Bellum Africum 23

Young Pompey fails at Ascurum

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B. 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.

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Grammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×3

Latin vocabulary for this passage (75 words)

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

Anonymous, Bellum Africum. Latin text: B. Kübler and E. Wölfflin, C. Iulii Caesaris Commentarii, vol. III (Leipzig: Teubner, 1896–97), public domain; transcribed for this app from the Internet Archive scan. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.