Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei +fortuna oblata est. {I} M. Centenius fuit+ cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo. {II} +Is+ perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, [uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur]. {III} +Centenius dixit+ _se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum: et, [quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent], iis adversus inventorem usurum_. {IV} +Id+ non +promissum+ magis stolide, quam stolide +creditum+: [tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent!] {V} +Data+ pro quinque octo +milia+ militum; {VI} +pars+ dimidia cives, +pars+ socii. Et +ipse aliquantum+ voluntariorum in itinere ex agris +concivit+, ac prope duplicato exercitu, in Lucanos +pervenit+, [ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat]. LIVY. DEMONSTRATION III. LIVY, xxv. 19. _Read the passage through carefully._ As you read-- (i.) Make all the use you can of your previous knowledge of History, Geography, and Antiquities. Thus, +Hannibali+ suggests an episode in the Second Punic War. +M. Centenius+ is clearly the unfortunate subject of the episode. +in Lucanos ... substiterat+ helps to fix the date as later than +Cannae+, 216 B.C. (ii.) Observe carefully all phrases that will require special care in translating--_e.g._ +bene gerendae rei+--+inter primipili centuriones+--+perfunctus militia+--+operae pretium+--+ad id locorum+. You will now have a sufficient general idea of the form and general sense of the passage, and may begin to translate sentence by sentence. +I.+ +Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est.+ (i.) _Vocabulary._-- +oblata+, cf. _ob-lation_ = _an offering_ and _of-fer_. (ii.) _Translation._-- +oblata est+ shows that the subject must be +fortuna+, with which +alia+ must agree, and +gerendae rei+ is dependent genitive. So you may at once translate literally _Another fortune (chance) of carrying-on the matter well in these parts was offered to Hannibal_. But you must not be satisfied with this, for though literally correct it is neither good History nor good English. So render: _In this district Hannibal had another chance presented to him of achieving a success_. Here notice especially the use of the word +res+,[12] a remarkable example of the tendency of Roman writers to employ the ordinary and simple vocabulary wherever possible _instead of inventing a new word_. As a writer well says, ‘+Res+ is, so to say, a blank cheque, to be filled up from the context to the requisite amount of meaning.’ Cf. ‘+Consilium erat quo fortuna rem daret, eo inclinare vires+,’ where +res+ = _victory_. [Footnote 12: Cf. Introduction, p. 11.] [[Introduction 13 (2)]] +II.+ +M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo.+ (i.) _Vocabulary._--