De Bello Gallico 1.31

1.31.1Eō conciliō dīmissō, īdem prīncipēs cīvitātum quī ante fuerant ad Caesarem revertērunt petiēruntque utī sibi sēcrētō in occultō dē suā omniumque salūte cum eō agere licēret.

When that council had broken up, the same leading men of the states who had been there before came back to Caesar and asked to be allowed to talk with him privately, in secret, about their own safety and that of everyone.

1.31.2Eā rē impetrātā sēsē omnēs flentēs Caesarī ad pedēs prōiēcērunt: nōn minus sē id contendere et labōrāre ne ea quae dīxissent ēnūntiārentur quam utī ea quae vellent impetrārent, proptereā quod, sī ēnūntiātum esset, summum in cruciātum sē ventūrōs vidērent.

When this was granted, they all threw themselves in tears at Caesar's feet: they were striving and labouring, they said, no less to keep what they said from being revealed than to obtain what they wanted, because they saw that if it were revealed they would suffer the worst tortures.

Note. nōn minus … quam: 'no less … than'. in cruciātum sē ventūrōs: 'that they would come to torture', future infinitive with esse left out.

1.31.3Locūtus est prō hīs Dīviciācus Haeduus: Galliae tōtīus factiōnēs esse duās;

Diviciacus the Haeduan spoke for them: in all Gaul there were two factions;

Note. From here to the end of chapter 31 Diviciacus' speech is in indirect speech: infinitives for statements, subjunctives in clauses.

1.31.3hārum alterīus prīncipātum tenēre Haeduōs, alterīus Arvernōs.

the Haedui held the leadership of one of them, the Arverni of the other.

1.31.4Hī cum tantopere dē potentātū inter sē multōs annōs contenderent, factum esse utī ab Arvernīs Sēquanīsque Germānī mercēde arcesserentur.

These had struggled so fiercely with each other for supremacy for many years that in the end the Germans were hired for pay by the Arverni and the Sequani.

Note. factum esse utī … arcesserentur: 'it had come about that the Germans were summoned', a result clause after factum esse.

1.31.5Hōrum prīmō circiter mīlia XV Rhēnum trānsīsse;

At first about fifteen thousand of them had crossed the Rhine;

1.31.5posteā quam agrōs et cultum et cōpiās Gallōrum hominēs ferī ac barbarī adamāssent, trāductōs plūrēs;

after these wild and savage men had grown to love the land, the way of life and the wealth of the Gauls, more had been brought across;

1.31.5nunc esse in Galliā ad C et XX mīlium numerum.

now there were about a hundred and twenty thousand of them in Gaul.

Note. ad C et XX mīlium numerum: 'to the number of about 120,000'; ad with a number means 'about'.

1.31.6Cum hīs Haeduōs eōrumque clientēs semel atque iterum armīs contendisse;

The Haedui and their dependants had fought with them again and again;

1.31.6magnam calamitātem pulsōs accēpisse, omnem nōbilitātem, omnem senātum, omnem equitātum āmīsisse.

beaten, they had suffered a great disaster and lost all their nobles, all their council of elders and all their cavalry.

1.31.7Quibus proeliīs calamitātibusque frāctōs, quī et suā virtūte et populī Rōmānī hospitiō atque amīcitiā plūrimum ante in Galliā potuissent, coāctōs esse Sēquanīs obsidēs dare nōbilissimōs cīvitātis et iūre iūrandō cīvitātem obstringere sēsē neque obsidēs repetītūrōs neque auxilium ā populō Rōmānō implōrātūrōs neque recūsātūrōs quō minus perpetuō sub illōrum diciōne atque imperiō essent.

Broken by these battles and disasters, the Haedui, who before had had the greatest power in Gaul through their own courage and through the hospitality and friendship of the Roman people, had been forced to give the Sequani the noblest men of the state as hostages, and to bind the state by oath that they would neither ask for the hostages back nor beg the Roman people for help nor refuse to be for ever under their rule and command.

Note. neque recūsātūrōs quō minus … essent: 'and would not refuse to be'; quō minus follows verbs of refusing and preventing.

1.31.8Ūnum sē esse ex omnī cīvitāte Haeduōrum quī addūcī nōn potuerit ut iūrāret aut līberōs suōs obsidēs daret.

