Bellum Alexandrinum 19

B. Alex. 19.1Caesar praedā mīlitibus concessā aedificia dīripī iussit castellumque ad pontem, quī propior erat Pharō, commūnīvit atque ibi praesidium posuit.

Caesar gave the plunder to his soldiers and ordered the buildings to be sacked, and he fortified a redoubt at the bridge which was nearer to Pharos and placed a garrison there.

Note. praedā … concessā: ablative absolute. castellum ad pontem: one of the two bridges on the Heptastadion; Pharō is dative with propior.

B. Alex. 19.2Hunc fugā Pharītae relīquerant;

The Pharitae had abandoned this one in their flight;

Note. hunc: the bridge (pōns) nearer Pharos.

B. Alex. 19.2fortiōrem illum propiōremque oppidō Alexandrīnī tuēbantur.

the other, stronger one, nearer the town, the Alexandrians were holding.

Note. fortiōrem illum: the other bridge, nearer the city.

B. Alex. 19.2Sed eum posterō diē similī ratiōne adgreditur, quod hīs obtentīs duōbus omnem nāvigiōrum excursum et repentīna latrōcinia sublātum īrī vidēbat.

But he attacked it the next day in the same way, because he saw that once these two were in his hands, all sallies of their vessels and their sudden raids would be stopped.

Note. hīs obtentīs duōbus: 'once these two were held'. sublātum īrī: future passive infinitive (supine + īrī), 'would be removed'.

B. Alex. 19.3Iamque eōs, quī praesidiō eum locum tenēbant, tormentīs ex nāvibus sagittīsque dēpulerat atque in oppidum redēgerat et cohortium trium īnstar in terram exposuerat— nōn enim plūrēs cōnsistere angustiae locī patiēbantur—;

And he had already driven those who held that position as a garrison from it with artillery and arrows from his ships, forced them back into the town, and landed about three cohorts' worth of men, for the narrowness of the place did not allow more to stand there;

Note. cohortium trium īnstar: 'the equivalent of three cohorts'; īnstar takes the genitive. The dashes enclose a parenthesis.

B. Alex. 19.3reliquae cōpiae in nāvibus statiōnem obtinēbant.

the rest of his forces kept their station on board the ships.

Note. statiōnem obtinēbant: 'kept their station'.

B. Alex. 19.4Quō factō imperat pontem adversus hostem praevallārī et, quā exitus nāvibus erat fornice exstrūctō, quō pōns sustinēbātur, lapidibus opplērī atque obstruī.

When this was done, he ordered the bridge to be fenced with a rampart facing the enemy, and the place where the ships had their passage out, under the vaulted arch on which the bridge rested, to be filled and blocked with stones.

Note. imperat … praevallārī et … opplērī atque obstruī: passive infinitives after imperat, as often when no person is named. quā: 'where'. fornice exstrūctō, quō pōns sustinēbātur: the arch under the bridge that let ships pass.

B. Alex. 19.5Quōrum alterō opere effectō, ut nūlla omnīnō scapha ēgredī posset, alterō īnstitūtō omnēs Alexandrīnōrum cōpiae ex oppidō sē ēiēcērunt et contrā mūnītiōnēs pontis lātiōre locō cōnstitērunt, eōdemque tempore quae cōnsuēverant nāvigia per pontēs ad incendia onerāriārum ēmittere, ad mōlem cōnstituērunt.

When the one task had been completed, so that not a single skiff could get out, and the other had been begun, all the forces of the Alexandrians poured out of the town and took up position on fairly open ground facing the fortifications of the bridge, and at the same time they stationed at the mole the vessels which they had been accustomed to send out under the bridges to set fire to our transports.

Note. quōrum alterō … alterō: 'one of these (tasks) … the other'. ut nūlla … posset: result. lātiōre locō: 'on broader ground'. quae cōnsuēverant nāvigia … ēmittere: the antecedent nāvigia is drawn into the relative clause.

B. Alex. 19.6Pugnābātur ā nōbīs ex ponte et ex mōle;

We fought from the bridge and from the mole;

Note. pugnābātur: impersonal passive, 'there was fighting'.

B. Alex. 19.6ab illīs ex āreā, quae erat adversus pontem, et ex nāvibus contrā mōlem.

they fought from the open space which faced the bridge, and from their ships against the mole.

Note. Verb understood from the previous sentence: '(fighting was done) by them'. ārea: 'open space'.