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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.65.1-7.65.5

Defense of the Province and Levy of German Cavalry

Passage 323 of 404 · Latin

Summary

The Roman forces prepare for emergencies with garrisons from the Province, while the Allobroges defend their borders. To counter the enemy's superior cavalry, Caesar summons German cavalry and light infantry, providing them with horses taken from Roman officers and cavalry.

§7.65.1Ad hos omnes casus provisa erant praesidia cohortium duarum et viginti, quae ex ipsa provincia ab Lucio Caesare legato ad omnes partes opponebantur.
Against all these emergencies, garrisons of twenty-two cohorts had been provided, which were stationed by the lieutenant Lucius Caesar at all points from the Province itself.
§7.65.2Helvii sua sponte cum finitimis proelio congressi pelluntur et Gaio Valerio Donnotauro, Caburi filio, principe civitatis, compluribusque aliis interfectis intra oppida ac muros compelluntur.
The Helvii, of their own accord, having engaged in battle with their neighbors, were repulsed, and after Gaius Valerius Donnotaurus, the son of Caburus, a chief of the state, and several others had been killed, they were driven within their towns and walls.
§7.65.3Allobroges crebris ad Rhodanum dispositis praesidiis magna cum cura et diligentia suos fines tuentur.
The Allobroges, having stationed frequent garrisons along the Rhone, defended their boundaries with great care and diligence.
§7.65.4Caesar, quod hostes equitatu superiores esse intellegebat et interclusis omnibus itineribus nulla re ex provincia atque Italia sublevari poterat, trans Rhenum in Germaniam mittit ad eas civitates quas superioribus annis pacaverat, equitesque ab his arcessit et levis armaturae pedites, qui inter eos proeliari consuerant.
Caesar, because he understood that the enemy were superior in cavalry, and, since all the roads were blocked, he could not be reinforced in any way from the Province and Italy, sent across the Rhine into Germany to those states which he had pacified in previous years, and summoned from them cavalry and light-armed infantry, who had been accustomed to fight among them.
§7.65.5Eorum adventu, quod minus idoneis equis utebantur, a tribunis militum reliquisque equitibus Romanis atque evocatis equos sumit Germanisque distribuit.
On their arrival, because they used horses that were less suitable, he took horses from the military tribunes and the rest of the Roman cavalry and the reenlisted veterans, and distributed them to the Germans.

Notes

  1. §7.65.1cohortium duarum et viginti — A genitive of definition or quality explaining the composition of the noun 'praesidia', meaning forces consisting of twenty-two cohorts.
  2. §7.65.4interclusis omnibus itineribus — An ablative absolute expressing cause ('since all roads were blocked') modifying the verb 'poterat' within the 'quod' clause. This explains why Caesar could not receive any reinforcements.
  3. §7.65.5evocatis — An ablative plural noun (from 'evocatus', reenlisted veterans) governed by the preposition 'a', in apposition with 'tribunis militum' and 'equitibus Romanis', indicating from whom Caesar took the horses.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.65.1-7.65.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.65.1-7.65.5

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