(1) M. Minuciō Rūfō P. Cornēliō cōnsulibus Histrīs bellum inlātum est, quia latrōcinātī nāvibus Rōmānōrum fuerant, quae frūmenta exhibēbant; perdomitīque sunt omnēs.
(2) Eōdem annō bellum Pūnicum secundum Rōmānīs inlātum est per Hannibalem Carthāginiēnsium ducem: quī Saguntum, Hispāniae cīvitātem Rōmānīs amīcam, oppūgnāre adgressus est annum agēns vīcēsimum aetātis, cōpiīs congregātīs CL mīlium.
(3) Huic Rōmānī per lēgātōs dēnūntiāvērunt, ut bellō abstinēret. Is lēgātōs admittere nōluit. Rōmānī etiam Carthāginem mīsērunt, ut mandāretur Hannibalī, nē bellum contrā sociōs populī Rōmānī gereret. Dūra respōnsa ā Carthāginiēnsibus data sunt. Saguntīnī intereā famē victī sunt captīque ab Hannibale ultimīs poenīs adficiuntur.
notes
Second Punic War Begun, 218 BCE
(1) M. Minuciō Rūfō P. Cornēliō cōnsulibus: ablative absolute with form of esse assumed (AG 419). M. Minucius Rufus and P. Cornelius Scipio Asina were consuls in 221 BCE. Because of his need for compression, Eutropius condenses three years’ events into one year (Bird).
Histrīs: Dative object of inlātum est (LS infero I.β). In 221 BCE Demetrius of Pharos, a Roman ally, possibly believing Rome was too busy with Carthage over Saguntum, resumed his piratical ways. He was crushed by a Roman fleet in 219 BCE. See Polybius 3.16–19; Livy, Epitome 20 (Bird).
latrōcinātī: from latrōcinor, deponent (LS latrocinor)
quae: nāvēs
exhibēbant: "were delivering" (> ex-hibeō).
(2) Eōdem annō: the official beginning of the Second Punic War was in 218, not 221 BCE.
bellum Pūnicum secundum: See The Second Punic War, Hannibal (247–183 BC), and this map of locations mentioned in Nepos' Life of Hannibal.
Rōmānīs: dative object of impersonal verb inlātum est (LS infero I.β)
per Hannibalem: Eutropius occasionally substitutes per with the accusative for the ablative or dative of agent (Hazzard).
Saguntum: Saguntum was a town on the southern coast of Spain, said to have been founded by the Greeks as a trading post. It was in alliance with the Romans, although by the terms of the last treaty with the Carthaginians independence was secured to the Saguntines by both parties. The capture of this town was the first hostile act of war (Hazzard). According to Florus,
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The Carthaginians were highly insulted by their new situation, especially being denied entry to the sea, their island territories lost, and having to pay tributes instead of receiving them. As a boy, Hannibal had sworn to his father that he would avenge his country's wrongs, and he was quick to fulfill his vow.
Saguntum was chosen as a pretext for war. It was an ancient and wealthy city state in Hispania, and a perfect but wretched example due to its loyalty to Rome. Despite the city's free status and the peace treaty it had with Carthage, Hannibal saw attacking it as an opportunity for breaking its relationship with Rome—and so he did. He destroyed it partly by his own hands and partly by the town's own citizens, in order that the broken treaty they held with Rome might pave Hannibal's path to Italy (Epit. 1.22.2-4).
adgressus est: "proceeded to," deponent verb (LS adgredior)
annum agēns vīcēsimum aetātis: "being twenty years of age" (lit., "passing the twentieth year of his life") (Hazzard). He was actually 25. The error over Hannibal 's age probably occurred in transmission but Eutropius or his source may have been influenced by the fact that Alexander and Augustus both came to positions of power at the age of 19 (Bird).
cōpiīs congregātīs: ablative absolute (AG 419)
CL mīlium: supply hominum. In the plural mille is used as a neuter noun, and is declined like the plural of sedīle (AG 69): mīlia, mīlium, mīlibus, etc. (AG 134.d)
(3) Huic: Hannibal
ut bellō abstinēret: indirect command (AG 563) after the verb dēnūntiāvērunt
Is: Hannibal
mīsērunt: supply lēgātōs (Hazzard)
ut mandāretur...nē bellum...: mandāretur, used impersonally, is within a purpose clause signaled by ut, but then governs the following indirect command.
nē bellum contrā sociōs populī Rōmānī gereret: indirect command (AG 563)
Dūra respōnsa: The story is told that when Q. Fabius, the chief of the embassy, held up his toga, saying, "I carry here peace and war: choose ye which ye will have." "Give us whichever you please," replied the Carthaginians. "War, then," said Fabius; and the decision was greeted by the short-sighted acclamations of the masses (Hazzard).
ultimīs poenīs adficiuntur: "the ultimate punishment," euphemism in the historical present (Hazzard; AG 469)
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
| M. |
M., abbreviation of the praenomen Marcus; M'., abbreviation of the praenomen Manius |
|
| Minucius, ī, m. | the name of a Roman gens. | |
| P. |
abbreviation of the praenomen or nomen Publius |
|
| Cornēlius, ī, m. |
the name of a large and important gens at Rome. See Asina, Cinna, Dolābella, Faustus, Fuscus, Galbus, Lentulus, Rūfinus, Scīpiō, Sulla. |
|
| Histrī, ōrum, pl. m. |
the inhabitants of Histria, a peninsula in the northern extremity of the Adriatic Sea. |
|
| latrōcinor, ārī, — [latrō] | to be a robber, commit piracy | |
| exhibeō, ēre, uī, itus |
to hold forth, show, display; furnish, procure |
|
| perdomō, āre, uī, itus | to subdue, vanquish | |
| Pūnicus, a, um, adj. |
Phoenician, Punic; Carthaginian; Pūnicum bellum, Punic War, First, 264–241 B.C.; Second, 218–202 B.C.; Third, 149–146 B.C. |
|
| Hannibal, alis, m. |
the son of Hamilcar Barca, the great general of the Carthaginians in the second Punic war |
|
| Carthāginiēnsis, e, adj. |
Carthaginian; as subst., Carthāginiēnsēs, ium, pl. m., the Carthaginians |
|
| Saguntum, ī, n. |
a city on the eastern coast of Spain |
|
| Hispānia, ae, f. |
Spain (including Portugal). It was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Ulterior; hence the pl. Hispaniae. |
|
| oppūgnō, āre, āvī, ātus | to fight against, assault, besiege | |
| aggredior, gredī, gressus sum | to approach, attack, undertake | |
| congregō, āre, āvī, ātus [con + grex, a herd] | to collect, unite | |
| dēnūntiō, āre, āvī, ātus |
to announce, denounce, order, threaten |
|
| abstineō, ēre, uī, tentus |
to hold back or from; keep aloof from; refrain from, abstain |
|
| admittō, ere, mīsī, missus |
to permit, admit, give audience to |
|
| Carthāgō, inis, f. |
(1) Carthage, a city founded by the Phoenicians on the northern coast of Africa; destroyed by the Romans 146 BC; (2) Carthāgō Nova, a city founded by the Carthaginians on the eastern coast of Spain |
|
| mandō, āre, āvī, ātus [manus + dō] |
to commission, command, send word |
|
| socius, ī, m. | a comrade, ally, confederate | |
| respōnsum, ī [respondeō], n. | an answer | |
| Saguntīnī, ōrum, pl. m. | the inhabitants of Saguntum | |
| intereā [inter + is], adv. | in the meantime, meanwhile |