Delphi Complete Works of Polybius

by Polybius

  115. The battle was begun by an engagement between the advanced guard of the two armies; and at first the affair between these light-armed troops was indecisive. But as soon as the Iberian and Celtic cavalry got at the Romans, the battle began in earnest, and in the true barbaric fashion: for there was none of the usual formal advance and retreat; but when they once got to close quarters, they grappled man to man, and, dismounting from their horses, fought on foot. But when the Carthaginians had got the upper hand in this encounter and killed most of their opponents on the ground, — because the Romans all maintained the fight with spirit and determination, — and began chasing the remainder along the river, slaying as they went and giving no quarter; then the legionaries took the place of the light-armed and closed with the enemy. For a short time the Iberian and Celtic lines stood their ground and fought gallantly; but, presently overpowered by the weight of the heavy-armed lines, they gave way and retired to the rear, thus breaking up the crescent. The Roman maniples followed with spirit, and easily cut their way through the enemy’s line; since the Celts had been drawn up in a thin line, while the Romans had closed up from the wings towards the centre and the point of danger. For the two wings did not come into action at the same time as the centre: but the centre was first engaged, because the Gauls, having been stationed on the arc of the crescent, had come into contact with the enemy long before the wings, the convex of the crescent being towards the enemy. The Romans, however, going in pursuit of these troops, and hastily closing in towards the centre and the part of the enemy which was giving ground, advanced so far, that the Libyan heavy-armed troops on either wing got on their flanks. Those on the right, facing to the left, charged from the right upon the Roman flank; while those who were on the left wing faced to the right, and, dressing by the left, charged their right flank, the exigency of the moment suggesting to them what they ought to do. Thus it came about, as Hannibal had planned, that the Romans were caught between two hostile lines of Libyans — thanks to their impetuous pursuit of the Celts. Still they fought, though no longer in line, yet singly, or in maniples, which faced about to meet those who charged them on the flanks.

  [1] πεπτωκότας ἐποιοῦντο τὴν μάχην: Λεύκιος δὲ καίπερ ὢν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος καὶ μετασχὼν ἐπί τι τοῦ τῶν ἱππέων ἀγῶνος ὅμως ἔτι τότε διεσῴζετο. [2] βουλόμενος δὲ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν παράκλησιν λόγοις ἀκολούθως ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν γίνεσθαι τῶν ἔργων καὶ θεωρῶν τὸ συνέχον τῆς κατὰ τὸν ἀγῶνα κρίσεως ἐν τοῖς πεζικοῖς στρατοπέδοις κείμενον, [3] παριππεύων ἐπὶ τὰ μέσα τῆς ὅλης παρατάξεως ἅμα μὲν αὐτὸς συνεπλέκετο καὶ προσέφερε τὰς χεῖρας τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις, ἅμα δὲ παρεκάλει καὶ παρώξυνε τοὺς παρ᾽ αὑτοῦ στρατιώτας. [4] τὸ δὲ παραπλήσιον Ἀννίβας ἐποίει: καὶ γὰρ οὗτος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπὶ τούτοις τοῖς μέρεσιν ἐπέστη τῆς δυνάμεως. [5] οἱ δὲ Νομάδες ἀπὸ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος προσπίπτοντες τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις ἱππεῦσι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν εὐωνύμων τεταγμένοις μέγα μὲν οὔτ᾽ ἐποίουν οὐδὲν οὔτ᾽ ἔπασχον διὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῆς μάχης, ἀπράκτους γε μὴν τοὺς πολεμίους παρεσκεύαζον, περισπῶντες καὶ πανταχόθεν προσπίπτοντες. [6] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν ἀποκτείναντες τοὺς περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἱππεῖς πλὴν παντελῶς ὀλίγων παρεβοήθησαν ἀπὸ τῶν εὐωνύμων τοῖς Νομάσιν, τότε προϊδόμενοι τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν οἱ σύμμαχοι τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱππεῖς ἐκκλίναντες ἀπεχώρουν. [7] ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ πραγματικὸν δοκεῖ ποιῆσαι καὶ φρόνιμον ἔργον Ἀσδρούβας: θεωρῶν γὰρ τοὺς Νομάδας τῷ τε πλήθει πολλοὺς ὄντας καὶ πρακτικωτάτους καὶ φοβερωτάτους τοῖς ἅπαξ ἐγκλίνασιν, τοὺς μὲν φεύγοντας παρέδωκε τοῖς Νομάσιν, πρὸς δὲ τὴν τῶν πεζῶν μάχην ἡγεῖτο, σπεύδων παραβοηθῆσαι τοῖς Λίβυσι. [8] προσπεσὼν δὲ τοῖς Ῥωμαϊκοῖς στρατοπέδοις κατὰ νώτου καὶ ποιούμενος ἐκ διαδοχῆς ταῖς ἴλαις ἐμβολὰς ἅμα κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους ἐπέρρωσε μὲν τοὺς Λίβυας, ἐταπείνωσε δὲ καὶ κατέπληξε ταῖς ψυχαῖς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους. [9] ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ καὶ Λεύκιος Αἰμίλιος περιπεσὼν βιαίοις πληγαῖς ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ μετήλλαξε τὸν βίον, ἀνὴρ πάντα τὰ δίκαια τῇ πατρίδι κατὰ τὸν λοιπὸν βίον καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἔσχατον καιρόν, εἰ καί τις ἕτερος, ποιήσας. [10] οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι μέχρι μὲν ἐμάχοντο κατὰ τὰς ἐπιφανείας στρεφόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς κεκυκλωκότας, ἀντεῖχον: [11] ἀεὶ δὲ τῶν πέριξ ἀπολλυμένων, καὶ κατὰ βραχὺ συγκλειόμενοι, τέλος αὐτοῦ πάντες, ἐν οἷς καὶ Μάρκος καὶ Γνάιος, ἔπεσον, οἱ τὸ πρότερον ἔτος ὕπατοι γεγονότες, ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ καὶ τῆς Ῥώμης ἄξιοι γενόμενοι κατὰ τὸν κίνδυνον. [12] κατὰ δὲ τὸν τούτων φόνον καὶ τὴν συμπλοκὴν οἱ Νομάδες ἑπόμενοι τοῖς φεύγουσι τῶν ἱππέων τοὺς μὲν πλείστους ἀπέκτειναν, τοὺς δὲ κατεκρήμνισαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων. [13] ὀλίγοι δέ τινες εἰς Οὐενουσίαν διέφυγον, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Γάιος Τερέντιος ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατηγός, ἀνὴρ αἰσχρὰν μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλυσιτελῆ δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν αὑτοῦ τῇ πατρίδι πεποιημένος.

