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tonyodysseus

passage in Gallic Wars

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Hi,

I have been reading Caesar's "Gallic Wars". There is a passage in Book 5 chapter 15 which I am finding somewhat confusing and I would really appreciate some help.

 

Carolyn Hammond's Oxford World Classics translation of the section (page 96-97) reads thus:

 

"After a short time, when our men were off guard and busy fortifying the camp, the Britons suddenly rushed out of the wood and attacked the guards stationed in front of the camp. A fierce fight ensued. Caesar sent two cohorts to their assistance--the primary cohorts of their respective legions--and THEY POSITIONED THEMSELVES WITH ONLY A SMALL GAP TO SEPARATE THEM. Because our men were frightened by the unfamiliar tactics, the enemy boldly broke through their midst and retreated without casualties."

I am having some difficulty visualizing the passage I put into upper case. The Latin is "hae perexiguo intermisso loci spatio inter se constitissent". I know literally what it means (what Hammond said) but what's going on here? And why should this frighten the soldiers, who were probably a pretty experienced and battle-hardened lot?

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From the Primary cohorts he means the first cohorts. The soldiers were very battle hardened but the Britainnas fought differently then the Gauls. When Caesar says that the two cohorts were placed close together opposed to the britons formation which would be alot more open and loose. I would guess that the Romans were beaten because it was an ambush, they were attacked by a loose formation while they were compact and finally just imagine blue gaints running at you out of the bush this would shock even the best soldiers and by the time the other two cohorts arrived the ones who were attacked first would be in disaray. Does it say whether the Britons had chariots with them because these were exotic to the Romans. If this was during the first invasion then it would have been even more terrifying for the Romans then if it happened on the second invasion. The cohorts would have been in 2 different groups probably in lines with only a small gap between them I'm not sure what your having trouble visualizing about that sentance.

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Sometimes something sticks in your craw and you have trouble articulating exactly what it is and that is kind of what's going on for me here. I appreciate your intelligent response. I would say that I am wondering why Caesar specified how closely the cohorts were positioned together. Is the "new kind of fighting" the soldiers are terrified on account of the close placement of their own cohorts or what the Britons are doing? You seem to believe it is the latter, which is logical. I am looking at the Latin now. Hammond's translation is very good, but a translator has to work to make the end-product English-like and inevitably certain aspects of the original are lost. Latin is periodic and all these different sentences in the English are actually all part of one compound periodic sentence in the original. Caesar uses the word "cum" (usually translated "when") to start the clause where he specifies that the two first cohorts are placed very close to each other. Soon after this clause the Britons "broke through". I can see now that "cum" should be translated as "although or even though" which it can mean sometimes. So, the gist is that "in spite of the fact that the two cohorts were placed so closely next to each other that there was almost no gap between them, our men were so psyched out by the Britons bold zeal that the Britons audaciously broke through our lines." I guess you simply knew that from reading the passage but I can be thick.

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That makes perfect sense then. I think your new translation makes good sense as it would be harder to break through close, solid formation. I know that is completely the opposite of what I siad before but if Caesar meant "although" rather then "when" the meaning is obviously different. Its cool you went and translated it yourself, most people just trust the translator of the book.

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