XLIX.
Postera die Sabinus exercitum aequo loco ostendit, si barbari successu noctis alacres proelium auderent. (exercitum aequo loco ostendit, si barbari successu noctis alacres proelium auderent: si in this case is not conditional but interrogative particle, used to ask an indirect question, as is done with ‘whether’ or ‘just in case’ or ‘on the chance that’ or even ‘if’ in English ( cf. A.G. 576, a.): ‘Sabinus exhibited his forces on level ground, just in case the barbarians would risk a battle, emboldened by the success of the night.’) et postquam castello aut coniunctis tumulis non degrediebantur, obsidium coepit per praesidia quae opportune iam muniebat; (obsidium coepit per praesidia quae opportune iam muniebat: ‘he began a siege by means of strongholds which he also (iam) reinforced as the situation demanded.’ opportune: ‘in a manner fitting the needs of the moment’; iam: in the sense of ‘moreover’, ‘also’ (Lewis and Short) dein fossam loricamque contexens (dein fossam loricamque contexens: ‘then linking them by a ditch and breastwork’) quattuor milia passuum ambitu amplexus est; tum paulatim ut aquam pabulumque eriperet contrahere claustra artaque circumdare; (contrahere claustra artaque circumdare: ‘he kept contracting and narrowing the noose’; arta: the narrow limits of the circle of strongpoints, forming a loop; contrahere, circumdare: historical infinitives; other examples below are exanimari, adiacere, pollui.) et struebatur agger unde saxa hastae ignes propinquum iam in hostem iacerentur. (struebatur agger unde saxa hastae ignes propinquum iam in hostem iacerentur: ‘a rampart was raised from which (unde) stones, spears and incendiary missiles would be hurled at the enemy now within striking distance (iam propinquum).’ unde iacerentur: subjunctive in relative clause of final sense; see note for invaderentur and adpugnarent in previous chapter.) sed nihil aeque quam (nihil aeque quam: ‘not at all to the same extent as’; both nihil and aeque are here adverbs.) sitis fatigabat, cum ingens multitudo bellatorum imbellium uno reliquo fonte uterentur; simulque armenta, ut mos barbaris, iuxta clausa (armenta … iuxta clausa: ‘the cattle confined side by side [with the people]’) egestate pabuli exanimari; adiacere corpora hominum quos vulnera, quos sitis peremerat; pollui cuncta sanie odore contactu. (egestate pabuli exanimari; adiacere corpora hominum quos vulnera, quos sitis peremerat; pollui cuncta sanie odore contactu: ‘[the livestock] were dying for lack of fodder; bodies of men whom wounds or thirst had killed lay [near them]; all was polluted by corruption, stench, and contagion.’ The omission of punctuation (asyndeton) between the last three words heightens the gravity of the situation. The same stylistic device is used above in saxa hastae ignes above.)