He was the only man in the whole Haeduan state who could not be induced to take the oath or give his children as hostages.

1.31.9Ob eam rem sē ex cīvitāte profūgisse et Rōmam ad senātum vēnisse auxilium postulātum, quod sōlus neque iūre iūrandō neque obsidibus tenērētur.

For that reason he had fled from his state and gone to the Senate in Rome to ask for help, because he alone was bound neither by oath nor by hostages.

1.31.10Sed peius victōribus Sēquanīs quam Haeduīs victīs accidisse, proptereā quod Ariovistus, rēx Germānōrum, in eōrum fīnibus cōnsēdisset tertiamque partem agrī Sēquanī, quī esset optimus tōtīus Galliae, occupāvisset et nunc dē alterā parte tertiā Sēquanōs dēcēdere iubēret, proptereā quod paucīs mēnsibus ante Harūdum mīlia hominum XXIIII ad eum vēnissent, quibus locus ac sēdēs parārentur.

But things had gone worse for the victorious Sequani than for the defeated Haedui, because Ariovistus, king of the Germans, had settled in their territory and seized a third of the Sequanian land, which was the best in all Gaul, and was now ordering the Sequani to leave another third, because a few months before twenty-four thousand Harudes had come to him, for whom land and homes had to be found.

Note. peius … accidisse: 'things had turned out worse'. quibus locus ac sēdēs parārentur: a relative clause of purpose, 'for whom land and homes were to be found'.

1.31.11Futūrum esse paucīs annīs utī omnēs ex Galliae fīnibus pellerentur atque omnēs Germānī Rhēnum trānsīrent;

In a few years all the Gauls would be driven out of the lands of Gaul and all the Germans would cross the Rhine;

1.31.11neque enim cōnferendum esse Gallicum cum Germānōrum agrō neque hanc cōnsuētūdinem vīctūs cum illā comparandam.

for Gallic land could not be compared with German land, nor this way of life with that.

1.31.12Ariovistum autem, ut semel Gallōrum cōpiās proeliō vīcerit, quod proelium factum sit ad Magetobrigam, superbē et crūdēliter imperāre, obsidēs nōbilissimī cuiusque līberōs poscere et in eōs omnia exempla cruciātūsque ēdere, sī qua rēs nōn ad nūtum aut ad voluntātem eius facta sit.

Ariovistus, once he had defeated the forces of the Gauls in a battle fought at Magetobriga, ruled proudly and cruelly, demanded the children of all the noblest men as hostages, and inflicted every kind of torture on them as an example if anything was not done at his nod or according to his wish.

Note. ut semel … vīcerit: 'once he had defeated'. sī qua rēs: 'if anything'; after sī, quī/quis means 'any'.

1.31.13Hominem esse barbarum, īrācundum, temerārium: nōn posse eius imperia, diūtius sustinērī.

He was a savage, hot-tempered, reckless man: his commands could not be endured any longer.

1.31.14Nisi quid in Caesare populōque Rōmānō sit auxiliī, omnibus Gallīs idem esse faciendum quod Helvētiī fēcerint, ut domō ēmigrent, aliud domicilium, aliās sēdēs, remōtās ā Germānīs, petant fortūnamque, quaecumque accidat, experiantur.

Unless there were some help in Caesar and the Roman people, all the Gauls would have to do what the Helvetii had done: leave their homes, look for another place to live, other homes far from the Germans, and try their fortune, whatever might happen.

Note. Nisi quid … sit auxiliī: 'unless there is any help', a partitive genitive with quid. idem esse faciendum: 'the same thing would have to be done'.

1.31.14Haec sī ēnūntiāta Ariovistō sint, nōn dubitāre quīn dē omnibus obsidibus quī apud eum sint gravissimum supplicium sūmat.

If these things were reported to Ariovistus, they had no doubt that he would inflict the cruellest punishment on all the hostages in his hands.

1.31.15Caesarem vel auctōritāte suā atque exercitūs vel recentī victōriā vel nōmine populī Rōmānī dēterrēre posse nē maior multitūdō Germānōrum Rhēnum trādūcātur, Galliamque omnem ab Ariovistī iniūriā posse dēfendere.

Caesar, by his own authority and that of his army, or by his recent victory, or by the name of the Roman people, could prevent a greater number of Germans from being brought across the Rhine, and could protect all Gaul from the violence of Ariovistus.