Sed Rōmānī, ubi ad locum plānum pervēnērunt cōpiās suās expōnere nōn potuērunt. Magna erat difficultās propter causās multās: loca Rōmānīs erant incognita; Rōmānī aquam timēbant; magna et gravia arma opprimēbant mīlitēs; hostēs ex āridō pugnābant. Sed Caesar, ubi difficultātem cognōvit, nāvēs longās ad latus apertum hostium mīsit: inde Rōmānī fundīs, sagittīs, tormentīs pugnābant, sed Britannōs nōn fugāvērunt.
funda, -ae [1/f]: hand-sling; funditor, funditōris [3/m]:
slinger; person who fights using a sling
latus, lateris [3/n]: side
[1] “Magna erat difficultās propter causās multās…”
In note form, give in English the four difficulties that the
Romans faced when attempting to land in Britain.
[2] What did Caesar do to get around these problems?
[3] What did the Romans use to fight the Britons?
[4] How successful were the Romans in the battle?
Ablative of means / instrument
Rōmānī fundīs, sagittīs, tormentīs
pugnābant. │ The Romans fought with slingshots, (with) arrows
[and] (with) siege machines.
In the previous post, it was mentioned that each ablative
use has its own name. This is a good example of why this is done.
[i] Ablative of accompaniment: Caesar cum legiōnibus
suīs nāvigāvit. │ Caesar sailed with his legions.
[ii] Ablative of means / instrument: Rōmānī … sagittīs
… pugnābant. │ The Romans fought with [by means of] arrows.
Both English translations use the preposition ‘with’ whereas
Latin only uses it with [i] above i.e. the ablative alone without a preposition
expresses, here, the objects that were used to fight.
____________________
But the Romans, when they had arrived at a level location,
were not able to land their troops. The difficulty was great for many reasons:
the locations were unknown to the Romans; The Romans feared water; large and
heavy weapons weighed down the soldiers; they fought the enemies from dry land.
But Caesar, when he recgonised the difficulty, sent long ships to the open side
of the enemy: from there the Romans fought with slings, arrows, and seige
machines, but they did not put the Britons to flight.
____________________
Image of a funditor (a sling-shot thrower) from
Trajan’s column
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=funda-harpers
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