Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 4
De Bello Gallico 4.7
The German envoys
Caesar, De Bello Gallico IV. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō4.7.1Rē frūmentāriā comparātā equitibusque dēlēctīs iter in ea loca facere coepit, quibus in locīs esse Germānōs audiēbat.
Having got together his grain supply and chosen his cavalry, he began to march toward the places in which he heard the Germans were.
4.7.2Ā quibus cum paucōrum diērum iter abesset, lēgātī ab iīs vēnērunt, quōrum haec fuit ōrātiō: Germānōs neque priōrēs populō Rōmānō bellum īnferre neque tamen recūsāre, sī lacessantur, quīn armīs contendant, quod Germānōrum cōnsuētūdō haec sit ā maiōribus trādita, Quīcumque bellum īnferant, resistere neque dēprecārī.
When he was a few days' march away from them, envoys came from them, and this was their speech: the Germans were not making war first on the Roman people, but neither did they refuse to fight if they were provoked, because this was the custom of the Germans handed down from their ancestors, to resist whoever made war on them and not to beg for mercy.
Note. The envoys' speech is all in indirect statement. quīn armīs contendant: after a negative verb of refusing, 'they did not refuse to fight'. Quīcumque … : the dependent verbs keep the subjunctive.
4.7.3Haec tamen dīcere vēnisse invītōs, ēiectōs domō;
This much, however, they would say: they had come unwillingly, driven out of their homes;
4.7.4sī suam grātiam Rōmānī velint, posse iīs ūtilēs esse amīcōs;
if the Romans wanted their goodwill, they could be useful friends to them;
4.7.4vel sibi agrōs attribuant vel patiantur eōs tenēre quōs armīs possēderint: sēsē ūnīs Suēbīs concēdere, quibus nē dī quidem immortālēs parēs esse possint;
let the Romans either assign them lands or allow them to keep those they had won by arms: they gave way to the Suebi alone, to whom not even the immortal gods could be equal;
Note. vel … vel: 'either … or'. Note the jussive subjunctives (attribuant, patiantur) in the reported speech, standing for imperatives. nē … quidem: 'not even'.
4.7.5reliquum quidem in terrīs esse nēminem quem nōn superāre possint.
there was no one else at all on earth whom they could not defeat.
Vocabulary
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| frūmentārius, -a, -um | of grain (rēs frūmentāria: grain supply) |
| comparō, -parāre, -parāvī, -parātus | prepare, collect |
| eques, equitis m. | horseman; (pl.) cavalry |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| dēligō, -ligere, -lēgī, -lēctus | choose out, choose, select |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| coepī, coepisse, coeptus (used in tenses of completed action) | have begun, began |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | hear; listen or attend to |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrus | be away, be absent, be distant; be wanting |
| lēgātus, -ī, m. | ambassador |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| ōrātiō, -ōnis, f. | speech; ōrātiōnem habēre, to deliver an oration, speak |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| prior, prius | earlier, former; in front (priōrēs: those in front) |
| populus, -ī m. | people, nation |
| Rōmānus, -a, -um | Roman |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| īnferō, īnferre, intulī, inlātus | bring in or against, wage against; inflict |
| tamen, adv. | however, yet, nevertheless |
| recūsō, -cūsāre, -cūsāvī, -cūsātus | give a reason against, refuse |
| sī, conj. | if |
| lacessō, -ere, -īvī, -ītum | provoke, harass |
| quīn, conj. | so that ... not, but that, but |
| arma, -ōrum, n. plur. | arms, weapons |
| contendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus | stretch, hasten |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| cōnsuētūdō, -inis f. | custom, habit; way of life |
| maiōrēs, -um m. pl. | ancestors |
| trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report |
| quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumque | whoever, whatever |
| resistō, -sistere, -stitī | stand back, resist |
| dēprecor, -ārī, -ātus sum | beg to be spared, plead |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| invītus, -a, -um | unwilling |
| ēiciō, -ere, -iēcī, -iectus | throw out; sē ēicere: rush out |
| domus, -ūs, f. | house, home |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| grātia, -ae, f. | favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| ūtilis, -e | useful, advantageous |
| amīcus, -ī, m. | friend |
| vel | or; vel … vel: either … or |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| ager, agri, m. | field, land |
| attribuō, -ere, -tribuī, -tribūtum | assign, allot |
| patior, patī, passus, bear | suffer, allow |
| teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus | hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop |
| possideō, -sidēre, -sēdī, -sessus | hold, possess |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| concēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | grant, yield |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| deus, -ī, m. | god |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| immortālis, -e | immortal |
| pār, paris | equal |
| reliquus, -a, -um | left, the remaining, the other, the rest of |
| terra, -ae, f. | land, earth |
| nēmō, nēminis, m. and f. | no one, nobody |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| superō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | overcome, defeat, conquer |