De Bello Civili 2.16

BC 2.16.1Quod ubi hostēs vīdērunt, ea, quae diū longōque spatiō reficī nōn posse spērāssent, paucōrum diērum operā et labōre ita refecta, ut nūllus perfidiae neque ēruptiōnī locus esset, neque quicquam omnīnō relinquerētur, quā aut tēlīs mīlitibus aut ignī operibus nocērī posset, eōdemque exemplō sentiunt tōtam urbem, quā sit aditus ab terrā, mūrō turribusque circumīrī posse, sīc ut ipsīs cōnsistendī in suīs mūnītiōnibus locus nōn esset, cum paene inaedificāta in mūrīs ab exercitū nostrō moenia vidērentur, ac tēlum manū coicerētur suōrumque tormentōrum ūsum, quibus ipsī magna spērāvissent, spatiī propinquitāte interīre parīque condiciōne ex mūrō ac turribus bellandī datā sē virtūte nostrīs adaequāre nōn posse intellegunt, ad eāsdem dēditiōnis condiciōnēs recurrunt.

When the enemy saw that the works they had hoped could not be rebuilt for a long time had been rebuilt by a few days' toil and effort, so that there was no opening for treachery or a sally, and nothing at all was left by which harm could be done to the soldiers with weapons or to the works with fire; and when they realized that in the same way the whole city, where it could be approached by land, could be enclosed with a wall and towers, so that they would have no room to stand on their own fortifications, since walls seemed almost to have been built onto their walls by our army, and a spear could be thrown by hand; and that the use of their own artillery, on which they had set great hopes, was lost through the nearness of the distance, and that when they were given equal terms to fight from wall and towers they could not match our men in courage, they fell back on the same terms of surrender.

Note. One long period. The main verb comes at the very end: ad eāsdem dēditiōnis condiciōnēs recurrunt, 'they fell back on the same terms of surrender' (they had already asked for terms once, in 2.13). Before it come two clauses of realization: ubī … vīdērunt (with ea … refecta [esse]) and sentiunt … intellegunt. quae … refici nōn posse spērāssent: subjunctive in a subordinate clause of indirect statement, 'which (they had hoped) could not be rebuilt'. quā … nocērī posset: 'by which (way) harm could be done'; nocērī is an impersonal passive with datives (mīlitibus, operibus). ipsīs … locus nōn esset: dative of possession, 'they would have no room'. bellandī: gerund, 'of fighting'.