- 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-lat2:2.31.1-2.31.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Atuatuci, alarmed by the approach of the Roman siege tower, send ambassadors to Caesar to offer their surrender, pleading only that they be allowed to keep their arms for self-defense.
Ubi vero moveri1 et adpropinquare muris viderunt, nova atque inusitata specie commoti legatos ad Caesarem de pace miserunt, qui2 ad hunc modum locuti, non se existimare Romanos sine ope divina bellum gerere, qui tantae altitudinis machinationes tanta celeritate promovere possent, se suaque omnia eorum potestati permittere dixerunt.
But when they saw that it was moving and approaching the walls, shaken by this new and unusual sight, they sent ambassadors to Caesar concerning peace, who spoke to this effect: that they did not think the Romans waged war without divine assistance, since they were able to move forward machines of such great height with such great speed; they said that they surrendered themselves and all their possessions to their power.
Unum petere ac deprecari:3 si forte pro sua clementia ac mansuetudine, quam ipsi ab aliis audirent, statuisset Atuatucos esse conservandos, ne se armis despoliaret.
One thing they begged and entreated: if by chance, in accordance with his clemency and leniency, of which they had heard from others, he had decided that the Atuatuci should be spared, that he would not deprive them of their arms.
Sibi omnes fere finitimos esse inimicos ac suae virtuti invidere; a quibus se defendere traditis armis non possent.
That almost all their neighbors were hostile to them and envied their valor; from whom they would not be able to defend themselves if their arms were surrendered.
Sibi praestare,4 si in eum casum deducerentur, quamvis fortunam a populo Romano pati quam ab his per cruciatum interfici inter quos dominari consuessent.
That it was better for them, if they should be reduced to that state, to suffer any fortune whatsoever from the Roman people than to be tortured to death by those among whom they had been accustomed to rule.
- 2.31.1moveri
A present passive infinitive with its accusative subject turrim (the tower) omitted from the previous context. It should be understood as 'that the tower was being moved'.
- 2.31.1qui
The antecedent of this relative pronoun qui is legatos. The main verb of the relative clause is dixerunt in §2.31.3, which is accompanied by the participle locuti. The accusative-with-infinitive construction starting with non se existimare in §2.31.2 depends on dixerunt, appearing early in the sentence as a hyperbaton.
- 2.31.4Unum petere ac deprecari
Although petere ac deprecari can be taken as historical infinitives, it is more natural to view them as infinitives in indirect discourse dependent on the verb of saying implied from the preceding dixerunt.
- 2.31.6Sibi praestare
The infinitive form of the impersonal expression praestat (it is better) in indirect discourse. With the dative sibi (for them), the subject infinitives are fortunam pati and interfici, compared by quam (rather than).