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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §5.10.1-5.10.3

Pursuit of the Enemy and News of the Fleet Wrecked by Storm

Passage 166 of 404 · Latin

Summary

On the following morning, Caesar dispatched forces to pursue the enemy, but shortly after their departure, messengers arrived from Atrius reporting that a violent storm on the previous night had severely damaged and cast ashore almost all the ships.

§5.10.1Postridie eius diei mane tripertito milites equitesque in expeditionem misit, ut eos qui fugerant persequerentur.
On the morning of the following day, Caesar sent the soldiers and cavalry in three divisions on an expedition, to pursue those who had fled.
§5.10.2His aliquantum itineris progressis, cum iam extremi essent in prospectu, equites a Quinto Atrio ad Caesarem venerunt, qui nuntiarent superiore nocte maxima coorta tempestate prope omnes naves adflictas atque in litore eiectas esse, quod neque ancorae funesque subsisterent, neque nautae gubernatoresque vim tempestatis pati possent; §5.10.3itaque ex eo concursu navium magnum esse incommodum acceptum.
When these had advanced some distance, when the rear-guard was just in sight, cavalry came from Quintus Atrius to Caesar to report that on the previous night, a very great storm having arisen, almost all the ships had been damaged and cast ashore, because neither anchors nor ropes held, nor could the sailors and pilots withstand the violence of the storm; and therefore great damage had been sustained from that collision of the ships.

Notes

  1. §5.10.2His aliquantum itineris progressis — An ablative absolute construction, consisting of the pronoun His (referring back to the milites equitesque) and the perfect participle progressis. aliquantum is an accusative of extent of space, governing the partitive genitive itineris, meaning 'some distance of the journey.'
  2. §5.10.2cum iam extremi essent in prospectu — cum is a temporal conjunction with the imperfect subjunctive essent. The adjective extremi (the rearmost) can refer either to the rear-guard of the Roman pursuing force or to the rear of the fleeing enemy; here it is commonly understood as the rear of the Roman forces, indicating that they were still close enough to be in sight of the camp when the messengers arrived.
  3. §5.10.2qui nuntiarent — A relative clause of purpose, where the relative pronoun qui is followed by the imperfect subjunctive nuntiarent (equivalent to ut ii nuntiarent, 'to report' or 'who were to report').
  4. §5.10.3magnum esse incommodum acceptum — The accusative and infinitive (A.C.I.) construction inside the indirect discourse introduced by nuntiarent continues here with itaque. The auxiliary verb esse is omitted after the participle acceptum, with magnum incommodum serving as the subject accusative.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §5.10.1-5.10.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.10.1-5.10.3

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