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 51–52

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 103 of 315

Book VI · Sections 51–52

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 218

περάσας δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν καλούμενον Τάγον, ἀφίκετο πρὸς Καύκαν πόλιν καὶ παρεστρατοπέδευσεν. οἱ δʼ ἐπύθοντο μὲν αὐτοῦ τίνος ἥκοι δεόμενος ἢ τί πολέμου χρῄζων, φήσαντος δὲ ὅτι Καρπητανοῖς ὑπὸ Οὐακκαίων ἀδικουμένοις βοηθοίη, τότε μὲν ἀνεχώρουν ἐς τὴν πόλιν, ξυλευομένῳ δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ χορτολογοῦντι ἐπέκειντο. καὶ κτείνουσι πολλούς, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς διώκουσιν ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον. γενομένης δὲ καὶ παρατάξεως, οἱ Καυκαῖοι ψιλοῖς ἐοικότες ἐκράτουν ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦ Λευκόλλου, μέχρι σφῶν τὰ ἀκόντια πάντα ἐξαναλώθη· καὶ τότε ἔφευγον οὐκ ὄντες μενεμάχοι, περί τε τὰς πύλας αὐτῶν ὠθουμένων ἀνῃρέθησαν ἀμφὶ τοὺς τρισχιλίους.

τῆς δʼ ἐπιούσης οἱ πρεσβύτατοι, στεφανωσάμενοί τε καὶ φέροντες ἱκετηρίας, τὸν Λεύκολλον αὖθις ἠρώτων τί ποιοῦντες ἂν εἶεν φίλοι. ὁ δὲ αὐτοὺς ὅμηρά τε ᾔτει καὶ ἀργυρίου τάλαντα ἑκατόν, καὶ τοὺς ἱππέας αὐτῶν ἐκέλευέν οἱ συστρατεύειν. ὡς δὲ πάντα ἔλαβεν, ἠξίου φρουρὰν ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἐσαγαγεῖν. δεξαμένων δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τῶν Καυκαίων, ἐσήγαγε δισχιλίους ἀριστίνδην ἐξειλεγμένους, οἷς ἐσελθοῦσιν εἴρητο γίγνεσθαι περὶ τὰ τείχη. καταλαβόντων δὲ αὐτὰ τῶν δισχιλίων, ἐσήγαγε τὴν ἄλλην στρατιὰν ὁ Λεύκολλος, καὶ τῇ σάλπιγγι ὑπεσήμαινε κτείνειν Καυκαίους ἅπαντας ἡβηδόν. οἱ μὲν δὴ πίστεις τε καὶ θεοὺς ὁρκίους ἐπικαλούμενοι, καὶ Ῥωμαίους ἐς ἀπιστίαν λοιδοροῦντες, διεφθείροντο ὠμῶς, ἐκ δισμυρίων ἀνδρῶν κατὰ πύλας ἀποκρήμνους

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VI

p. 219

ever attacked the Romans, or offended Lucullus himself. Crossing the river Tagus he came to the city of Cauca, and pitched his camp near it. The citizens asked him what he had come for and what occasion there was for war, and when he replied that he had come to aid the Carpetani whom the Vaccaei had maltreated they retired inside their walls, from which they sallied out and fell upon his wood-cutters and foragers, killing many and pursuing the remainder to the camp. When battle was joined the Caucaei, who resembled light-armed troops, had the advantage at first, but when they had expended all their darts they were obliged to fly, not being accustomed to a standing fight, and while forcing their way through the gates about 3000 of them were slain.

The next day the elders of the city came out wearing crowns on their heads and bearing olive-branches, and asked Lucullus what they should do to establish friendly relations. He replied that they must give hostages and 100 talents of silver, and furnish a contingent of horse to the Roman army. When all these demands had been complied with he asked that a Roman garrison should be admitted to the city. When the Caucaei assented to this he brought in 2000 soldiers carefully chosen, to whom he gave orders that when they were admitted they should occupy the walls. When this was (lone Lucullus introduced the rest of his army and ordered them at the sound of the trumpet to kill all the adult males of the Caucaei. The latter, invoking the gods who preside over promises and oaths, and upbraiding the perfidy of the Romans, were cruelly slain, only a few out of 20,000 escaping by leaping

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.