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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §8.5.1-8.5.4

Garrisoning Cenabum and Pursuit of the Carnutes

Passage 354 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Upon hearing of Caesar's approach, the Carnutes abandon their towns and flee. To shield his soldiers from severe winter storms, Caesar quarters them in Cenabum and dispatches cavalry and auxiliaries, who successfully harass the scattered enemy.

§8.5.1Cum fama exercitus ad hostes esset perlata, calamitate ceterorum ducti Carnutes desertis vicis oppidisque, quae tolerandae hiemis causa constitutis repente exiguis ad necessitatem aedificiis incolebant (nuper enim devicti complura oppida dimiserant), dispersi profugiunt.
When the rumor of the army was brought to the enemy, the Carnutes, induced by the disaster of the others, abandoned their villages and towns, in which they were living in small buildings hastily constructed for necessity to endure the winter (for having been recently conquered, they had abandoned many towns), and fled in all directions.
§8.5.2Caesar erumpentes eo maxime tempore acerrimas tempestates cum subire milites nollet, in oppido Carnutum Cenabo castra ponit atque in tecta partim Gallorum, partim quae coniectis celeriter stramentis tentoriorum integendorum gratia erant inaedificata, milites compegit.
Since Caesar did not want his soldiers to undergo the very severe storms that were breaking out at that particular time, he pitched camp in Cenabum, a town of the Carnutes, and packed the soldiers partly into the houses of the Gauls, and partly into those which had been built on quickly with thatch thrown over them to cover the tents.
§8.5.3Equites tamen et auxiliarios pedites in omnes partes mittit quascumque petisse dicebantur hostes; nec frustra: §8.5.4nam plerumque magna praeda potiti nostri revertuntur.
Nevertheless, he sent the cavalry and auxiliary infantry in all directions, wherever the enemy were said to have fled; and not in vain: for our men generally returned having obtained great booty.
Oppressi Carnutes hiemis difficultate, terrore periculi, cum tectis expulsi nullo loco diutius consistere auderent nec silvarum praesidio tempestatibus durissimis tegi possent, dispersi magna parte amissa suorum dissipantur in finitimas civitates.
The Carnutes, overwhelmed by the difficulty of the winter and the fear of danger, since they were driven from their homes and did not dare to remain long in any one place, nor could they be protected by the shelter of the woods during the most severe storms, dispersed and, having lost a great part of their people, scattered into the neighboring states.

Notes

  1. 8.5.1constitutis repente exiguis ad necessitatem aedificiis — An ablative absolute construction explaining the state of the villages and towns (vicis oppidisque, the antecedents of quae). It means 'small buildings having been hastily constructed for necessity'. Alternatively, 'aedificiis' could be taken as an ablative of place where (dependent on 'incolebant' without a preposition), but the ablative absolute is more standard in this context.
  2. 8.5.2erumpentes eo maxime tempore acerrimas tempestates cum subire milites nollet — A significant hyperbaton (dislocation of word order). The clause is introduced by 'cum nollet' (since he did not want), which contains an accusative with infinitive construction ('milites' as subject, 'subire' as infinitive). The direct object of 'subire', the accusative phrase 'erumpentes ... tempestates' (the very severe storms breaking out at that particular time), is pulled to the very front of the clause before 'cum' for emphasis.

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §8.5.1-8.5.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:8.5.1-8.5.4

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