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Sallust · Bellum Iugurthinum

Bellum Iugurthinum 59

Cavalry battle outside Zama

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Iug. 59.1Igitur posterō diē, prius quam ad oppugnandum ēgrederētur, equitātum omnem in eā parte, quā rēgis adventus erat, prō castrīs agitāre iubet, portās et proxuma loca tribūnīs dispertit, deinde ipse pergit ad oppidum atque utī superiōre diē mūrum aggreditur.So on the next day, before going out to the assault, he ordered all the cavalry to patrol in front of the camp in the area from which the king would come, assigned the gates and the nearest places to the tribunes, and then went in person to the town and attacked the wall as on the previous day. Iug. 59.1Interim Iugurtha ex occultō repente nostrōs invādit: quī in proxumō locātī fuerant, paulisper territī perturbantur, reliquī citō subveniunt.Meanwhile Jugurtha suddenly attacked our men from hiding: those who had been placed nearest were frightened and thrown into confusion for a little while, but the rest quickly came to help. Iug. 59.3Neque diūtius Numidae resistere quīvissent, nī peditēs cum equitibus permixtī magnam clādem in congressū facerent.Nor would the Numidians have been able to hold out any longer, had not their infantry, mixed in with the cavalry, done great damage in the encounter.

Iug. 59.3Quibus illī frētī nōn, utī equestrī proeliō solet, sequī, Dein cēdere, sed advorsīs equīs concurrere, implicāre ac perturbāre aciem: ita expedītīs peditibus suīs hostīs paene victōs dare.Relying on them, the horsemen did not, as usually happens in a cavalry battle, pursue and then give way, but charged straight in with their horses, entangled and threw the line into confusion: so they handed the enemy over, almost beaten, to their own light infantry.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (83 words)
igitur, conj.therefore
posterus, -a, -umfollowing, next
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.day
prius, adv.before, first
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
oppugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumattack, besiege
ēgredior, -gredī, -gressusgo out or forth, go ashore, disembark
equitātus, -ūs m.cavalry
omnis, -eall, every
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
pars, partis, f.part, side, direction
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
rēx, rēgis, m.king
adventus, -ūs, m.approach, arrival
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
prō, prep. with abl.before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for
castra, -ōrum, n. plur.camp
agitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusdrive about; discuss, debate
iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussusbid, order, command
porta, -ae, f.gate; door
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
proximus, -a, -umnearest, next
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.place, situation
tribūnus, -ī m.tribune (tribūnus mīlitum: senior officer of a legion)
dispertiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusdivide up, distribute
deinde, adv.then, next
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
pergō, -ere, perrēxī, perrēctumgo on, press on
oppidum, -ī, n.town
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
superior, -ius, adj.higher; former, previous, preceding
mūrus, -ī, m.wall
aggredior, -ī, aggressus sumattack
interim (adv.)meanwhile
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
occultum, -ī n.hiding place (in occultō: in secret)
repente (adv.)suddenly
noster, -tra, -trumour
invādō, -ere, -vāsī, -vāsusgo into, attack, seize; come upon
locō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusplace; let out a contract for (a public work)
paulisper (adv.)for a short time
terreō, -ēre, -uī, -itusfrighten, terrify
perturbō, -turbāre, -turbāvi, -turbātusgreatly disturb, disturb, agitate, throw into confusion
reliquus, -a, -umleft, the remaining, the other, the rest of
citō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusset in motion, urge on; citātus: swift, rushing
subveniō, -īre, -vēnī, -ventuscome to help, rescue (+ dat.)
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
diū, adv.for a long time, a long time or while, long; comp
resistō, -sistere, -stitīstand back, resist
queō, -īre, -īvī (-iī)be able, can
nī (conj.)if not, unless (= nisi)
pedes, peditis m.foot soldier
cum, prep, with abl.with
eques, equitis m.horseman; (pl.) cavalry
permisceō, -miscēre, -miscuī, -mixtusmix together, mingle
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
clādēs, -is f.disaster, defeat, destruction
congressus, -ūs m.meeting; encounter, clash
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
frētus, -a, -um (+ abl.)relying on
nōn, adv.not
equester, -tris, -treof cavalry
proelium, -ī, n.battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle
soleō, -ēre, solitus sumbe accustomed, usually do
sequor, sequī, secūtusfollow
cēdō, -ere, cessī, cessumgo, withdraw, give way
sed, conj.but
adversus, -a, -umfacing; unfavourable, unsuccessful
equus, -ī, m.horse
concurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursusrun, rush, or dash together
implicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusentangle, entwine; involve
aciēs, -ēī, f.line of battle
ita, adv.in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
expedītus, -a, -umunobstructed, easy; lightly equipped
suus, -a, -umhis, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
hostis, -is, m. and f.enemy, foe
paene, adv.almost, nearly
vincō, -ere, vīcī, victumconquer, defeat
dō, dare, dedī, datusgive
Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Sallust's Jugurthine War, with chapter 79 onwards in part from A. W. Ahlberg (Teubner, 1919), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.