Ch. 84

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In the Thick of Battle

Vercingetorix ex arce Alesiae suos conspicatus ex oppido egreditur; crates¹, longurios, musculos, falces reliquaque² quae eruptionis³ causa paraverat profert. 2 Pugnatur⁴ uno tempore omnibus locis, atque omnia temptantur: quae⁵ minime visa pars firma est, huc⁶ concurritur⁷. 3 Romanorum manus⁸ tantis munitionibus distinetur nec facile pluribus locis occurrit. 4 Multum⁹ ad¹⁰ terrendos nostros valet clamor, qui post¹¹ tergum pugnantibus exstitit, quod¹² suum periculum in aliena vident salute constare: 5 omnia¹³ enim plerumque quae absunt vehementius hominum mentes perturbant.

1. crates, longurios, musculos, falces: cratis = wicker shields for cover; longurius = long javelin poles; musculus = literally a “little mouse,” a moveable covering for soldiers building siege craft; falx = grappling hook to scale walls ↩

2. reliquaque: take this is accusative, neuter, plural, the remaining things ↩

3. eruptionis causa: genitive + causa = because of. Note that the genitive comes before causa. Causa is ablative of cause (obviously) ↩

4. pugnatur: this is an impersonal passive, literally “it is fought,” but translate as “there is fighting” or even “they fight” ↩

5. quae minime visa pars firma est: remember that video in the passive, even its PPP, can be translated as seem ↩

6. huc: to here ↩

7. concurritur: see the note right above on pugnatur ↩

8. Romanorum manus: manus can also be a maniple, meaning a group of soldiers ↩

9. multum: adverbial accusative, translate as “a lot” ↩

10. ad terrendos nostros: remember that ad + FPP shows purpose. ↩

11. post tergum: behind the back ↩

12. quod suum ….. constare: this means that these troops knew that, if the defensive line was broken elsewhere, they’d be vulnerable ↩

13. omnia ….. mentes perturbant: this kind of axiomatic generalization is not uncommon in Caesar, mostly used to explain a failure on the Romans’ part ↩