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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §1.27.1-1.27.4

Surrender of the Helvetii and the Verbigeni's Escape

Passage 27 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Driven by a lack of supplies, the Helvetii send envoys to Caesar to surrender and are ordered to await his arrival. However, while the surrender of arms is underway, about six thousand men of the Verbigenus canton flee under the cover of night, fearing execution.

§1.27.1Helvetii omnium rerum inopia adducti legatos de deditione ad eum miserunt.
The Helvetii, driven by the want of all things, sent ambassadors to him concerning a surrender.
§1.27.2Qui cum eum in itinere convenissent seque ad pedes proiecissent suppliciterque locuti flentes pacem petissent, atque eos in eo loco quo tum essent suum adventum expectare iussisset, paruerunt.
When these had met him on the march, and had cast themselves at his feet, and speaking in a suppliant tone, had with tears implored peace, and he had ordered them to await his arrival in that place where they then were, they obeyed.
§1.27.3Eo postquam Caesar pervenit, obsides, arma, servos qui ad eos perfugissent, poposcit.
When Caesar arrived there, he demanded hostages, arms, and the slaves who had fled to them.
§1.27.4Dum ea conquiruntur et conferuntur, [nocte intermissa] circiter hominum milia VI eius pagi qui Verbigenus appellatur, sive timore perterriti, ne armis traditis supplicio adficerentur, sive spe salutis inducti, quod in tanta multitudine dediticiorum suam fugam aut occultari aut omnino ignorari posse existimarent, prima nocte e castris Helvetiorum egressi ad Rhenum finesque Germanorum contenderunt.
While these things were being searched out and collected, [a night having intervened], about six thousand men of that canton which is called Verbigenus, either terrified by fear lest, after delivering up their arms, they should be punished, or induced by the hope of safety, because they imagined that in so great a multitude of those who had surrendered, their flight could either be concealed or entirely overlooked, hastened at the beginning of the night out of the camp of the Helvetii to the Rhine and the borders of the Germans.

Notes

  1. §1.27.2Qui cum — The relative pronoun Qui serves as a connecting relative, referring back to legatos (ambassadors). In this sentence, it functions as the subject of the following cum clause (with convenissent, proiecissent, and petissent).
  2. §1.27.2atque eos... iussisset — Although connected to the preceding cum clause by the conjunction atque, the verb iussisset is third-person singular, indicating a shift in subject to Caesar (the 'eum' of the previous clause). The pronoun eos is an accusative referring to the Helvetii as a whole, including the ambassadors.
  3. §1.27.4nocte intermissa — An ablative absolute consisting of the noun nox and the perfect participle of intermittere. Depending on the context, it means 'a night having intervened' or 'after a night had passed'.
  4. §1.27.4ne armis traditis supplicio adficerentur — The clause introduced by ne depends on perterriti (expressing fear), meaning 'lest they should be...' or 'fearing that they would be...'. Inside it, armis traditis is an ablative absolute expressing time ('after their arms were surrendered') or condition ('if their arms were surrendered').

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §1.27.1-1.27.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.27.1-1.27.4

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