De Bello Gallico 7.48

7.48.1Interim eī quī ad alteram partem oppidī, ut suprā dēmōnstrāvimus, mūnītiōnis causā convēnerant, prīmō exaudītō clāmōre, inde etiam crēbrīs nūntiīs incitātī, oppidum ā Rōmānīs tenērī, praemissīs equitibus magnō concursū eō contendērunt.

Meanwhile those who, as we showed above, had gathered on the other side of the town to build the fortification, first hearing the shouting, then roused by repeated reports that the town was held by the Romans, sent the cavalry ahead and hurried there in a great rush.

7.48.2Eōrum ut quisque prīmus vēnerat, sub mūrō cōnsistēbat suōrumque pugnantium numerum augēbat.

As each of them arrived first, he took his stand beneath the wall and added to the number of his own men fighting.

Note. ut quisque prīmus vēnerat: 'as each one had come first', i.e. in the order in which they arrived.

7.48.3Quōrum cum magna multitūdō convēnisset, mātrēs familiae, quae paulō ante Rōmānīs dē mūrō manūs tendēbant, suōs obtestārī et mōre Gallicō passum capillum ostentāre līberōsque in cōnspectum prōferre coepērunt.

When a great crowd of them had gathered, the mothers of families, who a little before had been stretching out their hands to the Romans from the wall, began to appeal to their own men and, in the Gallic way, to show their loosened hair and to bring their children out into view.

Note. mōre Gallicō passum capillum: 'their hair let down in the Gallic manner'. passum is the participle of pandō, 'spread out', not of patior.

7.48.4Erat Rōmānīs nec locō nec numerō aequa contentiō;

The contest was not equal for the Romans either in position or in numbers;

7.48.4simul et cursū et spatiō pugnae dēfatīgātī nōn facile recentēs atque integrōs sustinēbant.

at the same time, worn out by their running and by the length of the fight, they could not easily hold off fresh and unwearied men.