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 97–98

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Facing Pages · Branch 140 of 315

Book VI · Sections 97–98

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Ancient Greek

p. 292

ὀκτακισχιλίους ἐπʼ εἰρήνης γενόμενοι οἷα μὲν καὶ ὅσα Ῥωμαίους ἔδρασαν, οἵας δὲ συνθήκας αὐτοῖς ἔθεντο ἐπὶ ἴσῃ καὶ ὁμοίᾳ, οὐδέσι ταῦτα συνθέσθαι Ῥωμαίων ὑποστάντων, οἷον δʼ ὄντα τὸν τελευταῖον στρατηγόν, ἓξ μυριάσιν αὐτοὺς περικαθήμενον, προυκαλέσαντο πολλάκις ἐς μάχην. ὁ δὲ ἦν ἄρα στρατηγικώτερος αὐτῶν, ἐς χεῖρας οὐκ ἰὼν θηρίοις, ἀλλὰ τῷ λιμῷ σφᾶς κατεργαζόμενος, ἀμάχῳ κακῷ, ᾧ δὴ καὶ μόνῳ ληφθῆναί τε δυνατὸν ἦν ἄρα Νομαντίνους, καὶ ἐλήφθησαν μόνῳ.

ἐμοὶ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα περὶ Νομαντίνων εἰπεῖν ἐπῆλθεν, ἐς τὴν ὀλιγότητα αὐτῶν καὶ φερεπονίαν ἀφορῶντι, καὶ ἔργα πολλά, καὶ χρόνον ὅσον διεκαρτέρησαν· οἱ δὲ πρῶτα μὲν αὑτούς, οἱ βουλόμενοι, διεχρῶντο, ἕτερος ἑτέρως· οἱ λοιποὶ δʼ ἐξῄεσαν τρίτης ἡμέρας ἐς τὸ δεδομένον χωρίον, δυσόρατοί τε καὶ ἀλλόκοτοι πάμπαν ὀφθῆναι, οἷς τὰ μὲν σώματα ἦν ἀκάθαρτα καὶ τριχῶν καὶ ὀνύχων καὶ ῥύπου μεστά, ὠδώδεσαν δὲ χαλεπώτατον, καὶ ἐσθὴς αὐτοῖς ἐπέκειτο πιναρὰ καὶ ἥδε καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον δυσώδης. ἐφαίνοντο δὲ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐλεεινοὶ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶνδε, φοβεροὶ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν βλεμμάτων· ἔτι γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐνεώρων ἔκ τε ὀργῆς καὶ λύπης καὶ πόνου καὶ συνειδότος ἀλληλοφαγίας.

ἐπιλεξάμενος δʼ αὐτῶν πεντήκοντα ὁ Σκιπίων ἐς θρίαμβον, τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀπέδοτο, καὶ τὴν πόλιν κατέσκαψε, δύο μὲν τάσδε πόλεις δυσμαχωτάτας ἑλὼν στρατηγὸς ὅδε Ῥωμαίων, Καρχηδόνα μὲν αὐτῶν Ῥωμαίων ψηφισαμένων

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VI

p. 293

only 8000 fighting men before the war began, how many and what terrible reverses did they bring upon the Romans! How many treaties did they make on equal terms with the Romans, which the latter would not consent to make with any other people! How often did they challenge to open battle the last general sent against them, who had an army of 60,000 men! But he showed himself more experienced in war than themselves, by refusing to join battle with wild beasts when he could reduce them by that invincible enemy, hunger. In this way alone was it possible to capture the Numantines, and in this way alone were they captured. Reflecting upon their small numbers and great sufferings, their valiant deeds and long endurance, it has occurred to me to narrate these particulars of the Numantine history. Many, directly after the surrender, killed themselves in whatever way they chose, some in one way and some in another. The remainder congregated on the third day at the appointed place, a strange and shocking spectacle. Their bodies were foul, their hair and nails long, and they were smeared with dirt. They smelt most horribly, and the clothes they wore were likewise squalid and emitted an equally foul odor. For these reasons they appeared pitiable even to their enemies. At the same time there was something fearful to the beholders in the expression of their eyes—an expression of anger, grief, toil, and the consciousness of having eaten human flesh.

Having reserved fifty of them for his triumph, Scipio sold the rest and razed the city to the ground. So this Roman general overthrew two most powerful cities, — Carthage, by decree of the Senate, on account of its greatness, its power,

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.