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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.51.1-7.51.4

Roman Repulse and Halting of the Gallic Pursuit

Passage 309 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The Roman forces are driven from their position with heavy losses, but they manage to reform in the plain with the support of the tenth and thirteenth legions, causing Vercingetorix to withdraw his troops.

§7.51.1Nostri, cum undique premerentur, XLVI centurionibus amissis deiecti sunt loco.
Our men, being pressed on all sides, were driven from their position, with the loss of forty-six centurions.
Sed intolerantius Gallos insequentes legio decima tardavit, quae pro subsidio paulo aequiore loco constiterat.
But the tenth legion, which had taken its stand as a reserve in a slightly more level place, checked the Gauls as they pursued too eagerly.
§7.51.2Hanc rursus XIII legionis cohortes exceperunt, quae ex castris minoribus eductae cum Tito Sextio legato ceperant locum superiorem.
These in turn were supported by the cohorts of the thirteenth legion, which, having been drawn out of the smaller camp, had occupied a higher position with the lieutenant Titus Sextius.
§7.51.3Legiones, ubi primum planitiem attigerunt, infestis contra hostes signis constiterunt.
The legions, as soon as they reached the plain, halted with their standards faced combat-ready against the enemy.
§7.51.4Vercingetorix ab radicibus collis suos intra munitiones reduxit.
Vercingetorix drew back his men from the foot of the hill within the fortifications.
Eo die milites sunt paulo minus septingenti desiderati.
On that day, a little fewer than seven hundred soldiers were missing.

Notes

  1. §7.51.1loco — Ablative of separation with deiecti sunt, used without a preposition to mean 'from the position'.
  2. §7.51.1intolerantius — Comparative of the adverb intoleranter ('relentlessly'), used here as an absolute comparative ('too eagerly', 'excessively') to describe the Gauls' pursuit.
  3. §7.51.3infestis signis — Ablative of attendant circumstance or manner. A military idiom: literally 'with hostile standards', meaning 'in battle array' or 'with standards ready for combat'.
  4. §7.51.4paulo minus septingenti — An idiomatic construction where quam ('than') is omitted after the comparative minus, which directly modifies the numeral septingenti ('seven hundred'). paulo is an ablative of degree of difference, meaning 'a little fewer than seven hundred' as a whole.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.51.1-7.51.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.51.1-7.51.4

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