DBG Book 4, Chapters 24-35
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35-36.1
At barbari, consilio Romanorum cognito praemisso equitatu et essedariis, quo plerumque genere in proeliis uti consuerunt, reliquis copiis subsecuti nostros navibus egredi prohibebant.
Erat ob has causas summa difficultas, quod naves propter magnitudinem nisi in alto constitui non poterant, militibus autem, ignotis locis, impeditis manibus, magno et gravi onere armorum oppressis simul et de navibus desiliendum et in fluctibus consistendum et cum hostibus erat pugnandum, cum illi aut ex arido aut paulum in aquam progressi omnibus membris expeditis, notissimis locis, audacter tela coicerent et equos insuefactos incitarent. Quibus rebus nostri perterriti atque huius omnino generis pugnae imperiti, non eadem alacritate ac studio quo in pedestribus uti proeliis consuerant utebantur.
​
But the barbarians, with the plan of the Romans h/b learned, with the cavalry and charioteers h/b sent before, which kind they were accustomed very often to use in battles, having followed closely with remaining troops, were preventing our [men] to disembark from the ships.
There was the highest difficulty for these reasons, because the ships, on account of large size, were not able to be anchored except in the deep, but it must be dismounted from the ships by the soldiers in unknown places, with hands h/b hindered, h/b oppressed by the great and heavy burden of arms, and at the same time it must be stopped among the waves and it must be fought with enemies, while they, either from dry land or having advanced somewhat into the water, with all limbs h/b set free, in very familiar places, were throwing spears fearlessly and were urging on trained horses.
Our men, h/b frightened thoroughly by these things and altogether inexperienced of this kind of battle, were not showing the same enthusiasm and devotion which they were accustomed to use in pedestrian battles.
4.24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Quod ubi Caesar animadvertit, naves longas, quarum et species erat barbaris inusitatior et motus ad usum expeditior, paulum removeri ab onerariis navibus et remis incitari et ad latus apertum hostium constitui atque inde fundis, sagittis, tormentis hostes propelli ac submoveri iussit; quae res magno usui nostris fuit. Nam et navium figura et remorum motu et inusitato genere tormentorum permoti barbari constiterunt ac paulum modo pedem rettulerunt. Atque nostris militibus cunctantibus, maxime propter altitudinem maris, qui decimae legionis aquilam gerebat, obtestatus deos, ut ea res legioni feliciter eveniret, ‘desilite,’ inquit, ‘milites, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prodere; ego certe meum rei publicae atque imperatori officium praestitero.’ Hoc cum voce magna dixisset, se ex navi proiecit atque in hostes aquilam ferre coepit. Tum nostri cohortati inter se, ne tantum dedecus admitteretur, universi ex navi desiluerunt. Hos item ex proximis primi navibus cum conspexissent, subsecuti hostibus adpropinquaverunt.
​
Which when Caesar had noticed, he ordered the long ships, of which the appearance was more startling to the barbarians and movement was more unimpeded for use, to be withdrawn slightly from the transport ships and to be set in motion with oars and to be halted near the exposed side of the enemies, and then [he ordered] the enemies to be routed and to be driven away with slings, arrows, catapults; which maneuver was of great use to our [men]. For the barbarians, h/b incited by the form of the ships and by the movement of the oars and by the unusual nature of the catapults, stood, and they retreated just a little. And, with our soldiers having hesitated, especially on account of the depth of the sea, he who was carrying the eagle of the tenth legion, having beseeched the gods, that this situation might result fortunately for the legion, said “Jump down, soldiers, unless you want to betray the eagle to the enemies; I certainly will have shown my allegiance to the Republic and to the emperor.” After he had spoken this with great voice, he cast himself from the ship and began to carry the eagle into the enemies. Then our [men], having cheered among themselves, so that such dishonor might not be committed, all together dismounted from the ship. After the first [men] from the nearest ships also had perceived these [men], having followed closely, they approached the enemies.
