hunc this bridge, of course, for there has been no personal word to which hunc can refer, and it will in any event be related to the nearest word to which it can be referred. (Pons is masculine as we might infer from qui standing next it.) This bridge, then noctu perfici iussit. (Notice the voice of perfici, which should help to an understanding of hunc.) Cæsar ordered to be finished—it had been almost (paene) rebuilt before by night. Translate the whole sentence Eo biduo Caesar cum equitibus nongentis, quos sibi praesidio reliquerat, in castra pervenit. Pons, qui fuerat tempestate interruptus, paene erat refectus: hunc noctu perfici iussit. although 6. Caesar, etsi intellegebat Cæsar, although he (i.e., Cæsar, for in lieu of a new subject the verb intellegebat refers logically to the subject already mentioned) knew, yes, was knowing all along (note the tense) what? for-what-reason1 qua de causa ea dicerentur, for what reason that (lit. those things) was said. Note that qua is used adjectively; that the voice of the verb (for the passive takes no object) settles any doubt about the indefinite form, ea. * tamen, nevertheless. ne (apt to mean lest or that . . not) aestatem in Treviris 2 spend ... consumere (something about spending or wasting the summer among the Treviri) cogeretur, lest hes 1 See p. 44 on idioms. 2 Treviri, -orum, a people living on the Moselle. should be forced to spend (waste) the summer among But not a word yet as to what Cæsar the Treviri. did. get ready omnibus ad Britannicum bellum rebus comparatis, every thing being got ready (or better English, having got everything in shape) for the British war. This, although doubtless done indirectly by Cæsar (i.e., under his direction), does not tell us the main fact of interest. We must read still farther for that. Indutiomarum ad se (something about Indutiomarus and Cæsar himself. we can, thinking of the force of 1 ad se = to himself, almost guess the verbal idea) cum ducentis obsidibus venire iussit. We now understand Cæsar's action as regards Indutiomarus: Cæsar. . . bade Indutiomarus come to him with 200 hostages. Notice here that, although we have one subordinate clause following another, all introduced in regular fashion by subordinate "connectives," the whole ending like a "period" with the main verb, although we have not consciously analyzed the sentence, and have thought but little about syntax except as suggested by inflectional endings, still we have got the meaning, not as readily perhaps, but in the same way, I take it, that the Roman boy must have got it, that is, in the Latin order of words and by adding one conception to another until the sense was complete. Let us read again and now translate our sentence as a whole : Cæsar, etsi intellegebat, qua de causa ea dicerentur, .. tamen, ne aestatem in Treviris consumere cogeretur, omnibus ad Britannicum 1 Indutiomarus, a chief of the Treviri. bellum rebus comparatis, Indutiomarum ad se cum ducentis obsidibus venire iussit. happen 7. Caesar, etsi idem, quod superioribus diebus acciderat, fore videbat, Cæsar, although the same, which on the former days had happened, he saw would occur (lit. be), or (in a more natural English order), Cæsar, although he saw that the same thing, which had happened on the former days, would occur, (Notice that the real meaning of idem is made clear by the quod . . . acciderat-clause, and that the relation of idem to what follows is seen when fore videbat is reached in the reading, it being presumed that the reader, having done his elementary work well, understands the relation of idem. . . fore to videbat.) ut, si essent hostes pulsi, (namely) that, if the enemy were routed, (surely this reads naturally enough) celeritate periculum effugerent; -we see now what Cæsar saw would happen, if the enemy were put to flight, viz. that they would by their swiftness escape danger. We can hardly avoid translating this as a result clause, but why think of it as result or anything else, provided we see what the author means? We read further in our sentence tamen nactus1 equites circiter triginta, To whom does the form (watch closely inflectional endings!) of nactus show that it refers ? We have then : nevertheless securing about thirty horsemen, bring quos Commius Atrebas secum transportaverat, — There ought to be no attempt to refer secum to Caesar (cf. sibi p. 19). Knowing that the word refers to Commius, the 1 nanciscor, i, nactus sum, get, secure. meaning should be easily seen : whom Commius the Atrebatian had brought with him, draw up legiones in acie pro castris constituit. Now we have what Caesar did drew up the legions in battle array before the camp. Here we have one of "those very involved Latin sentences" in which one subordinate clause (etsi idem) is temporarily suspended by another subordinate clause (quod . . . acciderat), a sentence in which we do not find out what Caesar did till the very end. Yet, without magnifying the point of difficulty, or seeking by needless analysis to make hard a thing reasonably easy, we have managed to see its meaning very much as we do in a long English sentence, and as the Roman must have done. Caesar, etsi idem, quod superioribus diebus acciderat, fore videbat, ut, si essent hostes pulsi, celeritate periculum effugerent; tamen nactus equites circiter triginta, quos Commius Atrebas secum transportaverat, legiones in acie pro castris constituit. Translate it. 8. Itaque, vocatis ad se undique mercatoribus, - Accordingly the merchants being summoned from all sides to himself, how great neque quanta esset insulae magnitudo, neither how great was the size of the island,- Easy enough, if we know the meaning of quanta, without asking why esset is subjunctive, although the interrogative notion implied in quanta along with the mode of the verb, should be sufficient to suggest an indirect question. inhabit neque quae aut quantae nationes incolerent, We would here look for a clause coördinate with the preceding one (neque A. and G. 155, 1, a; G. 475, 482; H. 554, I., 2): nor what or how great peoples inhabited [the island], neque quem practice (or skill) usum belli haberent, nor what practice of war they had, i.e., what was their system of warfare, (or skill in fighting), custom aut quibus institutis uterentur, however indefinite quibus institutis might at first sight appear to be, the very next word removes the uncertainty: or what customs they used (had), neque qui (made definite by what follows) essent ad maiorum navium multitudinem idonei portus, nor what were for the great number of larger vessels fit reperire poterat: was he able to find out. Re-read this sentence rapidly to see how easily the sense may be had in the Latin order. Itaque, vocatis ad se undique mercatoribus, neque quanta esset insulae magnitudo, neque quae aut quantae nationes incolerent, neque quem usum belli haberent aut quibus institutis uterentur, neque qui essent ad maiorum navium multitudinem idonei portus, reperire poterat. Not until the end of the sentence do we see the full, or peculiar, force of the ablative absolute vocatis . . . mercatoribus: although he called, etc. Remember that a translation into idiomatic English requires that regard be paid to the order of words demanded by the English. 9. Take one other example, this time from Cicero, not forgetting to seek Cicero's meaning in the order in which he speaks: Et quoniam in hoc discharge of duty zeal officio and since in this discharge of duty, studium 1 The English words will be given, for the sake of illustration, as nearly as possible in the Latin order. |