Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §5.53.1-5.53.7

Retreat of Indutiomarus and Caesar's Winter Plans

Passage 209 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The news of Caesar's victory spreads with incredible speed, prompting Indutiomarus and others to retreat. Caesar establishes several winter quarters and decides to remain with his army throughout the winter due to widespread unrest in Gaul.

§5.53.1Interim ad Labienum per Remos incredibili celeritate de victoria Caesaris fama perfertur, ut, cum ab hibernis Ciceronis milia passuum abesset circiter LX, eoque post horam nonam diei Caesar pervenisset, ante mediam noctem ad portas castrorum clamor oreretur, quo clamore significatio victoriae gratulatioque ab Remis Labieno fieret.
Meanwhile, the news of Caesar's victory was carried to Labienus through the Remi with incredible speed, so that, although he was about sixty miles away from Cicero's winter quarters, and Caesar had arrived there only after the ninth hour of the day, before midnight a shout arose at the gates of the camp, by which shout the announcement of the victory and congratulation were made to Labienus by the Remi.
§5.53.2Hac fama ad Treveros perlata Indutiomarus, qui postero die castra Labieni oppugnare decreverat, noctu profugit copiasque omnes in Treveros reducit.
When this news was carried to the Treveri, Indutiomarus, who had decided to attack the camp of Labienus on the following day, fled by night and led all his forces back into the territory of the Treveri.
§5.53.3Caesar Fabium cum sua legione remittit in hiberna, ipse cum tribus legionibus circum Samarobrivam trinis hibernis hiemare constituit et, quod tanti motus Galliae exstiterant, totam hiemem ipse ad exercitum manere decrevit.
Caesar sent Fabius back to his winter quarters with his legion, and decided to winter himself with three legions around Samarobriva in three separate winter quarters; and, because such great commotions had arisen in Gaul, he resolved to remain himself with the army for the entire winter.
§5.53.4Nam illo incommodo de Sabini morte perlato omnes fere Galliae civitates de bello consultabant, nuntios legationesque in omnes partes dimittebant et quid reliqui consili caperent atque unde initium belli fieret explorabant nocturnaque in locis desertis concilia habebant.
For when that disaster of Sabinus's death was reported, almost all the states of Gaul were consulting about war, sending messengers and embassies in all directions, inquiring what further plan they should adopt and where the beginning of the war should be made, and holding nocturnal councils in deserted places.
§5.53.5Neque ullum fere totius hiemis tempus sine sollicitudine Caesaris intercessit, quin aliquem de consiliis ac motu Gallorum nuntium acciperet.
Nor did almost any period of the whole winter pass without anxiety for Caesar, or without his receiving some news concerning the plans and movements of the Gauls.
§5.53.6In his ab Lucio Roscio, quem legioni tertiae decimae praefecerat, certior factus est magnas Gallorum copias earum civitatum, quae Armoricae appellantur, oppugnandi sui causa convenisse §5.53.7neque longius milia passuum octo ab hibernis suis afuisse, sed nuntio allato de victoria Caesaris discessisse, adeo ut fugae similis discessus videretur.
Among these reports, he was informed by Lucius Roscius, whom he had put in command of the thirteenth legion, that large forces of the Gauls from those states which are called Armorican had assembled for the purpose of attacking him, and had been not further than eight miles from his winter quarters, but, on the news of Caesar's victory being brought, had departed, so much so that their departure seemed like a flight.

Notes

  1. 5.53.1ut ... oreretur — The ut clause is a clause of result, dependent on the idea of degree implied in incredibili celeritate ('with such incredible speed that...').
  2. 5.53.4quid reliqui consili caperent — quid is an interrogative pronoun introducing an indirect question, governing the partitive genitive reliqui consili ('what further plan'). The verb caperent represents an indirect deliberative subjunctive ('what they should adopt').
  3. 5.53.5quin ... acciperet — The quin clause follows the negative main clause neque ullum ... tempus ... intercessit ('nor did any time pass...'), meaning 'without his receiving...' or 'but that he received...'.
  4. 5.53.6oppugnandi sui causa — sui is the genitive of the reflexive pronoun se. In gerund or gerundive constructions, the genitive sui (which is identical for both singular and plural) is regularly used with the genitive of the gerund/gerundive ending in -ndi to express purpose ('for the purpose of attacking him/them').
  5. 5.53.7neque longius ... afuisse — A continuation of the indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive construction) dependent on certior factus est in §5.53.6. The subject accusative of the infinitives afuisse and discessisse is magnas Gallorum copias from the preceding sentence.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §5.53.1-5.53.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:5.53.1-5.53.7

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.