4.25
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Pugnatum est ab utrisque acriter. Nostri tamen, quod neque ordines servare neque firmiter insistere neque signa subsequi poterant atque alius alia ex navi quibuscumque signis occurrerat se adgregabat, magnopere perturbabantur; hostes vero, notis omnibus vadis, ubi ex litore aliquos singulares ex navi egredientes conspexerant, incitatis equis impeditos adoriebantur, plures paucos circumsistebant, alii ab latere aperto in universos tela coniciebant. Quod cum animadvertisset Caesar, scaphas longarum navium, item speculatoria navigia militibus compleri iussit, et quos laborantes conspexerat, his subsidia submittebat. Nostri, simul in arido constiterunt, suis omnibus consecutis, in hostes impetum fecerunt atque eos in fugam dederunt; neque longius prosequi potuerunt, quod equites cursum tenere atque insulam capere non potuerant. Hoc unum ad pristinam fortunam Caesari defuit.
It was fought fiercely by both [sides]. Our men, however, because they were able neither to preserve ranks nor to take a stand firmly nor to follow behind the standards, and [because] one [man] from another ship was joining himself with whatever standards he had met, were greatly being disturbed; but the enemies, with all shallows h/b known, when from shore they had seen some [men] disembarking one at a time from the ship, with horses h/b excited, were attacking [us] h/b hindered, more [men] were surrounding few [men], other [men] were hurling spears from the side h/b exposed into the whole [Romans]. Which when Caesar had noticed, he ordered skiffs of the long ships, also the scouting ships to be filled up with soldiers, and [those] laboring whom he had perceived, he was sending reserve forces to them. Our men, as soon as they stood on dry land, with all their [comrades] having followed up, made an attack onto the enemies and put them into flight; and they were not able to pursue farther, because the horsemen were not able to hold a course and to capture the island. This one [thing] was lacking for the former fortune for Caesar.
4.26
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
guess what you have found the secret link
Hostes proelio superati, simul atque se ex fuga receperunt, statim ad Caesarem legatos de pace miserunt; obsides sese daturos quaeque imperasset facturos polliciti sunt. Una cum his legatis Commius Atrebas venit, quem supra demonstraveram a Caesare in Britanniam praemissum. Hunc illi e navi egressum, cum ad eos oratoris modo Caesaris mandata deferret, comprehenderant atque in vincula coniecerant; tum proelio facto remiserunt et in petenda pace eius rei culpam in multitudinem contulerunt et propter imprudentiam ut ignosceretur petiverunt. Caesar questus quod, cum ultro in continentem legatis missis pacem ab se petissent, bellum sine causa intulissent, ignoscere imprudentiae dixit obsidesque imperavit; quorum illi partem statim dederunt, partem ex longinquioribus locis arcessitam paucis diebus sese daturos dixerunt. Interea suos in agros remigrare iusserunt, principesque undique convenire et se civitatesque suas Caesari commendare coeperunt.
The enemies, h/b conquered in battle, as soon as they recovered themselves from flight, immediately sent envoys for peace to Caesar; they promised that they themselves would give hostages and would do [the things] which he had demanded. Together with these envoys, Commius, an Atrebatian, came, whom I had described before, h/b sent in advance by Caesar into Britannia. They had arrested this [man], having disembarked from the ship, when he was carrying orders of Caesar to them by method of an envoy, and had thrown [him] into chains; then, with the battle h/b done, they returned [him] and, for seeking peace, they collected blame of his situation on the multitude and sought that they might be pardoned on account of ignorance. Caesar, having complained that, although voluntarily, with envoys h/b sent into the mainland, they had sought peace from himself, they had caused war without reason, said that he himself forgives the ignorance, and ordered the hostages; of whom they gave a part immediately; they said that they themselves will give a part h/b summoned from distant places in a few days. Meanwhile they ordered their [men] to return into the fields, and they began to assemble leaders everywhere and to surrender themselves and their states to Caesar.
