Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

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Propertius
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Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

Post by Propertius »

On pg. 218-219 of D'Ooge's book.

THE STORMING OF A CITY
Publius, having stayed in Germany for many days, returned to Gaul, and he betook himself to Caesar’s camp. Caesar decided to make war upon the Gauls because he was vexed that the Gauls of that region refused to give their hostages and did not want to provide grain for the army. The fields having been destroyed and the villages burned, he arrived at an extraordinarily strong town that had been fortified both by nature and by craft. It was surrounded by a twenty-five-foot wall. It was fortified by the sea from two sides; from the third side, a hill, on which the town was located, sloped down with a steep slope towards a plain; from only the fourth side the entrance was easy. Nevertheless, although it was an exceedingly difficult deed, Caesar decided to attack this town. And after the camp was fortified, he employed Publius to prepare the things necessary for attacking.
The attack of the Romans however is as follows. First, towers are built by which the soldiers are to pass over onto the extraordinarily high wall; sheds are made by which the covered soldiers may advance towards the wall; parapets are prepared afterwards so that the soldiers may attend upon the engines of war; there are also battering rams that are to strike down the wall and the gates. After all these things were prepared, the mound is then piled up from that part where the entrance is most easy, and it is driven with the sheds towards the town itself. Then, a tower is moved forward on the mound; the wall and the gates are struck down with the battering rams that were located under the sheds; stones and weapons are hurled at the town with the ballistae, the catapults, and the other engines of war. At last, when the tower and the mound already reach the height of the wall and the battering rams have broken through the fortifications, when the signal is given, the soldiers rush into and assault the town.

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bedwere
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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

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Propertius wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 8:38 pm On pg. 218-219 of D'Ooge's book.

THE STORMING OF A CITY
Publius, having stayed in Germany for many days, returned to Gaul, and he betook himself to Caesar’s camp. Caesar decided to make war upon the Gauls because he was vexed that the Gauls of that region had refused to give their hostages and had been unwilling to provide grain for the army. After he had destroyed the fields and burned the villages, he arrived at an extraordinarily strong town that had been fortified both by nature and by craft. It was surrounded by a twenty-five-foot wall. It was fortified by the sea from two sides; from the third side, a hill, on which the town was located, sloped down with a steep slope towards a plain; only from the fourth side the entrance was easy. Nevertheless, although it was an exceedingly difficult deed, Caesar decided to attack this town. And after the camp had been fortified, he gave the task to Publius to prepare the things necessary for a siege.
The siege of the Romans is as follows. First, towers are built by which the soldiers are to pass over onto the top of the wall; sheds are made by which the covered soldiers may advance towards the wall; parapets are prepared afterwards so that the soldiers may attend upon the engines of war; there are also battering rams that are to strike down the wall and the gates. After all these things are prepared, a mound is then piled up from that part where the entrance is most easy, and it is driven with the sheds towards the town itself. Then, a tower is moved forward on the mound; the wall and the gates are struck down with the battering rams that were located under the sheds; stones and weapons are hurled at the town with the ballistae, the catapults, and the other engines of war. At last, when the tower and the mound already reach the height of the wall and the battering rams have broken through the fortifications, when the signal is given, the soldiers rush into and storm the town.

Propertius
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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

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bedwere wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:36 pm
Propertius wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 8:38 pm On pg. 218-219 of D'Ooge's book.

THE STORMING OF A CITY
Publius, having stayed in Germany for many days, returned to Gaul, and he betook himself to Caesar’s camp. Caesar decided to make war upon the Gauls because he was vexed that the Gauls of that region had refused to give their hostages and had been unwilling to provide grain for the army. After he had destroyed the fields and burned the villages, he arrived at an extraordinarily strong town that had been fortified both by nature and by craft. It was surrounded by a twenty-five-foot wall. It was fortified by the sea from two sides; from the third side, a hill, on which the town was located, sloped down with a steep slope towards a plain; only from the fourth side the entrance was easy. Nevertheless, although it was an exceedingly difficult deed, Caesar decided to attack this town. And after the camp had been fortified, he gave the task to Publius to prepare the things necessary for a siege.
The siege of the Romans is as follows. First, towers are built by which the soldiers are to pass over onto the top of the wall; sheds are made by which the covered soldiers may advance towards the wall; parapets are prepared afterwards so that the soldiers may attend upon the engines of war; there are also battering rams that are to strike down the wall and the gates. When all these things are prepared, a mound is then piled up from that part where the entrance is most easy, and it is driven with the sheds towards the town itself. Then, a tower is moved forward on the mound; the wall and the gates are struck down with the battering rams that were located under the sheds; stones and weapons are hurled at the town with the ballistae, the catapults, and the other engines of war. At last, when the tower and the mound already reach the height of the wall and the battering rams have broken through the fortifications, when the signal is given, the soldiers rush into and storm the town.
It seems that I've been having trouble with the tenses lately. Or rather, I choose to go against my gut feeling. But here's an example I don't quite understand if you wouldn't mind explaining a little:

His omnibus rebus comparatis, deinde agger...

I translated that ablative absolute in the past tense, but you corrected me by putting it in the present tense, which makes sense to me now. I'm just wondering if there's a grammatical term for that, which seems similar to the historical present, but this ablative absolute is originally in the past.

Gratias tibi ago.

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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

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Now that you make me think of it again, it's perhaps better to say when, rather than after, if we interpret the perfect as a perfect proper (see previous thread). Or maybe these things having been prepared. The distinction between proper and aoristic perfect should be helpful to decide how to better convey the sense in English.

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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

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bedwere wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:22 pm Now that you make me think of it again, it's perhaps better to say when, rather than after, if we interpret the perfect as a perfect proper (see previous thread). Or maybe these things having been prepared. The distinction between proper and aoristic perfect should be helpful to decide how to better convey the sense in English.
Would you, or anyone that may be reading this, know if Gildersleeve wrote on the perfect proper and the aoristic perfect in his grammar? And if he did, could you reference what section it's in? I would like to read about it to get a more in-depth understanding of it.

Gratias vobis ago.

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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

Post by bedwere »

Check 235-240.

Propertius
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Re: Translation of: THE STORMING OF A CITY

Post by Propertius »

bedwere wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:56 pm Check 235-240.
Just read it. It makes more sense. Thanks.

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