The Society for Ancient Languages
Week Twelve
AMMIANI MARCELLINI |
AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS |
DE V. GRATIANO VALENTINIANO II |
VALENS GRATIANUS VALENTINIANUS II |
| 1. Cumque arma ex latere omni concuterentur et tela, lituosque Bellona luctuosos inflaret in clades Romanas solito immanius furens, cedentes nostri multis interclamantibus restiterunt, et proelium flammarum ritu accrescens, terrebat militum animos, confixis quibus- dam rotatis ictibus iaculorum et sagittarum. 2. Deinde collisae in modum rostratarum navium acies, trudentesque se vicissim, undarum specie motibus sunt reciprocis iactitatae. | 1. At every moment, arms and missiles were banged together from all sides, and Bellona, raging more savagely than usual, sounded her sad clarions for the Roman losses, our men fought back while they were withdrawing with much shouting among themselves, and the battle spreading like flames, terrified the soldiers' hearts, as certain ones had been struck down by the whirling blows of arrows and javelins. 2. Then the lines smashed together like beaked ships, and shoving themselves around again, seemed to be moving back and forth like waves. |
| 4. Videreque licebat celsum ferocia barbarum, genis stridore constrictis, succiso poplite aut abscisa ferro dextera vel confosso latere inter ipsa quoque mortis confinia minaciter circumferentem oculos truces: ruinaque confligentium mutua, humi corporibus stratis, campi peremptis impleti sunt, et morientium gemitus, profundisque vulneribus transfixorum, cum timore audiebantur ingenti. 5. In hoc tanto tamque confusae rei tumultu, exhausti labore et periculis pedites, cum deinceps neque vires illis neque mentes suppeterent ad consilium, diffractis hastarum plerisque collisione assidua, gladiis contenti destrictis, in confertas hostium turmas se immerge- bant, salutis immemores, circumspec- tantes ademptum esse omne evadendi suffugium. 6. Et quia humus rivis operta sanguineis gressus labiles evertebat, conabantur modis omnibus vitam impendere non inultam: adeo magno animorum robore oppositi incumbentibus, ut etiam telis quidam propriis interirent. Atra denique cruoris facie omnia conturbante, et quocumque se inflexerant oculi, acervis caesorum aggestis, exanimata cadavera sine parsimonia calcabantur. | 4. And one might have seen a barbarian prowl in his fighting spirit, his cheeks drawn tight in a hiss, hamstrung or with his right hand chopped off by a sword or even pierced in his side casting his grim eyes menacingly upon those who also are at death's door: combatants from both sides fallen together, the ground paved with corpses, the fields filled with those who had paid the dearest price, and the groans of the dying and those run through with deep wounds, were heard with great dread. 5. Into such intense confusion and commotion, drained by toil and peril the infantrymen, though for them neither strength nor minds were adequate for the strategem, with most of their lances broken, confined to unsheathed swords, they plunged into the crowd of enemy troops, heedless to personal safety, looking around to see shelter gone by every means of escape. 6. And because the ground, covered with streams of blood, overturned their slippery steps, they tried by all means not to end life unavenged: they opposed the onslaught with such great force of will that certain men even died by their own weapons. Finally, all things having been thrown into confusion by the dark cast of blood, and with heap upon heap of hacked-up bodies wherever the eyes turned themselves, the lifeless corpses were trampled on without mercy. |
| 10. Sequebantur itaque furore ex oculis lucente barbari nostros, iam linquente venarum calore torpentes: quorum aliqui percussoribus cadebant incertis, non nulli ponderibus solis urgentium obruti, ictuque suorum aliqui trucidati: nec enim saepe renitentibus cedebatur, aut parcebat cedentibus quisquam. | 10. And so the barbarians, with fury lighting their eyes, followed our men, now groggy from the heat leaving their veins: some of them fell to unknown killers, no few were buried merely by the weight of the crowd, others were cut down by a blow from one of their own: for though they were often fighting back as the group withdrew, no one spared those who were retreating. |
| 12. Primaque caligine tenebrarum, inter gregarios imperator, ut opinari dabatur (neque enim vidisse se quisquam vel praesto fuisse asseveravit), sagitta perniciose saucius ruit, spirituque mox consumpto decessit, nec postea repertus est usquam. Hostium enim paucis spoliandi gratia mortuos per ea loca diu versatis, nullus fugatorum vel accolarum illuc adire est ausus. | 12. Once night had fallen, the emperor among the privates, it must be assumed (for no one asserted to having seen him nor to having been near), fell wounded by a vicious arrow, and he soon breathed his last, for he was never again found afterwards. Since a few of the enemy were coming and going through the area for a long time or the purpose of robbing the dead, none of the fleeing soldiers nor the local people dared to venture in that direction. |
| 14. Alii dicunt Valentem animam non exhalasse confestim, sed cum candidatis et spadonibus paucis, prope ad agrestem casam relatum, secunda contignatione fabre munitam, dum fovetur manibus imperitis, circumsessum ab hostibus, qui esset ignorantibus, dedecore captivitatis exemptum. 15. Cum enim oppessulatas ianuas perrumpere conati qui secuti sunt, a parte pensili domus sagittis incesserentur, ne per moras inexpedibiles populandi amitterent copiam, congestis stipulae fascibus et lignorum, flammaque supposita, aedificium cum hominibus torruerunt. | 14. Others say Valens did not give up the ghost immediately, but with his retinue and a few eunuchs was taken to a nearby country house, safely protected in the attic, while cared for by inexperienced hands, was surrounded by the enemy, who, not knowing of him, spared him the dishonor of captivity. 15. When indeed the pursuers tried to smash through the bolted doors, they were assaulted by arrows from the terrace of the house, so as not to miss their share of pillaging due to the inevitable delays, gathering together bundles of straw and wood, and setting them aflame, they burned the edifice with the men inside. |