§1.31.1Eo concilio dimisso, idem princeps civitatum qui ante fuerant ad Caesarem reverterunt petieruntque uti sibi secreto in occulto de sua omniumque salute cum eo agere liceret.
When that assembly was dismissed, the same leaders of the states who had been present before returned to Caesar and requested that it might be permitted them to treat with him secretly in private concerning their own safety and that of all.
§1.31.2Ea re impetrata sese omnes flentes Caesari ad pedes proiecerunt: non minus se id contendere et laborare ne ea quae dixissent enuntiarentur quam uti ea quae vellent impetrarent, propterea quod, si enuntiatum esset, summum in cruciatum se venturos viderent.
This request being obtained, they all threw themselves in tears at Caesar's feet, saying that they strove and labored no less that what they said should not be disclosed, than to obtain what they wished; because they saw that, if it should be disclosed, they would come into the greatest torture.
§1.31.3Locutus est pro his Diviciacus Haeduus: Galliae totius factiones esse duas; harum alterius principatum tenere Haeduos, alterius Arvernos.
Diviciacus the Haeduan spoke on their behalf: saying that there were two factions in all Gaul; that the Haedui held the leadership of one of these, the Arverni of the other.
§1.31.4Hi cum tantopere de potentatu inter se multos annos contenderent, factum esse uti ab Arvernis Sequanisque Germani mercede arcesserentur.
When these had contended fiercely between themselves for the sovereignty for many years, it came to pass that the Germans were invited by the Arverni and Sequani for hire.
§1.31.5Horum primo circiter milia XV Rhenum transisse; postea quam agros et cultum et copias Gallorum homines feri ac barbari adamassent, traductos plures; nunc esse in Gallia ad C et XX milium numerum.
At first about fifteen thousand of them crossed the Rhine; but after these wild and barbarous men had become fond of the lands, the living, and the wealth of the Gauls, more were brought over; at present there were in Gaul to the number of a hundred and twenty thousand.
§1.31.6Cum his Haeduos eorumque clientes semel atque iterum armis contendisse; magnam calamitatem pulsos accepisse, omnem nobilitatem, omnem senatum, omnem equitatum amisisse.
With these the Haedui and their dependents had contended in arms once and again; having been defeated, they had sustained a great calamity, and had lost all their nobility, all their senate, and all their cavalry.
§1.31.7Quibus proeliis calamitatibusque fractos, qui et sua virtute et populi Romani hospitio atque amicitia plurimum ante in Gallia potuissent, coactos esse Sequanis obsides dare nobilissimos civitatis et iure iurando civitatem obstringere sese neque obsides repetituros neque auxilium a populo Romano imploraturos neque recusaturos quo minus perpetuo sub illorum dicione atque imperio essent.
Broken by these battles and calamities, they who both by their own valor and by the hospitality and friendship of the Roman people had previously been most powerful in Gaul, were compelled to give the most noble of their state as hostages to the Sequani, and to bind their state by an oath that they would neither demand back the hostages, nor implore aid from the Roman people, nor refuse to be forever under their sway and empire.
§1.31.8Unum se esse ex omni civitate Haeduorum qui adduci non potuerit ut iuraret aut liberos suos obsides daret.
He was the only one of all the state of the Haedui who could not be induced to take the oath or give his children as hostages.
§1.31.9Ob eam rem se ex civitate profugisse et Romam ad senatum venisse auxilium postulatum, quod solus neque iure iurando neque obsidibus teneretur.
For this reason he had fled from his state and come to Rome to the senate to demand aid, because he alone was bound neither by oath nor by hostages.
§1.31.10Sed peius victoribus Sequanis quam Haeduis victis accidisse, propterea quod Ariovistus, rex Germanorum, in eorum finibus consedisset tertiamque partem agri Sequani, qui esset optimus totius Galliae, occupavisset et nunc de altera parte tertia Sequanos decedere iuberet, propterea quod paucis mensibus ante Harudum milia hominum XXIIII ad eum venissent, quibus locus ac sedes pararentur.
But a worse thing had happened to the victorious Sequani than to the vanquished Haedui, because Ariovistus, the king of the Germans, had settled in their territories and had seized a third part of the land of the Sequani, which was the best in all Gaul, and was now ordering the Sequani to depart from another third part, because a few months before twenty-four thousand of the Harudes had come to him, for whom a place and habitation had to be prepared.
§1.31.11Futurum esse paucis annis uti omnes ex Galliae finibus pellerentur atque omnes Germani Rhenum transirent; neque enim conferendum esse Gallicum cum Germanorum agro neque hanc consuetudinem victus cum illa comparandam.
It would come to pass in a few years that all would be driven from the territories of Gaul and all the Germans would cross the Rhine; for neither was the Gallic land to be compared with that of the Germans, nor was this manner of living to be compared with that.
§1.31.12Ariovistum autem, ut semel Gallorum copias proelio vicerit, quod proelium factum sit ad Magetobrigam, superbe et crudeliter imperare, obsides nobilissimi cuiusque liberos poscere et in eos omnia exempla cruciatusque edere, si qua res non ad nutum aut ad voluntatem eius facta sit.
But Ariovistus, as soon as he had once defeated the forces of the Gauls in battle, which battle took place at Magetobriga, was ruling haughtily and cruelly, demanding as hostages the children of all the most noble, and inflicting upon them all kinds of exemplary punishments, if anything was not done according to his nod or will.
§1.31.13Hominem esse barbarum, iracundum, temerarium: non posse eius imperia, diutius sustineri.
He was a barbarous, passionate, and rash man; his commands could no longer be endured.
§1.31.14Nisi quid in Caesare populoque Romano sit auxilii, omnibus Gallis idem esse faciendum quod Helvetii fecerint, ut domo emigrent, aliud domicilium, alias sedes, remotas a Germanis, petant fortunamque, quaecumque accidat, experiantur.
Unless there were some aid in Caesar and the Roman people, all the Gauls must do the same thing that the Helvetii had done, namely, emigrate from their home, seek another dwelling and other settlements, remote from the Germans, and experience whatever fortune might befall them.
Haec si enuntiata Ariovisto sint, non dubitare quin de omnibus obsidibus qui apud eum sint gravissimum supplicium sumat.
If these things should be disclosed to Ariovistus, he did not doubt that he would inflict the severest punishment on all the hostages who were with him.
§1.31.15Caesarem vel auctoritate sua atque exercitus vel recenti victoria vel nomine populi Romani deterrere posse ne maior multitudo Germanorum Rhenum traducatur, Galliamque omnem ab Ariovisti iniuria posse defendere.
Caesar, either by his own authority and that of his army, or by his recent victory, or by the name of the Roman people, could prevent a greater multitude of Germans from being brought over the Rhine, and defend all Gaul from the outrage of Ariovistus.