Bellum Alexandrinum 28

King and Caesar march on Mithridates

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B. Alex. 28.1Mittitur ā Mithridate nūntius Caesarī, quī rem gestam perferret.A messenger was sent by Mithridates to Caesar to report what had happened.Note. quī rem gestam perferret: relative clause of purpose. B. Alex. 28.1Cognōscit ex suīs eadem haec accidisse rēx.The king learned from his own men that the same had happened.Note. eadem haec accidisse: 'that these same things had happened'. B. Alex. 28.1Ita paene sub idem tempus et rēx ad opprimendum Mithridātēn proficīscitur et Caesar ad recipiendum.So at almost the same time the king set out to crush Mithridates and Caesar to relieve him.Note. sub idem tempus: 'about the same time'. ad opprimendum Mithridātēn: gerundive of purpose; ad recipiendum: 'to relieve (him)'. B. Alex. 28.2Celeriōre flūminis Nīlī nāvigātiōne rēx est ūsus, in quō magnam et parātam classem habēbat.The king made use of the quicker passage along the river Nile, on which he had a large fleet ready;Note. ūsus est takes the ablative (celeriōre … nāvigātiōne). B. Alex. 28.2Caesar eōdem itinere utī nōluit, nē nāvibus in flūmine dīmicāret, sed circumvectus est eō marī, quod Āfricae partis esse dīcitur, sīcutī suprā dēmōnstrāvimus;Caesar did not want to use the same route, so as not to fight on the river with ships, but sailed round by that sea which is said to belong to Africa, as we have shown above;Note. circumvectus est: 'sailed round'. quod Āfricae partis esse dīcitur: 'which is said to be part of Africa', i.e. the sea west of the Delta; sīcutī suprā dēmōnstrāvimus refers to a passage not in our text. B. Alex. 28.2prius tamen rēgis cōpiīs occurrit, quam is Mithridātēn adgredī posset, eumque ad sē victōrem incolumī exercitū recēpit.yet he met the king's forces before the king could attack Mithridates, and welcomed him, victorious and with his army unharmed.Note. prius … quam … posset: 'before he could'. ad sē … recēpit: 'took (him) into his company'.

B. Alex. 28.3Cōnsēderat cum cōpiīs rēx locō nātūrā mūnītō, quod erat ipse excelsior plānitiē ex omnibus partibus subiectā;The king had encamped with his forces in a place fortified by nature, because it was itself higher than the plain that lay below it on every side;Note. cōnsēderat: 'had encamped'. excelsior plāniē: ablative of comparison. B. Alex. 28.3tribus autem ex lateribus variī generis mūnītiōnibus tegēbātur: ūnum latus erat adiectum flūminī Nīlō, alterum ēditissimō locō ductum, ut partem castrōrum obtinēret, tertium palūde cingēbātur.and on three sides it was protected by fortifications of different kinds: one side lay along the river Nile, the second ran up to very high ground, so as to take in part of the camp, and the third was surrounded by a marsh.Note. ūnum … alterum … tertium: the three sides. ēditissimō locō: 'very high ground'.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×2, purpose clauses ×2, ablative absolute ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (88 words)

mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
nūntius, -ī, m.	messenger; message
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestus	carry, wear; carry on, do
perferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear through, bear, endure; weather
cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus	find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
accidō, -cidere, -cidī	fall to or upon; befall, happen
rēx, rēgis, m.	king
ita, adv.	in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
paene, adv.	almost, nearly
sub, prep. with acc. and abl.	under; sub vesperum, towards evening
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
opprimō, -primere, -pressī, -pressus	press against, overpower, crush
proficīscor, -ficīscī, -fectus sum	set out, depart, march
recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover
celer, celeris, celere	swift, quick
flūmen, -minis, n.	river
nāvigātiō, -ōnis, f.	sailing, navigation, voyage
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
ūtor, ūtī, ūsus	use
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
parātus, -a, -um	prepared, equipped, ready
classis, -is f.	fleet
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	have, hold; consider
iter, itineris, n.	a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march
nōlō, nōlle, nōluī	not wish, be unwilling
nē, adv.	not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
dīmicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	fight
sed, conj.	but
circumvehor, -vehī, -vectus sum	ride around
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
mare, maris, n.	sea
pars, partis, f.	part, side, direction
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus	say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
sīcutī (adv.)	just as, as
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.	above, before
dēmōnstrō, -mōnstrāre, -mōnstrāvī, -mōnstrātus	point out, show; make known
prius, adv.	before, first
tamen, adv.	however, yet, nevertheless
cōpia, -ae, f.	supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops
occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursus	run against, meet
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
adgredior, -gredī, -gressus sum	approach; address; attack; undertake
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
que, enclitic conj.	and
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
victor, -ōris m.	conqueror, victor
incolumis, -e	unhurt, safe
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
cōnsīdō, -sīdere, -sēdī, -sessus	sit down
cum, prep, with abl.	with
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
nātūra, -ae, f.	nature, character
mūniō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	fortify
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
excelsus, -a, -um	high, tall
plānitiēs, -ēī f.	plain, level ground
omnis, -e	all, every
subiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw or place under
trēs, tria, plur. adj.	three
autem, conj.	moreover; but, however; now
latus, lateris n.	side, flank
varius, -a, -um	various
genus, generis, n.	kind, nature
mūnītiō, -ōnis f.	fortification, defence works
tegō, tegere, tēxī, tēctus	cover
ūnus, -a, -um	one; only, alone
adiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw to, throw, hurl
alter, -era, -erum	one or the other (of two); another, second
ēditus, -a, -um	raised, high
dūcō, dūcere, dūxī, ductus	lead; make, dig; with or without in mātrimōnium, marry
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
castra, -ōrum, n. plur.	camp
obtineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus	hold
tertius, -a, -um	third
pālus, -ī, m.	stake
cingō, cingere, cinxī, cinctus	surround, gird

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.