Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §5.40.1-5.40.7

Cicero's Fortification of the Camp Under Siege

Passage 196 of 404 · Latin

Summary

As the enemy's siege intensifies, the Roman army under Cicero works tirelessly by night to build fortifications and prepare weapons, while Cicero himself, despite his failing health, refuses to rest until forced by his concerned soldiers.

§5.40.1Mittuntur ad Caesarem confestim ab Cicerone litterae magnis propositis praemiis, si pertulissent: obsessis omnibus viis missi intercipiuntur.
Letters are immediately sent from Cicero to Caesar, with great rewards promised if they should deliver them; but, as all the ways are blockaded, those who are sent are intercepted.
§5.40.2Noctu ex materia, quam munitionis causa comportaverant, turres admodum CXX excitantur incredibili celeritate; quae deesse operi videbantur, perficiuntur.
By night, from the timber which they had brought together for the purpose of fortification, as many as a hundred and twenty towers are erected with incredible speed; whatever seemed wanting to the work is completed.
§5.40.3Hostes postero die multo maioribus coactis copiis castra oppugnant, fossam complent.
The enemy on the following day, having assembled a much larger force, attack the camp and fill up the ditch.
Eadem ratione, qua pridie, ab nostris resistitur:
Resistance is made by our men in the same manner as the day before.
§5.40.4hoc idem reliquis deinceps fit diebus.
This same thing happens successively on the remaining days.
§5.40.5Nulla pars nocturni temporis ad laborem intermittitur; non aegris, non vulneratis facultas quietis datur.
No part of the night season is left uninterrupted from labor; no opportunity for rest is given to the sick, or to the wounded.
§5.40.6Quaecumque ad proximi diei oppugnationem opus sunt noctu comparantur; multae praeustae sudes, magnus muralium pilorum numerus instituitur; turres contabulantur, pinnae loricaeque ex cratibus attexuntur.
Whatever things are necessary for the next day's defense are prepared by night; many stakes burnt at the point, and a great number of wall-javelins are got ready; the towers are boarded over, and battlements and parapets of wickerwork are woven on.
§5.40.7Ipse Cicero, cum tenuissima valetudine esset, ne nocturnum quidem sibi tempus ad quietem relinquebat, ut ultro militum concursu ac vocibus sibi parcere cogeretur.
Cicero himself, though he was in extremely delicate health, did not leave even the night-time for rest, so that he was actually forced, by the spontaneous rush and entreaties of the soldiers, to spare himself.

Notes

  1. §5.40.1si pertulissent — Pluperfect subjunctive in a conditional clause. It represents a future perfect indicative (si pertulerint 'if they should have delivered') in indirect discourse, shifted to the pluperfect subjunctive due to the past sequence triggered by the historical present main verb mittuntur.
  2. §5.40.3ab nostris resistitur — Impersonal passive of the intransitive verb resistere. In Latin, passive forms of intransitive verbs are used only impersonally (in the 3rd person singular), with the agent expressed by ab + ablative. Literally, 'it is resisted by our men', which translates actively to 'our men resist'.
  3. §5.40.7cum tenuissima valetudine esset — The conjunction cum introduces a concessive clause ('although') and takes the subjunctive esset. tenuissima valetudine is an ablative of quality, describing the physical state of the subject, Cicero.
  4. §5.40.7sibi parcere cogeretur — The ut clause expresses result ('so that...') and takes the subjunctive cogeretur. The infinitive parcere is an intransitive verb that governs the dative, thus taking the dative of the reflexive pronoun sibi.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §5.40.1-5.40.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.40.1-5.40.7

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.