Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Civil War, Book 3
De Bello Civili 3.50
Night attacks with arrows
Caesar, De Bello Civili III. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōBC 3.50.1In novō genere bellī novae ab utrīsque bellandī ratiōnēs reperiēbantur.
In this new kind of warfare new ways of fighting were being devised by both sides.
Note. ab utrīsque: 'by both sides'. bellandī: gerund, 'of making war'.
BC 3.50.1illī cum animum advertissent ex ignibus nocte cohortēs nostrās ad mūnītiōnēs excubāre, silentiō adgressī ūniversās inter multitūdinem sagittās coiciēbant et sē cōnfestim ad suōs recipiēbant.
When the enemy noticed from our fires that our cohorts kept watch by night at the fortifications, they would approach in silence, shoot all their arrows together into the crowd, and at once withdraw to their own lines.
Note. animum advertissent: 'had noticed' (animadvertō written as two words). ex ignibus: 'from the fires', which showed where the guards were. ūniversās … sagittās: 'all their arrows together'.
BC 3.50.2quibus rēbus nostrī ūsū doctī haec reperiēbant remedia, ut aliō locō ignēs facerent.
Taught by experience, our men found this remedy: to light their fires in another place.
Note. ūsū doctī: 'taught by experience'. haec … remedia: 'these remedies', explained by the ut-clause.
Vocabulary
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| novus, -a, -um | new; novissimus, last |
| genus, generis, n. | kind, nature |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| uterque, utraque, utrumque | each, either, both |
| bellō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | wage war, fight |
| ratiō, -ōnis, f. | plan, means, method, manner; reason; account |
| reperiō, reperīre, repperī, repertus | find, discover |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| advertō, -ere, advertī, adversum | turn toward (animum advertere: notice) |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| ignis, -is, m. | fire |
| nox, noctis, f. | night |
| cohors, cohortis f. | cohort (a tenth of a legion); company |
| noster, -tra, -trum | our |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| mūnītiō, -ōnis f. | fortification, defence works |
| excubō, -āre, -cubuī, -cubitum | keep watch, stand guard; stay out at night |
| silentium, -ī n. | silence; silentiō: in silence, quietly |
| aggredior, -ī, aggressus sum | attack |
| ūniversus, -a, -um | all together, whole, entire, all |
| inter, prep, with acc. | among, between |
| multitūdō, -tūdinis, f. | multitude |
| sagitta, -ae, f. | arrow |
| coiciō, -ere, coiēcī, coiectum | throw, hurl |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| cōnfestim (adv.) | at once, immediately |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| ūsus, -ūs, m. | use; experience |
| doceo, -ēre, -uī, -tus | teach, explain |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| remedium, -ī, n. | remedy |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |