[Linenotes: 202. +hiatu+ = _with its wide-open mouth_. 203. +Cyllenes+, i.e. Mt. Cyllene (Zyria), the highest point in the Peloponnesus, on the borders of Arcadia and Achaia, where Hermes is said to have been born: hence styled _Cyllenius_. 209. +tergore = tergo+. poet. and post-Augustian.] +Parallel Passage.+ Livy xxi. 22, and cf. Polybius iii. 47. C13 SECOND PUNIC WAR, 218-202 B.C. _From the Pyrenees to the Rhone. Passage of the Elephants._ Elephantorum traiciendorum varia consilia fuisse credo, certe variat memoria actae rei. . . . Ceterum magis constat ratibus traiectos esse elephantos. Ratem unam ducentos longam pedes quinquaginta latam a terra in amnem porrexerunt, quam, ne {5} secunda aqua deferretur, pluribus validis retinaculis parte superiore ripae religatam pontis in modum humo iniecta constraverunt, ut beluae audacter velut per solum ingrederentur. Altera ratis aeque lata, longa pedes centum, ad traiciendum flumen apta, {10} huic copulata est; tum elephanti per stabilem ratem tamquam viam praegredientibus feminis acti ubi in minorem applicatam transgressi sunt, extemplo resolutis, quibus leviter annexa erat, vinculis ab actuariis aliquot navibus ad alteram ripam pertrahitur. Ita {15} primis expositis alii deinde repetiti ac traiecti sunt. Nihil sane trepidabant, donec continenti velut ponte agerentur; primus erat pavor, cum soluta ab ceteris rate in altum raperentur. Ibi urgentes inter se cedentibus extremis ab aqua trepidationis aliquantum {20} edebant, donec quietem ipse timor circumspectantibus aquam fecisset. Excidere etiam saevientes quidam in flumen; sed pondere ipso stabilis deiectis rectoribus quaerendis pedetemptim vadis in terram evasere. {25} LIVY, xxi. 28. [Linenotes: 2. +variat ... rei+ = _the accounts of what was done differ_. --Dimsdale. 7. +parte superiore ... pontis+ = _fastened to the upper part of the bank_, i.e. to the bank at a point higher up stream. --D. 9. +per solum+ = _on firm ground_. 14. +ab actuariis+ = _by some light craft_, lit. ‘Easily moved’ (_ago_). 17-18. +donec ... agerentur+ = _So long as they were being driven on what seemed a bridge connected with the land._ --C. and B. _Agebantur_ would be more usual, but _agerentur_ may give the reason of _nihil trepidabant_. Cf. _donec--fecisset_ ll. 21-22. 19. +in altum+ = _into mid stream_, usu. of the Sea. --D. +inter se+ = _one on another_, _alii alios_. 24. +quaerendis pedetemptim vadis+ = _feeling their way into shallow water_. +pedetemptim+ = _step by step_, lit. ‘stretching out the feet’ (_pes + tendo_). Cf. _paulatim_, _sensim_.] +Reference.+ Polybius, iii. 46. Both Polybius and Livy thought that elephants could not swim. C14 SECOND PUNIC WAR, 218-202 B.C. _From the Rhone to Italy. Hannibal encourages his Soldiers._