Language focus: passive and deponent forms
Inde Caesar,
postquam pauca lēgātīs respondīt, suōs mīlitēs hortātus, mūnītiōnem
magnam aedificāre cōnstituit. Eā legiōne, quam sēcum habēbat, atque mīlitibus,
quī ex prōvinciā convēnerant, ā lacū Lemannō ad montem Iūram, quō fīnēs
Sēquanōrum ab Helvētiīs dīviduntur, mūrum et fossam perdūcit. Ā Caesare,
ubi id opus perfectum est, praesidia distribuuntur atque turrēs mūniuntur.
Itaque hostēs, hāc mūnītiōne impedītī, suās cōpiās facile transportāre
nōn poterant.
The text shifts
from past tense to present tense forms; this is a common feature of classical
narrative, in which the present tense — known as the historical present — is
used to describe past events in order to give the narrative greater vividness
and immediacy.
The translation
below reflects the tenses actually used, though it would also be possible to
translate the entire passage using past tenses.
____________________
Then Caesar, after
he said a few words to the envoys, and having encouraged his soldiers,
decided to construct a great fortification. With that legion which he had with
him, and with the soldiers who had assembled from the province, from Lake
Geneva to Mount Jura, by which the borders of the Sequani are divided
from the Helvetii, he extends a wall and a ditch. When that work was completed,
garrisons are distributed by Caesar, and towers are fortified.
And so the enemy, hindered by this fortification, were not able easily
to transport their forces.
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