01.06.27: Topic / Level 4; transport [19]; on water [ix] Caesar Dē Bellō Cīvīle (1)

This excerpt from Caesar’s Dē Bellō Cīvīle is a good example of the ‘two stages’ of translation:

dīductīsque nostrīs paulātim nāvibus et artificiō gubernātōrum et mōbilitātī nāvium locus dabātur, et sīquandō nostrī facultātem nactī ferreīs manibus iniectīs nāvem religāverant, undique suīs labōrantibus succurrēbant.

[i] begin with as literal a translation as possible even if that first stage is clumsy

[ii] then picture in your mind what exactly is happening and rework the Latin so that it still retains the meaning but reads fluently in your own language; the translations marked [ii] are suggested because there can be various ways in which the meaning can be conveyed.

(1) dīductīsque nostrīs paulātim nāvibus

[i] ablative absolute; literally: with our ships having been gradually separated

> [ii] our ships being / since our ships were at some distance from each other

(2) et artificiō gubernātōrum et mōbilitātī nāvium locus dabātur,

[i] and ‘opportunity’ was given both to the skill of the pilots and the mobility of the ships;

• Some translations translate locus as ‘opportunity’ which is a possible meaning. However, Caesar is describing the advantage of the ships’ physical location:

[ii] room was allowed for both the skill of their pilots and the maneuvering of their ships

• i.e. now that the ships are physically apart, they are no longer in danger of fouling each other's oars or colliding with friendly vessels, which is exactly what allows the pilots to display their skill.

(3) et sīquandō nostrī ¦ facultātem nactī ¦ ferreīs manibus iniectīs ¦ nāvem religāverant, …

[i] and if ever ours, ¦ having obtained the opportunity, ¦ with iron hands having been cast in, ¦ had bound a ship fast …

[ii] and if at any time our men, once they had gained an advantage and had laid hold of a ship by casting iron grappling hooks on board …

• manus, -ūs [4/f]: although the most immediate rendering of the noun is ‘hand’, Wiktionary, for example, lists seventeen possible translations depending upon context, one of which is “(military, nautical) grappling hooks used to snare enemy vessels”.
• ‘laid hold’ arguably conveys a greater sense of aggression and capture

(4) undique suīs labōrantibus succurrēbant.

[i] from all sides they were running to help their own struggling.

[ii] they would run / they would start running from every direction to help their own men who were in distress

• Bear in mind that the imperfect tense in Latin can convey more than “was / were doing something”:

(a) frequentative: an action that happened repeatedly

(b) inceptive: the beginning of an action

Therefore, succurēbant could translate here as: “They would start running …” which reflects both the frequentative and inceptive ideas.

In a sense, a final ‘pass’ is less about the Latin but rather the way in which the passage reads in your own language. You may even at that stage consider alternative expressions.

Since our ships were at some distance from each other, room was allowed [or: there was enough room] for both the skill of their pilots and the maneuvering of their ships, and if at any time our men, once they had gained an advantage and laid hold of [or: snared] a ship by casting iron grappling hooks on board, they would start running from every direction to help their own men who were in distress.