§5.20.1Saturnalibus mane se mihi Pindenissitae dediderunt septimo et quinquagesimo die postquam oppugnare eos coepimus.
On the morning of the Saturnalia, the Pindenissitae surrendered themselves to me, on the fifty-seventh day after we began to besiege them.
"qui malum! isti Pindenissitae qui sunt?"
inquies;
"What the plague!
"nomen audivi numquam. "
quid ego faciam? num potui Ciliciam Aetoliam aut Macedoniam reddere? hoc iam sic habeto nec hoc exercitu nec hic tanta negotia geri potuisse.
Who on earth are these Pindenissitae?" you will say; "I have never heard the name." What was I to do? Could I change Cilicia into Aetolia or Macedonia? Understand this clearly now: neither with this army nor in this place could greater deeds have been performed.
quae cognosce ἐν ἐπιτομῇ; sic enim concedis mihi proximis litteris.
Know these things in brief (ἐν ἐπιτομῇ); for so you permit me in your last letter.
Ephesum ut venerim nosti, qui etiam mihi gratulatus es illius diei celebritatem qua nihil me umquam delectavit magis.
You know how I arrived at Ephesus, and you even congratulated me on the celebration of that day, than which nothing has ever delighted me more.
inde in oppidis iis †quae erant† mirabiliter accepti Laodiceam pridie Kal. Sextilis venimus.
From there, wonderfully received in those towns which lay on our way, we came to Laodicea on the day before the Kalends of Sextilis.
ibi morati biduum perinlustres fuimus honorificisque verbis omnis iniurias revellimus superiores, quod idem Colossis, dein Apameae quinque dies morati et Synnadis triduum, Philomeli quinque dies, Iconi decem fecimus.
Having stayed there for two days, we made a great impression and by honorable words removed all former injustices; we did the very same at Colossae, then staying five days at Apamea, three at Synnada, five at Philomelium, and ten at Iconium.
nihil ea iuris dictione aequabilius, nihil lenius, nihil gravius.
Nothing was more equitable, nothing more gentle, nothing more dignified than that administration of justice.
§5.20.2inde in castra veni a. d. VII Kalendas Septembris.
From there I came to the camp on the seventh day before the Kalends of September.
A. d. III exercitum lustravi apud Iconium.
On the third day before the Kalends, I reviewed the army near Iconium.
ex his castris, cum graves de Parthis nuntii venirent, perrexi in Ciliciam per Cappadociae partem eam quae Ciliciam attingit, eo consilio ut Armenius Artavasdes et ipsi Parthi Cappadocia se excludi putarent.
From this camp, since grave news regarding the Parthians was arriving, I hastened into Cilicia through that part of Cappadocia which touches Cilicia, with the intention that the Armenian Artavasdes and the Parthians themselves might think they were excluded from Cappadocia.
cum dies quinque ad Cybistra castra habuissem, certior sum factus Parthos ab illo aditu Cappadociae longe abesse, Ciliciae magis imminere.
When I had held camp at Cybistra for five days, I was informed that the Parthians were far from that approach to Cappadocia, and were threatening Cilicia more.
itaque confestim iter in Ciliciam feci per Tauri pylas.
Therefore I immediately made my way into Cilicia through the Gates of Taurus.
Tarsum veni a. d. III Nonas Octobris.
I came to Tarsus on the third day before the Nones of October.
§5.20.3inde ad Amanum contendi qui Syriam a Cilicia in aquarum divertio dividit; qui mons erat hostium plenus sempiternorum.
From there I marched to Amanus, which divides Syria from Cilicia at the watershed; a mountain that was full of eternal enemies.
hic a. d. iii Idus Octobr. magnum numerum hostium occidimus.
Here, on the third day before the Ides of October, we killed a great number of the enemy.
castella munitissima nocturno Pomptini adventu, nostro matutino cepimus, incendimus.
