Caesar DBG 5 39 Course Notes

Latin III:  Caesar, De Bello Gallico

Instructor:  James Ransom

May 1, 2014

Caesar DBG 5:39

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

[39]          1         Itaque confestim dimissis nuntiis ad Ceutrones, Grudios, Levacos, Pleumoxios, Geidumnos, qui omnes sub eorum imperio sunt, quam maximas manus possunt cogunt et de improviso ad Ciceronis hiberna advolant nondum ad eum fama de Tituri morte perlata.          2         Huic quoque accidit, quod fuit necesse, ut nonnulli milites, qui lignationis munitionisque causa in silvas discessissent, repentino equitum adventu interciperentur.          3         His circumventis magna manu Eburones, Nervii, Aduatuci atque horum omnium socii et clientes legionem oppugnare incipiunt. Nostri celeriter ad arma concurrunt, vallum conscendunt. 4 Aegre is dies sustentatur, quod omnem spem hostes in celeritate ponebant atque hanc adepti victoriam in perpetuum se fore victores confidebant.

[39]             1            Itaque confestim dimissis nuntiis ad Ceutrones, Grudios, Levacos, Pleumoxios, Geidumnos Similarly, messengers were sent at once the Ceutrones, Grudii, Levaci, Pleumoxii, and Geidumni; “dimissis” is perfect passive participle of dimitto, dimittere, dimisi, dimissum, “to send, send away, dismiss.”  qui omnes sub eorum imperio sunt who all were under the Nervian power;             quam maximas manus possunt cogunt et de improviso ad Ciceronis hiberna advolant and they gathered every available man and hastened unforeseen to the winter camp of Cicero; “advolant” is third person plural present indicative active of advolo, advoare, advolavi, advolatum, “to fly to or toward.” “cogunt” is third person plural present indicative active of cogo, cogere, coegi, coactum, “to collect, gather together.”  “possunt” is third person plural present indicative active of possum, posse, potui.              nondum ad eum fama de Tituri morte perlata who had not yet received any report of Sabinus’ death.  “perlata” is perfect passive participle (in ablative absolute construction) of perfero, perferre, pertuli, perlatum. 

2            Huic quoque accidit, quod fuit necesse inevitably it befell Cicero; “accidit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of accido, accidere, accidi, accisum, “to fell, cut down.” ut nonnulli milites, qui lignationis munitionisque causa in silvas discessissent that not a few soldiers, who had gone in a detail to the woods in search of timber for the camp; “discessissent” is third person plural pluperfect subjunctive active of discedo, discedere, discessi, discessum, “to leave, depart.”            repentino equitum adventu interciperentur. were cut off by the sudden arrival of enemy cavalry; “interciperentur” is third person plural imperfect subjunctive passive of intercipio, intercipere, intercepi, interceptum, “to intercept, cut off.”

3            His circumventis magna manu Eburones, Nervii, Aduatuci atque horum omnium socii et clientes legionem oppugnare incipiunt They were surrounded, and a great army of Eburones, Nervii, Aduatuci, and their hangers-on and dependents began to attack the legion; “incipiunt” is third person plural present indicative active of incipio, incipere, incepi, inceptum, “to begin.”  “oppugnare” is present infinitive of oppugno, oppugnare, oppugnavi, oppugnatum.  “circumventis” perfect passive participle (in ablative absolute) of circumvenio, circumvenire, circumveni, circumventum, “to surround.” 

Nostri celeriter ad arma concurrunt, vallum conscendunt But our side rapidly armed and scaled the rampart; “conscendunt” is third person plural present indicative active of conscendo, condscendere, conscendi, conscensum, “to climb, scale.”  “concurrunt” is third person plural present indicative active of concurro, concurrere, concurri, concursum. 

4 Aegre is dies sustentatur They barely made it through the day; “sustenatur” is third person singular present indicative passive of sustento, sustentare, sustentavi, sustentatum, “to endure, hold out.”              quod omnem spem hostes in celeritate ponebant

for all enemy hope was placed on a lightning victory; “ponebant” is third person plural imperfect indicative active of pono, ponere, posui, positum.                        atque hanc adepti victoriam in perpetuum se fore victores confidebant and they were confident that this one triumph would make them conquerors through eternity; “confidebant” is third person plural imperfect indicative active of the deponent confido, confidere, confisus sum, “to be confident, believe in, trust in.” “fore” is alternative future infinitive active of sum, esse, fui, futurus.  See Steadman’s note.   “adepti” is perfect participle of the deponent adipiscor, adipicis, adeptus sum, “to attain, achieve.”