06.04.25: H & B; level 2; reading; the Caudine Forks (321BC)

Est in Ītaliā locus propter clādem Rōmānam nōtissimus. Exercitus Rōmānus, ubi cum Samnītibus bellum gerēbat, per saltum angustum in campum intrāvit: campō utrimque montēs altissimī impendēbant: mox ad alterum saltum etiam angustiōrem vēnērunt. Intereā hostēs utrimque saltūs arboribus saepserant exercitumque Rōmānum velut in carcere tenēbant. Frūstrā aliam viam petēbant nostrī: tandem arma hostibus trādidērunt. Tum C. Pontius, Samnītium imperātor, ad patrem, virum sapientissimum, nūntiōs mīsit cōnsiliumque petīvit. ‘Sī patris cōnsiliō pārēbis,’ respondit senex, ‘Rōmānōs omnēs aut incolumēs līberābis aut occīdēs.’ Fīlius tamen patris cōnsilium neglēxit: Rōmānōs sub iugum mīsit, tum līberāvit. Anteā tamen C. Pontiī iussū Rōmānī pācem et amīcitiam cum Samnītibus iūreiūrandō cōnfirmāvērunt et obsidēs dedērunt. ‘Nōn sīc,’ pater fīlium monuit, ‘aut amīcōs conciliābis aut hostēs dēlēbis.’

[1] Lines 1 – 3 (Est …  impendēbant)

[i] Why is the place famous? (1)

[ii] When did this event take place? (1)

[iii] How did the Romans enter the plain? (2)

[iv] Describe the location. (2)

[2] Lines 3 – 5 (mox … trādidērunt)

[i] What did the Romans soon come to? (1)

[ii] With what is this place compared and why? (4)

[iii] What did the Romans finally do and why? (2)

[3] Lines 5 – 6 (Tum … petīvit)

[i] Who was C. Pontius? (1)

[ii] To whom did he send messengers and why? (2)

[4] Lines 7 – 9; translate (10); ‘[i] Sī ¦ [ii] patris cōnsiliō ¦ [i] pārēbis,’ ¦ [iii] respondit senex, ¦ [iv / v] ‘Rōmānōs omnēs aut incolumēs līberābis ¦ [vi] aut occīdēs.’ ¦ [vii] Fīlius tamen ¦ [viii] patris cōnsilium ¦ [vii] neglēxit: ¦ [ix] Rōmānōs sub iugum mīsit, ¦ [x] tum līberāvit.*

Notes:

[a] what tense is pārēbis in the Latin? How would it best be translated?

[b] iugum, -ī [2/n]: yoke (for oxen or cattle); collar (for a horse)

“A yoke was made of two upright spears with a third fixed across the top at such a height that a man passing underneath had to bow his head. The victors in a battle used to make their captives march, one by one, under the yoke as a sign that they had been defeated.” (Vincent, a First Latin Reader):

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/07/040924-level-2-practice-in-reading.html

[5] Lines 9 – end (Anteā … dēlēbis)

What conditions had Pontius imposed upon the Romans and what were his father’s opinion of these? (4)

[6] Give an accurate translation of the following phrases in the context of the passage:

[i] locus nōtissimus

[ii] montēs altissimī

[iii] saltum etiam angustiōrem

[iv] virum sapientissimum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Caudine_Forks

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Caudine_Forks

Caudine Forks, narrow mountain pass near Beneventum in ancient Samnium (near modern Montesarchio, Campania, southern Italy). In the Battle of Caudine Forks the Samnites under Gavius Pontius defeated and captured a Roman army in 321 BC, during the Second Samnite War. The Roman army surrendered, and acknowledged that they had been defeated by passing under a “yoke” of Samnite spears, a unique disgrace.

Battle of the Caudine Forks - Battle of the Caudine Forks (Furculae Caudinae) - 321 BC between the Romans and the Samnites during the Second Samnite War - Second Samnite War, Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 BC, the Roman Arm of the Consuls Tiberius Vetu by Unknown artist. 

Medallion depicting the Romans being sent under the yoke by the Samnites (Pseudo-Melioli, c. 1500)

artist unknown

Marc Charles Gabriel Gleyre, “Les Romains Passant Sous Le Joug” (1858; Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_Caudina

Valle Caudina vista dal Taburno

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* [4] [i] If you obey (La. future: parēbis; literally: will obey),  ¦ [ii] (your) father’s advice, ¦ [iii] said the old man ¦ [iv] you will either free ¦ [v] all the Romans unharmed ¦ [vi] or kill (them). ¦ [vii] The son, however,] disregarded ¦ [viii] the / his father’s advice: ¦ [ix]  he sent the Romans under the yoke ¦ [x] and then freed (them).