Bellum Africum 97

B. Afr. 97.1Caesar interim Zamae auctiōne rēgiā factā bonīsque eōrum vēnditīs, quī cīvēs Rōmānī contrā populum Rōmānum arma tulerant, praemiīsque Zamēnsibus, quī dē rēge exclūdendō cōnsilium cēperant, tribūtīs vectīgālibusque rēgiīs inrogātīs ex regnōque prōvinciā factā atque ibi C. Sallustiō prō cōnsule cum imperiō relictō ipse Zamā ēgressus Uticam sē recēpit.

Meanwhile at Zama Caesar held an auction of the king's property and sold the goods of those Roman citizens who had borne arms against the Roman people; he gave rewards to the people of Zama, who had decided to shut out the king, imposed the royal taxes and revenues, made the kingdom into a province and left Gaius Sallustius there as proconsul with full command; then he himself left Zama and returned to Utica.

Note. A long period of ablatives absolute: auctiōne … factā, bonīs … venditīs, praemiīs … tribūtīs, vectīgālibus … inrogātīs, prōvinciā factā, Sallustiō … relictō. dē rēge exclūdendō: gerundive, 'about shutting out the king'. prōvinciā factā: Juba's kingdom became the new province of Africa Nova. C. Sallustiō: the historian Sallust, its first governor, who was later accused of plundering it.

B. Afr. 97.2Ibi bonīs vēnditīs eōrum, quī sub Iubā Petrēiōque ōrdinēs dūxerant, Thapsitānīs HS XX, conventuī eōrum HS XXX, itemque Hadrūmētīnīs HS XXX, conventuī eōrum HS L multae nōmine impōnit;

There he sold the goods of those who had served as centurions under Juba and Petreius, and imposed as a fine twenty thousand sesterces on the people of Thapsus and thirty thousand on their association of Roman citizens, and likewise thirty thousand on the people of Hadrumetum and fifty thousand on their association;

Note. HS: the sign for sesterces; HS XX = 20,000 sesterces, as the numbers after HS are normally read in thousands. conventuī eōrum: the association of Roman citizens doing business in the town. multae nōmine: 'by way of a fine'.

B. Afr. 97.2cīvitātēs bonaque eōrum ab omnī iniūriā rapīnīsque dēfendit.

their cities and property he protected from all injury and plunder.

Note. The cities themselves are protected once the fines are paid; the punishment falls on property, not lives.

B. Afr. 97.3Leptitānōs, quōrum superiōribus annīs bona Iuba dīripuerat, et ad senātum questī per lēgātōs atque arbitrīs ā senātū datīs sua recēperant, XXX centēnīs mīlibus pondō oleī in annōs singulōs multat, ideō quod initiō per dissēnsiōnem prīncipum societātem cum Iubā inierant eumque armīs, mīlitibus, pecūniā iūverant.

The people of Leptis, whose property Juba had plundered in earlier years, and who had complained to the senate through envoys and recovered their own after arbitrators were appointed by the senate, he fined three million pounds of oil a year, because at the start, through a quarrel among their leading men, they had made an alliance with Juba and helped him with arms, soldiers and money.

Note. Leptitānōs: the people of Leptis (Minor), on the coast near Hadrumetum. arbitrīs … datīs: ablative absolute. XXX centēnīs mīlibus pondō oleī: 'three million pounds of oil', thirty times a hundred thousand. pondō: an old ablative, 'by weight', used with numbers to mean 'pounds'. in annōs singulōs: 'every year'. per dissēnsiōnem prīncipum: 'through a quarrel among their leading men'.

B. Afr. 97.4Thysdritānōs propter humilitātem cīvitātis certō numerō frūmentī multat.

The people of Thysdra, because their community was poor, he fined a fixed quantity of grain.

Note. propter humilitātem cīvitātis: 'because of the poverty of the town'. certō numerō frūmentī: ablative of the penalty with multat, 'fines them a fixed amount of grain'.