  116. Though he had been from the first on the right wing, and had taken part in the cavalry engagement, Lucius Aemilius still survived. Determined to act up to his own exhortatory speech, and seeing that the decision of the battle rested mainly on the legionaries, riding up to the centre of the line he led the charge himself, and personally grappled with the enemy, at the same time cheering on and exhorting his soldiers to the charge. Hannibal, on the other side, did the same, for he too had taken his place on the centre from the commencement. The Numidian horse on the Carthaginian right were meanwhile charging the cavalry on the Roman left; and though, from the peculiar nature of their mode of fighting, they neither inflicted nor received much harm, they yet rendered the enemy’s horse useless by keeping them occupied, and charging them first on one side and then on another. But when Hasdrubal, after all but annihilating the cavalry by the river, came from the left to the support of the Numidians, the Roman allied cavalry, seeing his charge approaching, broke and fled. At that point Hasdrubal appears to have acted with great skill and discretion. Seeing the Numidians to be strong in numbers, and more effective and formidable to troops that had once been forced from their ground, he left the pursuit to them; while he himself hastened to the part of the field where the infantry were engaged, and brought his men up to support the Libyans. Then, by charging the Roman legions on the rear, and harassing them by hurling squadron after squadron upon them at many points at once, he raised the spirits of the Libyans, and dismayed and depressed those of the Romans. It was at this point that
Lucius Aemilius fell, in the thick of the fight, covered with wounds: a man who did his duty to his country at that last hour of his life, as he had throughout its previous years, if any man ever did. As long as the Romans could keep an unbroken front, to turn first in one direction and then in another to meet the assaults of the enemy, they held out; but the outer files of the circle continually falling, and the circle becoming more and more contracted, they at last were all killed on the field, and among them Marcus Atilius and Gnaeus Servilius, the Consuls of the previous year, who had shown themselves brave men and worthy of Rome in the battle. While this struggle and carnage were going on, the Numidian horse were pursuing the fugitives, most of whom they cut down or hurled from their horses; but some few escaped into Venusia, among whom was Gaius Terentius, the Consul, who thus sought a flight, as disgraceful to himself, as his conduct in office had been disastrous to his country.

