De Bello Civili 1.21

BC 1.21.1Quibus rēbus cognitīs Caesar, etsī magnī interesse arbitrābātur quam prīmum oppidō potīrī cohortēsque ad sē in castra trādūcere, nēqua aut largītiōnibus aut animī cōnfirmātiōne aut falsīs nūntiīs commūtātiō fieret voluntātis, quod saepe in bellō parvīs mōmentīs magnī cāsūs intercēderent, tamen veritus nē mīlitum introitū et nocturnī temporis licentiā oppidum dīriperētur, eōs quī vēnerant collaudat atque in oppidum dīmittit, portās mūrōsque adservārī iubet.

When he learned this, Caesar thought it very important to take possession of the town as soon as possible and bring the cohorts over to his camp, so that no change of mind might come about through bribes, or the stiffening of their courage, or false messages, since in war great reversals often come about from small causes; but, fearing that by the entry of his soldiers and the licence of night-time the town might be plundered, he praises those who had come and sends them back into the town, and orders the gates and walls to be guarded.

Note. A long periodic sentence. etsī … arbitrābātur … tamen veritus: 'although he thought …, nevertheless, fearing …'. magnī interesse: 'that it mattered greatly'. nēqua … commūtātiō fieret: 'so that no change might happen'. parvīs mōmentīs magnī cāsūs: a favourite maxim: 'great reversals from small causes'.

BC 1.21.3ipse iīs operibus, quae facere īnstituerat, mīlitēs dispōnit, nōn certīs spatiīs intermissīs, ut erat superiōrum diērum cōnsuētūdō, sed perpetuīs vigiliīs statiōnibusque, ut contingant inter sē atque omnem mūnītiōnem expleant;

He himself posts soldiers along the works that he had begun to build, not with gaps left at fixed intervals, as had been the custom of the previous days, but in a continuous line of watches and outposts, so that they touched one another and filled the whole fortification;

Note. nōn certīs spatiīs intermissīs: ablative absolute, 'not with gaps left at fixed intervals'. ut contingant inter sē: 'so that they touched each other'.

BC 1.21.4tribūnōs mīlitum et praefectōs circummittit atque hortātur, nōn sōlum ab ēruptiōnibus caveant, sed etiam singulōrum hominum occultōs exitūs adservent.

he sends the military tribunes and prefects around and urges them not only to guard against sallies but also to watch for secret escapes by individual men.

Note. hortātur, nōn sōlum … caveant, sed etiam … adservent: an indirect command without ut.

BC 1.21.5neque vērō tam remissō ac languidō animō quisquam omnium fuit, quī eā nocte conquiēverit.

And indeed there was nobody at all of so slack and listless a spirit that he slept that night.

Note. quī … conquiēverit: a relative clause of result after tam, 'so slack that he slept'.

BC 1.21.6tanta erat summae rērum exspectātiō, ut alius in aliam partem mente atque animō traherētur, quid ipsīs Corfīniēnsibus, quid Domitiō, quid Lentulō, quid reliquīs accideret, quī quōsque ēventūs exciperent.

So great was the expectation of the final outcome that each man was carried in thought and feeling in a different direction: what would happen to the people of Corfinium themselves, what to Domitius, what to Lentulus, what to the rest, and who would meet with which fate.

Note. summae rērum: 'of the final outcome'. alius in aliam partem: 'each in a different direction'. quid … accideret: indirect questions. quī quōsque ēventūs exciperent: a double question, 'who would meet with which outcomes'.