(1) Aliquot deinde annīs post contrā Gallōs intrā Ītaliam pūgnātum est fīnītumque bellum M. Claudiō Mārcellō et Cn. Cornēliō Scīpiōne cōnsulibus. Tum Mārcellus cum parvā manū equitum dīmicāvit et rēgem Gallōrum Virdomarum nōmine manū suā occīdit.
(2) Posteā cum collēgā ingentēs cōpiās Gallōrum perēmit, Mediōlānum expūgnāvit, grandem praedam Rōmam pertulit. Ac triumphāns Mārcellus spolia Gallī stīpitī inposita umerīs suīs vexit.
notes
Marcellus Wins the spolia opima (222 BCE)
(1) contrā Gallōs intrā Ītaliam pūgnātum est: for the beginning of the war, see the previous chapter (Brev. 3.5).
M. Claudiō Mārcellō et Cn. Cornēliō Scīpiōne cōnsulibus: Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus were consuls in 222 BCE. [Marcellus] was five times consul. This was his first consulship. He was one of the chief generals of the Romans in the Second Punic War. He captured Syracuse after a siege of two years (Brev. 3.12, 3.14). He fell in battle in 208 BCE, and was buried by the enemy with military honors (Hazzard).
manū: "band, contingent, armed force" of soldiers (LS manus II.M)
Virdomarum: In 222 BCE at Clastidium Marcellus won a decisive victory, killing in single combat Viridomarus, a Gallic chieftain, for which he won the spolia opima for the last time in Roman history (Bird). For more on the spolia:
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[C]alled opīma, [they] were the arms taken from a hostile general by a Roman general commanding under his own auspices [described by Eutropius as Gallī stīpitī imposita umerīs suīs vexit]. They were hung in the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius on the Capitol. This temple is said to have been built by Romulus, who inaugurated the custom. They were won only on two subsequent occasions, when A. Cornelius Cossus killed Lars Tolumnius, king of the Veii (Brev. 1.19), and the time mentioned in this chapter (Hazzard).
(2) Mediōlānum: the modern Milan (Hazzard)
stīpitī: a post, branch, or tree trunk, seen on images of the spolia opima on Roman coins.
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
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aliquot [alius + quot], indef. indecl. adj. |
some, several |
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fīniō, īre, īvī, ītus (fīnis) |
to bound, limit; end, finish |
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M. |
M., abbreviation of the praenomen Marcus; M'., abbreviation of the praenomen Manius |
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Claudius, ī, m. |
the name of one of the oldest and most famous of the Roman gentes. (1.) Claudius I. Tib. Claudius Drusus Nero, Roman emperor, 41–54 A.D.; (2) Claudius II., M. Aurelius Claudius Gothicus, Roman emperor, 268–270 A.D. |
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Mārcellus, ī, m. |
the name of a famous Roman family; (1) M. Claudius Mārcellus, consul 222 B.C.; (2) (M.) Claudius Mārcellus, consul 166 B.C.; (3) (M.) Claudius Mārcellus, consul 51 B.C. |
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Cn. |
abbreviation of the praenomen Gnaeus |
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Cornēlius, ī, m. |
the name of a large and important gens at Rome. See Asina, Cinna, Dolābella, Faustus, Fuscus, Galbus, Lentulus, Rūfinus, Scīpiō, Sulla. |
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Scīpiō, ōnis, m. |
the name of one of the most illustrious families of Rome, Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 83 B.C., Cn. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 222 B.C., L. (Cornēlius) Scīpiō, consul 259 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 218 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 191 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, praetor 94 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō Āfricānus, consul 205 BC the conqueror of Hannibal in the First Punic War., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō Āfricānus (Minor), consul 147 B.C. He brought the Third Punic War to a close by capturing and destroying Carthage., L. Cornēlius Scīpiō Asiāgenēs, consul 83 B.C., P. (Cornēlius) Scīpiō Nāsīca, consul 91 B.C. |
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Gallus, a, um |
pertaining to Gaul. Gallī, ōrum, pl. m., the Gauls. Gallus, ī, m., a Roman cognomen: (1) C. (Cn.) Cornēlius Gallus, governor of Egypt under Augustus; (2) Gallus Hostīliānus, Roman emperor 251–253 A.D. |
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Viridomarus, ī, m. |
a leader of the Gauls who was slain by Marcellus |
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dīmicō, āre, āvī, ātus |
to fight |
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collega -ae m. |
colleague, fellow, associate |
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perimō, ere, ēmī, ēmptus |
to take away entirely; annihilate, destroy |
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Mediōlānum, ī, n. |
a city in Cisalpine Gaul, modern Milan |
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expūgnō, āre, āvī, ātus |
to take by storm, capture; overpower, prevail upon |
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grandis, e, adj. |
large, grand |
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perferō, ferre, tulī, lātus |
to carry through; convey, report; endure |
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triumphō, āre, āvī, ātus |
to celebrate a triumph |
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spolium, ī, n. |
spoil, booty |
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stīpes, itis, m. |
a log, stock, post, trunk |
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umerus, ī, m |
shoulder |