De Bello Gallico 4.27

The Britons ask for peace

In brief. The defeated Britons ask for peace and release Commius, whom they had put in chains. Caesar pardons them and demands hostages.

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4.27.1Hostēs proeliō superātī, simul atque sē ex fugā recēpērunt, statim ad Caesarem lēgātōs dē pāce mīsērunt;The enemy, beaten in battle, as soon as they had recovered from their flight, at once sent envoys to Caesar to ask for peace; 4.27.1obsidēs sēsē datūrōs quaeque imperāsset factūrōs pollicitī sunt.they promised to give hostages and do what he ordered. 4.27.2Ūnā cum hīs lēgātīs Commius Atrebās vēnit, quem suprā dēmōnstrāveram ā Caesare in Britanniam praemissum.With these envoys came Commius the Atrebatian, who, as I showed above, had been sent ahead into Britain by Caesar.Note. quem suprā dēmōnstrāveram … praemissum: Caesar refers to himself in the first person as author. Atrebās: 'the Atrebatian', a singular of Atrebatēs. 4.27.3Hunc illī ē nāvī ēgressum, cum ad eōs ōrātōris modō Caesaris mandāta dēferret, comprehenderant atque in vincula coniēcerant;When he had left his ship and was delivering Caesar's instructions to them as an envoy, they had seized him and thrown him into chains; 4.27.4tum proeliō factō remīsērunt et in petendā pāce eius reī culpam in multitūdinem contulērunt et propter imprūdentiam ut ignōscerētur petīvērunt.now, after the battle, they sent him back, and in asking for peace they laid the blame for that act on the common people and asked to be pardoned on account of their ignorance.

4.27.5Caesar questus quod, cum ultrō in continentem lēgātīs missīs pācem ab sē petīssent, bellum sine causā intulissent, ignōscere sē imprūdentiae dīxit obsidēsque imperāvit;Caesar complained that, after sending envoys to the mainland of their own accord to ask him for peace, they had made war on him without cause; but he said he would pardon their ignorance, and ordered hostages;Note. questus quod … intulissent: the subjunctive gives the Britons' conduct as Caesar's complaint. ultrō: 'of their own accord'. 4.27.6quōrum illī partem statim dedērunt, partem ex longinquiōribus locīs arcessītam paucīs diēbus sēsē datūrōs dīxērunt.part of these they gave at once, and said they would give the rest, which had to be sent for from farther away, within a few days. 4.27.7Intereā suōs in agrōs remigrāre iussērunt, prīncipēsque undique convenīre et sē cīvitātēsque suās Caesarī commendāre coepērunt.Meanwhile they ordered their people to go back to the fields, and the leading men began to gather from every side and to entrust themselves and their states to Caesar.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×4, cum clauses ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (82 words)

hostis, -is, m. and f.	enemy, foe
proelium, -ī, n.	battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle
superō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	overcome, defeat, conquer
simul, adv.	at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
fuga, -ae, f.	flight
recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover
statim, adv.	on the spot, forthwith, at once, immediately
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
lēgātus, -ī, m.	ambassador
dē, prep, with abl.	down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
pāx, pācis f.	peace
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
obses, obsidis m./f.	hostage
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
imperō, -perāre, -perāvī, -perātus	command, order, enjoin
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
polliceor, -licērī, -licitus	promise
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
ūnā	together, along
cum, prep, with abl.	with
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus	come
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.	above, before
dēmōnstrō, -mōnstrāre, -mōnstrāvī, -mōnstrātus	point out, show; make known
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
praemittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum	send ahead
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
ēgredior, -gredī, -gressus	go out or forth, go ashore, disembark
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
ōrātor, -ōris m.	speaker; envoy
modus, -ī, m.	way, manner
mandātum, -ī n.	order, instruction, message
dēferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear or carry away or off
comprehendō, -prehendere, -prehendī, -prehēnsus	seize, catch
vinculum, -ī, n.	bond, chain
coniciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw together; throw, cast, hurl
tum, adv.	then, at that time
remittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum	send back; give up, remit
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus	seek, ask; attack
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
culpa, -ae f.	fault, blame
multitūdō, -tūdinis, f.	multitude
cōnferō, cōnferre, contulī, conlātus	bring together; grant, confer; sē cōnferre, to betake oneself, make one's way
propter, prep. with acc.	on account of, because of
imprūdentia, -ae f.	lack of foresight, ignorance; imprudence
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
ignōscō, -ere, ignōvī, ignōtum (+ dat.)	pardon, forgive
queror, -ī, questus sum	complain
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
ultrō (adv.)	of one's own accord; besides (ultrō citrōque: back and forth)
continēns, -entis, f.	'mainland, continent
bellum, -ī, n.	war
sine, prep. with abl.	without
causa, -ae, f.	cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
īnferō, īnferre, intulī, inlātus	bring in or against, wage against; inflict
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus	say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
que, enclitic conj.	and
pars, partis, f.	part, side, direction
longinquus, -a, -um	distant, remote
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
arcessō, -ere, -īvī, -ītus	call, summon, fetch
paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj.	few
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.	day
intereā, adv.	in the meantime, meanwhile
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
ager, agri, m.	field, land
remigrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	move back, return
iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussus	bid, order, command
prīnceps, -ipis	first, chief; as noun: leader
undique, adv.	from or on all sides
conveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus	come together, assemble
cīvitās, -tātis, f.	state
commendō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	entrust, commit; recommend
coepī, coepisse, coeptus (used in tenses of completed action)	have begun, began

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.