De Bello Gallico 7.24

7.24.1Hīs tot rēbus impedītā oppugnātiōne mīlitēs, cum tōtō tempore frīgore et assiduīs imbribus tardārentur, tamen continentī labōre omnia haec superāvērunt et diēbus XXV aggerem lātum pedēs CCCXXX, altum pedēs LXXX exstrūxērunt.

Although the siege was hindered by so many obstacles, and the soldiers were slowed the whole time by cold and constant rain, yet by unbroken toil they overcame all these things, and in twenty-five days they built a ramp three hundred and thirty feet wide and eighty feet high.

Note. pedēs CCCXXX … pedēs LXXX: accusatives of extent. The ramp was about 330 Roman feet wide and 80 high, an enormous work for twenty-five days in winter rain.

7.24.2Cum is mūrum hostium paene contingeret, et Caesar ad opus cōnsuētūdine excubāret mīlitēsque hortārētur, nē quod omnīnō tempus ab opere intermitterētur, paulō ante tertiam vigiliam est animadversum fūmāre aggerem, quem cunīculō hostēs succenderant, eōdemque tempore tōtō mūrō clāmōre sublātō duābus portīs ab utrōque latere turrium ēruptiō fīēbat.

When it was almost touching the enemy's wall, and Caesar was keeping watch at the work as usual and urging the soldiers not to let any time at all be lost from the work, a little before the third watch it was noticed that the ramp was smoking, since the enemy had set fire to it from a tunnel; and at the same moment, with a shout raised all along the wall, a sally was made from two gates on either side of the towers.

7.24.4Aliī facēs atque āridam māteriem dē mūrō in aggerem ēminus iaciēbant, picem reliquāsque rēs, quibus ignis excitārī potest, fundēbant, ut quō prīmum currerētur aut cui reī ferrētur auxilium vix ratiō inīrī posset.

Some threw torches and dry wood from the wall onto the ramp from a distance, others poured pitch and other things by which fire can be kindled, so that hardly any plan could be formed as to where to run first or what to bring help to.

Note. ut quō prīmum currerētur aut cui reī ferrētur auxilium vix ratiō inīrī posset: a result clause containing two indirect questions. currerētur is an impersonal passive, 'where one should run first'.

7.24.5Tamen, quod īnstitūtō Caesaris semper duae legiōnēs prō castrīs excubābant plūrēsque partītīs temporibus erant in opere, celeriter factum est, ut aliī ēruptiōnibus resisterent, aliī turrēs redūcerent aggeremque interscinderent, omnis vērō ex castrīs multitūdō ad restinguendum concurreret.

Yet, because by Caesar's standing order two legions always kept watch in front of the camp and more were at the work in shifts, it quickly came about that some resisted the sallies, others drew back the towers and cut a gap in the ramp, while the whole crowd from the camp ran together to put out the fire.