 109. The Beseiged attempt to Communicate with Caesar |
111. A Messenger eludes the Enemy  |
At Cicerō, quī iniussū Caesaris castra movēre nōlēbat, Gallīs respondit nōn esse cōnsuētūdinem populī Rōmānī ūllam[1] accipere ab hoste armātō condiciōnem; sī ab armīs discēdere atque lēgātōs[2] ad Caesarem mittere vellent, spērāre sē eōs, quae[3] petīssent, impetrātūrōs. Hāc spē dēiectī[4] Nerviī vāllō pedum decem et fossā pedum quīndecim hīberna circumdant[5]. Eīs autem nūlla erat ferramentōrum[6] cōpia, quae ad eam rem ūsuī[7] sunt; gladiīs igitur caespitēs circumcīdere[8] et manibus sagīsque terram exhaurīre[9] cōgēbantur. Quā ex rē hominum multitūdō cōgnōscī potest; nam hōrīs ferē tribus decem mīlium passuum in circuitū mūnītiōnem pedum quīndecim perfēcērunt.
Septimō oppugnātiōnis diē, maximō coortō ventō, hostēs tēla fervefacta[10] in casās iēcērunt; quae celeriter comprehendērunt ignem, et ventī[11] magnitūdine[12] in omnem locum castrōrum distulērunt[13]. Tum Gallī, victōriam ratī iam dēmum esse partam, maximō clāmōre vāllum[14] scālīs ascendere coepērunt. At tanta erat virtūs nostrōrum, ut, cum maximā tēlōrum multitūdine[15] premerentur, suaque impedimenta omnia ignī cōnsūmī intellegerent, dē vāllō dēcēderet[16] nēmō. Hīc diēs nostrīs[17] longē gravissimus fuit; sed tamen hunc habuit ēventum, ut[18] eō diē[19] maximus numerus hostium interīret aut vulnerārētur.
- ↑ ūllam: modifier of condiciōnem.
- ↑ lēgātōs: m, as on p. 48, l. 9.
- ↑ quae: i.e. ea quae, lit. the things which; freely, the concessions which, petīssent: i.e. petīvissent; cf. also the note on exspectāssent, p. 104, l. 18.
- ↑ hāc spē dēiectī: cf. the similar phrase, p. 125, l. 5.
- ↑ circumdant: for tense, cf. p. 135, l. 6, eīs: i.e. Nerviīs.
- ↑ ferramentōrum: ferrāmentum, -ī: n, from implement, eam: such; rem: business.
- ↑ ūsuī: m, are needed.
- ↑ circumcīdere: circumcīdō, 3, -cīdī, -cīsus: cut out, lit. cut around.
- ↑ exhaurīre: exhauriō, 4, -hausī, -haustus: remove, lit. haul out.
- ↑ fervefacta: fervefactus, -a, -um: red-hot, casās: barracks; quae: feminine.
- ↑ ventī: m, gen. case.
- ↑ magnitūdine: f, abl. of cause (magnitūdō, -inis, F., force, lit. greatness; cf. magnus), by reason of.
- ↑ distulērunt: sc. eum (i.e. ignem).
- ↑ vāllum: n, i.e. castrōrum; not the vāllum of l. 1, scālīs: scālae, -ārum, F., ladder(s).
- ↑ maximā . . . multitūdine: f, freely, a perfect storm.
- ↑ dēcēderet: dēcēdō, 3, -cessī, -cessum est: withdraw.
- ↑ nostrīs: dat. case, for.
- ↑ ut: that.
- ↑ eō diē: i.e. the day referred to on p. 136, l. 17 as hīc diēs.