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 24–25

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English Page · Branch 82 of 315

Book VI · Sections 24–25

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Ancient Greek

p. 176

Καρχηδονίων δʼ οἱ στρατηγοὶ δύο ὄντε λοιπὼ καὶ δύο Ἀσδρούβα, ὁ μὲν τοῦ Ἀμίλχαρος πορρωτάτω παρὰ Κελτίβηρσιν ἐξενολόγει, ὁ δὲ τοῦ Γέσκωνος ἐς μὲν τὰς πόλεις τὰς ἔτι βεβαίους περιέπεμπεν, ἀξιῶν Καρχηδονίοις ἐμμένειν ὡς στρατιᾶς ἐλευσομένης αὐτίκα ἀπείρου τὸ πλῆθος, Μάγωνα δʼ ἕτερον ἐς τὰ πλησίον περιέπεμπε ξενολογεῖν ὁπόθεν δυνηθείη, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐς τὴν Λέρσα γῆν τῶν ἀφισταμένων ἐνέβαλε, καί τινα αὐτῶν πόλιν ἔμελλε πολιορκήσειν. ἐπιφανέντος δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ Σκιπίωνος ἐς Βαιτύκην ὑπεχώρει, καὶ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐστρατοπέδευσεν· ἔνθα τῆς ἐπιούσης εὐθὺς ἡσσᾶτο, καὶ τὸν χάρακα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν Βαιτύκην ἔλαβεν ὁ Σκιπίων.

ὁ δὲ τὴν στρατιὰν τὴν Καρχηδονίων τὴν ἔτι οὖσαν ἐν Ἰβηρία συνέλεγεν ἐς Καρμώνην πόλιν, ὡς ὁμοῦ πᾶσιν ἀμυνούμενος τὸν Σκιπίωνα. καὶ αὐτῷ συνῆλθον πολλοὶ μὲν Ἰβήρων, οὓς Μάγων ἦγε, πολλοὶ δὲ Νομάδων, ὧν ἦρχε Μασσανάσσης. καὶ τούτων ὁ μὲν Ἀσδρούβας μετὰ τῶν πεζῶν ὑπὸ χάρακι ἐστρατοπέδευεν, ὁ δὲ Μασσανάσσης καὶ ὁ Μάγων ἱππαρχοῦντες αὐτῷ προηυλίζοντο τοῦ στρατοπέδου. ὧδε δὲ ἔχουσιν αὐτοῖς ὁ Σκιπίων τοὺς ἰδίους ἱππέας ἐπιδιῄρει, καὶ Λαίλιον μὲν ἐπὶ Μάγωνα ἔπεμπεν, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐπὶ Μασσανάσσην ἐτράπετο. μέχρι μὲν οὖν τινὸς ἦν ἐν ἀγῶνι καὶ πόνῳ δυσχερεῖ, τῶν Νομάδων αὐτὸν ἀκοντιζόντων τε καὶ ὑποχωρούντων, εἶτʼ αὖθις ἐπελαυνόντων· ὡς δὲ παρήγγειλεν ὁ Σκιπίων ἀμεταστρεπτὶ διώκειν αὐτούς, τὰ δόρατα προβαλόντας, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀναστροφὴν οἱ Νομάδες κατέφυγον ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον. καὶ ὁ Σκιπίων

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book VI

p. 177

Carthaginian generals still remaining, both named Hasdrubal. One of these, the son of Hamilcar, was recruiting an army of mercenaries far away among the Celtiberians. The other, the son of Gisco, sent messengers to the towns that were still faithful, urging them to maintain their Carthaginian allegiance, because an army of countless numbers would soon come to their assistance. He sent another Mago into the neighboring country to recruit mercenaries wherever he could, while he made an incursion into the territory of Lersa which had revolted, intending to lay siege to some town there. On the approach of Scipio he retreated to Baetica and encamped before that city. On the following day he was defeated by Scipio, who captured his camp and Baetica also.

Now this Hasdrubal ordered all the remaining Carthaginian forces in Spain to be collected at the city of Carmone to fight Scipio with their united strength. Hither came a great number of Spaniards under the lead of Mago, and of Numidians under Masinissa. Hasdrubal had the infantry in a fortified camp, Masinissa and Mago, who commanded the cavalry, bivouacking in front of it. Scipio divided his own horse so that Laelius should attack Mago while he himself should be opposed to Masinissa. This fight was for some time doubtful and severe to Scipio, since the Numidians discharged their darts at his men, then suddenly retreated, and then wheeled and returned to the charge. But when Scipio ordered his men to hurl their javelins and then pursue without intermission, the Numidians, having no chance to turn around, retreated to their camp. Here Scipio desisted from the pursuit and encamped

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.