Lectitō › Julius Caesar › The African War (Bellum Africum)
Bellum Africum 23
Young Pompey fails at Ascurum
Anonymous, Bellum Africum. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōB. Afr. 23.1Hīs verbīs hominis gravissimī incitātus adulēscentulus cum nāviculīs cuiusquemodī generis XXX, inibī paucīs rōstrātīs, profectus ab Uticā in Mauretāniam regnumque Bogudis est ingressus expedītōque exercitū servōrum, līberōrum II mīlium numerō, cuius partem inermem, partem armātam habuerat, ad oppidum Ascurum accēdere coepit;
Roused by these words of a man of great weight, the young man set out from Utica with thirty small vessels of every kind, a few of them fitted with rams, and entered Mauretania and the kingdom of Bogud; and with a light-armed army of slaves and free men, two thousand in number, part of whom he had unarmed and part armed, he began to approach the town of Ascurum;
Note. naviculīs cuiusquemodī generis: 'small vessels of every sort'. inibī: 'among them'. rōstrātīs: warships fitted with a bronze ram (rōstrum). Bogud, king of western Mauretania, was Caesar's ally. servōrum, līberōrum: asyndeton, 'of slaves and free men'.
B. Afr. 23.1in quō oppidō praesidium fuit rēgium.
in this town there was a royal garrison.
Note. praesidium rēgium: a garrison of King Bogud.
B. Afr. 23.2Pompēiō adveniente oppidānī usque eō passī propius accēdere, dōnec ad ipsās portās ac mūrum adpropinquāret, subitō ēruptiōne factā prōstrātōs perterritōsque Pompēiānōs in mare nāvēsque passim compulērunt.
As Pompeius came near, the townspeople let him approach right up until he was close to the very gates and wall; then they suddenly made a sally, and drove the Pompeians, beaten down and terrified, helter-skelter into the sea and their ships.
Note. Pompeiō adveniente: ablative absolute with a present participle. ūsque eō … dōnec: 'right up until'. passī: perfect participle of the deponent patior, 'having allowed (him) to approach'; the main verb is compulērunt.
B. Afr. 23.3Ita rē male gestā Cn. Pompēius fīlius nāvēs inde āvertit neque posteā lītus adtigit classemque ad īnsulās Baleārēs versus convertit.
After this failure Gnaeus Pompeius the son turned his ships away from there, did not touch land again afterwards, and turned his fleet towards the Balearic Islands.
Note. Ita rē male gestā: 'the affair having gone badly'. ad īnsulās Baleārēs versus: versus after ad marks direction, 'towards'. adtigit is the unassimilated spelling of attigit.
Vocabulary
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| verbum, -ī, n. | word |
| homō, hominis, m. | man |
| gravis, -e | heavy; severe, grievous, serious |
| incitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | stir up, provoke |
| adulēscentulus, -ī m. | a very young man |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| nāvicula, -ae f. | small boat |
| cuiusquemodī, indecl. | of every kind, of any sort |
| genus, generis, n. | kind, nature |
| Roman numeral | a number written with letters: I 1, V 5, X 10, L 50, C 100, D 500, M 1000 |
| inibī, adv. | therein, among them; just then |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| rōstrātus, -a, -um | having a beak; (of ships) fitted with a ram |
| proficīscor, -ficīscī, -fectus sum | set out, depart, march |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| regnum, -ī, n. | royal power, rule, throne; kingdom, realm |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| ingredior, -ī, ingressus sum | go into, enter |
| expedītus, -a, -um | unobstructed, easy; lightly equipped |
| exercitus, -ūs, m. | army |
| servus, -ī, m. | slave, servant |
| līber, lībera, līberum | free |
| mīlle, indecl. adj. | a thousand; mīlia, -ium, n. plur., thousands; |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| inermis, -e | unarmed |
| armō, -āre, -āvi, -ātus | arm, equip |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| oppidum, -ī, n. | town |
| accēdō, -ere, accessī, accessum | come near, approach; be added |
| coepī, coepisse, coeptus (used in tenses of completed action) | have begun, began |
| praesidium, -ī, n. | protection; guard, escort |
| rēgius, -a, -um | royal, kingly |
| adveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus | come to or toward, approach, arrive |
| oppidānus, -ī m. | townsman (pl. the people of the town) |
| ūsque, adv. | all the time; ūsque ad, as far as, until; quō ūsque, see quō |
| eō (adv.) | to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more) |
| patior, patī, passus, bear | suffer, allow |
| prope (adv. and prep. + acc.) | near, nearly |
| dōnec (conj.) | until; while, as long as |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| porta, -ae, f. | gate; door |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| mūrus, -ī, m. | wall |
| appropinquō, -propinquāre, -propinquāvī, -propinquātus | approach to, approach |
| subitō, adv. | unexpectedly, suddenly |
| ēruptiō, -ōnis f. | sally, sortie |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| prōsternō, -sternere, -strāvī, -strātus | strew or spread before, throw or knock down |
| perterreō, -terrēre, -terrui, -territus | thoroughly frighten, terrify |
| mare, maris, n. | sea |
| nāvis, -is, f. | ship |
| passim (adv.) | here and there, in all directions |
| compellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsus | drive together, drive |
| ita, adv. | in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| male, adv. | badly, ill |
| gerō, gerere, gessī, gestus | carry, wear; carry on, do |
| fīlius, -ī, m. | son |
| inde (adv.) | from there; then |
| āvertō, -ere, āvertī, āversum | turn away, turn aside |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| posteā, adv. | after this, afterwards |
| lītus, lītoris, n. | shore |
| attingō, -tingere, -tigī, -tāctus | touch at |
| classis, -is f. | fleet |
| īnsula, -ae, f. | island |
| Baleārēs, -ium | of the Balearic Islands (famous for slingers) |
| versus (adv.) | toward, in the direction of (often after ad or in + acc.) |
| convertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus | turn round, turn, change; in fugam convertere, to put to flight |