Caesar De Bello Gallico 5 48 Course Notes

Latin III:  Caesar, De Bello Gallico

Instructor:  James Ransom

May 17, 2014

Caesar DBG 5:48

Course Notes
© 2014 James Ransom, M.A., J.D.

[48] 1       Caesar consilio eius probato, etsi opinione trium legionum deiectus ad duas redierat, tamen unum communis salutis auxilium in celeritate ponebat. Venit magnis itineribus in Nerviorum fines.     2       Ibi ex captivis cognoscit, quae apud Ciceronem gerantur, quantoque in periculo res sit.          3  Tum cuidam ex equitibus Gallis magnis praemiis persuadet uti ad Ciceronem epistolam deferat.     4       Hanc Graecis conscriptam litteris mittit, ne intercepta epistola nostra ab hostibus consilia cognoscantur.   5       Si adire non possit, monet ut tragulam cum epistola ad amentum deligata intra munitionem castrorum abiciat.     6       In litteris scribit se cum legionibus profectum celeriter adfore; hortatur ut pristinam virtutem retineat.  7  Gallus periculum veritus, ut erat praeceptum, tragulam mittit.  8  Haec casu ad turrim adhaesit neque ab nostris biduo animadversa tertio die a quodam milite conspicitur, dempta ad Ciceronem defertur.           9       Ille perlectam in conventu militum recitat maximaque omnes laetitia adficit.    10     Tum fumi incendiorum procul videbantur; quae res omnem dubitationem adventus legionum expulit.

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1          Caesar consilio eius probato Caesar, agreeing with Labienus;  

etsi opinione trium legionum deiectus ad duas redierat though his plan to deploy three legions had to be scrapped, and he’d have to make do with two; “redierat” is third person singular pluperfect indicative active of redeo, redire, redii, reditum, “to be reduced to.”

 tamen unum communis salutis auxilium in celeritate ponebat nevertheless he placed the highest priority on speed in order to assure the safety of all; “ponebat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of pono, ponere, posui, positum, “to put, place, ordain.” 

Venit magnis itineribus in Nerviorum fines So Caesar marched double-time to the Nervian border; “venit” is third person singular present indicative active of venio, venire, veni, ventum. 

2          Ibi ex captivis cognoscit, quae apud Ciceronem gerantur, quantoque in periculo res sit There, through interrogation of prisoners, he learned details of the crisis bearing down on Cicero and just how serious the military situation had become; “sit” is third person singular present subjunctive active of sum, esse, fui, futurus.  “gerantur” is third person singular present passive subjunctive of gero, gerere, gessi, gestum.  “cognoscit” is third person singular present indicative active of cognosco, cognoscere, cognovi, cognitum.

3  Tum cuidam ex equitibus Gallis magnis praemiis persuadet uti ad Ciceronem epistolam deferat Then, by offering a huge cash incentive, Caesar talked one of the Gaulish mounted troops into getting a message through to Cicero; “deferat” is third person singular present subjunctive active of defero, deferre, detuli, delatum, “to bear, transfer, deliver.”  “persuadet” is third person singular present indicative active of persuadeo, persuadere, persuasi, persuasum, “to convince, induce.”

4          Hanc Graecis conscriptam litteris mittit, ne intercepta epistola nostra ab hostibus consilia cognoscantur This dispatch was coded using Greek characters, so that if the enemy intercepted it our plans would be indecipherable; “cognoscantur” is third person plural present passive subjunctive of cognosco, cognoscere, cognosci, cognitum. “intercepta” is perfect passive participle of intercipio, intercipere, intercepi, interceptum, “to intercept, rob, steal.”  “mittit” is third person singular present indicative active of mitto, mittere, misi, missum. 

5          Si adire non possit, monet ut tragulam cum epistola ad amentum deligata intra munitionem castrorum abiciat Caesar further instructed this agent that, if he couldn’t reach Cicero personally, he should tie the message to a spear and airmail it over the wall of the camp; “abiciat” is third person singular present subjunctive active of abicio, abicere, abieci, abiectum, “to throw or hurl.”  “deligata” is perfect passive participle of deligo, deligare, deligavi, deligatum, “to tie, bind, bandage.”  “monet” is third person singular present indicative active of moneo, monere, monui, monitum, “to advise, warn.”  “possit” is third person singular present subjunctive active of possum, posse, potui.  “adire” is present infinitive of adeo, adire, adii, aditum, “to approach, go to.”

6          In litteris scribit se cum legionibus profectum celeriter adfore; hortatur ut pristinam virtutem retineat In the letter, Caesar wrote to Cicero encouraging him to continue to hang tough, because Caesar would soon be there at the head of his legions;  “retineat” is third person singular present subjunctive active of retineo, retinere, retinui, retentum, “to hold fast, maintain, preserve.”  “hortatur” is third person singular present indicative active of the deponent hortor, hortari, hortatus sum, “to urge, exhort.”  “profectum” is perfect passive participle of the deponent proficiscor, proficisci, profectum sum, “to set out, depart.” “scribit” is third person singular present indicative active of scribo, scribere, scripsi, scriptum. 

7  Gallus periculum veritus, ut erat praeceptum, tragulam mittit The Gallic operative did sense danger, and so threw his spear as instructed; “mittit” is third person singular present indicative active of mitto, mittere, misi, missum.  “erat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of sum, esse, fui, futurus.  “veritus” is perfect active participle of the deponent vereor, vereri, veritus sum, “to fear, dread.” 

8  Haec casu ad turrim adhaesit As luck would have it, the spear lodged in a turret on the battlements; “adhaesit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of adhaereo, adhaerere, adhaesi, adhaesum, “to stick to, cling to.” 

neque ab nostris biduo animadversa nobody noticed it for 48 hours; “animadversa” is perfect passive participle of animadverto, animadvertere, animadverti, animadversum, “to notice or observe.” 

 tertio die a quodam milite conspicitur, dempta ad Ciceronem defertur but on the third day one of our men spotted and retrieved it, and it was taken to Cicero; “defertur” is third person singular present indicative passive of defero, deferre, detuli, delatum.  “dempta” is perfect participle of demo, demere, dempsi, demptum, “to take down.”  “conspicitur” is third person singular present indicative passive of conspicio, conspicere, conspexi, conspectum.

9          Ille perlectam in conventu militum recitat maximaque omnes laetitia adficit He reviewed it, and then read it aloud to the troops in formation.   Their reaction was one of general rejoicing;  “adficit” is third person singular present indicative active of adficio, adficere, adfeci, adfectum, “to affect.”  “recitat” is third person singular present indicative active of recito, recitare, recitavi, recitatum, “to read aloud, recite.”  “perlectam” is perfect passive participle of perlego, perlegere, perlegi, perlectum, “to read, through, scan.”

10        Tum fumi incendiorum procul videbantur; quae res omnem dubitationem adventus legionum expulit Then, the smoke of distant fires was seen from the fort; and this banished any doubt that the legions were almost arrived; “expulit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of expello, expellere, expuli, expulsum, “to expel, banish.”  “videbantur” is third person plural imperfect indicative passive of video, videre, visi, visum.