De Bello Civili 3.9

BC 3.9.1Discessū Liburnārum ex Illyricō M. Octāvius cum iīs quās habēbat nāvibus Salōnās pervēnit.

After the departure of the Liburnian ships from Illyricum, Marcus Octavius came to Salonae with the ships he had.

Note. Discessū Liburnārum: 'after the departure of the Liburnian ships' (Liburnae, light galleys); ablative of time. Salōnās: accusative of motion to a town.

BC 3.9.1ibi concitātīs Dalmatīs reliquīsque barbarīs Issam ā Caesaris amīcitiā āvertit.

There, having stirred up the Dalmatians and the other barbarians, he turned Issa away from its friendship with Caesar.

Note. concitātīs Dalmatīs: ablative absolute. Issam … āvertit: 'turned Issa away'.

BC 3.9.2conventum Salōnīs cum neque pollicitātiōnibus neque dēnūntiātiōne perīculī permovēre posset, oppidum oppugnāre īnstituit.

When he could not move the association of Roman citizens at Salonae either by promises or by threats of danger, he began to besiege the town.

Note. conventum: here the association of Roman citizens living in a provincial town. Salōnīs: locative plural, 'at Salonae'. cum … posset: causal cum, 'since he could not'.

BC 3.9.2est autem oppidum et locī nātūrā et colle mūnītum.

The town, moreover, is fortified both by the nature of the ground and by a hill.

Note. et locī nātūrā et colle: 'both by the nature of the ground and by a hill'.

BC 3.9.3sed celeriter cīvēs Rōmānī ligneīs effectīs turribus sēsē mūniērunt, et cum essent īnfirmī ad resistendum propter paucitātem hominum crēbrīs cōnfectī vulneribus, ad extrēmum auxilium dēscendērunt servōsque omnēs pūberēs līberāvērunt et praesectīs omnium mulierum crīnibus tormenta effēcērunt.

But the Roman citizens quickly built wooden towers and fortified themselves, and since, because of the small number of men, they were too weak to resist, worn out by frequent wounds, they had recourse to the last remedy: they freed all the adult slaves, and cut off the hair of all the women to make torsion artillery.

Note. ad extrēmum auxilium dēscendērunt: 'they had recourse to the last remedy'. pūberēs: 'adult', old enough to fight. praesectīs … crīnibus: torsion catapults were powered by twisted ropes, and women's hair was the classic emergency substitute.

BC 3.9.4quōrum cognitā sententiā Octāvius quīnīs castrīs oppidum circumdedit atque ūnō tempore obsidiōne et oppugnātiōnibus eōs premere coepit.

Learning their resolve, Octavius surrounded the town with five camps and began to press them at the same time with blockade and assaults.

Note. quōrum cognitā sententiā: a connecting relative in an ablative absolute, 'when their resolve was known'. quīnīs castrīs: distributive numeral with the plural noun castra, 'with five camps'.

BC 3.9.5illī omnia perpetī parātī maximē ā rē frūmentāriā labōrābant.

They, ready to endure everything, suffered most from lack of grain.

Note. illī: the townspeople. ā rē frūmentāriā labōrābant: 'were in difficulty over grain'.

BC 3.9.5cui reī missīs ad Caesarem lēgātīs auxilium ab eō petēbant;

For this reason they sent envoys to Caesar and asked him for help;

Note. cui reī: connecting relative, 'for this reason'. The digital text prints re; read reī.

BC 3.9.5reliqua, ut poterant, incommoda per sē sustinēbant.

the other hardships they bore by themselves as best they could.

Note. ut poterant: 'as best they could'. per sē: 'by themselves', without outside help.

BC 3.9.6et longō interpositō spatiō cum diūturnitās oppugnātiōnis neglegentiōrēs Octāviānōs effēcisset, nactī occāsiōnem merīdiānī temporis discessū eōrum puerīs mulieribusque in mūrō dispositīs, nēquid cōtīdiānae cōnsuētūdinis dēsīderārētur, ipsī manū factā cum iīs quōs nūper maximē līberāverant, in proxima Octāvī castra inrūpērunt.

And after a long time had passed, when the length of the siege had made the Octavians more careless, seizing the chance of their withdrawal at midday, they posted boys and women on the wall so that nothing of the daily routine should be missed, formed a band themselves together with those whom they had freed very recently, and burst into the nearest camp of Octavius.

Note. longō interpositō spatiō: 'after a long time had passed'. neglegentiōrēs: 'more careless'. Octāviānōs: Octavius' men. meridiānī temporis discessū: 'at the time of their withdrawal at midday'. nēquid … dēsīderārētur: 'so that nothing of the daily routine should be missed', i.e. so the walls looked as usual. manū factā: 'having formed a band'. quōs nūper maximē: 'whom they had just recently'.

BC 3.9.7hīs expugnātīs eōdem impetū altera sunt adortī, inde tertia et quārta et deinceps reliqua, omnibusque eōs castrīs expulērunt et magnō numerō interfectō reliquōs atque ipsum Octāvium in nāvēs cōnfugere coēgērunt.

When this was taken, they attacked the second with the same rush, then the third and the fourth and so on the rest, drove them out of all the camps, killed a great number, and forced the rest and Octavius himself to flee to the ships.

Note. hīs expugnātīs: the first camp, plural in form (castra). altera, tertia, quarta, reliqua: neuter plural, each understood with castra.

BC 3.9.8iamque hiems adpropinquābat, et tantīs dētrīmentīs acceptīs Octāvius dēspērātā oppugnātiōne oppidī Dyrrachium sēsē ad Pompēium recēpit.

And now winter was approaching, and after suffering such great losses Octavius gave up the siege of the town and withdrew to Pompey at Dyrrachium.

Note. dēspērātā oppugnātiōne: ablative absolute, 'having given up the siege'. Dyrrachium ad Pompeium: 'to Pompey at Dyrrachium'.