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Julius Caesar · Gallic War §8.9.1-8.9.4

Face-Off across the Valley and Fortification of the Camp

Passage 358 of 404 · Latin

Summary

Upon seeing the orderly approach of the Roman legions, the Gauls deploy in front of their camp on high ground. Rather than attacking immediately, Caesar pitches his camp opposite them across a deep valley and constructs highly fortified defenses, including a double ditch, multi-story towers, and bridges for a dual line of defenders.

§8.9.1Cum repente instructas velut in acie certo gradu legiones accedere Galli viderent, quorum erant ad Caesarem plena fiduciae consilia perlata, sive certaminis periculo sive subito adventu sive exspectatione nostri consili copias instruunt pro castris nec loco superiore decedunt.
When the Gauls, whose plans full of confidence had been reported to Caesar, suddenly saw the legions approaching in regular order and with a steady step, as if in battle array, whether because of the danger of a conflict, or because of our sudden arrival, or to wait for our design, they drew up their forces in front of their camp and did not abandon the higher ground.
§8.9.2Caesar, etsi dimicare optaverat, tamen admiratus tantam multitudinem hostium valle intermissa magis in altitudinem depressa quam late patente castra castris hostium confert.
Caesar, although he had desired to fight, yet wondering at so great a multitude of the enemy, pitched his camp opposite the camp of the enemy, with a valley between them which was deep rather than wide.
§8.9.3Haec imperat vallo pedum XII muniri, loriculam pro [hac] ratione eius altitudinis inaedificari; fossam duplicem pedum denum quinum lateribus deprimi directis; turres excitari crebras in altitudinem trium tabulatorum, pontibus traiectis constratisque coniungi, quorum frontes viminea loricula munirentur; ut ab hostibus duplici fossa, duplici propugnatorum ordine defenderentur, §8.9.4quorum alter ex pontibus, quo tutior altitudine esset, hoc audacius longiusque permitteret tela, alter, qui propior hostem in ipso vallo collocatus esset, ponte ab incidentibus telis tegeretur.
He ordered this to be fortified with a rampart of twelve feet, and a breastwork to be built upon it in proportion to that height; a double ditch of fifteen feet each to be sunk with perpendicular sides; numerous towers to be erected to the height of three stories, and to be connected by bridges thrown across and floored over, the fronts of which were to be protected by a wicker breastwork; so that they might be defended from the enemy by a double ditch and a double row of defenders, of whom the one row from the bridges, being safer due to their height, might hurl their weapons with greater boldness and to a greater distance, while the other, which was stationed on the rampart itself and closer to the enemy, might be sheltered by the bridge from falling weapons.
Portis fores altioresque turres imposuit.
He fitted gates to the portals and placed higher towers over them.

Notes

  1. §8.9.1quorum erant ad Caesarem plena fiduciae consilia perlata — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quorum is the subject Galli. This relative clause serves a parenthetical function, explaining the background circumstance that the Gauls' plans, though full of confidence, had already been betrayed to Caesar.
  2. §8.9.2valle intermissa magis in altitudinem depressa quam late patente — An ablative absolute construction inserted between the subject Caesar and the main verb confert, describing the topographical characteristics of the valley between the two camps (deep rather than wide). The structure magis... quam... connects the participles modifying valle.
  3. §8.9.3Haec imperat vallo pedum XII muniri — Haec is a neuter plural accusative demonstrative pronoun, serving as the direct object referring back to castra (a neuter plural noun) in the previous sentence. The verb imperat governs a series of passive infinitives (muniri, inaedificari, deprimi, excitari, coniungi) with haec as their subject accusative.
  4. §8.9.3pedum denum quinum — The genitive plural of the distributive numeral deni quini (fifteen each), indicating that each of the double ditches was fifteen feet wide. pedum is a genitive of measure or quality.
  5. §8.9.4quorum alter... alter — The genitive relative pronoun quorum has propugnatores (defenders) from the previous sentence as its antecedent, and details its two groups (those on the bridges and those on the rampart) contrastively using alter... alter (the one... the other...).
  6. §8.9.4quo tutior altitudine esset, hoc audacius longiusque permitteret — A correlative construction using quo + comparative ... hoc + comparative ... representing proportion ('the more... the more...'). altitudine is an ablative of cause ('by reason of height').

Cite this passage

Julius Caesar, Gallic War §8.9.1-8.9.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0448.phi001.humanitext-lat2:8.9.1-8.9.4

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