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 VIII · Sections 8–9

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Facing Pages · Branch 199 of 315

Book VIII · Sections 8–9

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Ancient Greek

p. 414

Σικελίαν ἔχων ἀμφʼ αὑτὸν ἀρτιγενείους ἐπιλέκτους τριακοσίους, οἷς εἴρητο χωρὶς ὅπλων ἕπεσθαι. Σικελῶν δʼ αὖ τριακοσίους καταγράψας εὐδαίμονας ἐκέλευσεν ἥκειν ἐς ἡμέραν ῥητήν, ἐσκευασμένους ὅπλοις τε καὶ ἵπποις ὅτι δύναιντο καλλίστοις. ὡς δὲ ἀφίκοντο, προύθηκεν εἴ τις ἑαυτοῦ θέλοι τὸν στρατευσόμενον ἀντιδοῦναι. δεξαμένων δὲ πάντων, ἤγαγεν ἐς μέσον τοὺς τριακοσίους τοὺς ὅπλων ἐρήμους, καὶ ἐς τούσδε ἐκείνοις προσέταξε μετασκευάσασθαι. οἱ δʼ ἑκόντες παρεδίδοσαν ὅπλα καὶ ἵππους. καὶ περιῆν τῷ Σκιπίωνι τριακοσίους νέους Ἰταλιώτας ἔχειν ἀντὶ Σικελιωτῶν, κάλλιστα ἵπποις καὶ ὅπλοις ἀλλοτρίοις ἐσκευασμένους, καὶ χάριν εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τῷδε εἰδότας· οἷς δὴ καὶ προθυμοτάτοις ἐς πάντα χρώμενος διετέλει.

Καρχηδόνιοι δὲ ταῦτα πυνθανόμενοι Ἀσδρούβαν μὲν τὸν Γέσκωνος ἐπὶ θήραν ἐλεφάντων ἐξέπεμπον, Μάγωνι δʼ ἀμφὶ τὴν Λιγυστίνην ξεναγοῦντι πεζοὺς ἀπέστελλον ἐς ἑξακισχιλίους καὶ ἱππέας ὀκτακοσίους καὶ ἐλέφαντας ἑπτά, καὶ προσέτασσον αὐτῷ μεθʼ ὅσων δύναιτο ἄλλων ἐσβαλεῖν ἐς Τυρρηνίαν, ἵνα τὸν Σκιπίωνα περισπάσειεν ἐκ Λιβύης. Μάγων μὲν δὴ καὶ τότε ἐβράδυνεν, Ἀννίβᾳ τε συνελθεῖν οὐ δυνάμενος πολὺ διεστῶτι, καὶ τὸ μέλλον ἀεὶ περιορώμενος. Ἀσδρούβας δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς θήρας ἐπανελθὼν κατέλεγε Καρχηδονίων τε καὶ Λιβύων ἐς ἑξακισχιλίους πεζοὺς ἑκατέρων καὶ ἱππέας ἑξακοσίους, δούλους τε ἠγόραζε πεντακισχιλίους, τὸ ναυτικὸν ἐρέσσειν, καὶ παρὰ τῶν Νομάδων ἔλαβε δισχιλίους ἱππέας, καὶ ξένους

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VIII

p. 415

taking as a body-guard 300 chosen youths whom he ordered to accompany him without arms. He then chose 300 wealthy Sicilians by conscription and ordered them to report on a certain day, provided with the best possible arms and horses. When they came he told them that they might furnish substitutes for the war if they preferred. As they all accepted this offer he brought forward his 300 unarmed youths and directed the others to supply them with arms and horses, and this they did willingly. So it came about that Scipio had in place of the Sicilians, 300 Italian youths admirably equipped at other people’s expense, who at once thanked him for this favor and ever afterward rendered him excellent service.

When the Carthaginians learned these things they sent Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, to hunt elephants, and they despatched to Mago, who was enlisting Ligurian mercenaries, 6000 foot, 800 horse, and seven elephants, and commanded him to attack Etruria with these and such other forces as he could collect, in order to draw Scipio from Africa. But Mago delayed because he could not join Hannibal at such a distance and because he was always of a hesitating disposition. Hasdrubal, on his return from the elephant hunt, levied 6000 foot and 600 horse from both the Carthaginian and the African population, and bought 5000 slaves as oarsmen for the ships. He also obtained 2000 horse from the Numidians and hired

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.