De Bello Gallico 6.19

6.19.1Virī, quantās pecūniās ab uxōribus dōtis nōmine accēpērunt, tantās ex suīs bonīs aestimātiōne factā cum dōtibus commūnicant.

Whatever sums of money the husbands have received from their wives as dowry, they set an equal amount from their own property, after a valuation has been made, alongside the dowries.

Note. quantās … tantās: correlatives, 'as much … so much'. dōtis nōmine: 'under the name of dowry', that is, as dowry.

6.19.2Huius omnis pecūniae coniūnctim ratiō habētur frūctūsque servantur: uter eōrum vītā superārit, ad eum pars utrīusque cum frūctibus superiōrum temporum pervenit.

A joint account is kept of all this money and the profits are saved; whichever of the two outlives the other, to that one comes the share of both, together with the profits of the years before.

Note. uter eōrum vītā superārit: 'whichever of them outlives the other' (vītā, ablative of respect; superārit = superāverit).

6.19.3Virī in uxōrēs, sīcutī in līberōs, vītae necisque habent potestātem;

Husbands have the power of life and death over their wives, just as over their children;

6.19.3et cum pater familiae illūstriōre locō nātus dēcessit, eius propinquī conveniunt et, dē morte sī rēs in suspīciōnem venit, dē uxōribus in servīlem modum quaestiōnem habent et, sī compertum est, ignī atque omnibus tormentīs excruciātās interficiunt.

and when the head of a family of more distinguished birth has died, his relatives gather and, if the death has given rise to suspicion, they question the wives in the way slaves are questioned, and if guilt is established they torture them with fire and every kind of torment and put them to death.

Note. pater familiae: 'head of the household'. in servīlem modum: Roman law allowed slaves to be questioned under torture, and the Gauls treat wives the same way.

6.19.4Fūnera sunt prō cultū Gallōrum magnifica et sūmptuōsa;

Funerals, considering the Gauls' way of life, are splendid and costly;

6.19.4omniaque quae vīvīs cordī fuisse arbitrantur in ignem īnferunt, etiam animālia, ac paulō suprā hanc memoriam servī et clientēs, quōs ab eīs dīlēctōs esse cōnstābat, iūstīs fūneribus cōnfectīs ūnā cremābantur.

they throw into the fire everything which they believe was dear to the dead in life, even animals; and a little before our own time, slaves and dependants who were known to have been loved by them were burned together with them once the funeral proper had been carried out.

Note. cordī fuisse: 'to have been dear', a predicative dative (literally 'to have been for a heart'). iūstīs fūneribus cōnfectīs: once the regular funeral rites were over.