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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §4.28.1-4.28.3

Dispersal of the Roman Cavalry Transports by Storm

Passage 146 of 404 · Latin

Summary

After peace is established, eighteen ships carrying the cavalry set sail for Britain but are struck by a violent storm; some are driven back to their starting point, while others are cast to the south-west and forced to return to the continent in the dark.

§4.28.1His rebus pace confirmata, post diem quartum quam est in Britanniam ventum naves XVIII, de quibus supra demonstratum est, quae equites sustulerant, ex superiore portu leni vento solverunt.
When peace had been established by these transactions, on the fourth day after their arrival in Britain, the eighteen ships, which have been mentioned above and which had taken the cavalry on board, set sail from the upper port with a gentle wind.
§4.28.2Quae cum adpropinquarent Britanniae et ex castris viderentur, tanta tempestas subito coorta est ut nulla earum cursum tenere posset, sed aliae eodem unde erant profectae referrentur, aliae ad inferiorem partem insulae, quae est propius solis occasum, magno suo cum periculo deicerentur;
When these were approaching Britain and were seen from the camp, so great a storm suddenly arose that none of them could keep their course, but some were carried back to the same place from which they had started, while others were driven down, with great danger to themselves, to the lower part of the island, which is nearer to the west.
§4.28.3quae tamen ancoris iactis cum fluctibus complerentur, necessario adversa nocte in altum provectae continentem petierunt.
And although these, after casting anchor, were being filled with the waves, they were of necessity, as night was coming on, carried out into the deep and made for the continent.

Notes

  1. 4.28.1post diem quartum quam — An expression based on the Roman inclusive reckoning (where the starting day is counted as the first day). It practically means "on the third day after" their arrival.
  2. 4.28.1est in Britanniam ventum — An impersonal passive construction using the perfect passive third-person singular neuter of the intransitive verb venire, meaning "they arrived in Britain."
  3. 4.28.2propius solis occasum — The comparative adverb propius functions prepositionally, governing the accusative solis occasum ("the setting of the sun", i.e., the west) to mean "nearer to the west."
  4. 4.28.3quae tamen ancoris iactis cum fluctibus complerentur — The relative pronoun quae is a connecting relative referring to the aliae (the ships driven to the south-west) in the preceding sentence. The cum clause with the subjunctive complerentur expresses the adversarial circumstance or cause ("since they were being filled with waves").
  5. 4.28.3adversa nocte — An ablative of circumstance combining the adjective adversus (opposing, coming on) and the noun nox (night). It indicates sailing under the difficult conditions of "night coming on" or "against the darkness of the night."

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §4.28.1-4.28.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.28.1-4.28.3

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