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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.60.1-7.60.4

Labienus' Diversion and Movement Downstream

Passage 318 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Labienus calls a council in the evening to issue instructions, sending a portion of his forces and boats upstream with great noise as a diversion, while he himself silently leads the main force of three legions downstream to the designated meeting point.

§7.60.1Sub vesperum consilio convocato cohortatus ut ea quae imperasset diligenter industrieque administrarent, naves, quas Metiosedo deduxerat, singulas equitibus Romanis attribuit, et prima confecta vigilia quattuor milia passuum secundo flumine silentio progredi ibique se exspectari iubet.
Having called a council near evening and encouraged them to carry out diligently and industriously those things which he should command, he assigned the ships, which he had brought down from Metiosedum, one by one to Roman knights, and, when the first watch was ended, ordered them to proceed silently four miles downstream and to wait for him there.
§7.60.2Quinque cohortes, quas minime firmas ad dimicandum esse existimabat, castris praesidio relinquit; §7.60.3quinque eiusdem legionis reliquas de media nocte cum omnibus impedimentis adverso flumine magno tumultu proficisci imperat.
He left five cohorts, which he considered least reliable for fighting, as a guard for the camp; the remaining five of the same legion he ordered to set out with all the baggage upstream with great noise after midnight.
§7.60.4Conquirit etiam lintres: has magno sonitu remorum incitatas in eandem partem mittit.
He also searched for small boats; these, driven on with a great sound of oars, he sent in the same direction.
Ipse post paulo silentio egressus cum tribus legionibus eum locum petit quo naves appelli iusserat.
He himself, having gone out silently a little later with three legions, made for the place where he had ordered the ships to be brought to shore.

Notes

  1. §7.60.1se exspectari — An accusative-with-infinitive construction consisting of the reflexive pronoun se (referring to the subject of the main clause, Labienus) and the passive present infinitive exspectari, literally meaning 'that he should be awaited,' which translates to 'he ordered them to wait for him there.'
  2. §7.60.1secundo flumine — An ablative of route consisting of the noun flumen and the adjective secundus (following), meaning 'along the current' or 'downstream.' This stands in contrast with adverso flumine ('upstream') in section 3.
  3. §7.60.2castris praesidio — A double dative construction consisting of the dative of purpose praesidio (as a guard) and the dative of reference castris (for the camp).
  4. §7.60.3quinque eiusdem legionis reliquas — Referring back to the 'five cohorts' left as a guard in section 2, this phrase means 'the remaining five cohorts of the same legion.' It assumes the standard military knowledge that one Roman legion consists of ten cohorts.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.60.1-7.60.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.60.1-7.60.4

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