previous next

34.20. omnium ordinum, of all ranks. Was this usual? See chapter on military affairs, I. 7. 34.22.

quam … ducerentur: indir. quest.; cf. 10 3. 34.23.

sibi quaerendum, etc., that they had a right to inquire （it ought to be inquired） or consider （it ought to be thought）. 34.24.

putarent: see note on 32 21. — Ariovistum, etc.: Direct —

Ariovistus me consule … populi Romani amicitiam adpetiit; cur hunc … quisquam ab officio discessurum iudicet ? Mihi quidem persuadetur, cognitis meis postulatis … eum neque meam neque populi Romani gratiam repudiaturum. Quod si furore … impulsus bellum intulerit, quid tandem vereamini? aut cur de vestra virtute aut de mea diligentia desperetis? Factum （est） eius hostis periculum … ; factum （est） etiam nuper in Italia servili tumultu, quos tamen aliquid usus ac discipline quam a nobis acceperant sublevabant. Ex quo iudicari potest quantum habeat in se boni constantia, propterea quod, quos … inermīs sine causa timuistis （timueritis）, hos postea armatos superavistis .

Denique hi sunt idem Germani quibuscum saepenumero Helvetii congressi, non solum in suis sed etiam in illorum finibus, plerumque superaverunt; qui tamen pares esse nostro exercitui non potuerunt. Si quos adversum proelium … commovet, hi, si quaerent （quaerant）, reperire possunt … Ariovistum … dispersos subito adortum, magis ratione … quam virtute vicisse. Cui rationi contra homines barbaros … locus fuit, hac ne ipse quidem sperat nostros exercitus capi posse.

Qui suum timorem in rei frumentariae simulationem … conferunt faciunt adroganter, cum … de officio imperatoris desperare … videantur （videntur）. Haec mihi sunt curae; frumentum Sequani, … subministrant, iamque sunt … frumenta matura; de itinere （vos） ipsi … iudicabitis.

Quod non fore dicto audientes … dicimini （more probably dicuntur milites）, nihil （ego） ea re commoveor; scio enim, quibuscumque exercitus dicto audiens non fuerit, … avaritiam esse convictam; mea innocentia perpetua vita, felicitas … bello est perspecta.

Itaque （ego） quod … conlaturus fui repraesentabo, et … castra movebo, ut … intellegere possim utrum apud vos pudor … an timor plus valeat. Quod si praeterea nemo sequetur, tamen （ego） cum sola decima legione ibo, de qua non dubito, mihique ea praetoria cohors erit.

This speech, one of the most remarkable, if not of the most famous, of antiquity, stamps Caesar as a consummate orator as well as an able general. His whole fortunes may be said to have depended on this campaign, at the outset of which he is confronted with a mutiny. By this skillfully contrived address, in which he glosses over the difficulties of the undertaking, which he must have known well; he contrives to inspire in his soldiers the Roman spirit, which was invincible whenever it was really roused. Caesar's marvellous conquest of Gaul depended quite as much on the devotion of his soldiers as on his unequalled ability as a general. 34.25.

cur quisquam iudicaret, why should any one think? For the form of question, see § 586 (338); B. 315. 3; G. 651. R. 2; H. 642. 3 (523. ii. N); cf. H-B. 513. 1 （dir., iudicet, dubit. subjv.）; for the use of quisquam, implying a negative, see § 311 (105. h); B. 252. 4; G. 317; H. 513 (457); H-B. 276. 7. 34.26.

sibi persuaderi: see note on 30 19; the subject of persuaderi is eum … repudiaturum. 35.1.

quod si intulisset, but if he should, etc. 35.2.

quid tandem, etc., what, pray, should they be afraid of? 35.3.

sua, their OWN; ipsius, his; ipse, used in this way to avoid the repetition of sua, is an indirect reflexive （§ 300. b (196. a. 2. N.); B. 249. 3; G. 660. 5; H. 509. 5 (452. 5); H-B. 263. 2） 35.4.

periculum （root in experior）, a trial. — Cimbris, etc.: this was in B.C. 102 and 101, a little more than forty years before, and was the worst danger that had threatened the Romans since the destruction of the city by the Gauls three centuries before. See Roman histories. — cum … videbatur: although this clause was a part of Caesar's speech to his officers, yet the indic. is used to emphasize to the reader the reality of the fact it asserts （§ 583. a (336. d); B. 314. 3; H. 652. 1 (529. N. 1. 2); H-B. 535. 1. d）. 35.6.

