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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §2.7.1-2.7.4

Relief of Bibrax and Advance of the Belgae

Passage 61 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar sends auxiliary forces to Bibrax, forcing the Belgae to abandon the siege. The Belgae retreat, ravage the territory of the Remi, and pitch a massive camp less than two miles from Caesar's camp.

§2.7.1Eo de media nocte Caesar isdem ducibus usus qui nuntii ab Iccio venerant, Numidas et Cretas sagittarios et funditores Baleares subsidio oppidanis mittit;
About midnight, Caesar, employing as guides the same men who had come as messengers from Iccius, sent Numidian and Cretan archers and Balearic slingers there to help the townspeople.
§2.7.2quorum adventu et Remis cum spe defensionis studium propugnandi accessit et hostibus eadem de causa spes potiundi oppidi discessit.
By their arrival, both the hope of defense and the eagerness for fighting were inspired in the Remi, and, for the same reason, the hope of gaining possession of the town departed from the enemy.
§2.7.3Itaque paulisper apud oppidum morati agrosque Remorum depopulati, omnibus vicis aedificiisque quo adire potuerant incensis, ad castra Caesaris omnibus copiis contenderunt et a milibus passuum minus duobus castra posuerunt;
Therefore, having delayed for a short time near the town and ravaged the lands of the Remi, and having burned all the villages and buildings which they could approach, they hastened with all their forces toward Caesar's camp and pitched their camp less than two miles off.
§2.7.4quae castra, ut fumo atque ignibus significabatur, amplius milibus passuum VIII latitudinem patebant.
This camp, as was indicated by the smoke and fires, extended more than eight miles in width.

Notes

  1. §2.7.1subsidio oppidanis — A double dative construction consisting of the dative of purpose, 'subsidio' (as a reinforcement/help), and the dative of reference, 'oppidanis' (to/for the townspeople).
  2. §2.7.2potiundi oppidi — A gerundive construction. The deponent verb 'potior', which normally governs the genitive or ablative, is treated transitively here, so that the gerundive 'potiundi' (an older spelling for 'potiendi') agrees with the noun 'oppidi' in the genitive neuter singular, meaning 'of gaining possession of the town'.
  3. §2.7.3a milibus passuum minus duobus — The preposition 'a' ('ab') is used adverbially with numerals of distance to mean 'at a distance of' or 'away'. Furthermore, the comparative adverb 'minus' (less than) is placed before the numeral 'duobus' without 'quam' (than), which does not alter the ablative case of 'milibus'. The whole phrase means 'at a distance of less than two miles'.
  4. §2.7.4quae castra — A relative connection ('relative connection' or 'quippe quae'), where the relative pronoun 'quae' links the new sentence to 'castra' mentioned in the preceding sentence. It is best translated into modern languages using a demonstrative pronoun (e.g., 'This camp').

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §2.7.1-2.7.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.7.1-2.7.4

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