Topic / Level 4; animals at work (4) elephants in war; how to train an elephant

 Even today horses used by, for example, the police are trained to stay calm when experiencing noise and / or violent behaviour. Similarly, the unknown author of Dē Bellō Āfricō describes the training of elephants for warfare. Elephants are easily startled and, like any other wild animal, may act unpredictably. Therefore, what we read here is a training scenario emulating an attack by projectiles fired by slings.

The elephants are lined up facing soldiers who act as the enemy. Behind the elephants are ‘friendly’ soldiers. The aim is to ensure that, even if the animals, frightened by the enemy action, turn tail and head for ‘their side’, they will be forced by a second volley of stones to turn around again and continue to advance towards the enemy. As the author implies, it’s a high risk tactic since elephants do not know whose side they are on!

The adjective rudis has multiple meanings including: untrained, coarse, awkward or wild. In other words, elephants are not quick on the uptake, and considerable patience is required.

Scīpiō interim elephantōs hōc modō condocefacere īnstituit. 

• Scipio meanwhile began training elephants in the following way.

Duās īnstrūxit aciēs, 

• He drew up two (battle-) lines,

ūnam funditōrum contrā elephantōs,

• one (line) of slingers facing the elephants

quae quasi adversāriōrum locum obtinēret 

• which, as it were, would take the place of the enemy

et contrā eōrum frontem adversam lapillōs minūtōs mitteret; 

• and hurl small stones against their / the elephants’ opposing front

deinde in ōrdinem elephantōs cōnstituit, 

• next he arranged the elephants in line

post illōs autem suam aciem īnstrūxit ut, 

• and behind them drew up his own line so that,

cum ab adversāriīs lapidēs mittī coepissent 

• when the stones had started to be thrown by the enemy

et elephantī perterritī sē ad suōs convertissent, 

• and the terrified elephants had turned back upon their own side

rūrsus ab suā aciē lapidibus missīs eōs converterent adversus hostem. 

• they would again turn them against the enemy by stones thrown from his own line.

Quod aegrē tardēque fīēbat; 

• This was done with difficulty and slowly;

rudēs enim elephantī multōrum annōrum doctrīnā ūsūque vetustō vix ēdoctī 

• for raw elephants, scarcely trained even by many years of instruction and long experience

tamen commūnī perīculō in aciem prōdūcuntur. 

• are nevertheless brought into the battle-line, and equally dangerous to both sides.

Topic / Level 4; animals at work (3); Varro’s nine part matrix

[6] Two nouns that are very similar to one another:

[i] pecus, pecoris [3/n]: collective noun referring to large domestic animals e.g. livestock; a herd of cattle etc.

The meaning may be extended to refer to any group of animals, including a flock of birds:

volātile pecus (Columella) | ‘winged / flying livestock’, i.e. flock of birds

[ii] pecus, pecudis [3/f]: a single head of cattle

Varro (Dē Rē Rūsticā) divides animal husbandry into a nine part matrix under three headings, each category comprising three specific types:

[1] smaller livestock: sheep, goats, pigs

[2] larger livestock: cattle / oxen; donkeys; horses

[3] animals – and people – not kept for direct profit but rather on account of the livestock e.g. dogs / shepherds to protect them) or derived from the livestock e.g. mules

est scientia pecoris parandī ac pāscendī | there is a knowledge of tending and feeding livestock 

ut frūctūs quam possint maximī capiantur ex eō  | ... so that the greatest profits are obtained from it..

Ea partēs habet novem, | It has nine divisions,

discrētās ter ternās, | separated into three groups of three,

ut sit ūna dē minōribus pecudibus | so that one is concerned with smaller livestock,

cuius genera tria ovēs, capra, sūs, | whose three kinds are the sheep, goat, and pig, 

altera dē pecore maiōre, | the other with larger livestock

in quō sunt item ad trēs speciēs nātūrā discrētī: | in which there are likewise three species divided by their nature:

bovēs, asinī, equī. | cattle, donkeys, and horses.

Tertia pars est in pecuāriā quae nōn parantur | The third part consists of those animals in cattle-raising which are not kept

ut ex iīs capiātur frūctus, |  so that profit may be obtained from them,

sed propter eam aut ex eā. | but [are kept] on account of it or as a result of it.

Sunt mūlī, canēs, pāstōrēs. | They are mules, dogs, and shepherds.

