1
horuminconcursuBithyniiHannibalispraeceptouniversinavemEumenisadoriuntur.
1
ContextBithynii Prusias's own forces, now doing Hannibal's dirty work for him on board the ships.
2
quorumvimrexcumsustinerenonposset,fugasalutempetiit;
1
Grammarpetiit a syncopated form of petivit.
2–3
quamconsecutusnonesset,nisiintrasuapraesidiaserecepisset,quaeinproximolitoreerantcollocata.
1
Grammarquam refers to salutem ('safety').
4–5
reliquaePergamenaenavescumadversariospremerentacrius,repenteineasvasafictilia,dequibussupramentionemfecimus,conicicoeptasunt.
2
Grammarin eas refers to the Pergamene ships.
Stylereliquae Pergamenae naves is placed outside its own cum clause, at the very front of the sentence, for emphasis — it's these other ships, not Eumenes's own, that are about to get the nasty surprise.
5–6
quaeiactainitiorisumpugnantibusconcitarunt,neque,quareidfieret,poteratintellegi.
2
Grammarconcitarunt a syncopated form of concitaverunt.
Antithesisrisum ... neque ... poterat intellegi laughter, then total confusion: the emotional turnaround from finding the pots funny to being terrified by them (in the next sentence) is one of the best-paced small moments in the whole biography.
7
postquamautemnavessuasoppletasconspexeruntserpentibus,novareperterriti,
1
Styleserpentibus is held back to the very end of its clause, so the reader (like the sailors) only discovers what's actually in the water at the last possible moment.
8–9
cum,quidpotissimumvitarent,nonviderent,puppesverteruntsequeadsuacastranauticarettulerunt.
2
Grammarquid potissimum vitarent a deliberative indirect question after viderent: 'what were they to avoid?' — the snakes, or the enemy attack?
Stylepuppes literally 'sterns', used here to mean the whole ships: naming just one part of a thing to stand for the whole of it is called synecdoche.
10–11
sicHannibalconsilioarmaPergamenorumsuperavitnequetumsolum,sedsaepealiaspedestribuscopiispariprudentiapepulitadversarios.
1
Styleconsilio ... superavit the chapter's final word on the battle is that Hannibal won by consilium, 'strategy' or 'cleverness', not by force. It's a fitting close, since this whole episode — like the money hidden in statues in Crete — is really there to prove Hannibal's brains, not his brawn.
1
When the clash of these forces happened, the Bithynians, on Hannibal's order, all together attacked the ship of Eumenes.
2
Since the king could not withstand their force, he sought safety in flight;
2–3
which he would not have achieved, had he not retreated within his own defences, which had been set up on the nearby shore.
4–5
When the rest of the Pergamene ships were pressing their opponents harder, suddenly the earthenware jars, which I have already mentioned above, began to be hurled at them.
5–6
These, when thrown, at first caused laughter among those fighting, and it could not be understood why this was happening.
7
But after they saw their ships filled with snakes, terrified by this strange new weapon,
8–9
since they could not see what they should avoid most, they turned their ships about and retreated to their own naval camp.
10–11
Thus Hannibal overcame the forces of Pergamum through strategy; and that was not the only time, but often on other occasions too he drove back his opponents on land with equal cleverness.