De Bello Civili 1.5

BC 1.5.1Hīs dē causīs aguntur omnia raptim atque turbātē.

For these reasons everything is done hastily and in confusion.

Note. turbātē: 'in confusion'. Caesar insists that everything was rushed.

BC 1.5.1nec docendī Caesaris propinquīs eius spatium datur, nec tribūnīs plēbis suī perīculī dēprecandī neque etiam extrēmī iūris intercessiōne retinendī, quod L. Sulla relīquerat, facultās tribuitur, sed dē suā salūte septimō diē cōgitāre cōguntur, quod illī turbulentissimī superiōribus temporibus tribūnī plēbis post octō dēnique mēnsēs variārum āctiōnum respicere ac timēre dēcurritur ad illud extrēmum atque ultimum senātūs cōnsultum, quō nisi paene in ipsō urbis incendiō atque in dēspērātiōne omnium salūtis lātōrum audāciā numquam ante dēscēnsum est: dent operam cōnsulēs, praetōrēs, tribūnī plēbis, quīque prō cōnsulibus sunt ad urbem, nēquid rēs pūblica dētrīmentī capiat.

Caesar's relatives are given no time to inform him, nor are the tribunes of the plebs allowed the chance to avert danger from themselves, nor even to keep, by their veto, their last right, which Lucius Sulla had left them; instead they are forced to think of their own safety on the seventh day, a thing which those most turbulent tribunes of former times had been used to look to and fear only after eight months of varied activity. Recourse is had to that last and final decree of the senate, to which the boldness of those who proposed it had never before descended except when the city was almost on fire and everyone despaired of safety: 'Let the consuls, the praetors, the tribunes of the plebs and those of consular command who are near the city take care that the republic suffer no harm.'

Note. A long and partly damaged sentence. The senate passed the senātūs cōnsultum ultimum, the 'final decree' that authorized magistrates to use force, here against the tribunes' veto. Caesar complains that earlier tribunes were only threatened after eight months of agitation, but these were threatened within seven days. nēquid rēs pūblica dētrīmentī capiat: the decree's set formula, 'that the state suffer no harm' (nēquid = nē quid; dētrīmentī is partitive genitive).

BC 1.5.4haec senātūs cōnsultō perscrībuntur a. d. vii Īd.

This is written into a decree of the senate on the seventh day before the Ides of

Note. a. d. VII Īd. Iān.: ante diem septimum Īdūs Iānuāriās, the seventh day before the Ides of January counting inclusively: 7 January 49 BC. The edition's punctuation splits the date into two sentences.

BC 1.5.4Iān.

January.

Note. Iān.: Iānuāriās, agreeing with Īdūs.

BC 1.5.4itaque v prīmīs diēbus, quibus habērī senātus potuit, quā ex diē cōnsulātum iniit Lentulus, bīduō exceptō comitiālī et dē imperiō Caesaris et dē amplissimīs virīs, tribūnīs plēbis, gravissimē acerbissimēque dēcernitur.

So in the first five days on which the senate could meet, from the day Lentulus entered his consulship, apart from two days of assemblies, decrees of the utmost severity and harshness are passed both about Caesar's command and about the tribunes of the plebs, most distinguished men.

Note. V prīmīs diēbus: 'in the first five days'. biduō exceptō comitiālī: 'two days of assemblies excepted' (on comitial days the senate normally did not meet). amplissimīs virīs, tribūnīs: apposition, Caesar's ironic courtesy.

BC 1.5.5profugiunt statim ex urbe tribūnī plēbis sēsēque ad Caesarem cōnferunt.

The tribunes of the plebs at once flee from the city and go to Caesar.

Note. Antony and Cassius fled to Caesar disguised as slaves; Caesar will use their treatment as his justification.

BC 1.5.5is eō tempore erat Ravennae exspectābatque suīs lēnissimīs postulātīs respōnsa, sīquā hominum aequitāte rēs ad ōtium dēdūcī posset.

He was at that time at Ravenna, awaiting answers to his very moderate demands, in case by men's sense of fairness the matter could be brought to peace.

Note. Ravennae: locative, 'at Ravenna', the last town of Caesar's province before Italy. sīqua … aequitāte: 'in case by any fairness'.