De Bello Gallico 7.83

7.83.1Bis magnō cum dētrīmentō repulsī Gallī quid agant cōnsulunt;

Driven back twice with great loss, the Gauls consider what to do;

7.83.1locōrum perītōs adhibent: ex hīs superiōrum castrōrum situs mūnītiōnēsque cognōscunt.

they call in men who know the ground, and from them they learn the position and the defenses of the upper camp.

7.83.2Erat ā septentriōnibus collis, quem propter magnitūdinem circuitūs opere circumplectī nōn potuerant nostrī: necessāriō paene inīquō locō et lēniter dēclīvī castra fēcērunt.

There was a hill on the north which, because of its great circuit, our men had not been able to take within the works; of necessity they had made their camp on ground that was almost unfavorable and gently sloping.

Note. quem … circumplectī nōn potuerant: 'which they had not been able to take within the works'; this left the camp on a weak slope.

7.83.3Haec Gāius Antistius Rēgīnus et Gāius Canīnius Rebilus lēgātī cum duābus legiōnibus obtinēbant.

Gaius Antistius Reginus and Gaius Caninius Rebilus, the legates, held this with two legions.

7.83.4Cognitīs per explōrātōrēs regiōnibus ducēs hostium LX mīlia ex omnī numerō dēligunt eārum cīvitātum quae maximam virtūtis opīniōnem habēbant;

Having learned the ground through scouts, the enemy leaders choose sixty thousand out of their whole number, from those states which had the greatest reputation for courage;

7.83.5quid quōque pactō agī placeat occultē inter sē cōnstituunt;

they decide secretly among themselves what should be done and in what way;

Note. quid quōque pactō agī placeat: two indirect questions in one, 'what should be done and in what way'.

7.83.5adeundī tempus dēfīniunt, cum merīdiēs esse videātur.

they fix the time for the attack for when it should seem to be noon.

7.83.6Hīs cōpiīs Vercassivellaunum Arvernum, ūnum ex quattuor ducibus, propinquum Vercingetorīgis, praeficiunt.

In command of these forces they put Vercassivellaunus the Arvernian, one of the four leaders, a relative of Vercingetorix.

7.83.7Ille ex castrīs prīmā vigiliā ēgressus prope cōnfectō sub lūcem itinere post montem sē occultāvit mīlitēsque ex nocturnō labōre sēsē reficere iussit.

He left the camp in the first watch, and having almost finished his march by dawn, he hid behind the mountain and ordered his soldiers to rest from their night's labor.

7.83.8Cum iam merīdiēs appropinquāre vidērētur, ad ea castra quae suprā dēmōnstrāvimus contendit;

When it already seemed to be getting near noon, he hurried to the camp we described above;

7.83.8eōdemque tempore equitātus ad campestrēs mūnītiōnēs accēdere et reliquae cōpiae prō castrīs sēsē ostendere coepērunt.

and at the same time the cavalry began to approach the fortifications on the plain and the rest of the forces to show themselves in front of their camp.