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 VII · Sections 47–48

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 182 of 315

Book VII · Sections 47–48

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Ancient Greek

p. 378

βουλῇ τὸν υἱὸν ὅμηρον, ἱππέας ᾔτει χιλίους, μεθʼ ὧν ἠπείγετο κατὰ σπουδήν, τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι προορώμενος. ὁ δὲ Δάσιος ταῖς ἐπιούσαις ἡμέραις τὸν ἐχθρὸν οὐχ ὁρῶν, εἴκασεν αὐτὸν ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖς ἐγνωσμένοις ὡς ἤδη πιστεύοντα αὐτῷ. νομίσας οὖν ἐς ἐκεῖνο τῷ ὄντι τὸ πορρωτέρω στρατόπεδον αὐτὸν οἴχεσθαι, διέδραμε πρὸς Ἀννίβαν, καταφρονῶν ὅτι φθάσει ἐκεῖνον ἐπανελθών, καὶ νῦν μέν, ἔφη, παραδώσω σοι τὸν Βλάτιον ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ στρατιὰν ἐπάγοντα τῇ πόλει. καὶ τὸ γεγονὸς ἐκθέμενος, καὶ λαβών τινας, ἐπανῆγεν ἐς τὴν πατρίδα μετὰ σπουδῆς ὡς οὔπω τοῦ Βλατίου πλησιάζοντος. ὁ δʼ ἔνδον τε ἦν ἄρτι, καὶ τὴν φρουρὰν τὴν Λιβύων ὀλίγην οὖσαν ἀνελὼν ἐφύλασσε μηδένα παρελθεῖν, καὶ πύλας τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἐκεκλείκει, τὰς δʼ ἐς τὴν ἐπάνοδον Δασίου μόνας εἴασεν ἀνεῷχθαι. καὶ τὸ κατʼ ἐκείνας μέρος ἅπαν εἶχεν ἀνυπόπτως· τὰ δʼ ἐντὸς ἐξετετάφρευτο καὶ διείληπτο, ὡς μὴ δύνασθαι τοὺς ἐμπεσόντας ἐς ὅλην διαδραμεῖν. Δάσιος δὲ ἐπεὶ τὰς πύλας εἶδεν ἀνεῳγμένας, ἥσθη νομίσας προλαβεῖν τὸν ἐχθρόν, καὶ ἐσήλατο γεγηθώς. ὁ δʼ ἐπικλείσας διέφθειρεν αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἐσδραμόντας, ὠθουμένους ἐν στενῷ καὶ διαδρομὴν διὰ τὰς τάφρους οὐκ ἔχοντας. ὀλίγοι δʼ αὐτῶν διὰ τοῦ τείχους ἐξαλόμενοι διέφυγον.

καὶ

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VII

p. 379

he asked for a thousand horse, with which he hastened back with all speed, anticipating what would be the result. Dasius not seeing his enemy during the next few days thought that he had taken in hand the business they had agreed upon, as now having confidence in him. Supposing that Blatius had in fact gone to the more distant camp he rode to Hannibal, not doubting that he should get back before Blatius. And now, said he to Hannibal, I will deliver Blatius to you in the very act of bringing a hostile force into the city. Having exposed the affair and having received a military force, he hastened back to the town, not imagining that Blatius was yet anywhere near. But the latter was already inside, having slain the Carthaginian garrison, which was small, and taken care to prevent anybody from going out. He had also closed all the gates except that by which Dasius was expected to return. On that side he removed the guards from the wall to avoid suspicion, but the ground inside was intersected by ditches so that an attacking force should not be able to make its way through the whole town. Dasius was delighted when he saw the gates open, thinking that he had anticipated his enemy, and he entered the town rejoicing. Then Blatius shut the gate and slew him and his companions, who were squeezed together in a narrow place and had no way of passage through the ditches. A few of them escaped by leaping from the walls. Thus did Blatius overcome Dasius at the third encounter of their wits.

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.