Bellum Hispaniense 4

The Feint against Corduba

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B. Hisp. 4.1Hōc missō ad Uliam praesidiō Caesar, ut Pompēium ab eā oppugnātiōne dēdūceret, ad Cordubam contendit, ex quō itinere lōrīcātōs virōs fortīs cum equitātū ante praemīsit.Having sent this relief to Ulia, Caesar marched on Corduba to draw Pompeius away from that siege, and from that march he sent ahead some brave men in armour along with the cavalry.Note. Hōc missō … praesidiō: ablative absolute. ut Pompeium … dēdūceret: purpose; the march on Corduba was a feint to draw Gnaeus away from Ulia. ex quō itinere: 'from that march'. lōrīcātōs virōs fortīs: 'brave men in armour'; fortīs is the older accusative plural ending in -īs. B. Hisp. 4.2Quī simul in cōnspectum oppidī sē dedērunt, cum equīs recipiuntur, hoc ā Cordubēnsibus nēquāquam poterat animadvertī.As soon as they came into view of the town, they were taken up on the horses, and this could not possibly be noticed by the people of Corduba.Note. simul (= simul atque) … sē dedērunt: 'as soon as they came into view'. cum equīs recipiuntur: each armoured man was taken up behind a horseman, so that the people of Corduba saw only cavalry approaching. hoc: the trick of the doubled riders. B. Hisp. 4.2Adpropinquantibus ex oppidō bene magna multitūdō ad equitātum concīdendum cum exīssent, lōrīcātī, ut suprā scrīpsimus, ex equīs dēscendērunt et magnum proelium fēcērunt, sīc utī ex īnfīnītā hominum multitūdine paucī in oppidum sē reciperent.As they drew near, a very great crowd came out of the town to cut down the cavalry; the armoured men, as we wrote above, got down from the horses and fought a great battle, with the result that out of a vast number of men only a few got back into the town.Note. Adpropinquantibus: dative, 'when they were drawing near', loosely attached; the following cum-clause has a singular subject (multitūdō) with a plural verb (exīssent), a construction by sense. ad equitātum concīdendum: gerundive of purpose, 'to cut down the cavalry'. ut suprā scrīpsimus: the author refers back to 22, using the 'we' of the narrator. sīc utī: 'so that'.

B. Hisp. 4.3Hōc timōre adductus Sex. Pompēius litterās frātrī mīsit, ut celeriter sibi subsidiō venīret, nē prius Caesar Cordubam caperet, quam ipse illō vēnisset.Moved by fear of this, Sextus Pompeius sent a letter to his brother asking him to come quickly to his help, so that Caesar should not take Corduba before he himself arrived there.Note. Hōc timōre: 'by fear of this'. Sex. Pompeius: Sextus, in Corduba. ut … venīret: indirect command. sibi subsidiō: double dative, 'as a help to him'. nē prius … caperet, quam … venīsset: priusquam split into two parts (tmesis), 'before he himself had arrived'. illō: adverb, 'to that place'. B. Hisp. 4.4Itaque Cn. Pompēius Uliā prope captā litterīs frātris excitus cum cōpiīs ad Cordubam iter facere coepit.So Gnaeus Pompeius, roused by his brother's letter when Ulia was almost taken, began to march with his forces to Corduba.Note. Uliā prope captā: ablative absolute, 'when Ulia had almost been taken'. excītus: from exciō, 'roused'. Caesar's feint worked: the siege of Ulia was abandoned.

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Grammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×2, ablative absolute ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1, cum clauses ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (66 words)

hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
praesidium, -ī, n.	protection; guard, escort
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
oppugnātiō, -ōnis f.	siege, assault on a town
dēdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead down or away, bring; nāvem dēdūcere, to draw down or launch a ship
contendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus	stretch, hasten
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
iter, itineris, n.	a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march
lōrīcātus, -a, -um	wearing a breastplate, armoured
vir, virī, m.	man
fortis, -e	brave
cum, prep, with abl.	with
equitātus, -ūs m.	cavalry
ante, prep, with acc. and adv.	before
praemittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum	send ahead
simul, adv.	at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
cōnspectus, -ūs, m.	sight
oppidum, -ī, n.	town
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
equus, -ī, m.	horse
recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover
nēquāquam (adv.)	by no means, not at all
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
animadvertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus	turn the mind to, observe
appropinquō, -propinquāre, -propinquāvī, -propinquātus	approach to, approach
bene, adv.	well; successfully
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
multitūdō, -tūdinis, f.	multitude
concīdō, -ere, concīdī, concīsum	cut down, kill
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
exeō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go out
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.	above, before
scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus	write
dēscendō, -scendere, -scendī, -scēnsus	climb down, descend
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
proelium, -ī, n.	battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
sīc, adv.	so, thus
īnfīnītus, -a, -um	boundless, countless
homō, hominis, m.	man
paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj.	few
timor, -ōris, m.	fear
addūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead to, bring, take; induce, influence
littera, -ae f.	letter (of the alphabet); pl. letter, writing
frāter, frātris, m.	brother
celeriter, adv.	swiftly, quickly
subsidium, -ī, n.	reserve, reinforcement, support, help
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus	come
nē, adv.	not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
prius, adv.	before, first
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
illō (adv.)	to that place, there
itaque, adv.	and so, accordingly, therefore
prope (adv. and prep. + acc.)	near, nearly
exciō, -īre, -cīvī, -citus	rouse, stir up; summon
cōpia, -ae, f.	supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops
coepī, coepisse, coeptus (used in tenses of completed action)	have begun, began

Anonymous, Bellum Hispaniense. Latin text: B. Kübler and E. Wölfflin, C. Iulii Caesaris Commentarii, vol. III (Leipzig: Teubner, 1896–97), public domain; transcribed for this app from the Internet Archive scan. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.