6. The Helvetii Set Out 7-11. Caesar Reacts
||Depart|Departed|Julius Caesar|Caesar Responds
6\. Die Schweizer starten mit 7:11. Caesar reagiert
6\. The Swiss Set Out 7-11. Caesar reacts
6. Los suizos partieron 7-11. César reacciona
6.瑞士队以7-11出发。凯撒反应
[6] 1 Erant omnino itinera duo, quibus itineribus domo exire possent: unum per Sequanos, angustum et difficile, inter montem Iuram et flumen Rhodanum, vix qua singuli carri ducerentur, mons autem altissimus impendebat, ut facile perpauci prohibere possent; 2 alterum per provinciam nostram, multo facilius atque expeditius, propterea quod inter fines Helvetiorum et Allobrogum, qui nuper pacati erant, Rhodanus fluit isque non nullis locis vado transitur.
"They were"|"entirely"|Routes|||"routes"||||||Sequani|Narrow and difficult||narrow and difficult|||Jura Mountain|||Rhone River|"barely" or "scarcely"||||"be led"|Mountain||very high|"overhung"||easily|very few|to prohibit||"the other"|||||||more convenient|"because"||||"of the Helvetii"||Allobroges||"Recently"|"pacified" or "subdued"||Rhone River||||"by no"||"Shallow place"|is crossed
[6] 1 Now there were in all two routes, by which they could go forth from the house of country one through the Sequani narrow and difficult, narrow and difficult, between Mount Jura and the river Rhone, by which scarcely one wagon at a time should be led away, a very high mountain overhanging, so it can be easily intercept them; 2 the other, through our Province, much easier and freer from obstacles, because of flows between the boundaries of the Helvetii and the Allobroges, who had lately been subdued, and the Rhone and is in some places crossed by a ford.
3 Extremum oppidum Allobrogum est proximumque Helvetiorum finibus Genava.
Farthest||||nearest to|||Geneva
3 Allobrogi nearest to farthest town of Switzerland Geneva.
Ex eo oppido pons ad Helvetios pertinet.
||"town" or "from the town"|bridge|||"extends to"
From this town a bridge extends to the Helvetii.
Allobrogibus sese vel persuasuros, quod nondum bono animo in populum Romanum viderentur, existimabant vel vi coacturos ut per suos fines eos ire paterentur.
"to the Allobroges"|themselves||"would persuade"||"not yet"||||||"seemed to be"|"they thought"|"or"||"to compel"|||||||"allow to pass"
They should either persuade the Allobroges, which is not as yet well-affected toward the Roman people, or compel them by, and supposed that to allow them to pass through their territories.
Omnibus rebus ad profectionem comparatis diem dicunt, qua die ad ripam Rhodani omnes conveniant.
|||departure|"having been prepared"||They set||||the bank|Rhône River||"may gather"
Having provided every thing for the expedition, they appoint a day, on which day they should all meet on the bank of the Rhone.
Is dies erat a. d. V. Kal.
||||the fifth day||
This day was on the 5th of Kal.
Apr.
April
April
L. Pisone, A. Gabinio consulibus.
|under Piso's consulship||Gabinius|
L. Pisone, A. Gabinius consuls.
[7] 1 Caesari cum id nuntiatum esset, eos per provinciam nostram iter facere conari, maturat ab urbe proficisci et quam maximis potest itineribus in Galliam ulteriorem contendit et ad Genavam pervenit.
"to Caesar"|||"had been reported"||||||journey|"to march"|"to attempt"|"hastens"||"the city"|to set out|||"greatest possible"|"he can"|||to further Gaul|"further Gaul"|"hurries"|||Geneva|"arrived at Geneva"
[7] 1 When it was reported to Caesar that they were attempting to make their route through our Province he hastens to set out from the city, and, by as great marches as he can to Further Gaul, and arrives at Geneva.
2 Provinciae toti quam maximum potest militum numerum imperat (erat omnino in Gallia ulteriore legio una), pontem, qui erat ad Genavam, iubet rescindi.
|"whole" or "entire"||||of the soldiers||"commands"|||||"farther" or "more distant"|legion||the bridge|||||orders|to be cut
Up as great a number as possible of soldiers he commands the whole of the province, 2 (there was in all only one legion in Further Gaul), over the bridge, which was at Geneva to be broken down.
