Translation of: HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED

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Propertius
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Translation of: HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED

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On pg. 214-215 of D'Ooge's book.

HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED
The army, which waged war in the territory of the enemy, was surrounded by many dangers. In order to avoid these dangers, the Romans were accustomed to employ the greatest care. When approaching the forces of the enemy, they arranged the line of troops in this way so that the general himself might lead the vanguard with the many legions ready for battle. They placed the equipage of the whole army behind these troops. Then, the legions that had most recently been enlisted besieged the whole line of battle. The cavalry too was sent away in all directions to explore the region; and the centurions were sent out in advance to pick a suitable spot for camp. A spot was considered suitable for camp that could easily be defended and was near water. For this reason, a camp was often pitched on a hill (that was) high on both sides (and had) a gentle descent; or a spot surrounded by swamps or located on the bank of a river was picked. After the army arrived at the spot, some of the soldiers stood under arms, (while) others began to fortify the camp. For, in order that the soldiers were safer from the enemy, and to not be unsuspectingly and unpreparedly taken by surprise, they fortified the camp with a deep ditch and a high wall. In the camp there were four gates so that the onrush of the soldiers could be far and wide (in all directions). On the corners of the camp there were towers from which spears were thrown at the enemy. In such a camp as we described, Publius was received by Caesar.

In the antepenultimate sentence, in Latin it reads, omnes in partes, which would translate to in all directions, but to make it sound more idiomatic in English I thought I'd change that to far and wide. I'm not sure if that's correct though. Let me know.

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Re: Translation of: HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED

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Propertius wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:19 am
HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED
An army that wages war in the territory of the enemy is surrounded by many dangers. In order to avoid these dangers, the Romans were accustomed to employ the greatest care. When approaching the forces of the enemy, they arranged the line of troops so that the general himself might lead the vanguard with many legions ready for battle. They placed the equipment of the whole army behind these troops. Then, the legions that had most recently been enlisted surrounded the whole line of battle. The cavalry too was sent away in all directions to explore the region; and the centurions were sent out in advance to pick a suitable spot for camp. A spot was considered suitable for camp that could easily be defended and was near water. For this reason, a camp was often pitched on a hill that was high on both sides and had a gentle descent from the front; or a spot was picked surrounded by swamps or located on the bank of a river. After the army arrived at the spot, some of the soldiers stood under arms, others began to fortify the camp. For, in order that the soldiers might be safer from the enemy and not be taken by surprise heedless and unprepared, they fortified the camp with a deep ditch and a high wall. In the camp there were four gates so that the onrush of the soldiers could be in all directions. On the corners of the camp there were towers from which spears were thrown at the enemy. In such a camp as we described, Publius was received by Caesar.
Propertius wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:19 am
In the antepenultimate sentence, in Latin it reads, omnes in partes, which would translate to in all directions, but to make it sound more idiomatic in English I thought I'd change that to far and wide. I'm not sure if that's correct though. Let me know.
I prefer in all directions, since far and wide gives me the idea of a 360 degrees scattering. Here the directions are actually only 4, corresponding to the gates. Maybe far and wide would be more appropriate to describe how the cavalry was sent away.

Propertius
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Re: Translation of: HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED

Post by Propertius »

bedwere wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:13 pm
Propertius wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:19 am
HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED
An army that wages war in the territory of the enemy is surrounded by many dangers. In order to avoid these dangers, the Romans were accustomed to employ the greatest care. When approaching the forces of the enemy, they arranged the line of troops so that the general himself might lead the vanguard with many legions ready for battle. They placed the equipment of the whole army behind these troops. Then, the legions that had most recently been enlisted surrounded the whole line of battle. The cavalry too was sent away in all directions to explore the region; and the centurions were sent out in advance to pick a suitable spot for camp. A spot was considered suitable for camp that could easily be defended and was near water. For this reason, a camp was often pitched on a hill that was high on both sides and had a gentle descent from the front; or a spot was picked surrounded by swamps or located on the bank of a river. After the army arrived at the spot, some of the soldiers stood under arms, others began to fortify the camp. For, in order that the soldiers might be safer from the enemy and not be taken by surprise heedless and unprepared, they fortified the camp with a deep ditch and a high wall. In the camp there were four gates so that the onrush of the soldiers could be in all directions. On the corners of the camp there were towers from which spears were thrown at the enemy. In such a camp as we described, Publius was received by Caesar.
Propertius wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:19 am
In the antepenultimate sentence, in Latin it reads, omnes in partes, which would translate to in all directions, but to make it sound more idiomatic in English I thought I'd change that to far and wide. I'm not sure if that's correct though. Let me know.
I prefer in all directions, since far and wide gives me the idea of a 360 degrees scattering. Here the directions are actually only 4, corresponding to the gates. Maybe far and wide would be more appropriate to describe how the cavalry was sent away.
And another thing: I noticed you left out ita from the third sentence. After you corrected me I realized I was out of context in the way I translated it, but would it be alright to translate it as in such a way in that sentence? I'm just wondering if that would be a correct way to translate it in that sentence for future references.

Gratias tibi ago.

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Re: Translation of: HOW THE ROMANS MARCHED AND CAMPED

Post by bedwere »

It seemed too heavy to have "in such a way so that." But now that you bring it to my attention, maybe it's better to keep it separate from the consecutive for pedagogical reasons.:

they so arranged the line of troops that the general himself might lead &c.

I'm going to wait your next translation before updating the key, since this is a rather minor point.

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