Per idem tempus ā Cōnstantiō Caesare in Galliā bene pūgnātum est. Circā Lingonās diē ūnā adversam et secundam fortūnam expertus est. Nam cum repente barbarīs ingruentibus intrā cīvitātem esset coāctus tam praecipitī necessitate, ut, clausīs portīs, in mūrum fūnibus tollerētur, vix quīnque hōrīs mediīs adventante exercitū sexāgintā ferē mīlia Alamannōrum cecīdit. Maximiānus quoque Augustus bellum in Āfricā prōflīgāvit domitīs Quīnquegentiānīs et ad pācem redāctīs. Dioclētiānus obsessum Alexandrīae Achilleum octāvō ferē mēnse superāvit eumque interfēcit. Victōriā acerbē usus est: tōtam Aegyptum gravibus prōscrīptiōnibus caedibusque foedāvit. Eā tamen occāsiōne ōrdināvit providē multa et disposuit, quae ad nostrum aetātem manent.
notes
Military successes during the reign of Diocletian (298 CE)
ā Cōnstantiō: Constantius Chlorus
bene pūgnātum est: used impersonally (AG 207.d)
Circā Lingonas: "near Langres"
secundam: in contrast to adversam, "favorable" (LS secundus B.3)
expertus est: "he experienced" < experior
esset coāctus: "was forced," > cogo
tam praecipitī necessitate: "with such dire necessity, that..." tam signals the following result clause (AG 537)
vix quīnque hōrīs mediīs: "with scarcely five hours intervening," i.e., "less that five hours later." The phrase is unusual, although medius = "intervening" is classical.
Māximiānus: Maximian
Quīnquegentiānīs: on the Quinquegentiani see the previous chapter.
Alexandrīae: "in Alexandria," locative (AG 427.3)
octāvō ferē mēnse: Diocletian defeated Achilleus in 298 CE.
Victōriā acerbē usus est: "he made harsh use of his victory" (Bird); the deponent verb utor takes an ablative object.
gravibus prōscrīptiōnibus: From the time of Sulla (82 BCE) prōscrīptiō came to mean the sale of the property of those whom he had condemned to death and who were themselves styled proscripti. During the civil strife of the following fifty years, other leaders used the precedent thus established as a means of weakening the opposing party. A famous proscription is that of the Second Triumvirate (43 BCE), under which Cicero was put to death (Harpers, s.v. proscriptio).
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
|
Cōnstantius, ī, m. |
(1) Cōnstantius Chlōrus, father of Constantine the Great. Roman emperor 305–306 A.D.; (2) Cōnstantius, third son of Constantine the Great. Roman emperor 337–361 A.D. |
|
Caesar, aris, m. |
a family name in the Julian gens. (1) C. Iūlius Caesar, the famous dictator; (2) Sex. Iūlius Caesar, uncle of the dictator. Consul 91 B.C.; (3) C. Octāviānus, the emperor Augustus |
|
Gallia, ae, f. |
the country of the Gauls; modern France and the territories on the west bank of the Rhine. The northern part of Italy was settled by Gauls, and was called Gallia Cisalpina; hence the pl. Galliae. |
|
Lingonēs, um, Gr. acc. Lingonas, pl. m. |
a Celtic people of Gaul |
|
repente [repēns, sudden], adv. |
suddenly |
|
ingruō, ere, uī, — |
to break in; assault in force |
|
praeceps, cipitis [prae + caput], adj. |
headlong, hasty; steep, precipitous |
|
fūnis, is, f. |
a rope, cable |
|
adventō, āre, āvī, ātus [ad + ventō, intens. of veniō] |
to arrive |
|
Alamannī, ōrum, pl. m. |
the Alamanni, a name applied to a confederacy of German tribes living between the Danube, the Rhine, and the Main |
|
Māximiānus, ī, m. |
(1) Gālerius (Valerius) Māximiānus, Roman emperor, 305–311 A.D.; (2) (M. Aurēlius Valerius) Māximiānus, surnamed Herculius, Roman emperor 286–305 A.D. |
|
Augustus, ī, m. |
a title of honor given to Octavianus in 27 BC and after him to all the Roman emperors |
|
Āfrica, ae, f. |
Africa; often the northern part of the continent, especially the part near Carthage |
|
prōflīgō, āre, āvī, ātus |
to rout, overthrow |
|
domō, āre, uī, itus |
to tame, conquer |
|
Quīnquegentiānī, ōrum, pl. m. |
a people of Libya |
|
redigō, ere, ēgī, āctus |
to drive back; reduce; render, bring |
|
Dioclētiānus, ī, m. |
(Valerius) Dioclētiānus, emperor 284–305 A.D. |
|
obsideō, ēre, sēdī, sessus |
to besiege, occupy; watch closely |
|
Alexandrīa, ae, f. |
a city in Egypt, at the mouth of the Nile, founded by Alexander the Great, 331 B.C. |
|
Achilleus, ī, m. |
he assumed the title of emperor under Diocletian, and reigned over Egypt for some time. He was taken prisoner by Diocletian, and was put to death, 296 A.D. |
|
mēnsis, is, m. |
a month |
|
acerbē [acerbus], adv. |
bitterly, cruelly, severely |
|
Aegyptus, ī, m. |
Egypt |
|
prōscrīptiō, ōnis [prōscrībō], f. |
a public notice of sale, proscription |
|
foedō, āre, āvī, ātus [foedus] |
to make foul, pollute; dishonor |
|
occāsiō, ōnis [occidō, to happen], f. |
an occasion, opportunity |
|
ōrdinō, āre, āvī, ātus [ōrdō] |
to arrange, regulate |
|
prōvidē |
(adv.) carefully, prudently (very rare) |
|
dispōnō, ere, posuī, positus |
to arrange, array, dispose |