De Bello Gallico 7.41

7.41.1Caesar nūntiīs ad cīvitātem Aeduōrum missīs, quī suō beneficiō cōnservātōs docērent quōs iūre bellī interficere potuisset, tribusque hōrīs noctis exercituī ad quiētem datīs castra ad Gergoviam mōvit.

Caesar sent messengers to the state of the Aedui to show them that the men he could have put to death by the law of war had been spared by his kindness; then, after giving the army three hours of the night for rest, he moved camp to Gergovia.

Note. quī … docērent: a relative clause of purpose, 'to show them'. suō beneficiō cōnservātōs (eōs) quōs …: 'that those whom he could have killed had been spared by his kindness'.

7.41.2Mediō ferē itinere equitēs ā Fabiō missī, quantō rēs in perīculō fuerit, expōnunt.

About halfway along the march, horsemen sent by Fabius explain how great the danger had been.

7.41.2Summīs cōpiīs castra oppugnāta dēmōnstrant, cum crēbrō integrī dēfessīs succēderent nostrōsque assiduō labōre dēfatīgārent, quibus propter magnitūdinem castrōrum perpetuō esset īsdem in vallō permanendum;

They report that the camp had been attacked by very large forces, since fresh men kept taking the place of the weary and wearing ours out with constant toil, while ours, because of the size of the camp, had to stay on the rampart without a break, the same men all the time;

Note. From sentence 38 to 41 the messengers' report is in indirect speech. quibus … esset … permanendum: a passive periphrastic with the dative of agent, 'who had to stay'. īsdem = eīsdem, 'the same men'.

7.41.3multitūdine sagittārum atque omnis generis tēlōrum multōs vulnerātōs;

that many had been wounded by the mass of arrows and missiles of every kind;

7.41.3ad haec sustinenda magnō ūsuī fuisse tormenta.

that the artillery had been of great use in withstanding these attacks.

Note. magnō ūsuī fuisse: a double dative, 'had been of great use'.

7.41.4Fabium discessū eōrum duābus relictīs portīs obstruere cēterās pluteōsque vallō addere et sē in posterum diem similemque cāsum apparāre.

Fabius, at their departure, was leaving two gates open and blocking the rest, adding screens to the rampart, and preparing himself for the next day and a similar attack.

7.41.5Hīs rēbus cognitīs Caesar summō studiō mīlitum ante ortum sōlis in castra pervēnit.

When he had learned this, Caesar, thanks to the very great zeal of the soldiers, reached the camp before sunrise.