THE POPULAR EDUCATOR, 



OS SAB. 



Our first extracts are taken from the writings of Caesar, an 

 author whose works, from the simplicity of their style, are 

 usually put into the hands of beginners. The author was the 

 famous Roman general, Caius Julius Caesar, the founder of the 

 Roman Empire, though never actually emperor himself. His 

 chief warlike exploits were his subjugation of Gaul (now France 

 and Switzerland) and Britain, and his best-known work, " The 

 Commentaries on the Gallic War," is a brief compilation of the 

 notes which he kept during the course of his campaigns. It 

 has been observed of them that they are " a series of sketches 

 taken on the spot, having all the graphic power of a master- 

 mind, and the vigorous touches of a master-hand." The narra- 

 tive is clear and simple, and scarcely any difficulty in the 

 language presents itself. The first extract is from an account of 

 a battle with the Helvetii, who lived in the modern Switzerland 

 and the south of France. 



CJESAR. " DE BELLO GALLICO," Lib. I. cap. xxv. 



Caesar, primum suo, 1 doinde omnium ex conspectu remotis 

 equis, ut sequato omnium periculo 8 spem f ugae tolleret, cohortatus 

 suos, 3 prcelium commisit. 4 Milites, e loco superiore pilis 5 missis 

 facile hostium phalangem 6 perfregerunt. Ea, disjecta, 7 gladiis 

 destrictis 8 in eos impetum fecerunt. Gallis magno ad pugnam 

 erat impedimento, 9 quod, pluribus eorum scutis uno ictu pilorum 

 transfixis et colligatis, quum ferrum se inflexisset, neque evellere 

 neque, sinistra impedita, satis commode pugnare poterant, multi 

 ut, diu jactato 10 brachio, praeoptarent 11 scutum manu emittere, 

 et nudo corpore pugnare. Tandem vulneribus defessi, et pedem 

 referre, 12 et quod mons suberat circiter mille passuum, 13 eo se 

 recipere cceperunt. Capto monte et succedentibus nostris, Boii 

 et Tulingi, qui hominum millibus 14 circiter xv agmen hostium 

 claudebant, et novissimis 15 praesidio erant, ex itinere nostros 

 latere aperto aggressi, circumvenere. 



NOTES. 



1. Suo agrees with conspectu. First out of his own sight, then out of the 

 sight of all. The possessive adjectives, suus, meus, tuus, are used always 

 in preference to the genitives, sui, mei, tui, of the personal pronouns. 



2. Eemotis equis, cequato periculo, abl. absolute. There are other 

 examples in this extract. 



3. Suos, his men : understand milites. 



4. Proelium committere, to join battle, to engage. 



5. Pilis, long javelins. 



6. Phalangem, the thiclc array. The phalanx was an order of battle 

 array in use among the Greeks, in which the soldiers were massed 

 thick together ; and thus it is applied by Caesar to the thick mass in 

 which the Gauls fought. 



7. Disjecta, cost different Kays (d jacio), dispersed. 



8. Destrictis (from de stringo, to strip off, like leaves off a branch), 

 with drawn swords. Another abl. abs. 



9. Gallis magno erat impedimento, it was a great hindrance to the 

 Gauls. A double dative after erat. 



10. Ut diu jaetato, considering that their arms had long been tossed about. 

 Ill Prseoptarent, wished anxiously ; prffi, before anything else. 



12. Pedem referre, to carry back the foot, to retreat. Compare pedem 

 inferre, to march upon. 



13. Mille passuum, a thousand paces, about our mile. The word mile 

 owes its derivation to this. 



14. Millibus, ablative of the instrument by which a thing is achieved. 



15. Novissimis, the neu?est, so the last, the hindmost. Novissimis 

 prtssidio, a double dative. Compare Gallis impediniento, above. 



The following describes the commencement of a war with 

 some Alpine tribes : 



C^SAB. " DE BELLO GALLICO," Lib. III. cap. ii. 



Quum dies hibernorum 1 complures transissent frumentumque 

 eo 2 comportari jussisset, subito per exploratores 3 certior factus 4 

 est, ex ea parte vici, quam Gallis concesserat, omnes noctu 

 discessisse, montesque, qui impenderent, a maxima multitudine 

 Sedunorum et Veragrorum 8 teneri. Id 6 aliquot de causis 

 acciderat, ut subito Galli belli renovandi legionisque opprimendae 

 consilium caperent : primum, quod legionem, neque earn plenis- 

 simam, 7 detractis cohortibus duabus, et compluribus singillatim, 

 qui commeatus petendi 8 causa missi erant, absentibus, propter 

 paucitatem despiciebant : turn etiam, quod propter iniquitatem r 

 loci, quum ipsi ex montibus in vallem decurrerent et tela 

 conjicerent, ne primum quidem posse impetum suum 10 sustineri 

 existimabant. Accedebat, 11 quod suos ab se liberos abstractos 

 obsidum nomine dolebant : et Romanos non solum itinerum 

 causa, sed etiam perpetuae possessionis, 12 culmina Alpium 

 occupare conari et ea loca fmitimae 13 provincial adjungere, sibi 

 jersuasum habebant. 



