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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §8.4.1-8.4.3

Rewards for the Soldiers and March against the Carnutes

Passage 353 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Caesar promises rewards to his soldiers and returns to Bibracte, but upon receiving a plea for help from the Bituriges against the Carnutes, he quickly sets out with two legions after staying there only eighteen days.

§8.4.1Caesar militibus pro tanto labore ac patientia, qui brumalibus diebus itineribus difficillimis, frigoribus intolerandis studiosissime permanserant in labore, ducenos sestertios, centurionibus tot milia nummum praedae nomine condonanda pollicetur legionibusque in hiberna remissis ipse se recipit die XXXX Bibracte.
Caesar, to reward the soldiers for such great labor and patience, who in the winter days, on the most difficult marches, and in intolerable cold had remained most zealously in their duty, promised two hundred sesterces to each soldier, and to each of the centurions as many thousands of sesterces under the name of booty; and having sent the legions back to winter quarters, he himself returned on the fortieth day to Bibracte.
§8.4.2Ibi cum ius diceret, Bituriges ad eum legatos mittunt auxilium petitum contra Carnutes, quos intulisse bellum sibi querebantur.
While he was administering justice there, the Bituriges sent legates to him to ask for help against the Carnutes, whom they complained had made war upon them.
§8.4.3Qua re cognita, cum dies non amplius decem et octo in hibernis esset moratus, legiones XIIII et VI ex hibernis ab Arare educit, quas ibi collocatas explicandae rei frumentariae causa superiore commentario demonstratum est: ita cum duabus legionibus ad persequendos Carnutes proficiscitur.
On learning this, although he had delayed no more than eighteen days in winter quarters, he led the fourteenth and sixth legions out of their winter quarters on the Arar, which, as has been shown in the previous commentary, had been stationed there for the purpose of securing the grain supply; thus, with two legions, he set out to pursue the Carnutes.

Notes

  1. §8.4.1tot milia nummum — tot milia (as many thousands) refers to 'two thousand' (duo milia) sesterces for the centurions, which corresponds to the 'two hundred' (ducenos) given to the common soldiers, reflecting the traditional ten-to-one ratio of rewards in the Roman army. nummum is a contracted genitive plural of nummus (used for sesterces).
  2. §8.4.3superiore commentario — Meaning 'in the previous commentary.' It refers to Book 7 of Caesar's Gallic War (specifically 7.90). Since Book 8 was written by Caesar's lieutenant Hirtius, he refers to Caesar's own books as the 'previous commentary.'
  3. §8.4.3quas ibi collocatas — The relative pronoun quas refers to the antecedent legiones. The accusative with infinitive phrase quas ibi collocatas [esse] functions as the subject of the impersonal passive verb demonstratum est.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §8.4.1-8.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:8.4.1-8.4.3

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