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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.2.1-7.2.3

Pledge of the Carnutes and the Gaul Alliance Oath

Passage 260 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The Carnutes promise to be the first to take up arms for the common safety and demand a solemn oath of alliance under their military standards. The council ratifies the oath and disbands.

§7.2.1His rebus agitatis profitentur Carnutes se nullum periculum communis salutis causa recusare principesque ex omnibus bellum facturos pollicentur et, §7.2.2quoniam in praesentia obsidibus cavere inter se non possint ne res efferatur, ut iureiurando ac fide sanciatur, petunt, collatis militaribus signis, quo more eorum gravissima caerimonia continetur, ne facto initio belli ab reliquis deserantur.
These matters having been discussed, the Carnutes declare that they refuse no danger for the sake of the common safety, and promise that they, as the first of all, will make war; and, since at present they cannot secure one another by hostages lest the matter should be divulged, they request that it be ratified by oath and pledge, having brought their military standards together—by which custom their most solemn ceremony is bound—that they may not be deserted by the rest once the beginning of the war is made.
§7.2.3Tum collaudatis Carnutibus, dato iureiurando ab omnibus qui aderant, tempore eius rei constituto ab concilio disceditur.
Then, the Carnutes having been highly praised, and an oath having been taken by all who were present, and the time for this action having been appointed, they depart from the council.

Notes

  1. §7.2.1principesque ex omnibus bellum facturos pollicentur — principesque (principes + que) is nominative plural, functioning predicatively ("as leaders" or "as the first") agreeing with the subject of the main verb pollicentur and the implied subject of the future infinitive facturos [esse].
  2. §7.2.2petunt ... ne facto initio belli ab reliquis deserantur — petunt governs two object clauses: the affirmative ut iureiurando ac fide sanciatur and, after the intervening clauses, the negative ne ... deserantur (that they should not be deserted).
  3. §7.2.3ab concilio disceditur — An impersonal passive construction ("it is departed from the council"), which is standard Latin for "they left the council" or "the council disbanded," focusing on the action rather than the specific agents.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.2.1-7.2.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.2.1-7.2.3

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