1
hacpugnapugnataRomamprofectusestnulloresistente.
2
Grammarhac pugna pugnata an ablative absolute, referring to Cannae; nullo resistente is another ablative absolute.
ContextNepos actually seems muddled about the timeline here after Cannae, Hannibal spent the autumn and winter around the Bay of Naples and didn't march on Rome until 215 BC, so this story must really take place before Cannae, not after it.
inpropinquisurbimontibusmoratusest.
2–3
cumaliquotibidiescastrahabuissetetCapuamreverteretur,Q.FabiusMaximus,dictatorRomanus,inagroFalernoeiseobiecit.
3
Grammarei refers to Hannibal, se to Fabius. obiecit Latin has to use a reflexive pronoun (or the passive) to make a normally transitive verb like obicio work intransitively; English can just say 'move' or 'turn' either way.
Contextdictator a Roman public office: in a crisis, the consuls could appoint one man as dictator with supreme power, usually for about six months, expected to step down early if the crisis passed sooner.
ContextCapuam reverteretur this can't actually be right, since Capua was under siege by the Roman army at this point; another sign this whole episode is out of its proper chronological place.
4–5
hicclaususlocorumangustiisnoctusineullodetrimentoexercitusseexpedivitFabioque,callidissimoimperatori,deditverba.
3
Grammarhic clausus refers to Hannibal.
Vocabularydedit verba a set phrase meaning 'to trick someone', taking the dative.
Stylecallidissimo imperatori Nepos calls Fabius 'a most skilful general' at exactly the moment Hannibal is about to outwit him — which makes Hannibal's escape look even more impressive by comparison. It's a compliment to the opponent designed to boost the hero.
5–6
namqueobductanoctesarmentaincornibusiuvencorumdeligataincenditeiusquegenerismultitudinemmagnamdispalatamimmisit.
3
Vocabularysarmenta neuter plural; a sarmentum is a twig or piece of brushwood.
Alliterationmultitudinem magnam dispalatam immisit the string of m sounds almost mimics the herd of terrified cattle scattering and mooing as they run.
ContextThis trick wasn't actually a new idea of Hannibal's — he'd used the same tactic once before, while fighting in Portugal roughly ten years earlier.
7–8
quorepentinovisuobiectotantumterroreminiecitexercituiRomanorum,utegrediextravallumnemositausus.
2
Grammarquo a connecting relative attached to the ablative absolute quo repentino visu obiecto (visu is ablative of visus). tantum ... ut ... sit ausus is a result clause.
Styletantum terrorem the fact that a herd of burning cows could send an entire Roman army into a night-long panic is Nepos playing up the drama; it makes Hannibal look like a master of psychological warfare, not just a tactician.
9–10
hancpostremgestamnonitamultisdiebusM.MinuciumRufum,magistrumequitumpariacdictatoremimperio,doloproductuminproeliumfugavit.
1
Contextmagistrum equitum normally a dictator chose his own deputy (the 'master of the cavalry'), but Minucius was unusually given equal power to Fabius himself, because Rome's government was impatient with Fabius's cautious, wait-and-see approach (which earned him the nickname Cunctator, 'the Delayer'). Minucius was beaten by Hannibal anyway, and Fabius had to rescue him — after which Fabius got sole command back.
10–11
Ti.SemproniumGracchum,iterumconsulem,inLucanisabsensininsidiasinductumsustulit.
1
ContextThis Gracchus was either the grandfather or great-uncle of the more famous Gracchus brothers. Nepos also seems to have got his facts slightly wrong here: Gracchus was consul in 216 BC, but wasn't 'consul again' until 213 BC — after Cannae, not before it, which is when this chapter's events are meant to be happening.
11–12
M.ClaudiumMarcellum,quinquiesconsulem,apudVenusiamparimodointerfecit.
2
BalanceM. Minucium Rufum ... dolo productum in proelium fugavit. Ti. Sempronium Gracchum ... in insidias inductum sustulit. M. Claudium Marcellum ... pari modo interfecit — three named Roman commanders, three matching phrases, one straight after another. Lining these victories up so neatly makes Hannibal's run of success look almost effortless.
ContextMarcellus was a highly decorated general, one of the few to push Hannibal back (at Nola in Campania), and is most famous for capturing Syracuse in Sicily in 212 BC — the siege in which the scientist Archimedes was killed. He himself died later, in 208 BC.
13
longumestomniaenumerareproelia.
2
Grammarlongum est Nepos uses the indicative here ('it is a long story'), where more natural English would say 'it would be' (and Latin would use esset).
PraeteritioThis is another example of praeteritio Nepos says he won't list every battle, having already listed several, and is about to make his point using just one more fact.
13–14
quarehocunumsatiseritdictum,exquointellegipossit,quantusillefuerit:
1
Grammarintellegi present passive infinitive.
14–15
quamdiuinItaliafuit,nemoeiinacierestitit,nemoadversuseumpostCannensempugnamincampocastraposuit.
4
Anaphoranemo ... nemo starting both halves of the sentence with the same word (nemo, 'no one') hammers home just how completely dominant Hannibal was.
Asyndetonnemo ei in acie restitit, nemo adversus eum ... in campo castra posuit — the two halves are simply placed side by side with no et joining them, which makes the point land harder and faster.
AlliterationThe whole sentence rings with p and c sounds (post, Cannensem, pugnam, campo, castra, posuit) — a genuinely accomplished piece of writing, even if Nepos doesn't sustain this level of polish consistently throughout the Life.
Contextin campo Hannibal's victories mostly came on open ground; the Romans generally did better fighting him in the hills, where his cavalry (his real advantage) counted for less.
1
After this battle was fought, Hannibal set out for Rome without any resistance.
He halted in the hills near the city.
2–3
After he had had his camp there for several days and was returning to Capua, the Roman dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus opposed him in Falernian territory.
4–5
But Hannibal, although hemmed in by the narrowness of the places, got himself out by night without any loss to his army, and tricked Fabius, a most skilful general.
5–6
For under cover of night he set alight bundles of twigs tied to the horns of cattle and sent out a great number of this type wandering around.
7–8
By the sudden appearance of this, he caused so great a panic in the Roman army that no one dared to go outside the rampart.
9–10
Not many days after this exploit, he put to flight Marcus Minucius Rufus, master of the cavalry with power equal to the dictator's, lured by a trick into fighting.
10–11
Hannibal, not being present in person, destroyed Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, consul for the second time, who had been led into an ambush in Lucania.
11–12
In a similar manner, at Venusia he killed Marcus Claudius Marcellus, consul for the fifth time.
13
It is a long story to list all his battles.
13–14
Therefore this one fact will be enough, from which it can be understood how great a man he was:
14–15
so long as he was in Italy, no one was a match for him in battle, no one pitched camp against him on open ground after the Battle of Cannae.