§I"Κελτοὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἐπεχείρησαν πρῶτοι, καὶ τὴν Ῥώμην εἷλον ἄνευ τοῦ Καπιτωλίου, καὶ ἐμπεπρήκασιν.
The Celts were the first to attack the Romans; they captured Rome, except for the Capitol, and burned it.
Κάμιλλος δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐνίκησε καὶ ἐξήλασε, καὶ μετὰ χρόνον ἐπελθόντας αὖθις ἐνίκησε, καὶ ἐθριάμβευσεν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα γεγονὼς ἔτη.
But Camillus defeated and expelled them, and when they invaded again after some time, he defeated them once more, celebrating a triumph over them when he was eighty years old.
καὶ τρίτη δὲ Κελτῶν στρατιὰ ἐμβέβληκεν ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ἣν καὶ αὐτὴν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι διεφθάρκασιν ὑφʼ ἡγεμόνι Τίτῳ Κοϊντίῳ.
And indeed, a third army of Celts invaded Italy, which the Romans also destroyed under the leadership of Titus Quinctius.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Βοιοί, Κελτικὸν ἔθνος θηριωδέστατον, ἐπῆλθε Ῥωμαίοις, καὶ αὐτοῖς Γάϊος Σουλπίκιος δικτάτωρ μετὰ στρατιᾶς ἀπήντα, ὅς τις καὶ στρατηγήματι τοιούτῳ χρήσασθαι λέγεται·
After this, the Boii, a most savage Celtic nation, advanced against the Romans, and Gaius Sulpicius, the dictator, met them with an army; he is said to have used the following stratagem.
ἐκέλευσε γὰρ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου τεταγμένους ἐξακοντίσαντας ὁμοῦ συγκαθίσαι τάχιστα, μέχρι βάλωσιν οἱ δεύτεροι καὶ τρίτοι καὶ τέταρτοι, τοὺς δʼ ἀφιέντας ἀεὶ συνίζειν, ἵνα μὴ κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐνεχθείη τὰ δόρατα· βαλόντων δὲ τῶν ὑστάτων ἀναπηδᾶν ἅπαντας ὁμοῦ, καὶ σὺν βοῇ τάχιστα ἐς χεῖρας ἰέναι· καταπλήξειν γὰρ ὧδε τοὺς πολεμίους τοσῶνδε δοράτων ἄφεσιν καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ ταχεῖαν ἐπιχείρησιν.
For he ordered those stationed in the front line, as soon as they had thrown their javelins, to crouch down at once together, until the second, third, and fourth lines should cast theirs, and those who threw to always stoop down, so that the spears might not be carried against them; and when the last lines had thrown, they should all spring up together and go to close quarters with a shout as quickly as possible; for in this way the discharge of so many spears and the rapid attack immediately following it would terrify the enemy.
τὰ δὲ δόρατα ἦν οὐκ ἀπεοικότα ἀκοντίοις· ἃ Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσιν ὑσσούς, ξύλου τετραγώνου τὸ ἥμισυ, καὶ τὸ ἄλλο σιδήρου, τετραγώνου καὶ τοῦδε καὶ μαλακοῦ χωρίς γε τῆς αἰχμῆς.
The spears were not unlike javelins, which the Romans call hyssoi, half of wood, square, and the other half of iron, which was also square and soft, except for the point itself.
καὶ οἱ Βοιοὶ οὖν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων τότε ἐφθάρησαν πανστρατιᾷ.
And so the Boii were then destroyed with their entire army by the Romans.
ἄλλους δὲ πάλιν Κελτοὺς ἐνίκα Ποπίλλιος, καὶ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον τοὺς αὐτοὺς Κάμιλλος ὁ τοῦ Καμίλλου υἱός.
Again Popillius defeated other Celts, and after him Camillus, the son of Camillus, defeated the same.
ἔστησε δὲ κατὰ Κελτῶν καὶ Πάππος Αἰμίλιος τρόπαια.
Pappus Aemilius also erected trophies over the Celts.
πρὸ δὲ τῶν τοῦ Μαρίου ὑπατειῶν πλεῖστόν τι καὶ μαχιμώτατον, τῇ τε ἡλικίᾳ μάλιστα φοβερώτατον χρῆμα Κελτῶν ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν τε καὶ Γαλατίαν ἐσέβαλε, καί τινας ὑπάτους Ῥωμαίων ἐνίκησε καὶ στρατόπεδα κατέκοψεν· ἐφʼ οὓς ὁ Μάριος ἀποσταλεὶς ἅπαντας διέφθειρε.
Before the consulships of Marius, a vast, most warlike, and in age most formidable body of Celts invaded both Italy and Gaul, defeated several Roman consuls, and cut their armies to pieces; Marius, being sent against them, destroyed them all.
