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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §7.85.1-7.85.6

Fierce Struggle on the Slope and Roman Crisis

Passage 343 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar surveys the battlefield and sends reinforcements, while both sides fight desperately knowing this is the decisive moment; however, the Romans face extreme danger due to the disadvantageous slope and the overwhelming Gallic assault.

§7.85.1Caesar idoneum locum nactus quid quaque ex parte geratur cognoscit; laborantibus summittit.
Caesar, having found a suitable spot, learned what was going on in each part; he sent assistance to those who were struggling.
§7.85.2Vtrisque ad animum occurrit unum esse illud tempus, quo maxime contendi conveniat:
It occurred to the minds of both sides that this was the one time in which it was most fitting to strive.
§7.85.3Galli, nisi perfregerint munitiones, de omni salute desperant; Romani, si rem obtinuerint, finem laborum omnium exspectant.
The Gauls, unless they should break through the fortifications, despair of all safety; the Romans, if they should maintain their ground, look forward to the end of all their labors.
§7.85.4Maxime ad superiores munitiones laboratur, quo Vercassivellaunum missum demonstravimus.
The struggle is greatest at the upper fortifications, whither we have shown that Vercassivellaunus was sent.
Iniquum loci ad declivitatem fastigium magnum habet momentum.
The unfavorable downward slope of the ground has great influence.
§7.85.5Alii tela coniciunt, alii testudine facta subeunt; defatigatis in vicem integri succedunt.
Some cast weapons, others advance having formed a testudo; fresh men succeed in turn to those who are fatigued.
§7.85.6Agger ab universis in munitionem coniectus et ascensum dat Gallis et ea quae in terra occultaverant Romani contegit; nec iam arma nostris nec vires suppetunt.
Earth thrown by everyone against the fortification both gives the Gauls a means of ascent, and covers those things which the Romans had hidden in the earth; and now neither weapons nor strength suffice our men.

Notes

  1. 7.85.1laborantibus — The dative plural of the present participle laborans (struggling), used substantively as the indirect object of the transitive verb summittit (sends aid). The direct object (aid or reinforcements) is omitted as it is clear from the context.
  2. 7.85.2occurrit — Used impersonally, meaning 'it occurs to the mind'. It takes the dative utrisque (to both sides), with the following accusative-and-infinitive clause unum esse illud tempus serving as the real subject.
  3. 7.85.4laboratur — The third-person singular passive of the intransitive verb laboro (to struggle, labor), used impersonally ('the struggle is carried on with difficulty'). This construction emphasizes the action itself occurring at a specific location, rather than specifying a subject.
  4. 7.85.4Iniquum loci ad declivitatem fastigium — The subject is the noun phrase iniquum fastigium (unfavorable slope), where loci (of the place) is a genitive modifying the noun phrase. The prepositional phrase ad declivitatem (towards the downward slope) describes the direction of the incline, meaning 'the unfavorable downward slope of the ground'.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §7.85.1-7.85.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:7.85.1-7.85.6

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