- 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-lat2:4.34.1-4.34.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Caesar's timely arrival rescues the Roman troops, after which both sides temporarily hold their positions. During several days of stormy weather, the Gauls gather a large force and advance on the Roman camp.
Quibus rebus perturbatis nostris1 [novitate pugnae] tempore oportunissimo Caesar auxilium tulit: namque eius adventu hostes constiterunt, nostri se ex timore receperunt.
Caesar brought assistance to our men, who were thrown into confusion by these circumstances [and by the novelty of the fight], at a most opportune time; for at his arrival the enemy halted, and our men recovered themselves from fear.
Quo facto, ad lacessendum hostem et committendum proelium alienum esse tempus arbitratus suo se loco continuit et brevi tempore intermisso in castra legiones reduxit.
Having done this, thinking that the time was unfavorable for provoking the enemy and joining battle, he kept himself in his own position, and after a short interval, marched the legions back into the camp.
Dum haec geruntur, nostris omnibus occupatis qui erant in agris reliqui discesserunt.2
While these things were going on, and all our men were occupied, the rest of the people who were in the fields departed.
Secutae sunt continuos complures dies tempestates, quae et nostros in castris continerent3 et hostem a pugna prohiberent.
Storms followed for several continuous days, such as to keep our men in the camp and prevent the enemy from fighting.
Interim barbari nuntios in omnes partes dimiserunt paucitatemque nostrorum militum suis praedicaverunt et quanta praedae faciendae atque in perpetuum sui liberandi4 facultas daretur, si Romanos castris expulissent, demonstraverunt. His rebus celeriter magna multitudine peditatus equitatusque coacta ad castra venerunt.
Meanwhile, the barbarians dispatched messengers in all directions, and declared to their people the small number of our soldiers, and pointed out how great an opportunity of getting booty and of liberating themselves forever would be given if they should drive the Romans from their camp. Having quickly assembled a great multitude of infantry and cavalry by these means, they came to the camp.
- 4.34.1Quibus rebus perturbatis nostris
Quibus rebus is a connecting relative pronoun in the ablative case expressing cause or means, referring back to the chariot tactics described in the previous chapter. perturbatis is a perfect passive participle modifying nostris (dative, indirect object of auxilium tulit). Although some might interpret perturbatis nostris as an ablative absolute, treating nostris as the dative object of auxilium tulit with perturbatis as an attributive participle yields a more natural flow ("Caesar brought help to our men [who were] thrown into confusion").
- 4.34.3reliqui discesserunt
reliqui is a masculine nominative plural adjective used substantively ("the rest"). In this context, it refers not to the remaining Roman soldiers, but to the remaining Gauls who had been in the fields (either as allies, laborers, or neutral parties). While all the Romans (nostris omnibus) were occupied with camp duties, these remaining Gauls departed to their homes.
- 4.34.4quae et nostros in castris continerent
The verbs continerent and prohiberent in the relative clause introduced by quae (with tempestates as its antecedent) are in the imperfect subjunctive. This is a relative clause of characteristic or result, showing the nature of the storms ("storms of such a nature as to keep... and prevent...").
- 4.34.5sui liberandi
sui is the genitive of the reflexive pronoun se. Although it refers to a plural subject (barbari), the form sui is identical to the singular neuter genitive. Consequently, the gerundive modifying it also takes the singular neuter form liberandi (rather than the plural liberandorum). This is a standard but peculiar Latin idiom in gerundive construction with personal and reflexive pronouns.