Caesar DBG 5:33.1-4 Course Notes

Latin III:  Caesar, De Bello Gallico

Instructor:  James Ransom

April 10, 2014

Caesar DBG 5:33.1-4

Course Notes

[33]          1         Tum demum Titurius, qui nihil ante providisset, trepidare et concursare cohortesque disponere, haec tamen ipsa timide atque ut eum omnia deficere viderentur; quod plerumque eis accidere consuevit, qui in ipso negotio consilium capere coguntur. 2         At Cotta, qui cogitasset haec posse in itinere accidere atque ob eam causam profectionis auctor non fuisset, nulla in re communi saluti deerat et in appellandis cohortandisque militibus imperatoris et in pugna militis officia praestabat.          3         Cum propter longitudinem agminis minus facile omnia per se obire et, quid quoque loco faciendum esset, providere possent, iusserunt pronuntiare, ut impedimenta relinquerent atque in orbem consisterent.          4         Quod consilium etsi in eiusmodi casu reprehendendum non est, tamen incommode accidit:

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[33]             1            Tum demum Titurius, qui nihil ante providisset, trepidare et concursare cohortesque disponere Finally Sabinus, who hadn’t seen this coming at all, began anxiously running up and down the line to organize his cohorts’ defense; “disponere” is present infinitive of dispono, disponere, disposui, dispositum, “to dispose, distribute, arrange.” “concursare” is present infinitive of concurso, concursare, concursavi, concursatum, “trepidare” is present infinitive of trepido, trepidare, trepidavi, trepidatum, “to tremble, to waver.”  “providisset” is third person singular pluperfect subjunctive active of provideo,providere, providi, provisum, “to forsee.”

haec tamen ipsa timide atque ut eum omnia deficere viderentur; but even this he did as if in a panic, and in short it seemed he had lost it; “viderentur” is third person plural imperfect indicative passive of video, videre, vidi visum.  “deficere” is present infinitive of deficio, deficere, defeci, defectum, “to fail, desert, abandon.”

quod plerumque eis accidere consuevit, qui in ipso negotio consilium capere coguntur.  Which is what typically happens to those who suddenly have to make decisions in a crisis; “coguntur” is third person plural present indicative passive of cogo, cogere, coegi, coactum, “to force, compel.” “capere” is present infinitive of capio, capere, cepi, captum, “to capture, seize; to take in, understand.”  “consuevit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of consuesco, consuescere, consuevi, consuetum, “to accustom, to tend to.”  “accidere” is present infinitive of accido, accidere, accidi, “to happen to, befall.” 

2            At Cotta, qui cogitasset haec posse in itinere accidere atque ob eam causam profectionis auctor non fuisset, nulla in re communi saluti deerat et in appellandis cohortandisque militibus imperatoris et in pugna militis officia praestabat. But Cotta, who had figured some sort of ambush might happen along the march route (and for this exact reason had opposed leaving camp) left nothing undone to safeguard his men and did his duty as a commander, calling the men by name and bucking up their courage, while also taking part in the fighting; “praestabat” is third person sinular imperfect indicative active of praesto, praestare, praestiti, praestatum, “to stand before, to excel.”  “cohortandis” is dative of the future passive participle (gerundive) of cohorto, cohortare, cohortavi, cohortatum, “to encourage, exhort.”  “appellandis” is dative of the future passive participle (gerundive) of appello, appellare, appellavi, appellatum, “to call by name.”  “deerat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of desum, deesse, defui, defuturus, “to abandon, desert.” “fuisset” is third person singular pluperfect subjunctive active of sum, esse, fui, futurus.  “accidere” is present infinitive of accido, accidere, accidi, “to happen to, befall.”  “cogitasset” is third person singular pluperfect subjunctive active of cogito, cogitare, cogitavi, cogitatum, “to think, consider, ponder.” 

3            Cum propter longitudinem agminis minus facile omnia per se obire et, quid quoque loco faciendum esset, providere possent, iusserunt pronuntiare, ut impedimenta relinquerent atque in orbem consisterent  Since the length of the column made it hard for the officers to get an overview and to know what orders were necessary where, they sent word down through the chain to abandon baggage and form up in a circle;  “consisterent” is third person plural imperfect subjunctive active of consisto, consistere, constiti, constitum, “to stop, take a stand.”  “relinquerent” is third person plural imperfect subjunctive active of relinquo, relinquere, reliqui, relictum, “to abandon, leave behind.” “pronuntiare” is present indicative of pronuntio, pronuntiare, pronuntiavi, pronuntiatum, “to proclaim, declare.”  “iusserunt” is third person plural perfect indicative active of iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum, “to command, order.”  “possent” is third person plural imperfect subjunctive active of possum, posse, potui, “to be able.”  “providere” is present infinitive of provideo, providere, providi, provisum.  “faciendum esset”:  passive periphrastic +third person singular imperfect subjunctive active of sum.  “obire” is present infinitive of obeo, obire, obii, obitum, “to survey, look over.” 

4            Quod consilium etsi in eiusmodi casu reprehendendum non est, tamen incommode accidit: While it’s tough to criticize this tactic under the circumstances, it did have some unintended consequences:  “accidit” is third person singular present indicative active of accido, accidere, accidi, “to happen, befall.”  “reprehendendum”:  passive periphrastic; see Steadman’s note.