- 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-lat2:4.13.1-4.13.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Caesar, distrusting the Germans who had violated the truce, decided to reject any negotiations. When German chiefs and elders arrived at his camp the following morning, Caesar detained them and led his entire army to battle.
Hoc facto proelio Caesar neque iam sibi legatos audiendos1 neque condiciones accipiendas arbitrabatur ab iis qui per dolum atque insidias petita pace ultro bellum intulissent;
After this battle was fought, Caesar thought that he should no longer listen to legates or accept terms from those who, having sought peace through deceit and treachery, had of their own accord brought war upon them;
expectare vero dum hostium copiae augerentur equitatus reverteretur summae dementiae2 esse iudicabat, et cognita Gallorum infirmitate quantum iam apud eos hostes uno proelio auctoritatis essent consecuti sentiebat; quibus3 ad consilia capienda nihil spatii dandum existimabat.
indeed, he judged that to wait until the enemy’s forces should be increased and their cavalry should return would be the height of madness; and since he knew the instability of the Gauls, he perceived how much prestige the enemy had already gained among them by a single battle, and he thought that no time should be given to them to form plans.
His constitutis rebus et consilio cum legatis et quaestore communicato, ne quem diem pugnae praetermitteret, oportunissima res accidit, quod postridie eius diei mane eadem et perfidia et simulatione usi Germani frequentes, omnibus principibus maioribusque natu adhibitis, ad eum in castra venerunt, simul, ut dicebatur, sui purgandi4 causa, quod contra atque esset dictum et ipsi petissent, proelium pridie commisissent, simul ut, si quid possent, de indutiis fallendo impetrarent.
Having determined these matters and communicated his plan to his lieutenants and the quaestor, in order not to lose any day for battle, a most opportune event occurred, namely, that on the morning of the following day, the Germans, practicing the same perfidy and dissimulation, came in great numbers to him in the camp, bringing with them all their chiefs and elders, partly, as was alleged, for the purpose of clearing themselves, because they had joined battle on the day before, contrary to what had been agreed and what they themselves had requested, and partly that, if they could in any way, they might obtain something concerning a truce by deceiving him.
Quos sibi Caesar oblatos gavisus5 illos retineri iussit; ipse omnes copias castris eduxit equitatumque, quod recenti proelio perterritum esse existimabat, agmen subsequi iussit.
Rejoicing that they were thrown in his way, Caesar ordered them to be detained; he himself led all his forces out of the camp, and ordered the cavalry, which he believed to be terrified by the recent battle, to follow the rear of the army.
- 4.13.1sibi legatos audiendos
Gerundive construction expressing passive necessity or obligation, forming an accusative and infinitive clause (with esse omitted) dependent on the verb arbitrabatur. The dative sibi functions as the dative of agent.
- 4.13.2summae dementiae
Predicate genitive (genitive of characteristic/property), where the infinitive phrase expectare...reverteretur acts as the subject, meaning 'to wait ... was a mark of the greatest madness.'
- 4.13.3quibus
Dative of the relative pronoun in its connecting usage, referring to the Gauls (Gallorum) in context. It functions as either a dative of agent or indirect object with the gerundive phrase nihil spatii dandum [esse] ('that no time should be given to them').
- 4.13.5sui purgandi
An idiomatic Latin gerundive construction where the singular neuter genitive of the gerundive (purgandi) agrees with the genitive plural of the reflexive pronoun (sui). In this construction, sui is formally treated as a singular neuter genitive, regardless of its plural meaning ('of themselves').
- 4.13.6Quos sibi Caesar oblatos gavisus
Quos is a connecting relative ('And these/them'). The semi-deponent participle gavisus (from gaudeo) governs the accusative participle construction (akin to an accusative with infinitive) quos oblatos [esse], meaning 'rejoicing that they had presented themselves'.