Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 7
De Bello Gallico 7.25
Gallic courage at the breach
Caesar, De Bello Gallico VII. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō7.25.1Cum in omnibus locīs cōnsūmptā iam reliquā parte noctis pugnārētur, semperque hostibus spēs victōriae redintegrārētur, eō magis, quod dēūstōs pluteōs turrium vidēbant nec facile adīre apertōs ad auxiliandum animadvertēbant, semperque ipsī recentēs dēfessīs succēderent omnemque Galliae salūtem in illō vestīgiō temporis positam arbitrārentur, accidit īnspectantibus nōbīs quod dignum memoriā vīsum praetereundum nōn exīstimāvimus.
Although the rest of the night was now spent and fighting was going on everywhere, and the enemy's hope of victory kept reviving, all the more because they saw that the screens of our towers had been burned away and noticed that our men, exposed, could not easily come to help; and although they kept sending fresh men to relieve the exhausted, and thought that the whole safety of Gaul rested on that moment of time, something happened before our eyes which, since it seemed worth remembering, we have thought should not be passed over.
Note. accidit … quod … praetereundum nōn exīstimāvimus: 'there happened something which we have thought should not be passed over'. Caesar uses the first person plural for himself as author.
7.25.2Quīdam ante portam oppidī Gallus per manūs sēbī ac picis trāditās glēbās in ignem ē regiōne turris prōiciēbat: scorpiōne ab latere dextrō trāiectus exanimātusque concidit.
A certain Gaul in front of the gate of the town was throwing lumps of tallow and pitch, passed to him from hand to hand, into the fire opposite one of our towers: pierced in the right side by a bolt from a scorpion, he fell dead.
7.25.3Hunc ex proximīs ūnus iacentem trānsgressus eōdem illō mūnere fungēbātur;
One of those next to him stepped over him as he lay and carried on the same task;
7.25.4eādem ratiōne ictū scorpiōnis exanimātō alterī successit tertius et tertiō quārtus, nec prius ille est ā prōpugnātōribus vacuus relictus locus quam restīnctō aggere atque omnī ex parte summōtīs hostibus fīnis est pugnandī factus.
when he too had been killed in the same way by a scorpion's shot, a third took his place, and a fourth the third's, and that place was not left empty of defenders until the ramp had been put out, the enemy driven back on every side, and an end made of the fighting.
Note. nec prius … quam …: 'and not … until …'. prius and quam are split by the main clause. The three ablatives absolute (restīnctō aggere, summōtīs hostibus) and the main verb finis est factus close the episode.
Vocabulary
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| cōnsūmō, -sūmere, -sūmpsī, -sūmptus | take completely, use up, consume, spend |
| iam, adv. | now, already |
| reliquus, -a, -um | left, the remaining, the other, the rest of |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| nox, noctis, f. | night |
| pugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | fight |
| semper, adv. | always |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| hostis, -is, m. and f. | enemy, foe |
| spēs, speī, f. | hope |
| victōria, -ae, f. | victory |
| redintegrō, -integrāre, -integrāvī, -integrātus | make whole again, renew |
| eō (adv.) | to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more) |
| magis, comp. adv. | more, rather |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| dēūrō, -ere, -ussī, -ustus | burn down, burn up |
| pluteus, -ī m. | screen, breastwork (of wicker or boards) |
| turris, -is f. | tower; siege tower |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| facile, adv. | easily |
| adeō, -īre, -iī, -itus | go to, approach |
| apertus, -a, -um | open |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| auxilior, -āri, -ātus | help |
| animadvertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus | turn the mind to, observe |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| recēns, -entis | recent, fresh |
| dēfessus, -a, -um | worn out, exhausted |
| succēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | go or come under, follow after, succeed |
| salūs, salūtis, f. | safety, deliverance, escape |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| vestīgium, -ī, n. | track, foot-print |
| tempus, temporis, n. | time, season |
| pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus | place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on |
| arbitror, -ārī, -ātus | consider, think, judge |
| accidō, -cidere, -cidī | fall to or upon; befall, happen |
| īnspectō, -āre | look on, watch |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| dignus, -a, -um (+ abl.) | worthy (of), deserving |
| memoria, -ae, f. | memory |
| praetereō, -īre, -iī, -itus | pass by |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| exīstimō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | consider, believe, think |
| quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron. | a certain, certain |
| ante, prep, with acc. and adv. | before |
| porta, -ae, f. | gate; door |
| oppidum, -ī, n. | town |
| per, prep, with ace. | through, by means of |
| manus, -ūs, f. | hand |
| sēbum, -ī n. | tallow, suet |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| pix, picis f. | pitch |
| trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report |
| glēba, -ae f. | lump, clod |
| ignis, -is, m. | fire |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| regiō, -ōnis, f. | direction; country, region |
| prōiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus | throw forth or down, cast away, throw |
| scorpiō, -ōnis m. | scorpion, a light catapult for bolts |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| latus, lateris n. | side, flank |
| dexter, -tra, -trum | right |
| trāiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus | throw across, strike through, pierce |
| exanimō, -animāre, -animāvī, -animātus | put out of breath, fatigue, tire, exhaust; stupefy; kill |
| concidō, -ere, concidī | fall down, collapse |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| proximus, -a, -um | nearest, next |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| iaceō, -ēre, -uī | lie, be prostrate |
| trānsgredior, -ī, -gressus sum | cross over |
| īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron. | the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also |
| mūnus, mūneris, n. | service, office, duty; present, gift |
| fungor, fungī, fūnctus sum (+ abl.) | perform, carry out, discharge |
| ratiō, -ōnis, f. | plan, means, method, manner; reason; account |
| īctus, -ūs, m. | blow |
| alter, -era, -erum | one or the other (of two); another, second |
| tertius, -a, -um | third |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| quartus, -a, -um | fourth |
| prius, adv. | before, first |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| prōpugnātor, -ōris m. | defender, fighter on the walls |
| vacuus, -a, -um | empty |
| relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictus | leave behind, leave |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| restinguō, -ere, -stīnxī, -stīnctus | put out, extinguish |
| agger, aggeris m. | mound, siege ramp |
| submoveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtum | drive back |
| fīnis, -is, m. | end, boundary; plur., borders, territory, country |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |