Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §3.4.1-3.4.4

Sudden Enemy Assault and Hard-Pressed Roman Defense

Passage 93 of 404 · Latin

Summary

After a short interval, the enemy launched a sudden attack from all sides with missiles. Our men defended themselves bravely, but were overwhelmed because their small number allowed them no opportunity to relieve fatigued soldiers, unlike the enemy who continuously rotated fresh troops.

§3.4.1Brevi spatio interiecto, vix ut iis rebus quas constituissent conlocandis atque administrandis tempus daretur, hostes ex omnibus partibus signo dato decurrere, lapides gaesaque in vallum coicere.
After only a brief interval had elapsed, so that time was scarcely given for arranging and executing those things which they had decided upon, the enemy, at a given signal, ran down from all sides and cast stones and javelins into the rampart.
§3.4.2Nostri primo integris viribus fortiter propugnare neque ullum flustra telum ex loco superiore mittere, et quaecumque pars castrorum nudata defensoribus premi videbatur, eo occurrere et auxilium ferre, §3.4.3sed hoc superari quod diuturnitate pugnae hostes defessi proelio excedebant, alii integris viribus succedebant; §3.4.4quarum rerum a nostris propter paucitatem fieri nihil poterat, ac non modo defesso ex pugna excedendi, sed ne saucio quidem eius loci ubi constiterat relinquendi ac sui recipiendi facultas dabatur.
Our men at first, with their strength unimpaired, fought back bravely and threw no weapon in vain from the higher ground, and whichever part of the camp seemed to be stripped of defenders and hard-pressed, there they would run to bring assistance; but they were at a disadvantage in this, that when the enemy became exhausted by the long duration of the fight, they would withdraw from the battle, and others with unimpaired strength would take their place; none of which things could be done by our men because of their small number, and not only was the opportunity of withdrawing from the fight not given to a fatigued man, but not even to a wounded man was the opportunity granted of leaving that spot where he had stood and recovering himself.

Notes

  1. 3.4.1decurrere — Historical infinitives, used here with the subject 'hostes' instead of indicative imperfect or perfect verbs to describe past, rapid actions vividly. The same construction continues with 'propugnare', 'mittere', 'occurrere', 'ferre', and 'superari' in the following sections.
  2. 3.4.1iis rebus ... conlocandis atque administrandis — A gerundive construction in agreement with 'iis rebus'. It functions either as a dative of purpose/tendency or ablative, modifying or depending on 'tempus' to mean 'time for arranging and executing these things'.
  3. 3.4.3hoc ... quod — The demonstrative 'hoc' is an ablative of specification or cause ('in this respect' / 'by this'), and 'quod' introduces an appositional noun clause explaining the specific content of 'hoc' ('namely, that...').
  4. 3.4.4defesso ... saucio — Substantive use of the masculine singular dative adjectives ('to a fatigued man', 'to a wounded man'). They function as indirect objects (dative of reference/interest) of the passive verb 'dabatur', with 'facultas' serving as the subject.
  5. 3.4.4sui recipiendi — A combination of the genitive of the reflexive pronoun 'sui' and the gerundive 'recipiendi'. Although 'sui' refers to a plural subject ('our men'), because its form is identical to the singular genitive, the accompanying gerundive takes the singular genitive form (neuter or masculine) by a standard Latin idiom (sui/nostri/vestri with a singular genitive gerundive).

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §3.4.1-3.4.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.4.1-3.4.4

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

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.