Caesar De Bello Gallico 6 14 Course Notes

Latin III:  Caesar, De Bello Gallico

Instructor:  James Ransom

March 9, 2014

DBG 6:14

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

[14]  1       Druides a bello abesse consuerunt neque tributa una cum reliquis pendunt; militiae vacationem omniumque rerum habent immunitatem. 2       Tantis excitati praemiis et sua sponte multi in disciplinam conveniunt et a parentibus propinquisque mittuntur.       3       Magnum ibi numerum versuum ediscere dicuntur. Itaque annos nonnulli vicenos in disciplina permanent.        4          Neque fas esse existimant ea litteris mandare, cum in reliquis fere rebus, publicis privatisque rationibus Graecis litteris utantur. Id mihi duabus de causis instituisse videntur, quod neque in vulgum disciplinam efferri velint neque eos, qui discunt, litteris confisos minus memoriae studere: quod fere plerisque accidit, ut praesidio litterarum diligentiam in perdiscendo ac memoriam remittant. 5       In primis hoc volunt persuadere, non interire animas, sed ab aliis post mortem transire ad alios, atque hoc maxime ad virtutem excitari putant metu mortis neglecto. Multa praeterea de sideribus atque eorum motu, de mundi ac terrarum magnitudine, de rerum natura, de deorum immortalium vi ac potestate disputant et iuventuti tradunt.

[14]      1          Druides a bello abesse consuerunt neque tributa una cum reliquis pendunt As a rule the Druids abstain from warfare, nor do they pay taxes like the rest; “pendunt” is third person plural present indicative active of pendo, pendere, pepensi, pensum, “to weigh out, pay.”  “una”: adverb, “together [“with the rest”].  “consuerunt” is third person plural perfect indicative active of consuesco, consuescere, consuevi, consuetum, “to be accustomed, to tend to.”  “abesse” is present infinitive active of the irregular absum, abesse, abfui, abfuturus.       militiae vacationem omniumque rerum habent immunitatem They are exempt from the draft and from other such obligations; “habent” is third person singular present indicative active of habeo, habere, habui, habitum.

2          Tantis excitati praemiis et sua sponte multi in disciplinam conveniunt et a parentibus propinquisque mittuntur. Such important privileges encourage many to become disciples, either of their own volition or at the insistence of their parents; “mittuntur” is third person plural present passive indicative of mitto, mittere, misi, missum.  “conveniunt” is third person plural present indicative active of convenio, convenire, conveni, conventum. “excitati” is perfect passive participle of excito, excitare, excitavi, excitatum, “to rouse, waken, summon, inspire.”  Note the et…et construction. 

3          Magnum ibi numerum versuum ediscere dicuntur. Itaque annos nonnulli vicenos in disciplina permanent. There they are instructed to commit to memory many lines of verse.  In this way some spend up to 20 years in training; “permanent” is third person plural present indicative active of permaneo, permanere, permansi, permansum, “to remain, stay.”  “dicuntur” is third person plural present indicative passive of dico, dicere, dixi, dictum.  “ediscere” is present infinitive of edisco, edidici, ediscitum, “to learn thoroughly.”

4          Neque fas esse existimant ea litteris mandare Nor do they deem it right to reduce their lore to written form; “mandare” is present infinitive of mando, mandare mandavi, mandatum, “to commit, consign.”  “existimant” is third person plural present indicative active of existimo, existimare, existimavi, existimatum.  ”fas esse”:  see Steadman’s note.  “fas” =roughly “the will of the gods, destiny.”  cum in reliquis fere rebus, publicis privatisque rationibus Graecis litteris utantur  although for other matters, including public and private accounting, they use the Greek alphabet; “utantur” is third person plural present subjunctive active of the deponent utor, usi, usus sum.  Concessive subjunctive with cum. 

Id mihi duabus de causis instituisse videntur  It seems to me they adopted this practice for two reasons:;  “videntur” is third person plural present indicative passive of video, videre, visi, visum.  “instituisse” is perfect active infinitive of instituo, instituere, institui, institutum, “to establish, found”

quod neque in vulgum disciplinam efferri velint neque eos, qui discunt, litteris confisos minus memoriae studere  they neither wish the vulgar to gain access to their secrets nor their disciples to rely more on the text and less on their own memory; “studere” is present infinitive of studeo, studere, studui, “to be attached to, support, prefer.”  “discunt” is third person plural present indicative active of disco, discere, didici, discitum. “efferi” is present passive infinitive of effero, extuli, elatum, “to carry out, forth or away.”  “velint” is third person plural present subjunctive active of volo, velle, volui, “to wish.”  Note the neque…neque construction. 

quod fere plerisque accidit, ut praesidio litterarum diligentiam in perdiscendo ac memoriam remittant and it often does happen that when provided with texts, students may grow lax at memorization; “remittant” is third person plural present subjunctive  active of remitto, remittere, remisi, remissum.  “perdiscendo”:  see Steadman’s note.  “accidit” is third person singular present indicative active of accido, accidere, accidi, “to happen, occur, befall.”

5          In primis hoc volunt persuadere, non interire animas, sed ab aliis post mortem transire ad alios  The chief creed they seek to inculcate is that after death the soul is not lost, but transmigrates from one body to another; “transire” is present infinitive of transeo, transire, transii, transitum, “to go across, go over.”  “interire” is present infinitive of the irregular intereo, interire, interii, interitum, “ to be ruined, lost.”  “persuadere” is present infinitive of persuadeo, persuadere, persuasi, persuasum.  atque hoc maxime ad virtutem excitari putant metu mortis neglecto and since this belief banishes the fear of death, they hold it a great spur to heroic virtue; “excitari” is present passive infinitive of excito, excitare, excitavi, excitatum.  “putant” is third person plural present indicative active of puto, putare, putavi, putatum.

Multa praeterea de sideribus atque eorum motu, de mundi ac terrarum magnitudine, de rerum natura, de deorum immortalium vi ac potestate disputant et iuventuti tradunt They ponder many other curious topics besides, such as the constellations and their motions, the size of the earth and the cosmos, the order of nature, and the might and power of the immortal gods: and they hand down their wisdom to the youth.  “tradunt” is third person plural present indicative active of trado, tradere, tradidi, traditum.  “disputant” is third person plural present indicative active of disputo, disputare, disputavi, disputatum.