- 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-lat2:7.23.1-7.23.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Caesar describes in detail the characteristic construction of Gallic walls, which combine alternating timber beams, stones, and earth, offering both aesthetic order and high defensive capabilities against fire and battering rams.
Muri autem omnes Gallici hac fere forma sunt. Trabes derectae1 perpetuae in longitudinem paribus intervallis, distantes inter se binos pedes, in solo collocantur.
Now all Gallic walls are commonly of the following form. Straight beams, continuous throughout their length, are placed on the ground at equal intervals, two feet apart from each other.
Hae revinciuntur introrsus et multo aggere vestiuntur: ea autem, quae diximus, intervalla grandibus in fronte saxis effarciuntur.
These are bound together on the inside and covered with a large quantity of earth; but those intervals which we have mentioned are filled up in the front with large stones.
His collocatis et coagmentatis alius insuper ordo additur, ut idem illud intervallum servetur neque inter se contingant trabes, sed paribus intermissae spatiis singulae singulis saxis interiectis arte contineantur.
When these have been laid and cemented together, another row is added on top, in such a way that the same interval is preserved and the beams do not touch one another, but, kept apart by equal spaces, each individual beam is firmly held by individual stones placed between them.
Sic deinceps omne opus contexitur, dum iusta muri altitudo expleatur.
In this manner the whole work is successively knit together until the proper height of the wall is completed.
Hoc cum in speciem varietatemque opus deforme non est2 alternis trabibus ac saxis, quae3 rectis lineis suos ordines servant, tum ad utilitatem et defensionem urbium summam habet opportunitatem, quod et ab incendio lapis et ab ariete materia defendit, quae perpetuis trabibus pedes quadragenos plerumque introrsus revincta neque perrumpi neque distrahi potest.
This work is not only far from unsightly in appearance and variety, with the alternate beams and stones preserving their ranks in straight lines, but also possesses the greatest advantage for the utility and defense of cities, because the stone protects it from fire and the timber from the battering ram, which, being bound together on the inside for the most part by continuous beams of forty feet, can neither be broken through nor pulled asunder.
- 7.23.1derectae
This adjective indicates that the beams are laid at right angles to the face of the wall (i.e., in the direction of its depth/thickness), rather than running parallel to it.
- 7.23.5deforme non est
An example of litotes. The negative expression 'is not unsightly' serves to emphasize that the alternating pattern of beams and stones is orderly and aesthetically pleasing.
- 7.23.5quae
The antecedent of the relative pronoun quae (feminine singular nominative) is the nearby noun materia. It agrees in gender and number with the participle revincta and the verb potest. The phrase pedes quadragenos is an accusative of extent of space indicating 'forty feet long'.