Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.26.1-7.26.5

Gallic Plan to Flee by Night Foiled by Women

Passage 284 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The Gauls plan to escape from the town by night, but they abandon the plan due to the desperate entreaties of the women and the fear of being intercepted after the women signal the escape to the Romans.

§7.26.1Omnia experti Galli, quod res nulla successerat, postero die consilium ceperunt ex oppido profugere hortante et iubente Vercingetorige.
The Gauls, having tried everything, since nothing had succeeded, formed a plan on the following day to flee from the town at the instigation and command of Vercingetorix.
§7.26.2Id silentio noctis conati non magna iactura suorum sese effecturos sperabant, propterea quod neque longe ab oppido castra Vercingetorigis aberant, et palus, quae perpetua intercedebat, Romanos ad insequendum tardabat.
Attempting this in the silence of the night, they hoped that they would accomplish it without great loss of their own men, for the reason that the camp of Vercingetorix was not far distant from the town, and a marsh, which lay continuously between, would delay the Romans in pursuit.
§7.26.3Iamque hoc facere noctu apparabant, cum matres familiae repente in publicum procurrerunt flentesque proiectae ad pedes suorum omnibus precibus petierunt, ne se et communes liberos hostibus ad supplicium dederent, quos ad capiendam fugam naturae et virium infirmitas impediret.
And now they were preparing to do this by night, when suddenly the mothers of families rushed out into the open and, weeping and throwing themselves at the feet of their relatives, implored them with every entreaty not to surrender themselves and their common children to the enemy for punishment, whom the weakness of their nature and strength prevented from taking flight.
§7.26.4Vbi eos in sententia perstare viderunt, quod plerumque in summo periculo timor misericordiam non recipit, conclamare et significare de fuga Romanis coeperunt.
When they saw that the men persisted in their resolution—because, for the most part, in extreme danger fear does not admit of pity—they began to cry out together and signal to the Romans about the flight.
§7.26.5Quo timore perterriti Galli, ne ab equitatu Romanorum viae praeoccuparentur, consilio destiterunt.
Terrified by this fear, lest the roads should be pre-occupied by the Roman cavalry, the Gauls desisted from their plan.

Notes

  1. §7.26.1hortante et iubente Vercingetorige — Ablative absolute construction with the present participles 'hortante' and 'iubente', with 'Vercingetorige' acting as the logical subject, indicating the instigation and command of Vercingetorix.
  2. §7.26.2non magna iactura suorum sese effecturos sperabant — An Accusative with Infinitive (AcI) construction dependent on 'sperabant', where 'sese' is the subject accusative and 'effecturos [esse]' is the future active infinitive. The ablative phrase 'non magna iactura' expresses the manner or attendant circumstance.
  3. §7.26.3cum matres familiae repente in publicum procurrerunt — An instance of 'cum inversum' (inverted cum), where the main clause sets the scene with an imperfect verb ('apparabant') and the 'cum' clause introduces a sudden, decisive action with a perfect indicative verb ('procurrerunt').
  4. §7.26.3quos ad capiendam fugam naturae et virium infirmitas impediret — The subjunctive 'impediret' in the relative clause functions either as a relative clause of characteristic or as a suboblique clause expressing the subjective reasoning of the mothers. 'ad capiendam fugam' is a gerundive construction expressing purpose or direction.
  5. §7.26.5Quo timore perterriti — An instance of the connecting relative (*qui* at the beginning of a sentence referring back to the previous context). 'Quo' functions like a demonstrative adjective modifying 'timore' ('terrified by this fear').

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.26.1-7.26.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.26.1-7.26.5

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