De Bello Civili 1.48

BC 1.48.1Accidit etiam repentīnum incommodum bīduō, quō haec gesta sunt.

There was also a sudden misfortune two days after these events.

Note. bīduō, quō: 'two days after', literally 'in the two days in which'.

BC 1.48.1tanta enim tempestās coorītur, ut numquam illīs locīs maiōrēs aquās fuisse cōnstāret.

For so great a storm arises that it was agreed there had never been higher floods in those parts.

Note. ut numquam … maiōrēs aquās fuisse cōnstāret: a result clause, 'that it was agreed there had never been higher floods'.

BC 1.48.2tum autem ex omnibus montibus nivēs prōluit ac summās rīpās flūminis superāvit pontīsque ambōs, quōs C. Fabius fēcerat, ūnō diē interrūpit.

Then, too, it washed the snow down from all the mountains, rose over the tops of the river banks, and in one day broke both the bridges which Gaius Fabius had built.

Note. nivēs prōluit: 'washed down the snows'. pontīs = pontēs, accusative plural.

BC 1.48.3quae rēs magnās difficultātēs exercituī Caesaris attulit.

This caused great difficulties for Caesar's army.

Note. quae rēs: a connecting relative, 'this occurrence'.

BC 1.48.3castra enim, ut suprā dēmōnstrātum est, cum essent inter flūmina duo, Sicorim et Cingam, spatiō mīlium xxx, neutrum hōrum trānsīrī poterat, necessāriōque omnēs hīs angustiīs continēbantur.

For since, as was shown above, the camp lay between two rivers, the Sicoris and the Cinga, thirty miles apart, neither of these could be crossed, and all of necessity were confined in this narrow space.

Note. cum essent: causal cum, 'since (the camp) was'. spatiō mīlium xxx: 'over a space of thirty miles'. neutrum hōrum: 'neither of these (rivers)'.

BC 1.48.4neque cīvitātēs, quae ad Caesaris amīcitiam accesserant, frūmentum supportāre neque iī, quī pābulātum longius prōgressī erant, interclūsī flūminibus revertī neque maximī commeātūs, quī ex Ītaliā Galliāque veniēbant, in castra pervenīre poterant.

Neither could the tribes which had come over to friendship with Caesar bring in grain, nor could those who had gone rather far to forage get back, cut off by the rivers, nor could the great convoys of supplies coming from Italy and Gaul reach the camp.

Note. Three parallel subjects with neque … neque … neque, each with poterant: the tribes, the foragers, and the supply convoys.

BC 1.48.5tempus erat autem difficillimum, quō neque frūmenta in cavernīs erant, neque multum ā mātūritāte aberant, ac cīvitātēs exinanītae, quod Afrānius paene omne frūmentum ante Caesaris adventum Ilerdam convēxerat, reliquī sīquid fuerat, Caesar superiōribus diēbus cōnsūmpserat;

It was, moreover, a most difficult time of year, when there was no grain in the storage pits and it was not far from ripe, and the tribes had been stripped bare, because Afranius had carried almost all the grain into Ilerda before Caesar's arrival, and whatever was left Caesar had used up in the preceding days;

Note. in cavernīs: in the underground pits where Spanish farmers stored grain. reliquī sīquid fuerat: 'if there had been anything of what was left', i.e. whatever was left; reliquī is a partitive genitive.

BC 1.48.6pecora, quod secundum poterat esse inope rē subsidium, propter bellum fīnitimae cīvitātēs longius remōverant.

the cattle, which could have been a second resource in their need, the neighbouring tribes had moved far away because of the war.

Note. quod secundum … esse … subsidium: 'which could have been a second resource'. inope rē: ablative absolute, 'when things were scarce'.

BC 1.48.7quī erant pābulandī aut frūmentandī causā prōgressī, hōs levis armātūrae Lūsītānī perītīque eārum regiōnum caetrātī citeriōris Hispāniae cōnsectābantur;

Those who had gone out to forage or fetch grain were hunted down by Lusitanian light troops and light-shielded men of Nearer Spain who knew those regions;

Note. quī erant … prōgressī: the antecedent is resumed by hōs. levis armātūrae Lūsītānī: a genitive of description, 'Lusitanians of light armour'.

BC 1.48.7quibus erat prōclīve trānāre flūmen, quod cōnsuētūdō eōrum omnium est, ut sine ūtribus ad exercitum nōn eant.

for them it was easy to swim the river, since it is the custom of all of them never to go to the army without inflated skins.

Note. utribus: inflated skins used as floats for crossing rivers, from ūter, ūtris (not uter, 'which of two').