Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 7
De Bello Gallico 7.19
Caesar refuses battle
Caesar, De Bello Gallico VII. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō7.19.1Collis erat lēniter ab īnfimō acclīvis.
There was a hill, sloping gently up from the bottom.
7.19.1Hunc ex omnibus ferē partibus palūs difficilis atque impedīta cingēbat nōn lātior pedibus quīnquāgintā.
Almost on every side a marsh, difficult and hard to cross, surrounded it, not more than fifty feet wide.
7.19.2Hōc sē colle interruptīs pontibus Gallī fīdūciā locī continēbant generātimque distribūtī in cīvitātēs omnia vada ac saltūs eius palūdis obtinēbant, sīc animō parātī, ut, sī eam palūdem Rōmānī perrumpere cōnārentur, haesitantēs premerent ex locō superiōre;
On this hill the Gauls, having broken down the bridges, stayed, trusting in the position, and, arranged by states, held all the fords and passages of that marsh, ready in mind, if the Romans tried to break through the marsh, to crush them from the higher ground as they floundered;
7.19.3ut quī propinquitātem locī vidēret parātōs prope aequō Mārte ad dīmicandum exīstimāret, quī inīquitātem condiciōnis perspiceret inānī simulātiōne sēsē ostentāre cognōsceret.
so that anyone who saw how close they were would think them ready to fight on almost equal terms, but anyone who saw the unfairness of the conditions would recognize that they were making an empty show.
Note. ut quī … vidēret … exīstimāret: 'so that anyone who saw … would think'.
7.19.4Indignantēs mīlitēs Caesar, quod cōnspectum suum hostēs perferre possent tantulō spatiō interiectō, et signum proelī exposcentēs ēdocet, quantō dētrīmentō et quot virōrum fortium morte necesse sit cōnstāre victōriam;
The soldiers were indignant that the enemy could bear the sight of them with so small a space between, and they demanded the signal for battle; Caesar explains to them at how great a cost and with the death of how many brave men victory would have to be bought;
7.19.4quōs cum sīc animō parātōs videat, ut nūllum prō suā laude perīculum recūsent, summae sē inīquitātis condemnārī dēbēre, nisi eōrum vītam suā salūte habeat cāriōrem.
when he saw them so ready in spirit that they refused no danger for his glory, he would deserve to be condemned for the greatest injustice if he did not hold their lives dearer than his own safety.
7.19.6Sīc mīlitēs cōnsōlātus eōdem diē redūcit in castra reliquaque quae ad oppugnātiōnem pertinēbant oppidī administrāre īnstituit.
Having comforted the soldiers in this way, he leads them back to camp the same day and begins to arrange the other things that concerned the siege of the town.
Vocabulary
| collis, -is m. | hill |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| lēniter (adv.) | gently |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| īnfimus, -a, -um | lowest (īnfimus collis: the foot of the hill) |
| acclīvis, -e | sloping upward |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| ferē, adv. | nearly, about, almost, for the most part |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| palūs, -ūdis, f. | swamp, marsh |
| difficilis, -e | not easy, difficult |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| impedītus, -a, -um | hindered; hard to cross, impassable |
| cingō, cingere, cinxī, cinctus | surround, gird |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| lātus, -a, -um | broad, wide |
| pēs, pedis, m. | foot |
| quīnquāgintā, indecl. adj. | fifty |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| interrumpō, -ere, -rūpī, -ruptus | break down, break apart |
| pōns, pontis, m. | bridge |
| fīdūcia, -ae f. | confidence, trust, reliance |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| contineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus | hold together, keep within, shut up in; bound |
| generātim (adv.) | by tribes, by kinds |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| distribuō, -ere, -tribuī, -tribūtum | divide up, distribute |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| vadum, -ī n. | ford, shallow place |
| saltus, -ūs m. | wooded pass, forest glade, woodland |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| obtineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus | hold |
| sīc, adv. | so, thus |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | make ready, prepare |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| sī, conj. | if |
| Rōmānus, -a, -um | Roman |
| perrumpō, -rumpere, -rūpī, -ruptus | break or burst through, break |
| cōnor, -ārī, -ātus | try, attempt |
| haesitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | hesitate |
| premō, premere, pressī, pressus | press, check, restrain |
| superior, -ius, adj. | higher; former, previous, preceding |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| propinquitās, -ātis f. | nearness; kinship |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| prope (adv. and prep. + acc.) | near, nearly |
| aequus, -a, -um | level; equal; fair |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| dīmicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | fight |
| exīstimō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | consider, believe, think |
| inīquitās, -ātis f. | unevenness; unfairness, difficulty |
| condiciō, -ōnis f. | terms; condition, status |
| perspiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectum | see clearly, observe |
| inānis, -e | empty |
| simulātiō, -ōnis f. | pretence |
| ostentō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | show, display; show off |
| cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus | find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know |
| indignor, -ārī, -ātus sum | be indignant, resent |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| cōnspectus, -ūs, m. | sight |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| perferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus | bear through, bear, endure; weather |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| tantulus, -a, -um | so small |
| spatium, -ī, n. | space, interval; space of time, time |
| intericiō, -ere, -iēcī, -iectum | put between, interweave |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| signum, -ī, n. | sign, signal |
| proelium, -ī, n. | battle, combat; proelium committere, to join battle |
| exposcō, -ere, -poposcī | demand earnestly, call for |
| ēdoceō, -ēre, -docuī, -doctum | inform thoroughly, explain |
| quantus, -a, -um | how great or much? |
| dētrīmentum, -ī n. | loss, harm |
| quot (indecl.) | how many |
| vir, virī, m. | man |
| fortis, -e | brave |
| mors, mortīs, f. | death |
| necesse, indecl. adj. | necessary |
| cōnstō, -stāre, -stitī, -stātūrus | stand together, agree; consist; |
| victōria, -ae, f. | victory |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| nūllus, -a, -um | not any, none, no |
| prō, prep. with abl. | before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for |
| laus, laudis f. | praise, glory |
| perīculum, -ī, n. | danger, peril, risk |
| recūsō, -cūsāre, -cūsāvī, -cūsātus | give a reason against, refuse |
| summus, -a, -um | uppermost, highest, greatest |
| condemnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | condemn; (+ gen.) convict of |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| nisi, conj. | if not, unless |
| vīta, -ae, f. | life |
| salūs, salūtis, f. | safety, deliverance, escape |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| cārus, -a, -um | dear, precious |
| cōnsōlor, -ārī, -ātus sum | comfort, console |
| īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron. | the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| redūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus | lead or bring back; restore |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| reliquus, -a, -um | left, the remaining, the other, the rest of |
| oppugnātiō, -ōnis f. | siege, assault on a town |
| pertineō, -ēre, -uī | extend, reach; tend toward, concern |
| oppidum, -ī, n. | town |
| administrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | manage, carry out |
| īnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | decide upon, determine |