De Bello Civili 3.71

BC 3.71.1Duōbus hīs ūnīus diēī proeliīs Caesar dēsīderāvit mīlitēs dcccclx et nōtōs equitēs Rōmānōs Tūticānum Gallum, senātōris fīlium, C. Felginātem Placentiā, A. Grānium Puteolīs, M. Sacrātivirum Capuā, tribūnōs mīlitum quīnque et centuriōnēs xxxii.

In the two battles of this one day Caesar lost 960 soldiers and the well-known Roman knights Tuticanus Gallus, a senator's son, Gaius Felginas from Placentia, Aulus Granius from Puteoli and Marcus Sacrativir from Capua, five military tribunes and thirty-two centurions.

Note. Duōbus … proeliīs: the morning defeat at the sea and the failed attack on the old camp. dēsīderāvit: 'lost', literally 'missed'. Placentiā, Puteolīs, Capuā: ablatives of origin, 'from'.

BC 3.71.2sed hōrum omnium pars magna in fossīs mūnītiōnibusque et flūminis rīpīs oppressa suōrum in terrōre ac fugā sine ūllō vulnere interiit;

But a great part of all these were crushed in the ditches, the fortifications and on the river banks in the terror and flight of their own comrades, and died without any wound;

Note. suōrum in terrōre ac fugā: crushed in the panic of their own comrades, not by the enemy.

BC 3.71.2signaque sunt mīlitāria āmissa xxxii.

and thirty-two military standards were lost.

Note. signa … mīlitāria āmissa xxxii: 32 standards lost, a serious humiliation.

BC 3.71.3Pompēius eō proeliō imperātor est appellātus.

In that battle Pompey was hailed as imperator.

Note. imperātor est appellātus: hailed as 'imperator' by his troops, the traditional salute after a victory.

BC 3.71.3hoc nōmen obtinuit atque ita sē posteā salūtārī passus, sed neque in litterīs adscrībere est solitus, neque in fascibus īnsignia laureae praetulit.

He kept this title and afterwards allowed himself to be greeted so, but he was never accustomed to add it in his letters, nor did he carry the laurel on his fasces.

Note. Caesar stresses Pompey's restraint: he did not add the title in his letters or wreathe his fasces with laurel.

BC 3.71.4at Labiēnus cum ab eō impetrāvisset, ut sibi captīvōs trādī iubēret, omnīs prōductōs ostentātiōnis, ut vidēbātur, causā, quō maior perfugae fidēs habērētur, commīlitōnēs appellāns et magnā verbōrum contumēliā interrogāns, solērentne veterānī mīlitēs fugere, in omnium cōnspectū interfēcit.

But Labienus, after obtaining from him that he would order the prisoners to be handed over to him, had them all brought out, for show, it seemed, so that more trust might be placed in him as a deserter; calling them 'comrades' and asking with great insult whether veteran soldiers were in the habit of running away, he killed them in the sight of all.

Note. Labiēnus: Caesar's chief lieutenant in Gaul, who had gone over to Pompey in 49 BC. quō maior perfugae fidēs habērētur: 'so that more trust might be placed in the deserter', i.e. in Labienus himself. solērentne: indirect question with -ne, 'whether they were accustomed'.