De Bello Gallico 1.45

1.45.1Multa ā Caesare in eam sententiam dicta sunt quārē negōtiō dēsistere nōn posset: neque suam neque populī Rōmānī cōnsuētūdinem patī ut optimē meritōs sociōs dēsereret, neque sē iūdicāre Galliam potius esse Ariovistī quam populī Rōmānī.

Caesar said much to show why he could not give up the matter: neither his own practice nor that of the Roman people allowed him to abandon allies who had served it so well, and he did not consider that Gaul belonged to Ariovistus any more than to the Roman people.

1.45.2Bellō superātōs esse Arvernōs et Rutēnōs ā Q. Fabiō Maximō, quibus populus Rōmānus ignōvisset neque in prōvinciam redēgisset neque stīpendium posuisset.

The Arverni and Ruteni had been defeated in war by Quintus Fabius Maximus, and the Roman people had pardoned them and had not made them into a province or imposed tribute.

1.45.3Quod sī antīquissimum quodque tempus spectārī oportēret, populī Rōmānī iūstissimum esse in Galliā imperium;

If the earliest claim should count, the Roman people's rule in Gaul was the most just;

Note. antīquissimum quodque tempus: quisque with a superlative means 'the earliest each time', that is, the oldest claim.

1.45.3sī iūdicium senātūs observārī oportēret, līberam dēbēre esse Galliam, quam bellō victam suīs lēgibus utī voluisset.

if the Senate's judgement should be respected, Gaul ought to be free, since the Senate had wished her, though conquered in war, to live by her own laws.