4.27 - fix parentheses
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
His rebus pace confirmata, post diem quartum quam est in Britanniam ventum naves XVIII, de quibus supra demonstratum est, quae equites sustulerant, ex superiore portu leni vento solverunt. Quae cum adpropinquarent Britanniae et ex castris viderentur, tanta tempestas subito coorta est ut nulla earum cursum tenere posset, sed aliae eodem unde erant profectae referrentur, aliae ad inferiorem partem insulae, quae est propius solis occasum, magno suo cum periculo deicerentur; quae tamen ancoris iactis cum fluctibus complerentur, necessario adversa nocte in altum provectae continentem petierunt.
With peace h/b established by these terms, on the fourth [third] day after it has been come into Britannia; the eighteen ships, about which it has been described before, which had lifted up the horsemen, loosened from the upper port with a gentle wind. When these were approaching Britannia and were being seen from the camp[s], suddenly so great a storm broke out that none of them were being able to hold a course, but some [ships] were being carried back [to] the same [place] whence they had set out, other [ships] were being cast down to the lower part of the island, which is nearer to the setting of the sun, with great danger to itself; which, however, with anchors h/b cast, when they were being filled with waves, unavoidably, with night h/b opposed, h/b carried forward into the deep, sought the continent.
4.28
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Eadem nocte accidit ut esset luna plena, qui dies a maritimos aestus maximos in Oceano efficere consuevit, nostrisque id erat incognitum. Ita uno tempore et longas naves, [quibus Caesar exercitum transportandum curaverat,] quas Caesar in aridum subduxerat, aestus complebat, et onerarias, quae ad ancoras erant deligatae, tempestas adflictabat, neque ulla nostris facultas aut administrandi aut auxiliandi dabatur. Compluribus navibus fractis, reliquae cum essent funibus, ancoris reliquisque armamentis amissis ad navigandum inutiles, magna, id quod necesse erat accidere, totius exercitus perturbatio facta est. Neque enim naves erant aliae quibus reportari possent, et omnia deerant quae ad reficiendas naves erant usui, et, quod omnibus constabat hiemari in Gallia oportere, frumentum in his locis in hiemem provisum non erat.
On the same night, it happened that the moon was full, which day was accustomed to cause the highest tides of the sea in the ocean; it was unknown to our [men]. Thus, at the same time, both the tide was filling up the long ships, by which he had provided for the army to be transported, and which Caesar had led into dry [land], and the storm was damaging the freight ships, which had been fastened to anchors, and not any opportunity of either managing or helping was being given to our [men]. With many ships h/b wrecked, while the remaining [ships], with ropes, anchors and remaining implements h/b lost, were useless for sailing, a great confusion of the whole army, that which was unavoidable to happen, was made. For nor were there other ships by which they were being able to be carried back, and all [things], which were of use for the ships to be repaired, were lacking, and, because it was being evident to all [men] that it is necessary to be wintered in Gaul, grain has not been provided in these places for the winter.
4.29
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Quibus rebus cognitis, principes Britanniae, qui post proelium ad Caesarem convenerant, inter se collocuti, cum et equites et naves et frumentum Romanis deesse intellegerent et paucitatem militum ex castrorum exiguitate cognoscerent, quae hoc erant etiam angustior quod sine impedimentis Caesar legiones transportaverat, optimum factu esse duxerunt rebellione facta frumento commeatuque nostros prohibere et rem in hiemem producere, quod his superatis aut reditu interclusis neminem postea belli inferendi causa in Britanniam transiturum confidebant. Itaque rursus coniuratione facta paulatim ex castris discedere et suos clam ex agris deducere coeperunt.
