De Bello Gallico 6.25

The Hercynian forest

In brief. Caesar describes the Hercynian forest as nine days' journey wide for a man traveling light and so long that no one has reached its beginning after sixty days' travel. He says it breeds wild animals seen nowhere else.

LatinLatin and EnglishEnglish onlyRead it word by word

6.25.1Huius Hercyniae silvae, quae suprā dēmōnstrāta est, lātitūdō novem diērum iter expedītō patet: nōn enim aliter fīnīrī potest, neque mēnsūrās itinerum nōvērunt.The breadth of this Hercynian forest, mentioned above, is a nine days' journey for a man traveling light; for it cannot be measured in any other way, and they do not know measures of distance.Note. expedītō: dative, 'for an unencumbered traveler'. nōvērunt: perfect of nōscō with present meaning, 'they know'. 6.25.2Oritur ab Helvētiōrum et Nemetum et Rauracōrum fīnibus rēctāque flūminis Dānubī regiōne pertinet ad fīnēs Dācōrum et Anartium;It begins at the borders of the Helvetii, the Nemetes and the Rauraci and runs straight along the line of the river Danube to the borders of the Daci and the Anartes; 6.25.3hinc sē flectit sinistrōrsus dīversīs ab flūmine regiōnibus multārumque gentium fīnēs propter magnitūdinem adtingit;from there it turns to the left through regions away from the river, and because of its size it touches the borders of many peoples; 6.25.4neque quisquam est huius Germāniae, quī sē aut adīsse ad initium eius silvae dīcat, cum diērum iter LX prōcesserit, aut, quō ex locō oriātur, accēperit.and there is no one in this part of Germany who says either that he has reached the beginning of the forest, though he has traveled for sixty days, or that he has heard where it begins.Note. cum … prōcesserit: concessive, 'although he has gone on'.

6.25.5Multaque in eā genera ferārum nāscī cōnstat, quae reliquīs in locīs vīsa nōn sint;It is well known that many kinds of wild animals are bred in it which have not been seen in other places; 6.25.5ex quibus quae maximē differant ab cēterīs et memoriae prōdenda videantur haec sunt.those of them which differ most from the rest and seem worth recording are these.

Read the Latin itself: tap any word for its meaning and grammar, save words to review, and keep your place.

Read in Lectitō

Grammar in this passage: cum clauses ×1, indirect statement ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (66 words)

hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
Hercynius, -a, -um	Hercynian (Hercynia silva: the great forest of central Germany)
silva, -ae, f.	wood, forest
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.	above, before
dēmōnstrō, -mōnstrāre, -mōnstrāvī, -mōnstrātus	point out, show; make known
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
lātitūdō, -inis f.	width, breadth
novem, indecl. adj.	nine
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.	day
iter, itineris, n.	a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march
expedītus, -a, -um	unobstructed, easy; lightly equipped
pateō, -ēre, -uī	lie open; extend, stretch
nōn, adv.	not
enim, conj.	for
aliter, adv.	in another way, otherwise, differently
fīniō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	bound, limit; end
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
mēnsūra, -ae f.	measurement, measure
nōscō, -ere, nōvī, nōtum	get to know (perf. nōvī: know)
orior, -īrī, -tus	arise, come forth, spring up; ortā lūce, at dawn
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
fīnis, -is, m.	end, boundary; plur., borders, territory, country
rēctus, -a, -um	direct, straight
que, enclitic conj.	and
flūmen, -minis, n.	river
regiō, -ōnis, f.	direction; country, region
pertineō, -ēre, -uī	extend, reach; tend toward, concern
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
hinc, adv.	from this place, hence
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
flectō, -ere, flexī, flexus	bend, turn
sinistrōrsus (adv.)	to the left
dīversus, -a, -um	turned different ways, opposite, contrary, different
multus, -a, -um	much, great; plur., many
gēns, gentis, f.	race, nation
propter, prep. with acc.	on account of, because of
magnitūdō, -tūdinis, f.	greatness, size
attingō, -tingere, -tigī, -tāctus	touch at
quisquam, quicquam, indef. pron.	any one, anything
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
adeō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go to, approach
initium, -ī, n.	beginning
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus	say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
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
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.	what?
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
genus, generis, n.	kind, nature
fera, -ae, f.	wild animal, beast
nāscor, -ī, nātus sum	be born; rise, begin
cōnstō, -stāre, -stitī, -stātūrus	stand together, agree; consist;
reliquus, -a, -um	left, the remaining, the other, the rest of
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
maximē, adv.	very greatly, exceedingly, especially
differō, differre, distulī, dīlātum	differ; scatter, put off
cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj.	the other, the remaining, the rest of
memoria, -ae, f.	memory
prōdō, -ere, -didī, -ditum	hand down; betray

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.