Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 4
De Bello Gallico 4.26
The fight on the beach
Caesar, De Bello Gallico IV. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō4.26.1Pugnātum est ab utrīsque ācriter.
Both sides fought fiercely.
4.26.1Nostrī tamen, quod neque ōrdinēs servāre neque firmiter īnsistere neque signa subsequī poterant atque alius aliā ex nāvī quibuscumque signīs occurrerat sē adgregābat, magnopere perturbābantur;
Our men, however, were greatly thrown into confusion, because they could not keep their ranks, or stand firmly, or follow their standards, and one man from one ship and another from another attached himself to whatever standards he came across;
Note. alius aliā ex nāvī: 'one from one ship, another from another'. quibuscumque signīs occurrerat: 'whatever standards he had met'.
4.26.2hostēs vērō, nōtīs omnibus vadīs, ubi ex lītore aliquōs singulārēs ex nāvī ēgredientēs cōnspexerant, incitātīs equīs impedītōs adoriēbantur, plūrēs paucōs circumsistēbant, aliī ab latere apertō in ūniversōs tēla coniciēbant.
but the enemy, who knew all the shallows, whenever they saw from the shore some men leaving a ship one by one, spurred on their horses and attacked them while they were encumbered; many of them surrounded a few, while others threw missiles from the exposed flank at the whole body.
4.26.4Quod cum animadvertisset Caesar, scaphās longārum nāvium, item speculātōria nāvigia mīlitibus complērī iussit, et quōs labōrantēs cōnspexerat, hīs subsidia submittēbat.
When Caesar noticed this, he ordered the boats of the warships, and the scout vessels too, to be filled with soldiers, and sent them as support to any men he saw in difficulty.
4.26.5Nostrī, simul in āridō cōnstitērunt, suīs omnibus cōnsecūtīs, in hostēs impetum fēcērunt atque eōs in fugam dedērunt;
As soon as our men stood on dry land, with all their comrades following, they charged the enemy and put them to flight;
Note. simul (= simul atque): 'as soon as'. in āridō: 'on dry land'.
4.26.5neque longius prōsequī potuērunt, quod equitēs cursum tenēre atque īnsulam capere nōn potuerant.
but they could not pursue them very far, because the cavalry had not been able to hold their course and reach the island.
4.26.5Hoc ūnum ad prīstinam fortūnam Caesarī dēfuit.
This alone was lacking to Caesar's usual good fortune.
Note. Hoc ūnum … dēfuit: the missing cavalry meant Caesar could not follow up his victory as he usually did.
Vocabulary
| pugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | fight |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| uterque, utraque, utrumque | each, either, both |
| ācriter, adv. | sharply, fiercely |
| noster, -tra, -trum | our |
| tamen, adv. | however, yet, nevertheless |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| ōrdō, ōrdinis, m. | arrangement, order, rank; ex ōrdine, in order |
| servō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | save, preserve |
| firmiter (adv.) | firmly, steadily |
| īnsistō, -ere, īnstitī | stand on |
| signum, -ī, n. | sign, signal |
| subsequor, -ī, -secūtus sum | follow closely |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| nāvis, -is, f. | ship |
| quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumque | whoever, whatever |
| occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursus | run against, meet |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| aggregō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | gather together; attach (oneself) to |
| magnopere, adv. | greatly, very much, exceedingly; earnestly |
| perturbō, -turbāre, -turbāvi, -turbātus | greatly disturb, disturb, agitate, throw into confusion |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| vērō, adv. | in truth, indeed; however |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| vadum, -ī n. | ford, shallow place |
| ubi, adv. | where; conj., when |
| lītus, lītoris, n. | shore |
| aliquis, -quid, indef. pron. | someone, any one, something, anything, some, any |
| singulāris, -e | single; remarkable |
| ēgredior, -gredī, -gressus | go out or forth, go ashore, disembark |
| cōnspiciō, -spicere, -spēxī, -spectus | behold, perceive, see |
| incitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | stir up, provoke |
| equus, -ī, m. | horse |
| impediō, -pedīre, -pedīvī, -pedītus | hinder, prevent, impede |
| adorior, -īrī, adortus sum | attack |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| circumsistō, -ere, circumstetī | stand around, surround |
| latus, lateris n. | side, flank |
| apertus, -a, -um | open |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| ūniversus, -a, -um | all together, whole, entire, all |
| tēlum, -ī, n. | missile, spear, weapon |
| coniciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus | throw together; throw, cast, hurl |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| animadvertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus | turn the mind to, observe |
| scapha, -ae, f. | boat, skiff |
| longus, -a, -um | long; tedious |
| item | likewise, also |
| speculātōrius, -a, -um | for scouting; nāvigium speculātōrium: scout boat |
| nāvigium, -ī n. | vessel, ship |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| compleō, -plēre, -plēvī, -plētus | fill full, fill up |
| iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussus | bid, order, command |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| labōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | labor, toil |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| subsidium, -ī, n. | reserve, reinforcement, support, help |
| submittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum | send (as help) |
| simul, adv. | at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as |
| āridus, -a, -um | dry; as a noun (āridum, -ī n.): dry land |
| cōnsistō, -sistere, -stitī, -stitus | station oneself, take one's stand; consist |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| cōnsequor, -sequī, -secūtus | follow up, follow; overtake |
| impetus, -ūs, m. | attack; impetum facere, to charge |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| fuga, -ae, f. | flight |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| longē, adv. | far |
| prōsequor, -sequī, -secūtus | follow forward, follow |
| eques, equitis m. | horseman; (pl.) cavalry |
| cursus, -ūs, m. | running, speed; course, route, voyage; race |
| teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus | hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop |
| īnsula, -ae, f. | island |
| capiō, capere, cēpī, captus | take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| prīstinus, -a, -um | former |
| fortūna, -ae, f. | fortune |
| dēsum, deesse, dēfuī | be lacking, fail |