- 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-lat2:6.17.1-6.17.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
The passage describes the gods most worshipped by the Gauls—namely Mercury, followed by Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva—their respective functions, and the strict religious observance of devoting and preserving war spoils in dedicated mounds for Mars.
Deum maxime Mercurium colunt. Huius sunt plurima simulacra: hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt,1 hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur. Post hunc Apollinem et Martem et Iovem et Minervam.
They worship Mercury as the most prominent of the gods. There are many images of him; they report him to be the inventor of all arts, the guide of roads and journeys, and they think he has the greatest power for the acquisition of money and mercantile transactions. After him, they worship Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva.
De his eandem fere, quam reliquae gentes, habent opinionem: Apollinem morbos depellere,2 Minervam operum atque artificiorum initia tradere, Iovem imperium caelestium tenere, Martem bella regere.
Concerning these, they hold nearly the same opinion as other nations: that Apollo wards off diseases, Minerva imparts the principles of manufactures and crafts, Jupiter holds the sovereignty of the celestial powers, and Mars rules over war.
Huic,3 cum proelio dimicare constituerunt, ea quae bello ceperint plerumque devovent: cum superaverunt, animalia capta immolant reliquasque res in unum locum conferunt.
To this god, when they have decided to fight in battle, they usually vow whatever things they may capture in war; when they have conquered, they sacrifice the captured animals and collect the remaining things into one place.
Multis in civitatibus harum rerum exstructos tumulos locis consecratis conspicari licet;
In many states, one can see mounds of these things piled up in consecrated places;
neque saepe accidit, ut neglecta quispiam religione aut capta apud se occultare aut posita tollere auderet,4 gravissimumque ei rei supplicium cum cruciatu constitutum est.
nor does it often happen that anyone, neglecting religion, would dare either to conceal what was captured in his own house or to take away what was deposited, and the most severe punishment with torture is established for that offense.
- 6.17.1hunc ... ferunt
The verb 'ferre' here means 'to report, say, or hold' and governs a double accusative (or accusative with infinitive with 'esse' omitted), taking 'hunc' as the subject/object and 'inventorem' and 'ducem' as complements. The verb 'ferunt' is also understood in the subsequent phrase 'hunc viarum...'.
- 6.17.2Apollinem morbos depellere
Accusative with infinitive clauses dependent on 'opinionem habent' (acting like 'arbitrantur'), expressing the content of their belief ('that Apollo wards off diseases...'). The subsequent clauses (Minervam..., Iovem..., Martem...) share the same structure.
- 6.17.3Huic
Dative pronoun referring back to Mars, who is mentioned last in the preceding section (§6.17.2).
- 6.17.5ut ... auderet
The conjunction 'ut' introduces a noun clause acting as the subject of the impersonal verb 'accidit' ('it happens that...'). In accordance with the sequence of tenses (where 'accidit' is perfect), the imperfect subjunctive 'auderet' is used.