of the mountains and the snows almost mingling with the sky, the rude dwellings set upon the crags, the flocks and beasts of burden shrivelled with cold, the men unshorn and unkempt, all things living and lifeless stiff with frost, and everything else more hideous to see than to describe, renewed their terror.
Liv. 21.32.8Ērigentibus in prīmōs agmen clīvōs appāruērunt inminentēs tumulōs īnsidentēs montānī, quī, sī vallēs occultiōrēs īnsēdissent, coortī ad pugnam repente ingentem fugam strāgemque dedissent.As they were leading the column up the first slopes, there appeared mountaineers occupying the heights that overhung them, who, if they had occupied the more hidden valleys, could have risen suddenly to the fight and caused huge rout and slaughter. Liv. 21.32.9Hannibal cōnsistere signa iussit;Hannibal ordered the standards to halt; Liv. 21.32.9Gallīsque ad vīsenda loca praemissīs postquam conperit trānsitum eā nōn esse, castra inter cōnfragōsa omnia praeruptaque quam extentissimā potest valle locat.and having sent Gauls ahead to view the ground, when he learned that there was no way through there, he pitches camp in the widest valley he can find among surroundings all rugged and precipitous. Liv. 21.32.10Tum per eōsdem Gallōs, haud sānē multum linguā mōribusque abhorrentēs, cum sē inmiscuissent conloquiīs montānōrum, ēdoctus interdiū tantum obsidērī saltum, nocte in sua quemque dīlābī tēcta, lūce prīmā subiit tumulōs, ut ex apertō atque interdiū vim per angustiās factūrus.Then, learning through these same Gauls, who differed little in language and customs and had mingled in the conversations of the mountaineers, that the pass was held only by day and that at night each slipped away to his own dwelling, at first light he went up towards the heights, as though intending to force his way through the defile openly and by day.
Liv. 21.32.11Diē deinde simulandō aliud, quam quod parābātur, cōnsūmptō cum eōdem, quō cōnstiterant, locō castra commūnīssent, ubi prīmum dēgressōs tumulīs montānōs laxātāsque sēnsit custōdiās, plūribus ignibus quam prō numerō manentium in speciem factīs impedīmentīsque cum equite relictīs et maximā parte peditum, ipse cum expedītīs, ācerrimō quōque virō, raptim angustiās ēvādit iīsque ipsīs tumulīs, quōs hostēs tenuerant, cōnsēdit.Then, having spent the day pretending something other than what was being prepared, and having fortified a camp in the same place where they had halted, as soon as he perceived that the mountaineers had come down from the heights and the guards had been relaxed, he lit more fires for show than the number of those remaining required, left the baggage with the cavalry and the greater part of the infantry, and himself with the light-armed troops, all the bravest men, swiftly made his way through the defile and settled on those very heights which the enemy had held.