- 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-lat2:4.20.1-4.20.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Caesar decides to launch an expedition to Britain at the end of summer to cut off the aid supplied to his enemies in the Gallic wars and to survey the island, which remains largely unknown to both Gauls and merchants.
Exigua parte aestatis reliqua1 Caesar, etsi in his locis, quod omnis Gallia ad septentriones vergit, maturae sunt hiemes, tamen in Britanniam proficisci contendit, quod omnibus fere Gallicis bellis hostibus nostris inde subministrata auxilia intellegebat, et si tempus anni ad bellum gerendum deficeret, tamen magno sibi usui fore2 arbitrabatur, si modo insulam adiisset, genus hominum perspexisset, loca, portus, aditus cognovisset; quae omnia3 fere Gallis erant incognita.
Though but a small part of the summer remained, Caesar, although in these parts, because all Gaul lies toward the north, the winters are early, nevertheless hastened to set out for Britain, because he understood that in almost all the Gallic wars assistance had been furnished thence to our enemies; and even if the season of the year should fail for carrying on war, yet he thought it would be of great service to him if he only visited the island, perceived the character of the people, and became acquainted with the localities, the harbors, and the landing-places; almost all of which were unknown to the Gauls.
Neque enim temere praeter mercatores illo adit quisquam, neque his ipsis quicquam praeter oram maritimam atque eas regiones quae sunt contra Galliam notum est.
For neither does anyone except merchants go there without good reason, nor is anything known even to them except the sea-coast and those regions which are opposite Gaul.
Itaque vocatis ad se undique mercatoribus, neque quanta esset insulae magnitudo neque quae aut quantae nationes incolerent, neque quem usum belli haberent aut quibus institutis uterentur,4 neque qui essent ad maiorem navium multitudinem idonei portus reperire poterat.
Therefore, having summoned the merchants to him from all quarters, he could learn neither how great was the size of the island, nor what or how numerous were the nations that inhabited it, nor what system of war they had or what customs they used, nor what harbors were convenient for a great number of ships.
- 4.20.1Exigua parte aestatis reliqua
Ablative absolute. The adjective 'exigua' modifies the noun 'parte' and 'reliqua' functions predicatively, indicating the circumstance 'with only a small part of the summer remaining'.
- 4.20.2magno sibi usui fore
Double dative construction composed of 'magno usui' (dative of purpose) and 'sibi' (dative of reference). 'fore' is the syncopated form of 'futurus esse' (future infinitive), functioning as the predicate of the indirect discourse depending on 'arbitrabatur'.
- 4.20.2quae omnia
Relative connection (connecting relative). The neuter plural 'quae omnia' refers back to the whole series of clauses and objects introduced by 'si modo... cognovisset' (the nature of the island, its people, harbors, etc.).
- 4.20.4quem usum belli haberent aut quibus institutis uterentur
Parallel indirect questions acting as objects of 'reperire poterat'. 'uterentur' is the imperfect subjunctive of the deponent verb 'utor' (due to sequence of tenses after the historical past 'poterat') governing the ablative 'quibus institutis'.