• caper, caprī [2/m]: goat
• capra, -ae [1/f]: she-goat
• canis, -is [3 m/f]: dog
• sūs, suis [3 m/f]: pig, swine
• ovis, -is [3/f]: sheep
• genus, generis [3/n]: kind, race, type
• species, -ēī [5/f]: appearance, form, kind, species

Topic / Level 4; animals at work (2)

[3]

[i] bōs, bōvis [3 m/f]: ox (or: head of cattle; bull)

[ii] iuvencus, -ī [2/m]: bullock

[iii] iuvenca, -ae [1/f]: heifer

[iv] taurus, -ī [2/m]: bull

[v] vacca, -ae [1/f]: cow

(1) Catullus 64

Rūra colit nēmō, mollēscunt colla iuvencīs, | no one cultivates the countryside; the necks of the young bulls grow soft

nōn humilis curvīs purgātur vīnea rāstrīs, | the low vineyard is not cleared with curved hoes

nōn glēbam prōnō convellit vōmere taurus, | the bull does not break up the earth with a sloping ploughshare

(2) Aulularia (Plautus)

Venit hoc mihi, Megadōre, in mentem, tēd* esse hominem dīvitem, | It comes to my mind [= it strikes me], Megadorus, that you are a wealthy man,

factiōsum, mē autem esse hominem pauperum pauperrimum; | influential, but I am a poor man, a very poor one.

nunc sī fīliam locāssim* meam tibi, in mentem venit | Now if I were to give my daughter to you [in marriage], it strikes me

tē bovem esse et mē esse asellum: | that you’d be the ox and I the (little) donkey.

ubi tēcum coniūnctus siem,* | Once I’d been joined with you,

ubi onus nequeam ferre pariter, | when I couldn’t bear the load equally,

iaceam ego asinus in lutō, | I, the donkey, would be lying in the mud,

tū mē bōs magis haud respiciās, | you, the ox, would no more look back at me [ = not pay any more attention to me]

gnātus quasi numquam siem.*| than as if I had never been born.

* In the works of, for example, Plautus and Terence, there are occasional examples of older Latin word forms; these are archaisms:

tēd = tē

locāssim: archaic subjunctive form, the equivalent here of ‘if I were to do / have done something’

siem = sim

[4]

[i] camēlus, -ī [2/m]: camel

[ii] dromas, -adis [3/m]; dromedārius, -ī [2/m]: dromedary

[iii] elephantus, -ī [2/m]: elephant

Dromadēs camēlī inter dōna erant vēlōcitātis eximiae, XII elephantī ā Dārēō ex Indiā accītī (Quintus Curtius Rufus)

• Among the presents were dromedaries of extraordinary swiftness, twelve elephants imported by Darius from India

[5] iūmentum, -ī [2/n]; armentum, -ī [2/n]

Columella mentions both terms, and broadly distinguishes their function:

Unde etiam [i] iūmenta et [ii] armenta nōmina ā rē trāxēre quod nostrum labōrem vel [i] onera subvectandō vel [ii] arandō iuvārent.

• And so it is that iumenta and armenta have drawn their names from the fact that they aid our work either by bringing up burdens or by ploughing.

[i] iūmentum, -ī [2/n]: animals used for transport, either pulling chariots and wagons or serving as pack animals for traveling e.g. horses and donkeys

[ii] armentum, -ī [2/n]: heavy-duty animals used in field work e.g. ploughing, mainly oxen and bulls but also horses

Original images of the animals, however, do not always convey such a precise ‘dictionary’ distinction, nor is the type of animal depicted always clear.

iūmenta et camēlōs et ā Sūsīs et ā Babylōne contrahī iussit (Quintus Curtius Rufus)

• he ordered camels and other beasts of burden to be brought together from Susa and Babylon.

A hired man complains about the weight of the luggage he is carrying:

'quid vōs' inquit 'iūmentum mē putātis esse aut lapidāriam nāvem? hominis operās locāvī, nōn caballī’ (Petronius)

• "What do you think I am," he said, " a beast of burden or a ship for carrying stones? I contracted for the work of a man, not a dray-horse!

Topic / Level 4; animals at work (1)

NOTE: the topic can be used simply to make a list of vocabulary and the basic translations. However, to illustrate the vocabulary a large number of excerpts from original literature are used.

Here, and in the next posts, we look at animals as a means of transporting either goods or people, pulling some form of vehicle or farming equipment, as well as their use in war.

[1] One of the first words you would encounter when learning Latin is equus and it is by far the most common. There are, however, some other terms which should be noted even if they rarely occur.

[i] equus, -ī [2/m]: horse

Note: vehō, -ere, vēxī, vectus [3]: convey; commonly used when referring to how somebody was transported:

Alexander equō [ablative] vehebātur  (Quintus Curtius Rufus)

literally: Alexander was conveyed by a horse, i.e. Alexander travelled by horse / rode on horseback

[ii] equa, -ae [1/f]: mare

[iii] caballus, -ī [2/m]: pack-horse; nag; workhorse

The term refers to an inferior horse; in CL caballus is found in poetic works, but its use is evident in prose from the Late Latin period, hence the derivatives cheval in French and caballo in Spanish.

