Bellum Alexandrinum 21

Caesar's escape by swimming

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B. Alex. 21.1Caesar quoad potuit cohortandō suōs ad pontem ac mūnītiōnēs continēre, eōdem in perīculō versātus est;As long as Caesar could keep his men at the bridge and the fortifications by encouraging them, he shared the same danger;Note. quoad: 'as long as'. cohortandō: ablative gerund, 'by encouraging'. B. Alex. 21.1postquam ūniversōs cēdere animadvertit, in suum nāvigium sē recēpit.when he saw that they were all giving way, he withdrew to his own vessel.Note. This sentence begins Caesar's famous escape by swimming (Plutarch adds that he held papers above the water). B. Alex. 21.2Quō multitūdō hominum īnsecūta cum inrumperet, neque administrandī neque repellendī ā terrā facultās darētur, fore, quod accidit, suspicātus sēsē ex nāvigiō ēiēcit atque ad eās, quae longius cōnstiterant, nāvēs adnatāvit.When a crowd of men followed him and burst in, so that there was no chance either to steer it or to push it off from the land, he guessed what would happen, threw himself out of the vessel and swam to the ships which were standing further off.Note. fore, quod accidit: 'that what did happen would happen'. administrandī … repellendī: genitive gerunds with facultās. sēsē: emphatic sē. B. Alex. 21.3Hinc suīs labōrantibus subsidiō scaphās mittēns nōnnūllōs cōnservāvit.From there he sent skiffs to help his men in difficulty and saved a number of them.Note. suīs labōrantibus subsidiō: double dative, 'as help for his men in trouble'. B. Alex. 21.3Nāvigium quidem eius multitūdine dēpressum mīlitum ūnā cum hominibus interiit.His own vessel was sunk by the number of soldiers and went down together with the men.Note. ūnā cum hominibus: 'together with the men'.

B. Alex. 21.4Hōc proeliō dēsīderātī sunt ex numerō legiōnāriōrum mīlitum circiter CCCC et paulō ultrā eum numerum classiāriī et rēmigēs.In this battle about four hundred of the legionary soldiers were lost, and a little more than that number of marines and rowers.Note. dēsīderātī sunt: 'were lost' (missed at the count). cccc: 400. B. Alex. 21.5Alexandrīnī eō locō castellum magnīs mūnītiōnibus multīsque tormentīs cōnfirmārunt atque ēgestīs ex marī lapidibus līberē sunt ūsī posteā ad mittenda nāvigia.The Alexandrians strengthened the redoubt at that spot with great fortifications and many pieces of artillery, and after clearing the stones out of the sea they afterwards used the passage freely to send out their vessels.Note. ēgestīs ex marī lapidibus: they cleared the stones Caesar had used to block the arch (ch. 19).

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×4, indirect statement ×1, cum clauses ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (83 words)

quoad (conj.)	as long as; until
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
cohortor, -hortārī, -hortātus	encourage, exhort
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
pōns, pontis, m.	bridge
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
mūnītiō, -ōnis f.	fortification, defence works
contineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus	hold together, keep within, shut up in; bound
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
perīculum, -ī, n.	danger, peril, risk
versor, -ārī, -ātus	keep turning, be busy or employed, be
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
postquam, conj.	later than, after, when
ūniversus, -a, -um	all together, whole, entire, all
cēdō, -ere, cessī, cessum	go, withdraw, give way
animadvertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus	turn the mind to, observe
nāvigium, -ī n.	vessel, ship
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover
quō, adv.	to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long?
multitūdō, -tūdinis, f.	multitude
homō, hominis, m.	man
īnsequor, -sequī, -secūtus	follow upon or up, pursue
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
inrumpō, -rumpere, -rūpī, -ruptus	burst into or in
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
administrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	manage, carry out
repellō, repellere, reppulī, repulsus	drive back or away, repulse, repel
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
terra, -ae, f.	land, earth
facultās, -tātis, f.	possibility, opportunity, chance, means
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
accidō, -cidere, -cidī	fall to or upon; befall, happen
suspicor, -spicārī, -spicātus	suspect
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
ēiciō, -ere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw out; sē ēicere: rush out
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
longē, adv.	far
cōnsistō, -sistere, -stitī, -stitus	station oneself, take one's stand; consist
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
adnatō, -āre, -āvī	swim to, swim up to
hinc, adv.	from this place, hence
labōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	labor, toil
subsidium, -ī, n.	reserve, reinforcement, support, help
scapha, -ae, f.	boat, skiff
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
nōnnūllus, -a, -um	not none, some, several
cōnservō, -servāre, -servāvī, -servātus	preserve, keep
quidem, adv.	in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even
dēprimō, -ere, -pressī, -pressum	press down, sink; depressus: sunk below ground
mīles, mīlitis, m.	soldier
ūnā	together, along
cum, prep, with abl.	with
intereō, -īre, -iī, -itūrus	perish, die
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
proelium, -ī, n.	battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle
dēsīderō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	long for, miss; require
numerus, -ī, m.	number
legiōnārius, -a, -um	of a legion, legionary
circiter, prep. with acc. and adv.	about
Roman numeral	a number written with letters: I 1, V 5, X 10, L 50, C 100, D 500, M 1000
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
paulō, adv.	by a little, a little, somewhat
ultrā (prep. + acc.)	beyond
classiārius, -ī m.	marine, sailor of the fleet
rēmex, -igis m.	rower
Alexandrīnus, -a, -um	of Alexandria, Alexandrian (bellum Alexandrīnum: the war Caesar fought at Alexandria, 48-47 BC)
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
castellum, -ī n.	fort, redoubt
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
multus, -a, -um	much, great; plur., many
que, enclitic conj.	and
tormentum, -ī n.	artillery, siege engine
cōnfirmō, -firmāre, -firmāvī, -firmātus	strengthen, establish; declare, assert
ēgerō, -gerere, -gessī, -gestus	carry out, bring out; throw up, vomit
mare, maris, n.	sea
lapis, -idis, m.	stone
līberē (adv.; comp. līberius)	freely, frankly
ūtor, ūtī, ūsus	use
posteā, adv.	after this, afterwards

Hirtius, Bellum Alexandrinum. Latin text: B. Kübler and E. Wölfflin, C. Iulii Caesaris Commentarii, vol. III (Leipzig: Teubner, 1896–97), public domain; transcribed for this app from the Internet Archive scan. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.