Bellum Alexandrinum 30

B. Alex. 30.1Caesar rē praeclārissimē gestā cum subitum adventum suum iūdicāret magnum terrōrem Alexandrīnīs iniectūrum, prōtinus victor ad castra rēgis pertendit.

Caesar, having won this splendid success, and judging that his sudden arrival would strike great terror into the Alexandrians, pressed on at once as victor to the king's camp.

Note. iniectūrum (esse): future infinitive after iūdicāret. pertendit: 'pressed on'.

B. Alex. 30.2Haec cum et opere magnō vallāta et locī nātūrā mūnīta animadverteret cōnfertamque armātōrum multitūdinem collocātam in vallō vidēret, lassōs itinere ac proeliandō mīlitēs ad oppugnanda castra succēdere nōluit.

When he saw that it was protected both by great earthworks and by the nature of the ground, and saw a dense mass of armed men posted on the rampart, he was unwilling to send his soldiers, tired from the march and the fighting, to attack the camp.

Note. haec: the king's camp (castra, neuter plural). ad oppugnanda castra: gerundive of purpose.

B. Alex. 30.2Itaque nōn magnō intervallō relictō ab hoste castra posuit.

So he pitched camp at no great distance from the enemy.

Note. nōn magnō intervallō relictō: ablative absolute.

B. Alex. 30.3Posterō diē castellum, quod rēx in proximō vīcō nōn longē ā suīs castrīs mūnierat brachiīsque cum opere castrōrum coniūnxerat vīcī obtinendī causā, Caesar adgressus omnibus cōpiīs expugnat, nōn quō id minōre numerō mīlitum cōnsequī difficile factū putāret, sed ut ab eā victōriā perterritīs Alexandrīnīs prōtinus castra rēgis oppugnāret.

The next day, with all his forces, Caesar attacked and stormed a redoubt which the king had fortified in a nearby village not far from his camp and joined to the works of the camp by connecting walls, in order to hold the village; not because he thought it hard to achieve with a smaller number of soldiers, but so that, with the Alexandrians terrified by that victory, he might attack the king's camp straight away.

Note. brachiīs: 'connecting walls'. nōn quō … putāret, sed ut: 'not because he thought, but so that'. difficile factū: supine in -ū, 'hard to do'.

B. Alex. 30.4Itaque eōdem cursū, quō refugientēs Alexandrīnōs ex castellō in castra sunt mīlitēs īnsecūtī, mūnītiōnibus successērunt ācerrimēque ēminus proeliārī coepērunt.

So in the same rush in which our soldiers had pursued the fleeing Alexandrians from the redoubt to the camp, they came up to the fortifications and began to fight very fiercely at long range.

Note. eōdem cursū: 'in the same rush'. acerrimē: superlative of ācriter.

B. Alex. 30.5Duābus ex partibus aditus oppugnātiōnis nostrīs dabātur: ūna, quam līberum accessum habēre dēmōnstrāvī, altera, quae mediocre intervallum inter castra et flūmen Nīlum habēbat.

Two sides offered our men an approach for the assault: one, which I have shown had free access, and the other, which had a moderate space between the camp and the river Nile.

Note. ūna … altera: the two sides. dēmōnstrāvī: the author speaks in the first person.

B. Alex. 30.6Maxima et ēlēctissima multitūdō Alexandrīnōrum dēfendēbat eam partem, quae facillimum aditum habēbat;

The largest and choicest body of the Alexandrians was defending the side which had the easiest approach;

Note. maxima et ēlēctissima multitūdō: 'the largest and choicest body'.

B. Alex. 30.6plūrimum prōficiēbant in repellendīs vulnerandīsque nostrīs, quī regiōne flūminis Nīlī prōpugnābant: dīversīs enim tēlīs nostrī fīgēbantur, adversī ex vallō castrōrum, āversī ex flūmine, in quō multae nāvēs īnstrūctae funditōribus et sagittāriīs nostrōs impugnābant.

and they were very effective in driving back and wounding our men who were fighting on the side along the river Nile: for our men were struck by missiles from opposite directions, in front from the rampart of the camp, and from behind from the river, on which many ships manned with slingers and archers were attacking our men.

Note. plūrimum prōficiēbant: 'they were most effective'. in repellendīs vulnerandīsque nostrīs: gerundives. adversī … āversī: 'facing them … from behind'.