De Bello Civili 3.14

Calenus turns back

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BC 3.14.1Calēnus legiōnibus equitibusque Brundisī in nāvīs inpositīs, ut erat praeceptum ā Caesare, quantam nāvium facultātem habēbat, nāvīs solvit paulumque ā portū prōgressus litterās ā Caesare accēpit, quibus est certior factus portūs lītoraque omnia classibus adversāriōrum tenērī.Calenus, having embarked the legions and cavalry on the ships at Brundisium as Caesar had instructed, set sail with as many ships as he had available, and having gone a little way out of the harbour he received a letter from Caesar, by which he was informed that all the harbours and shores were held by the enemy's fleets.Note. Brundisī: locative. quantam nāvium facultātem habēbat: 'as great a supply of ships as he had'. nāvīs solvit: 'set sail'; nāvīs is the older accusative plural ending -īs. BC 3.14.2quō cognitō sē in portum recipit nāvīsque omnīs revocat.Learning this, he returns to harbour and recalls all the ships.Note. quō cognitō: connecting relative in an ablative absolute. omnīs: accusative plural. BC 3.14.2Ūna ex hīs quae persevērāvit neque imperiō Calēnī obtemperāvit, quod erat sine mīlitibus prīvātōque cōnsiliō administrābātur, dēlāta Ōricum atque ā Bibulō expugnāta est;One of them, which kept on and did not obey Calenus' order, because it had no soldiers on board and was being run on private authority, was carried to Oricum and taken by Bibulus;Note. quae persevērāvit: 'which kept on'. prīvātō cōnsiliō: 'by private decision', not under orders. dēlāta: 'carried' (by the wind). BC 3.14.3quī dē servīs līberīsque omnibus ad impūberēs supplicium sūmit et ad ūnum interficit.he executed everyone on board, slaves and free men, down to the boys, and killed them to a man.Note. quī: Bibulus. ad impūberēs: 'down to the boys', those not yet of military age. ad ūnum: 'to a man'.

BC 3.14.3Ita in exiguō tempore magnōque cāsū tōtīus exercitūs salūs cōnstitit.So narrow a margin of time and so great a stroke of chance decided the safety of the whole army.Note. in exiguō tempore magnōque cāsū: 'on a small margin of time and a great chance'. cōnstitit: 'depended, rested' (cōnsistō in).

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Grammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×2, indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (65 words)

legiō, -ōnis f.	legion
eques, equitis m.	horseman; (pl.) cavalry
que, enclitic conj.	and
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
impōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus	place or lay upon, impose; embark
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
praecipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take beforehand, anticipate; order, charge
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
quantus, -a, -um	how great or much?
facultās, -tātis, f.	possibility, opportunity, chance, means
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	have, hold; consider
solvō, solvere, solvī, solūtus	loosen, unbind, release; pay; with or without nāvem, cast off, set sail, put to sea
paulum, adv.	a little, somewhat
portus, -ūs, m.	harbor, haven, port
prōgredior, -gredī, -gressus	go forward, advance
littera, -ae f.	letter (of the alphabet); pl. letter, writing
accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
certus, -a, -um	determined, fixed, certain; certiōrem facere, to make more certain, inform
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
lītus, lītoris, n.	shore
omnis, -e	all, every
classis, -is f.	fleet
adversārius, -ī m.	opponent, enemy
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus	hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop
cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus	find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover
revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	call back, recall
ūnus, -a, -um	one; only, alone
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
persevērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	persist
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
imperium, -ī, n.	command; sway, rule
obtemperō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	obey, comply with (+ dat.)
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
sine, prep. with abl.	without
mīles, mīlitis, m.	soldier
prīvātus, -a, -um	private
cōnsilium, -ī, n.	advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence
administrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	manage, carry out
dēferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear or carry away or off
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
expugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	take by storm, capture
dē, prep, with abl.	down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
servus, -ī, m.	slave, servant
līber, lībera, līberum	free
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
impūbēs, -eris	under the age of puberty; chaste
supplicium, -ī, n.	punishment, torture
sūmō, sūmere, sūmpsī, sūmptus	take under or up, take; poenam sūmere, to exact or inflict punishment
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
interficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	put out of the way, kill
ita, adv.	in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
exiguus, -a, -um	small, scanty, short
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
cāsus, -ūs, m.	fall; chance, accident
tōtus, -a, -um	all the, the whole or entire
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
salūs, salūtis, f.	safety, deliverance, escape
cōnsistō, -sistere, -stitī, -stitus	station oneself, take one's stand; consist

Caesar, De Bello Civili III. 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.