Bellum Alexandrinum 61

B. Alex. 61.1Erat cōpiīs pedestribus multō firmior Mārcellus;

Marcellus was much stronger in infantry;

Note. The story picks up the mutiny in Further Spain (48 BC): Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Cassius' quaestor, has taken over the rebel legions against the governor Quintus Cassius Longinus. multō firmior: multō is an ablative of degree of difference, 'stronger by much'. copiīs pedestribus: ablative of respect, 'in infantry'.

B. Alex. 61.1habēbat enim veterānās multīsque proeliīs expertās legiōnēs.

for he had veteran legions, tested in many battles.

Note. expertās: perfect participle of the deponent experior, here with a passive sense, 'tested, proved'.

B. Alex. 61.1Cassius fideī magis quam virtūtī legiōnum cōnfīdēbat.

Cassius relied more on the loyalty of his legions than on their courage.

Note. cōnfīdō takes the dative: fideī … virtūtī. magis quam: 'more than'.

B. Alex. 61.2Itaque cum castra castrīs conlāta essent et Mārcellus locum idōneum castellō cēpisset, quō prohibēre aquā Cassiānōs posset, Longīnus veritus, nē genere quōdam obsidiōnis clauderētur in regiōnibus aliēnīs sibique īnfestīs, noctū silentiō ex castrīs proficīscitur celerīque itinere Uliam contendit, quod sibi fidēle esse oppidum crēdēbat.

And so, when the camps had been pitched close to each other and Marcellus had taken a place suitable for a fort, from which he could cut the Cassians off from water, Longinus, fearing that he would be shut in by a kind of blockade in a region that was foreign and hostile to him, set out from his camp silently by night and hurried by a quick march to Ulia, a town which he believed was loyal to him.

Note. castra castrīs conlāta: 'camp brought up against camp', i.e. pitched facing each other. quō … posset: a relative purpose clause, quō = ut eō, 'from which he could'. Longīnus is the same man as Cassius: Quintus Cassius Longinus. veritus nē: 'fearing that'; after verbs of fearing nē means 'that'. Uliam: accusative of the town to which, without a preposition.

B. Alex. 61.3Ibi adeō coniūncta pōnit moenibus castra, ut et locī nātūrā— namque Ulia in ēditō monte posita est— et ipsā mūnītiōne urbis undique ab oppugnātiōne tūtus esset.

There he pitched his camp so close to the walls that he was safe on every side from attack, both by the nature of the place (for Ulia is set on a high hill) and by the fortifications of the town itself.

Note. adeō coniūncta … ut: 'so close … that', result clause. The dashes mark a parenthesis. tūtus esset: the subject is Cassius, understood from the previous sentence.

B. Alex. 61.4Hunc Mārcellus īnsequitur et, quam proximē potest Uliam, castra castrīs cōnfert locōrumque cognitā nātūrā, quō maximē rem dēdūcere volēbat, necessitāte est dēductus, ut neque cōnflīgeret— cuius sī reī facultās esset, resistere incitātīs mīlitibus nōn poterat— neque vagārī Cassium lātius paterētur, nē plūrēs cīvitātēs ea paterentur, quae passī erant Cordubēnsēs.

Marcellus followed him and pitched his camp against Cassius' camp as close to Ulia as he could; and when he had learned the nature of the ground he was forced by necessity into the course he most wanted to take: neither to fight a battle (and if he had had the chance of one, he could not have held back his excited soldiers) nor to let Cassius roam more widely, so that more communities should not suffer what the people of Corduba had suffered.

Note. quam proximē potest: 'as near as he can'; quam with a superlative. quō maximē rem dēdūcere volēbat: 'to the point to which he most wanted to bring the matter'. cuius sī reī facultās esset: a conditional inside a relative clause, 'and if he had had the chance of that'. Cordubēnsēs: the people of Corduba, who had already suffered from Cassius' troops.

B. Alex. 61.5Castellīs idōneīs locīs collocātīs operibusque in circuitū oppidī continuātīs Uliam Cassiumque mūnītiōnibus clausit.

He placed forts at suitable points, carried his siege-works on all round the town, and shut Ulia and Cassius in with his fortifications.

Note. Three ablatives absolute open the sentence: castellīs … collocātīs, operibus … continuātīs. in circuitū: 'all round'.

B. Alex. 61.6Quae priusquam perficerentur, Longīnus omnem suum equitātum ēmīsit;

Before these were finished, Longinus sent out all his cavalry;

Note. Quae priusquam perficerentur: 'before these were completed'; priusquam with the subjunctive suggests the action was being forestalled.

B. Alex. 61.6quem magnō sibi ūsuī fore crēdēbat, sī pābulārī frūmentārīque Mārcellum nōn paterētur, magnō autem fore impedīmentō, sī clausus obsidiōne et inūtilis necessārium cōnsūmeret frūmentum.

he believed that it would be of great use to him if it did not let Marcellus gather fodder and grain, but a great hindrance if it were shut in by the siege, useless, and ate up the grain he needed.

Note. quem magnō sibi ūsuī fore: a double dative, 'would be a great use to him'; likewise magnō … impedīmentō. fore = futūrum esse. pābulārī frūmentārīque: deponent infinitives, 'to forage and gather grain'.