9 vineas agere] 'to move forward', vineae i.e. penthouses or sheds for sheltering the soldiers while at work. 13 15 deterrentur proferre] an unusual construction: the only other instances of it quoted by Draeger Hist. Synt. II. § 424 are from Cic. Verr. 1. § 14 commemorare pudore deterreor, Liv. XLII. 3 sociis deterritis id sacrilegium prohibere and Bell. Afric. (not written by Caesar) 29 and 71. cuniculos] these subways have been discovered in the course of the excavations. 17 extruitur agger] the mode of construction of an agger has been described in my note on VII. 22. 19 25 30 moenibus] the wall of the oppidum: this ran round the crest of the hill above the escarpment of rock and would of course be a great height above the plain. aequare in neuter sense 'to be equal to' often takes an accusative. CHAP. 42. cupas] tubs': the inhabitants of Marseilles when besieged adopted a similar device, B. C. II. 11 cupas taeda ac pice refertas incendunt easque de muro in musculum devolvunt. scandulis] 'shingles'. suppressa] 'checked' in their descent. comprehendebant] 'set fire to': comprehendere is constantly used as here in reference to fire which 'catches' or 'gets a hold of' anything; it is also sometimes used of the thing burnt which is said to 'catch' fire, cf. V. 43 hae (casae) celeriter ignem comprehenderunt, and in 43 of this book opera flamma comprehensa 'works caught by the flame'. p. 22. 2 quam quisque]=ut_quisque erat maxime insignis, ita quam maxime poterat, Doberenz. See appendix. 3 testatior] the comparative occurs again in 44; Cicero uses it p. Cael. 64. 4 8 9 II 12 CHAP. 43. complures suos] suorum would be more regular: with suos, complures must be taken as a secondary predicate, 'saw his men being wounded in great numbers'. Kraner compares 1. 52 reperti sunt complures nostri milites. quid ageretur suspensi] 'in suspense as to what was going on'. comprehensa] cf. note on 42. etiam] this appears to belong only to the words magna...suorum 'when even a great part' etc., and consequently the two clauses cum... oppidani and magna...permanerent are not connected by any copula. This juxtaposition of two clauses having the same subject, without any connecting link, is extremely harsh; inelegant too though quite in Hirtius' manner is the position of suorum. CHAP. 44. 19 21 23 27 28 suam lenitatem] Caesar speaks of his habitual clemency in I. 14, 31. exitum]' any successful issue'. plures] 'several tribes'. indignitate] 'indignity'; there is no need to suppose that indignitas here indignatio. paucis diebus] for this ablative expressing 'time in the course of which' cf. Roby 1182. cibo se abstinuit] abstinere is here a transitive verb governing se; it is also used as a neuter verb as in 1. 22 proelio abstinebat: both constructions are common. 29 Lucterius] the sentence is slightly anacoluthic; instead of continuing Lucterius...ab Epasnacto...deductus est, Hirtius leaves the subject Lucterius without any finite verb, and concludes after the parenthesis hunc Epasnactus...deduxit. 33 quam inimicum] 'what a bitter foe he was bound to have in Caesar'. p. 23. amicissimus] the Arverni and Aedui had been throughout on terms of friendship with the Romans. 2 populi Romani] amicissimus may be followed by either genitive or dative; with pronouns the dative is usual, cf. B.C. 11. 36, Cic. Fam. III. 10, etc. CHAP. 45. 4 equestre proelium secundum] equestre proelium is regarded as a single expression cavalry-engagement' and secundum is a qualifying epithet ; see note on VII. 36. 12 CHAP. 46. superioribus aestivis] 'in the previous summer campaigns': aestiva (sc. castra) a summer encampment'; the expression is often used to denote that period of the year which is devoted to military operations, when the troops are not stationed in sheltered and permanent winter quarters (hiberna), so it comes to denote 'a summer campaign'; here the plural seems to be used, not of one campaign, but of the several campaigns of the previous 8 years B.C. 58—51. 13 14 16 20 22 24 25 26 28 29 devictam subactamque] so far as there is any difference between these two words, subactam denotes the pacification and submission resulting on the complete conquest (devictam). Aquitaniam] the first sentence of this chapter contains two pairs of strongly antithetic clauses without any particles (sed, autem) to mark the antithesis: (i) Aquitaniam is opposed to Galliam and in omnibus partibus Galliae; the antithesis might be expressed in Greek Tv μèv ἄλλην Γαλλίαν.Ακουιτανίαν δέ. (ii) there is an antithesis between nunquam adisset and per P. Crassum devicisset, in Greek avròs μèv où προσῆλθε, διὰ δὲ τὸν Πούπλιον Κράσσον etc. The nice distinctions conveyed by these small particles in Greek have often to be represented in Latin by emphasis of position in writing or of tone in speaking. per P. Crassum] this campaign in Aquitania is narrated in III. 20 foll. extremum tempus consumeret aestivorum] a spondaic hexameter; in 12 Hirtius wrote an iambic verse. equitum praesidio] 'with a cavalry escort'. have added the preposition cum. Caesar would probably Narbonem] the colony of Narbo Martius now Narbonne; see note on I. I. P. Vatinio] consul for the last 3 months of the year 47. He was a man of unprincipled character and so unpopular that his name passed into a byword. He was concerned in the prosecution of Sestius in 56 and was fiercely attacked by Cicero who speaks of him as an object of universal detestation who would die forthwith if he wished to be truly 'popularis'. See Ellis on Catullus XIV. 3 odissem te odio Vatiniano. Turonis] the Turoni or Turones (11. 