NOTES

1, § 1. L. Domitio... consulibus. The consuls entered upon office on January 1, 700 (54 B. C.): therefore Caesar was unusually late in leaving the winter quarters of his army, though it must not be forgotten that the calendar was then in advance of the real time.

ut quotannis... consuerat. Caesar used to go to Italy for the winter, partly in order to act as a judge and to transact other civil business in Cisalpine Gaul, partly to keep in touch with Italian politics and to look after his own interests.

legatis. See p. lii. Legati, in the sense in which the word is used here, were generally, if not always, senators, and were as a rule appointed by the senate (Cicero, Fam., i, 7, § 10); but Caesar, perhaps without consulting that assembly, could appoint legati himself (Cicero, Att., ii, 18, § 3; Q. fr., ii, 10 [12], §§ 4-5). Legati were expected to perform any duty with which their chief might entrust them. On Monday a legatus might be placed in command of a legion and lead it in battle (B. G., i, 51, §1; ii, 20, § 3, &c.); on Tuesday he might be sent to raise a fresh levy of troops (vi, 1, § 1). Several passages (i, 52, § 1; ii, 26, § 1; v, 1, § 1; 25, § 5; vii, 45, §7) prove that in Caesar's time any legatus who commanded a legion was specially appointed to his command by Caesar and held it only so long as Caesar pleased. The office of legatus was passing through a transitional stage and gradually tending to crystallize into the form which it assumed under the empire, when the legatus became a legatus legionis (C. G., pp. 563-4).

§ 2. propter crebras... fieri. This is not the true explanation. The comparative smallness of the waves in the Channel is due to the shallowness of the water and its contraction within narrow limits.

in reliquis . . . maribus,—in the various arms of the Mediterranean, which had their several names, Hadriaticum mare, sinus Ligusticus, &c.

§ 3. actuariae naves, as one might infer from the words quam .. adiuvat, were constructed both for rowing and sailing.

imperat fieri. Caesar only uses impero with the infinitive in the case of passive and deponent verbs, except in one instance (B. C., iii, 42, § 2), where an active and a passive are associated, -Eo partem navium longarum convenire, frumentum...comportari imperat; and in this case, as Meusel remarks in a note on the passage, he would probably have written iubet if he had remembered that convenire preceded.

§ 4. Ea... iubet. The esparto grass of Spain was in great

demand for making ropes. The iron and copper required for anchors and other purposes were, I suppose, fetched from the mines of Gaul. Cf. iii, 21, § 3; iv, 31, § 2; vii, 22, § 2.

§ 5. conventibus. The word conventus is used by Caesar in the sense of an assembly or meeting (i, 18, § 2) of the community of Roman citizens living in a provincial town (B. C., iii, 29, § 1, &c.), and, as in this passage, of judicial or administrative business performed by himself, as Governor, in an assembly of Roman citizens or provincials. As he went on circuit, like a judge, through Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum to discharge these duties, we may translate conventibus... peractis by 'After finishing the assizes in Cisalpine Gaul'.

Illyricum. See p. 73.

§ 6. cum venisset. As Mr. W. E. P. Pantin explains in his lucid chapter on 'The Conjunction Cum' (Macmillan's Latin Course: Third Part, p. 60), ' Cum with a subjunctive puts before us the circumstances in which the action represented by the principal verb takes place', whereas cum with the indicative tells us 'only how one action is related to another with regard to the time of its occurrence'.

§ 7. legatos. The reader will notice in the course of the narrative that Caesar uses the word legatus in two senses, which can always be easily distinguished. Sometimes, as in 1, § 1, the word denotes one (or more) of the generals who served under him; sometimes, as in the present instance, it means an envoy or ambassador.

satis facere. Caesar often uses paratus with an infinitive, but, as in 5, § 2, &c., he also uses it with ad and the gerundive.

§ 8. certam. Dies in the singular is often feminine when it means a fixed day, and almost always when, as in i, 7, § 6, it means a period of time.

§ 9. litem, the matters in dispute' [between the several tribes].

2, § 2. cuius is explained by what grammarians call an ellipsis. Caesar meant cuius generis naves.

