XXVII.
Huc (huc: ‘to this side’, i.e. to the soldiers’ side) inclinavit Antonius cingique vallum (vallum: its position and function are explained at the outset of ch. 26.) corona iussit. primo sagittis saxisque eminus certabant, maiore Flavianorum pernicie, in quos tela desuper librabantur; (maiore Flavianorum pernicie, in quos tela desuper librabantur: ‘with more casualties among the Flavians, at whom missiles were aimed from above’) mox vallum portasque legionibus attribuit, ut discretus labor fortis ignavosque distingueret atque ipsa contentione decoris accenderentur. (ut … ipsa contentione decoris accenderentur: ‘so that the men might be fired up by the very emulation for glory’; contentione is abl. of instrument, not of agent.) proxima Bedriacensi viae (proxima Bedriacensi viae: ‘the places near the road to Bedriacum’, that is on the east side of Cremona, where the Postumian road continues on to Bedriacum and Mantua) tertiani septimanique sumpsere, dexteriora valli octava ac septima Claudiana; tertiadecimanos ad Brixianam portam (ad Brixianam portam: on the north side of town, towards Brixia, modern Brescia.) impetus tulit. paulum inde morae, (paulum … morae: morae is partitive genitive, found regularly after a neuter word of quantity, such as paulum.) dum ex proximis agris ligones (ligones: the earliest manuscript of the Historiae, the so-called Medicean MS, has legiones, emended later to ligones.) dolabras et alii falcis scalasque convectant: (dum … convectant: dum, introducing a concurrent action, is as a rule followed by pres. indicative. ) tum elatis super capita scutis densa testudine (testudine: testudo is a protective shelter created by the soldiers overlapping the shields held above their heads; it can also be a movable structure on rollers with a sloping roof to shelter the men inside from missiles hurled or rolled down from above.) succedunt. Romanae utrimque artes: pondera saxorum (pondera saxorum: lit. ‘the weights of stones’) Vitelliani provolvunt, disiectam fluitantemque testudinem lanceis contisque scrutantur, (disiectam fluitantemque testudinem lanceis contisque scrutantur: ‘they probe the discomposed and wavering testudo with spears and poles’; switch of tense to historical present, begun with succedunt and provolvunt) donec soluta compage scutorum exanguis aut laceros prosternerent (donec … prosternerent: for use of donec with subjunctive, see note for donec … luna surgens ostenderet acies falleretque in ch. 23.) multa cum strage. (multa cum strage: abl. of manner) incesserat cunctatio, ni duces fesso militi et velut inritas exhortationes abnuenti Cremonam monstrassent. (incesserat cunctatio, ni duces fesso militi et velut inritas exhortationes abnuenti Cremonam monstrassent: different moods in apodosis and protasis, as is often the case with conditional sentences: ‘hesitancy had begun to set in, had the leaders not kept pointing out Cremona to their men, now weary and deaf to seemingly vain exhortations.)