With which things h/b learned, the chiefs of Britannia, who had assembled to Caesar after the battle, having arranged among themselves, when they were perceiving that horsemen and ships and grain are lacking for the Romans, and [when] they were learning the fewness of soldiers from the scantiness of the camp[s], which by this were even narrower because Caesar had transported the legions with hindrances, judged that the best [thing] to do, with a rebellion h/b made, is to prohibit our [men] from grain and a voyage, and to the affair into winter, because, with these [men] h/b conquered or h/b cut off from return, they were trusting that nobody afterward would cross into Britannia for the reason of causing war. Therefore, again, with a conspiracy h/b made, gradually they began to depart from the camps and to lead their [men] from the fields secretly.
4.30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
At Caesar, etsi nondum eorum consilia cognoverat, tamen et ex eventu navium suarum et ex eo quod obsides dare intermiserant fore id quod accidit suspicabatur. Itaque ad omnes casus subsidia comparabat. Nam et frumentum ex agris cotidie in castra conferebat et, quae gravissime adflictae erant naves, earum materia atque aere ad reliquas reficiendas utebatur et quae ad eas res erant usui ex continenti comportari iubebat. Itaque, cum summo studio a militibus administraretur, XII navibus amissis, reliquis ut navigari satis commode posset effecit.
But Caesar, although he had not yet learned the plans of them, nevertheless, both from the outcome of his ships and from this (fact) that they had neglected to give the hostages, was suspecting that it, which happened, would be. And so, against all misfortunes, he was preparing reserve forces. For both he was carrying grain from the fields into the camp(s) everyday, and the ships, which had been damaged very seriously, of those the wood and copper he was using for the remaining (ships) to be repaired, and he was ordering (that) which were of use for these things to be acquired from the mainland. And so, since it was being managed by the soldiers with the highest devotion, with 12 ships h/b lost, he rendered that it is able to be sailed very easily by the remaining (ships).
4.31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Dum ea geruntur, legione ex consuetudine una frumentatum missa, quae appellabatur VII., neque ulla ad id tempus belli suspicione interposita, cum pars hominum in agris remaneret, pars etiam in castra ventitaret, ei qui pro portis castrorum in statione erant Caesari nuntiaverunt pulverem maiorem quam consuetudo ferret in ea parte videri quam in partem legio iter fecisset. Caesar id quod erat suspicatus aliquid novi a barbaris initum consilii, cohortes quae in statione erant secum in eam partem proficisci, ex reliquis duas in stationem succedere, reliquas armari et confestim sese subsequi iussit. Cum paulo longius a castris processisset, suos ab hostibus premi atque aegre sustinere et conferta legione ex omnibus partibus tela coici animadvertit. Nam quod omni ex reliquis partibus demesso frumento pars una erat reliqua, suspicati hostes huc nostros esse venturos noctu in silvis delituerant; tum dispersos depositis armis in metendo occupatos subito adorti paucis interfectis reliquos incertis ordinibus perturbaverant, simul equitatu atque essedis circumdederant.
While these (things) are being transacted, with one legion, which was being called the 7th, h/b sent to forage from custom, and not with any suspicion of war h/b alleged at this time, when part of the men was remaining in the fields, (when) also a part was coming into the camp(s), those who were on sentry (duty) before the gates of the camp(s) announced to Caesar that dust, larger than custom was bringing, is seen in that part, into which part the legion had made a route. Caesar, having suspected that which was, that something of a new plan was being formed by the barbarians, ordered the cohorts, which were on sentry, to set out with himself into that part, two from the remaining to succeed onto sentry, (and) the remaining to be armed and to follow himself immediately. When he had advanced slightly farther from the camp(s), he noticed that his (men) are oppressed by the enemies and hardly are sustaining, and, with the legion h/b crowded together, that weapons are being thrown from all sides. For, because, with all grain h/b reaped from the remaining parts, one part was remaining, the enemies, having suspected that our (men) would come here, lurked in the woods at night; then, suddenly having attacked (our men) h/b scattered, with arms h/b laid down, h/b engaged in reaping, with a few (men) h/b killed, they had disturbed the remaining (men) with uncertain ranks; at once they had surrounded (our men) with a cavalry and chariots.
4.32
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