  [1] ἡ μὲν οὖν περὶ Κάνναν γενομένη μάχη Ῥωμαίων καὶ Καρχηδονίων ἐπετελέσθη τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, μάχη γενναιοτάτους ἄνδρας ἔχουσα καὶ τοὺς νικήσαντας καὶ τοὺς ἡττηθέντας. [2] δῆλον δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐγένετ᾽ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων. τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἑξακισχιλίων ἱππέων ἑβδομήκοντα μὲν εἰς Οὐενουσίαν μετὰ Γαΐου διέφυγον, περὶ τριακοσίους δὲ τῶν συμμάχων σποράδες εἰς τὰς πόλεις ἐσώθησαν: [3] ἐκ δὲ τῶν πεζῶν μαχόμενοι μὲν ἑάλωσαν εἰς μυρίους — οἱ δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ὄντες τῆς μάχης — ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ κινδύνου τρισχίλιοι μόνον ἴσως εἰς τὰς παρακειμένας πόλεις διέφυγον. [4] οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ πάντες, ὄντες εἰς ἑπτὰ μυριάδας, ἀπέθανον εὐγενῶς, τὴν μεγίστην χρείαν παρεσχημένου τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις εἰς τὸ νικᾶν καὶ τότε καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τοῦ τῶν ἱππέων ὄχλου. [5] καὶ δῆλον ἐγένετο τοῖς ἐπιγενομένοις ὅτι κρεῖττόν ἐστι πρὸς τοὺς τῶν πολέμων καιροὺς ἡμίσεις ἔχειν πεζούς, ἱπποκρατεῖν δὲ τοῖς ὅλοις, μᾶλλον ἢ πάντα πάρισα τοῖς πολεμίοις ἔχοντα διακινδυνεύειν. [6] τῶν δὲ μετ᾽ Ἀννίβου Κελτοὶ μὲν ἔπεσον εἰς τετρακισχιλίους, Ἴβηρες δὲ καὶ Λίβυες εἰς χιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ περὶ διακοσίους. [7] οἱ δὲ ζωγρηθέντες τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐκτὸς ἐγένοντο τοῦ κινδύνου, καὶ διὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν. [8] Λεύκιος ἀπέλιπε μυρίους πεζοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ παρεμβολῆς, ἵν᾽ ἐὰν μὲν Ἀννίβας ὀλιγωρήσας τοῦ χάρακος ἐκτάξῃ πᾶσι, παραπεσόντες οὗτοι κατὰ τὸν τῆς μάχης καιρὸν ἐγκρατεῖς γένωνται τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ἀποσκευῆς, [9] ἐὰν δὲ προϊδόμενος τὸ μέλλον ἀπολίπῃ φυλακὴν ἀξιόχρεων, πρὸς ἐλάττους αὐτοῖς ὁ περὶ τῶν ὅλων γένηται κίνδυνος. [10] ἑάλωσαν δὲ τοιούτῳ τινὶ τρόπῳ. καταλιπόντος Ἀννίβου φυλακὴν ἀρκοῦσαν ἐπὶ τοῦ χάρακος, ἅμα τῷ κατάρξασθαι τὴν μάχην κατὰ τὸ συνταχθὲν ἐπολιόρκουν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, προσβάλλοντες τοὺς ἀπολελειμμένους ἐν τῷ τῶν Καρχηδονίων χάρακι. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἀντεῖχον: [11] ἤδη δ᾽ αὐτῶν πιεζομένων, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ πάντα τὰ μέρη τὴν μάχην Ἀννίβας ἔκρινε, καὶ τότε παραβοηθήσας καὶ τρεψάμενος συνέκλεισε τοὺς Ῥωμαίους εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν παρεμβολὴν καὶ δισχιλίους μὲν αὐτῶν ἀπέκτεινε, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἐγκρατὴς ἐγένετο ζωγρίᾳ πάντων. [12] ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἐρύματα συμπεφευγότας ἐκπολιορκήσαντες οἱ Νομάδες ἐπανῆγον, ὄντας εἰς δισχιλίους τῶν εἰς φυγὴν τραπέντων ἱππέων.

  117. Such was the end of the battle of Cannae, in which both sides fought with the most conspicuous gallantry, the conquered no less than the conquerors. This is proved by the fact that, out of six thousand horse, only seventy escaped with Gaius Terentius to Venusia, and about three hundred of the allied cavalry to various towns in the neighbourhood. Of the infantry ten thousand were taken prisoners in fair fight, but were not actually engaged in the battle: of those who were actually engaged only about three thousand perhaps escaped to the towns of the surrounding district, all the rest died nobly, to the number of seventy thousand, the Carthaginians being on this occasion, as on previous ones, mainly indebted for their victory to their superiority in cavalry: a lesson to posterity that in actual war it is better to have half the number of infantry, and the superiority in cavalry, than to engage your enemy with an equality in both. On the side of Hannibal there fell four thousand Celts, fifteen hundred Iberians and Libyans, and about two hundred horse.

