Bellum Alexandrinum 67

B. Alex. 67.1Cum propius Pontum fīnēsque Gallograeciae accessisset, Dēiotarus, tetrarchēs Gallograeciae tum quidem paene tōtīus, quod eī neque lēgibus neque mōribus concessum esse cēterī tetrarchae contendēbant, sine dubiō autem rēx Armeniae minōris ab senātū appellātus, dēpositīs rēgiīs īnsignibus, neque tantum prīvātō vestītū, sed etiam reōrum habitū supplex ad Caesarem vēnit ōrātum, ut sibi ignōsceret, quod in eā parte positus terrārum, quae nūlla praesidia Caesaris habuisset, exercitibus imperiīsque coāctus in Cn. Pompēī castrīs fuisset: neque enim sē dēbuisse iūdicem esse contrōversiārum populī Rōmānī, sed pārēre praesentibus imperiīs.

When he had come near to Pontus and the borders of Galatia, Deiotarus came to him: he was at that time tetrarch of almost the whole of Galatia (a position which the other tetrarchs claimed had not been granted to him either by law or by custom), and without question king of Lesser Armenia, named so by the senate. He had laid aside his royal insignia and came as a suppliant, not merely in private dress but in the garb of men on trial, to beg Caesar to pardon him for having been in Gnaeus Pompey's camp, forced by armies and commands, since he lived in a part of the world which had no garrisons of Caesar's: for it had not been his place to judge the quarrels of the Roman people, but to obey the commands that were at hand.

Note. Deiotarus, tetrarch of Galatia, had fought for Pompey at Pharsalus. A string of descriptive phrases precedes the main verb vēnit. reōrum habitū: accused men at Rome wore mourning dress to win sympathy. ōrātum: the supine in -um after a verb of motion expresses purpose, 'came to beg'. The last clause after the colon is his plea in indirect statement: neque enim sē dēbuisse …