τελευταῖα δὲ καὶ μέγιστα τῶν ἐς Γαλάτας Ῥωμαίοις πεπραγμένων ἐστὶ τὰ ὑπὸ Γαΐῳ Καίσαρι στρατηγοῦντι γενόμενα.
The last and greatest of the exploits performed by the Romans against the Gauls were those achieved under the command of Gaius Caesar.
μυριάσι τε γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ἀγρίων, ἐν τοῖς δέκα ἔτεσιν ἐν οἷς ἐστρατήγησεν, ἐς χεῖρας ἦλθον, εἴ τις ὑφʼ ἓν τὰ μέρη συναγάγοι, τετρακοσίων πλείοσι, καὶ τούτων ἑκατὸν μὲν ἐζώγρησαν, ἑκατὸν δʼ ἐν τῷ πόνῳ κατέκανον.
For in the ten years during which he commanded, if one should gather the details into one sum, they came to close quarters with more than four million wild men, of whom they took one million prisoners and slew one million in battle.
ἔθνη δὲ τετρακόσια καὶ πόλεις ὑπὲρ ὀκτακοσίας, τὰ μὲν ἀφιστάμενα σφῶν, τὰ δὲ προσεπιλαμβάνοντες, ἐκρατύναντο.
They subdued four hundred nations and over eight hundred cities, some which had revolted from them, and others which they acquired in addition.
πρὸ δὲ τοῦ Μαρίου καὶ Φάβιος Μάξιμος ὁ Αἰμιλιανός, ὀλίγην κομιδῇ στρατιὰν ἔχων, ἐπολέμησε τοῖς Κελτοῖς, καὶ δώδεκα μυριάδας αὐτῶν ἐν μιᾷ μάχῃ κατέκανε, πεντεκαίδεκα μόνους τῶν ἰδίων ἀποβαλών.
Before Marius, Fabius Maximus Aemilianus also, having a very small army, made war on the Celts and slew one hundred and twenty thousand of them in a single battle, losing only fifteen of his own men.
καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι ἔπραξε πιεζόμενος ὑπὸ τραύματος ὑπογυίου, καὶ τὰ τάγματα ἐπιὼν καὶ παραθαρρύνων, καὶ διδάσκων ὅπως τοῖς βαρβάροις πολεμητέον, τὰ μὲν ἐπʼ ἀπήνης φερόμενος, τὰ δὲ καὶ βάδην χειραγωγούμενος.
And he did this, moreover, while pressed by a recent wound, going about the legions and encouraging them, and teaching them how they must fight the barbarians, being carried sometimes in a carriage, and sometimes led by the hand on foot.
Καῖσαρ δὲ πολεμήσας αὐτοῖς πρῶτον μὲν Ἑλουητίους καὶ Τιγυρίους ἀμφὶ τὰς εἴκοσι μυριάδας ὄντας ἐνίκησεν.
Caesar, having made war on them, first defeated the Helvetii and the Tigurini, who were about two hundred thousand in number.
οἱ Τιγύριοι δʼ αὐτῶν χρόνῳ ἔμπροσθεν Πίσωνος καὶ Κασσίου τινὰ στρατὸν ἑλόντες ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἐξεπεπόμφεσαν, ὡς ἐν χρονικαῖς συντάξεσι δοκεῖ Παύλῳ τῷ Κλαυδίῳ.
The Tigurini, a long time before, had captured a certain army of Piso and Cassius and sent them under the yoke, as seems to be the case in the chronological histories by Paulus Claudius.
τοὺς μὲν οὖν Τιγυρίους ὑποστράτηγος αὐτοῦ Λαβιηνὸς ἐνίκησε, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ὁ Καῖσαρ, καὶ Τρικούρους ἀμύνοντας σφίσιν, ἔπειτα τοὺς μετʼ Ἀριοουίστου Γερμανούς, οἳ καὶ τὰ μεγέθη μείζους τῶν μεγίστων ὑπῆρχον καὶ τὸ ἦθος ἄγριοι καὶ τὴν τόλμαν θρασύτατοι, καὶ θανάτου καταφρονηταὶ διʼ ἐλπίδα ἀναβιώσεως, καὶ κρύος ὁμοίως ἔφερον θάλπει, καὶ πόᾳ ἐχρῶντο παρὰ τὰς ἀπορίας τροφῇ, καὶ ὁ ἵππος ξύλοις.
Now, Labienus, his lieutenant, defeated the Tigurini, and Caesar defeated the rest, as well as the Tricuri who were defending them; next, he defeated the Germans under Ariovistus, who were larger in stature than the largest men, savage in character, most daring in boldness, and despisers of death through the hope of rebirth, and who bore cold equally with heat, and used grass as food in times of scarcity, and fed their horses with wood.
