Happy Latin: Caesar’s Battles快乐拉丁语：凯撒的战役Hour 23 · Siege of Avaricum · DBG 7.17–28第 23 课 · 阿瓦里库姆围城 · DBG 7.17–28

Hour 23 — Siege of Avaricum · DBG 7.17–28第 23 课 —— 阿瓦里库姆围城 · DBG 7.17–28

Note on sources.关于来源的说明。 The source course-design document specifies Hour 23 = Siege of Avaricum (the great pan-Gallic revolt begins) = Wheelock Ch. 22. Latin from PerseusDL canonical-latinLit (Holmes 1914), lightly smoothed; English from McDevitte & Bohn (1869), adapted; grammar from Wheelock 6th edn. revised (LaFleur 2005), Ch. 22.课程设计文档把第 23 课定为阿瓦里库姆围城（全高卢大起义就此开始）= Wheelock 第 22 章。拉丁文取自 PerseusDL canonical-latinLit（Holmes 1914），略作平顺处理；英译取自 McDevitte 与 Bohn（1869），有改编；语法取自 Wheelock 第 6 版修订本（LaFleur 2005）第 22 章。

Briefing

The great uprising — Vercingetorix and Avaricum大起义 —— 维钦托利与阿瓦里库姆

Hours 21 and 22 were ethnographic excursuses: portraits of Gauls and Germans embedded in Book 6 of第 21、22 课是民族志式的离题叙述：嵌在《高卢战记》第六卷里的高卢人和日耳曼人画像。 DBG. Hour 23 returns us to the main narrative, now jumping forward to第 23 课把我们带回主线叙事，如今跳到 Book 7 — the climactic year of the war,—— 战争的高潮的年， 52 BC公元前 52 年. While Caesar was wintering in Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy), an unprecedented event occurred:。当凯撒在山南高卢（今意大利北部）过冬时，发生了一件前所未有的事： a single Gallic leader, Vercingetorix of the Arverni一位单一的高卢领袖、阿尔维尼人的维钦托利, succeeded in unifying most of central and southern Gaul into a coordinated revolt. This is the war Caesar has been preparing for since Book 1, the war the ethnography of Book 6 implicitly anticipated, and the war that will end with the Siege of Alesia (Hour 26). Hour 23 reads its first great siege:成功地把中部和南部高卢的大部分联合成一场协同的起义。这正是凯撒自第一卷以来一直准备应对的战争，是第六卷民族志暗中预示的战争，也是将以阿莱西亚围城（第 26 课）告终的战争。第 23 课读的是它的第一场大围城： Avaricum (modern Bourges, the largest city of the Bituriges).（今布尔日，比图里吉人最大的城市）。

The strategic context is striking. Vercingetorix had proposed to the Gallic council a战略背景引人注目。维钦托利向高卢议事会提出了一项 scorched-earth policy焦土政策: burn every town and field so the Romans cannot resupply, and then starve them out. The Bituriges agreed — and burned twenty of their own towns in a single day. But they begged Vercingetorix to spare Avaricum, which they called "the most beautiful city in nearly all Gaul." Vercingetorix agreed against his better judgment. Avaricum became the test case for whether Gallic walled cities could resist Roman siege engineering.：烧毁每一座城镇和田地，使罗马人无法补给，再把他们饿垮。比图里吉人同意了 —— 一天的内烧掉了自己的二十座城镇。但他们恳求维钦托利放过阿瓦里库姆，他们称的为“几乎全高卢最美的城市”。维钦托利违背自己的判断答应了。阿瓦里库姆于是成了一道试金石：高卢的城墙能否抵挡罗马的攻城工程。