3 Ubi de eius adventu Helvetii certiores facti sunt, legatos ad eum mittunt nobilissimos civitatis, cuius legationis Nammeius et Verucloetius principem locum obtinebant, qui dicerent sibi esse in animo sine ullo maleficio iter per provinciam facere, propterea quod aliud iter haberent nullum: rogare ut eius voluntate id sibi facere liceat.
"When"|||||"informed"|||"envoys" or "ambassadors"|||"they send"|"most noble citizens"|||"of the embassy"|Nammeius||Verucloetius: Verucloetius (name)|||held the position||"to say"||||||"any" or "no harm"|"harm" or "wrongdoing"|||||"because"||||"they had"||"to ask"|||"by permission"||||"be allowed"
3 When they treat of his approach by the Helvetii are apprized of fact, they sent ambassadors to him, as embassadors, the most illustrious of the city, of which embassy was Numeius and Verudoctius held the pride of place in possession of this camp, those who were saying to Him to be in the mind, without any harm to march through the province of it, because you had no other route: that they requested, in order to will be allowed to do.
Caesar, quod memoria tenebat L. Cassium consulem occisum exercitumque eius ab Helvetiis pulsum et sub iugum missum, concedendum non putabat; 4 neque homines inimico animo, data facultate per provinciam itineris faciundi, temperaturos ab iniuria et maleficio existimabat.
Caesar did not||memory|"he remembered"||||"killed"|||||"driven back"|||under the yoke||"to be granted"|"not"|"did not think"|"nor"|||||"opportunity" or "permission"|||"of the journey"|"of making"|temperatures||"wrongdoing" or "harm"||"harm and mischief"|"he thought"
Caesar, because he kept in remembrance that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had been slain, and his army routed and made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii, did not think that is to be granted; 4 that men of hostile disposition, if an opportunity of marching through the Province were given them, would abstain from outrage and mischief.
5 Tamen, ut spatium intercedere posset dum milites quos imperaverat convenirent, legatis respondit diem se ad deliberandum sumpturum: si quid vellent, ad Id.
||"interval" or "time gap"|to intervene||"while" or "until"|||"had ordered"|"might assemble"|"to the envoys"|||||"for deliberation"|"will take time"|||||
5 However, a period might intervene, until the soldiers whom he had ordered assemble, he replied to the ambassadors that he would take time to deliberate: if they wanted to return on the Ides.
April.
reverterentur.
return.
[8] 1 Interea ea legione quam secum habebat militibusque, qui ex provincia convenerant, a lacu Lemanno, qui in flumen Rhodanum influit, ad montem Iuram, qui fines Sequanorum ab Helvetiis dividit, milia passuum XVIIII murum in altitudinem pedum sedecim fossamque perducit.
|"these things"|legion||||and soldiers|||province|"had gathered"||||"who" or "which"|||Rhone|flows into|||Jura mountain|||Sequani|||||||wall||to a height|feet|sixteen feet high|and a ditch|leads through
[8] 1 Meanwhile, with the legion which he had with him the soldiers which had assembled from the Province, from the Lake of Geneva, which flows into the river Rhone, to Mount Jura, which separates the territories of the Sequani from the Helvetii, a thousand miles a wall, to the height of sixteen feet, he ran a ditch 19.
2 Eo opere perfecto praesidia disponit, castella communit, quo facilius, si se invito transire conentur, prohibere possit.
"I go"|by work|perfect|defensive positions|"he arranges"|fortified camps|fortifies|||"if"||"against his will"|to cross|"they try"|"to prevent"|can
2 that work was finished, he distributes garrisons, fortifies redoubts, in which the easily intercept them, if they should attempt to cross over to stop any.
