Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §5.32.1-5.32.2

Enemy Ambush in the Woods and Attack in the Ravine

Passage 188 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Having detected the departure of the Roman forces, the enemy sets up an ambush in the woods two miles away and launches a sudden attack as the column descends into a ravine.

§5.32.1At hostes, posteaquam ex nocturno fremitu vigiliisque de profectione eorum senserunt, collocatis insidiis bipertito in silvis opportuno atque occulto loco a milibus passuum circiter duobus Romanorum adventum exspectabant, §5.32.2et cum se maior pars agminis in magnam convallem demisisset, ex utraque parte eius vallis subito se ostenderunt novissimosque premere et primos prohibere ascensu atque iniquissimo nostris loco proelium committere coeperunt.
But the enemy, after they perceived their departure from the noise during the night and their watching, having placed ambushes in two parts in the woods in an advantageous and hidden place about two miles off, were awaiting the arrival of the Romans; and when the greater part of the column had descended into a large ravine, they suddenly showed themselves from both sides of that ravine, and began to harass the rear, to prevent the vanguard from ascending, and to join battle in a place most disadvantageous to our men.

Notes

  1. 5.32.1a milibus passuum circiter duobus — The preposition "a" ("ab") is used here to denote distance, meaning "at a distance of about two miles" from the point of reference (the Roman camp).
  2. 5.32.2ascensu — Ablative of separation used with the verb "prohibere", meaning "to prevent [them] from ascending."
  3. 5.32.2nostris — Dative of reference depending on the superlative adjective "iniquissimo", meaning "most disadvantageous to our men."

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §5.32.1-5.32.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.32.1-5.32.2

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