Bellum Africum 19

B. Afr. 19.1Interim eā rē gestā et proeliō dirēmptō ex adversāriīs perfūgēre complūrēs ex omnī genere hominum, et praetereā interceptī hostium complūrēs equitēs peditēsque.

Meanwhile, after this action had been fought and the battle broken off, a good many men of every class deserted from the enemy, and besides that a good many of the enemy's cavalry and infantry were captured.

Note. perfūgēre is the short form of the perfect perfūgērunt, 'deserted'; with interceptī supply sunt. complūrēs ('a good many') goes with both subjects.

B. Afr. 19.2Ex quibus cognitum est cōnsilium hostium, eōs hāc mente et cōnātū vēnisse, ut novō atque inūsitātō genere proeliī tīrōnēs legiōnāriī paucīque perturbātī Cūriōnis exemplō ab equitātū circumventī opprimerentur, et ita Labiēnum dīxisse prō cōntiōne, tantam sē multitūdinem auxiliōrum adversāriīs Caesaris subministrātūrum, ut etiam caedendō in ipsā victōriā dēfatīgātī vincerentur atque ā suīs superārentur, quippe quī in illōrum numerō sibi cōnfīderet, prīmum, quod audierat Rōmae legiōnēs veterānās dissentīre neque in Āfricam velle trānsīre;

From them the enemy's plan became known: they had come with this intention and purpose, that the raw legionaries and the few, thrown into confusion by a new and unfamiliar kind of fighting, should be surrounded by the cavalry and crushed, as Curio had been; and Labienus had said before an assembly that he would supply such a great host of auxiliaries to Caesar's opponents that they would be worn out by the very killing, beaten in the moment of victory, and overcome by his own men; for he trusted in their numbers, first, because he had heard that at Rome the veteran legions were in revolt and unwilling to cross into Africa;

Note. From eōs on, the deserters' report is indirect speech. Curiōnis exemplō: Curio's army was destroyed in Africa in 49 BC by Juba's cavalry (Caesar, Civil War II). subministrātūrum is the future infinitive (esse omitted). caedendō: ablative of the gerund, 'by the very killing'. quippe quī … cōnfīderet: 'since he trusted', a causal relative with the subjunctive. Rōmae is locative.

B. Afr. 19.3deinde, quod trienniō in Āfricā suōs mīlitēs retentōs cōnsuētūdine fidēlēs sibi iam effēcisset, maxima autem auxilia habēret Numidārum equitum levisque armātūrae, praetereā ex fugā proeliōque Pompēiānō Labiēnus quōs sēcum ā Būthrōtō trānsportāverat equitēs Germānōs Gallōsque quōsque ibi posteā ex hibridīs, lībertīnīs servīsque cōnscrīpserat, armāverat equōque utī frēnātō condocefēcerat, praetereā rēgia auxilia, elephantīs CXX equitēsque innumerābilīs, deinde legiōnēs cōnscrīptās ex cuiusquemodī generis amplius XII mīlibus.

next, because by keeping his soldiers in Africa for three years he had now made them loyal to himself through habit, and he had very large auxiliary forces of Numidian cavalry and light-armed troops; besides these, the German and Gallic cavalry whom Labienus had brought with him from Buthrotum after the flight and the battle of Pompey's army, and those whom he had afterwards enlisted there from men of mixed blood, freedmen and slaves, had armed and had trained to use a bridled horse; besides, the king's auxiliaries, with a hundred and twenty elephants and countless cavalry; and then legions raised from men of every sort, more than twelve thousand.

Note. The list of Labienus' resources runs on loosely, with the verb haberet understood throughout. secum = cum sē. ex hibridīs, lībertīnīs servīsque: troops of every origin, a sneer at the quality of his levies. CXX: 'a hundred and twenty'. amplius XII mīlibus: 'more than twelve thousand'; with amplius the word quam is often left out and the number goes into the ablative.

B. Afr. 19.4Hāc spē atque fīdūciā īnflammātus Labiēnus cum equitibus Gallīs Germānīsque MDC, Numidārum sine frēnīs VIII mīlibus, praetereā Petreiānō auxiliō adhibitō equitibus MDC, peditum ac levis armātūrae quater tantō, sagittāriīs ac funditōribus hippotoxotīsque complūribus: hīs cōpiīs prīd.

Fired by this hope and confidence, Labienus, with sixteen hundred Gallic and German cavalry, eight thousand Numidians who rode without bridles, and besides these sixteen hundred cavalry from the auxiliary force of Petreius that he had brought in, with four times as many infantry and light-armed troops, and a good many archers, slingers and mounted archers: with these forces, on the day before

Note. sine frēnīs: the Numidians rode without bridles, steering their horses by voice and a switch. quater tantō: 'four times as many' (ablative of measure). The sentence breaks off at prīd(iē) and runs on into the next one: the date is prīdiē Nōnās Iānuāriās, 4 January 46 BC (pre-Julian calendar).

B. Afr. 19.4Nōn. Iān., post diem VI, quam Āfricam Caesar attigit, in campīs plānissimīs pūrissimīsque ab hōrā diēī quīntā usque ad sōlis occāsum est dēcertātum.

the Nones of January, the sixth day after Caesar reached Africa, a battle was fought on perfectly level and open plains from the fifth hour of the day until sunset.

Note. post diem VI quam = 'six days after'; quam works like postquam. est dēcertātum: impersonal passive, 'the fight was fought out'. The battle described is the hard fight near Ruspina in chapters 12-18.

B. Afr. 19.4In eō proeliō Petrēius graviter ictus ex aciē recessit.

In that battle Petreius was seriously wounded and withdrew from the line.

Note. ictus: perfect participle of īcō, 'struck'.