meritus: sc. esse. 35.7.

servili tumultu （abl. of time）: the insurrection of the slaves and gladiators under Spartacus, B.C. 73-71. These consisted, in part, at any rate, of Germans captured by Marius. A war at home, i.e. in Italy or on its borders, was called tumultus. — quos （referring to servosimplied in servili） … sublevarent （change to pass. in translation, so as to keep the emphasis）, who yet were considerably helped by the training and discipline which they had got from us. — aliquid: adv. acc. 35.9.

quantum boni, how much advantage （§ 289. a (189. a); B. 237. 2. a; G. 204. N. 2; H. 442 (397. 3); H-B. 249. 1） firmness has （for the tense of haberet, see § 485. d (287. d); H. 549 (495. v); H-B. 482. 1）. 35.10.

quos … hos: notice the antecedent following the relative. — inermis: i.e. the slaves of Spartacus's force. 35.12.

hos esse: the Germans with Ariovistus. — quibuscum … congressi, etc. （changing the relative clause）, whom the Helvetii had often met and beaten not only on their own ground, but even etc. 35.14.

qui: i.e. the Helvetii. — tamen: i.e. though they were strong enough to beat the Germans, after all, etc. 35.15.

potuerint: see § 485. c. N. 1 (287. c. R.); B. 268. 6; G. 513; H. 550 (495.vi and foot-note 2).; cf. H-B. 491 Cf. also 9 18 and 28 6. — adversum proelium: see 27 21 ff. — si quos … commoveret, if any were alarmed by （lit., if the disastrous battle disturbed any） . 35.17.

Ariovistum: subject of vicisse. 35.18.

neque … fecisset, and had given them no chance at him. 36.2.

adortum agrees with Ariovistum and governs desperantīs, with which a pronoun （eos） must be supplied in English. This may always be omitted in Latin if any word appears to show its case. 36.3.

cui rationi … hac = hac ratione cui: the noun being attracted to the relative clause; by this stratagem, for which there had been room against unskilled barbarians, not even Ariovistus himself hoped that our armies could be taken in. （§ 307. b (200. b); B. 251. 4. a; G. 616; H. 399. 5 (445. 9); H-B. 284. 6; cf. note on 30 19）. 36.6.

qui … conferrent, [those] who laid their own cowardice to the pretended difficulty about provisions, etc. 36.8.

desperare, etc., to be discouraged about the commander's doing his duty. Such words as officium have a wider range of meaning in Latin than similar words in English, as duty, a duty, sense of duty, discharge of duty. — praescribere: sc. officium; i.e. that they were dictating to him what his duty was. 36.9.

sibi … curae: cf. 22 6, 22 15. 36.10.

subministrare, were [now] furnishing. — esse, were beginning to be. — frumenta, crops; note the plu. and cf. with meaning of the sing. 36.12.

quod … dicantur （cf. 12 11, 15 14, 32 14）, as to its being said that they would not, etc. — dicto audientes, etc.: cf. 34 18. 36.13.

nihil, no way. — re: see note on 4 4. — quibuscumque: dat. after audiens dicto; i.e. no one has ever had a mutinous army who has not either been unsuccessful by his own fault, so that his men had no confidence in his ability, or been convicted of avarice by some overt act, so that they had no confidence in his integrity. 36.16.

suam, his own: emphatic by position; equivalent to in his case. — innocentiam: the technical word, meaning freedom from the charge of plunder and extortion. In fact, Caesar's fault lay just the other way, — a lavish and reckless generosity at the expense of subjects or allies. （In this sentence, in opposite （chiastic） order, innocentiam is opposed to avaritiam, and felicitatem to male re gesta; a peculiarly Latin turn.） 36.18.

quod fuisset, what he had intended to defer. — repraesentaturum, he would do at once. This is a legal term, meaning to do a thing before the time. 36.21.

officium: cf. note on 36 8. 36.22.

decima legione: this was the legion which had been stationed in the province of Gallia Transalpina （cf. 6 19）; it was distinguished for discipline and courage. 36.23.

praetoriam cohortem = body-guard, made up of the bravest men.


Caesar's Gallic War. J. B. Greenough, Benjamin L. D'Ooge and M. Grant Daniell. Boston. Ginn and Company. 1898.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (13 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (13):
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 289
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 300
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 307
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 311
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 485
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 583
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 586
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 204
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 317
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 513
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 616
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 651
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 660
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: