De Bello Gallico 4.26

The fight on the beach

In brief. A confused fight takes place in the shallows, with men joining whatever standard they find. Once they reach dry land the Romans charge and rout the Britons, but without cavalry they cannot pursue them.

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4.26.1Pugnātum 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.

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Grammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×2, indirect statement ×1, cum clauses ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (89 words)

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

Caesar, De Bello Gallico IV. Latin text: T. Rice Holmes (Oxford, 1914), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. Vocabulary: F. Ritchie (1903, public domain) and entries written for this app. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.