The siege itself is one of the most physically punishing operations in围城本身是 DBG. It is winter. The Romans build a vast中最折磨人的军事行动的其中一项。时值冬季。罗马人筑起一座庞大的 agger (siege mound) 330 feet wide and 80 feet high宽 330 英尺、高 80 英尺 over 25 days. The Bituriges counter-mine and burn parts of it. The Romans are short of food; the cavalry forages outside the lines and brings in cattle from miles away. Caesar offers to lift the siege if his men prefer; they refuse, citing their honor. Eventually, with the agger complete and the towers operational, a sudden rainstorm provides cover, and the Romans storm the walls.，历时 25 天。比图里吉人挖反向地道并烧掉其中一部分。罗马人粮食短缺；骑兵在战线外搜寻粮草，从数英里外赶来牛群。凯撒提出，若士兵愿意便撤围；他们以荣誉为由拒绝。最终，土台筑成、攻城塔投入使用，一场突如其来的暴雨提供了掩护，罗马人攻上城墙。 40,000 Bituriges are killed四万比图里吉人被杀. Only 800 escape — including Vercingetorix, who had moved his camp away earlier in expectation of disaster.。只有 800 人逃脱 —— 包括维钦托利，他早先料到灾难，已把营地移走。

Hour 23: Siege of Avaricum — Source: DBG 7.17–28第 23 课：阿瓦里库姆围城 —— 出处：DBG 7.17–28

Vercingetorix had urged the Gauls on a scorched-earth plan: all towns and fields should be burned. The Bituriges, persuaded, burned twenty towns in a single day. But they pleaded for Avaricum's town: Avaricum was the most beautiful town in nearly all Gaul, and a hope of defense. They asserted that they themselves could hold such a great matter. Caesar, with the plans having been learned, led his forces to Avaricum. Avaricum was a town fortified by nature and by art, almost everywhere surrounded by water and marshes. He immediately pitched camp and began to prepare a siege-mound: he spent nearly twenty days in the work, and built the mound to a height of eighty feet. But the grain supply was pressed by great difficulty. Our soldiers, with cavalry sent far afield, brought in cattle from some distant place. Caesar did not neglect the safety of his own fidelity: he proposed to abandon the siege, if it should seem safe to the soldiers. This matter aroused the soldiers vehemently: they refused that the siege be abandoned. They demanded that not about safety, but about the honor of the Roman name, deliberation be made. They added day to day in the work. The Bituriges burst forth at night: they set fire to the mound, they destroy part of the Roman work; but the Romans, with Caesar's tent in view, burst forth from their tents at once and extinguish the flames. On the twenty-fifth day, with the mound completed and the towers raised, the hope of capturing Avaricum was at its height. Suddenly a great rain fell; under the rain, the Roman soldiers burst forth from the towers onto the wall: the enemy, terrified by this new kind of attack, began to yield. Then the Romans, enflamed with anger, captured the town: no old men, no women, no children were saved. Forty thousand persons were killed in the surrender. When this matter had been learned, Vercingetorix, with a few cavalry accompanying, fled away: only eight hundred of all were saved. The day was the end of Avaricum but the beginning of the war.

Connection to Wheelock与 Wheelock 教材的衔接

This hour pairs with本课配合 Wheelock Chapter 22 — Fifth Declension; Ablative of Place Where; Summary of Ablative UsesWheelock 第 22 章 —— 第五变格；表示“地点所在”的夺格；夺格用法总览. The 5th declension is the smallest in Latin — only a handful of nouns, but several of them are extremely high-frequency:。第五变格是拉丁语中最小的一类 —— 只有少数几个名词，但其中几个出现频率极高：

• rēs, reī (f.) "thing, matter, affair"（阴性）“事物，事情，事务”
• diēs, diēī (m./f.) "day"（阳／阴性）“日子”
• spēs, speī (f.) "hope"（阴性）“希望”
• fidēs, fideī (f.) "trust, faith, loyalty"（阴性）“信任，忠诚”
• aciēs, aciēī (f.) "battle line, sharpness"（阴性）“战列；锋利”
• faciēs, faciēī (f.) "appearance, face"（阴性）“外貌，面容”
• speciēs, speciēī (f.) "appearance, sight"（阴性）“外观，景象”

All end in全都以 -ēs in the nominative singular and结尾于单数主格，以 -ēī in the genitive singular (the genitive ē is long after a vowel, shortened after a consonant — macrons decide). Most are feminine.结尾于单数属格（属格的 ē 在元音后为长音，在辅音后缩短 —— 由长音符决定）。多数为阴性。 Diēs can be either masculine or feminine depending on usage.可视用法为阳性或阴性。

Today's Task今日任务

Identify all the verbs所有动词 (finite + infinitives) AND（限定形式 + 不定式）以及 all 5th-declension noun forms段落中所有第五变格名词形式 in the passage. Caesar's Avaricum narrative is unusually dense in 5th-decl. forms because the siege story relies on counting days (。凯撒的阿瓦里库姆叙事在第五变格形式上异常密集，因为这场围城因此事依赖于数日子（diē), framing "the matter" (）、给“这件事”定性（rēs), and the language of hope (），以及关于希望（spēs) and faith (）和忠诚（fidēs).

