Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 6
De Bello Gallico 6.17
The gods of the Gauls
Caesar, De Bello Gallico VI. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō6.17.1Deum maximē Mercurium colunt.
Of the gods they worship Mercury most.
Note. Deum … Mercurium: Caesar gives the Gallic gods the names of the Roman gods they most resembled. The Gallic Mercury is usually taken to be Lugus.
6.17.1Huius sunt plūrima simulācra: hunc omnium inventōrem artium ferunt, hunc viārum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestūs pecūniae mercātūrāsque habēre vim maximam arbitrantur.
There are very many images of him: they call him the inventor of all the arts, the guide of roads and journeys, and they think he has the greatest power over money-making and trade.
6.17.1Post hunc Apollinem et Mārtem et Iovem et Minervam.
After him they worship Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Minerva.
Note. colunt is understood from the sentence before.
6.17.2Dē hīs eandem ferē, quam reliquae gentēs, habent opīniōnem: Apollinem morbōs dēpellere, Minervam operum atque artificiōrum initia trādere, Iovem imperium caelestium tenēre, Mārtem bella regere.
About these they hold much the same opinion as other peoples: that Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva teaches the beginnings of the crafts and skills, Jupiter holds rule over the gods, and Mars governs wars.
6.17.3Huic, cum proeliō dīmicāre cōnstituērunt, ea quae bellō cēperint plērumque dēvovent: cum superāvērunt, animālia capta immolant reliquāsque rēs in ūnum locum cōnferunt.
To Mars, when they have decided to fight a battle, they usually vow whatever they capture in war: when they have won, they sacrifice the captured animals and gather the other things into one place.
Note. Huic: Mars. cum … cōnstituērunt: cum with the perfect indicative means 'whenever'.
6.17.4Multīs in cīvitātibus hārum rērum exstrūctōs tumulōs locīs cōnsecrātīs cōnspicārī licet;
In many states one can see mounds of these things piled up in consecrated places;
6.17.5neque saepe accidit, ut neglēctā quispiam religiōne aut capta apud sē occultāre aut posita tollere audēret, gravissimumque eī reī supplicium cum cruciātū cōnstitūtum est.
and it seldom happens that anyone dares, disregarding religion, to hide captured things at home or to take away what has been placed there, and the heaviest punishment, with torture, has been fixed for that offense.
Vocabulary
| deus, -ī, m. | god |
| maximē, adv. | very greatly, exceedingly, especially |
| colō, colere, coluī, cultus | till, cultivate; inhabit; worship |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| simulācrum, -ī n. | image, statue |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| inventor, -ōris m. | inventor, discoverer |
| ars, artis, f. | art |
| ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus | bear, bring |
| via, -ae, f. | road, way |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| dux, ducis, m. and f. | leader, commander |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| quaestus, -ūs m. | gain, profit |
| pecūnia, -ae, f. | money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times) |
| mercātūra, -ae f. | trade, commerce |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| vīs, vīs, f. | violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| arbitror, -ārī, -ātus | consider, think, judge |
| post, adv. | after, later; prep. with acc., after, behind |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron. | the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also |
| ferē, adv. | nearly, about, almost, for the most part |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| reliquus, -a, -um | left, the remaining, the other, the rest of |
| gēns, gentis, f. | race, nation |
| opīniō, -ōnis, f. | opinion, expectation; reputation |
| morbus, -ī m. | sickness, disease |
| dēpellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsus | drive off or away, drive |
| opus, operis, n. | work, task |
| artificium, -ī n. | craft, skill; trade |
| initium, -ī, n. | beginning |
| trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report |
| imperium, -ī, n. | command; sway, rule |
| caelestis, -e | heavenly; pl. as noun: the gods |
| teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus | hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| regō, -ere, rēxī, rēctum | guide, steer, rule |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| proelium, -ī, n. | battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle |
| dīmicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | fight |
| cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | set together or up; appoint; determine |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| capiō, capere, cēpī, captus | take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt |
| plērumque (adv.) | generally, mostly |
| dēvoveō, -ēre, -vōvī, -vōtum | vow, devote |
| superō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | overcome, defeat, conquer |
| animal, -ālis n. | living creature, animal |
| immolō, -molāre, -molāvī, -molātus | sacrifice (the victim was sprinkled with consecrated meal) |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| cōnferō, cōnferre, contulī, conlātus | bring together; grant, confer; sē cōnferre, to betake oneself, make one's way |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| exstruō, -struere, -strūxī, -strūctus | pile or heap up, build, erect |
| tumulus, -ī m. | mound, hillock |
| cōnsecrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | make sacred, consecrate |
| cōnspicor, -ārī, -ātus sum | catch sight of |
| licet, -ēre, -uit or -itum est, impers. | is lawful or permitted |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| saepe, adv. | often, frequently |
| accidō, -cidere, -cidī | fall to or upon; befall, happen |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| neglegō, -legere, -lēxī, -lēctus | disregard, neglect |
| quispiam, quaepiam, quodpiam | someone, something; any |
| religiō, -ōnis f. | religious scruple, religious duty |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| apud, prep, with acc. | among, with |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| occultō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | hide, conceal |
| pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus | place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on |
| tollō, tollere, sustulī, sublātus | lift, raise; take away, remove; ancorās tollere, to weigh anchor |
| audeō, audēre, ausus sum | dare |
| gravis, -e | heavy; severe, grievous, serious |
| supplicium, -ī, n. | punishment, torture |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| cruciātus, -ūs, m. | torture |