35, etc.) occupied the present district of Touraine. quae continerent] 'to keep in check'. Lemovicum] the name of the Lemovices survives in the province Limousin and the town Limoges. vacua ab exercitu] for vacuus ab cf. II. 12, III. I, etc; so vacare ab Liv. VII. I. conventus] 'assize towns': conventus was the term applied to a special meeting of the inhabitants of a provincial town for the administration of justice, etc., and the town itself in which such meeting was periodically held came to be also called conventus. quam] sc. defectionem: it was through the loyalty of the province and the aid that it furnished that Caesar had been able to hold out 33 against (bear the brunt of) the defection of Gaul. p. 24. 1 hibernavit] Caesar always has hiemare. 2 Nemetocennae] possibly, but not certainly, Arras, in the province of Artois, both named after the Atrebates. Nemetocenna is one of 6 7 the many Gallic oppida named after the mythical Neimheidh progenitor of the Gauls: M. Martin, Histoire de France 1. 50, mentions the following Nemetum (Clermont), Nemetae (Spire), Nemausus (Nîmes), Nemetacum (Arras?): add probably the name of the tribe Namnetes. Göler stoutly maintains that Nemetocenna is Beauvais, but Beauvais can hardly be meant here: it seems certain that Nemetacum and not Nemetocenna was the original name of Arras; whether Hirtius makes a slip here or there was a Nemetocenna as well as a Nemetacum among the Atrebates cannot now be determined. CHAP. 47. vulnerationem] the word is somewhat rare: for the event see 23. semper] had always been accustomed to hold himself in readiness to serve his fellow-countrymen in any rising'. 8 auctor armorum] a person who gives the weight of his authority or sanction to any undertaking is said to be its auctor, cf. III. 17 auctores belli, v. 33 profectionis auctor, VI. 8 defectionis auctores, 31 consilii auctor. For the addition of dux cf. Cic. Fam. II. 6 dux nobis et auctor opus est. parente Romanis civitate] while his state was in subjection to the Romans', a mere repetition of civitas in officio esset. infestis itineribus] 'by making raids'; see note on infestus in 48. CHAP. 48. attributus] 'attached': this is the regular phrase for appointments of this kind, cf. VII. 90 huic M. Sempronium Rútilum attribuit. quo libentius] 'which would make him more inclined to carry out his orders'. per fidem] 'under a pledge of safety'; cf. I. 46 committendum non putabat, ut pulsis hostibus dici posset eos ab se per fidem in colloquio circumventos. imposita] inferre, not imponere, is the usual word for 'to inflict' a wound. paucosque nostros] 'our men who were few in number' not 'a few of our men'. lanceaque infesta] infestus (from in and fendo 'to cast at', 'aim at ') is frequently thus used as an epithet of weapons and denotes the threatening position in which they are held, cf. B. C. III. 93 infestis pilis procucurrissent: the word is a favourite with Vergil who, with other writers, often uses it in the more general sense of hostile'. Here we may translate with a thrust of his lance'. non dubitant resistere] non dubitare 'not to hesitate' is frequently thus followed by an infinitive, cf. 11. 23 transire non dubitaverunt and 32 see Mr Reid's note on Cic. de Senect. 16 for the different constructions of dubito. proteruntur] trampled to death', 'ridden down': 'to trample under foot' is the usual meaning of proterere which is sometimes found united with pedibus: the lexicon will supply examples, e.g. Val. Flacc. VI. 522, proterit impulsu gravis agmina, corporaque atris | sternit equis. p. 25. I. I. ut] if the text be right (see appendix) ut is of course not final but consecutive, following sic graviter 'so seriously wounded as to seem in imminent danger of death'. 3 5 9 expiato suo dolore] 'because his resentment was now appeased.' obsidibus datis firmat] 'pledges himself by the surrender of hostages': similar words in a different sense occur in 27. scio Caesarem] if this statement is to be taken strictly Hirtius here asserts his knowledge of the fact that Caesar wrote a commentary of the events of 51, thus confirming my conjecture of commentarios...non comparentes supplevi in the preface. 12 L. Paulo, C. Marcello] B. C. 50. L. Aemilius Paulus, son of M. Aemilius Lepidus, was an adherent of the oligarchical party, and in 63 had been one of Catiline's accusers. Caesar now won him over by the gift of large sums of money (Suet. Caes. XXIX.). His colleague C. Claudius Marcellus was a cousin of M. Claudius Marcellus the consul of the previous year, and was a strong opponent of Caesar, though distantly connected with him by marriage. 13 20 22 26 magno opere] for the position of this word cf. Caelius ap. Cic. Fam. VIII. I ut nunc est, nulla magno opere expectatio est. Kraner qu. Liv. III. 26 nulla magno opere clade accepta. Galliae] genitive after res gestas as in the preface. CHAP. 49. sub decessu suo] 'on the eve of his departure' 'just at the moment of his departure'; cf. v. 13 sub bruma, B. C. 1. 27 sub ipsa profectione. Caesar was naturally anxious to leave Gaul in a state of pacification, in view of the serious political crisis that he would have to face in Rome. decessu] decessus, decessio, decedere are recognised terms for the retirement of a magistrate from a provincial administration, cf. 50 Caesaris decedentis gratiam convellere cupiebant. sine praesenti periculo] 'if there were no immediate danger' (in doing so). condicione parendi meliore] ‘by ameliorating the conditions of their obedience'. CHAP. 50. 27 contra consuetudinem] hitherto Caesar had spent the summer in Gaul; this year, Gaul no longer requiring his presence, he repaired to Italy. |