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 67–68

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 116 of 315

Book VI · Sections 67–68

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Ancient Greek

p. 244

Οὐρίατθος ἐπανῆλθε, καὶ κτείνας ἐς τρισχιλίους τοὺς λοιποὺς συνήλασεν ἐς τὸ στρατοπεδον, καὶ προσέβαλε καὶ τῷδε, ὀλίγων μόλις αὐτὸν ὑφισταμένων περὶ τὰς πύλας, τῶν δὲ πλεόνων ἐς τὰς σκηνὰς καταδύντων ὑπὸ δέους καὶ μόλις ὑπὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ καὶ τῶν χιλιάρχων ἐξαγομένων. τότε μὲν οὖν Φάνιός τε, ὁ Λαιλίου κηδεστής, λαμπρῶς ἠρίστευε, καὶ νὺξ ἐπελθοῦσα Ῥωμαίους περιέσωσεν· ὁ δὲ Οὐρίατθος ἢ νυκτὸς ἢ καύματος ὥρᾳ θαμινὰ ἐπιών, καὶ οὔ τινα καιρὸν ἀδόκητον ἐκλείπων, ψιλοῖς ἀνδράσι καὶ ἵπποις ταχυτάτοις ἠνώχλει τοῖς πολεμίοις μέχρι τὸν Σερουιλιανὸν ἐς Ἰτύκκην ἀναστῆσαι.

τότε δὲ ἤδη τροφῶν τε ἀπορῶν ὁ Οὐρίατθος καὶ τὸν στρατὸν ἔχων ἐλάττω, νυκτὸς ἐμπρήσας τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐς Λυσιτανίαν ἀνεχώρει. καὶ αὐτὸν ὁ Σερουιλιανὸς οὐ καταλαβὼν ἐς Βαιτουρίαν ἐνέβαλε, καὶ πέντε πόλεις διήρπαζεν, αἳ τῷ Οὐριάτθῳ συνεπεπράχεσαν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἐστράτευεν ἐς Κουνέους, ὅθεν ἐς Λυσιτανοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν Οὐρίατθον αὖθις ἠπείγετο. καὶ αὐτῷ παροδεύοντι δύο λῄσταρχοι μετὰ μυρίων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιθέμενοι, Κούριός τε καὶ Ἀπουλήιος, ἐθορύβησαν καὶ τὴν λείαν ἀφείλοντο. καὶ Κούριος μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι ἔπεσεν, ὁ δὲ Σερουιλιανὸς τήν τε λείαν μετʼ οὐ πολὺ ἀνέλαβε, καὶ πόλεις εἷλεν Εἰσκαδίαν τε καὶ Γέμελλαν καὶ Ὀβόλκολαν, φρουρουμένας ὑπὸ τῶν Οὐριάτθου, καὶ διήρπαζεν ἑτέρας, καὶ συνεγίγνωσκεν ἄλλαις· αἰχμάλωτα δʼ ἔχων ἀμφὶ τὰ μύρια, πεντακοσίων μὲν ἀπέτεμε τὰς κεφαλάς, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἀπέδοτο. καὶ Κοννόβαν μέν τινα λῄσταρχον ἑαυτὸν ἐγχειρίσαντα λαβών, καὶ

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VI

p. 245

observed this as he fled he rallied, slew about 3000 of the Romans, and drove the rest to their camp. He attacked the camp also where only a few made a stand about the gates, the greater part hiding under their tents from fear, and being with difficulty brought back to their duty by the general and the tribunes. Here Fannius, the brother-in-law of Laelius, showed splendid bravery. The Romans were saved by the approach of darkness. But Viriathus continued to make incursions by night or in the heat of the day, appearing at every unexpected time with his light-armed troops and his swift horses to annoy the enemy, until he forced Servilianus back to Itucca.

Then at length Viriathus, being in want of provisions, and his army much reduced, burnt his camp in the night and returned to Lusitania. Servilianus did not overtake him, but fell upon the country of Baeturia and plundered five towns that had sided with Viriathus. After this he marched against the Cunaei, and thence to Lusitania once more, against Viriathus. While he was on the march two captains of robbers, Curius and Apuleius, with 10,000 men attacked the Romans, threw them into confusion, and captured some booty. Curius was killed in the fight, and Servilianus not long afterward recovered the booty and took the towns of Escadia, Gemella, and Obolcola, which had been garrisoned by Viriathus. Others he plundered and still others he spared. Having captured about 10,000 prisoners, he beheaded 500 of them and sold the rest as slaves. Then he went into winter quarters, having already been two years in the command. Having performed these labors, Servilianus returned to Rome and was succeeded in the command by Quintus Pompeius Aulus. The brother of the former, Maximus Aemilianus, having received the surrender of a captain of robbers, named Connoba, released him but cut off the hands of all of his men.

While following Viriathus, Servilianus laid siege to Erisana,

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.