- 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-lat2:5.14.1-5.14.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
The author describes the customs of the Britons, noting that the inhabitants of Cantium are the most civilized, while the inlanders have distinct habits regarding clothing, hair, body-dyeing, and communal marriage.
Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt, quae regio est maritima omnis, neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine.
Of all these, those who inhabit Cantium, which is entirely a maritime region, are by far the most civilized, and do not differ much from Gallic customs.
Interiores plerique frumenta non serunt, sed lacte et carne vivunt pellibusque sunt vestiti. Omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod caeruleum efficit colorem, atque hoc horridiores sunt in pugna aspectu;1
Most of the inland inhabitants do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are clad with skins. All the Britons, indeed, dye themselves with woad, which produces a blue color, and thereby they are of a more terrible appearance in battle;
capilloque sunt promisso2 atque omni parte corporis rasa praeter caput et labrum superius.
and they wear their hair long, and have every part of their body shaved except their head and upper lip.
Vxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes et maxime fratres cum fratribus parentesque cum liberis; sed qui sunt ex his nati, eorum habentur liberi, quo3 primum virgo quaeque deducta est.
They have wives shared in common among groups of ten or twelve, especially brothers with brothers and parents with children; but the children born of them are regarded as the children of those to whom each virgin was first conducted.
- 5.14.2aspectu
An ablative of respect (either from the noun aspectus or the supine of aspicio), meaning "in appearance" or "to look at", modifying the comparative adjective horridiores.
- 5.14.3capillo... promisso
An ablative of quality describing the physical characteristic of the subject ("with long hair" or "having long hair"). The subsequent phrase omni parte corporis rasa can be interpreted similarly or as an ablative absolute.
- 5.14.4quo...
quo is a relative adverb of direction ("whither" or "to whom"). The antecedent (such as ad eum referring to the husband) is omitted, meaning "[of the man] to whom each virgin was first conducted" (alluding to the Roman marriage custom deductio in domum mariti).