§5.18.1Caesar cognito consilio eorum ad flumen Tamesim in fines Cassivellauni exercitum duxit; quod flumen uno omnino loco pedibus, atque hoc aegre, transiri potest.
Caesar, having learned their plan, led his army to the river Thames into the territories of Cassivellaunus; which river can be crossed on foot in only one place, and even there with difficulty.
§5.18.2Eo cum venisset, animum advertit ad alteram fluminis ripam magnas esse copias hostium instructas; §5.18.3ripa autem erat acutis sudibus praefixis munita, eiusdemque generis sub aqua defixae sudes flumine tegebantur.
When he had arrived there, he observed that large forces of the enemy were drawn up on the opposite bank of the river; moreover, the bank was fortified with sharp stakes fixed along it, and stakes of the same kind, driven in beneath the water, were covered by the river.
§5.18.4His rebus cognitis a captivis perfugisque Caesar praemisso equitatu confestim legiones subsequi iussit.
Having learned these things from prisoners and deserters, Caesar, sending the cavalry ahead, ordered the legions to follow them immediately.
§5.18.5Sed ea celeritate atque eo impetu milites ierunt, cum capite solo ex aqua exstarent, ut hostes impetum legionum atque equitum sustinere non possent ripasque dimitterent ac se fugae mandarent.
But the soldiers advanced with such speed and such impetuosity, although they had only their heads above water, that the enemy could not withstand the charge of the legions and cavalry, but abandoned the banks and betook themselves to flight.