De Bello Gallico 4.25

4.25.1Quod ubi Caesar animadvertit, nāvēs longās, quārum et speciēs erat barbarīs inūsitātior et mōtus ad ūsum expedītior, paulum removērī ab onerāriīs nāvibus et rēmīs incitārī et ad latus apertum hostium cōnstituī atque inde fundīs, sagittīs, tormentīs hostēs prōpellī ac submovērī iussit;

When Caesar noticed this, he ordered the warships, whose appearance was quite strange to the natives and whose movement was easier to manage, to be drawn off a little from the transports, driven forward by their oars, and brought to rest on the enemy's exposed flank, and the enemy to be driven back and dislodged from there with slings, arrows and artillery;

Note. Quod ubi: 'when … this'. Several passive infinitives (removērī, incitārī, cōnstituī, prōpellī, submovērī) all depend on iussit.

4.25.1quae rēs magnō ūsuī nostrīs fuit.

this was of great use to our men.

4.25.2Nam et nāvium figūrā et rēmōrum mōtū et inūsitātō genere tormentōrum permōtī barbarī cōnstitērunt ac paulum modo pedem rettulērunt.

For the natives, unsettled by the shape of the ships, the movement of the oars and the unfamiliar kind of artillery, halted and fell back, though only a little.

4.25.3Atque nostrīs mīlitibus cūnctantibus, maximē propter altitūdinem maris, quī X legiōnis aquilam gerēbat, obtestātus deōs, ut ea rēs legiōnī fēlīciter ēvenīret,' dēsilīte', inquit,' mīlitēs, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prōdere;

And while our soldiers were hesitating, chiefly because of the depth of the sea, the man who carried the eagle of the Tenth legion, after praying to the gods that his act might turn out well for the legion, said: 'Jump down, soldiers, unless you want to betray the eagle to the enemy;

Note. quī X legiōnis aquilam gerēbat: the aquilifer, the standard-bearer of the Tenth legion. obtestātus: deponent, 'having called on'.

4.25.3ego certē meum reī pūblicae atque imperātōrī officium praestiterō.' Hoc cum vōce magnā dīxisset, sē ex nāvī prōiēcit atque in hostēs aquilam ferre coepit.

I at any rate shall have done my duty to the state and to my general.' When he had said this in a loud voice, he threw himself from the ship and began to carry the eagle against the enemy.

Note. praestiterō: future perfect, 'I shall have done my duty' — he will have done it whatever the others do. This entry also contains the next sentence of the edition, Hoc cum … coepit.

4.25.5Tum nostrī cohortātī inter sē, nē tantum dēdecus admitterētur, ūniversī ex nāvī dēsiluērunt.

Then our men, urging one another not to allow so great a disgrace, all leapt down from the ship together.

4.25.6Hōs item ex proximīs prīmī nāvibus cum cōnspexissent, subsecūtī hostibus adpropinquāvērunt.

When the men in the nearest ships saw them, they followed and approached the enemy.