A First Latin Reader/109

by Herbertus Chester Nutting

Herbert Chester Nutting

A First Latin Reader

Lesson 109
The Beseiged attempt to Communicate with Caesar

1912

fons: librum vide

108. The Gauls attack a Second Camp	110. Heroic Defense of their Camp

LESSON 109

The Besieged attempt to Communicate with Caesar

Missae sunt ad Caesarem cōnfēstim ā Cicerōne litterae; obsessīs autem omnibus viīs, ab hostibus missī^[1] interceptī sunt. Noctū^[2] ex māteriā, quam mūnītiōnis causā comportāverant, nostrī turrēs circiter CXX incrēdibilī celeritāte exstrūxērunt.

Posterō diē hostēs, multō maiōribus coāctīs cōpiīs, castra iterum oppugnāvērunt, fossamque complēre cōnātī sunt. Eādem ratiōne, quā^[3] prīdiē, nostrī restitērunt. Hoc idem reliquīs^[4] deinceps diēbus factum est. Nūlla pars noctis labōribus mīlitum^[5] carēbat: nōn aegrīs, nōn vulnerātīs facultās quiētis^[6] dabātur: nec Cicerō ipse, etsī tenuissimā^[7] erat valētūdine, nocturnō tempore ad quiētem ūtēbātur, priusquam mīlitum vōcibus sibi parcere coāctus est.

Tum ducēs Nerviōrum, quī aliquam causam^[8] amīcitiae cum Cicerōne habēbant, colloquī sēsē velle nūntiāvērunt. Factā potestāte^[9], eādem commemorant^[10], quae paulō ante Ambiorīx cum Sabīnō ēgerat^[11]. Addunt etiam dē Sabīnī morte, et cōnfīrmant sē nihil recūsāre nisi hīberna, atque hanc^[12] inveterāscere cōnsuētūdinem nōlle; quam ob rem Rōmānīs licēre incolumibus^[13] ex castrīs discēdere et quāscumque^[14] in partēs velint sine timōre proficīscī.

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1. missī: m, part., as (masc.) noun.
2. noctū: adv., during the (following) night, māteriā: māteria, -ae, F., timber.
3. quā: freely, as; strictly, abl., in the same construction as eādem ratiōne.
4. reliquīs: the following, deinceps: adv., in turn.
5. labōribus mīlitum: freely, toil for the soldiers, carēbat: was without, or lacked; cf. the note on mē . . . carēre, p. 68, l. 13.
6. quiētis: quiēs, -ētis: f, rest.
7. tenuissimā: tenuis, -is, -e: slight; here, poor, valētūdine: cf. p. 119, l. 9. The abl. phrase expresses quality or characteristic; cf. the similar use of the genitive..
8. causam: f, i.e. ground.
9. potestāte: f, i.e. facultāte.
10. commemorant: i.e. dīcunt. In animated narration, the pres. indic. is often thus used for the perfect..
11. cum Sabīnō ēgerat: had treated (in his dealings) with Sabinus.
12. hanc . . . cōnsuētūdinem: i.e. the practice of quartering a division of the army upon them for the winter, inveterāscere: inveterāscō, 3, -veterāvī, become fixed.
13. incolumibus: pred. dat..
14. quāscumque: quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumque: whatsoever.