- 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-lat2:7.17.1-7.17.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Caesar pitches camp near the only accessible approach to Avaricum and begins siege preparations. Despite an extreme shortage of supplies, the Roman soldiers refuse to abandon the siege, declaring that they would rather endure any hardship than suffer disgrace.
Castris ad eam partem oppidi positis Caesar, quae intermissa [a] flumine et a paludibus1 aditum, ut supra diximus, angustum habebat, aggerem apparare, vineas agere, turres duas constituere coepit: nam circumvallare loci natura prohibebat.
Caesar, having pitched his camp near that part of the town which, as we have said above, being broken by the river and the marshes, had a narrow approach, began to prepare a terrace, to advance the mantlets, and to erect two towers; for the nature of the ground prevented him from drawing a line of circumvallation.
De re frumentaria Boios atque Aeduos adhortari non destitit; quorum alteri,2 quod nullo studio agebant, non multum adiuvabant, alteri non magnis facultatibus, quod civitas erat exigua et infirma, celeriter quod habuerunt consumpserunt.
He did not cease to importune the Boii and the Aedui for grain; of whom the one (the Aedui), because they acted with no zeal, did not assist much; the other (the Boii), because their state was small and weak, had no great resources, and quickly consumed what they had.
Summa difficultate rei frumentariae adfecto exercitu tenuitate Boiorum, indiligentia Aeduorum, incendiis aedificiorum, usque eo ut complures dies frumento milites caruerint et pecore ex longinquioribus vicis adacto extremam famem sustentarent, nulla tamen vox est ab eis audita populi Romani maiestate et superioribus victoriis indigna.3
Although the army was affected by the greatest scarcity of grain, owing to the poverty of the Boii, the negligence of the Aedui, and the burning of the buildings, to such a degree that for several days the soldiers were without grain, and supported their extreme hunger only by driving in cattle from the more distant villages, yet no word was heard from them which was unworthy of the majesty of the Roman people and their former victories.
Quin etiam Caesar cum in opere singulas legiones appellaret et, si acerbius inopiam ferrent, se dimissurum oppugnationem diceret, universi ab eo, ne id faceret, petebant: sic se complures annos illo imperante meruisse, ut nullam ignominiam acciperent, nusquam infecta re discederent:
Nay, more, when Caesar addressed the legions one by one while at work, and said that he would raise the siege if they felt the scarcity too severe, they all besought him not to do so, saying that they had served for several years under his command in such a manner that they had never incurred disgrace, and had never withdrawn from any place without accomplishing their purpose;
hoc se ignominiae laturos loco,4 si inceptam oppugnationem reliquissent:
that they would regard it as a disgrace if they should abandon the siege which they had begun;
praestare omnes perferre acerbitates, quam non civibus Romanis, qui Cenabi perfidia Gallorum interissent, parentarent.5
that it was better to endure all hardships than not to avenge the Roman citizens who had perished at Cenabum by the perfidy of the Gauls.
Haec eadem centurionibus tribunisque militum mandabant, ut per eos ad Caesarem deferrentur.
They gave these same instructions to the centurions and military tribunes, that they might be communicated through them to Caesar.
- 7.17.1intermissa [a] flumine et a paludibus
The participle intermissa means "interrupted" or "left open." Here it describes the place where the natural barriers of the river and marshes were broken, thereby leaving a narrow approach (aditum angustum) for the attack.
- 7.17.2quorum alteri... alteri...
Referring back to Boios atque Aeduos. Contextually, the first alteri refers to the Aedui (as "nullo studio" corresponds to "indiligentia Aeduorum" in 7.17.3), and the second alteri refers to the Boii (as "non magnis facultatibus" corresponds to "tenuitate Boiorum").
- 7.17.3indigna
The adjective indigna (unworthy of) governs the ablatives populi Romani maiestate and superioribus victoriis, directly modifying vox without a relative pronoun.
- 7.17.6hoc se ignominiae laturos loco
The word loco is an ablative meaning "in the place of" or "as" (predicative ablative), and ignominiae is a genitive depending on loco. The entire phrase means "they would bear/regard this as a disgrace."
- 7.17.7parentarent
The verb parentare originally means "to perform funeral rites in honor of deceased relatives," but here it implies avenging the Roman citizens massacred at Cenabum. In the construction praestare ... quam ... parentarent, the subjunctive parentarent is used after quam in a comparison to express a potential or obligatory course of action.