- 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-lat2:5.8.1-5.8.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Caesar leaves Labienus in Gaul and sets sail for Britain with five legions; despite being drifted by the tide, they land safely thanks to the soldiers' strenuous rowing, finding that the enemy has fled in terror of the vast fleet.
His rebus gestis, Labieno in continente cum tribus legionibus et equitum milibus duobus relicto ut portus tueretur et rem frumentariam provideret quaeque in Gallia gererentur cognosceret consiliumque pro tempore et pro re caperet, ipse cum quinque legionibus et pari numero equitum, quem in continenti reliquerat,1 ad solis occasum naves solvit et leni Africo provectus media circiter nocte vento intermisso cursum non tenuit, et longius delatus aestu orta luce sub sinistra Britanniam relictam conspexit.
These things being done, Labienus was left on the continent with three legions and two thousand cavalry, to protect the harbors, provide for the grain supply, learn what was going on in Gaul, and take counsel according to the time and the circumstance; he himself set sail with five legions and a number of cavalry equal to that which he had left on the continent, around sunset, and having been carried forward by a gentle southwest wind, when the wind died down about midnight, he did not hold his course, and being carried too far by the tide, at daybreak he saw Britain left behind on his left hand.
Tum rursus aestus commutationem secutus remis contendit ut eam partem insulae caperet, qua optimum esse egressum superiore aestate cognoverat.
Then, having again followed the change of the tide, he strove with oars to reach that part of the island where he had learned in the preceding summer that the landing was best.
Qua in re admodum fuit militum virtus laudanda, qui vectoriis gravibusque navigiis non intermisso remigandi labore longarum navium cursum adaequarunt.
On this occasion, the soldierly virtue was highly to be praised, for they, with heavy transport vessels, by unremitting labor of rowing, kept pace with the speed of the warships.
Accessum est ad Britanniam omnibus navibus meridiano fere tempore, neque in eo loco hostis est visus;
Britain was reached by all the ships about noon, and no enemy was seen in that place;
sed, ut postea Caesar ex captivis cognovit, cum magnae manus eo convenissent, multitudine navium perterritae,2 quae cum annotinis privatisque quas sui quisque commodi fecerat3 amplius octingentae uno erant visae tempore, a litore discesserant ac se in superiora loca abdiderant.
but, as Caesar afterwards learned from the prisoners, although large forces had assembled there, being terrified by the multitude of the ships—which, including those of the preceding year and the private ones which each had built for his own convenience, were seen to be more than eight hundred at one time—they had departed from the shore and hidden themselves in the higher places.
- 5.8.2pari numero equitum, quem in continenti reliquerat
The relative pronoun quem (masculine accusative singular) grammatically agrees with its antecedent numero (masculine singular), though in sense it refers to the number of the cavalry (equitum).
- 5.8.6multitudine navium perterritae
The perfect passive participle perterritae (feminine plural nominative) grammatically agrees with the collective noun magnae manus (feminine plural nominative), which also acts as the subject of the main verb discesserant.
- 5.8.6quas sui quisque commodi fecerat
sui commodi is a genitive of purpose or description, meaning 'for his own convenience.' The direct object of fecerat is the relative pronoun quas.