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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §4.31.1-4.31.3

Caesar Repairs the Damaged Fleet

Passage 149 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar, anticipating the rebellion, prepares for emergencies by repairing the damaged ships using materials from the most ruined ones, successfully securing the navigability of the remaining fleet despite losing twelve ships.

§4.31.1At Caesar, etsi nondum eorum consilia cognoverat, tamen et ex eventu navium suarum et ex eo quod obsides dare intermiserant fore id quod accidit suspicabatur.
But Caesar, although he had not yet learned of their plans, nevertheless, both from what had happened to his ships and from the fact that they had interrupted the delivery of hostages, suspected that what actually happened would occur.
§4.31.2Itaque ad omnes casus subsidia comparabat.
Therefore, he prepared measures against every emergency.
Nam et frumentum ex agris cotidie in castra conferebat et, quae gravissime adflictae erant naves, earum materia atque aere ad reliquas reficiendas utebatur et quae ad eas res erant usui ex continenti comportari iubebat.
For he not only brought grain daily from the fields into the camp, but also used the timber and bronze of those ships which had been most severely damaged to repair the rest, and ordered the things which were of use for these purposes to be brought from the continent.
§4.31.3Itaque, cum summo studio a militibus administraretur, XII navibus amissis, reliquis ut navigari satis commode posset effecit.
And so, as the work was carried out by the soldiers with the greatest zeal, although twelve ships were lost, he made it possible for the rest to be sailed with sufficient convenience.

Notes

  1. 4.31.1fore id quod accidit — An accusative and infinitive construction. 'fore' (the future infinitive, 'futurum esse') has the relative clause 'id quod accidit' (that which actually happened) as its subject, with the whole clause functioning as the object of 'suspicabatur'.
  2. 4.31.2quae gravissime adflictae erant naves — Attraction of the antecedent. The antecedent 'naves' is incorporated into the relative clause, and is referred back to in the main clause by the demonstrative 'earum'. Logically, it corresponds to 'earum navium, quae...'.
  3. 4.31.2usui — Dative of purpose. In the clause 'quae ad eas res erant usui', 'usui' (for use/of service) serves as a dative of purpose, functioning here as a predicate.
  4. 4.31.3navigari... posset — The verb 'navigari' is the passive infinitive of the intransitive verb 'navigare', used here impersonally ('that it could be sailed' i.e., 'that navigation could be carried out'). It functions as the subject of 'posset', meaning 'it was made possible for sailing to be done with sufficient convenience'.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §4.31.1-4.31.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.31.1-4.31.3

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