XXIX.
Acerrimum tertiae septimaeque legionum certamen; et dux Antonius cum delectis auxiliaribus eodem incubuerat. (eodem incubuerat: ‘exerted pressure on the same point’; incubuerat is from incumbo, not from incubo; both have the same prfect.) obstinatos inter se (obstinatos inter se: ‘an enemy competing amomg themselves in obstinacy’) cum sustinere Vitelliani nequirent et superiacta tela testudine laberentur, (cum … nequirent … laberentur: cum + imperf. or plup. subjunctive describes the circumstances that lead to or even cause the action of the main verb (A.G. 546). Beause of its frequent use in narratives, cum so constructed is referred to as narrative cum.) ipsam postremo ballistam in subeuntis propulere, quae ut ad praesens (ad praesens: or in praesens, ‘temporarily’) disiecit obruitque quos inciderat, (quos inciderat: unlike the English verb ‘to fall’, in the sense of ‘to drop down on’, incido can be transitive and have a direct object.) ita (ut … ita: the two particles introduce the subordinate and the main clause respectively of a comparative sentence.) pinnas ac summa valli ruina sua traxit; simul iuncta turris ictibus saxorum cessit, qua septimani dum nituntur cuneis, tertianus (qua septimani dum nituntur cuneis, tertianus [miles] …: cuneis: cuneus is a V-shaped disposition of troops, much extended in depth and acting as a wedge to force a passage through enemy lines; qua, ‘in which place’, refers to the spot where the tower and a section of the rampart had collapsed; dum nituntur: dum, with the sense of ‘while’ for contemporaneous action, is normally followed by present indicative, particularly in narratives (historical present).) securibus gladiisque portam perfregit. primum inrupisse C. Volusium tertiae legionis militem inter omnis auctores constat. (primum inrupisse C. Volusium … inter omnis auctores constat: the acc. primum C. Volusium with the infinitive inrupisse is the actual subject of the impersonal constat: ‘that Gaius Volusius had first burst [into the camp] is the consensus among historians’.) is in vallum egressus, deturbatis qui restiterant, conspicuus manu ac voce (conspicuus manu ac voce: ‘attracting attention by waving his hands and shouting’) capta castra conclamavit; ceteri trepidis iam Vitellianis seque e vallo praecipitantibus perrupere. (ceteri trepidis iam Vitellianis seque e vallo praecipitantibus perrupere: ceteri and perrupere seem to hold the intervening abl. abs. like the jaws of a vise, a reflexion of the way the battle is going for the Vitellians.) completur caede quantum inter castra murosque vacui fuit. (completur caede quantum inter castra murosque vacui fuit: lit. ‘as much of empty space as there was between the camp and the city walls is filled with corpses’; completur is dramatic switch to present tense. quantum vacui: partitive gen. after the neuter quantum. For the location of the camp in relation to the city walls see ch. 26.)