- 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
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.36.1-7.36.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Caesar arrives at Gergovia but abandons plans for an immediate assault due to the steep terrain, deciding to secure grain supplies first. Under the cover of night, he dislodges an enemy guard to seize a crucial hill and constructs a double ditch connecting his larger and smaller camps.
Caesar ex eo loco quintis castris1 Gergoviam pervenit equestrique eo die proelio levi facto perspecto urbis situ, quae posita in altissimo monte omnes aditus difficiles habebat, de expugnatione desperavit, de obsessione non prius agendum constituit, quam2 rem frumentariam expedisset.
Caesar, arriving at Gergovia from that place on the fifth day’s march, and having engaged in a light cavalry skirmish on that day, and reconnoitered the situation of the city, which, being situated on a very high mountain, had all its approaches difficult, despaired of taking it by storm, and decided that he ought not to take measures for a blockade until he had secured his grain supply.
At Vercingetorix castris, prope oppidum positis, mediocribus circum se intervallis separatim singularum civitatium copias collocaverat atque omnibus eius iugi collibus occupatis, qua despici poterat, horribilem speciem praebebat; principesque earum civitatium, quos sibi ad consilium capiendum delegerat, prima luce cotidie ad se convenire iubebat, seu quid communicandum, seu quid administrandum videretur;
But Vercingetorix, having pitched his camp near the town, had disposed the forces of each state separately at short intervals around himself; and having occupied all the hills of that ridge from which a view could be commanded, he presented a formidable appearance. He ordered the chiefs of those states whom he had selected to form a council with him, to convene before him daily at dawn, in case there should appear to be anything to be communicated or administered;
neque ullum fere diem intermittebat quin equestri proelio interiectis sagittariis, quid in quoque esset animi ac virtutis suorum perspiceret.
nor did he let almost any day pass without testing, by a cavalry skirmish with archers interspersed, what spirit and courage there was in each of his men.
Erat e regione oppidi collis sub ipsis radicibus montis, egregie munitus atque ex omni parte circumcisus; quem si tenerent nostri, et aquae magna parte et pabulatione libera prohibituri hostes videbantur;3
Opposite the town, at the very foot of the mountain, there was a hill remarkably well fortified and cliff-like on every side; which if our men could secure, they seemed likely to exclude the enemy from a great part of their water and from free foraging;
sed is locus praesidio ab his non nimis firmo tenebatur;
but this place was held by them with a guard not very strong.
tamen silentio noctis Caesar ex castris egressus, priusquam subsidio ex oppido veniri posset,4 deiecto praesidio potitus loco duas ibi legiones collocavit fossamque duplicem duodenum pedum5 a maioribus castris ad minora perduxit, ut tuto ab repentino hostium incursu etiam singuli commeare possent.
Nevertheless, Caesar, setting out from the camp in the silence of the night, before assistance could come from the town, dislodged the guard, secured the position, and stationed two legions there; and he drew a double ditch of twelve feet from the larger camp to the smaller, so that even single soldiers could pass to and fro in safety from any sudden inroad of the enemy.
- 7.36.1quintis castris
Literally "at the fifth camp," meaning "on the fifth day's march." Since the Roman army pitched a camp (castra) at the end of each day's march, the number of camps corresponds to the number of days spent marching.
- 7.36.1non prius agendum constituit, quam
An impersonal passive periphrastic construction with agendum (esse) ("that measures should be taken"). Combined with the correlative non prius... quam... ("not before..."), it means "he decided that he should not take action (for a blockade) until...".
- 7.36.5prohibituri hostes videbantur
The subject of the main clause (nostri) is omitted but serves as the subject of the future infinitive prohibituri (esse). The verb videbantur is personal, agreeing with this plural subject: "our men seemed likely to exclude the enemy (hostes, accusative) from..." (with the things excluded indicated in the ablative).
- 7.36.7subsidio... veniri posset
subsidio is a dative of purpose ("as a reinforcement / for assistance"). veniri is the impersonal passive infinitive of the intransitive verb venire ("to come"), meaning literally "before it could be come as assistance from the town," i.e., "before reinforcements could come from the town."
- 7.36.7duodenum pedum
duodenum is the genitive plural of the distributive numeral duodeni (twelve each), contracted from duodenorum. Together with pedum (feet), it forms a genitive of quality indicating the dimension (width or depth) of the ditch.