Grammar Target — 5th Declension; Summary of Ablative Uses语法目标 —— 第五变格；夺格用法总览

rēs, reī (f., 5th decl.) — the workhorse（阴性，第五变格）—— 主力词

diēs, diēī (m./f., 5th decl.) — "day"（阳／阴性，第五变格）—— “日子”

High-frequency 5th-decl. nouns in Caesar凯撒文中高频的第五变格名词

Caesar uses凯撒使用 rēs roughly大约 twelve hundred times一千二百次 across DBG — there is no single English equivalent. It can mean "thing, matter, situation, business, affair, deed, event, reality, property, fact, point at issue, war (—— 没有单一的英文对应词。它可以指“事物、事情、处境、事务、事迹、事件、现实、财产、事实、争点、战争（rēs bellica), state (）、国家（rēs pūblica)" — almost anything English would render with "the situation" or "the matter at hand." When you translate Caesar,）” —— 几乎任何英文都会译作“情况”或“手头的事情”。当你翻译凯撒时， read context, not gloss读语境，而不是查词义.

Idiomatic compounds: -习惯搭配： - rēs pūblica "the Republic, the state" -“共和国，国家” - rēs gestae "achievements, exploits" (the title-genre of imperial inscriptions) -“功业，事迹”（帝国铭文的一种题材体例） - rēs frūmentāria "the grain supply" -“粮食供应” - rēs mīlitāris "military affairs, the art of war" -“军事事务，兵法” - rēs novae "revolution" (literally "new things")“革命”（字面意为“新事物”）

Summary of Ablative Uses (Wheelock Ch. 22 review)夺格用法总览（Wheelock 第 22 章复习）

By Wheelock Ch. 22 you have met essentially all the ablative uses Caesar deploys. The chapter consolidates them:到 Wheelock 第 22 章为止，你基本上已经见过凯撒所用的全部夺格用法。本章把它们汇总起来：

Three warning signs三个警示点

1. The 5th-decl. dat. sg. is第五变格的单数与格是 -ēī, which looks like the gen. sg.，看起来像单数属格 Context disambiguates: a dative usually goes with a verb that takes one (giving, telling, etc.); a genitive shows possession or modifies a noun.靠上下文区分：与格通常与一个需要它的动词（给予、告知等）连用；属格则表示所属或修饰名词。
2. The dat./abl. pl. is与格／夺格复数是 -ēbus, not -ībus. Compare 5th-decl.请把第五变格的 diēbus with 1st-decl.与第一变格的 fīliābus (a rare archaic form, indicating "daughters") — both exist, but most other declensions have -ibus or -is.（一个罕见的古体形式，表示“女儿们”）相比较 —— 两者都存在，但其他大多数变格用 -ibus 或 -is。
3. The Wheelock summary of ablative uses is the single most consequential review chapter in Year 1.Wheelock 的夺格用法总览是第一年里最关键的一章复习。 When you can sort a Caesarian ablative phrase into the correct one of the thirteen rows above, you understand 40% of his Latin.当你能把一个凯撒式的夺格短语归入上表十三行中正确的一行时，你就理解了他拉丁文的 40%。

Vocabulary

(130 entries — see HTML for full badge-tagged table.（130 条 —— 完整的带标签表格见 HTML。 New badge:新标签： 5TH DECL (coral) marks 5th-declension noun forms. Carried badge: 4TH DECL (umber) marks 4th-declension noun forms.)

