- 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-lat2:8.12.1-8.12.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The cavalry of the Remi, falling into an ambush laid by the Bellovaci, are surrounded by infantry due to an overeager pursuit and suffer a defeat with the loss of their commander Vertiscus. This loss teaches the Romans the importance of careful reconnaissance and moderate pursuit.
Quod cum cotidie fieret ac iam consuetudine1 diligentia minueretur, quod plerumque accidit diuturnitate, Bellovaci delecta manu peditum cognitis stationibus cotidianis equitum nostrorum silvestribus locis insidias disponunt eodemque equites postero die mittunt, qui primum elicerent nostros, deinde circumventos aggrederentur.
As this was done daily and, as usually happens from long duration, their vigilance was now diminished by familiarity, the Bellovaci, having learned the daily stations of our cavalry, with a select band of infantry, laid an ambush in wooded places, and on the following day sent their cavalry to the same spot, who were first to entice our men, and then attack them when surrounded.
Cuius mali sors incidit Remis, quibus ille dies fungendi muneris2 obvenerat. Namque hi, cum repente hostium equites animadvertissent ac numero superiores3 paucitatem contempsissent, cupidius insecuti peditibus undique sunt circumdati.
The lot of this misfortune fell upon the Remi, to whom that day’s duty of performing the service had fallen. For these men, having suddenly noticed the enemy’s cavalry and, being superior in number, having despised their small force, pursued too eagerly and were surrounded on all sides by the infantry.
Quo facto perturbati celerius quam consuetudo fert equestris proeli se receperunt amisso Vertisco, principe civitatis, praefecto equitum;
Thrown into confusion by this occurrence, they retreated more quickly than the custom of cavalry battle warrants, with the loss of Vertiscus, the chief of their state and commander of the cavalry;
qui cum vix equo propter aetatem posset uti, tamen consuetudine Gallorum neque aetatis excusatione in suscipienda praefectura usus erat neque dimicari4 sine se voluerat.
who, although he could scarcely manage a horse because of his age, nevertheless, according to the custom of the Gauls, had neither used the excuse of age in undertaking the command, nor wished that any battle should be fought without him.
Inflantur atque incitantur hostium animi secundo proelio, principe et praefecto Remorum interfecto, nostrique detrimento5 admonentur diligentius exploratis locis stationes disponere ac moderatius cedentem insequi hostem.
The spirits of the enemy were elated and excited by this successful engagement, in which the chief and commander of the Remi had been slain, and our men were warned by this loss to station their outposts only after exploring the ground more carefully, and to pursue a retreating enemy with more moderation.
- 8.12.1consuetudine
Ablative of means or cause. Rather than a general 'custom', it denotes the 'familiarity' or 'slackness' arising from the daily repetition of the same routine, serving as the cause for 'diligentia minueretur' (vigilance was diminished).
- 8.12.3fungendi muneris
Genitive of the gerundive. Although fungor is a deponent verb that normally governs the ablative, in the gerundive construction it acts like a transitive verb, agreeing in gender, number, and case with the noun muneris, modifying dies as a genitive phrase.
- 8.12.3numero superiores
superiores is a nominative plural agreeing with the subject hi (the Remi). It indicates that the Remi themselves judged that they were 'superior in number' to the enemy. numero is an ablative of specification. Note that it was not the enemy cavalry who were superior in number.
- 8.12.5dimicari
Impersonal passive infinitive of the intransitive verb dimico (to fight). Literally 'to be fought', it serves as the complementary infinitive of voluerat, which, together with sine se (without him), means 'that any battle should be fought without him'.
- 8.12.7detrimento
Ablative of means or cause, modifying the passive verb admonentur (are warned/admonished). It represents the structure 'are warned by this loss' to perform the actions expressed by the following infinitives.