De Bello Gallico 7.33

7.33.1Caesar, etsī ā bellō atque hoste discēdere dētrīmentōsum esse exīstimābat, tamen nōn ignōrāns quanta ex dissēnsiōnibus incommoda orīrī cōnsuēssent, nē tanta et tam coniūncta populō Rōmānō cīvitās, quam ipse semper aluisset omnibusque rēbus ōrnāsset, ad vim atque arma dēscenderet, atque ea pars quae minus sibi cōnfīderet auxilia ā Vercingetorīge arcesseret, huic reī praevertendum exīstimāvit et, quod lēgibus Aeduōrum eīs, quī summum magistrātum obtinērent, excēdere ex fīnibus nōn licēret, nē quid dē iūre aut dē lēgibus eōrum dēminuisse vidērētur, ipse in Aeduōs proficīscī statuit senātumque omnem et quōs inter contrōversia esset ad sē Dēcetiam ēvocāvit.

Caesar, although he thought it harmful to leave the war and the enemy, nevertheless, knowing how great are the troubles that usually arise from quarrels, so that so great a state, so closely bound to the Roman people, which he himself had always fostered and honoured in every way, might not resort to violence and arms, and the side that had less confidence in itself might not send for help from Vercingetorix, thought that he must deal with this matter first; and, because under the laws of the Aedui those who held the supreme magistracy were not allowed to leave the country, so that he might not seem to have taken anything away from their rights or laws, he decided to go himself to the Aedui, and he summoned the whole senate and those between whom the dispute lay to meet him at Decetia.

Note. huic reī praevertendum exīstimāvit: 'he thought that this matter must be attended to first', an impersonal gerundive. quōs inter contrōversia esset: inter follows its pronoun here, 'those between whom the dispute lay'.

7.33.3Cum prope omnis cīvitās eō convēnisset, docērēturque paucīs clam convocātīs aliō locō, aliō tempore atque oportuerit frātrem ā frātre renūntiātum, cum lēgēs duo ex ūnā familiā vīvō utrōque nōn sōlum magistrātūs creārī vetārent, sed etiam in senātū esse prohibērent, Cotum imperium dēpōnere coēgit, Convictolitāvem, quī per sacerdōtēs mōre cīvitātis intermissīs magistrātibus esset creātus, potestātem obtinēre iussit.

When almost the whole state had gathered there, and he was told that a few men had been called together secretly, at a place and time other than was proper, and that the brother had been declared elected by his brother, while the laws forbade two members of one family, both living, not only to be elected magistrates but even to be in the senate, he compelled Cotus to lay down his power, and ordered Convictolitavis, who had been elected by the priests according to the custom of the state when the magistracy was vacant, to hold the office.

Note. aliō locō, aliō tempore atque oportuerit: 'at another place and time than was proper'. After words of likeness or difference, atque can mean 'than' or 'as'.