Texte grec :
| [9,21] Τῇ δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ μαθόντες τὴν κατασχοῦσαν
τοὺς σφετέρους τύχην οἱ κατέχοντες τὸ φρούριον, καὶ
ὅτι τὸ μὲν πλεῖον ἀπόλωλε τῆς στρατιᾶς μέρος ἐν ταῖς
ἁρπαγαῖς, τὸ δὲ κράτιστον ἐν ὄρει πολιορκεῖται
κατακεκλεισμένον ἐρήμῳ, καὶ εἰ μὴ ταχεῖά τις αὐτοῖς ἥξει
βοήθεια, σπάνει τῶν ἀναγκαίων φθάσουσιν ἐξαιρεθέντες,
ἐξῄεσαν κατὰ σπουδὴν ὀλίγους πάνυ καταλιπόντες
ἐν τῷ φρουρίῳ φύλακας. καὶ αὐτοὺς οἱ Τυρρηνοί,
πρὶν ἢ συμμῖξαι τοῖς ἑτέροις ἐπικαταδραμόντες ἐκ τῶν
χωρίων κυκλοῦνταί τε, καὶ πολλὰ γενναῖα ἔργα
ἀποδειξαμένους διαφθείρουσιν ἅπαντας σὺν χρόνῳ. μετ´
οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ οἱ τὸν λόφον καταλαβόμενοι λιμῷ τε
καὶ δίψῃ πιεζόμενοι ὁμόσε χωρεῖν τοῖς πολεμίοις ἔγνωσαν·
καὶ συμπεσόντες ὀλίγοι πρὸς πολλοὺς ἕωθεν ἀρξάμενοι
μέχρι νυκτὸς ἐμάχοντο· καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐποίησαν
τῶν πολεμίων φόνον, ὥστε τοὺς σωροὺς τῶν νεκρῶν
ἐμποδὼν αὐτοῖς εἶναι τῆς μάχης πολλαχῇ κεχυμένους.
οἱ δὲ Τυρρηνοὶ πλεῖον ἢ τὸ τρίτον τῆς στρατιᾶς μέρος
ἀπολωλεκότες καὶ περὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ δείσαντες, μικρὸν
ἀνασχόντες τὰ ὅπλα διὰ τῶν ἀνακλητικῶν
ἐπεκηρυκεύοντο πρὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἄδειαν αὐτοῖς
ὑπισχνούμενοι καὶ δίοδον, ἐὰν τὰ ὅπλα ἀποθῶνται καὶ τὸ
φρούριον ἐκλίπωσιν. οὐ προσδεξαμένων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰς
προκλήσεις, ἀλλὰ τὸν εὐγενῆ θάνατον αἱρουμένων
ἐπῄεσαν αὐτοῖς αὖθις ἐκ διαδοχῆς, συστάδην μὲν καὶ
ἐκ χειρὸς οὐκέτι μαχόμενοι, πρόσωθεν δὲ βάλλοντες
ἀθρόοι λόγχαις καὶ χερμάσι, καὶ ἦν νιφετῷ παραπλήσιος
ἡ πληθὺς τῶν βελῶν. οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι συστρεφόμενοι
κατὰ λόχους προσέτρεχον αὐτοῖς οὐχ ὑφισταμένοις καὶ
πολλὰς πληγὰς λαμβάνοντες ὑπὸ τῶν πέριξ
ὑπέμενον. ὡς δὲ τά τε ξίφη πολλοῖς ἄχρηστα ἦν τὰ
μὲν ἀπεστομωμένα τὰς ἀκμάς, τὰ δὲ κατεαγότα, καὶ
τῶν ἀσπίδων τὰ πέριξ ἴτυος ἐχόμενα διετέθρυπτο,
ἔξαιμοί τε οἱ πλείους καὶ καταβελεῖς καὶ παράλυτοι τὰ
μέλη διὰ πλῆθος τραυμάτων ἦσαν, καταφρονήσαντες
αὐτῶν οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ χωροῦσιν ὁμόσε· καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι
προσπίπτοντες ὥσπερ θηρία δόρατά τ´ αὐτῶν
ἐπιλαμβανόμενοι κατέκλων, καὶ ξίφη δραττόμενοι κατὰ
τὰς ἀκμὰς ἀπέσπων, καὶ περικυλίοντες εἰς τὴν γῆν τὰ σώματα
συνεφύροντο θυμῷ τὸ πλεῖον ἢ δυνάμει διαγωνιζόμενοι.
