Ch. 3

Romans Approach

Vespasianus1 autem Jotapatam2 excindere cupiens (nam3 in eam plurimos hostium refugisse4 cognoverat, et praeterea validissimum hoc eorum esse receptaculum5) praemittit pedites cum equitibus qui6 montanum iter coaequarent, saxis7 asperum, ac peditibus quoque difficile, omnino8 vero equitibus invium. Et hi quidem quatriduo fecere9 quod10 iussum est, latamque aperuere11 exercitui viam. Quinto autem die, qui mensis12 Maii vigesimus et primus erat, prior Josephus13 in Jotapatam ex Tiberiade14 venit, abiectosque15 Judaeorum spiritus erigit. Cum vero transitum16 eius Vespasiano quidam transfuga nunciasset, utque17 mox civitatem peteret incitaret, veluti18 cum ea totam Judaeam capere posset, si Josephum subiugasset, hoc19 ille nuncio pro maxima felicitate percepto, Dei20 providentia factum ratus, ut qui hostium prudentissimus videretur21, ultro22 se etiam in custodiam traderet voluntariam, statim23 quidem cum equitibus mille Placidum24 mittit, unaque decadarcham25 Ebutium, tam26 manu quam26 prudentia virum insignem, circumvallare civitatem iussit, ne27 clam inde Josephus elaberetur.

  1. Vespasianus: Vespasian is the leading Roman general for the Jewish War. He later goes on to be emperor, ushering in the Flavian Dynasty, with his sons Titus and Domitian ruling after him ↩

  2. Jotapatam: Jotapata, modern day Yodfat, was a keyJewish fortified city where the Roman began the first Jewish War in 67 AD ↩

  3. Nam in eam ….. esse receptaculum: cognoverat starts off indirect statement, which runs for the entire phrase within the parentheses ↩

  4. Refugisse: perfect infinitive, to have fled back, but remember to translate it within the indirect statement ↩

  5. Receptaculum: this refers to a place of refuge, because it is the most fortified town in the nearby area ↩

  6. qui montanum iter coaequarent: relative clause of purpose, noted by the subjunctive verb coaequarent. He sent ahead foot soldiers who would make level the mountain road or, to take it another way, so that they would make level the mountain road ↩

  7. saxis asperum, ac peditibus quoque difficile: both adjectival phrases describe the neuter iter in the previous clause ↩

  8. omnino vero equitibus invium: this phrase describes the iter as well ↩

  9. fecere: another fake infinitive ↩

  10. quod iussum est: take this as the direct object of fecere ↩

  11. Aperuere: this is a fake infinitive, where the -ere replaces the -erunt ending of the 3rd person, plural, perfect. They have opened up…. ↩

  12. mensis Maii vigesimus et primus: 21st of May, the starting date of the siege ↩

  13. Josephus: following the tradition of Caesar in his De bello Gallico, and De bello civile, Josephus refers to himself in the 3rd person throughout this work ↩

  14. Tiberiade: Tiberias, a major city founded by Herod Antipas and named in honor of Emperor Tiberias in 20 AD ↩

  15. abiectosque Judaeorum spiritus erigit: spiritus, -us (m) is 4th declension, so take it as accusative plural here ↩

  16. transitum eius: Eius refers to Josephus entering Jotapata ↩

  17. utque mox civitatem peteret incitaret: start with the incitaret, then the ut mox civitatem peteret ↩

  18. veluti cum ea ….. Josephum subiugasset: the ea refers to the city of Jotapata. If Vespasian can take this city, he feels like he’ll have all of Judea under control ↩

  19. hoc ille nuncio pro maxima felicitate percepto: take this whole thing, without the ille, as an ablative absolute. Connect the ille to the ratus later on ↩

  20. Dei providentia factum ratus: ratus describes ille (Vespasian) and starts off indirect statement ↩

  21. Videretur: video in the passive can also be seem ↩

  22. ultro se etiam in custodiam traderet voluntariam: ultro and voluntariam appear to have the same meaning in the phrase ↩

  23. statim quidem….iussit: jump to mittit for your main verb of this sentence ↩

  24. Placidum: Placidus is a high-ranking commander under Vespasian, mentioned a few times in De bello Iudaico ↩

  25. decadarcham Ebutium: a decadarcha, or a decurion, was a Roman cavalry commander. Ebutius is not otherwise known outside of this passage ↩

  26. tam manu quam prudentia virum insignem: a man distinguished as much by his deeds (tam manu) as by his prudence/judgement (quam prudentia). Tam….quam is as much…..as….. Both manu and prudentia are ablative of cause/respect ↩ ↩2

  27. ne clam inde Josephus elaberetur: negative purpose clause ↩

All material is taken, with gratitude, from The Latin Library as well as my own work, available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license CC BY-SA 4.0