Nepos, Hannibal 5

Hann. 5.1Hāc pugnā pugnātā Rōmam profectus nūllō resistente in propinquīs urbī montibus morātus est.

After fighting this battle he set out for Rome and, with no one resisting, stayed in the hills near the city.

Note. Hāc pugnā pugnātā is an ablative absolute with an 'internal' object: 'this battle having been fought'. nūllō resistente 'with no one resisting'. Hannibal did not besiege Rome; he camped in the hills near it, probably in 211 BC.

Hann. 5.1Cum aliquot ibi diēs castra habuisset et Capuam reverterētur, Q. Fabius Maximus, dictātor Rōmānus, in agrō Falernō eī sē obiēcit.

When he had kept his camp there for some days and was returning to Capua, Quintus Fabius Maximus, the Roman dictator, blocked his way in the Falernian country.

Note. Q. Fabius Maximus, called Cunctātor 'the Delayer', avoided pitched battle and tried to wear Hannibal down. The trap in the Falernian district happened in 217 BC; Nepos does not keep strict order.

Hann. 5.2Hic clausus locōrum angustiīs noctū sine ūllō dētrīmentō exercitus sē expedīvit Fabiōque, callidissimō imperātōrī, dedit verba.

Hannibal, though shut in by the narrow ground, got his army out by night without any loss and fooled Fabius, a very clever commander.

Note. verba dare (+ dative) is an idiom: 'to give someone words', i.e. to cheat or fool them. callidissimō imperātōrī is in apposition to Fabiō.

Hann. 5.2Namque obductā nocte sarmenta in cornibus iuvencōrum dēligāta incendit eiusque generis multitūdinem magnam dispālātam immīsit.

For when night had fallen he set fire to bundles of brushwood tied to the horns of young bulls, and sent a great number of these animals running loose in all directions.

Note. The famous trick: brushwood tied to the horns of cattle and set alight made the Romans think the army was escaping over the hills. dispālātam (from dispālor) 'scattered, roaming'.

Hann. 5.2Quō repentīnō vīsū obiectō tantum terrōrem iniēcit exercituī Rōmānōrum, ut ēgredī extrā vallum nēmō sit ausus.

This sudden sight, thrown before them, struck such terror into the Roman army that no one dared to go outside the rampart.

Note. Quō repentīnō vīsū obiectō: ablative absolute, with quō a connecting relative ('and this sudden sight…'). ut … nēmō sit ausus is a result clause after tantum terrōrem.

Hann. 5.3Hanc post rem gestam nōn ita multīs diēbus M. Minucium Rūfum, magistrum equitum parī ac dictātōrem imperiō, dolō prōductum in proelium fugāvit.

Not many days after this exploit, he lured Marcus Minucius Rufus, master of the horse, whose command was equal to the dictator's, into battle by a trick and routed him.

Note. parī ac dictātōrem imperiō 'with power equal to the dictator': ac after pār means 'as'. In 217 BC the assembly gave Minucius equal command with Fabius, and Hannibal nearly destroyed him.

Hann. 5.3Ti. Semprōnium Gracchum, iterum cōnsulem, in Lūcānīs absēns in īnsidiās inductum sustulit.

While not even present himself, he drew Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, consul for the second time, into an ambush in Lucania and destroyed him.

Note. absēns: Hannibal was not there himself; his officers drew Ti. Sempronius Gracchus into an ambush (212 BC).

Hann. 5.3M. Claudium Mārcellum, quīnquiēns cōnsulem, apud Venusiam parī modō interfēcit.

In the same way he killed Marcus Claudius Marcellus, five times consul, near Venusia.

Note. M. Claudius Marcellus, the 'sword of Rome', was killed in an ambush near Venusia in 208 BC. quīnquiēns 'five times'.

Hann. 5.4Longum est omnia ēnumerāre proelia.

It would take too long to list all the battles.

Hann. 5.4Quārē hoc ūnum satis erit dictum, ex quō intellegī possit, quantus ille fuerit: quamdiū in Ītaliā fuit, nēmō eī in aciē restitit, nēmō adversus eum post Cannēnsem pugnam in campō castra posuit.

So it will be enough to say this one thing, from which it can be understood how great he was: as long as he was in Italy, no one stood up to him in the battle line, and after the battle of Cannae no one pitched camp against him in open country.

Note. Note the parallel clauses nēmō eī … restitit, nēmō … castra posuit. quantus ille fuerit is an indirect question (perfect subjunctive).