De Bello Civili 3.22

BC 3.22.1Interim Milō dīmissīs circum mūnicipia litterīs sē ea quae faceret iussū atque imperiō facere Pompēī, quae mandāta ad sē per Vibullium dēlāta essent, quōs ex aere aliēnō labōrāre arbitrābātur, sollicitābat.

Meanwhile Milo sent letters round the country towns saying that he was acting on the orders and authority of Pompey, instructions that had been brought to him through Vibullius, and tried to win over those whom he believed to be struggling with debt.

Note. sē ea quae faceret … facere: indirect statement inside the letters, 'that he was doing what he did …'. iussū atque imperiō Pompeī: 'by Pompey's order and authority'. ex aere aliēnō labōrāre: 'to be in trouble from debt'; aes aliēnum is 'other people's money', i.e. debt.

BC 3.22.2apud quōs cum prōficere nihil posset, quibusdam solūtīs ergastulīs Compsam in agrō Hirpīnō oppugnāre coepit.

When he could achieve nothing with them, he broke open some slave prisons and began to attack Compsa in the territory of the Hirpini.

Note. solūtīs ergastulīs: ablative absolute; he freed the chained slaves of the country estates to make an army. Compsam: a town of the Hirpini.

BC 3.22.2eō cum ā Q. Pediō praetōre cum legiōne, lapide ictus ex mūrō perīt.

There, when the praetor Quintus Pedius with a legion …, Milo was struck by a stone from the wall and died.

Note. The edition marks a gap after legiōne, where a verb is missing (something like 'had arrived'). lapide ictus: 'struck by a stone'. perit: contracted perfect (= periit), 'he died'.

BC 3.22.3et Caelius profectus, ut dictitābat, ad Caesarem pervenit Thūriōs.

And Caelius set out, as he kept saying, to join Caesar, and came to Thurii.

Note. ut dictitābat: 'as he kept saying'; dictitō is the frequentative of dīcō. Thūriōs: accusative of place to which.

BC 3.22.3ubi cum quōsdam eius mūnicipiī sollicitāret equitibusque Caesaris Gallīs atque Hispānīs, quī eō praesidiī causā missī erant, pecūniam pollicērētur, ab hīs est interfectus.

There, while he was trying to win over some people of that town and was promising money to Caesar's Gallic and Spanish horsemen, who had been sent there as a garrison, he was killed by them.

Note. eius mūnicipiī: Thurii. equitibus … Gallīs atque Hispānīs: dative with pollicērētur, 'was promising money to the Gallic and Spanish horsemen'.

BC 3.22.4ita magnārum initia rērum, quae occupātiōne magistrātuum et temporum sollicitam Ītaliam habēbant, celerem et facilem exitum habuērunt.

So the beginnings of great troubles, which held Italy in anxiety through the preoccupation of the magistrates and the times, came to a swift and easy end.

Note. magnārum initia rērum: 'the beginnings of great troubles'. occupātiōne magistrātuum et temporum: 'through the preoccupation of the magistrates and of the times'.