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