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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §3.20.1-3.20.4

Crassus's Invasion of Aquitania and Clash with Sotiates

Passage 109 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Crassus arrives in Aquitania, carefully prepares his campaign with past defeats in mind, and invades the territory of the Sotiates, who resist with a sudden ambush after their cavalry is routed.

§3.20.1Eodem fere tempore P. Crassus.
At about the same time, P.
, cum in Aquitaniam pervenisset, quae [pars], ut ante dictum est, [et regionum latitudine et multitudine hominum] tertia pars Galliae est [aestimanda], cum intellegeret in iis locis sibi bellum gerendum ubi paucis ante annis L. Valerius Praeconinus legatus exercitu pulso interfectus esset atque unde L. Manlius proconsul impedimentis amissis profugisset, non mediocrem sibi diligentiam adhibendam intellegebat.
Crassus, when he had arrived in Aquitania, which, as has been said before, is to be estimated as a third part of Gaul, both for its extent of territory and its population, since he understood that he had to wage war in those places where a few years before L. Valerius Praeconinus, the lieutenant, had been killed after his army was defeated, and from which L. Manlius, the proconsul, had fled after losing his baggage, understood that no ordinary diligence was to be applied by him.
§3.20.2Itaque re frumentaria provisa, auxiliis equitatuque comparato, multis praeterea viris fortibus Tolosa et Carcasone et Narbone, quae sunt civitates Galliae provinciae finitimae, ex his regionibus nominatim evocatis, in Sotiatium fines exercitum introduxit.
Therefore, having provided grain, and having procured auxiliaries and cavalry, and moreover having summoned by name many brave men from Tolosa, Carcaso, and Narbo, which are states adjacent to the Gallic province, from these regions, he led his army into the territories of the Sotiates.
§3.20.3Cuius adventu cognito Sotiates magnis copiis coactis, equitatuque, quo plurimum valebant, in itinere agmen nostrum adorti primum equestre proelium commiserunt, §3.20.4deinde equitatu suo pulso atque insequentibus nostris subito pedestres copias, quas in convalle in insidiis conlocaverant, ostenderunt.
Having learned of his arrival, the Sotiates, having assembled large forces, and with their cavalry, in which they were strongest, having attacked our army on the march, first joined a cavalry battle; then, their cavalry being routed and our men pursuing, they suddenly showed their infantry forces, which they had stationed in ambush in a valley.
Hi nostros disiectos adorti proelium renovarunt.
These, having attacked our men while scattered, renewed the battle.

Notes

  1. 3.20.1cum in Aquitaniam pervenisset ... cum intellegeret ... intellegebat — Two cum-clauses are nested: the first (cum... pervenisset) is temporal ("when he had arrived"), and the second (cum intellegeret) is causal ("since he understood"). Both modify the main verb intellegebat.
  2. 3.20.1sibi bellum gerendum — The gerundive gerendum is used with the dative of agent sibi, expressing obligation or necessity ("that war had to be waged by him"). sibi performs the same function in the subsequent diligentiam adhibendam ("to be applied by him").
  3. 3.20.3Cuius adventu cognito — Ablative absolute using the connecting relative (cuius) at the beginning of the sentence, meaning "his arrival having been known." The antecedent is P. Crassus, the subject of the preceding sentence.
  4. 3.20.4insequentibus nostris — Ablative absolute using the present participle, meaning "our men pursuing." It is coordinate with the preceding ablative absolute with a perfect participle, equitatu suo pulso ("their cavalry having been routed"), indicating the sequence of events and the unfolding situation.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §3.20.1-3.20.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.20.1-3.20.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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