Liv. 21.36.1Ventum deinde ad multō angustiōrem rūpem atque ita rēctīs saxīs, ut aegrē expedītus mīles temptābundus manibusque retinēns virgulta ac stirpēs circā ēminentēs dēmittere sēsē posset.Then they came to a much narrower cliff, with rocks so sheer that a lightly equipped soldier, feeling his way and clinging with his hands to the bushes and stumps jutting out round about, could barely let himself down. Liv. 21.36.2Nātūrā locus iam ante praeceps recentī lāpsū terrae in pedum mīlle admodum altitūdinem abruptus erat.The place, already steep by nature, had been broken away by a recent landslide to a depth of fully a thousand feet. Liv. 21.36.3Ibi cum velut ad fīnem viae equitēs cōnstitissent, mīrantī Hannibalī, quae rēs morārētur agmen, nūntiātur rūpem inviam esse.There, when the cavalry had halted as though at the end of the road, word is brought to Hannibal, who was wondering what was holding up the column, that the cliff is impassable. Liv. 21.36.4Dīgressus deinde ipse ad locum vīsendum.Then he went off himself to view the place. Liv. 21.36.4Haud dubia rēs vīsa, quīn per invia circā nec trīta anteā quamvīs longō ambitū circumdūceret agmen.There seemed to be no doubt that he must lead the column round through the trackless and untrodden country nearby, however long the detour.
Liv. 21.36.5Ea vērō via inexsuperābilis fuit.That route, however, proved impossible to get over. Liv. 21.36.5Nam cum super veterem nivem intāctam nova modicae altitūdinis esset, mollī nec praealtae facile pedēs ingredientium īnsistēbant;For since on top of the old untouched snow there lay new snow of moderate depth, the feet of those walking in it easily found a hold in the soft and not very deep layer; Liv. 21.36.6ut vērō tot hominum iūmentōrumque incessū dīlāpsa est, per nūdam īnfrā glaciem fluentemque tābem liquēscentis nivis ingrediēbantur.but when it had been churned away by the tread of so many men and beasts, they were walking on the bare ice beneath and the running slush of melting snow. Liv. 21.36.7Taetra ibi luctātiō erat viā lūbricā nōn recipiente vestīgium et in prōnō citius pedēs fallente, ut, seu manibus in adsurgendō seu genū sē adiūvissent, ipsīs adminiculīs prōlāpsīs iterum corruerent;There was a hideous struggle there, as the slippery surface gave no hold to the foot and on the slope tripped their feet all the more quickly, so that whether they helped themselves up with their hands or with a knee, these very supports slipped and they fell again; Liv. 21.36.7nec stirpēs circā rādīcēsve, ad quās pede aut manū quisquam ēnītī posset, erant;nor were there any stumps or roots round about against which anyone could brace himself with foot or hand; Liv. 21.36.7ita in levī tantum glaciē tābidāque nive volūtābantur.and so they merely rolled about on the smooth ice and the slushy snow.
Liv. 21.36.8Iūmenta secābant interdum etiam īnfimam ingredientia nivem et prōlāpsa iactandīs gravius in cōnītendō ungulīs penitus perfringēbant, ut plēraque velut pedicā capta haerērent in dūrā et altē concrētā glaciē.The pack animals sometimes even cut through into the lowest layer of snow as they trod, and when they slipped, by striking out more violently with their hooves as they struggled, they broke right through it, so that most of them stuck fast in the hard and deeply frozen ice as though caught in a snare.