LXXXI.
Interim Piso classem haud procul opperientem adpugnare frustra temptavit; regressusque et pro muris, (pro muris: ‘from the top of the wall’) modo semet adflictando, modo singulos nomine ciens, praemiis vocans, (semet adflictando … praemiis vocans: ‘striking himself repeatedly, appealing by promising bribes’; the enclitic -met in semet is for emphasis; adflictando is abl. gerund expressing manner.) seditionem coeptabat, adeoque commoverat ut signifer legionis sextae signum ad eum transtulerit. (adeoque commoverat ut signifer … transtulerit: consecutive sentence with the correlative adeo in the main clause and ut + subjunctive in the dependent clause: ‘Piso had roused [the soldiers] to such a pitch that a standard bearer changed sides’; transtulerit: in consecutive clauses, the sequence of tenses is not respected and the tendency is to conserve in the subjunctive the tense of the indicative the clause would have if it were not dependent (Petitmangin).) tum Sentius occanere cornua tubasque et peti aggerem, erigi scalas iussit ac promptissimum quemque succedere, alios tormentis hastas saxa et faces ingerere. (Sentius occanere cornua tubasque et peti aggerem, erigi scalas iussit ac promptissimum quemque succedere, alios tormentis hastas saxa et faces ingerere: ‘Sentius ordered trumpets and horns to sound, earth to be gathered, ladders to be raised, and the most resolute men to scale the wall, and others to hurl spears, stones, and incendiary missiles with machines.’ Note the mixture of active and passive infinitives after iussit, for variety. occanere cornua tubasque: the verb is more often occineri; tuba is a straight trumpet, cornua (neuter plural od cornu or cornum) are curved one ; peti aggerem can be translated as ‘the rampart to be attacked’ or as ‘earth or sod to be collected’ for raising a mound at the base of the wall to make scaling easier.) tandem victa pertinacia (victa pertinacia: abl. abs., ‘his obstinacy having been subdued’; traditis armis next is also abl. abs.) Piso oravit ut traditis armis maneret in castello, dum Caesar cui Syriam permitteret consulitur. (oravit ut … maneret in castello, dum Caesar cui Syriam permitteret consulitur: ‘he requested that he should remain in the fortress, while Caesar was consulted as to whom he would entrust Syria.’ The verb oro belongs to the group of verbs that requires a complementary purpose clause with ut as object; cf. G. 546, Note 1. dum …consulitur: dum often retains present indicative even in indir. speech. cui Syriam permitteret: subjunctive in indir. question introduced by the interrogative cui, from quis.) non receptae condiciones nec aliud quam naves et tutum in urbem iter concessum est.