Quīntus Fabius iam senex fīliō suō cōnsulī lēgātus fuit; cumque [[48]] in ēius castra venīret, fīlius obviam patrī prōgressus est, { 95} duodecim līctōribus prō mōre antecēdentibus. Equō[1] vehēbātur senex neque appropinquante cōnsule dēscendit. Iam ex līctōribus ūndecim verēcundiā[2] paternae māiestātis tacitī praeterierant. Quod cum cōnsul animadvertisset, proximum līctōrem iussit inclāmāre[3] Fabiō patrī ut ex equō dēscenderet. Pater tum { 100} dēsiliēns “Nōn ego, fīlī,” inquit “tuum imperium contempsī, sed experīrī voluī num scīrēs cōnsulem tē esse.” Ad summam senectūtem vīxit Fabius Māximus, dīgnus tantō cōgnōmine.[4] Cautior[5] quam prōmptior habitus est, sed īnsita[6] ēius ingeniō prūdentia eī bellō, quod tum gerēbātur, propriē apta erat. Nēminī[7] dubium { 105} est quīn[8] rem[9] Rōmānam cunctandō[10] restituerit. Ut Scīpiō pūgnandō,[10] ita hīc nōn dīmicandō[10] māximē cīvitātī Rōmānae succurrisse vīsus est. Alter enim celeritāte suā Carthāginem oppressit, alter cunctātiōne id[11] ēgit, nē Rōma opprimī posset.
43.10: In the latter part of the First Punic War Hamilcar had successfully maintained himself for several years in Sicily against the Romans. Subsequently he built up a great Carthaginian empire in Spain, partly to offset the losses which Carthage had sustained in its struggle with Rome, and partly to supply it with the means for a renewal of the conflict. 43.11: #novem . . . nātus#: ‘when only nine years old.’ 43.12: Cf. p. 10, n. 15. 43.13: This war lasted from 218 to 202 B.C. 44.1: When Hamilcar was killed in battle in Spain in 227, his son-in-law Hasdrubal took command of the Carthaginian forces there. He in turn was succeeded by Hannibal in 219. 44.2: dat. with #foederātam#. Cf. H 428, 3 (385, 4, 3): A 248, _a_, R.: G 359: B 192, 1. Compare the dat. used with _iungō_ and _mīsceō_. 44.3: #utrum# is here a relative pronoun; hence the indicative #placet#, with which we must supply _vōbīs_. In #utrum vellet#, however, #utrum# is interrogative: hence the subjunctive. 44.4: = a subjunctive in ind. disc. representing an original imperative. See p. xxvi, M 6. 44.5: _excutiō_. 44.6: #quibus . . . animīs, iīsdem#: abl. of manner. See p. 42, n. 5. 44.7: Sc. _bellum_. 44.8: P. Cornelius Scipio, father of the famous P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior, and consul in 218. 44.9: The first two battles were fought in 218, the third in 217. 44.10: See Vocab., _dictātor_. 44.11: Cf. p. 28, n. 17. 44.12: #adversus Hannibalem# = a causal clause: ‘since he was facing H.’ Here again the Latin feels the lack of a participle to _sum_. 44.13: #recēdere . . . discrīmine#: ‘to avoid (any) hazardous risk.’ #recēdere# depends on #cōnstituit#, l. 22. 44.14: #modicō . . . intervāllō#: we say, ‘at a moderate distance.’ For the abl., see p. 39, n. 12. 44.15: ‘let slip,’ ‘lose sight of.’ 45.1: apparently = _in castrīs_, but really an abl. of means. 45.2: #nisi . . . cōgeret#: ‘except as far as necessity forced (Fabius to lead them forth).’ #cōgeret# is an example of the iterative subjunctive, used to denote the frequent repetition of an act. It generally occurs in clauses containing a past tense, and is common in Livy, on whom this story is based. 45.3: #neque . . . deerat#: ‘missed no chance of scoring a success.’ 45.4: #reī bene gerendae#: cf. p. 40, n. 17. 45.5: #mīlitem . . . paenitēre#: ‘the soldiers began to be less discontented with (i.e. to be more confident of),’ etc. For the construction, see p. 28, n. 7. 45.6: #dēligāta . . . incendī# = _dēligārī et incendī_. 45.7: Why abl.? 45.8: _reor_. 45.9: Render by a noun: ‘sluggard.’ 45.10: See Vocab., _magister_. 45.11: indirect discourse, dependent on the verb of saying suggested by #crīminandō#. 45.12: Indirect object with #aequāvit#, which = _aequum fēcit_. 46.1: #abl.# of specification. 46.2: #aequō animō# is an abl. of manner (p. 41, n. 10), and = ‘patiently.’ 46.3: #eī . . . auxiliō#: ‘to help him in his peril.’ Cf. p. 25, n. 6. 46.4: #receptuī cecinit#: ‘gave the signal for a retreat.’ #receptuī# is a dat. of purpose: cf. p. 25, n. 6. _canere_ is used of instrumental music (here of playing on the trumpet) as well as of vocal. 46.5: _cōnfiteor_. 46.6: i.e. Hannibal. 46.7: #tandem . . . dedisse#: ‘the cloud . . . had at last brought wind and rain,’ i.e. Fabius, after so long threatening the Carthaginians, had at last proceeded to active measures. 46.8: Cf. p. 4, n. 6. 46.9: #per . . . vēnandī#: ‘under pretense of hunting.’ 46.10: a substantive clause of purpose, object of #monuit#. 46.11: supine of _pāscō_, denoting the purpose of #prōpulsa essent#: cf. p. 5, n. 20. 46.12: _veluti . . . factam_: ‘as if they (i.e. the cattle) were plunder captured from the foe.’ #praedam# is accus. by attraction to _ea pecora_, to be supplied as the object of dōnārent.