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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §2.23.1-2.23.4

Rout of the Atrebates and Nervian Assault on the Camp

Passage 77 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The 9th and 10th legions drive the Atrebates into the river, and the 11th and 8th legions rout the Viromandui. Meanwhile, the Nervii launch a sudden assault on the Roman camp, which has been left exposed.

§2.23.1Legionis VIIII. et X. milites, ut in sinistra parte aciei constiterant, pilis emissis cursu ac lassitudine exanimatos vulneribusque confectos Atrebates (nam his ea pars obvenerat) celeriter ex loco superiore in flumen compulerunt et transire conantes insecuti gladiis magnam partem eorum impeditam interfecerunt.
The soldiers of the 9th and 10th legions, as they had taken their position on the left part of the line, having cast their javelins, quickly drove the Atrebates (for that part had fallen to their lot), who were breathless with running and fatigue and exhausted by wounds, from the higher ground into the river, and pursuing them as they attempted to cross, slew with their swords a great part of them while they were embarrassed.
§2.23.2Ipsi transire flumen non dubitaverunt et in locum iniquum progressi rursus resistentes hostes redintegrato proelio in fugam coniecerunt.
They themselves did not hesitate to cross the river, and having advanced into disadvantageous ground, when the enemy resisted again, they renewed the battle and put them to flight.
§2.23.3Item alia in parte diversae duae legiones, XI. et VIII., profligatis Viromanduis, quibuscum erant congressae, ex loco superiore in ipsis fluminis ripis proeliabantur.
Likewise in another part, two other legions, the 11th and the 8th, having routed the Viromandui, with whom they had engaged, were fighting from the higher ground on the very banks of the river.
§2.23.4At totis fere castris a fronte et a sinistra parte nudatis, cum in dextro cornu legio XII. et non magno ab ea intervallo VII. constitisset, omnes Nervii confertissimo agmine duce Boduognato, qui summam imperii tenebat, ad eum locum contenderunt; quorum pars ab aperto latere legiones circumvenire, pars summum castrorum locum petere coepit.
But since almost the whole camp was exposed on the front and on the left side, while the 12th legion had taken its position on the right wing, and the 7th at no great distance from it, all the Nervii in a very close body, under the leadership of Boduognatus, who held the chief command, hastened to that place; part of whom began to surround the legions on their exposed flank, and part to make for the highest point of the camp.

Notes

  1. §2.23.1cursu ac lassitudine exanimatos vulneribusque confectos Atrebates — The accusative proper noun 'Atrebates' is modified by two preceding perfect passive participles: 'exanimatos' (from 'exanimo', meaning breathless or exhausted) and 'confectos' (from 'conficio', meaning weakened or spent). They function adjectivally to describe the state of the Atrebates.
  2. §2.23.4duce Boduognato — An ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun and another noun in the ablative case ('duce' and 'Boduognato') without a participle (as the verb 'to be' has no present participle in Latin). It translates to 'under the leadership of Boduognatus' or 'Boduognatus being the leader.'
  3. §2.23.4ab aperto latere — A military technical term referring to the 'exposed flank' or 'unprotected side,' which in Roman warfare usually meant the right flank because soldiers held their shields in their left hands.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §2.23.1-2.23.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.23.1-2.23.4

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