Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 3
De Bello Gallico 3.4
The attack on the camp
Caesar, De Bello Gallico III. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō3.4.1Brevī spatiō interiectō, vix ut iīs rēbus quās cōnstituissent conlocandīs atque administrandīs tempus darētur, hostēs ex omnibus partibus signō datō dēcurrere, lapidēs gaesaque in vallum coicere.
After a short time, so short that there was hardly time to arrange and carry out what they had decided, the enemy at a given signal came running down from every side and hurled stones and heavy javelins at the rampart.
Note. decurrere and conicere are historic infinitives: they act like past-tense verbs, 'they ran down … they hurled'.
3.4.2Nostrī prīmō integrīs vīribus fortiter prōpugnāre neque ūllum frūstrā tēlum ex locō superiōre mittere, et quaecumque pars castrōrum nūdāta dēfēnsōribus premī vidēbātur, eō occurrere et auxilium ferre, sed hōc superārī quod diūturnitāte pugnae hostēs dēfessī proeliō excēdēbant, aliī integrīs vīribus succēdēbant;
At first our men, while their strength was fresh, fought back bravely and threw no weapon from the higher ground in vain, and whenever any part of the camp seemed to be stripped of defenders and hard pressed, they ran there and brought help; but they were at a disadvantage in this, that when enemy soldiers were worn out by the length of the fight they left the battle and others with fresh strength took their place;
Note. propugnāre, mittere, occurrere, ferre: more historic infinitives describing the struggle. hōc superārī quod: 'they were outdone in this, that'.
3.4.4quārum rērum ā nostrīs propter paucitātem fierī nihil poterat, ac nōn modo dēfessō ex pugnā excēdendī, sed nē sauciō quidem eius locī ubi cōnstiterat relinquendī ac suī recipiendī facultās dabātur.
none of which could be done by our men because of their small numbers, and not only was a tired man given no chance to leave the fight, but not even a wounded man could leave the place where he had taken his stand and recover himself.
Note. nē sauciō quidem … facultās dabātur: 'not even a wounded man was given the chance'. suī recipiendī: 'of recovering himself'.
Vocabulary
| brevis, -e | short |
| spatium, -ī, n. | space, interval; space of time, time |
| intericiō, -ere, -iēcī, -iectum | put between, interweave |
| vix, adv. | with difficulty, scarcely, hardly, barely |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | set together or up; appoint; determine |
| collocō (conlocō), -āre, -āvī, -ātum | place, station; give in marriage |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| administrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | manage, carry out |
| tempus, temporis, n. | time, season |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| signum, -ī, n. | sign, signal |
| dēcurrō, -currere, -cucurrī, -cursus | run down |
| lapis, -idis, m. | stone |
| gaesum, -ī n. | heavy Gallic javelin |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| vallum, -ī n. | rampart, palisade |
| coiciō, -ere, coiēcī, coiectum | throw, hurl |
| noster, -tra, -trum | our |
| prīmō, adv. | at first |
| integer, -gra, -grum | untouched, fresh, whole |
| vīs, vīs, f. | violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main |
| fortiter, adv. | bravely |
| prōpugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | fight in defence |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| ūllus, -a, -um | any |
| frūstrā, adv. | in vain |
| tēlum, -ī, n. | missile, spear, weapon |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| superior, -ius, adj. | higher; former, previous, preceding |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumque | whoever, whatever |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| nūdō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | strip, leave bare |
| dēfēnsor, -ōris m. | defender |
| premō, premere, pressī, pressus | press, check, restrain |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| eō (adv.) | to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more) |
| occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursus | run against, meet |
| auxilium, -ī, n. | help, aid |
| ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus | bear, bring |
| sed, conj. | but |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| superō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | overcome, defeat, conquer |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| diūturnitās, -ātis f. | long duration |
| pugna, -ae, f. | fighting, battle, combat |
| dēfetīscor, -ī, dēfessus sum | grow tired (dēfessus: worn out) |
| proelium, -ī, n. | battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle |
| excēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | go out or forth, depart |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| succēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | go or come under, follow after, succeed |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| propter, prep. with acc. | on account of, because of |
| paucitās, -ātis f. | small number, scarcity |
| fīō, fierī, factus sum | be done or made, become, happen |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| modo, adv. | only |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| saucius, -a, -um | wounded |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| ubi, adv. | where; conj., when |
| cōnsistō, -sistere, -stitī, -stitus | station oneself, take one's stand; consist |
| relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictus | leave behind, leave |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover |
| facultās, -tātis, f. | possibility, opportunity, chance, means |