- 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-lat2:7.14.1-7.14.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Following consecutive defeats, Vercingetorix calls a council to propose a scorched-earth policy designed to starve the Roman army, urging his people to burn their own property and unfortified towns to avoid a worse fate.
Vercingetorix tot continuis incommodis Vellaunoduni, Cenabi, Novioduni acceptis suos ad concilium convocat.
Vercingetorix, having suffered so many continuous setbacks at Vellaunodunum, Cenabum, and Noviodunum, summoned his men to a council.
Docet longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum1 atque antea gestum sit. Omnibus modis huic rei studendum, ut pabulatione et commeatu Romani prohibeantur:
He declared that the war must be prosecuted on a far different plan than had been previously adopted. Every effort must be made to this end, to prevent the Romans from foraging and procuring supplies.
id esse facile, quod equitatu ipsi abundent et quod anni tempore subleventur;
This was easy, because they themselves abounded in cavalry, and because they were assisted by the season of the year.
pabulum secari non posse; necessario dispersos hostes ex aedificiis petere: hos omnes cotidie ab equitibus deligi posse.
Forage could not be cut; the enemy would of necessity disperse and seek it from the buildings; all of these could be cut off daily by the cavalry.
Praeterea salutis causa rei familiaris commoda neglegenda: vicos atque aedificia incendi oportere hoc spatio ab via quoque versus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur.2 Harum ipsis rerum copiam suppetere, quod, quorum in finibus bellum geratur, eorum opibus subleventur:
Moreover, for the sake of safety, private interests must be disregarded: villages and buildings must be set on fire in every direction from the route, as far as they seemed possible to be approached for the purpose of foraging. Abundance of these supplies was at hand for themselves, because they were assisted by the resources of those in whose territories the war was being waged.
Romanos aut inopiam non laturos aut magno periculo longius ab castris processuros;
The Romans would either not bear the scarcity, or would advance further from their camp at great risk;
neque interesse, ipsosne interficiant, impedimentisne exuant,3 quibus amissis bellum geri non possit.
and it made no difference whether they killed them, or stripped them of their baggage, on the loss of which war could not be carried on.
Praeterea oppida incendi oportere, quae non munitione et loci natura ab omni sint periculo tuta, neu suis sint ad detractandam militiam receptacula neu Romanis proposita ad copiam commeatus praedamque tollendam.
Furthermore, those towns ought to be burnt which were not secured from all danger by fortifications and natural situation, lest they should be receptacles for their own men to decline military service, or be exposed to the Romans for taking away abundance of provisions and plunder.
haec si gravia aut acerba videantur, multo illa gravius aestimare,4 liberos, coniuges in servitutem abstrahi, ipsos interfici; quae sit necesse accidere victis.
If these things seemed severe or cruel, they ought to consider it much more severe that their children and wives should be dragged off into slavery, and themselves be slain—things which must of necessity happen to the conquered.
- 7.14.2longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum
An accusative and infinitive clause representing indirect discourse (oratio obliqua) dependent on docet. 'esse bellum gerendum' is a passive periphrastic conjugation expressing necessity or obligation, consisting of the gerundive 'gerendum' and 'esse'. 'studendum [esse]' in the next sentence shares the same construction with an omitted subject.
- 7.14.5hoc spatio ab via quoque versus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur
The word 'quo' is a relative adverb referring to the antecedent 'spatio', meaning 'whither' or 'to which point'. The verb 'videantur' in the relative clause is in the subjunctive mood to express a characteristic or virtual range ('such as they seem possible to be approached'). 'hoc spatio' is an ablative of distance or measure.
- 7.14.8neque interesse, ipsosne interficiant, impedimentisne exuant
The verb 'interesse' is the infinitive of the impersonal verb 'interest' ('it matters'), here meaning 'it makes no difference'. It takes two indirect question clauses introduced by the enclitic '-ne... -ne...' ('whether... or...') as its subject. 'exuere' takes an accusative of the person (implied Romans) and an ablative of separation for the thing stripped ('impedimentis').
- 7.14.10multo illa gravius aestimare
The infinitive 'aestimare' represents an original imperative or hortatory subjunctive in direct speech, which regularly becomes an infinitive in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua), or it can be understood with an omitted impersonal verb of obligation like 'oportere'. 'illa' is a neuter plural accusative demonstrative pronoun anticipating the following clauses: 'liberos... abstrahi, ipsos interfici'. 'multo' is an ablative of degree of difference modifying 'gravius'.