De Bello Gallico 6.37

6.37.1Hōc ipsō tempore et cāsū Germānī equitēs interveniunt prōtinusque eōdem illō, quō vēnerant, cursū ab decumānā portā in castra irrumpere cōnantur, nec prius sunt vīsī obiectīs ab eā parte silvīs, quam castrīs appropinquārent, usque eō ut quī sub vallō tenderent mercātōrēs recipiendī suī facultātem nōn habērent.

At this very moment and by this chance the German horsemen arrived, and at once, at the same speed with which they had come, tried to break into the camp from the rear gate; and because woods blocked the view on that side, they were not seen until they were close to the camp, so much so that the traders who had their tents under the rampart had no chance to get inside.

Note. nec prius … quam castrīs appropinquārent: prius … quam split around the clause, 'not … until they were near the camp'. usque eō ut: 'to such a point that'.

6.37.3Inopīnantēs nostrī rē novā perturbantur, ac vix prīmum impetum cohors in statiōne sustinet.

Our men, taken by surprise, were thrown into confusion by the new situation, and the cohort on guard barely withstood the first attack.

6.37.4Circumfunduntur ex reliquīs hostēs partibus, sī quem aditum reperīre possent.

The enemy poured around from the other sides, to see if they could find any way in.

6.37.5Aegrē portās nostrī tuentur, reliquōs aditūs locus ipse per sē mūnītiōque dēfendit.

With difficulty our men held the gates; the other approaches were defended by the place itself and the fortification.

6.37.6Tōtīs trepidātur castrīs, atque alius ex aliō causam tumultūs quaerit;

There was panic throughout the camp, and one man asked another the cause of the uproar;

Note. trepidātur and the next sentence's prōvident: an impersonal passive and then a plural verb with no expressed subject, both painting general confusion. alius ex aliō: 'one from another'.

6.37.6neque quō signa ferantur neque quam in partem quisque conveniat prōvident.

they did not decide where the standards should be carried or to what part each man should gather.

6.37.7Alius iam castra capta prōnūntiat, alius dēlētō exercitū atque imperātōre victōrēs barbarōs vēnisse contendit;

One declared that the camp was already taken, another insisted that the army and the general had been destroyed and that the barbarians had come as victors;

6.37.8plērīque novās sibi ex locō religiōnēs fingunt Cottaeque et Titūrī calamitātem, quī in eōdem occīderint castellō, ante oculōs pōnunt.

most imagined strange religious fears from the place and pictured to themselves the disaster of Cotta and Titurius, who had fallen in the same fort.

Note. religiōnēs here means superstitious fears tied to the place, because this was the fort where Sabinus and Cotta had wintered before their disaster in Book 5.

6.37.9Tālī timōre omnibus perterritīs cōnfirmātur opīniō barbarīs, ut ex captīvō audierant, nūllum esse intus praesidium.

With everyone so terrified by such fear, the barbarians' belief was strengthened that, as they had heard from the prisoner, there was no garrison inside.

6.37.10perrumpere nītuntur sēque ipsī adhortantur, nē tantam fortūnam ex manibus dīmittant.

They strove to break through and urged one another not to let such good fortune slip out of their hands.