- 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-lat2:7.88.1-7.88.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
With Caesar's arrival and the visual reinforcement of his troops, the Roman forces crush the Gallic army, leading to a general retreat of the besieged Gauls and a devastating pursuit of the fleeing enemy during the night.
Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito, quo insigni1 in proeliis uti consuerat, turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis2 quas se sequi iusserat, ut de locis superioribus haec declivia et devexa cernebantur,3 hostes proelium committunt.
When his arrival was known by the color of his clothing, which badge he was accustomed to use in battles, and the troops of cavalry and the cohorts which he had ordered to follow him were seen, as these declines and sloping grounds were visible from the higher places, the enemy join battle.
Vtrimque clamore sublato excipit4 rursus ex vallo atque omnibus munitionibus clamor. Nostri omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt.
A shout being raised on both sides, an answering shout rises again from the rampart and all the fortifications. Our men, discarding their javelins, carry on the fight with their swords.
Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur; cohortes aliae appropinquant. Hostes terga vertunt; fugientibus equites occurrunt. Fit magna caedes. Sedulius, dux et princeps Lemovicum, occiditur;
Suddenly the cavalry is seen behind their back; other cohorts approach. The enemy turn their backs; the cavalry encounter the fugitives. A great slaughter ensues. Sedulius, the leader and chief of the Lemovices, is slain;
Vercassivellaunus Arvernus vivus in fuga comprehenditur; signa militaria septuaginta quattuor ad Caesarem referuntur: pauci ex tanto numero se incolumes in castra recipiunt.
Vercassivellaunus the Arvernian is taken alive in the flight; seventy-four military standards are brought back to Caesar; few out of so great a number retrieve themselves safely to their camp.
Conspicati ex oppido caedem et fugam suorum desperata salute copias a munitionibus reducunt.
Having beheld from the town the slaughter and flight of their countrymen, despairing of safety, they draw back their forces from the fortifications.
Fit protinus hac re audita ex castris Gallorum fuga. Quod nisi5 crebris subsidiis ac totius diei labore milites essent defessi, omnes hostium copiae deleri potuissent.6
On this event being heard, a flight from the camp of the Gauls immediately ensues. And if the soldiers had not been fatigued by sending frequent reinforcements and by the labor of the entire day, all the forces of the enemy might have been destroyed.
De media nocte missus equitatus novissimum agmen consequitur: magnus numerus capitur atque interficitur; reliqui ex fuga in civitates discedunt.
After midnight, the cavalry having been sent, overtakes the rear guard: a great number is taken and slain; the rest escape and depart into their states.
- 7.88.1quo insigni
The relative pronoun quo agrees attributively with the antecedent vestitus (clothing, specifically the general's cloak), while insigni (ablative of the neuter noun insigne, meaning "badge" or "distinctive mark") serves as the object of uti, which governs the ablative case. The whole phrase translates to "which badge he was accustomed to use."
- 7.88.1Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito, quo insigni in proeliis uti consuerat, turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis
The beginning of this sentence consists of two ablative absolute structures, Eius adventu ... cognito and turmisque ... cohortibus visis, connected by que. Within the first, the means ex colore vestitus (by the color of his clothing) is inserted, with the relative clause quo insigni... uti consuerat modifying vestitus. This complex structure sets the background for the main action of the subject hostes (proelium committunt).
- 7.88.1ut ... cernebantur
The conjunction ut is used here with the indicative passive cernebantur. This ut can be interpreted as causal ("since/as") or temporal/proportional ("when/as"), indicating that the visibility of the slopes from the higher ground where the enemy stood prompted their immediate decision to join battle.
- 7.88.2excipit
The verb excipere is used here intransitively or with its direct object omitted, meaning "to take up (the shout)" or "to follow in response." The subject is clamor located at the end of the clause.
- 7.88.6Quod nisi
The Quod at the beginning of the sentence is a connective relative pronoun referring back to the preceding context, which, combined with nisi, introduces a contrary-to-fact conditional clause meaning "And if... not" or "But if... not."
- 7.88.6deleri potuissent
A combination of the subjunctive pluperfect of the modal verb possum (potuissent) and the passive infinitive (deleri) in the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional. It expresses an unfulfilled possibility in the past: "they might have been destroyed" (which did not occur because the soldiers were exhausted).