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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §4.35.1-4.35.3

Defeat and Pursuit of the Britons before the Camp

Passage 153 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Anticipating that the enemy would flee, Caesar drew up his forces before the camp, routed the enemy as soon as the battle began, pursued them as far as possible to inflict casualties, and returned after burning their buildings.

§4.35.1Caesar, etsi idem quod superioribus diebus acciderat fore videbat, ut, si essent hostes pulsi, celeritate periculum effugerent, tamen nactus equites circiter XXX, quos Commius Atrebas, de quo ante dictum est, secum transportaverat, legiones in acie pro castris constituit.
Caesar, although he saw that the same thing which had happened on former days would occur, namely, that if the enemy were routed, they would escape the danger by their speed, yet having obtained about thirty horsemen, whom Commius the Atreban, of whom mention has been made before, had brought over with him, drew up the legions in order of battle before the camp.
§4.35.2Commisso proelio diutius nostrorum militum impetum hostes ferre non potuerunt ac terga verterunt.
When the battle was joined, the enemy were unable to withstand the attack of our soldiers any longer, and turned their backs.
§4.35.3Quos tanto spatio secuti quantum cursu et viribus efficere potuerunt, complures ex iis occiderunt, deinde omnibus longe lateque aedificiis incensis se in castra receperunt.
Having pursued them as far as their speed and strength allowed, they killed several of them, and then, having burned all their buildings far and wide, retreated to the camp.

Notes

  1. §4.35.1fore... ut... effugerent — The future infinitive fore (contracted from futurum esse) combined with the consecutive ut clause (ut ... effugerent) functions as the object clause in indirect discourse depending on videbat, expressing a future event.
  2. §4.35.1nactus — Perfect participle of the deponent verb nanciscor (to obtain), having an active meaning. It is in the nominative singular masculine, modifying the subject Caesar, and indicates an action prior to the main verb constituit.
  3. §4.35.3Quos — A relative pronoun used for relative connection at the beginning of the sentence, referring back to hostes. It serves as the direct object (accusative plural masculine) of the participle secuti.
  4. §4.35.3tanto spatio ... quantum — spatio is an ablative of space or distance. The correlative construction tanto ... quantum expresses the physical range of the pursuit: 'by as great a distance as they were able to cover by running and strength.'

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §4.35.1-4.35.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:4.35.1-4.35.3

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