De Bello Gallico 7.17

7.17.1Castrīs ad eam partem oppidī positīs Caesar, quae intermissa ā flūmine et ā palūdibus aditum, ut suprā dīximus, angustum habēbat, aggerem apparāre, vīneās agere, turrēs duās cōnstituere coepit: nam circumvallāre locī nātūra prohibēbat.

Caesar pitched his camp at that side of the town which, being free of the river and the marshes, had a narrow approach, as we said above, and began to prepare a siege ramp, move up sheds, and set up two towers: for the nature of the place prevented a blockade.

7.17.2Dē rē frūmentāriā Boiōs atque Aeduōs adhortārī nōn dēstitit;

He kept urging the Boii and the Aedui about the grain supply;

7.17.2quōrum alterī, quod nūllō studiō agēbant, nōn multum adiuvābant, alterī nōn magnīs facultātibus, quod cīvitās erat exigua et īnfirma, celeriter quod habuērunt cōnsūmpsērunt.

of these, the one people, because they acted with no zeal, gave little help; the other, of no great means, since their state was small and weak, quickly used up what they had.

7.17.3Summā difficultāte reī frūmentāriae adfectō exercitū tenuitāte Boiōrum, indīligentiā Aeduōrum, incendiīs aedificiōrum, usque eō ut complūrēs diēs frūmentō mīlitēs caruerint et pecore ex longinquiōribus vīcīs adāctō extrēmam famem sustentārent, nūlla tamen vōx est ab eīs audīta populī Rōmānī maiestāte et superiōribus victōriīs indigna.

The army was in the greatest difficulty over grain, because of the poverty of the Boii, the carelessness of the Aedui and the burning of the buildings, so much so that for several days the soldiers were without grain and staved off extreme hunger with cattle driven in from more distant villages; yet no word was heard from them unworthy of the majesty of the Roman people and their earlier victories.

Note. usque eō ut: 'to such a point that'. caruerint: perfect subjunctive in a result clause, stressing the fact.

7.17.4Quīn etiam Caesar cum in opere singulās legiōnēs appellāret et, sī acerbius inopiam ferrent, sē dīmissūrum oppugnātiōnem dīceret, ūniversī ab eō, nē id faceret, petēbant: sīc sē complūrēs annōs illō imperante meruisse, ut nūllam ignōminiam acciperent, nusquam īnfectā rē discēderent: hoc sē ignōminiae lātūrōs locō, sī inceptam oppugnātiōnem relīquissent: praestāre omnēs perferre acerbitātēs, quam nōn cīvibus Rōmānīs, quī Cēnabī perfidiā Gallōrum interīssent, parentārent.

Indeed, when Caesar spoke to the legions one by one at the work and said that he would give up the siege if they found the shortage too hard to bear, they all begged him not to do so: they had served for several years under his command in such a way that they had never suffered disgrace and never gone away with a task unfinished; they would consider it a disgrace if they abandoned the siege they had begun; it was better to endure every hardship than not to avenge the Roman citizens who had died at Cenabum through the treachery of the Gauls.

Note. parentārent: 'offer the rites due to the dead', here 'avenge'. quam nōn … parentārent: 'than not to avenge'.

7.17.8Haec eadem centuriōnibus tribūnīsque mīlitum mandābant, ut per eōs ad Caesarem dēferrentur.

They gave these same messages to the centurions and military tribunes, to be passed on through them to Caesar.