03-07-2010, 02:40 PM
Quote:A quick edit here: the part which survived "contrary to their expectations" would seem to me to be from the new recruits, not the veterans. The structure of the battle, to me, is as follows:
Yes, that does seem right - either the translation you provided is superior to mine, or I'm just paying more attention now! It does look like the whole of the five cohorts gave up their stand on the hill and made the dash for the fort though ("But those who had taken their stand upon the eminence... had descended into an unfavorable situation") - the centurions went with them, perhaps as a vanguard to 'dislodge' the enemy occupying the ground before the fort, and died fighting to protect their men as they went.
I think it was Cicero who once praised the clarity and precision of Caesar's prose style - "Like a naked figure standing in the sunlight", or something like. So many of these passages appear very muddled though - probably a fault of the translation? I still haven't worked out why his tenses are all over the place either!
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
