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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §1.52.1-1.52.7

The Clash with the German Phalanx and Crassus's Relief

Passage 52 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar assigns commanders to each legion and begins the battle. Amidst the fierce fighting, Roman soldiers counter the German phalanx, and Crassus sends the third line as reinforcements to assist the struggling troops.

§1.52.1Caesar singulis legionibus singulos legatos et quaestorem praefecit, uti eos testes suae quisque virtutis haberet; §1.52.2ipse a dextro cornu, quod eam partem minime firmam hostium esse animadverterat, proelium commisit.
Caesar appointed a lieutenant and a quaestor over each legion, so that everyone might have them as witnesses of his own valor; he himself, having observed that that part of the enemy was the least firm, joined battle from the right wing.
§1.52.3Ita nostri acriter in hostes signo dato impetum fecerunt itaque hostes repente celeriterque procurrerunt, ut spatium pila in hostes coiciendi non daretur.
Thus our men, upon the signal being given, made a vigorous charge upon the enemy, and the enemy rushed forward so suddenly and rapidly that no time was given for throwing javelins at them.
§1.52.4Relictis pilis comminus gladiis pugnatum est.
Dropping their javelins, they fought hand-to-hand with swords.
At Germani celeriter ex consuetudine sua phalange facta impetus gladiorum exceperunt.
But the Germans, having quickly formed a phalanx according to their custom, received the onset of the swords.
§1.52.5Reperti sunt complures nostri qui in phalanga insilirent et scuta manibus revellerent et desuper vulnerarent.
Many of our soldiers were found who leaped upon the phalanx, tore away the shields with their hands, and wounded the enemy from above.
§1.52.6Cum hostium acies a sinistro cornu pulsa atque in fugam coniecta esset, a dextro cornu vehementer multitudine suorum nostram aciem premebant.
While the enemy's line was routed on their left wing and put to flight, on their right wing they were vehemently pressing our line by their great numbers.
§1.52.7Id cum animadvertisset P. Crassus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior erat quam ii qui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit.
When the young P. Crassus, who commanded the cavalry, had observed this—as he was more disengaged than those who were employed in the fight—he sent the third line as a relief to our struggling men.

Notes

  1. 1.52.1singulis legionibus singulos legatos et quaestorem — Distributive interpretation. It reflects the historical fact that Caesar allocated five lieutenants (legati) and one quaestor to his six legions, one for each.
  2. 1.52.3pila in hostes coiciendi — coiciendi is a gerund (genitive) taking the accusative plural pila as its direct object. It is equivalent to the gerundive construction pilorum coiciendorum.
  3. 1.52.5qui in phalanga insilirent — The verb insilirent (as well as revellerent and vulnerarent) in the clause introduced by the relative pronoun qui is in the imperfect subjunctive. This is a relative clause of characteristic, describing the kind of people who would do such actions.
  4. 1.52.7laborantibus nostris subsidio — Double dative construction. laborantibus nostris (including the present participle laborantibus) is the dative of reference ("to our struggling men"), and subsidio is the dative of purpose ("as a relief/aid"), serving as complements to the verb misit.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §1.52.1-1.52.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.52.1-1.52.7

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