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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.67.1-7.67.7

Gallic Cavalry Attack and Roman Victory with the Germans

Passage 325 of 404 · Latin

Summary

On the following day, the Gallic cavalry launches a three-pronged attack on the Romans, but through Caesar's timely reinforcement of the lines and the decisive charge of the German cavalry, the Romans emerge victorious and capture three noble Aeduans.

§7.67.1Probata re atque omnibus iureiurando adactis postero die in tres partes distributo equitatu duae se acies ab duobus lateribus ostendunt, una primo agmine iter impedire coepit.
The proposal being approved and all having been bound by an oath, on the following day, the cavalry having been divided into three parts, two columns display themselves on the two flanks, and one began to obstruct the march at the front of the column.
§7.67.2Qua re nuntiata Caesar suum quoque equitatum tripertito divisum contra hostem ire iubet.
When this was reported, Caesar orders his own cavalry also, divided into three parts, to go against the enemy.
Pugnatur una omnibus in partibus.
A battle is fought at once in all parts.
§7.67.3Consistit agmen; impedimenta intra legiones recipiuntur.
The column halts; the baggage is received within the legions.
§7.67.4Si qua in parte nostri laborare aut gravius premi videbantur, eo signa inferri Caesar aciemque constitui iubebat; quae res et hostes ad insequendum tardabat et nostros spe auxili confirmabat.
If in any part our men seemed to be hard pressed or more heavily strained, Caesar would order the standards to be advanced thither and the line of battle to be formed; which measure both delayed the enemy in pursuing and encouraged our men with the hope of assistance.
§7.67.5Tandem Germani ab dextro latere summum iugum nacti hostes loco depellunt; fugientes usque ad flumen, ubi Vercingetorix cum pedestribus copiis consederat, persequuntur compluresque interficiunt.
At length the Germans on the right flank, having gained the top of the ridge, drive the enemy from their position; they pursue those fleeing as far as the river, where Vercingetorix had encamped with the infantry forces, and kill many of them.
§7.67.6Qua re animadversa reliqui ne circumirentur veriti se fugae mandant.
When this was noticed, the rest, fearing lest they should be surrounded, betake themselves to flight.
Omnibus locis fit caedes.
In all places slaughter takes place.
§7.67.7Tres nobilissimi Aedui capti ad Caesarem perducuntur: Cotus, praefectus equitum, qui controversiam cum Convictolitavi proximis comitiis habuerat, et Cavarillus, qui post defectionem Litavicci pedestribus copiis praefuerat, et Eporedorix, quo duce ante adventum Caesaris Aedui cum Sequanis bello contenderant.
Three of the most noble Aedui are captured and brought to Caesar: Cotus, the commander of the cavalry, who had had the dispute with Convictolitavis at the last election; and Cavarillus, who after the defection of Litaviccus had commanded the infantry forces; and Eporedorix, under whose leadership, before the arrival of Caesar, the Aedui had contended in war with the Sequani.

Notes

  1. §7.67.1Probata re — Probata re, omnibus ... adactis, and distributo equitatu are all ablative absolutes, successively establishing the series of background and prerequisite conditions prior to the main action.
  2. §7.67.2Pugnatur — The third-person singular passive of the intransitive verb pugno (to fight), used impersonally. It means 'a battle is fought' or 'fighting takes place', objectively describing the event without specifying a particular subject.
  3. §7.67.4quae res — A relative connection where the relative adjective quae modifies res. Its antecedent is not a single word, but the entire preceding action of Caesar sending reinforcement standards to where his men struggled.
  4. §7.67.7quo duce — An ablative absolute consisting of the relative pronoun quo and the noun duce. Since Latin lacks a present participle for the copula (esse), two nouns in the ablative are used idiomatically to express the circumstance 'under whose leadership'.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.67.1-7.67.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.67.1-7.67.7

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