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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.48.1-7.48.4

Arrival of Gallic Reinforcements and Roman Disadvantage

Passage 306 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Gallic reinforcements rush from the other side of the town to strengthen their defense, while the women implore their own men to fight. The exhausted Romans face a disadvantageous struggle due to unfavorable terrain and superior enemy numbers.

§7.48.1Interim ei qui ad alteram partem oppidi, ut supra demonstravimus, munitionis causa convenerant, primo exaudito clamore, inde etiam crebris nuntiis incitati, oppidum a Romanis teneri, praemissis equitibus magno concursu eo contenderunt.
Meanwhile, those who, as we have shown above, had assembled at the other part of the town for the purpose of fortifying it, having first heard the shout, and then being further aroused by frequent reports that the town was held by the Romans, sent forward their cavalry and hastened thither in a great crowd.
§7.48.2Eorum ut quisque primus venerat, sub muro consistebat suorumque pugnantium numerum augebat.
As each of them arrived first, he took his stand under the wall and increased the number of his own men who were fighting.
§7.48.3Quorum cum magna multitudo convenisset, matres familiae, quae paulo ante Romanis de muro manus tendebant, suos obtestari et more Gallico passum capillum ostentare liberosque in conspectum proferre coeperunt.
When a great multitude of them had assembled, the mothers of families, who a little before were stretching out their hands from the wall to the Romans, began to implore their own people, and, according to the Gallic custom, to show their disheveled hair and bring their children into view.
§7.48.4Erat Romanis nec loco nec numero aequa contentio; simul et cursu et spatio pugnae defatigati non facile recentes atque integros sustinebant.
The contest was not equal for the Romans, either in position or in numbers; at the same time, exhausted by running and the duration of the battle, they could not easily withstand those who were fresh and unimpaired.

Notes

  1. §7.48.1oppidum a Romanis teneri — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction meaning "that the town was held by the Romans." It functions as an appositive explaining the content of the preceding phrase `crebris nuntiis` (frequent reports), or depends on the implicit sense of hearing/knowing implied by it.
  2. §7.48.2ut quisque — The conjunction `ut` combined with `quisque` (each) expresses a proportional or iterative temporal relation, meaning "as each one successively..." or "whoever arrived, in order of arrival."
  3. §7.48.3Quorum — A connection of the relative pronoun (quae/qui at the beginning of a sentence), functioning like the demonstrative pronoun `eorum` (of them). The antecedent is the Gallic soldiers in the preceding sentence. It is a genitive modifying `magna multitudo` within the `cum` clause.
  4. §7.48.4Erat Romanis — A dative of possession construction. The dative `Romanis` with `erat` literally means "there was to the Romans," expressing "the Romans had..." or "it was for the Romans..."

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.48.1-7.48.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.48.1-7.48.4

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