De Bello Gallico 1.1

1.1.1Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs, quārum ūnam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquītānī, tertiam quī ipsōrum linguā Celtae, nostrā Gallī appellantur.

Gaul as a whole is divided into three parts: the Belgae live in one, the Aquitani in another, and in the third the people who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls.

Note. Gallia est omnis dīvīsa: 'Gaul, taken as a whole, is divided'. quārum ūnam … aliam … tertiam: 'of which one … another … the third', all objects of incolunt.

1.1.2Hī omnēs linguā, īnstitūtīs, lēgibus inter sē differunt.

All these differ from one another in language, customs and laws.

Note. linguā, īnstitūtīs, lēgibus are ablatives of respect: 'in language, customs, laws'.

1.1.2Gallōs ab Aquītānīs Garumna flūmen, ā Belgīs Mātrona et Sēquana dīvidit.

The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae.

1.1.3Hōrum omnium fortissimī sunt Belgae, proptereā quod ā cultū atque hūmānitāte prōvinciae longissimē absunt, minimēque ad eōs mercātōrēs saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effēminandōs animōs pertinent important, proximīque sunt Germānīs, quī trāns Rhēnum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt.

Of all these the bravest are the Belgae, because they are farthest from the way of life and refinement of the Province, merchants very seldom travel to them bringing the things that tend to make spirits soft, and they are closest to the Germans, who live across the Rhine, with whom they are constantly at war.

Note. proptereā quod, 'because', introduces three reasons in a row. ad effēminandōs animōs is a gerundive of purpose: 'for weakening their spirits'.

1.1.4Quā dē causā Helvētiī quoque reliquōs Gallōs virtūte praecēdunt, quod ferē cōtīdiānīs proeliīs cum Germānīs contendunt, cum aut suīs fīnibus eōs prohibent aut ipsī in eōrum fīnibus bellum gerunt.

For this reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in courage, because they fight with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either keep them out of their own territory or themselves wage war in the Germans' territory.

Note. Quā dē causā is a connecting relative: 'for this reason'. suīs fīnibus eōs prohibent: prohibeō takes the person in the accusative and the thing kept from in the ablative.

1.1.5Eōrum ūna pars, quam Gallōs obtinēre dictum est, initium capit ā flūmine Rhodanō, continētur Garumnā flūmine, Ōceanō, fīnibus Belgārum, attingit etiam ab Sēquanīs et Helvētiīs flūmen Rhēnum, vergit ad septentriōnēs.

One part of these lands, which we have said the Gauls hold, begins at the river Rhône; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the Ocean and the territory of the Belgae; on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii it also reaches the river Rhine; it faces north.

Note. quam Gallōs obtinēre dictum est: 'which, as has been said, the Gauls hold'. Gallōs is the subject of the infinitive in indirect statement.

1.1.6Belgae ab extrēmīs Galliae fīnibus oriuntur, pertinent ad īnferiōrem partem flūminis Rhēnī, spectant in septentriōnem et orientem sōlem.

The Belgae begin at the farthest borders of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the river Rhine, and face north and east.

1.1.7Aquītānia ā Garumnā flūmine ad Pȳrēnaeōs montēs et eam partem Ōceanī quae est ad Hispāniam pertinet;

Aquitania extends from the river Garonne to the Pyrenees and to that part of the Ocean which is near Spain;

1.1.7spectat inter occāsum sōlis et septentriōnēs.

it faces between the sunset and the north.