3 Ubi ea dies quam constituerat cum legatis venit et legati ad eum reverterunt, negat se more et exemplo populi Romani posse iter ulli per provinciam dare et, si vim facere conentur, prohibiturum ostendit.
||day|than|had appointed|||||envoys|||"returned to him"|"he denies"||"custom"||example||||passage through territory|any|||grant passage through|||force|||"will prevent"|"he shows"
When the day which he had appointed with the embassadors came, and the 3 ambassadors, sent to him, he refused, consistently with the custom and precedent of the Roman people to be able to give any one a passage through the Province; and, if they attempted to force a passage, would oppose them.
4 Helvetii ea spe deiecti navibus iunctis ratibusque compluribus factis, alii vadis Rhodani, qua minima altitudo fluminis erat, non numquam interdiu, saepius noctu, si perrumpere possent conati, operis munitione et militum concursu et telis repulsi, hoc conatu destiterunt.
|||"disappointed" or "cast down"|ships|joined together|and rafts|"several" or "many"|having been made|"others"|"Shallow places"|||least depth|height||||sometimes|by day|more often|at night||break through|"they could"|"having attempted"|work, fortification|by the fortification|||"by the attack"||weapons|"driven back"||attempt|gave up
Disappointed of this hope, the Helvetii attempted, sometimes by 4, others by the fords of the Rhone, which the level of the river was lowest, there are occasions when during the day, more often by night, to break through might breakthrough, and the concourse of the soldiers of our works, and by the missiles, they desisted from this attempt.
[9] 1 Relinquebatur una per Sequanos via, qua Sequanis invitis propter angustias ire non poterant.
"Was left"||||way|||"unwilling" or "against their will"|because of|narrowness|to go through||"were not able"
[9] 1 Sequanese left one, by the way, because of the narrowness, where consent is not needed.
2 His cum sua sponte persuadere non possent, legatos ad Dumnorigem Haeduum mittunt, ut eo deprecatore a Sequanis impetrarent.
"these men"|||"of their own accord"||||||||"they send"|||mediator|||"they might obtain"
2 Since they could not persuade them of their own free will, they send embassadors to Dumnorix the Aedui, to obtain permission from the Sequani to entreat him.
3 Dumnorix gratia et largitione apud Sequanos plurimum poterat et Helvetiis erat amicus, quod ex ea civitate Orgetorigis filiam in matrimonium duxerat, et cupiditate regni adductus novis rebus studebat et quam plurimas civitates suo beneficio habere obstrictas volebat.
|||by bribery|||||||||||||||||||||"induced by"|"new things"||was eager for||||||||"obliged"|"wanted to have"
3 Dumnorix, by his popularity and liberality, had great influence among the Sequani, and was friendly to the Helvetii, because out of that state he had married the daughter of the marriage, incited by lust of sovereignty, was anxious to have a revolution, and wished to have as many states as possible attached to him by his kindness and would have done.
4 Itaque rem suscipit et a Sequanis impetrat ut per fines suos Helvetios ire patiantur, obsidesque uti inter sese dent perficit: Sequani, ne itinere Helvetios prohibeant, Helvetii, ut sine maleficio et iniuria transeant.
||undertakes||||"obtains permission"|||||||"allow to pass"|and hostages|||"each other"|give to each other|"he accomplishes"|||||"prevent" or "hinder"||||"wrongdoing"|||"may pass through"
4, therefore, undertakes the affair, and prevails upon the Sequani to allow the Helvetii to march through their territories, should give hostages to each other-the Sequani, not to prevent Helvetii in their march-the Helvetii, to pass without mischief and outrage.
[10] 1 Caesari renuntiatur Helvetiis esse in animo per agrum Sequanorum et Haeduorum iter in Santonum fines facere, qui non longe a Tolosatium finibus absunt, quae civitas est in provincia.
|it is reported|||||||of the Sequani|||route||||||||||||||||
[10] It is reported to Caesar that the Helvetii intended to march through the country of the Sequani and the Aedui into the territories of the Santones, which are not far distant from the territories of the Tolosates, which is a state in the province.
Id si fieret, intellegebat magno cum periculo provinciae futurum ut homines bellicosos, populi Romani inimicos, locis patentibus maximeque frumentariis finitimos haberet.
||"were to happen"||||||||||||||||||
This, if it were done, be attended with great danger to the Province to have warlike men, enemies of the Roman people, upon an open and very fertile tract of country.
