Bellum Africum 57

B. Afr. 57.1Quod postquam Scīpiō, quīque cum eō erant, cognōvērunt, cum commōtī ex tālī incommodō essent, ferē per id tempus M. Aquīnium cum C. Sasernā conloquentem vīdērunt.

When Scipio and those who were with him learned of this, while they were disturbed by such a setback, at about the same time they saw Marcus Aquinius talking with Gaius Saserna.

Note. quīque = et quī, 'and those who'. cum commōtī … essent: circumstantial cum. M. Aquinius was a Pompeian senator; C. Saserna was one of Caesar's officers.

B. Afr. 57.2Scīpiō mittit ad Aquīnium, nihil adtinēre eum cum adversāriīs conloquī.

Scipio sent word to Aquinius that there was no point in his talking with the enemy.

Note. Indirect command reported as statement: Scipio sends word that 'there is no point (nihil attinēre) in his talking with the enemy'.

B. Afr. 57.2Cum nihilō minus eius sermōnem nūntius ad Scīpiōnem referret, sed restāre, ut reliqua, quae vellet, perageret, viātor praetereā ab Iubā ad eum est missus, quī dīceret audiente Sasernā: "Vetat tē rēx conloquī".

When the messenger nevertheless brought back to Scipio his reply, but that it remained for him to finish what else he wished, a courier was also sent to him by Juba, to say in Saserna's hearing: "The king forbids you to talk."

Note. The editor marks this passage as corrupt: the words sed restāre are not sound, and the sense is only roughly 'but (that Aquinius said) it remained for him to finish the rest'. audiente Sasernā: ablative absolute, 'in Saserna's hearing'. viātor: a messenger or courier.

B. Afr. 57.3Quō nūntiō perterritus discessit et dictō audiēns fuit rēgī.

Terrified by this message, he went away and obeyed the king.

Note. dictō audiēns esse + dative: an idiom, 'to obey' (literally 'to be listening to the word').

B. Afr. 57.3Ūsū vēnisse hoc cīvī Rōmānō et eī, quī ab populō Rōmānō honōrēs accēpisset, incolumī patriā fortūnīsque omnibus Iubae barbarō potius oboedientem fuisse, quam aut Scīpiōnis obtemperāsse nūntiō aut caesīs eiusdem partis cīvibus incolumem revertī mālle!

That this should have happened to a Roman citizen, and to one who had received honours from the Roman people, that while his country and all his fortunes were safe he should have been obedient to Juba, a barbarian, rather than either obey Scipio's message or, when the citizens of the same party had been killed, prefer to return home safe!

Note. An exclamatory infinitive: 'That this should have happened to a Roman citizen …!' incolumī patriā fortūnīsque omnibus: ablative absolute, 'while his country and all his fortunes were safe'.

B. Afr. 57.4Atque etiam superbius Iubae factum nōn in M. Aquīnium, hominem novum parvumque senātōrem, sed in Scīpiōnem, hominem illā familiā, dignitāte, honōribus praestantem.

And Juba's deed was still more arrogant, not towards Marcus Aquinius, a new man and a junior senator, but towards Scipio, a man outstanding in that family of his, in rank and in honours.

Note. superbius … factum: a comparative adjective with the noun factum, 'a more arrogant act'. homo novus: a man whose family had not held high office before. illā familiā: Scipio was a Caecilius Metellus by birth, adopted by a Scipio.

B. Afr. 57.5Namque cum Scīpiō sagulō purpureō ante rēgis adventum utī solitus esset, dīcitur Iuba cum eō ēgisse, nōn oportēre illum eōdem utī vestītū, atque ipse ūterētur.

For when Scipio, before the king's arrival, had been accustomed to wear a purple cloak, Juba is said to have told him that he ought not to wear the same dress as he himself wore.

Note. sagulum: a small military cloak; purple was a general's colour, and Juba claimed it as royal. atque ipse ūterētur: after īdem, atque means 'as', 'the same dress as he himself wore'.

B. Afr. 57.6Itaque factum est, ut Scīpiō ad album sēsē vestītum trānsferret et Iubae, hominī superbissimō ineptissimōque, obtemperāret.

So it came about that Scipio changed to white dress and obeyed Juba, a most arrogant and most foolish man.

Note. factum est ut: 'it came about that', followed by a result clause. sēsē: an emphatic form of sē.