Bellum Africum 88

B. Afr. 88.1Complūrēs interim ex fugā Uticam perveniunt.

Meanwhile many men reached Utica from the rout.

Note. ex fugā: 'from the rout', i.e. survivors of Thapsus.

B. Afr. 88.1Quōs omnēs Catō convocātōs ūnā cum CCC, quī pecūniam Scīpiōnī ad bellum faciendum contulerant, hortātur, ut servitia manūmitterent oppidumque dēfenderent.

Cato called them all together, along with the Three Hundred, who had contributed money to Scipio for waging the war, and urged them to free their slaves and defend the town.

Note. CCC: 'the Three Hundred', a body of Roman businessmen at Utica who had financed Scipio's war. servitia manūmitterent: freeing slaves to fight was a desperate measure, a sign that the town was lost.

B. Afr. 88.2Quōrum cum partem adsentīre, partem animum mentemque perterritam atque in fugam dēstinātam habēre intellēxisset, amplius dē eā rē agere dēstitit nāvēsque hīs attribuit, ut, in quās quisque partēs vellet, proficīscerētur.

When he realised that some of them agreed, but others had their minds terrified and set on flight, he gave up discussing the matter any further and assigned ships to them, so that each could set out for wherever he wished.

Note. partem … partem: 'some … others'. adsentīre: 'agreed', in an accusative and infinitive after intellēxisset. in fugam dēstinātam: 'set on flight'. in quās quisque partēs vellet: 'to whatever parts each wished'.

B. Afr. 88.3Ipse omnibus rēbus dīligentissimē cōnstitūtīs, līberīs suīs L. Caesarī, quī tum eī prō quaestōre fuerat, commendātīs, et sine suspīciōne, vultū atque sermōne, quō superiōre tempore ūsus fuerat, cum dormītum īsset, ferrum intrō clam in cubiculum tulit atque ita sē trāiēcit.

He himself, after settling all his affairs most carefully and entrusting his children to Lucius Caesar, who was then his proquaestor, without arousing any suspicion, and with the look and manner of speaking he had always used, went to bed, secretly took a sword into his bedroom, and so ran himself through.

Note. līberīs … commendātīs: ablative absolute. L. Caesarī: L. Iulius Caesar, a kinsman of the dictator and Cato's proquaestor. prō quaestōre: 'as acting quaestor'. vultū atque sermōne, quō … ūsus fuerat: utor takes the ablative. dormītum: supine of purpose after a verb of motion, 'to sleep'. Later writers (Plutarch) add that Cato read Plato's Phaedo on the soul before he died; this author tells it plainly.

B. Afr. 88.4Quī cum anima nōndum exspīrāta concīdisset, et impetū factō in cubiculum ex suspīciōne medicus familiārēsque continēre vulnus atque obligāre coepissent, ipse suīs manibus vulnus crūdēlissimē dīvellit atque animō praesentī sē interēmit.

He collapsed before he had breathed his last, and when the doctor and his household, suspecting something, burst into the bedroom and began to close and bind the wound, he tore the wound open with his own hands most savagely and, with his presence of mind intact, killed himself.

Note. animā nondum exspīrātā: 'with his breath not yet breathed out'. impetū factō: 'rushing in'. ex suspīciōne: 'out of suspicion'. crūdēlissimē: superlative adverb. animō praesentī: 'with a steady mind'. Cato's suicide made him the great martyr of the Republic.

B. Afr. 88.5Quem Uticēnsēs quamquam ōderant partium grātiā, tamen propter eius singulārem integritātem, et quod dissimillimus reliquōrum ducum fuerat quodque Uticam mīrificīs operibus mūnierat turribusque auxerat, sepultūrā adficiunt.

Though the people of Utica hated him for his politics, still, because of his exceptional integrity, and because he had been utterly unlike the other leaders, and because he had fortified Utica with wonderful works and strengthened it with towers, they gave him burial.

Note. partium grātiā: 'because of party', i.e. his politics. quod … quodque: 'because … and because'. dissimillimus reliquōrum ducum: dissimilis can take the genitive. sepultūrā afficiunt: 'honour him with burial'.

B. Afr. 88.6Quō interfectō L. Caesar ut aliquid sibi ex eā rē auxiliī parāret convocātō populō cōntiōne habitā cohortātur omnēs, ut portae aperīrentur: sē in C. Caesaris clēmentiā magnam spem habēre.

After his death Lucius Caesar, to win something for himself out of the affair, called the people together, held an assembly and urged them all to open the gates: he had great hope, he said, in Gaius Caesar's mercy.

Note. Quō interfectō: Cato killed himself, but the writer uses the ordinary passive. ut aliquid sibi … auxiliī parāret: partitive genitive, 'to win some help for himself'. sē … habēre: reported speech; C. Caesaris is the dictator, to distinguish him from L. Caesar.

B. Afr. 88.7Itaque portīs patefactīs Uticā ēgressus Caesarī imperātōrī obviam proficīscitur.

So the gates were thrown open, and he left Utica and set out to meet Caesar, the commander.

Note. Caesarī imperātōrī obviam: obviam takes the dative, 'to meet Caesar'.

B. Afr. 88.7Messāla, ut erat imperātum, Uticam pervēnit omnibusque portīs custōdiās pōnit.

Messala reached Utica as he had been ordered and posted guards at all the gates.

Note. ut erat imperātum: impersonal passive, 'as he had been ordered'. omnibus … portīs: dative with pōnit, 'at all the gates'.