ἦσαν δέ, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ φερέπονοι ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, οὐδὲ λογισμῷ ἢ ἐπιστήμῃ τινὶ ἀλλὰ θυμῷ χρώμενοι καθάπερ θηρία, διὸ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐπιστήμης καὶ φερεπονίας ἡσσῶντο.
They were, as it seems, not patient of labor in battles, using not reason or any skill, but rage like wild beasts; for which reason they were defeated by the skill and endurance of the Romans.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ μετὰ ὁρμῆς βαρυτάτης ἐπεπήδων αὐτοῖς, καὶ ὅλην ὁμοῦ τὴν φάλαγγα ἀνεώθουν· Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ὑπέμενον ἐν τάξει, καὶ κατεστρατήγουν αὐτούς, καὶ ὀκτακισμυρίους αὐτῶν τελευτῶντες ἀπέκτειναν.
For they rushed upon them with a most violent onset and pushed back the whole phalanx at once; but the Romans stood their ground in order, outgeneraled them, and finally killed eighty thousand of them.
μετὰ τούτους ὁ Καῖσαρ τοῖς καλουμένοις Βέλγαις ἐπιπεσὼν ποταμόν τινα περῶσι, τοσούτους ἀπέκτεινεν ὡς τὸν ποταμὸν γεφυρωθέντα τοῖς σώμασι περᾶσαι.
After these, Caesar fell upon those called Belgae as they were crossing a certain river, and killed so many of them that he crossed the river bridged with their bodies.
Νέρβιοι δὲ αὐτὸν ἐτρέψαντο, ἄρτι στρατόπεδον ἐξ ὁδοιπορίας κατασκευάζοντι αἰφνιδίως ἐπιπεσόντες, καὶ παμπόλλους ἐφόνευσαν, τοὺς δὲ ταξιάρχας καὶ λοχαγοὺς ἅπαντας· καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐς λόφον τινὰ μετὰ τῶν ὑπασπιστῶν πεφευγότα περιέσχον κύκλῳ.
But the Nervii put him to flight, falling suddenly upon him while he was just constructing a camp after a march, and slaughtered very many, and all the tribunes and centurions; and they surrounded Caesar himself, who had fled to a certain hill with his bodyguards.
ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ δεκάτου τάγματος αὐτοῖς ἐξόπισθεν ἐπιπεσόντος ἐφθάρησαν, ἑξακισμύριοι ὄντες.
But by the tenth legion falling upon them from behind, they were destroyed, being sixty thousand in number.
ἦσαν δὲ τῶν Κίμβρων καὶ Τευτόνων ἀπόγονοι.
They were descendants of the Cimbri and Teutones.
ἐκράτησε δὲ καὶ Ἀλλοβρίγων ὁ Καῖσαρ.
Caesar also subdued the Allobroges.
Οὐσιπετῶν δὲ καὶ Ταγχαρέων τεσσαράκοντα μυριάδες, στρατεύσιμοί τε καὶ ἀστράτευτοι, συνεκόπησαν.
And forty myriads of the Usipetes and Tencteri, both combatants and non-combatants, were cut to pieces.
Σούκαμβροι δὲ πεντακοσίοις ἱππεῦσι τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους ἱππεῖς τοῦ Καίσαρος ἔτρεψαν, ἐξαίφνης ἐπιπεσόντες, καὶ δίκην ἔδοσαν ἡττηθέντες μετὰ ταῦτα.
The Sugambri, with five hundred horsemen, put to flight the five thousand horsemen of Caesar, falling upon them suddenly, and paid the penalty, being defeated after this.
ἐπέρασε καὶ τὸν Ῥῆνον πρῶτος Ῥωμαίων ὁ Καῖσαρ, καὶ ἐς τὴν Βρεττανίδα νῆσον, ἠπείρου τε μείζονα οὖσαν μεγίστης καὶ τοῖς τῇδε ἀνθρώποις ἄγνωστον ἔτι.
Caesar also crossed the Rhine, the first of the Romans, and passed over to the island of Britain, which is larger than the largest continent and was still unknown to the people of that place.
ἐπέρασε δὲ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀμπώτεως· ἄρτι γὰρ τὸ πάθος ἥπτετο τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ ὁ στόλος ἐσαλεύετο, ἠρέμα πρῶτον, εἶτα ὀξύτερον, μέχρι σὺν βιαίῳ τάχει διέπλευσεν ὁ Καῖσαρ ἐς τὴν Βρεττανίαν. "
He crossed at the time of the ebb tide; for the phenomenon was just affecting the sea, and the fleet was tossing, gently at first, and then more violently, until Caesar sailed across to Britain with violent speed.