- 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-lat2:8.15.1-8.15.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
While the Romans fortified their camp and confronted them, the Bellovaci planned a retreat, placing bundles of straw and brushwood in front of their line and setting them on fire to escape under the cover of the smoke.
Barbari confisi loci natura, cum dimicare non recusarent, si forte Romani subire collem conarentur, paulatim copias distributas dimittere non possent,1 ne dispersi perturbarentur, in acie permanserunt.
The barbarians, trusting in the natural strength of the position, since they did not refuse to fight if by chance the Romans should attempt to ascend the hill, yet could not withdraw their forces in small groups for fear that they might be thrown into confusion if dispersed, remained in order of battle.
Quorum pertinacia cognita Caesar XX cohortibus instructis castrisque eo loco metatis muniri iubet castra.
On learning their obstinacy, Caesar, having drawn up twenty cohorts and measured out a camp in that place, ordered the camp to be fortified.
Absolutis operibus pro vallo legiones instructas collocat, equites frenatis equis in statione disponit.
The works being completed, he drew up the legions in front of the rampart and stationed the cavalry with their horses bridled.
Bellovaci, cum Romanos ad insequendum paratos viderent neque pernoctare aut diutius permanere sine periculo eodem loco possent, tale consilium sui recipiendi2 ceperunt.
The Bellovaci, seeing the Romans ready for pursuit and being unable either to pass the night or to remain longer in the same place without danger, formed the following plan for their retreat.
Fasces, ubi consederant (namque in acie sedere Gallos consuesse superioribus commentariis Caesaris declaratum est), per manus stramentorum ac virgultorum, quorum summa erat in castris copia, inter se traditos ante aciem collocarunt3 extremoque tempore diei signo pronuntiato uno tempore incenderunt.
They placed in front of their line the bundles of straw and brushwood, of which there was a very great abundance in their camp, handed from one to another by hand at the spots where they had been sitting (for it has been declared in the earlier commentaries of Caesar that the Gauls are accustomed to sit in line of battle), and at the end of the day, when the signal was given, they set them on fire all at once.
Ita continens flamma copias omnes repente a conspectu texit Romanorum. Quod ubi accidit, barbari vehementissimo cursu refugerunt.
Thus a continuous wall of flame suddenly hid all their forces from the sight of the Romans. When this happened, the barbarians fled at a very rapid pace.
- 8.15.1copias distributas dimittere non possent
copias distributas means "divided forces" or "forces in small detachments" and serves as the object of the transitive verb dimittere. In the following subordinate clause ne dispersi perturbarentur, the participle dispersi modifies the subject (the Bellovaci), meaning "lest they, being dispersed, should be thrown into confusion."
- 8.15.4sui recipiendi
sui is treated here as the genitive plural of the reflexive pronoun, but since it is identical in form to the neuter singular genitive, the gerundive also takes the singular form recipiendi instead of the plural. This is a standard grammatical idiom in Latin when genitive plural personal/reflexive pronouns (such as nostri, vestri, sui) are combined with a gerundive, meaning "of withdrawing themselves."
- 8.15.5Fasces ... inter se traditos ante aciem collocarunt
The structure of the main clause, with the subject (the Bellovaci) omitted, is Fasces ... collocarunt extremoque tempore ... incenderunt. Fasces (masculine accusative plural) means "bundles" and is modified by the genitives stramentorum ac virgultorum (neuter nouns). Despite the intervening relative clause and parenthesis, the participle inter se traditos (masculine accusative plural) agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies, Fasces.