De Bello Gallico 5.23

The return to Gaul

In brief. With many prisoners and fewer ships, Caesar takes the army back in two trips. Most empty ships sent from Gaul, including sixty built by Labienus, are driven back, so with the equinox near he packs his men in tighter and crosses safely.

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5.23.1Obsidibus acceptīs exercitum redūcit ad mare, nāvēs invenit refectās.When the hostages had been received he leads the army back to the sea and finds the ships repaired. 5.23.2Hīs dēductīs, quod et captīvōrum magnum numerum habēbat, et nōnnūllae tempestāte dēperierant nāvēs, duōbus commeātibus exercitum reportāre īnstituit.When these had been launched, because he had a great number of prisoners and some ships had been lost in the storm, he decided to take the army back in two trips. 5.23.3Ac sīc accidit, utī ex tantō nāvium numerō tot nāvigātiōnibus neque hōc neque superiōre annō ūlla omnīnō nāvis, quae mīlitēs portāret, dēsīderārētur;And it so happened that out of so great a number of ships, in so many voyages, neither in this year nor in the year before was a single ship that carried soldiers lost;Note. neque hōc neque superiōre annō: Caesar had crossed to Britain the year before as well (Book IV). 5.23.4at ex eīs, quae inānēs ex continentī ad eum remitterentur et priōris commeātūs expositīs mīlitibus et quās posteā Labiēnus faciendās cūrāverat numerō LX, perpaucae locum caperent, reliquae ferē omnēs rēicerentur.but of those which were being sent back to him empty from the mainland, both those of the first trip after the soldiers had been landed and those, sixty in number, which Labienus had later had built, very few reached their destination, and almost all the rest were driven back.

5.23.5Quās cum aliquamdiū Caesar frūstrā exspectāsset, nē annī tempore ā nāvigātiōne exclūderētur, quod aequinoctium suberat, necessāriō angustius mīlitēs collocāvit ac summā tranquillitāte cōnsecūtā, secundā initā cum solvisset vigiliā, prīmā lūce terram attigit omnēsque incolumēs nāvēs perdūxit.When Caesar had waited for them in vain for some time, so as not to be cut off from sailing by the season, because the equinox was near, he had to pack the soldiers in more tightly, and when a great calm had set in, he set sail at the start of the second watch, reached land at first light and brought all the ships in safely.Note. secundā initā … vigiliā: 'when the second watch had begun', about nine in the evening.

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

Latin vocabulary for this passage (86 words)

obses, obsidis m./f.	hostage
accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
redūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead or bring back; restore
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
mare, maris, n.	sea
nāvis, -is, f.	ship
inveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus	come upon, find
reficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	make anew, renew, repair
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
dēdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead down or away, bring; nāvem dēdūcere, to draw down or launch a ship
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
captīvus, -a, -um	captive
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
numerus, -ī, m.	number
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	have, hold; consider
nōnnūllus, -a, -um	not none, some, several
tempestās, -tātis, f.	weather; storm, tempest
dēpereō, -īre, -iī	be lost, perish
duo, -ae, -o, plur. adj.	two
commeātus, -ūs, m.	supplies, provisions
reportō, -portāre, -portāvī, -portātus	carry or bring back
īnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus	decide upon, determine
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
sīc, adv.	so, thus
accidō, -cidere, -cidī	fall to or upon; befall, happen
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
tantus, -a, -um	so great or much
tot (indecl.)	so many
nāvigātiō, -ōnis, f.	sailing, navigation, voyage
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
superior, -ius, adj.	higher; former, previous, preceding
annus, -ī, m.	year
ūllus, -a, -um	any
omnīnō, adv.	altogether, wholly, entirely
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
mīles, mīlitis, m.	soldier
portō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	carry
dēsīderō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	long for, miss; require
at, conj.	but
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
inānis, -e	empty
continēns, -entis, f.	'mainland, continent
remittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum	send back; give up, remit
prior, prius	earlier, former; in front (priōrēs: those in front)
expōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus	put out, set forth; put on shore, land; explain
posteā, adv.	after this, afterwards
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	take care of; (+ gerundive) have something done
Roman numeral	a number written with letters: I 1, V 5, X 10, L 50, C 100, D 500, M 1000
perpaucī, -ae, -a	very few
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
reliquus, -a, -um	left, the remaining, the other, the rest of
ferē, adv.	nearly, about, almost, for the most part
omnis, -e	all, every
rēiciō, -ere, rēiēcī, rēiectum	throw back, drive back
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
aliquam diū (adv.)	for some time
frūstrā, adv.	in vain
exspectō, -spectāre, -spectāvī, -spectātus	look out for, wait for, await, expect; wait
nē, adv.	not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
exclūdō, -clūdere, -clūsī, -clūsus	shut out, hinder, prevent
aequinoctium, -ī n.	equinox
subsum, -esse	be near, be close by
necessāriō (adv.)	of necessity, unavoidably
angustē (adv.; comp. angustius)	closely, tightly, in a narrow space
collocō (conlocō), -āre, -āvī, -ātum	place, station; give in marriage
summus, -a, -um	uppermost, highest, greatest
tranquillitās, -tātis, f.	calm
cōnsequor, -sequī, -secūtus	follow up, follow; overtake
secundus, -a, -um	following, favorable
ineō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go into, enter; adopt
solvō, solvere, solvī, solūtus	loosen, unbind, release; pay; with or without nāvem, cast off, set sail, put to sea
vigilia, -ae, f.	watch
prīmus, -a, -um	first, foremost
lūx, lūcis, f.	light
terra, -ae, f.	land, earth
attingō, -tingere, -tigī, -tāctus	touch at
que, enclitic conj.	and
incolumis, -e	unhurt, safe
perdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead or bring through, lead, bring

Caesar, De Bello Gallico V. 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.