De Bello Gallico 4.29

The fleet wrecked by the tide

In brief. That night a full moon brings a high tide. It swamps the beached warships while the storm wrecks the transports at anchor, leaving the army with no way home and no grain for the winter.

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4.29.1Eādem nocte accidit ut esset lūna plēna, quī diēs maritimōs aestūs maximōs in Ōceanō efficere cōnsuēvit, nostrīsque id erat incognitum.That same night there happened to be a full moon, the day which usually brings the highest tides in the Ocean, and our men did not know this.Note. quī diēs: the relative takes the gender of diēs, the word that follows, not lūna. Spring tides come at full moon; the Romans, used to the almost tideless Mediterranean, did not expect them. 4.29.2Ita ūnō tempore et longās nāvēs, quibus Caesar exercitum trānsportandum cūrāverat, quās Caesar in āridum subdūxerat, aestus complēbat, et onerāriās, quae ad ancorās erant dēligātae, tempestās adflīctābat, neque ūlla nostrīs facultās aut administrandī aut auxiliandī dabātur.So at one and the same time the tide was filling the warships, in which Caesar had had the army carried across and which he had drawn up on dry land, and the storm was battering the transports, which were tied up at anchor, and our men had no chance either of handling them or of helping.Note. et … aestus complēbat, et … tempestās adflīctābat: two subjects, two objects, two verbs set side by side. auxiliandī: gerund of the deponent auxilior. 4.29.3Complūribus nāvibus frāctīs, reliquae cum essent fūnibus, ancorīs reliquīsque armāmentīs āmissīs ad nāvigandum inūtilēs, magna, id quod necesse erat accidere, tōtīus exercitūs perturbātiō facta est.Several ships were wrecked, and the rest, having lost their cables, anchors and the rest of their tackle, were useless for sailing, so that great confusion arose in the whole army, as was bound to happen.

4.29.4Neque enim nāvēs erant aliae quibus reportārī possent, et omnia dēerant quae ad reficiendās nāvēs erant ūsuī, et, quod omnibus cōnstābat hiemārī in Galliā oportēre, frūmentum in hīs locīs in hiemem prōvīsum nōn erat.For there were no other ships in which they could be carried back, everything needed for repairing ships was lacking, and since everyone agreed that they must winter in Gaul, no grain had been provided in these parts for the winter.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×5, cum clauses ×1, ablative absolute ×2, indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (75 words)

īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
nox, noctis, f.	night
accidō, -cidere, -cidī	fall to or upon; befall, happen
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
lūna, -ae f.	moon
plēnus, -a, -um	full
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.	day
maritimus, -a, -um	of the sea, coastal
aestus, -ūs m.	heat; tide
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
efficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	make or work out, accomplish, effect
cōnsuēscō, -suēscere, -suēvī, -suētus	become accustomed; in tenses of completed action, have become accustomed, be accustomed or wont
noster, -tra, -trum	our
que, enclitic conj.	and
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
incognitus, -a, -um	unknown
ita, adv.	in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
ūnus, -a, -um	one; only, alone
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
longus, -a, -um	long; tedious
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
trānsportō, -portāre, -portāvī, -portātus	carry across or over, transport
cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	take care of; (+ gerundive) have something done
āridus, -a, -um	dry; as a noun (āridum, -ī n.): dry land
subdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	draw up, beach
compleō, -plēre, -plēvī, -plētus	fill full, fill up
onerārius, -a, -um	for freight; nāvis onerāria: transport ship
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
ancora, -ae, f.	anchor; in ancorīs, at anchor
dēligō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	tie, fasten, moor
tempestās, -tātis, f.	weather; storm, tempest
afflīctō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	batter, damage
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
ūllus, -a, -um	any
facultās, -tātis, f.	possibility, opportunity, chance, means
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
administrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	manage, carry out
auxilior, -āri, -ātus	help
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
complūrēs, -plūra, plur. adj.	several, many
frangō, frangere, frēgī, frāctus	break; dash to pieces, wreck
reliquus, -a, -um	left, the remaining, the other, the rest of
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
fūnis, -is m.	rope, cable
armāmentum, -ī n.	tackle, gear of a ship (usually plural)
āmittō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus	send away, lose
nāvigō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	sail
inūtilis, -e	not useful, useless
necesse, indecl. adj.	necessary
tōtus, -a, -um	all the, the whole or entire
perturbātiō, -ōnis f.	confusion, disorder
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
enim, conj.	for
alius, -a, -ud	another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
reportō, -portāre, -portāvī, -portātus	carry or bring back
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
omnis, -e	all, every
dēsum, deesse, dēfuī	be lacking, fail
reficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	make anew, renew, repair
ūsus, -ūs, m.	use; experience
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
cōnstō, -stāre, -stitī, -stātūrus	stand together, agree; consist;
hiemō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	spend the winter
oportet, -ēre, oportuit (impersonal)	it is right, it is necessary
frūmentum, -ī, n.	grain
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
hiems, hiemis f.	winter
prōvideō, -ēre, -vīdī, -vīsum	foresee; provide for
nōn, adv.	not

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.