De Bello Civili 1.47

Both sides claim the day

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BC 1.47.1Sed haec eius diēī praefertur opīniō, ut sē utrīque superiōrēs discessisse exīstimārent;But the view that prevails about that day is that each side thought it had come off the better:Note. haec … opīniō: 'this view', explained by the ut clause. sē utrīque superiōrēs discessisse: 'that each side had come off the better'. BC 1.47.2Afrāniānī, quod cum esse omnium iūdiciō īnferiōrēs vidērentur, comminus tamdiū stetissent et nostrōrum impetum sustinuissent et initiō locum tumulumque tenuissent, quae causa pugnandī fuerat, et nostrōs prīmō congressū terga vertere coēgissent;the Afranians, because, though in everyone's judgement they seemed the weaker, they had stood their ground so long at close quarters and held off our men's attack, had held the position and the mound at the start, which had been the reason for the fighting, and had made our men turn their backs at the first encounter;Note. quod … stetissent … sustinuissent … tenuissent … coēgissent: the subjunctives give the Afranians' own reasons. cum … vidērentur: concessive cum, 'though they seemed'. BC 1.47.3nostrī autem, quod inīquō locō atque imparī congressī numerō quīnque hōrīs proelium sustinuissent, quod montem gladiīs dēstrictīs ascendissent, quod ex locō superiōre terga vertere adversāriōs coēgissent atque in oppidum compulissent.our men, because on unfavourable ground and with unequal numbers they had kept up the fight for five hours, because they had climbed the hill with drawn swords, and because they had forced the enemy to turn their backs from higher ground and driven them into the town.Note. Our men's reasons, again in the subjunctive after quod. The sentence leaves out the verb (they thought themselves superior), understood from the previous sentence.

BC 1.47.4illī eum tumulum, prō quō pugnātum est, magnīs operibus mūnīvērunt praesidiumque ibi posuērunt.The enemy fortified the mound they had fought for with great works and put a garrison on it.Note. illī: the Afranians. prō quō pugnātum est: impersonal passive, 'for which the fighting had been'.

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Grammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×1, indirect statement ×1, cum clauses ×1, gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (66 words)

sed, conj.	but
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.	day
praeferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātum	put before, prefer (sē praeferre: show oneself superior)
opīniō, -ōnis, f.	opinion, expectation; reputation
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
uterque, utraque, utrumque	each, either, both
superior, -ius, adj.	higher; former, previous, preceding
discēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus	go apart, withdraw, depart
exīstimō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	consider, believe, think
Afrāniānus, -a, -um	of Afranius; Afrāniānī, -ōrum m. pl.: Afranius' men
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
omnis, -e	all, every
iūdicium, -ī n.	trial, court; judgment
īnferus, -a, -um; comp. īnferior	below, lower; īnferior pars: the part downstream
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
comminus (adv.)	hand to hand, at close quarters
tamdiū (adv.)	so long, for so long a time
stō, stāre, stetī, status	stand
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
noster, -tra, -trum	our
impetus, -ūs, m.	attack; impetum facere, to charge
sustineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus	hold or bear up, sustain, withstand
initium, -ī, n.	beginning
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
tumulus, -ī m.	mound, hillock
que, enclitic conj.	and
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus	hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
causa, -ae, f.	cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
pugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	fight
prīmus, -a, -um	first, foremost
congressus, -ūs m.	meeting; encounter, clash
tergum, -ī, n.	back
vertō, vertere, vertī, versus	turn
cōgō, cōgere, coēgī, coāctus	drive together, collect; compel
autem, conj.	moreover; but, however; now
inīquus, -a, -um	uneven; unfair
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
impār, imparis	unequal, ill-matched
congredior, -ī, -gressus sum	meet; come to grips, fight
numerus, -ī, m.	number
quīnque	five
hōra, -ae, f.	hour
proelium, -ī, n.	battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle
mōns, montis, m.	mountain
gladius, -ī, m.	sword
dēstringō, -ere, -strīnxī, -strictum	draw (a sword)
ascendō, -scendere, -scendī, -scēnsus	climb to, ascend, mount
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
adversārius, -ī m.	opponent, enemy
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
oppidum, -ī, n.	town
compellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsus	drive together, drive
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
prō, prep. with abl.	before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
opus, operis, n.	work, task
mūniō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	fortify
praesidium, -ī, n.	protection; guard, escort
ibi, adv.	in that place, there
pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus	place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on

Caesar, De Bello Civili I. Latin text: R. du Pontet, C. Iuli Caesaris Commentariorum pars posterior (Oxford, 1901), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.