De Bello Gallico 6.17

The gods of the Gauls

In brief. According to Caesar, the Gauls worship Mercury most, as inventor of the arts and god of journeys and trade, then Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Minerva. Spoils vowed to Mars are piled in sacred places, and stealing them is punished with torture.

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6.17.1Deum 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.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×5, ablative absolute ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (84 words)

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

Caesar, De Bello Gallico VI. 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.