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Lesson 41. Benedict Arnold


1912
 40. Help from France 42. A Roman who fought against his Country 
LESSON 41
Benedict Arnold

Dum haec geruntur, in prōvinciā Noveborācēnsī quīdam imperātor Americānus, nōmine Arnoldius, dux audāx ac strēnuus, Britannīs parābat prōdere castra[1], quae colōnī in rīpā flūminīs Hudsōnis posuerant, quōque[2] ab Americānīs comportāta erant omnia[3], quae ad[4] bellum necessāria erant; nam castra nātūrā[5] locī mūnitissima erant, ac fūnis[6] quōque ferreus[7] ibi trāns flūmen ductus erat[8], nē nāvēs hostium longius adversō flūmine nāvigāre possent.

Britannī, cum iam diēs prōditiōnis[9] appropinquāret, nūntium mīsērunt, quī ducem convenīret Americānum, litterāsque ab eō reportāret. Incolumis ad Arnoldium pervēnit nūntius; sed cum ad Britannōs redīret, ab Americānīs tribus captus est: quī captīvum sine morā in castra proxima dēdūxērunt, quamquam ille miser[10] omnibus modīs ab eīs salūtem impetrāre cōnātus est. Quā dē rē certior factus, Arnoldius ad Britannōs quam celerrimē[11] perfūgit; quōrum in exercitū[12] imperātor brevī factus est.

Nūntius interim, causā cōgnitā[13], capitis[14] est damnātus; litterās enim, quās manū[15] ducis Americānī scrīptās ferēbat, dēlēre nōn potuerat, antequam in castrā ā colōnīs tribus ductus est. Arnoldius, cum contrā suōs[16] cīvēs ācerrimē bellum gessisset[17], postrēmō apud Britannōs mortuus est, etiam eīs ipsīs[18] invīsus quōs tantā perfidiā adiuvāre cōnātus erat.

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  1. castra, quae, etc.: namely, West Point.
  2. quōque: i.e. quō + que, and into which; for quō, cf. the note on p. 8, l. 14.
  3. omnia: note the gender.
  4. ad: for.
  5. nātūrā: note the case.
  6. fūnis (-is, m.): chain.
  7. ferreus (-a, -um): iron.
  8. ductus erat: had been stretched.
  9. prōditiōnis: prōditiō, -ōnis, f., betrayal; cf. the verb prōdō, l. 1.
  10. ille miser: he, poor fellow.
  11. quam celerrimē: as quickly as possible.
  12. quōrum in exercitū: and in their army.
  13. cōgnitā: tried.
  14. capitis: i.e. to death. The charge or (less often) the penalty may be expressed, as here, by the genitive.
  15. manu: abl. of means with scrīptās.
  16. suōs: observe the emphatic position (cf. the note on suum, p. 11, l. 6).
  17. cum … gessisset: after waging.
  18. eīs ipsīs: dat. case; construe with invīsus.