Bellum Alexandrinum 74

B. Alex. 74.1Pharnacēs cum id repente prīmā lūce animadvertisset, cōpiās suās omnēs prō castrīs īnstrūxit.

When Pharnaces suddenly noticed this at first light, he drew up all his forces in front of his camp.

Note. repente: with animadvertisset, 'suddenly noticed'.

B. Alex. 74.1Quās interpositā tantā locōrum inīquitāte cōnsuētūdine magis pervulgātā mīlitārī crēdēbat īnstruī Caesar vel ad opus suum tardandum, quō plūrēs in armīs tenērentur, vel ad ostentātiōnem rēgiae fīdūciae, nē mūnītiōne magis quam manū dēfendere locum Pharnacēs vidērētur.

Since such rough ground lay between them, Caesar believed they were being drawn up out of the military custom that is more widely known, either to slow down his work, so that more men would be kept under arms, or as a display of royal confidence, so that Pharnaces should not seem to defend his position by fortification rather than by force.

Note. cōnsuētūdine magis pervulgātā mīlitārī: 'by the more widely known military custom'. quō plūrēs … tenērentur: purpose clause with comparative. nē … vidērētur: negative purpose clause.

B. Alex. 74.2Itaque dēterritus nōn est, quō minus prīmā aciē prō vallō īnstrūctā reliqua pars exercitūs opus faceret.

And so he was not deterred: with the first line drawn up in front of the rampart, the rest of the army went on with the work.

Note. dēterritus nōn est, quō minus: 'was not deterred from'; quō minus (quōminus) follows verbs of hindering.

B. Alex. 74.3At Pharnacēs impulsus sīve locī fēlīcitāte sīve auspiciīs et religiōnibus inductus, quibus obtemperāsse eum posteā audiēbāmus, sīve paucitāte nostrōrum, quī in armīs erant, compertā, cum mōre operis cōtīdiānī magnam illam servōrum multitūdinem, quae aggerem portābat, mīlitum esse crēdidisset, sīve etiam fīdūciā veterānī exercitūs suī, quem bis et vīciēs in aciē cōnflīxisse et vīcisse lēgātī eius glōriābantur, simul contemptū exercitūs nostrī, quem pulsum ā sē Domitiō duce sciēbat, initō cōnsiliō dīmicandī dēscendere in praeruptam vallem coepit.

But Pharnaces, whether driven by the luck of the place, or induced by the auspices and religious observances which, as we later heard, he obeyed, or because he had found out how few of our men were under arms, since he believed that the great crowd of slaves who were carrying the rampart material were soldiers, as is usual in daily work, or even through confidence in his veteran army, which his officers boasted had fought and won in battle twenty-two times, and at the same time through contempt for our army, which he knew had been beaten by him when Domitius was in command, took the decision to fight and began to come down into the steep valley.

Note. Four possible motives are listed with sīve … sīve … sīve … sīve etiam. comperta: agrees with paucitāte. bis et vīciēs: 'twenty-two times'. Domitiō duce: ablative absolute without a participle, 'with Domitius as commander'. initō cōnsiliō dīmicandī: 'having formed the plan of fighting'.

B. Alex. 74.4Cuius aliquamdiū Caesar inrīdēbat inānem ostentātiōnem et eō locō mīlitum coartātiōnem, quem in locum nēmō sānus hostis subitūrus esset: cum interim Pharnacēs eōdem gradū, quō in praeruptam dēscenderat vallem, ascendere adversus arduum collem īnstrūctīs cōpiīs coepit.

For some time Caesar laughed at this empty display of his, and the crowding of soldiers in a place into which no enemy in his senses would go; while meanwhile Pharnaces, at the same pace at which he had come down into the steep valley, began to climb the steep hill opposite with his forces in battle order.

Note. quem in locum: the relative adjective repeats the antecedent, 'into which place'. subitūrus esset: 'would go up into'. cum interim: 'while meanwhile', with the indicative coepit.