De Bello Civili 3.94

BC 3.94.1Eōdem tempore tertiam aciem Caesar quae quiēta fuerat et sē ad id tempus locō tenuerat, prōcurrere iussit.

At the same time Caesar ordered the third line, which had been resting and had held its position until then, to charge.

Note. tertiam aciem: Caesar's reserve line, now thrown in fresh.

BC 3.94.2ita cum recentēs atque integrī dēfessīs successissent, aliī autem ā tergō adorīrentur, sustinēre Pompēiānī nōn potuērunt atque ūniversī terga vertērunt.

So when fresh and unhurt men had taken the place of the exhausted ones, and others were attacking from the rear, the Pompeians could not hold out and all turned their backs.

Note. integrī dēfessīs successissent: 'fresh men had taken the place of the exhausted'; dēfessīs is dative with successissent. terga vertērunt: 'turned their backs', fled.

BC 3.94.3neque vērō Caesarem fefellit quīn ab iīs cohortibus, quae contrā equitātum in quārta aciē collocātae essent, initium victōriae orīrētur, ut ipse in cohortandīs mīlitibus prōnūntiāverat.

Nor indeed was Caesar mistaken in thinking that the victory would begin with those cohorts which had been placed in the fourth line against the cavalry, as he himself had declared in encouraging the soldiers.

Note. nec … Caesarem fefellit quīn: 'nor was Caesar mistaken that', literally 'it did not escape Caesar that'.

BC 3.94.4ab hīs enim prīmum equitātus est pulsus, ab īsdem factae caedēs sagittāriōrum ac funditōrum, ab īsdem aciēs Pompēiāna ā sinistrā parte erat circumita atque initium fugae factum.

For by these the cavalry was first driven back, by the same men the archers and slingers were slaughtered, by the same men the Pompeian line was surrounded on the left side and the rout begun.

Note. The triple ab hīs … ab īsdem … ab īsdem drives home the role of the fourth line.

BC 3.94.5sed Pompēius ut equitātum suum pulsum vīdit atque eam partem, cui maximē cōnfīdēbat, perterritam animum advertit, aliīs diffīsus aciē excessit prōtinusque sē in castra equō contulit, et iīs centuriōnibus, quōs in statiōne ad praetōriam portam posuerat, clārē, ut mīlitēs exaudīrent, "tuēminī," inquit "castra et dēfendite dīligenter, sīquid dūrius acciderit.

But Pompey, when he saw his cavalry driven back and noticed that the part he trusted most was terrified, distrusting the rest, left the battlefield and at once rode to his camp, and said to the centurions he had posted on guard at the main gate, loudly so that the soldiers could hear: 'Guard the camp and defend it carefully if anything goes badly.

Note. cui maximē cōnfīdēbat: cōnfīdō takes the dative. diffīsus: perfect participle of the semi-deponent diffīdō, 'distrusting'. praetōriam portam: the main gate, nearest the general's tent. tuēminī: imperative of the deponent tueor. sīquid dūrius acciderit: 'if anything goes badly' (literally 'anything harder').

BC 3.94.5ego reliquās portās circumeō et castrōrum praesidia cōnfirmō."

I am going round the other gates and strengthening the guards of the camp.'

Note. circumeō … cōnfirmō: present tense for an action he is about to do.

BC 3.94.6haec cum dīxisset, sē in praetōrium contulit summae reī diffīdēns et tamen ēventum expectāns.

When he had said this, he went into his headquarters tent, despairing of the whole outcome and yet waiting for the result.

Note. praetōrium: the general's tent. summae reī diffīdēns: 'despairing of the whole outcome'; diffīdō takes the dative.