Chapter 2

_A rash promise rashly believed._

Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est. |I| M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo. |II| Is perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur: |III| se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum et, quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent, iis adversus inventorem usurum. |IV| Id non promissum magis stolide, quam stolide creditum, tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent! |V| Data pro quinque octo milia militum; pars dimidia cives, pars socii. |VI| Et ipse aliquantum voluntariorum in itinere ex agris concivit, ac prope duplicato exercitu in Lucanos pervenit, ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat. |VII|

LIVY.

_A rash promise rashly believed._

Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei +fortuna oblata est. {I} M. Centenius fuit+ cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo. {II} +Is+ perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, [uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur]. {III} +Centenius dixit+ _se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum: et, [quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent], iis adversus inventorem usurum_. {IV} +Id+ non +promissum+ magis stolide, quam stolide +creditum+: [tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent!] {V} +Data+ pro quinque octo +milia+ militum; {VI} +pars+ dimidia cives, +pars+ socii. Et +ipse aliquantum+ voluntariorum in itinere ex agris +concivit+, ac prope duplicato exercitu, in Lucanos +pervenit+, [ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat].

LIVY.

DEMONSTRATION III.

LIVY, xxv. 19.

_Read the passage through carefully._ As you read--

(i.) Make all the use you can of your previous knowledge of History, Geography, and Antiquities.

Thus, +Hannibali+ suggests an episode in the Second Punic War.

+M. Centenius+ is clearly the unfortunate subject of the episode.

+in Lucanos ... substiterat+ helps to fix the date as later than +Cannae+, 216 B.C.

(ii.) Observe carefully all phrases that will require special care in translating--_e.g._ +bene gerendae rei+--+inter primipili centuriones+--+perfunctus militia+--+operae pretium+--+ad id locorum+.

You will now have a sufficient general idea of the form and general sense of the passage, and may begin to translate sentence by sentence.

+I.+ +Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+oblata+, cf. _ob-lation_ = _an offering_ and _of-fer_.

(ii.) _Translation._--

+oblata est+ shows that the subject must be +fortuna+, with which +alia+ must agree, and +gerendae rei+ is dependent genitive. So you may at once translate literally _Another fortune (chance) of carrying-on the matter well in these parts was offered to Hannibal_. But you must not be satisfied with this, for though literally correct it is neither good History nor good English. So render: _In this district Hannibal had another chance presented to him of achieving a success_.

Here notice especially the use of the word +res+,[12] a remarkable example of the tendency of Roman writers to employ the ordinary and simple vocabulary wherever possible _instead of inventing a new word_. As a writer well says, '+Res+ is, so to say, a blank cheque, to be filled up from the context to the requisite amount of meaning.' Cf. '+Consilium erat quo fortuna rem daret, eo inclinare vires+,' where +res+ = _victory_.

[Footnote 12: Cf. Introduction, p. 11.] [[Introduction 13 (2)]]

+II.+ +M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+primipili+ = the chief centurion of the +triarii+ (the third, veteran line of the legion), the +primipilus+, or +primus pilus+. So Livy vii. 41, '+primus centurio erat, quem nunc (centurionem) primi pili appellant+.'

+cognomine+, _i.e._ +co-nomen+, a name _added_ to the +nomen+, a title, epithet, _e.g._:

+Publius+ = the distinctive +praenomen+. +Scipio+ = +nomen+, designating his +gens+. +Africanus+ = +cognomen+.

(ii.) _Translation._--The form of this sentence is quite simple. The subject is +M. Centenius+, with which +insignis+ agrees. _There was a certain M. Centenius, by surname Penula, distinguished among the first-rank_ (or _chief_) _centurions_ (of the Triarii) _both for his great bodily size and courage._

+III.+ +Is perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+perfunctus+, cf. _function_, and notice force of +per+ = discharge _completely_.

(ii.) _Translation._--The principal verb is clearly +petit+, and +is+ is the only possible subject (= +Centenius+), with which +introductus+ agrees. There is one subordinate clause, introduced by +ut+, telling us the object of his request.

