- 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-lat2:1.23.1-1.23.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
Caesar decides to temporarily halt his pursuit of the Helvetii and head toward Bibracte to secure grain. Interpreting this move as a retreat, the Helvetii alter their strategy and begin to pursue the Roman rear.
Postridie eius diei,1 quod omnino biduum supererat, cum exercitui frumentum metiri oporteret, et quod a Bibracte, oppido Haeduorum longe maximo et copiosissimo, non amplius milibus passuum XVIII aberat, rei frumentariae prospiciendum2 existimavit; itaque iter ab Helvetiis avertit ac Bibracte ire contendit.
On the following day, because in all only two days remained until the time when they had to measure out grain to the army, and because he was not more than eighteen miles from Bibracte, by far the largest and most well-provisioned town of the Haedui, he thought that he must provide for the grain supply; therefore, he turned his route away from the Helvetii and hastened to go to Bibracte.
Ea res per fugitivos L. Aemilii, decurionis equitum Gallorum, hostibus nuntiatur.
This event was reported to the enemy through deserters of Lucius Aemilius, a decurion of the Gallic cavalry.
Helvetii, seu quod3 timore perterritos Romanos discedere a se existimarent, eo magis quod pridie superioribus locis occupatis4 proelium non commisissent, sive eo quod re frumentaria intercludi posse confiderent, commutato consilio atque itinere converso nostros a novissimo agmine insequi ac lacessere coeperunt.
The Helvetii, either because they thought that the Romans, terrified by fear, were retreating from them—all the more because on the previous day, although they had occupied the higher ground, they had not joined battle—or because they trusted that the Romans could be cut off from their grain supply, changed their plan, reversed their route, and began to pursue and harass our men from the rear.
- 1.23.1Postridie eius diei
Although postridie is an adverb, it frequently governs a genitive (eius diei) to mean 'on the day after that'.
- 1.23.1rei frumentariae prospiciendum
An impersonal passive periphrastic construction using the gerundive of the intransitive verb prospicere. It governs the dative rei frumentariae, meaning 'provision must be made for the grain supply'.
- 1.23.3seu quod... sive eo quod
A correlative construction presenting two conjectured reasons ('either because... or because...'). The subjunctive mood (existimarent, confiderent) indicates that these are the subjective reasons of the Helvetii, not necessarily those of the narrator.
- 1.23.3superioribus locis occupatis
An ablative absolute. In this context, it has a concessive force, meaning 'although they had occupied the higher ground'.