ὥστ´ οὐκέτι συνῄεσαν αὐτοῖς εἰς χεῖρας οἱ
πολέμιοι, τό τε καρτερικὸν ἐκπληττόμενοι τῶν ἀνδρῶν,
καὶ τὴν ἀπόνοιαν, ἣν προσειλήφεσαν, κατὰ τὴν
ἀπόγνωσιν τοῦ ζῆν δεδιότες· ἀλλ´ ἀποστάντες αὖθις
ἔβαλλον ἀθρόοι καὶ ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις καὶ ὅτῳ ἄλλῳ
ἐντύχοιεν, καὶ τελευτῶντες ἐγκατέχωσαν αὐτοὺς τῷ πλήθει
τῶν βελῶν. διαφθείραντες δὲ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἔθεον ἐπὶ
τὸ φρούριον, ἔχοντες τὰς τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων κεφαλάς, ὡς
ἐξ ἐφόδου τοὺς ἐκεῖ παραληψόμενοι. οὐ μὴν
ἐχώρησέ γ´ αὐτοῖς κατ´ ἐλπίδα τὸ ἔργον· οἱ γὰρ
καταλειφθέντες ἐν αὐτῷ ζηλώσαντες τὸ εὐγενὲς τοῦ
θανάτου τῶν θ´ ἑταίρων καὶ τῶν συγγενῶν ἐξῆλθον
ὀλίγοι παντάπασιν ὄντες, καὶ πολὺν ἀγωνισάμενοι
χρόνον τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον τοῖς ἑτέροις ἅπαντες διεφθάρησαν·
τὸ δὲ χωρίον ἔρημον οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ παρέλαβον.
ἐμοὶ μὲν δὴ ὁ λόγος οὗτος πιστότερος ἐφαίνετο πολὺ
τοῦ προτέρου· φέρονται δ´ ἐν γραφαῖς Ῥωμαίων ἀξιοχρέοις
ἀμφότεροι.
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Traduction française :
| [9,21] The next day those who were holding the fortress, upon being informed of the
disaster that had befallen their companions namely, that the greater part of the
army had been destroyed in their pursuit of plunder and the bravest of them were
shut up and besieged on a lonely mountain, and that if some aid (p361) seems reach
them promptly they would soon be destroyed for want of provisions set out in
haste, leaving very few in the fortress to guard it. These troops, before they could join
their companions, were surrounded by the Tyrrhenians, who rushed down upon them
from their strongholds; and though they displayed many feats of valour, they were in
time all destroyed. Not long afterwards those also who had seized the hill, being
oppressed by both hunger and thirst, resolved to charge the enemy; and engaging, a
few against many, they continued fighting from morning till night, and made so great
a slaughter of the enemy that the heaps of dead bodies piled up in many places were a
hindrance to them in fighting. Indeed, the Tyrrhenians had lost above a third part of
their army, and fearing for the rest, they now gave the signal for a retreat and stopped
fighting for a short time; and sending heralds to the men, they offered them their
lives and a safe-conduct if they would lay down their arms and evacuate the fortress.
When the others refused their offer and chose the death befitting men of noble
birth, the Tyrrhenians renewed the struggle, attacking them in relays, though no
longer fighting at close quarters in hand-to-hand combat, but standing in a body and
hurling javelins and stones at them from a distance; and the multitude of missiles was
like a snow-storm. The Romans, massing by companies, rushed upon their foes, who
did not stand their ground, and though they received many wounds from those
surrounding them, they stood firm.But when the swords of many had become
useless, some having their edges blunted and others being broken, and the borders of
their shields (p363) next the rims were hacked in pieces, and the men themselves were
for the most part bled white and overwhelmed by missiles and their limbs paralysed
by reason of the multitude of their wounds, the Tyrrhenians scorned them and came
to close quarters. Then the Romans, rushing at them like wild beasts, seized their
spears and broke them, grasped their swords by the edges and wrenched them out of
their hands, and twisting the bodies of their antagonists, fell with them to the ground,
locked in close embrace, fighting with greater rage than strength. Hence the enemy,
astonished at their endurance and terrified at the madness that had seized them in
their despair of life, no longer ventured to come to grips with them, but retiring again,
stood in a body and hurled at them sticks, stones, and anything else they could lay
their hands on, and at last buried them under the multitude of missiles. After
destroying these men they ran to the fortress, carrying with them the heads of the
most prominent, expecting to take the men there prisoners at their first onset.
However, the attempt did not turn out according to their hopes; for the men who
had been left there, emulating the noble death of their comrades and kinsmen, came
out of the fortress, though very few in number, and after fighting for a considerable
time were all destroyed in the same manner as the others; and the place was empty of
men when the Tyrrhenians took it. To me now this account appears much more
credible than the former; but both of them are to be found in Roman writings of good
authority.
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