C. Iulius Caesar, De Bello Gallico 5.33

The ambush is sprung and the column is under attack in the valley. The subject is the conduct of the two commanders once the fighting begins, the order they give to the troops, and its effect on both sides.

 

Tier 1

tum Titūrius Sabīnus timēbat. nihil ante vīderat. per castra currēbat et mīlitēs suōs in locīs pōnēbat. sed etiam tum timēbat, et omnia mala erant. hoc saepe accidit hominibus quī in ipsō perīculō cōnsilium capiunt.

 

at Cotta ante dīxerat: 'haec in viā accidere possunt. nōn dēbēmus discēdere.' Cotta igitur omnia faciēbat prō salūte omnium. mīlitēs vocāvit et verba fortia dīxit. in cōnsiliō erat bonus imperātor, in pugnā erat bonus mīles.

 

agmen Rōmānum erat longum. Sabīnus et Cotta omnia vidēre nōn poterant. itaque mīlitibus dīxērunt: 'impedīmenta relinquite! in orbem cōnsistite!'

 

hoc cōnsilium malum nōn erat, sed tamen male accidit. Rōmānī enim spem nōn iam habēbant, et hostēs fortiōrēs erant, quod omnēs putābant: 'Rōmānī timent.'

 

tum mīlitēs ā signīs discessērunt. rēs suās cārās ex impedīmentīs petēbant et capiēbant. ubīque erat clāmor et lacrimae.

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