ἱστορίαι Historiai
Liv. 36.18 The History of Rome, Livy; served verbatim
After this address the soldiers were dismissed and got,their armour and weapons ready before they took food and rest. As soon as it began to grow light the consul hung out the signal for battle and formed his line on a narrow front to suit the confined liIMts of the ground. When the king saw_the standards of the enemy he also led out his men. Part of his light infantry he stationed in front of their rampart to form the line. Behind them in support he posted the Macedonians 触,thethev main strength of his arm, known as the“sarisophori”.:4 extended across the whole length of the rampart二To the left of them were hosted a bodv of iavelin men. bowmen and slina-ers immediately under the foot of the mountains, so that they might from their higher ground harass the unprotected flank of the enemy. On the right of the Macedonians, towards the end of his lines, where the ground beyond down to the sea is impassable owing to bogs and Quicksands.he posted the elephants with their v v J i 1 1 usual guard. and behind them the and a short distance 几种J矛 behind them again the rest of his troops. The Macedonians in front of the rampart had no difficulty at first in resisting the Romans, who were t币ng at all points to break through, and they received considerable. assistance from those on the higher ground, who discharged bullets from their slings, arrows and javelins all at once, a perfect cloud of missiles. But as the enemy's pressure increased and the attack was made in greater force they gradually fell back to their ra t. and standing upon it made practically a second rampart with their levelled spears. The rampart. owing to its moderate height. 1 e V V, not only offered a higher position from which to fiffht. but also enabled them to reach the enemy below with their long spears. Many in their reckless attempts to mount the rampart were run through, and they would have had either to retire baffled or sustain serious losses had not M. Porcius appeared on a hill which commanded the camp. He had dislodged the Aetolians from the crest of Callidromus and killed the greater part of them, attacking them when they were off their guard and most of them asleep.

The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.

← Liv. 36.17 contents Liv. 36.19 →

The History of Rome, Livy — translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1912
Apparatus shelf + pinned Wikisource — Livy, The History of Rome (Rev. Canon Roberts translation, Everyman's Library) · Rev. Canon Roberts, Everyman's Library (J. M. Dent & Sons / E. P. Dutton), first issue 1912; six volumes
license: public-domain (the Roberts translation's Everyman first issue is 1912, pre-1930; Wikisource dates the translation 1905 — either way decades inside the US public domain; digital-door text carries no additional rights)