Old English already had firmly established vocabulary for domestic animals: hors; mīere. However, the Latin words are evident in English derivatives e.g. equine and, via French, cavalier and chevalier < Late Latin: caballārius, -ī [2/m]: horseman; rider

[iv] canthērius, -ī [2/m]: a gelding i.e. a castrated horse;  in a transferred sense, it can refer to an impotent old man

Three quotations from Plautus, none of which present the horse (or its human equivalent!) in a positive light:

(1) This first quotation from Plautus emphasises their low value:

ego faxim mūlī, pretiō quī superant equōs, sint vīliōrēs Gallicīs canthēriīs

• I’d see to it that the mules that cost more than horses, would be cheaper than Gallic geldings.

(2) Likewise, the horses are associated with the negative portrayal of fish-sellers:

Tum piscātōrēs quī praebent populō piscēs foetidōs, quī advehuntur quadrupedantī cruciantī canthēriō,  …

• Then the fishermen that offer the people stinking fish, that are carried around on a trotting, jolting [lit: torturing] gelding, …

(3) He may be an old lecher, but he still thinks he’s in with a chance …

quamquam vetus canthērius sum, etiam nunc, ut ego opīnor, adhinnīre equolam* possum ego hanc, …

• Although I’m an old gelding, even now, I think, I can still whinny at this little mare / little filly, …

*Plautine spelling: equulus, -ī [2/m]: foal; equula, -ae [1/f]: a little mare / filly

[v] verēdus, -ī [2/m]: a fast or light breed of horse; courier’s horse; hunting-horse

From Martial:

l1: Pārcius ūtārīs, moneō, rapiente verēdō, | You should use more sparingly, I advise you, the rushing hunting-horse,

l2: Prīsce, nec in leporēs tām violentus eās. | and you should not, Priscus, go so furiously after the hares,

ll3-4: Saepe satisfēcit praedae vēnātor, et ācrī / Dēcidit excussus, nec reditūrus, equō. | The hunter has often made amends to the prey, and, shaken off, has fallen – never to return - from the fierce horse.

[2]

[i] asinus, -ī [2/m]: donkey; ass

[ii] asellus, -ī [2/m]: small donkey

[iii] asina, -ae [1/f]: female donkey; she-ass

[iv] mūlus, -ī [2/m]: mule

[v] pullus, -ī [2/m]: although the noun can refer to a chicken or any young fowl, its meaning encompasses any young animal e.g. a foal

(1) Īte in castellum, quod contrā vōs est, et statim introeuntēs illūc, inveniētis pullum ligātum, super quem nēmō adhūc hominum sēdit: solvite illum, et addūcite. (Vulgate)

• “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” 

(2) ecce rēx tuus veniet tibi iūstus et salvātor ipse pauper et ascendēns super asinum et super pullum fīlium asinae (Vulgate)

• Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Level 3+ (review); correlatives [6] making comparisons (3); totiēns … quotiēns …

[xi] totiēns … quotiēns … [or: totiēs … quotiēs …] | as often … as …

Unlike most other correlatives which can be ‘neatly’ conveyed, you cannot always mechanically translate but need to consider the most fluent rendering while retaining the underlying meaning: with totiēns … quotiēns … two actions take place with the same frequency.

The first two quotations do conform to dictionary translations of the correlative:

[A] cum tū eī contumēliōsissimē totiēns male dicās [B] quotiēns tē illī adfīnem esse dīcis (Cicero)

• since [A] you abuse him in the most insulting manner as many times [B] as you say that he is associated with you

[A] totiēns, [B] quotiēns praescrībitur, … [A] hymnum recitārimus (Cicero)

• [A] we shall recite … a hymn as often [B] as is prescribed

The order of the correlative construction may be reversed and variations in form can occur:

quotiēnscumque dīcō, totiēns mihi videor in iūdicium venīre (Cicero)

• As often as / however often I speak, I seem just as often to be brought into judgment …

At this level of Latin, you will encounter more flexible and fluent translations which will avoid awkwardness and still convey the sense of the correlative in context without rendering it so literally:

quotiēns ībis, totiēns magis placēbit quod bonum erit

[Lit: However often you go, what will be good will just as often please you more.]

In context, the quotation is from Cato’s Dē Agricultūrā:

• However often you go, a good piece of land will please you more at each visit.

Likewise, in this example, you encounter Cicero’s style of the tricolon i.e three statements which, here, are structurally identical:

(1) quotiēns coniugem, (2) quotiēns domum, (3) quotiēns patriam vidēret, totiēns sē beneficium meum vidēre (Cicero)

[Lit: [A] As often as he saw his wife, as often as his home, as often as his country, [B] so often he saw my kindness. ]

A fluent translation needs to retain the emphatic idea that both [A] and [B] happened with the same frequency. At the same time the translation should avoid clumsiness:

Every time he saw his wife, or his home, or his native land, he always recognised my kindness.

• He never saw his wife’s face, or his home, or his native land, without recognizing the debt he owed to me. [transl. Winstedt]

There is no “answer” and this correlative is only an example to show that, when translating Latin, you need to be flexible and not always use verbatim definitions from a dictionary.

In other words, dictionary definitions are a starting point, but not necessarily a solution.