6

longas. Long ships', or galleys, were of various kinds : everybody is familiar with the terms 'bireme', 'trireme ', &c. What class these particular naves longae belonged to we are not told but Caesar's narrative (iv, 25, § 1) shows that they were shallow; and I doubt whether any of them had more than one bank of oars (see M. le Contre-Amiral Serre, Les marines de guerre de l'antiquité, 1885, p. 36). Naves longae were not always even decked (B. C., i, 56, § 1; iii, 7, § 2).

neque multum abesse possint-and that it was not far from the possibility of their being launched in a few days'means in plain English and [that they] would be ready for launching in a few days'. After ab eo one might expect ut; but ab eo does not affect the construction, the negative requiring quin. If any one will ponder the passage, he will see that the

thought is rather loosely expressed. Caesar would perhaps have made his meaning clearer to a beginner-if he had either omitted paucis diebus or written (as in iii, 18, § 4) neque longius abesse quin paucis diebus, &c.

§ 4. expeditis. When this word is used of troops it does not always mean the same thing. When troops who were just going into action are called expediti (vii, 11, § 8; 40, § 1; B. C., iii, 85, § 4, &c.) we are to understand that they were free from every burden that would have interfered with their fighting,-in other words, that they were not carrying their packs (sarcinae [cf. p. liii]). But these four legions were starting on a march which would last several days, and therefore could not do without their packs or even a certain amount of baggage. Expeditis therefore means that they took no more baggage than was absolutely necessary: it may be translated by 'in light marching order'.

equitibus. In the Gallic war Caesar's cavalry consisted entirely of foreigners,-Gauls, Spaniards, and in the last two campaigns (52 and 51 B. C.) if not before, Germans. They were often commanded by their national chiefs (viii, 12, § 4). See C. G., pp. 579-81.

quod hi... parebant. Three years before, the Treveri had sent a body of cavalry to assist Caesar in his campaign against the Belgae; but they had deserted in the battle with the Nervii, and, as Caesar says (ii, 24, § 5), 'told their countrymen that the Romans were disastrously defeated.' Unless he recalled them to obedience, it was probable that while he was in Britain Gauls and Germans would raise a rebellion in his rear.

concilia. In the spring of every year Caesar convened a diet of the Gallic chieftains, partly perhaps to test their temper, partly to fix the strength of the cavalry contingents which their respective tribes were to provide. Cf. iv, 6, § 5; v, 24, § 1 ; vi, 3, § 4.

Transrhenanos is added in order to show that the Belgic tribes the Condrusi, Eburones, Caerosi, Paemani, and Segni— whom Caesar called Germans (ii, 4, § 10; vi, 32, § 1), are not

meant.

3, § 1. totius Galliae is equivalent to totius Galliae civitatum. § 2. principatu. It is doubtful whether in this passage principatus means, as in vi, 8, § 9,' the chief magistracy' or simply unofficial supremacy.

§ 4. Arduennam. Our Forest of Arden' in Warwickshire shows another form of the word.

§ 5. principes seems to mean simply 'leading men'; it does not, as for instance in vii, 65, § 2 and 88, § 4, denote magistrates. Some of the principes, whom Caesar frequently mentions, were certainly magistrates, and perhaps these were; but the word, as such, rarely bears that meaning.

quoniam here takes the subjunctive because Caesar is not

stating the reason merely as his own, but as present in the

minds of the conspirators.

§ 7. fidei here has the sense of tutelae.

4, § 3. cuius perspexisset. The subjunctive is not due merely to the Oratio Obliqua: it is used because the clause gives the reason for Caesar's having wished to do honour to Cingetorix.

§4. factum is a substantive.

suam... minui. If, as I believe, these words are genuine, they explain and are in apposition with Id; but Meusel (J. B., 1910, pp. 36-7) brackets them.

qui . . . fuisset.

Again the subjunctive is used because a reason is implied:-' whereas he had already been ', &c.

