- 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-lat2:7.38.1-7.38.10
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Litaviccus deceives his soldiers with a false report that the Aeduan cavalry and leaders were unjustly executed by the Romans, inciting them to plunder and murder Roman citizens and calling on the entire tribe to rebel.
Litaviccus accepto exercitu, cum milia passuum circiter XXX ab Gergovia abesset, convocatis subito militibus lacrimans, "Quo proficiscimur," inquit, "milites?
Litaviccus, having taken command of the army, when he was about thirty miles distant from Gergovia, suddenly called the soldiers together, and weeping, said: “Whither are we marching, soldiers?
Omnis noster equitatus, omnis nobilitas interiit; principes civitatis, Eporedorix et Viridomarus, insimulati proditionis ab Romanis indicta causa1 interfecti sunt.
All our cavalry, all our nobility has perished; the leading men of the state, Eporedorix and Viridomarus, accused of treason, have been put to death by the Romans without a trial.
Haec ab ipsis cognoscite, qui ex ipsa caede fugerunt: nam ego fratribus atque omnibus meis propinquis interfectis dolore prohibeor, quae gesta sunt, pronuntiare." Producuntur hi quos ille edocuerat quae dici vellet,2 atque eadem, quae Litaviccus pronuntiaverat, multitudini exponunt: multos equites Aeduorum interfectos, quod collocuti cum Arvernis dicerentur; ipsos se inter multitudinem militum occultasse atque ex media caede fugisse.
Learn these things from those very men who escaped from the slaughter itself; for I, since my brothers and all my kinsmen have been slain, am prevented by grief from declaring what has been done.” Those men whom he had instructed as to what he wished to be said are brought forward, and they relate to the multitude the same things which Litaviccus had declared: namely, that many cavalrymen of the Aedui had been killed, because they were said to have conferred with the Arverni; and that they themselves had hidden among the crowd of soldiers and escaped from the midst of the slaughter.
Conclamant Aedui et Litaviccum obsecrant ut sibi consulat. "Quasi vero," inquit ille, "consili sit res,3 ac non necesse sit nobis Gergoviam contendere et cum Arvernis nosmet coniungere.
The Aedui shout aloud and implore Litaviccus to provide for their safety. “As if indeed,” said he, “it were a matter for deliberation, and it were not necessary for us to hasten to Gergovia and unite ourselves with the Arverni.
An dubitamus quin nefario facinore admisso Romani iam ad nos interficiendos concurrant? Proinde, si quid in nobis animi est, persequamur eorum mortem qui indignissime interierunt, atque hos latrones interficiamus." Ostendit cives Romanos, qui eius praesidi fiducia4 una erant:
Or do we doubt that, after committing so heinous a crime, the Romans are already rushing to slaughter us? Therefore, if there is any spirit in us, let us avenge the death of those who have perished most undeservedly, and let us slay these robbers.” He points to the Roman citizens who were with them, relying on his protection:
magnum numerum frumenti commeatusque diripit, ipsos crudeliter excruciatos interficit.
he plunders a vast quantity of corn and provisions, and kills them after cruelly torturing them.
nuntios tota civitate Aeduorum dimittit, eodem mendacio de caede equitum et principum permovet; hortatur ut simili ratione atque ipse fecerit suas iniurias persequantur.
He sends messengers throughout the entire state of the Aedui, and excites them by the same falsehood concerning the slaughter of the cavalry and the leading men; he exhorts them to avenge their wrongs in the same manner as he himself had done.
- 7.38.2indicta causa
The ablative absolute indicta causa (composed of the negative prefix in- + dicta, the perfect passive participle of dicere, and causa, 'cause' or 'trial') is an idiomatic expression meaning 'without a trial' or 'without a hearing.'
- 7.38.4quae dici vellet
quae dici vellet is an indirect question clause explaining the content of edocuerat. quae is a neuter plural accusative acting as the subject of the passive infinitive dici ('to be said'), and vellet (imperfect subjunctive of volo, showing sequence of tenses after the historical past) expresses the subject's (Litaviccus's) wish. It means 'what he wished to be said.'
- 7.38.6consili sit res
This combines sit (present subjunctive) in a hypothetical comparative clause introduced by quasi ('as if') and consili (genitive of quality or characteristic). consili refers to 'something requiring deliberation or counsel' modifying res. It means 'as if the matter were one for deliberation.'
- 7.38.8eius praesidi fiducia
fiducia is the ablative of cause or means of the noun meaning 'trust' or 'reliance.' eius praesidi is the genitive of praesidium ('protection' or 'safeguard') functioning as an objective genitive in relation to fiducia. It means 'relying on his protection.'