Caesar, Gallic War I · De Bello Gallico I

“Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.” Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) wrote his own account of his wars in Gaul. Book I covers 58 BC: the Helvetii try to move west, and Caesar fights them and then the German king Ariovistus.

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Word help

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Things to watch for

Caesar writes about himself in the third person: “Caesar” did this, not “I.”
Watch for the ablative absolute, a noun and a participle in the ablative that set the scene: his rebus confectis, “these things having been done.”
Much of the book is reported speech: statements turn into an accusative and an infinitive, and verbs in clauses inside them go into the subjunctive.
ad with a gerundive shows purpose: ad bellum gerendum, “for waging war.”
Words in ⟨angle brackets⟩ were added by the editor where the manuscripts have a gap.

Grammar help

Latin for Beginners (D’Ooge)Its later lessons use sentences from Caesar
Allen and Greenough’s Latin GrammarThe standard reference, free at Dickinson College Commentaries

About the Gallic War

Caesar wrote seven books on his campaigns in Gaul from 58 to 52 BC, and his officer Aulus Hirtius added an eighth. Book I is the one students have read first for centuries. Harvard asked for the whole work in 1859 and for Books I–IV by 1880 (the old Harvard list).

The numbers in the text are chapter and section: 6.2 is chapter 6, section 2. More about the work: Grokipedia, Commentarii de Bello Gallico.