NOTES. 



1. Hibernorum (sc. castrorum), winter quarters; here used of the 

 time spent in them. 



2. Eo, thither, to the hiberna castra. 



3. Exploratores, scouts. 



4. Certior factus, he was informed; in the active, certiorem facio, I 

 inform; lit., I make more sure. 



5. Sedunorum, Veragrorum, names of tribes who lived in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Geneva and the valley of the Ehoue. 



6. Id, it, refers to the next clause, ut subito Galli caperent ; it, 

 namely, the fact of the Gauls' sudden determination. 



7. Plenissimam, and that not at its full strength. The reason for 

 its weakness is explained by the two following ablatives absolute. 



8. Commeatus petendi. The participle in dus agreeing with the sub- 

 stantive is used by the Latin authors generally in preference to the 

 gerund governing a case. 



9. Iniquitatem (in-tequus), unevenness of the ground. 



10. Suum, theirs ; namely, the Gauls'. The reciprocals sui and suus 

 always refer to the subject of the principal verb in the sentence. 

 Here the subject of the principal verb, existimabant, is Galli understood. 



11. Accedebat. The nominative to this verb is the sentence quod 

 dolebant. There was this additional reason (lit., this was added) supply 

 for their defection that they grieved. 



12. Possessionis, genitive after causa. 



13. Finitimse, neighbouring; i.e., to the Boman territory. 



The next extract describes Caasar's landing in Britain, which 

 was not achieved without some difficulty. The Britons were 

 drawn up on the shore to repel their attack, and prevent the 

 possibility of their coming to land. The historian proceeds as 

 follows : 



CAESAR. " DE BELLO GALLICO," Lib. IV. cap. xxv. 



Quod ubi Csesar animum advertit, 1 naves longas, 2 quarum et 

 species erat barbaris inusitatior, et motus ad usum expeditior, 8 

 paullum removeri ab onerariis 4 navibus et remis incitari et ad 

 latus apertum 5 hostium constitui, atque inde fundis,' sagittis, 

 tormentis, 7 hostes propelli ac submoveri jussit : quae res magno 

 usui nostris 8 fuit. Nam et navium figura, et remorum motu, et 

 inusitato genere tormentorum permoti barbari const! terunt, ac 

 paullum modo pedem retulerunt. Atque nostris militibus cunc- 

 tantibus, 9 maxime propter altitudinem maris, qui decimas 

 legionis aquilam 10 ferebat, contestatus deos, ut ea res legioni 

 feliciter eveniret : Desilite, inquit, 11 commilitones, nisi vultis 

 aquilam hostibus prodere : ego certe meum reipublicae atque im- 

 peratori 12 officium praestitero. 13 Hoc quum magna voco dixisset, 

 ex navi se projecit atque in hostes aquilam ferre co3pit. 14 Turn 

 nostri, cohortati inter se, no tantum dedecus admitteretur, 15 

 universi ex navi desiluerunt : hos item alii ex proximis navibus 

 quum conspexissent, subsecuti hostibus adpropinquarunt. 



NOTES. 



1. Animum advertit, used for the compound animadvertit, is to be 

 looked upon for the purposes of construction as one word, turned hit 

 mind to, observed, and governs quod, which thing, viz., the advantage 

 which the Britons possessed in being drawn up on the shore. 



2. Naves longee, ships of war. So called from the shape in which 

 they were built. 



3. Expeditior, more handy, manageable. 



4. Onerariis, ships of burden (onus). 



5. Apertum, e-rposed, open to attack. 



6. Fundis, slings. 



7. Tormentis, engines for hurling (torqueo) missiles. 



8. Magno usui nostris, a great aid to our men. Double dative after fuit. 



9. Militibus cunctantibus, ablative absolute, when the soldiers were de- 

 laying. 



10. Qui aquilam ferebat, he mho bore the eagl, the standard-bearer (the 

 eagle was the standard of the Boman legions). This supplies the 

 nominative to inquit. 



11. Inquit is only used when the exact words of the speaker are 

 quoted, and never stands as the first word in a sentence. Aio, I affirm, 

 follows much the same rules. 



12. Imperatori, t?ie general; originally applied, as here, to the general 

 of an army, who was invested with supreme military command (im- 

 perium). Afterwards it was used to denote the absolute sovereigns of 

 Borne, the Emperors. 



13. Officium prsestitero, J will be sure to do my duty by. Officium 

 prsestare alicui, to do one's duty by any one. The future perfect, I 

 shall have, is used to give additional force, J shall certainly. 



14. Aquilam ferre ccepit, went, standard in hand, against. 



15. Cohortati, etc., having admonished one another not to allow of such 

 a disgrace. 



PAUSING EXERCISE. 



Parse jussit, constiterunt, retulerunt, vultis, desiluerunt^ sub- 

 secuti. 



