Author Archives: M. Mix

DBG 5.38 – 5.40

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5.38

Ambiorix having been lifted by this victory sets out immediately with the cavalry to the Aduatici, who were neighboring to his kingdom; he discontinues neither the night nor the day and he orders the foot soldiers to follow closely.

With the matter having been explained and the Aduatuci having been rallied , he arrives on the next day among the Nervii and he exhorts that they might not throw away the opportunity of freeing themselves forever and of punishing the Romans for those wrongs/injustices which they [the Gauls] have received; he shows that the two legates have been killed and a great part of the army has died; [he shows] that [it is] nothing of a effort [for] the legion, which is passing the winter with Cicero, to be killed having been suddenly [i.e., if suddenly attacked]; he promises himself as an assistant toward this matter. He easily persuades the Nervii with this speech.

5.39

And so with the messengers having been sent away immediately to the Ceutrones, the Grudii, the Levaci, Pleomoxii, (and) the Geidumni, who are all under the authority of them (the Nervii), they assemble armed forces as large as they are able and unexpectedly they rush at the winter quarters of Cicero, with the report about the death of Titurius [Sabinus] not yet conveyed to him. It also happens to him (Quintus Tullius Cicero), which was necessary, that some soldiers who had departed into the forest for the sake of collecting wood and fortifying were intercepted by the sudden arrival of cavalry.

These  having been surrounded by a large band, the Eburones, the Nervii, the Aduatuci and the allies and the dependents of all these people begin to attack the legion. Our (men) quickly hurry to the arms, they mount the rampart. This day is withstood with difficulty because the enemies were placing all hope in swiftness, and having accomplished this victory they were hoping that  they would be conquerers forever.

5.40

Letters are sent to Caesar immediately by Cicero with great rewards having been offered (to the messengers), if they had carried (them) through: with all the roads having been obstructed the sent men are intercepted. At night from the lumber which they had collected for the sake of fortification, as many as 120 towers are fully constructed with unbelievable speed; [and those things] which seemed to have been lacking for defense are built.

On the following day the enemy, after they had gathered much larger forces, attack the camp, [and] complete the trench. In the same manner by which on the day before, it is opposed by our men. This same thing happens afterward on the remaining days. No part of nighttime is omitted for the work; not to the sick, not to the wounded is the opportunity for rest granted.

Whatever things are needed for the next day’s attack are prepared at night; many beams burned at the end, a great number of wall pikes is constructed; towers are built up, battlements and parapets are woven from the wickerwork. Cicero himself, although he was in very delicate health, was not indeed leaving for himself the night time for quiet, so that spontaneously he was compelled to spare himself by the assembly and voices/pleas of the soldiers.

DBG 5.37

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5.37

Sabinus orders tribunes of the soldier whom in the moment he was holding around him and the centurions of the first ranks to follow him and, when he had approached nearer to Ambiorix, having been commanded to hurl the weapons, does  [the thing] ordered and he ordered his men to do the same. Meanwhile, while they discuss among themselves about the conditions/terms, and by plan a longer speech is begun by Ambiorix, gradually surrounded, he is killed.
Then indeed according to their custom they shout out “victory,” and they raise a howl,  and with an attack made against our [men] they greatly disrupted [our] ranks. There Lucius Cotta while fighting is killed together with the greatest part of the soldiers. The remaining [men] withdraw into the camp from where they had marched out. From these Lucius Petrosidius the eagle-bearer, when he was overwhelmed by the great number of enemies, cast the eagle within the camp; he himself is slain while fighting most bravely in front of the camps.
With difficulty those [men] withstand the attack into the night; at night with safety despaired of, they all killed themselves to the man. A few [men] having slipped from the battle with uncertain passages come through the forests to the legate Titus Labienus in the winter quarters and they inform him of the events.

DBG 5.36

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5. 36

Disturbed by these things Quintus Titurius [Sabinus], when he had caught sight of Ambiorix from afar encouraging his men, sends his interpreter Gnaius Pompeius to him (Ambiorix) in order to request that he spare him and his soldiers. He having been called replied: if he should wish to speak with him, (it) is permitted; that (he) hopes (this thing) which pertains to the safety for the soldiers can be gained from the people; that to him truly no harm would be done, and that he pledged his faith to that matter.

