Humanitext Reader

Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.42.1-7.42.6

Revolt of the Aedui and Massacre of Roman Citizens

Passage 300 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Incited by the deceptive messages of Litaviccus, the Aedui act without investigation, plundering and murdering Roman citizens, with Convictolitavis further driving the populace to madness.

§7.42.1Dum haec ad Gergoviam geruntur, Aedui primis nuntiis ab Litavicco acceptis nullum sibi ad cognoscendum spatium relinquunt.
While these things were being done at Gergovia, the Aedui, on receiving the first messages from Litaviccus, left themselves no time for investigation.
§7.42.2Impellit alios avaritia, alios iracundia et temeritas, quae maxime illi hominum generi est innata, ut levem auditionem habeant pro re comperta.
Avarice impelled some, anger and rashness others, which is characteristically innate in that race of men, so that they treated a groundless rumor as an established fact.
§7.42.3Bona civium Romanorum diripiunt, caedes faciunt, in servitutem abstrahunt.
They plundered the property of Roman citizens, perpetrated massacres, and dragged them away into slavery.
§7.42.4Adiuvat rem proclinatam Convictolitavis plebemque ad furorem impellit, ut facinore admisso ad sanitatem reverti pudeat.
Convictolitavis helped forward the already inclined state of affairs, and incited the populace to madness, so that, once a crime had been committed, they might be ashamed to return to sanity.
§7.42.5Marcum Aristium, tribunum militum, iter ad legionem facientem fide data ex oppido Cabillono educunt: idem facere cogunt eos, qui negotiandi causa ibi constiterant.
They induced Marcus Aristius, a military tribune, who was traveling to his legion, to leave the town of Cabillonum by giving him a pledge of safety; they compelled those who had settled there for the purpose of trading to do the same.
§7.42.6Hos continuo (in) itinere adorti omnibus impedimentis exuunt; repugnantes diem noctemque obsident; multis utrimque interfectis maiorem multitudinem armatorum concitant.
Attacking them immediately on their journey, they stripped them of all their baggage; they besieged those who resisted day and night, and after many had been killed on both sides, they stirred up a still larger multitude of armed men.

Notes

  1. 7.42.2ut levem auditionem habeant pro re comperta — The conjunction `ut` introduces a clause of result, meaning 'with the result that...' or 'so that...'. The phrase `habeant pro...` means 'to regard or treat something as...'. It expresses the practical consequence of the character trait described in the preceding relative clause.
  2. 7.42.4rem proclinatam — Perfect participle of `proclino` (to bend forward, incline), used here metaphorically to mean 'a state of affairs already leaning toward ruin or worsening,' which Convictolitavis further pushes.
  3. 7.42.4ad sanitatem reverti pudeat — `pudeat` is the present subjunctive 3rd person singular of the impersonal verb `pudet` (it shames). The subjunctive is governed by `ut` (denoting purpose or result). The grammatical subject of the impersonal verb is the infinitive phrase `ad sanitatem reverti` (to return to sanity), while the logical subject experiencing the shame (the Aedui, in the accusative) is understood.
  4. 7.42.6omnibus impedimentis exuunt — The verb `exuo` takes an accusative of the person stripped (`Hos`) and an ablative of the thing taken away (`omnibus impedimentis`). Thus, it means 'they strip them of all their baggage.'

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.42.1-7.42.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.42.1-7.42.6

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