Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 5
De Bello Gallico 5.47
Caesar sets out
Caesar, De Bello Gallico V. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō5.47.1Hōrā circiter tertiā ab antecursōribus dē Crassī adventū certior factus eō diē mīlia passuum XX prōcēdit.
At about the third hour, informed by the advance guard of Crassus' approach, he advances twenty miles that day.
5.47.2Crassum Samarobrīvae praeficit legiōnemque attribuit, quod ibi impedīmenta exercitūs, obsidēs cīvitātum, litterās pūblicās frūmentumque omne quod eō tolerandae hiemis causā dēvēxerat relinquēbat.
He puts Crassus in command at Samarobriva and assigns him a legion, because he was leaving there the army's baggage, the hostages of the states, the public documents and all the grain that he had brought there to last through the winter.
Note. Samarobrīvae: a locative, 'at Samarobriva' (modern Amiens). tolerandae hiemis causā: gerundive with causā, 'for the purpose of enduring the winter'.
5.47.3Fabius, ut imperātum erat, nōn ita multum morātus in itinere cum legiōne occurrit.
Fabius, as he had been ordered, without much delay on the march, meets him with his legion.
5.47.4Labiēnus interitū Sabīnī et caede cohortium cognitā, cum omnēs ad eum Trēverōrum cōpiae vēnissent, veritus, sī ex hībernīs fugae similem profectiōnem fēcisset, ut hostium impetum sustinēre posset, praesertim quōs recentī victōriā efferrī scīret, litterās Caesarī remittit, quantō cum perīculō legiōnem ex hībernīs ēductūrus esset;
Labienus, having learned of the death of Sabinus and the slaughter of the cohorts, since all the forces of the Treveri had come against him, was afraid that if he marched out of his winter camp in what looked like flight he could not withstand the enemy's attack, especially as he knew they were elated by their recent victory; so he writes back to Caesar how dangerous it would be to lead the legion out of winter quarters;
Note. veritus … ut … posset: after verbs of fearing, ut means 'that … not': he feared he could not hold out. quantō cum perīculō … ēductūrus esset: an indirect question with the future participle, 'with how much danger he would lead out'.
5.47.4rem gestam in Eburōnibus perscrībit;
he describes in detail what had happened among the Eburones;
5.47.4docet omnēs equitātūs peditātūsque cōpiās Trēverōrum tria mīlia passuum longē ab suīs castrīs cōnsēdisse.
he explains that all the forces of the Treveri, cavalry and infantry, had encamped three miles from his camp.
Vocabulary
| hōra, -ae, f. | hour |
| circiter, prep. with acc. and adv. | about |
| tertius, -a, -um | third |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| antecursor, -ōris m. | forerunner; (pl.) advance guard |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| adventus, -ūs, m. | approach, arrival |
| certus, -a, -um | determined, fixed, certain; certiōrem facere, to make more certain, inform |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| mīlle, indecl. adj. | a thousand; mīlia, -ium, n. plur., thousands; |
| passus, -ūs, m. | pace (mīlia passuum: miles) |
| Roman numeral | a number written with letters: I 1, V 5, X 10, L 50, C 100, D 500, M 1000 |
| prōcēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessum | go forward, advance |
| praeficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectum | put in charge of |
| legiō, -ōnis f. | legion |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| attribuō, -ere, -tribuī, -tribūtum | assign, allot |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| ibi, adv. | in that place, there |
| impedīmentum, -ī n. | hindrance; (pl.) baggage |
| exercitus, -ūs, m. | army |
| obses, obsidis m./f. | hostage |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| litterae, -ārum f. pl. | letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch |
| pūblicus, -a, -um | public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state) |
| frūmentum, -ī, n. | grain |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| eō (adv.) | to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more) |
| tolerō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | bear, endure; keep off (hunger) |
| hiems, hiemis f. | winter |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| dēvehō, -ere, dēvēxī, dēvectum | carry down, carry off |
| relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictus | leave behind, leave |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| imperō, -perāre, -perāvī, -perātus | command, order, enjoin |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| ita, adv. | in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as |
| multum, -ī, n. | much |
| moror, -ārī, -ātus | delay, linger, stay |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursus | run against, meet |
| interitus, -ūs m. | destruction, death |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| caedēs, -is, f. | cutting down, killing, slaughter |
| cohors, cohortis f. | cohort (a tenth of a legion); company |
| cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus | find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| cōpia, -ae, f. | supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| vereor, -ērī, -itus | fear |
| sī, conj. | if |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| hīberna, -ōrum n. pl. | winter quarters |
| fuga, -ae, f. | flight |
| similis, -e | like, similar (vērī similis: likely) |
| profectiō, -ōnis, f. | departure, start |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| impetus, -ūs, m. | attack; impetum facere, to charge |
| sustineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus | hold or bear up, sustain, withstand |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| praesertim (adv.) | especially |
| recēns, -entis | recent, fresh |
| victōria, -ae, f. | victory |
| efferō, -ferre, extulī, ēlātum | carry out, bring out |
| sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | know |
| remittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum | send back; give up, remit |
| quantus, -a, -um | how great or much? |
| perīculum, -ī, n. | danger, peril, risk |
| ēdūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus | lead out, draw |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| gerō, gerere, gessī, gestus | carry, wear; carry on, do |
| perscrībō, -scrībere, -scrīpsī, scrīptus | write through or in full, describe fully, recount |
| doceo, -ēre, -uī, -tus | teach, explain |
| equitātus, -ūs m. | cavalry |
| peditātus, -ūs m. | infantry, foot soldiers |
| trēs, tria, plur. adj. | three |
| longē, adv. | far |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| cōnsīdō, -sīdere, -sēdī, -sessus | sit down |