Translate, first literally, _He having discharged completely his military service, being introduced into the Senate by P. C. Sulla, the Praetor, asks the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given him_. Now improve this: get rid at all costs of the _having_ and _being_, which are not English, and change the _asks_ into the past tense of narration. Thus:--

_After he had completed his term of service, and had been introduced to the Senate by P. Corn. Sulla, the Praetor, he petitioned the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given him._

+IV.+ +Se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum: et, quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent, iis adversus inventorem usurum.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+peritum+, cf. _ex-peri-enced_. [Rt]+par-+, +per-+, _pierce_, _go through_; so, +ex-per-ior+, +per-iculum+, in sense of a _trial_.

+operae pretium+ = lit. '_what will pay for the trouble_,' _i.e. worth while_, _i.e._ worth the _time_ (or _labour_) spent upon it.

+artibus--ars.+ [Rt]+ar+ = _fit_, _join_ = skill in joining something, skill in producing; so, _artist_, _artisan_, _artifice_, etc.

+ad id locorum+[13] = _to that point of time_. The ideas of _place_ and _time_ readily interchange; so, +in loco+ = at the right _place_ or _time_.

[Footnote 13: Cf. Sallust, _Jugurtha_, 63 _Tamen is_ +ad id locorum+ _talis vir_ = _Such was his character up to this time_.]

(ii.) _Translation._--The form of the sentence shows that it is _reported speech_, and not the actual words of the speaker +Centenius+, who is still the principal subject, and +dixit+, _understood_, the principal verb, and +se peritum ... usurum+ the object of +dixit+. You should now be able to translate without any difficulty, and the logical common-sense rules for the conversion of Or. Recta into Or. Obliqua explain the mood of the verb +capti forent+ in the subordinate clause introduced by +quibus+.

Literally: _Centenius said that he, experienced in both the enemy and the districts, would soon make it worth (their) while: and that he would use against their inventor those arts by which up to that time both our leaders and our armies had been overcome._ Notice that the long relative clause +quibus artibus ... forent+ is in Latin placed before the antecedent +iis+.

You will readily see that this must be improved in several points. Thus:--

(a) +Use Oratio Recta+--more graphic and better suited to our idiom.

(b) _arts_. Change this to some more suitable military term--e.g. _tactics_.

_He was well acquainted (he said) both with the enemy and the country, and would shortly make it worth their while, and would employ against their originator those very tactics by which both our leaders and our armies had up to that time been baffled._

+V.+ +Id non promissum magis stolide, quam stolide creditum: tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent!+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+stolide+, cf. _stolid_ = dull, foolish.

(ii.) _Translation._--The finite copula +est+ is, as often, omitted; the two principal verbs are +promissum (est)+ and +creditum (est)+ linked by the comparative particles +magis--quam+, and the subject is +id+; +tamquam--essent!+ is a subordinate clause modifying the two principal verbs, and expressing contemptuous wonder.

Cf. '+tamquam clausa sit Asia, sic nihil perfertur ad nos+.'

You can now translate

Literally: _That was promised not more foolishly than it was foolishly believed, just as if the arts of a soldier and of a general were the same._

Here you can make several improvements; avoid the repetition of _foolishly_, and use a better term than _arts_, and perhaps break up the sentence into two short ones. Thus:--

_The folly of the promise was not greater than that of the credit it received. Just as though the qualities of a soldier and of a general were the same!_

+VI.+ +Data pro quinque octo milia militum; pars dimidia cives, pars socii.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+dimidia+ [Rt]+med-+, +mid-+ = _middle_, so +dimidius+ = +dis + medius+.

(ii.) _Translation._--This sentence is very simple: notice that here, too, +sunt+ and +erant+ are omitted.

