Bellum Hispaniense 41

B. Hisp. 41.1Fabius Maximus, quem ad Mundam praesidium oppugnandum relīquerat, operibus adsiduīs diurnīs nocturnīsque circumsēdit;

Fabius Maximus, whom he had left at Munda to besiege the garrison, kept it under siege with constant works by day and night;

Note. Fabius Maximus: Quintus Fabius Maximus, one of Caesar's legates, consul later in 45 BC. ad praesidium oppugnandum: gerundive of purpose. operibus adsiduīs: 'by unceasing works'.

B. Hisp. 41.1interclūsī inter sē dēcernere;

cut off, they began to fight among themselves;

Note. dēcernere: the edition prints the misprint 'dcernere', corrected here. An historic infinitive: 'they began to fight it out among themselves'.

B. Hisp. 41.1factā caede bene magnā… faciunt.

after a very great slaughter … they make.

Note. Again a gap in the text. bene magnā: 'very great'.

B. Hisp. 41.2Nostrī ad oppidum recuperandum occāsiōnem nōn praetermittunt et reliquōs vīvōs capiunt, xiiii mīlia.

Our men did not miss the chance to recover the town, and took the rest alive, fourteen thousand of them.

Note. ad oppidum recuperandum: gerundive. vīvōs: 'alive'. xiiii mīlia: 14,000.

B. Hisp. 41.3Ursaōnem proficīscuntur;

They set out for Urso;

Note. Ursaōnem: Urso (modern Osuna), whose people had encouraged Pompey before the battle.

B. Hisp. 41.3quod oppidum magnā mūnītiōne continēbātur, sīc ut ipse locus nōn sōlum opere, sed etiam nātūrā mūnītus ad oppugnandum hostem inpedīret.

this town was held in by great fortifications, so that the place itself, protected not only by works but also by nature, hindered an enemy from attacking it.

Note. quod oppidum: connecting relative. ad oppugnandum hostem: 'for an enemy to attack', gerundive agreeing with hostem.

B. Hisp. 41.4Hoc accēdēbat, ut aqua praeterquam in ipsō oppidō ūnam circumcircā nusquam reperīrētur propius mīlia passuum viii;

On top of this, apart from one well in the town itself, no water could be found anywhere round about nearer than eight miles;

Note. praeterquam in ipsō oppidō ūnam: 'except a single (spring) in the town itself'; the noun has fallen out. circumcircā: 'all around'. propius mīlia passuum viii: 'nearer than eight miles'.

B. Hisp. 41.4quae rēs magnō erat adiūmentō oppidānīs.

this was a great help to the townspeople.

Note. magnō … adiūmentō: predicative dative with a dative of the person, 'a great help to the townspeople'.

B. Hisp. 41.5Tum praetereā accēdēbat, ut aggerem…, māteriēsque, unde solitī sunt turrīs ac vīneās facere, propius mīlia passuum vi nōn reperiēbātur: hāc Pompēius ad oppidum oppugnātiōnem tūtiōrem efficeret, omnem māteriem circum oppidum succīsam intrō congessit.

Besides this, the material for a siege mound …, and the timber from which they are accustomed to make towers and mantlets, could not be found nearer than six miles: to make our attack on the town less safe, Pompey had cut down all the timber round the town and carried it inside.

Note. aggerem …: the sentence is incomplete here in the manuscripts. soliti sunt: soleō is semi-deponent, with a passive perfect. turrīs ac vīneās: towers and mantlets, siege equipment. hāc … efficeret: Kübler prints the text as transmitted; the sense is 'to make our attack less safe'.

B. Hisp. 41.6Ita necessāriō dīdūcēbantur nostrī, ut ā Mundā, quod proximē cēperant, māteriem illō dēportārent.

So our men were forced to go a long way to fetch timber there from Munda, which they had just taken.

Note. nostrī: the subject of dīdūcēbantur, 'had to go a long way'. illō: the adverb, 'to that place'.