3 Ob eas causas ei munitioni quam fecerat T. Labienum legatum praeficit; ipse in Italiam magnis itineribus contendit duasque ibi legiones conscribit et tres, quae circum Aquileiam hiemabant, ex hibernis educit et, qua proximum iter in ulteriorem Galliam per Alpes erat, cum his quinque legionibus ire contendit.
||||"the fortification"||||||puts in charge|||||"forced marches"|"hastens" or "strives"||||"enlists" or "drafts"|||||||||||||route||||||||||||"hastens" or "strives"
3 For these reasons he had made lieutenant governor of the munition; Italy by forced marches, and there levies two legions, and himself was in the quarters three which were wintering around Aquileia, and leads out from winter, the nearest route across the Alps into Further Gaul, and with these five legions marches rapidly.
4 Ibi Ceutrones et Graioceli et Caturiges locis superioribus occupatis itinere exercitum prohibere conantur.
4 Here the Centrones and the Graioceli and the Caturiges points on the higher army in their march.
Compluribus his proeliis pulsis ab Ocelo, quod est oppidum citerioris provinciae extremum, in fines Vocontiorum ulterioris provinciae die septimo pervenit; inde in Allobrogum fines, ab Allobrogibus in Segusiavos exercitum ducit.
"Several" or "many"|||||||||"nearer" or "hither"||||||||||"he arrived at"|"from there"|||||||||
Routed these in several battles, and been driven away from the Ocelum, which is a town in the nearer part of the province of Gaul, into the borders of the Vocontii in the Further Province on the seventh day; from thence into the country of the Allobroges, and from the Allobroges to the Segusiani he leads his army.
Hi sunt extra provinciam trans Rhodanum primi.
||||||"the first"
These people are the first beyond the Province on the other side of the Rhone.
[11] 1 Helvetii iam per angustias et fines Sequanorum suas copias traduxerant et in Haeduorum fines pervenerant eorumque agros populabantur.
|||narrow passes||||||they had crossed||||||||"were ravaging"
[11] The Helvetii had already led over their forces through the straits and territories of the Sequani, and had arrived at the territories of the Aedui, and were ravaging their lands.
2Haedui, cum se suaque ab iis defendere non possent, legatos ad Caesarem mittunt rogatum auxilium: 3 ita se omni tempore de populo Romano meritos esse ut paene in conspectu exercitus nostri agri vastari, liberi [eorum] in servitutem abduci, oppida expugnari non debuerint.
The Aedui|||"and their"||||||||||||"so"|||||||||"in order that"|almost||"in sight of"||||"be ravaged"|||||"be abducted"||||"ought not have"
2The Aedui, when they could not defend themselves and their possessions from them, send embassadors to Caesar to beg for assistance; 3 that they had at all times deserved the service of the Roman people, that their lands should not have been nearly laid waste in the sight of our army;
Eodem tempore [quo Haedui] Ambarri, necessarii et consanguinei Haeduorum, Caesarem certiorem faciunt sese depopulatis agris non facile ab oppidis vim hostium prohibere.
|||||necessary allies|||||||themselves|"having been ravaged"||||||force of enemies||"to repel"
At the same time [when the Haedui] the Ambarri, necessary and relatives of the Haedui, inform Caesar that they are unable to easily prevent the enemy's force from raiding the fields depopulated by them, near the towns.
4 Item Allobroges, qui trans Rhodanum vicos possessionesque habebant, fuga se ad Caesarem recipiunt et demonstrant sibi praeter agri solum nihil esse reliqui.
|||||villages|and estates|||themselves|||"take refuge"||||except for|the fields|soil|||remaining
Likewise, the Allobroges, who had villages and possessions beyond the Rhone, flee to Caesar and point out that besides the land nothing is left to them.
2 Quibus rebus adductus Caesar non expectandum sibi statuit dum, omnibus fortunis sociorum consumptis, in Santonos Helvetii pervenirent.
||influenced by|||"to be awaited"||"decided"|"while"||||having been consumed||||"they reached"
Caesar, driven by these circumstances, decides not to wait until, all the resources of the allies being exhausted, the Helvetii reach the Santones.
