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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.23.1-7.23.5

Construction and Defensive Merits of Gallic Walls

Passage 281 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar describes in detail the characteristic construction of Gallic walls, which combine alternating timber beams, stones, and earth, offering both aesthetic order and high defensive capabilities against fire and battering rams.

§7.23.1Muri autem omnes Gallici hac fere forma sunt.
Now all Gallic walls are commonly of the following form.
Trabes derectae perpetuae in longitudinem paribus intervallis, distantes inter se binos pedes, in solo collocantur.
Straight beams, continuous throughout their length, are placed on the ground at equal intervals, two feet apart from each other.
§7.23.2Hae revinciuntur introrsus et multo aggere vestiuntur: ea autem, quae diximus, intervalla grandibus in fronte saxis effarciuntur.
These are bound together on the inside and covered with a large quantity of earth; but those intervals which we have mentioned are filled up in the front with large stones.
§7.23.3His collocatis et coagmentatis alius insuper ordo additur, ut idem illud intervallum servetur neque inter se contingant trabes, sed paribus intermissae spatiis singulae singulis saxis interiectis arte contineantur.
When these have been laid and cemented together, another row is added on top, in such a way that the same interval is preserved and the beams do not touch one another, but, kept apart by equal spaces, each individual beam is firmly held by individual stones placed between them.
§7.23.4Sic deinceps omne opus contexitur, dum iusta muri altitudo expleatur.
In this manner the whole work is successively knit together until the proper height of the wall is completed.
§7.23.5Hoc cum in speciem varietatemque opus deforme non est alternis trabibus ac saxis, quae rectis lineis suos ordines servant, tum ad utilitatem et defensionem urbium summam habet opportunitatem, quod et ab incendio lapis et ab ariete materia defendit, quae perpetuis trabibus pedes quadragenos plerumque introrsus revincta neque perrumpi neque distrahi potest.
This work is not only far from unsightly in appearance and variety, with the alternate beams and stones preserving their ranks in straight lines, but also possesses the greatest advantage for the utility and defense of cities, because the stone protects it from fire and the timber from the battering ram, which, being bound together on the inside for the most part by continuous beams of forty feet, can neither be broken through nor pulled asunder.

Notes

  1. 7.23.1derectae — This adjective indicates that the beams are laid at right angles to the face of the wall (i.e., in the direction of its depth/thickness), rather than running parallel to it.
  2. 7.23.5deforme non est — An example of litotes. The negative expression 'is not unsightly' serves to emphasize that the alternating pattern of beams and stones is orderly and aesthetically pleasing.
  3. 7.23.5quae — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quae (feminine singular nominative) is the nearby noun materia. It agrees in gender and number with the participle revincta and the verb potest. The phrase pedes quadragenos is an accusative of extent of space indicating 'forty feet long'.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.23.1-7.23.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.23.1-7.23.5

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