- 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-lat2:1.52.1-1.52.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Caesar assigns commanders to each legion and begins the battle. Amidst the fierce fighting, Roman soldiers counter the German phalanx, and Crassus sends the third line as reinforcements to assist the struggling troops.
Caesar singulis legionibus singulos legatos et quaestorem1 praefecit, uti eos testes suae quisque virtutis haberet;
Caesar appointed a lieutenant and a quaestor over each legion, so that everyone might have them as witnesses of his own valor;
ipse a dextro cornu, quod eam partem minime firmam hostium esse animadverterat, proelium commisit.
he himself, having observed that that part of the enemy was the least firm, joined battle from the right wing.
Ita nostri acriter in hostes signo dato impetum fecerunt itaque hostes repente celeriterque procurrerunt, ut spatium pila in hostes coiciendi2 non daretur.
Thus our men, upon the signal being given, made a vigorous charge upon the enemy, and the enemy rushed forward so suddenly and rapidly that no time was given for throwing javelins at them.
Relictis pilis comminus gladiis pugnatum est. At Germani celeriter ex consuetudine sua phalange facta impetus gladiorum exceperunt.
Dropping their javelins, they fought hand-to-hand with swords. But the Germans, having quickly formed a phalanx according to their custom, received the onset of the swords.
Reperti sunt complures nostri qui in phalanga insilirent3 et scuta manibus revellerent et desuper vulnerarent.
Many of our soldiers were found who leaped upon the phalanx, tore away the shields with their hands, and wounded the enemy from above.
Cum hostium acies a sinistro cornu pulsa atque in fugam coniecta esset, a dextro cornu vehementer multitudine suorum nostram aciem premebant.
While the enemy’s line was routed on their left wing and put to flight, on their right wing they were vehemently pressing our line by their great numbers.
Id cum animadvertisset P. Crassus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior erat quam ii qui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio4 misit.
When the young P. Crassus, who commanded the cavalry, had observed this—as he was more disengaged than those who were employed in the fight—he sent the third line as a relief to our struggling men.
- 1.52.1singulis legionibus singulos legatos et quaestorem
Distributive interpretation. It reflects the historical fact that Caesar allocated five lieutenants (legati) and one quaestor to his six legions, one for each.
- 1.52.3pila in hostes coiciendi
coiciendi is a gerund (genitive) taking the accusative plural pila as its direct object. It is equivalent to the gerundive construction pilorum coiciendorum.
- 1.52.5qui in phalanga insilirent
The verb insilirent (as well as revellerent and vulnerarent) in the clause introduced by the relative pronoun qui is in the imperfect subjunctive. This is a relative clause of characteristic, describing the kind of people who would do such actions.
- 1.52.7laborantibus nostris subsidio
Double dative construction. laborantibus nostris (including the present participle laborantibus) is the dative of reference ("to our struggling men"), and subsidio is the dative of purpose ("as a relief/aid"), serving as complements to the verb misit.