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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §6.1.1-6.1.4

Caesar's Levy and Reinforcements from Pompey

Passage 215 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar holds a levy in anticipation of greater unrest in Gaul and requests Gnaeus Pompey to send reinforcements. Pompey grants this, and before winter ends, three new legions are mobilized, demonstrating the immense resources and discipline of Rome.

§6.1.1Multis de causis Caesar maiorem Galliae motum exspectans per Marcum Silanum, Gaium Antistium Reginum, Titum Sextium legatos delectum habere instituit.
For many reasons, Caesar, expecting a greater commotion in Gaul, resolved to hold a levy through his lieutenants Marcus Silanus, Gaius Antistius Reginus, and Titus Sextius.
§6.1.2Simul ab Gnaeo Pompeio proconsule petit, quoniam ipse ad urbem cum imperio rei publicae causa remaneret, quos ex Cisalpina Gallia consulis sacramento rogavisset, §6.1.3ad signa convenire et ad se proficisci iuberet, magni interesse etiam in reliquum tempus ad opinionem Galliae existimans tantas videri Italiae facultates ut, si quid esset in bello detrimenti acceptum, non modo id brevi tempore sarciri, sed etiam maioribus augeri copiis posset.
At the same time, he requested of the proconsul Gnaeus Pompey, since he himself was remaining near the city with military command for the sake of the commonwealth, that he should order those whom he had enlisted from Cisalpine Gaul under a consul's oath to assemble under the standards and set out to him, thinking that it was of great importance, even for the future, for the opinion of Gaul, that the resources of Italy should appear so great that, if any loss were sustained in the war, not only could it be repaired in a short time, but even increased with larger forces.
§6.1.4Quod cum Pompeius et rei publicae et amicitiae tribuisset, celeriter confecto per suos dilectu tribus ante exactam hiemem et constitutis et adductis legionibus duplicatoque earum cohortium numero, quas cum Quinto Titurio amiserat, et celeritate et copiis docuit, quid populi Romani disciplina atque opes possent.
When Pompey had granted this request both for the sake of the commonwealth and of friendship, the levy having been quickly completed by his own men, three legions having been both formed and brought to him before the end of the winter, and the number of those cohorts which he had lost with Quintus Titurius having been doubled, he showed both by his speed and by his forces what the discipline and resources of the Roman people could accomplish.

Notes

  1. §6.1.2iuberet — This is an imperfect subjunctive functioning as an indirect command (with `ut` omitted) depending on the main verb `petit`, which is a historical present. Because the historical present represents a past action, it is treated as a secondary (historical) tense in the sequence of tenses (consecutio temporum), thereby taking the imperfect subjunctive rather than the present subjunctive (`iubeat`).
  2. §6.1.3magni — This is a genitive of value, used with the impersonal verb `interesse` to express "to be of great importance." The grammatical subject of `interesse` is the following accusative-with-infinitive clause: `tantas videri Italiae facultates ut...`, where `facultates` is the subject accusative and `videri` is the infinitive.
  3. §6.1.4Quod — This is a relative pronoun in the neuter accusative singular, serving as a relative connection (nexus relativus) at the beginning of the sentence to refer back to the request of Caesar described in the previous sentence. Combined with the conjunction `cum` in `Quod cum...`, it means "When Pompey had [granted] this," introducing a subordinate clause of time/cause with the pluperfect subjunctive `tribuisset`.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §6.1.1-6.1.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:6.1.1-6.1.4

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