Tunc miserunt legatos suos universarum urbium ac provinciarum reges ac principes, Syriæ scilicet Mesopotamiæ, et Syriæ Sobal, et Libyæ, atque Ciliciæ: qui venientes ad Holofernem, dixerunt:

And now from every city and province, from the Syrians of Mesopotamia and Sobal and from (Libya and) Cilicia, king and chieftain sent envoys to Holofernes.

Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said:

Desinat indignatio tua circa nos: melius est enim ut viventes serviamus Nabuchodonosor regi magno, et subditi simus tibi, quam morientes cum interitu nostro ipsi servitutis nostræ damna patiamur.

Spare us thy further vengeance, they said; better we should live as slaves to the great king Nabuchodonosor, under thy commands, than be reduced by slaughter, undergoing massacre and slavery both.

Let thy indignation towards us cease: for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.

Omnis civitas nostra, omnisque possessio, omnes montes, et colles, et campi, et armenta boum, gregesque ovium, et caprarum, equorumque et camelorum, et universæ facultates nostræ atque familiæ, in conspectu tuo sunt:

Cities and lands, mountain and hill and plain, ox and sheep and goat and horse and camel, all that we have, and our own households too, lie at thy mercy;

All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:

sint omnia nostra sub lege tua.

dispose of them all as thou wilt;

Let all we have be subject to thy law.

Nos, et filii nostri, servi tui sumus.

we, and our children with us, are thy slaves.

Both we and our children are thy servants.

Veni nobis pacificus dominus, et utere servitio nostro, sicut placuerit tibi.

Come to us as our master, so thou come to us in peace, and make what use thou wilt of our surrender.

Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee.

Tunc descendit de montibus cum equitibus in virtute magna, et obtinuit omnem civitatem, et omnem inhabitantem terram.

Then, with his horsemen and all his armed strength, he came down from the hill-country and made city and citizen his own,

Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the inhabitants of the land.

De universis autem urbibus assumpsit sibi auxiliarios viros fortes, et electos ad bellum.

levying from their townships all the bravest men, all the picked warriors, for his own service.

And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war.

Tantusque metus provinciis illis incubuit, ut universarum urbium habitatores principes et honorati simul cum populis exirent obviam venienti,

Such dread of him lay on these provinces, that chiefs and nobles came out from every town, with the common sort at their heels, to meet him,

And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the people, went out to meet him at his coming.

excipientes eum cum coronis et lampadibus, ducentes choros in tympanis et tibiis.

welcoming him with crowns and processions by torch-light, dancing in his honour to the music of tambour and flute.

And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and timbrels, and flutes.

Nec ista tamen facientes, ferocitatem ejus pectoris mitigare potuerunt:

Yet might they not, even so, win over that relentless heart;

And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:

nam et civitates eorum destruxit, et lucos eorum excidit.

cities must be razed to the ground, and forest-shrines cut down;

For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves.

Præceperat enim illi Nabuchodonosor rex, ut omnes deos terræ exterminaret, videlicet ut ipse solus diceretur deus ab his nationibus quæ potuissent Holofernis potentia subjugari.

king Nabuchodonosor had bidden him destroy all traces of the countryside gods, so that the nations overpowered by Holofernes might acknowledge no other god but himself.

For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes.

Pertransiens autem Syriam Sobal, et omnem Apameam, omnemque Mesopotamiam, venit ad Idumæos in terram Gabaa,

Then, after traversing the Syrian country of Sobal, and Apamea, and Mesopotamia, he reached the Idumæans that dwelt in the land of Gabaa.

And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa,

accepitque civitates eorum, et sedit ibi per triginta dies, in quibus diebus adunari præcepit universum exercitum virtutis suæ.

Their cities surrendered to him, and he made a halt of thirty days there, during which he bade all the forces under his command rally to his side.

And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to be united.