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71.17. consuetudine … merito: cf. note on 65 9. This is a good example of the free use of the ablative case in Latin. If consuetudine were alone we should call it manner, 'that in accordance,' etc. if merito were alone we should call it cause. Caesar in using them both did not think of either category; to him they were both ablatives and needed no classification. We may call them cause if we like. 71.19.

aries: a long beam with an iron head （like a ram's ）,suspended from a framework, and swung with great force against a wall, crumbling the strongest masonry （see Fig. 127）. — attigisset … dedissent stand for attigerit … dedideritis （fut. perf.） of the dir. （§ 551. c (327. a); B. 291. 1; G. 574; H. 605 (520); H-B. 507. 4. b） 71.20.

nisi armis traditis: cf. nisi munitis castris, 63 12. 71.21.

facturum: i.e. in case they came to terms. — ne quam, lest any, § 310. a (105. d); B. 91. 5; G. 315; H. 512. 1 (455. 1); H-B. 142. 71.22.

re nuntiata ad quos: the idea of motion causes the use of ad; the dat. would refer simply to the utterance of the message, not to its being carried. 71.23.

imperarentur: the subjv. shows that this subordinate clause is a part of the indir. disc. （§ 580 (336. 2); B. 314. 1; G. 650; H. 643 (524); H-B. 534. 2）. — facere: sc. se as subj. acc., which is very often omitted by Caesar; cf. 59 23. We should expect facturos [esse]. The pres. infin. standing for facimus of the dir. is somewhat colloquial; § 468 (276. c); G. 228 ; H. 533. 2 (467. 5); cf. H-B. 571. — dixerunt: i.e. the ambassadors on their return. 71.25.

ut prope … adequarent: i.e. the arms filled the ditch and the deep space between the wall and the end of the agger almost to the top. See Figs. 43, 118. 72.2.

eo die: the day is thought of as fixing the time, not as marking its duration ; hence the abl.; § 423 (256); B. 230; G. 393; H. 486 (429); H-B. 439. — pace … usi: i.e. they enjoyed the cessation of war and were peaceable, opposed to their later conduct.


Caesar's Gallic War. J. B. Greenough, Benjamin L. D'Ooge and M. Grant Daniell. Boston. Ginn and Company. 1898.

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hide References (10 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (10):
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 310
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 423
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 468
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 551
    • A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, G. L. Kittredge, J. B. Greenough, Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, 580
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 228
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 315
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 393
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 574
    • Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, 650
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