translating Caesar

Latin Learning Latin
1

I decided to start in on the good book of Caesar, as it seems to be about my level. I can recognize most of the vocabulary and some of the phrases seem to come right out of D’ooge ( I’m starting to get the impression that d’ooge sort of teaches towards this reading)
I’ve decided to tackle it without any English version handy, so I guess I’ll know if I end up with Caesar admitting defeat I’ve made a wrong turn somewhere :blush:

However, I’m still having a bit of problems since many words have multiple meanings and choosing the right one can make a difference.

so early on in caesar’s glory in Gaul, we have:


Horum omium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellem gerunt.


First of all, for a language that is such a stickler for grammer, run-on sentences don’t seem to be an issue.

What I got is :
The Belgians are bravest at all hours, this is because culture and humanity of the province has long been absent, least of them, the merchants often come and go and they who tend to import feminine ideas; nearest are the Germans who live across the Rhine, who continually wage war.


My translation comes out a bit rough, So I’m thinking maybe I’m missing a few things.


My biggest question is with the merchant line:

minimeque ad eos… what is that ad for?

…ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important… multiple pronouns always throws me off, is he using the Neuter gender, or is he calling the merchants women? (which wouldn’t surprise me, the whole tone seems to be a bit condenscending, unless I’m reading it wrong) and is there a better choice for pertinent then ‘to tend’, that seemd to be the only one that fit.

And my last question (unless my translation was pitifully off) what is quibuscum - my dictionary doesn’t have it, (stupid dictionary) i saw it recently, but can’t remember it (those “Q” words are another sticking point for me)

2

Hi Antianira,

You are right, D’Ooge made the “Latin for Beginners? with Caesar book in mind. If I do recall it right he says it in the introduction and in the vocabulary list, at the end of the book, he says that words that appear in Caesar are typed bold.

Although I’m far of being a Latin expert I did detected one mistake with your translation. “horum? isn’t from “hora? (hour), it is the demonstrative “hic? in the genitive plural. I think the phrase means:

“Of all these the Belgians are the bravest…?

I presume that in the phrase before Caesar was talking about the Gauls.

“Quibuscum? is the relative “qui, quae, quod? in the Ablative plural with “cum? connected, meaning in this case, I think, “with whom?

I think the last part means:

“… and near are the Germans, who live across the Rhine, with whom they make constant wars?.

Hope this helps,

Andrus

3

the subject of absunt is Belgae; longissime refers to distance.
minime negates saepe: the merchants don’t come often at all.
ad eos: to them, the Belgians.
ea quae: neuter plural accusative: they (the merchants) import (or don’t: think of minime) those things that tend to soften their minds.
again, Belgae is the subject of sunt: they are closest to the Germans.

So what Caesar is doing here, is telling you why he thinks the Belgians are the bravest: they are far away from the feminizing influence of Rome’s province, and closest to those scary Germans…

Ingrid

4

thanks for the help, that makes more sense.

so the merchants he refers to are traveling merchants from the Roman province? (I had assumed he was refering to Belgian merchants)

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humanitate provinciae refers to the civilizing influence of the (Roman) province. Just as one might refer to “the states” without specifying that they are American.

mercatores refers mainly to the commercial endeavors of the Roman provinces. It’s not Belgian merchants, else they wouldn’t have to go ad eos. One suspects that the Germans weren’t carrying on bustling trade relationships with their neigbors (quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt). Hence, those under the control or influence of the empire.

~david[/i]

6

Well done Ingrid and bellum paxque! I came onto this thread after you; and you gave the guidance I had thought out. However, lo and behold, you had beaten me to it. Keep up the great help!

Magistra