- 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-lat2:2.12.1-2.12.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Caesar invades the territory of the Suessiones before the enemy can recover and besieges Noviodunum. Overwhelmed by the immense scale of Roman siege works and their speed, the enemy sues for peace and is spared through the intercession of the Remi.
Postridie eius diei Caesar, prius quam se hostes ex terrore ac fuga reciperent,1 in fines Suessionum, qui proximi Remis erant, exercitum duxit et magno itinere [confecto] ad oppidum Noviodunum contendit.
On the day after that, Caesar, before the enemy could recover themselves from panic and flight, led his army into the territory of the Suessiones, who were nearest to the Remi, and, having completed a forced march, hastened to the town of Noviodunum.
Id ex itinere oppugnare conatus, quod vacuum ab defensoribus esse audiebat, propter latitudinem fossae murique altitudinem paucis defendentibus2 expugnare non potuit.
Attempting to assault it directly from the march, because he heard that it was destitute of defenders, he was unable to take it by storm, despite its few defenders, owing to the breadth of the ditch and the height of the wall.
Castris munitis vineas agere quaeque ad oppugnandum usui erant3 comparare coepit.
Having fortified his camp, he began to bring up the vineae and to prepare what things were of use for a siege.
Interim omnis ex fuga Suessionum multitudo in oppidum proxima nocte convenit.
Meanwhile, the whole multitude of the Suessiones from the flight assembled in the town during the following night.
Celeriter vineis ad oppidum actis, aggere iacto turribusque constitutis, magnitudine operum, quae neque viderant ante Galli neque audierant, et celeritate Romanorum permoti legatos ad Caesarem de deditione mittunt et petentibus Remis ut conservarentur impetrant.4
The vineae having been quickly brought up to the town, a mound having been thrown up and towers constructed, the enemy, deeply moved by the magnitude of the works, which the Gauls had neither seen nor heard of before, and by the speed of the Romans, sent legates to Caesar concerning a surrender, and, upon the petition of the Remi that they should be spared, they obtained their request.
- 2.12.1prius quam se hostes ex terrore ac fuga reciperent
The imperfect subjunctive reciperent is used with the conjunction priusquam. This indicates not a simple temporal relation of facts, but Caesar's intention or anticipation to act before the enemy could recover.
- 2.12.2paucis defendentibus
An ablative absolute consisting of the pronoun paucis and the present participle defendentibus. In this context, it expresses a concessive meaning: 'although there were few defending.'
- 2.12.3usui erant
usui is a dative of purpose (predicate dative), which together with the imperfect erant means 'were of use'. The typical second dative of person (dative of reference) is omitted here.
- 2.12.5petentibus Remis ut conservarentur impetrant
petentibus Remis is an ablative absolute with a present participle ('upon the petition of the Remi'). ut conservarentur is an object clause of petition containing the imperfect subjunctive passive. The main verb impetrant is used intransitively to mean 'they obtained their request', with the Suessiones as its subject.