- 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-lat2:8.28.1-8.28.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
Fabius sends the cavalry ahead, and the Roman cavalry under Quintus Atius Varus intercepts the enemy column. A fierce battle ensues between the highly motivated Roman cavalry and the enemy, who believes no further Roman legions are coming.
Insequenti nocte Fabius equites praemittit sic paratos ut confligerent atque omne agmen morarentur, dum consequeretur ipse.1
On the following night, Fabius sent the cavalry ahead, prepared in such a way that they might fight and delay the entire column until he himself should catch up.
Cuius praeceptis ut res gereretur,2 Quintus Atius Varus, praefectus equitum, singularis et animi et prudentiae vir, suos hortatur agmenque hostium consecutus turmas partim idoneis locis disponit, parte equitum proelium committit.
In order that the operation might be carried out according to his instructions, Quintus Atius Varus, commander of the cavalry, a man of singular courage and prudence, encouraged his men, and having overtaken the enemy’s column, disposed his troops partly in suitable positions, and with a part of the cavalry joined battle.
Confligit audacius equitatus hostium succedentibus sibi peditibus,3 qui toto agmine subsistentes equitibus suis contra nostros ferunt auxilium. Fit proelium acri certamine.
The enemy’s cavalry fought more boldly, as their infantry came up to support them; these infantrymen, standing firm in the entire column, brought aid to their own cavalry against our men. A battle took place with fierce fighting.
Namque nostri contemptis pridie superatis hostibus, cum subsequi legiones meminissent, et pudore cedendi et cupiditate per se conficiendi proeli fortissime contra pedites proeliantur, hostesque nihil amplius copiarum accessurum credentes, ut pridie cognoverant, delendi equitatus nostri nacti occasionem videbantur.4
For our men, despising the enemy whom they had defeated the day before, and remembering that the legions were following close behind, fought most bravely against the infantry, driven both by the shame of retreating and by the desire to finish the battle by themselves; while the enemy, believing that no more forces would arrive, as they had learned the day before, seemed to have found an opportunity to destroy our cavalry.
- 8.28.1dum consequeretur ipse
The subjunctive imperfect is used with 'dum' ('until') to express an intended or anticipated limit rather than a mere temporal fact.
- 8.28.2Cuius praeceptis ut res gereretur
'Cuius' is a relative connection referring back to Fabius and modifying 'praeceptis' (ablative of accordance). The 'ut' clause is a clause of purpose.
- 8.28.3succedentibus sibi peditibus
Ablative absolute. 'sibi' is the dative object governed by the participle 'succedentibus' (from 'succedo', to come up behind/support) and refers back to the enemy cavalry ('equitatus').
- 8.28.5nacti occasionem videbantur
Nominative with infinitive construction. 'nacti' (with 'esse' omitted) is the perfect participle in the nominative plural, agreeing with the subject 'hostes' of the copulative verb 'videbantur'.