Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 3
De Bello Gallico 3.6
Victory and retreat
Caesar, De Bello Gallico III. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō3.6.1Quod iussī sunt faciunt, ac subitō omnibus portīs ēruptiōne factā neque cognōscendī quid fieret neque suī colligendī hostibus facultātem relinquunt.
They do as they were ordered, and suddenly, making a sally from all the gates, they leave the enemy no chance either to find out what was happening or to collect themselves.
Note. Quod iussī sunt faciunt: 'they do what they were ordered'. The present tense makes the story vivid.
3.6.2Ita commūtātā fortūnā eōs quī in spem potiundōrum castrōrum vēnerant undique circumventōs intercipiunt, et ex hominum mīlibus amplius XXX, quem numerum barbarōrum ad castra vēnisse cōnstābat, plūs tertiā parte interfectā reliquōs perterritōs in fugam coiciunt ac nē in locīs quidem superiōribus cōnsistere patiuntur.
So, with fortune reversed, they surround and cut off on every side those who had come in the hope of taking the camp; and of more than thirty thousand men, which was known to be the number of barbarians who had come to the camp, they kill more than a third, put the rest to flight in terror, and do not let them make a stand even on the higher ground.
Note. potiundōrum castrōrum is an old form of potiendōrum, 'of taking the camp'.
3.6.3Sīc omnibus hostium cōpiīs fūsīs armīsque exūtīs sē intrā mūnītiōnēs suās recipiunt.
So, when all the enemy's forces had been routed and stripped of their arms, they withdrew within their fortifications.
3.6.4Quō proeliō factō, quod saepius fortūnam temptāre Galba nōlēbat atque aliō sē in hīberna cōnsiliō vēnisse meminerat, aliīs occurrisse rēbus vidēbat, maximē frūmentī commeātūsque inopiā permōtus posterō diē omnibus eius vīcī aedificiīs incēnsīs in prōvinciam revertī contendit, ac nūllō hoste prohibente aut iter dēmorante incolumem legiōnem in Nantuātēs, inde in Allobrogēs perdūxit ibique hiemāvit.
After this battle, since Galba did not want to try his fortune too often, and remembered that he had come into winter quarters with one plan and saw that he had met with quite different circumstances, he was moved above all by the lack of grain and supplies; on the next day he burned all the buildings of the village and hurried to return to the Province, and with no enemy blocking or delaying his march he brought the legion safely to the Nantuates, then to the Allobroges, and wintered there.
Note. Caesar gives Galba's reasons with quod … meminerat … vidēbat, then the main verb contendit.
Vocabulary
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussus | bid, order, command |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| subitō, adv. | unexpectedly, suddenly |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| porta, -ae, f. | gate; door |
| ēruptiō, -ōnis f. | sally, sortie |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus | find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know |
| quis, quid, interrog. pron. | who? which? what? |
| fīō, fierī, factus sum | be done or made, become, happen |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| colligō, -ere, -lēgī, -lēctum | gather, collect (sē colligere: recover oneself) |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| facultās, -tātis, f. | possibility, opportunity, chance, means |
| relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictus | leave behind, leave |
| ita, adv. | in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as |
| commūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | change |
| fortūna, -ae, f. | fortune |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| spēs, speī, f. | hope |
| potior, -īrī, -ītus | become master of, get possession of |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| undique, adv. | from or on all sides |
| circumveniō, -īre, -vēnī, -ventum | surround |
| intercipiō, -ere, -cēpī, -ceptum | intercept, catch |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| homō, hominis, m. | man |
| mīlle, indecl. adj. | a thousand; mīlia, -ium, n. plur., thousands; |
| amplius (adv.) | more, further |
| Roman numeral | a number written with letters: I 1, V 5, X 10, L 50, C 100, D 500, M 1000 |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| barbarus, -a, -um | barbarian |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| cōnstō, -stāre, -stitī, -stātūrus | stand together, agree; consist; |
| plūs (adv.) | more |
| tertius, -a, -um | third |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| interficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus | put out of the way, kill |
| reliquus, -a, -um | left, the remaining, the other, the rest of |
| perterreō, -terrēre, -terrui, -territus | thoroughly frighten, terrify |
| fuga, -ae, f. | flight |
| coiciō, -ere, coiēcī, coiectum | throw, hurl |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| superior, -ius, adj. | higher; former, previous, preceding |
| cōnsistō, -sistere, -stitī, -stitus | station oneself, take one's stand; consist |
| patior, patī, passus, bear | suffer, allow |
| sīc, adv. | so, thus |
| cōpia, -ae, f. | supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops |
| fundō, -ere, fūdī, fūsum | pour; rout, scatter (an enemy) |
| arma, -ōrum, n. plur. | arms, weapons |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| exuō, -uere, -uī, -ūtus | put or take off |
| intrā, prep. with acc. | within |
| mūnītiō, -ōnis f. | fortification, defence works |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover |
| proelium, -ī, n. | battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| saepe, adv. | often, frequently |
| temptō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | try, attempt |
| nōlō, nōlle, nōluī | not wish, be unwilling |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| hīberna, -ōrum n. pl. | winter quarters |
| cōnsilium, -ī, n. | advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence |
| meminī, meminisse | remember |
| occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursus | run against, meet |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| maximē, adv. | very greatly, exceedingly, especially |
| frūmentum, -ī, n. | grain |
| commeātus, -ūs, m. | supplies, provisions |
| inopia, -ae f. | lack, want, scarcity |
| permoveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtum | move deeply, influence |
| posterus, -a, -um | following, next |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| vīcus, -ī, m. | village |
| aedificium, -ī n. | building |
| incendō, -ere, -cendī, -cēnsum | set on fire, burn |
| prōvincia, -ae f. | province; here, the Roman Province in southern Gaul |
| revertor, -vertī, -versus, perf. act. -vertī | turn back, return |
| contendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus | stretch, hasten |
| nūllus, -a, -um | not any, none, no |
| prohibeō, -hibēre, -hibuī, -hibitus | hold back, prevent, hinder |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| dēmoror, -ārī, -ātus sum | delay, hold up |
| incolumis, -e | unhurt, safe |
| legiō, -ōnis f. | legion |
| inde (adv.) | from there; then |
| perdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus | lead or bring through, lead, bring |
| ibi, adv. | in that place, there |
| hiemō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | spend the winter |