- 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-lat2:5.35.1-5.35.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
While the Gauls execute Ambiorix's orders to harass the Roman forces, the Romans resist bravely despite major difficulties until late in the afternoon; however, they suffer severe casualties among their leaders, including Balventius, Lucanius, and Cotta.
Quo praecepto1 ab eis diligentissime observato, cum quaepiam cohors ex orbe excesserat2 atque impetum fecerat, hostes velocissime refugiebant.
This command being most diligently observed by them, whenever any cohort had left the circle and made a charge, the enemy retreated with the greatest speed.
Interim eam partem nudari necesse erat et ab latere aperto3 tela recipi.
In the meantime, that part was of necessity left bare, and weapons were received on their open flank.
Rursus cum in eum locum unde erant egressi reverti coeperant, et ab eis qui cesserant et ab eis qui proximi steterant circumveniebantur;
When they began to return again to the place from which they had advanced, they were surrounded both by those who had yielded and by those who had stood next to them;
sin autem locum tenere vellent,4 nec virtuti locus relinquebatur, neque ab tanta multitudine coniecta tela conferti vitare poterant.
but if they wished to hold their ground, no opportunity was left for valor, nor, being crowded together, could they avoid the weapons cast by so great a multitude.
Tamen tot incommodis conflictati, multis vulneribus acceptis resistebant et magna parte diei consumpta, cum a prima luce ad horam octavam pugnaretur, nihil quod ipsis esset indignum committebant.
Yet, harassed by so many disadvantages, and having received many wounds, they still resisted; and when a great part of the day had been spent, since the battle was fought from dawn until the eighth hour, they did nothing that was unworthy of themselves.
Tum Tito Balventio, qui superiore anno primum pilum duxerat, viro forti et magnae auctoritatis, utrumque femur tragula traicitur;
Then Titus Balventius, who the year before had been chief centurion, a brave man and of great authority, had both his thighs pierced by a javelin;
Quintus Lucanius, eiusdem ordinis, fortissime pugnans, dum circumvento filio subvenit,5 interficitur;
Quintus Lucanius, of the same rank, fighting most courageously, was slain while he was assisting his surrounded son;
Lucius Cotta legatus omnes cohortes ordinesque adhortans in adversum os funda vulneratur.
Lucius Cotta, the lieutenant, while encouraging all the cohorts and ranks, was wounded in the face by a stone from a sling.
- 5.35.1Quo praecepto
An ablative absolute with a connecting relative. It refers to the command given by Ambiorix to the Gallic soldiers in the preceding chapter (5.34.3) to throw their weapons from a distance and retreat when the Romans charged.
- 5.35.1cum quaepiam cohors ex orbe excesserat
The conjunction cum introducing a temporal clause of repeated action ('whenever'), here construed with the pluperfect indicative (excesserat, fecerat) to denote the repeated charges made by the Roman cohorts from their defensive circle.
- 5.35.2ab latere aperto
'On the open flank.' This refers to the right side of the Roman soldiers, which was unprotected by shields, or the exposed side of the defensive line left open when a cohort charged out of the circle.
- 5.35.4sin autem locum tenere vellent
The imperfect subjunctive (vellent) in the conditional clause expresses a hypothetical scenario of holding their ground. The apodosis uses the imperfect indicative (relinquebatur, poterant) to emphasize the harsh reality they actually faced.
- 5.35.7dum... subvenit
A typical construction where the conjunction dum ('while') takes the historical present indicative (subvenit), even when referring to past events.