That man [Sabinus] communicates with wounded Cotta, if it seemed appropriate that they retire from the fight and speak together with Ambiorix: [saying that he] hope to be able to have gained from Ambiorix concerning his own safety and of the soldiers. Cotta refuses to go to an armed enemy and in this (refusal) he perseveres/remains stubborn.

AP 03/04

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OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS

PREP QUESTIONS AND/OR MULTI CHOICE – Caesar Workbook p. 98-102; 106-109; 112-116;

TONIGHT 120-124; 129-134; 138-143;

IN CLASS 146-149; 153-156; 160-164

STUDY, STUDY, STUDY for the Wednesday’s test on Book 5

DBG 5.35

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5.35

[And this] command having been obeyed very carefully, when any cohort had gone out from the circle and had made an attack, the enemies were fleeing very quickly. Meanwhile it was necessary that this part/area be made bare and that weapons be received from the open side/flank. Again when[ever] they had begun to reutrn to that place from which they had gone out, both by those who had yielded and by those who had stood closest [to them] they were being surrounded, but if however they wished to keep the place, neither was the place left [available] for bravery, nor were they while crowded together able to avoid the weapons hurled by such a great multitude.

Nevertheless, although distressed with so many disadvantages, with many wounds received,they were withstanding and with a great part of the day spent, although it was fought from dawn to the eighth hour, they were doing nothing which was unworthy of them.

Then each thigh for Titus Balventius, who had led as first centurion the previous year, a brave man and of great authority, is pierced by a javelin; Quintus Lucanius of the same rank fighting very bravely is slain while he comes to aid [his] surrounded son; Lucus Cotta the ambassador is wounded while encouraging all the cohorts and ranks directly in the face with a slingshot.

DBG 5.34

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5.34

But a plan was not lacking for the barbarians. For their leaders ordered that to announce along the whole battle line that no one should depart from (his) place: [stating that] the booty was theirs and was reserved for them whatever [things] the Romans had left behind: accordingly they should consider that everything was placed/depending on victory.
They [our men] were equal in valor and devotion for fighting; our [men], although they were deserted both by [their] leader and by fortune, neverthelss were putting all hope of safety in valor, and as often as every cohort had charged forward, a great number of the enemy was falling on that side.
This/Which thing having been observed, Ambiorix orders [it] to be announced that they hurl their weapons from a distance and to not approach nearer and, into  what[ever] area the Romans made an attack, they [the enemy] should yield (that nothing was able to be injured for them because of the lightness of [their] arms and daily exercise; they pursue retreating themselves back to the signal.

DBG 5.32 and 5.33

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5.32

But the enemies, after they had become aware of their departure from the nocturnal noise and wakefulness, with ambushes having been placed in two parts in the woods in a fit and hidden place about two miles away they awaited the arrival of the Romans, and when the larger part of the army had sent itself into a great valley, suddenly they presented themselves from each of two parts of that valley and they began to harass the last men [i.e., the men in the rear] and to prevent the first from ascending and to engage in battle in a place most unfavorable for our men.

5.33

Then finally Titurius, who had foreseen foresaw nothing before[hand], [began to] shake with fear and to ran about and to station the cohorts. [He did] these very things nevertheless cowardly/fearly and as if all things seemed to fail him; [that] which was accustomed to happen very often to those who are compelled to take advice in the very business. But Cotta, since he had thought that these things were able to happen in the journey and because he had not been the adviser to this cause of setting out, he failed in no affair for the purpose of the common security and he surpassed his duties both of general in calling and encouraging the soldiers and of a soldier in battle. Since they were less easily able to perform everything through themselves, and to foresee/provide what was to be done in each place because of the length of the army line, they ordered to announce that they should leave the baggage and settle into a circle.

Which/this plan, although in such a disaster must not be condemned, nevertheless turned out inconveniently: for [this plan] both diminished the hope of our soldiers and made the enemy more eager for fighting, because it seemed that this was not done without the highest fear and desperation. Besides that happened, which was necessary to happen, that the soldiers commonly were departing from the standards, what each [man] was holding most dear he was hastening to seek and to grab from the baggage, [and] everything was filled with clamor and weeping.

