+PUGNATUM EST+. The only finite verb in the sentence, and the principal one. The form shows you it is a so-called impersonal verb, and therefore the subject must be sought from the verb itself in connection with the context. Here, clearly, you must translate _the battle was fought_. +cominus+ tells us _how_, i.e. _hand to hand_. +reiectis pilis+. You will recognise this as an _ablative absolute_ phrase. But do not translate this literally _their javelins having been thrown away_, for this is not English. Let the principal verb and the sense generally guide you to the force of the phrase. Thus you can see here that the Roman soldiers had no use for their javelins, and so threw them away as a useless encumbrance. (The context tells us that the Roman soldiers had no time to hurl their javelins against the foe.) You can now translate the whole sentence--_(and so) the Romans threw away their javelins and fought hand to hand with swords_. +II.+ +At Germani celeriter, ex consuetudine sua, phalange facta, impetus gladiorum exceperunt.+ (i.) _Vocabulary._-- +ex consuetudine sua + = _according to their custom_. You will probably have met with +consuetudo+, or +consuesco+, or +suesco+. Our own word _custom_ comes from it through the French _coutume_. For this use of +ex+ cf. +ex sententia+, +ex voluntate+. +phalange+ = _phalanx_. If you learn Greek, you will readily think of the famous Macedonian phalanx. +impetus+ = _attacks_ = +in + peto+ (= _aim at_). Cf. our _impetus_, _impetuous_. (ii.) _Translation._--This sentence contains only one finite verb, the principal one. +EXCEPERUNT+ = _(they) received_. _Who_ received? Clearly +GERMANI+ = _the Germans_. Received _what_? +IMPETUS+ = _the attacks_. +impetūs+ must be Acc. Plur. All you now have to do is to assign to their proper places the words and phrases that remain. Of these 1. +celeriter+ } 2. +ex consuetudine sua+ } 3. +phalange facta+ } modify the action of +exceperunt+, telling us _when_ and _how_ they received, and 4. +gladiorum+ belongs to +impetūs+. Now translate the whole sentence. _But the Germans quickly formed into a phalanx, as was their custom, and received the attacks of the swords_ (i.e. _of the Romans with drawn swords_). +III.+ +Reperti sunt complures nostri milites, qui in phalangas insilirent, et scuta manibus revellerent, et desuper vulnerarent.+ (i.) _Vocabulary._-- +insilirent+ = +in + salio+ = _leap-on_. And cf. our _insult_. Notice the usual phonetic change of vowel from _a_ to _i_. (English derivatives will often help you to the meaning of a Latin word, though, for reasons that are explained to you in the Introduction, pp. 1, 2, § 4, you must let them lead you up to the _root-meaning_ of the Latin word rather than to an exact translation.)