Appian’s Roman History, Volume I

Name: Appian’s Roman History, Volume I
Author: Appian of Alexandria

Ancient Greek with Horace White’s English translation

Appian’s Roman History, Volume IBook VI · Sections 25–26

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 83 of 315

Book VI · Sections 25–26

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Ancient Greek

p. 178

ἀποσχὼν δέκα σταδίους ἐστρατοπέδευσεν εὐσταθῶς ᾗπερ ἐβούλετο. ἦν δὲ ἡ μὲν τῶν ἐχθρῶν σύμπασα δύναμις ἑπτακισμύριοι πεζοὶ καὶ ἱππεῖς πεντακισχίλιοι καὶ ἐλέφαντες ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα· Σκιπίωνι δὲ τούτων οὐδὲ τριτημόριον ἦν. διὸ καὶ μέχρι τινὸς ἐνεδοίαζε, καὶ μάχης οὐ κατῆρχεν, ἀλλʼ ἀκροβολισμοῖς ἐχρῆτο μόνοις.

ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπέλειπεν αὐτὸν ἡ ἀγορὰ καὶ λιμὸς ἥπτετο τοῦ στρατοῦ, ἀναζεῦξαι μὲν οὐκ εὐπρεπὲς ἡγεῖτο εἶναι Σκιπίων· θυσάμενος δέ, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις τὴν στρατιὰν ἐς ἐπήκοον ἐλάσας, καὶ τὸ βλέμμα καὶ τὸ σχῆμα διαθεὶς πάλιν ὥσπερ ἔνθους, ἔφη τὸ δαιμόνιον ἥκειν τὸ σύνηθες αὐτῷ, καὶ καλεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους. χρῆναι δὲ θαρρεῖν θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ πλήθει στρατοῦ· καὶ γὰρ τῶν πρότερον ἔργων κατὰ θεόν, οὐ κατὰ πλῆθος κρατῆσαι. ἔς τε πίστιν τῶν λεγομένων τὰ ἱερὰ παραφέρειν ἐς τὸ μέσον ἐκέλευε τοὺς μάντεις. καὶ λέγων ὁρᾷ τινὰς οἰωνοὺς πετομένους, οὓς μεθʼ ὁρμῆς καὶ βοῆς αὐτόθεν ἐπιστραφεὶς ἐδείκνυέ τε, καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι οἱ σύμβολα νίκης οἱ θεοὶ καὶ τάδε ἔπεμψαν. συνεκινεῖτο δὲ πρὸς αὐτὰ ἐνθέως ὁρῶν καὶ βοῶν. καὶ ἡ στρατιὰ πᾶσα ἐς τὰς ἐκείνου φαντασίας, περιφερομένου δεῦρο κἀκεῖσε, συνεπεστρέφετο, καὶ πάντες ὡς ἐπὶ νίκην ἕτοιμον ἠρεθίζοντο. ὁ δʼ ἐπεὶ πᾶν εἶχεν ὅσον τι καὶ ἐβούλετο, οὐκ ἀνέθετο, οὐδʼ εἴασε τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐκλυθῆναι, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔτι ὢν θεόληπτος, ἔφη δεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖσδε τοῖς σημείοις εὐθὺς ἀγωνίσασθαι. καὶ φαγόντας ἐκέλευεν ὁπλίσασθαι, καὶ ἐπῆγεν

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VI

p. 179

in a strong position, which he had chosen, about ten stades from the enemy. The total strength of the enemy was 70,000 foot, 5000 horse, and thirty-six elephants. That of Scipio was not one-third of the number. For some time, therefore, he hesitated and did not venture a fight, except some light skirmishes.

When his supplies began to fail and hunger attacked his army, Scipio considered that it would be base to retreat. Accordingly he sacrificed, and bringing the soldiers to an audience immediately after the sacrifice, and putting on again the look and aspect of one inspired, he said that the deity had appeared to him in the customary way and told him to attack the enemy, and had assured him that it was better to trust in heaven than in the size of his army because his former victories were gained by divine favor rather than by numerical strength. In order to inspire confidence in his words he commanded the priests to bring the entrails into the assembly. While he was speaking he saw some birds flying overhead with great swiftness and clamor. Looking up he pointed them out and exclaimed this was a sign of victory which the gods had sent him. He followed their movement, gazing at them and crying out like one possessed. The whole army, as it saw him turning hither and thither, imitated his actions, and all were fired with the idea of certain victory. When he had everything as he wished he did not hesitate, nor permit their ardor to cool, but still as one inspired exclaimed: These signs tell us that we must fight at once. When they had taken their food he ordered them to arm themselves, and led

About This Reading Edition

Appian’s Roman History asked readers of the Roman Empire to reckon with how conquest, ambition, and civil conflict created their world; its questions about political power, cultural encounter, civic division, and the human cost of expansion remain urgent today. This approximately page-aligned parallel-text edition pairs the Ancient Greek text with Horace White’s English translation, following the 1912 facing leaves while omitting translator’s notes, figures, fragment attributions, marginalia, and unnumbered appendices.

Historical Text and Translation

Appian, a Greek-speaking Roman historian from Alexandria, wrote in the second century CE and arranged Rome’s expansion by the peoples and regions it conquered rather than as one continuous chronology—a strikingly original design. Much of his twenty-four-book work is lost, making the surviving books and fragments especially valuable.

About Horace White

Horace White was an American journalist, editor, and financial writer rather than a university professor. He led the Chicago Tribune and later the New York Evening Post, yet his Greek scholarship produced the fluent two-volume Appian translation of 1899 that became the English text of the original Loeb edition in 1912.

Rights

Appian’s ancient work, Ludwig Mendelssohn’s 1879 Greek edition, Horace White’s 1899/1912 English translation, and the Eulogikon Greek Preface are in the public domain in the United States. The Perseus digital transcriptions are reused under CC BY-SA 4.0; their attribution and share-alike terms continue to apply.