- 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-lat2:8.16.1-8.16.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Caesar pursued the retreating enemy cautiously due to fear of ambush, but the Roman cavalry was deterred by the fire, allowing the Bellovaci to safely escape to a fortified camp, from where they subsequently harassed Roman foraging parties.
Caesar, etsi discessum hostium animadvertere non poterat incendiis oppositis,1 tamen id consilium cum fugae causa initum suspicaretur,2 legiones promovet, turmas mittit ad insequendum; ipse veritus insidias, ne forte in eodem loco subsistere hostis atque elicere nostros in locum conaretur iniquum, tardius procedit.
Caesar, although he could not perceive the departure of the enemy because of the intervening fires, nevertheless, suspecting that this plan had been formed for the purpose of flight, moved the legions forward and sent the cavalry squadrons to pursue them; he himself, fearing an ambush, lest by chance the enemy should try to remain in the same place and entice our men into an unfavorable position, advanced more slowly.
Equites cum intrare fumum et flammam densissimam timerent ac, si qui cupidius intraverant, vix suorum ipsi priores partes animadverterent equorum, insidias veriti liberam facultatem sui recipiendi3 Bellovacis dederunt.
Since the cavalry feared to enter the smoke and the very thick flame, and even if any had entered too eagerly, they themselves could scarcely see the front parts of their own horses, they, fearing an ambush, gave the Bellovaci a free opportunity to retreat.
Ita fuga timoris simul calliditatisque plena sine ullo detrimento milia non amplius decem4 progressi hostes loco munitissimo castra posuerunt.
Thus, after a retreat full of both fear and cunning, having advanced not more than ten miles without any loss, the enemy pitched their camp in a highly fortified position.
Inde cum saepe in insidiis equites peditesque disponerent, magna detrimenta Romanis in pabulationibus inferebant.
From there, as they frequently stationed cavalry and infantry in ambush, they inflicted great losses on the Romans during their foraging expeditions.
- 8.16.1incendiis oppositis
An ablative absolute construction formed by the plural ablative noun 'incendiis' and the perfect passive participle 'oppositis'. It expresses the obstacle or cause that prevented Caesar from seeing the enemy's retreat.
- 8.16.1id consilium cum fugae causa initum suspicaretur
An accusative with infinitive clause functioning as the object of 'suspicaretur'. The perfect passive infinitive 'initum [esse]' has its auxiliary 'esse' omitted. 'causa' preceded by the genitive 'fugae' forms an adverbial phrase of purpose ('for the sake of flight').
- 8.16.2sui recipiendi
A gerundive construction combining 'sui' (genitive plural of the reflexive pronoun) with 'recipiendi' (genitive neuter singular gerundive of 'recipere'). In classical Latin, when a reflexive pronoun refers to a plural subject in this construction, the gerundive is idiomatically frozen in the genitive neuter singular form rather than agreeing in gender and number.
- 8.16.3milia non amplius decem
The accusative 'milia' expresses the extent of space/distance governed by 'progressi'. 'non amplius' (no more than) is inserted adverbially without the comparative conjunction 'quam', and does not affect the case of the numerical expression that follows.