Bellum Africum 80

B. Afr. 80.1Erat stagnum salīnārum, inter quod et mare angustiae quaedam nōn amplius mīlle et D passūs intererant;

There was a salt lake, and between it and the sea lay a narrow strip not more than fifteen hundred paces wide;

Note. stagnum salīnārum: a salt lagoon behind Thapsus. mīlle et D passūs: 'fifteen hundred paces', accusative of extent.

B. Afr. 80.1quās Scīpiō intrāre et Thapsitānīs auxilium ferre cōnābātur.

through this Scipio was trying to get in and bring help to the people of Thapsus.

Note. quās: refers to angustiae, the strip of land.

B. Afr. 80.2Quod futūrum Caesarem nōn fefellerat.

That this would happen had not escaped Caesar.

Note. Quod futūrum (esse): 'that this would happen', subject of fefellerat. fallō: 'escape the notice of'.

B. Afr. 80.2Namque prīdiē in eō locō castellō mūnītō ibique III cohortium praesidiō relictō ipse cum reliquīs cōpiīs lūnātīs castrīs Thapsum operibus circummūnīvit.

For the day before he had built a fort at that spot and left a garrison of three cohorts there, while he himself with the rest of his forces surrounded Thapsus with siege works in a crescent-shaped camp.

Note. castellō mūnītō … praesidiō relictō: ablatives absolute. lūnātīs castrīs: a crescent-shaped camp enclosing the town on the landward side.

B. Afr. 80.3Scīpiō interim exclūsus ab inceptō itinere suprā stagnum posterō diē et nocte cōnfectā caelō albente nōn longē ā castrīs praesidiōque, quod suprā commemorāvī, MD passibus ad mare versus cōnsēdit et castra mūnīre coepit.

Meanwhile Scipio, shut out from the route he had begun, went on above the lake through the next day and night, and as the sky grew light he settled not far from the camp and garrison I mentioned above, fifteen hundred paces towards the sea, and began to fortify a camp.

Note. exclūsus ab inceptō itinere: 'shut out from the route he had begun'. caelō albente: 'as the sky was whitening', at dawn. suprā commemorāvī: the first person again. ad mare versus: 'towards the sea'.

B. Afr. 80.4Quod postquam Caesarī nūntiātum est, mīlite ab opere dēductō, castrīs praesidiō Asprēnāte prōcōnsule cum legiōnibus duābus relictō ipse cum expedītā cōpiā in eum locum citātim contendit, classisque parte ad Thapsum relictā reliquās nāvēs iubet post hostium tergum quam maximē ad lītus adpellī signumque suum observāre, quō signō datō subitō clāmōre factō ex imprōvīsō hostibus āversīs incuterent terrōrem, ut perturbātī ac perterritī respicere post terga cōgerentur.

When this was reported to Caesar, he took his soldiers off the work, left the proconsul Asprenas to guard the camp with two legions, and hurried at speed to that place himself with a force ready for action; he left part of the fleet at Thapsus and ordered the rest of the ships to put in to shore behind the enemy's back as close as possible and to watch for his signal, so that when the signal was given they should raise a sudden shout and strike terror into the enemy from behind without warning, and the enemy, thrown into confusion and terrified, would be forced to look back behind them.

Note. Quod postquam Caesarī nūntiātum est: 'after this was reported to Caesar'. castrīs praesidiō: double dative, 'as a guard for the camp'. quam maximē: 'as close as possible'. quō signō datō: 'and when this signal was given'. hostibus āversīs: dative with incuterent, 'on the enemy from behind'.