- Source
- Julius Caesar. Aulus Hirtius. C. Iuli Commentarii Rerum in Gallia Gestarum VII A. Hirti Commentarius VII. Holmes, T. Rice (Thomas Rice), editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1914.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.13.1-1.13.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
Caesar quickly constructed a bridge over the Arar to cross with his army, prompting the astonished Helvetii to send an embassy led by Divico, who proposed peace while warning Caesar by recalling their past victory.
Hoc proelio facto, reliquas copias Helvetiorum ut consequi posset, pontem in Arari faciendum curat1 atque ita exercitum traducit.
This battle being ended, that he might be able to pursue the remaining forces of the Helvetii, he cared for a bridge to be made over the Arar, and thus led his army across.
Helvetii repentino eius adventu commoti cum id quod ipsi diebus XX aegerrime confecerant, ut flumen transirent,2 illum uno die fecisse intellegerent, legatos ad eum mittunt; cuius legationis Divico princeps fuit, qui bello Cassiano dux Helvetiorum fuerat.
The Helvetii, dismayed by his sudden arrival, when they understood that he had done in one day what they themselves had with the greatest difficulty accomplished in twenty days, namely, the crossing of the river, sent ambassadors to him; of which embassy Divico was the chief, who had been the leader of the Helvetii in the Cassian war.
Is ita cum Caesare egit: si pacem populus Romanus cum Helvetiis faceret, in eam partem ituros atque ibi futuros Helvetios ubi eos Caesar constituisset atque esse voluisset;
He treated with Caesar as follows: that if the Roman people would make peace with the Helvetii, the Helvetii would go to that part and remain there where Caesar should establish them and wish them to be;
sin bello persequi perseveraret, reminisceretur3 et veteris incommodi populi Romani et pristinae virtutis Helvetiorum. Quod improviso unum pagum adortus esset,4 cum ii qui flumen transissent suis auxilium ferre non possent, ne ob eam rem aut suae magnopere virtuti tribueret aut ipsos despiceret. Se ita a patribus maioribusque suis didicisse, ut magis virtute contenderent quam dolo aut insidiis niterentur.
but if he should persist in pursuing them with war, he should remember both the old misfortune of the Roman people and the ancient valor of the Helvetii. As to the fact that he had attacked one canton by surprise, when those who had crossed the river could not bring aid to their people, he should not on that account either attribute it greatly to his own valor or despise them. They had so learned from their fathers and ancestors that they should contend rather by valor than rely on deceit or stratagem.
Quare ne committeret ut5 is locus ubi constitissent ex calamitate populi Romani et internecione exercitus nomen caperet aut memoriam proderet.
Therefore, he should not allow that the place where they had taken their stand should take its name from the calamity of the Roman people and the destruction of their army, or transmit the memory of it.
- 1.13.1pontem ... faciendum curat
The construction of curo with an accusative and a future passive participle (gerundive) expresses 'to have something done' or 'to see to it that something is done.' It indicates that Caesar did not build the bridge himself, but ordered it to be built.
- 1.13.2ut flumen transirent
An appositive ut-clause (noun clause) explaining the content of the preceding demonstrative pronoun id (which is the object of confecerant), meaning 'namely, to cross the river.'
- 1.13.4reminisceretur
A shift of the imperative in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua). The imperative (reminiscere) or subjunctive (reminiscaris) of direct discourse shifts to the imperfect subjunctive third person singular in secondary sequence (after egit). The verb reminiscor governs the genitive (incommodi, virtutis).
- 1.13.4Quod ... adortus esset
A quod-clause meaning 'as to the fact that...' introducing the premise that Caesar had attacked one canton by surprise, which Divico uses to warn him not to boast. The subjunctive (adortus esset) is used because it is in indirect discourse.
- 1.13.5ne committeret ut
The phrase ne committeret represents a negative command in indirect discourse. The idiom committere ut with the subjunctive means 'to allow a situation to happen (with undesirable results)' or 'to commit the error of letting.'