  The ten thousand Romans who were captured had not, as I said, been engaged in the actual battle; and the reason was this. Lucius Aemilius left ten thousand infantry in his camp that, in case Hannibal should disregard the safety of his own camp, and take his whole army on to the field, they might seize the opportunity, while the battle was going on, of forcing their way in and capturing the enemy’s baggage; or if, on the other hand, Hannibal should, in view of this contingency, leave a guard in his camp, the number of the enemy in the field might thereby be diminished. These men were captured in the following circumstances. Hannibal, as a matter of fact, did leave a sufficient guard in his camp; and as soon as the battle began, the Romans, according to their instructions, assaulted and tried to take those thus left by Hannibal. At first they held their own: but just as they were beginning to waver, Hannibal, who was by this time gaining a victory all along the line, came to their relief, and routing the Romans, shut them up in their own camp; killed two thousand of them; and took all the rest prisoners. In like manner the Numidian horse brought in all those who had taken refuge in the various strongholds about the district, amounting to two thousand of the routed cavalry.

  [1] Βραβευθείσης δὲ τῆς μάχης τὸν προειρημένον τρόπον, ἀκόλουθον εἰλήφει τὰ ὅλα κρίσιν τοῖς ὑπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων προσδοκωμένοις. [2] Καρχηδόνιοι μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῆς πράξεως ταύτης παραχρῆμα τῆς μὲν λοιπῆς παραλίας σχεδὸν πάσης ἦσαν ἐγκρατεῖς: [3] Ταραντῖνοί τε γὰρ εὐθέως ἐνεχείριζον αὑτούς, Ἀργυριππανοὶ δὲ καὶ Καπυανῶν τινες ἐκάλουν τὸν Ἀννίβαν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ πάντες ἀπέβλεπον ἤδη τότε πρὸς Καρχηδονίους: [4] μεγάλας δ᾽ εἶχον ἐλπίδας ἐξ ἐφόδου καὶ τῆς Ῥώμης αὐτῆς ἔσεσθαι κύριοι: [5] Ῥωμαῖοί γε μὴν τὴν Ἰταλιωτῶν δυναστείαν παραχρῆμα διὰ τὴν ἧτταν ἀπεγνώκεισαν, ἐν μεγάλοις δὲ φόβοις καὶ κινδύνοις ἦσαν περί τε σφῶν αὐτῶν καὶ περὶ τοῦ τῆς πατρίδος ἐδάφους, ὅσον οὔπω προσδοκῶντες ἥξειν αὐτὸν τὸν Ἀννίβαν. [6] καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐπιμετρούσης καὶ συνεπαγω�
�ιζομένης τοῖς γεγονόσι τῆς τύχης, συνέβη μετ᾽ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας, τοῦ φόβου κατέχοντος τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸν εἰς τὴν Γαλατίαν στρατηγὸν ἀποσταλέντ᾽ εἰς ἐνέδραν ἐμπεσόντα παραδόξως ἄρδην ὑπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν διαφθαρῆναι μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως. [7] οὐ μὴν ἥ γε σύγκλητος οὐδὲν ἀπέλειπε τῶν ἐνδεχομένων, ἀλλὰ παρεκάλει μὲν τοὺς πολλούς, ἠσφαλίζετο δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ἐβουλεύετο δὲ περὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων ἀνδρωδῶς. τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐγένετο φανερὸν ἐκ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα συμβάντων: [8] ὁμολογουμένως γὰρ Ῥωμαίων ἡττηθέντων τότε καὶ παραχωρησάντων τῆς ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἀρετῆς, [9] τῇ τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἰδιότητι καὶ τῷ βουλεύεσθαι καλῶς οὐ μόνον ἀνεκτήσαντο τὴν τῆς Ἰταλίας δυναστείαν, νικήσαντες μετὰ ταῦτα Καρχηδονίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ἐγκρατεῖς ἐγένοντο μετ᾽ ὀλίγους χρόνους. [10] διόπερ ἡμεῖς ταύτην μὲν τὴν βύβλον ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν ἔργων καταστρέψομεν, ἃ περιέλαβεν Ἰβηρικῶν καὶ τῶν Ἰταλικῶν ἡ τετταρακοστὴ πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατὸν ὀλυμπιάσι δηλώσαντες: [11] ὅταν δὲ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς πράξεις τὰς κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ὀλυμπιάδα γενομένας διεξιόντες ἐπιστῶμεν τοῖς καιροῖς τούτοις, τότ᾽ ἤδη προθέμενοι ψιλῶς τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιτείας ποιησόμεθα λόγον, [12] νομίζοντες οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἱστορίας σύνταξιν οἰκείαν εἶναι τὴν περὶ αὐτῆς ἐξήγησιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὰς τῶν πολιτευμάτων διορθώσεις καὶ κατασκευὰς μεγάλα συμβάλλεσθαι τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι καὶ πραγματικοῖς τῶν ἀνδρῶν.