De Bello Civili 3.13

BC 3.13.1At Pompēius cognitīs hīs rēbus, quae erant Ōricī atque Apollōniae gestae, Dyrrachiō timēns diurnīs eō nocturnīsque itineribus contendit.

But Pompey, learning of what had happened at Oricum and Apollonia, fearing for Dyrrachium, hurried there by marching day and night.

Note. Dyrrachiō timēns: timeō with the dative means 'fear for'. diurnīs eō nocturnīsque itineribus: 'by marches by day and by night to that place'.

BC 3.13.2simul Caesar adpropinquāre dīcēbātur;

At the same time Caesar was said to be approaching;

Note. adpropinquāre dīcēbātur: personal passive with the infinitive, 'Caesar was said to be approaching'.

BC 3.13.2tantusque terror incidit eius exercituī, quod properāns noctem diēī coniūnxerat neque iter intermīserat, ut paene omnēs ex Ēpīrō fīnitimīsque regiōnibus signa relinquerent, complūrēs arma prōicerent, ac fugae simile iter vidērētur.

and such terror fell on his army, because in his haste he had joined night to day and had not stopped marching, that almost all the men from Epirus and the neighbouring regions deserted the standards, many threw away their arms, and the march looked like a flight.

Note. tantus … terror … ut: result clause. properāns: present participle, 'hurrying'. noctem diēī coniūnxerat: 'had joined night to day', i.e. marched without stopping. fugae simile: 'like a flight'.

BC 3.13.3sed cum prope Dyrrachium Pompēius cōnstitisset castraque mētārī iussisset, perterritō etiam tum exercitū prīnceps Labiēnus prōcēdit iūratque sē eum nōn dēsertūrum eundemque cāsum subitūrum, quemcumque eī fortūna tribuisset.

But when Pompey had halted near Dyrrachium and ordered a camp to be measured out, while the army was still terrified, Labienus steps forward first and swears that he will not desert him and will undergo the same fate, whatever fortune gave him.

Note. castra mētārī: 'to measure out the camp'. prīnceps: 'first', the first to swear. Labienus, Caesar's chief officer in Gaul, had gone over to Pompey in 49 BC. quemcumque … tribuisset: 'whatever (fate) fortune gave him'.

BC 3.13.4hoc idem reliquī iūrant lēgātī;

The other legates swear the same;

Note. hoc idem: 'this same thing', the same oath.

BC 3.13.4hōs tribūnī mīlitum centuriōnēsque sequuntur, atque idem omnis exercitus iūrat.

the military tribunes and the centurions follow them, and the whole army swears the same.

Note. tribūnī mīlitum: the military tribunes, officers of a legion.

BC 3.13.5Caesar praeceptō itinere ad Dyrrachium fīnem properandī facit castraque ad flūmen Apsum pōnit in fīnibus Apollōniātium,, ibique reliquārum ex Ītaliā legiōnum adventum expectāre et sub pellibus hiemāre cōnstituit.

Caesar, his march on Dyrrachium forestalled, stops hurrying and pitches camp by the river Apsus in the territory of the people of Apollonia, and there decides to await the arrival of the remaining legions from Italy and to winter under skins.

Note. praeceptō itinere: 'his march having been forestalled'. fīnem properandī facit: 'stops hurrying'. sub pellibus: 'under skins', i.e. in leather tents, not in permanent winter quarters.

BC 3.13.6hoc idem Pompēius fēcit et trāns flūmen Apsum positīs castrīs eō cōpiās omnīs auxiliaque condūxit.

Pompey did the same, and pitching his camp across the river Apsus, brought all his forces and auxiliaries there.

Note. hoc idem: 'the same'. eō: adverb, 'to that place'.