We took and burned very strongly fortified strongholds by the night arrival of Pomptinus and our morning arrival.
imperatores appellati sumus.
We were saluted as Imperatores.
castra paucos dies habuimus ea ipsa quae contra Darium habuerat apud Issum Alexander, imperator haud paulo melior quam aut tu aut ego.
We held camp for a few days on the very spot which Alexander, a general not a little better than either you or me, had held against Darius at Issus.
ibi dies quinque morati direpto et vastato Amano inde discessimus.
Having stayed there for five days, after Amanus had been plundered and devastated, we departed.
interim (scis enim dici quaedam πανικά, dici item τὰ κενὰ τοῦ πολέμου) rumore adventus nostri et Cassio qui Antiochia tenebatur animus accessit et Parthis timor iniectus est.
Meanwhile (for you know that certain panics (πανικά) are spoken of, as well as the empty rumors of war (τὰ κενὰ τοῦ πολέμου)), by the rumor of our arrival, courage came to Cassius, who was held at Antioch, and fear was struck into the Parthians.
itaque eos cedentis ab oppido Cassius insecutus rem bene gessit.
And so Cassius, pursuing them as they retreated from the town, achieved a successful result.
qua in fuga magna auctoritate Osaces dux Parthorum vulnus accepit eoque interiit paucis post diebus.
In this flight, Osaces, a leader of the Parthians of great authority, received a wound and died of it a few days later.
erat in Syria nostrum nomen in gratia.
In Syria, our name was in high favor.
§5.20.4venit interim Bibulus; credo, voluit appellatione hac inani nobis esse par.
Meanwhile Bibulus arrived; I suppose he wished to be equal to us by this empty title.
in eodem Amano coepit loreolam in mustaceo quaerere.
On the very same Amanus, he began to look for a laurel leaf in a wedding-cake.
at ille cohortem primam totam perdidit centurionemque primi pili nobilem sui generis Asinium Dentonem et reliquos cohortis eiusdem et Sex. Lucilium, T. Gavi Caepionis locupletis et splendidi hominis filium, tribunum militum.
But he lost his entire first cohort, and Asinius Dento, a noble centurion of the first rank of his own class, and the rest of the same cohort, and Sextus Lucilius, a military tribune, the son of Titus Gavius Caepio, a wealthy and distinguished man.
sane plagam odiosam acceperat cum re tum tempore.
He had indeed received a hateful blow both in fact and in timing.
nos ad Pindenissum, quod oppidum munitissimum Eleutherocilicum omnium memoria in armis fuit.
As for us, we went to Pindenissum, which, a highly fortified town of the Free Cilicians, had been in arms within the memory of all.
feri homines et acres et omnibus rebus ad defendendum parati.
They are fierce and sharp men, prepared in every way for defense.
cinximus vallo et fossa; aggere maximo, vineis, turre altissima, magna tormentorum copia, multis sagittariis, magno labore, apparatu multis sauciis nostris, incolumi exercitu negotium confecimus.
We surrounded it with a rampart and a trench; with a very large earthen mound, penthouses, a very high tower, a great abundance of artillery, many archers, with great labor and equipment, and with many of our men wounded, but the army itself unharmed, we completed the business.
hilara sane Saturnalia militibus quoque quibus equis exceptis reliquam praedam concessimus.
A cheerful Saturnalia indeed, also for the soldiers, to whom, with the exception of the horses, we granted the rest of the booty.
mancipia venibant Saturnalibus tertiis.
The slaves were sold on the third day of the Saturnalia.
cum haec scribebam, in tribunali res erat ad HS c_x_x_.
While I was writing this, the matter at the tribunal amounted to about 12,000,000 sesterces.
hinc exercitum in hiberna agri male pacati deducendum Quinto fratri dabam; ipse me Laodiceam recipiebam.
From here, I was handing over the army to my brother Quintus to be led into winter quarters in a poorly pacified district; I myself was returning to Laodicea.