§7.17.1Castris ad eam partem oppidi positis Caesar, quae intermissa [a] flumine et a paludibus aditum, ut supra diximus, angustum habebat, aggerem apparare, vineas agere, turres duas constituere coepit: nam circumvallare loci natura prohibebat.
Caesar, having pitched his camp near that part of the town which, as we have said above, being broken by the river and the marshes, had a narrow approach, began to prepare a terrace, to advance the mantlets, and to erect two towers; for the nature of the ground prevented him from drawing a line of circumvallation.
§7.17.2De re frumentaria Boios atque Aeduos adhortari non destitit; quorum alteri, quod nullo studio agebant, non multum adiuvabant, alteri non magnis facultatibus, quod civitas erat exigua et infirma, celeriter quod habuerunt consumpserunt.
He did not cease to importune the Boii and the Aedui for grain; of whom the one (the Aedui), because they acted with no zeal, did not assist much; the other (the Boii), because their state was small and weak, had no great resources, and quickly consumed what they had.
§7.17.3Summa difficultate rei frumentariae adfecto exercitu tenuitate Boiorum, indiligentia Aeduorum, incendiis aedificiorum, usque eo ut complures dies frumento milites caruerint et pecore ex longinquioribus vicis adacto extremam famem sustentarent, nulla tamen vox est ab eis audita populi Romani maiestate et superioribus victoriis indigna.
Although the army was affected by the greatest scarcity of grain, owing to the poverty of the Boii, the negligence of the Aedui, and the burning of the buildings, to such a degree that for several days the soldiers were without grain, and supported their extreme hunger only by driving in cattle from the more distant villages, yet no word was heard from them which was unworthy of the majesty of the Roman people and their former victories.
§7.17.4Quin etiam Caesar cum in opere singulas legiones appellaret et, si acerbius inopiam ferrent, se dimissurum oppugnationem diceret, universi ab eo, ne id faceret, petebant: §7.17.5sic se complures annos illo imperante meruisse, ut nullam ignominiam acciperent, nusquam infecta re discederent: §7.17.6hoc se ignominiae laturos loco, si inceptam oppugnationem reliquissent: §7.17.7praestare omnes perferre acerbitates, quam non civibus Romanis, qui Cenabi perfidia Gallorum interissent, parentarent.
Nay, more, when Caesar addressed the legions one by one while at work, and said that he would raise the siege if they felt the scarcity too severe, they all besought him not to do so, saying that they had served for several years under his command in such a manner that they had never incurred disgrace, and had never withdrawn from any place without accomplishing their purpose; that they would regard it as a disgrace if they should abandon the siege which they had begun; that it was better to endure all hardships than not to avenge the Roman citizens who had perished at Cenabum by the perfidy of the Gauls.
§7.17.8Haec eadem centurionibus tribunisque militum mandabant, ut per eos ad Caesarem deferrentur.
They gave these same instructions to the centurions and military tribunes, that they might be communicated through them to Caesar.