BLD 249

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Mongoose42
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BLD 249

Post by Mongoose42 »

I have for the third time come across "summo terrore commoti" and I have narrowed the translation to "filled with utmost terror" but this never fits well into the whole sentence being:

Hostes ubi pontem quem Romani fecerant viderunt, summo terrore commoti, sine more fugam parare inceperunt.

Any suggestions on a smoother English translation of the phrase would be greatly appreciated.

phil
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Post by phil »

It seems to me that what you have is right. These three words describe the enemy, and why they were just about to do a runner.
commoti (perf pass part of commoveo) having been excited/agitated/disturbed
summo terrore (abl) by the greatest terror.
So the literal translation might be 'having been disturbed by the greatest terror', but to put it into smoother English, sometimes you have to move not just words, but whole phrases around:
The enemy were absolutely terrified when they saw that the Romans had built a bridge ...

Episcopus
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Post by Episcopus »

Are you sure it is "sine more" which would mean "without custom/tradition", or "sine mora", "without delay"? :wink:

Mongoose42
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Post by Mongoose42 »

sine mora :oops:

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