5, § 1. Caesar. pervenit. Caesar left Blandeno in Cisalpine Gaul about the 30th of April (of the Julian calendar) and, after the movements described in ch. 2-4, arrived at Portus Itius about the 11th of June. He had therefore posted across Gaul at the rate of 50 miles a day or more; and there is no more conclusive proof of the hold which he had already obtained upon the Gallic tribes than the fact that he was able to count, as securely as in Italy, upon finding horses ready for each successive stage (A. B., pp. 329, 727).

§ 2. factae erant... erant profectae. The first erant is intelligible enough, for the clause quae. erant is not part of the Oratio Obliqua. The second is explained by grammarians in the same way; but to my mind the explanation is, by itself, hardly sufficient, for unde erant profectae seems at first sight inseparable from eodem, which is part of the Oratio Obliqua. Probably Caesar, having written eodem, added unde erant profectae (which is not dependent upon cognoscit) to make his meaning clear.

3. principes. See the first note on 3, § 5.

6, § 1. Dumnorix (see pp. xlix-1, lvi) had been detected four years before in intriguing against the Romans; and Caesar had placed him under close observation.

§ 2. quod is here, as often, used in the sense of 'the fact that'; but this ugly expression should always be avoided if possible. One might translate Accedebat... dixerat by 'Moreover, Dumnorix had stated', &c.

dixerat... deferri. Various writers have suggested that Caesar really had made this offer to Dumnorix, in order to purchase his support. It seems to me more likely that Dumnorix had made the statement in order to exasperate the Aedui against Caesar. Still, Caesar may have thrown out some vague hint which led him to expect that if he proved himself loyal he would be rewarded.

neque is evidently equivalent to neque tamen,--' but not '.

hospitibus. By the Roman institution called hospitium privatum agreements were concluded between individual Roman

citizens and individual foreigners, under which the former were entitled to receive hospitality from the latter. It has been remarked that this practice must have been very useful in places where the accommodation of inns was not available. Provincials upon whom the members of a governor's staff were billeted were also called hospites (Cicero, Att., v, 10, § 2).

§3. quod insuetus... timeret. The subjunctive is used because the clause is not a statement of fact made by Caesar, but gives the gist of Dumnorix's plea. The explanation of diceret, as the reader will understand, if he thinks, is different. The subjunctive is here, strictly speaking, illogical: the verb is, as it were, attracted into the subjunctive from that verb to which the subjunctive properly belongs: in other words, partim quod diceret is equivalent to partim quod, ut dicebat, religionibus impediretur.

religionibus means 'religious obligations'.

§ 5. nobilitate, as we may infer from vi, 13, §§ 1-3, does not mean 'the nobility' or 'the nobles', but simply ‘men of rank': in other words, it does not denote a definite class, like our peerage, but merely the most prominent members of the class which Caesar (vi, 13, § 3) calls equites, or knights. For in vi, 13, immediately after saying that in Gaul there were only two classes which were held in any esteem, and immediately before saying that 'one of the two classes consists of the Druids, the other of the Knights', he makes this remark:- Generally, when crushed by debt or heavy taxation or ill-treated by powerful individuals, they [the common people] bind themselves to serve men of rank (plerique cum aut aere alieno aut magnitudine tributorum aut iniuria potentiorum premuntur, sese in servitutem dicant nobilibus). If the nobiles had formed a definite class, superior to the equites, Caesar would have said that there were only three classes which were held in any esteem.

§ 6. fidem. Not suam, which Caesar would have expressed, as in 36, § 2, but reliquorum: he interposed their pledged word' as a bar to their leaving Gaul; in other words, he made them promise to stay. Doberenz-Dinter are surely wrong in taking reliquis as meaning all except Dumnorix himself, that is to say, all those with whom he had intrigued: it is opposed to principes (§ 4).

7, § 2. longius... videbat. The force of the comparative may be expressed by this translation, 'his frenzy was evidently passing all bounds'.

§3. commoratus is not exactly equivalent to the present participle. As Madvig says (Lat. Gr., § 431. b), the past participle of deponents is often used 'to indicate the motive, occasion [as here], or manner of the main action'.-' For about twenty-five days... he was kept waiting. . . . Accordingly he did his best to keep Dumnorix steady,' &c.

Corus ventus may be translated by the north-west wind';