XXIV.
Interea Paulini et Celsi ductu (ductu: ‘under the guide of …’) res egregie gestae. angebant Caecinam (nequiquam omnia coepta: ‘all his undertakings to no purpose’) et senescens (senescens: ‘deteriorating’, ‘languishing’) exercitus sui fama. pulsus Placentia, caesis nuper auxiliis, etiam per concursum exploratorum, crebra magis quam digna memoratu proelia, inferior, (etiam per concursum exploratorum, crebra magis quam digna memoratu proelia, inferior: ‘bested even in the repeated skirmishes of the scouts, more frequent than worthy of being recorded’; memoratu is abl. supine, used as a verbal noun after certain adjectives, such as dignus.) propinquante Fabio Valente, (propinquante Fabio Valente: abl. abs. of causal sense.) ne omne belli decus illuc concederet, (ne omne belli decus illuc concederet: negative purpose clause: ‘lest all the glory should go in that direction’) reciperare gloriam avidius quam consultius properabat. ad duodecimum a Cremona (ad duodecimum [lapidem] a Cremona: ‘at the 12th milestone from Cremona’; 12 Roman miles are about 11 of our miles or 18 kilometers. The road in question is the Via Postumia; cf. note for Placentiam Ticinumque in ch. 17.) (locus Castorum vocatur) ferocissimos auxiliarium imminentibus viae lucis occultos componit: equites procedere longius iussi et inritato proelio sponte refugi (sponte refugi: ’to run away intentionally’; the infinitive of the verb refugio has two forms, the active refugere and the deponent refugi.) festinationem sequentium elicere, donec insidiae coorirentur. (festinationem sequentium elicere donec insidiae coorirentur: ‘to provoke the hasty reaction of the pursuers, until the men in ambush should spring to the attack’; donec …coorirentur: subjunctive after donec to denote intention.) proditum id Othonianis ducibus, et curam peditum Paulinus, equitum Celsus sumpsere. tertiae decimae legionis vexillum, (vexillum: ‘detachment’) quattuor auxiliorum cohortes et quingenti equites in sinistro locantur; aggerem viae tres praetoriae cohortes altis ordinibus (altis ordinibus: ‘in deep formation’) obtinuere; dextra fronte prima legio incessit cum duabus auxiliaribus cohortibus et quingentis equitibus: super hos ex praetorio auxiliisque mille equites, cumulus prosperis aut (cumulus prosperis aut …: ‘a crowning piece for success’) subsidium laborantibus, ducebantur. (ducebantur: ‘were being brought up’)