XXXIII.
Civilis parte copiarum retenta (parte copiarum retenta: some troops were retained to continue the siege at Castra Vetera) veteranas cohortis et quod e Germanis maxime promptum (quod e Germanis maxime promptum: lit. ‘what there was most resolute from amongst the Germans’, i.e. ‘all the bravest German warriors’) adversus Voculam exercitumque eius mittit, Iulio Maximo et Claudio Victore, sororis suae filio, ducibus. rapiunt in transitu hiberna alae Asciburgii (Asciburgii: locative of Asciburgium, modern Ashberg, opposite the confluence of the Ruhr and the Rhine, between Vetera and Gelduba.) sita; adeoque improvisi castra involavere ut non adloqui, non pandere aciem Vocula potuerit: (ut …non pandere aciem Vocula potuerit: perfect subjunctive in consecutive clause, when the action is single in the past; Vocula was taking his forces out of camp to engage the enemy when the attack occurred. The soldiers were strung out, not in their proper order of battle.) id solum ut in tumultu monuit, subsignano milite (subsignano milite: legionaries, regular troops serving under the standards of a legion) media firmare: auxilia passim circumfusa sunt. eques prorupit, exceptusque compositis hostium ordinibus terga in suos vertit. caedes inde, non proelium. et Nerviorum (Nerviorum: Belgian tribe whose territory corresponds to the central-north parts of Begium including Brussels) cohortes, metu seu perfidia, latera nostrorum nudavere: sic ad legiones perventum, quae amissis signis intra vallum sternebantur, (sternebantur: ‘were mown down’) cum repente novo auxilio fortuna pugnae mutatur. Vasconum (Vasconum: the Vascones were a tribe living in what is today the Basque region in the western portion of the Pyrenees.) lectae a Galba cohortes ac tum accitae, dum castris propinquant, (dum castris propinquant: dum, ‘while’, is regularly followed by present indicative; castris is dative with propinquo) audito proeliantium clamore intentos hostis a tergo invadunt latioremque quam pro numero terrorem faciunt, (latioremque quam pro numero terrorem faciunt: ‘created terror greater than [might be expected] in view of their numbers’. faciunt is historical present, of which several other examples can be found in this chapter.) aliis a Novaesio, aliis a Mogontiaco universas copias advenisse credentibus. is error Romanis addit animos, et dum alienis viribus confidunt, suas recepere. fortissimus quisque e Batavis, quantum peditum erat, (quantum peditum erat: ‘as much as there was of infantry’; peditum is partitive genitive following a neuter word indicative of quantity, such as quantum.) funduntur: eques evasit cum signis captivisque, quos prima acie corripuerant. caesorum eo die in partibus nostris maior numerus et imbellior, e Germanis ipsa robora. (caesorum eo die in partibus nostris maior numerus et imbellior, e Germanis ipsa robora: lit. ‘that day the number of men killed on our side was greater and more unwarlike; from among the Germans the very backbone of their strength [was gone].’)