There is a passage in Caesar's Bellum Gallicum (Liber VII/12) which I do not quite understand:
My Loeb-edition translates this passage as follows:C. Iulius Caesar wrote:Vercingetorix, ubi de Caesaris adventu cognovit, oppugnatione destitit atque obviam Caesari profiscitur. Ille oppidum Biturigum positum in via Noviodunum oppugnare instituerat.
When I first read the Latin sentence I translated it for myself like this:As soon as he heard of Caesar's approach Vercingetorix abandoned the siege and started to meet him. Caesar, for his part, had determined to assault Noviodunum, a stronghold of the Bituriges stationed on his route.
Caesar had decided to attack a stronghold of the Bituriges situated on the way to Noviodunum.
Is the Latin sentence really unclear as to whether oppidum Bituriges equals Noviodunum (not very likely), or am I missing something?
By the way, please help me in correcting the mistakes in the KEY to Adler's Practical Grammar. I really need your help and would appreciate your feedback to my questions.
Valete,
Carolus Raeticus
PS: I have just started to read Latin, or the empire of a sign by Françoise Waquet. From what I have read so far, it promises to be a really interesting book.