- 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-lat2:4.12.1-4.12.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Despite the ongoing peace talks, the Germans launched a surprise attack with a small cavalry force and routed the Roman cavalry. Seventy-four Roman cavalrymen were killed in this engagement, including the brave Aquitanian Piso and his brother.
At hostes, ubi primum nostros equites conspexerunt, quorum erat V milium numerus, cum ipsi non amplius DCCC equites haberent, quod ii qui frumentandi causa ierant trans Mosam profecti nondum redierant, nihil timentibus nostris,1 quod legati eorum paulo ante a Caesare discesserant atque is dies indutiis erat ab his petitus, impetu facto celeriter nostros perturbaverunt;
But the enemy, as soon as they saw our cavalry, the number of which was five thousand, whereas they themselves had not more than eight hundred cavalry, because those who had gone over the Meuse for the purpose of foraging had not yet returned, while our men suspected nothing, because their ambassadors had departed from Caesar a little before, and that day had been requested by them for a truce, made an onset and quickly threw our men into disorder;
rursus his resistentibus consuetudine sua ad pedes desiluerunt subfossis equis compluribus nostris deiectis2 reliquos in fugam coniecerunt atque ita perterritos egerunt ut non prius fuga desisterent quam3 in conspectum agminis nostri venissent.
and when our men again rallied, they, according to their custom, leaped down to their feet, and stabbing our horses from beneath and throwing down many of our men, put the rest to flight, and drove them in such panic that they did not desist from flight until they had come in sight of our army on the march.
In eo proelio ex equitibus nostris interficiuntur IIII et LXX, in his vir fortissimus Piso Aquitanus, amplissimo genere natus, cuius avus in civitate sua regnum obtinuerat amicus a senatu nostro appellatus.
In that battle, seventy-four of our cavalry were slain, and among them Piso, an Aquitanian, a most valiant man, born of a very noble family, whose grandfather had held the sovereignty in his state, and had been styled friend by our senate.
Hic cum fratri intercluso ab hostibus auxilium ferret,4 illum ex periculo eripuit, ipse equo vulnerato deiectus, quoad potuit, fortissime restitit;
He, while bringing assistance to his brother who had been cut off by the enemy, rescued him from danger, but his own horse being wounded and he himself thrown, resisted most valiantly as long as he was able;
cum circumventus multis vulneribus acceptis cecidisset atque id frater, qui iam proelio excesserat, procul animadvertisset, incitato equo se hostibus obtulit atque interfectus est.
when, having been surrounded and having received many wounds, he had fallen, and his brother, who had already escaped from the battle, observed it from a distance, he spurred on his horse, threw himself upon the enemy, and was killed.
- 4.12.1nihil timentibus nostris
Ablative absolute construction meaning "our men fearing nothing" (i.e., being off their guard). The following "quod" clause explains the reason for their lack of fear (that the legates had just left and they expected a truce).
- 4.12.2subfossis equis compluribus nostris deiectis
Two overlapping ablative absolutes: "subfossis equis" (their horses being stabbed from underneath) and "compluribus nostris deiectis" (many of our men being thrown down), where the former represents the means or cause of the latter.
- 4.12.2non prius fuga desisterent quam
A result clause (ut... desisterent) using the correlative expression "non prius... quam..." (not before / only when). They did not stop fleeing until they came into the sight of our main army.
- 4.12.5Hic cum fratri intercluso ab hostibus auxilium ferret
"Hic" is the demonstrative pronoun referring to Piso, acting as the subject of the main clause. "cum" takes the subjunctive "ferret" to express time or circumstance. "fratri intercluso" is the dative indirect object of "ferret," meaning "to his brother who was cut off by the enemy."