_Eight thousand soldiers were given him instead of five: half were citizens, half allies._

+VII.+ +Et ipse aliquantum voluntariorum in itinere ex agris concivit, ac prope duplicate exercitu, in Lucanos pervenit, ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+aliquantum+ = _considerable_, used in the neuter as a noun, with a partitive genitive +voluntariorum+. Cf. use of +satis+, +parum+, etc.

+concivit+ = _raised_, lit. roused, stirred up. Cf. +ci-eo+, and our _ex-cite_, _in-cite_.

+substiterat+ = _had halted_. +si-st-o+ is only a form of +sto+ strengthened by reduplication (cf. #histêmi#) with a causal force. Cf. +restitit+, p. 27, sentence iv. [[Demonstration II:iv]]

(ii.) _Translation._--The principal subject is clearly +ipse+; there are two principal verbs, +concivit+ and +pervenit+, coupled by +ac+, and one subordinate clause, +ubi ... substiterat+, introduced by +ubi+, and modifying +pervenit+.

The sense is so clear that you may translate at once into good English:--

_Moreover he himself raised a considerable number of volunteers in the country during his march; and so, with his numbers nearly doubled, he reached Lucania, where Hannibal, after his fruitless chase of Claudius, had halted._

The following version was shown up by a boy of fifteen in a recent scholarship examination:

'Hannibal in _carrying on his successful campaign met with some different luck in this district_. Marcus Centenius, whose cognomen was Penula, was famous among the centurions of the first rank for his huge limbs and great courage. This man, after having accomplished his years of military training, on being introduced into the Senate by the Prætor P. Cornelius Sulla, requested the Patricians to give him 5000 soldiers. He said that he was well acquainted both with the enemy's tactics and the district round about, and in a short time _would convert the engagement into a prize for the State_: moreover, he added, I will employ the same tactics against the _enemy_ as those by which our generals and troops have been captured in these parts. This was _faithfully_ believed as it was _faithfully_ promised: the tactics of the soldiers and of the commanders were so much alike! He received 8000 men instead of 5000: half of them were Roman citizens, half allies: moreover he himself _got_ some volunteers while on the march in the country districts and so almost doubled his army: he thus reached the territory of the Lucani, where Hannibal after a fruitless pursuit after Claudius, had taken up his position.'

This version is neither bad nor good. The style is, on the whole fair, knowledge of vocabulary very fair, and the rendering generally accurate. It will, however, be of use to you as an object lesson: so notice carefully the following points:--

I. _Style._

_Sentence IV._--

(i.) The Oratio Obliqua of the original he renders partly as Reported Speech and partly as Oratio Recta. This is, of course, to be avoided. Contrast the rendering given under Sentence IV.

_Sentence III._--

(ii.) +Is perfunctus ... darentur.+ He uses too many participles. Contrast version under Sentence III.

_Sentences VI., VII._--

(iii.) He translates +data pro quinque ... substiterat+ by one long sentence, instead of breaking it up into two at least.

II. _Vocabulary._

_Sentence IV._--

+Se peritum ... usurum.+ He confuses +pretium+ with +praemium+, +operae+ with +rei publicae+ (?). He should have been familiar with the phrase +operae pretium+.

+inventorem+ he renders by _enemy_; perhaps a careless mistake, as if the word were +inimicum+ (which after all does not = +hostem+).

_Sentence V._--

+stolide+ he renders by _faithfully_. A moment's thought given to the English word _stolid_ should have put him on the right track.

_Sentence VII._--

+concivit+ he renders by _got_, vague and inappropriate. He fails to bring out the root-meaning of +cieo+ = _to stir up_.

III. _Construction._

_Sentence I._--

This is very bad. _Analysis_ would at once have shown him that the logical order of the sentence was

+Alia fortuna bene gerendae rei oblata est Hannibali in his locis+,

though he might not see that +in his locis+ must be closely connected with +oblata est+.

_Sentence IV._--

+brevi operae pretium facturum.+ Very bad: due probably to not carefully weighing the meaning of each word.

You will now see that a strict attention to analysis and to the root-meanings of words really familiar would have enabled this candidate to send up a good version.

DEMONSTRATION IV.