§5.49.1Galli re cognita per exploratores obsidionem relinquunt, ad Caesarem omnibus copiis contendunt.
The Gauls, having learned of this situation through scouts, abandoned the siege and marched against Caesar with all their forces.
Hae erant armata circiter milia LX.
These consisted of about sixty thousand armed men.
§5.49.2Cicero data facultate Gallum ab eodem Verticone, quem supra demonstravimus, repetit, qui litteras ad Caesarem deferat; hunc admonet, iter caute diligenterque faciat:
Cicero, having obtained the opportunity, again requested a Gaul from the same Vertico whom we mentioned above, to carry a letter to Caesar; he cautioned him to make his journey cautiously and diligently.
§5.49.3perscribit in litteris hostes ab se discessisse omnemque ad eum multitudinem convertisse.
In the letter he wrote in detail that the enemy had departed from him and had turned their entire multitude toward him (Caesar).
§5.49.4Quibus litteris circiter media nocte Caesar adlatis suos facit certiores eosque ad dimicandum animo confirmat.
This letter having been delivered about midnight, Caesar informed his men and encouraged them in spirit for the fight.
§5.49.5Postero die luce prima movet castra et circiter milia passuum quattuor progressus trans vallem et rivum multitudinem hostium conspicatur.
On the following day, at dawn, he moved his camp, and having advanced about four miles, he caught sight of the multitude of the enemy across a valley and a river.
§5.49.6Erat magni periculi res tantulis copiis iniquo loco dimicare; tum, quoniam obsidione liberatum Ciceronem sciebat, aequo animo remittendum de celeritate existimabat:
It was a matter of great danger to fight in an unfavorable position with such small forces; moreover, since he knew that Cicero had been freed from the siege, he thought he might slacken his speed with an easy mind.
§5.49.7consedit et quam aequissimo loco potest castra communit atque haec, etsi erant exigua per se vix hominum milium septem praesertim nullis cum impedimentis, tamen angustiis viarum quam maxime potest contrahit, eo consilio, ut in summam contemptionem hostibus veniat.
He encamped and fortified his camp in as favorable a position as possible; and although this was small in itself, being for scarcely seven thousand men, especially as they had no baggage, yet he contracted it by narrowing the passages as much as possible, with the design that he might come into the greatest contempt in the eyes of the enemy.
§5.49.8Interim speculatoribus in omnes partes dimissis explorat quo commodissime itinere vallem transire possit.
In the meantime, having dispatched scouts in all directions, he explored by what route he could cross the valley most conveniently.