DBG 5.30 and 5.31

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5.30

This discussion having been considered into either region/side, when it was being resisted fiercely by Cotta and the first ranks, “Prevail/Win,” Sabinus said, “if you wish thus,” and this with a rather clear voice, so that a great part of the soldiers might hear “nor am I someone,” he says, “**who from among you is very seriously terrified by the danger of death: these (soldiers) will understand/know; if something more serious will have occured, they will demand an account from you, [these men] who, if it might be allowed through you, having been joined together on the day after tomorrow with the next winter camps, would endure the common fortune of war with the rest, [and] not cast out and removed far from the test, would perish either by the sword or by hunger”

** relative clause of characteristic

5.31

There is a rising up from the meeting/council; they grab each and beg, that they not bring the situation into the highest danger by their disagreement or stubbornness: that the matter was easy, whether they remain or they proceed, if only they all notice and approve the same thing; on the other hand they saw no safety in dissension/disagreement. The matter is prolonged by discussion to midnight.

Finally Cotta, upset, gives hands (surrenders); the opinion of Sabinus remains. It is announced that they will go at dawn. The remaining part of the night is spent watching [i.e., without sleep], since each soldier examined his things, what he might be able to carry with himself, [and] what of the equipment of the winter quarters he might be forced to leave behind.

All things are devised, why they would stay without danger and [by what means] the danger is increased by the weakness of the soldiers and by [their] watching [i.e., sleeplessness]. They set out at dawn from the camp in such a way as to whom it had been persuaded not by the enemy but by advice given by the very friendly man Ambiorix, in a very long column and with very great baggage.

DBG 5.29

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Against these things, Titurius [Sabinus] was exclaiming that they would act too late, after larger bands of the enemies had gathered with the Germans having been added or after something of a disaster had been sustained in the nearest winter camps; that the opportunity of deliberating/consulting was short; that Caesar was thought to have set out to Italy; neither would the Carnutes have adapted the plan of the killing Tasgetius nor, if that man [Caesar] had been present, would the Eburones be approaching the camps of our men with so great a disdain of us.

[He/Sabinus was exclaiming] that he did not regard the enemy but the affair as the advisor/authority: [namely] that the Rhine [River] was close; that the death of Ariovistus and our previous victories were for [the purpose of] great grief for the Germans; that Gaul burned, with so many insults received, having been reduced under the power of the Roman people,[and] with the previous glory of a military matter destroyed.

Lastly, [he was exclaiming] who would convince him by this, without certain proof that Ambiorix had proceeded to a plan of such a sort? [He was shouting] That his own opinion was safe in either side; if there were nothing harder, [then] they would arrive with no danger to the nearby legion; if all Gaul would agree/conspire with the Germans, [then] safety depends on speed alone.

[He shouted] what result does the proposal of Cotta and of those who disagreed have? In which case, if not present danger, then certainly was not famine from a long seige to be feared?.

DBG 5.28

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5.28

Arpineius and Junius, report to the legates (those things), which they have heard. Those men, disturbed by the sudden affair, although these things were said  by an enemy, nevertheless were reckoning that [these things were] not to be disregarded and were especially moved by this thing, because it was hardly to be believed that the undistinguished and weak state of the Eburones dared to make war with the Roman people of their own accord. Therefore they report the matter to the council and a great dispute arises between them.

Lucius Aurunculeius [Cotta] and several military tribunes and the centurions of the first rank were reckoning that nothing should be done rashly and [they should not depart] from the winter quarters without Caesar’s orders: they were explaining that even forces of the Germans as great as you wish might be sustained by fortified winter camps: the thing was for proof, because they had very bravely withstood the first attack of the enemy with many wounds furthermore having been inflicted: that (they) were not pressed by grain supply; that meanwhile help would assemble from both the nearest winter camp and from Caesar: finally what could be more inconstant or more shameful, than to adopt a plan on the authority of an enemy regarding the highest matters?