Tagging rules in effect this Hour本课生效的标注规则

Carried from previous hours (ten cumulative codebook rules).沿用前几课的规则（累计十条编码规则）。 New focus this hour:本课新增重点： the Battle Task's secondary toggle isolates战斗任务的第二个开关单独标出 5th-declension noun forms (rendered in coral italic).（以珊瑚色斜体显示）。

Battle Task — Identify all verbs, and the 5th-declension noun forms战斗任务 —— 找出所有动词，以及第五变格名词形式

Hour 23 Passage on the Siege of Avaricum第 23 课关于阿瓦里库姆围城的段落

(5th-declension noun targets in（第五变格名词目标用 bold粗体, other verb targets in，其他动词目标用 italics斜体.)

1. Vercingetorix Gallīs scorched-earth cōnsilium suāserat: omnia oppida atque agrōs incendī. Bituriges, [persuāsīs Gallīs], oppida vīgintī ūnō diē incenderunt.
2. Sed prō Avaricī oppidō ōrāvērunt: Avaricum erat pulcherrimum oppidum tōtīus ferē Galliae, et spēs dēfēnsiōnis. Tantam rem sē ipsōs sustinēre posse cōnfirmābant.
3. Caesar, [cōnsiliīs cognitīs], cōpiās ad Avaricum dūxit. Avaricum erat oppidum nātūrā et arte mūnītum, paene undique aquā et palūdibus circumdatum.
4. Statim castra posuit, et aggerem parāre coepit: ferē vīcēnōs diēs in opere cōnsumpsit, et aggerem ad altitūdinem octōgintā pedum aedificāvit.
5. Sed rēs frūmentāria magnā difficultāte premēbātur. Mīlitēs nostrī, [missīs longē equitibus], pecus ex aliquō longinquō locō comportābant.
6. Caesar nōn neglēxit suae fideī salūtem: prōposuit obsidiōnem omittere, sī mīlitibus salūs vidērētur. Quae rēs mīlitēs vehementer indignāvit: recūsāvērunt ut obsidiō omitterētur.
7. Petīvērunt ut nōn dē salūte sed dē honōre Rōmānī nōminis cōnsulerētur. Diem ad diem addidērunt in opere.
8. Bituriges noctū prōrumpunt: aggerem incendunt, partem operis Rōmānī corrumpunt; sed Rōmānī, [tabernāculō Caesaris vīsō], statim ē tabernāculīs ērumpunt et flammās restinguunt.
9. Vīcēsimō quīntō diē, [aggere perfectō et turribus excitātīs], spēs capiendī Avaricī summa erat. Subitō imber magnus cecidit;
10. sub imbre, mīlitēs Rōmānī ē turribus in mūrum prōrumpunt: hostēs, [hāc novitāte impetūs perterritī], cēdere coepērunt.
11. Tum Rōmānī, [īrā incēnsī], oppidum cēpērunt: nēmō senum, nēmō mulierum, nēmō puerōrum servātus est. Quadrāgintā mīlia hominum in dēditiōne interfecta sunt.
12. Quā rē [cognitā], Vercingetorix, [paucīs equitibus comitantibus], aufūgit: tantum octingentī ex omnibus servātī sunt. Diēs Avaricī fīnis erat sed bellī initium.

Answer Key — 5th-Declension Noun Targets (13)答案 —— 第五变格名词目标（13 处）

Questions on the Narrative关于叙述的问题

1. Sentence 2: the Bituriges plead for Avaricum, saying it is第 2 句：比图里吉人为阿瓦里库姆求情，说它是 pulcherrimum oppidum tōtīus ferē Galliae. What is the rhetorical force of下词的修辞分量何在： ferē "almost"? Why hedge?“几乎”？为什么要这样保留余地？
2. Sentence 4: the第 4 句： agger (siege mound) was 80 Roman feet high. That is ~24 meters. A modern eight-story building. Estimate the volume of earth.（攻城土台）高达 80 罗马尺，约合 24 米，相当于一座现代八层楼。请估算其土方体积。
3. Sentence 6: Caesar offers to lift the siege; the soldiers refuse. Compare with the Hour 17 (Cicero's siege) — the soldier-rhetoric of honor. Whose honor is at stake here?第 6 句：凯撒提出撤围；士兵拒绝。请与第 17 课（西塞罗的围城）比较 —— 士兵关于荣誉的说辞。这里事关谁的荣誉？
4. Sentence 11:第 11 句： nēmō senum, nēmō mulierum, nēmō puerōrum servātus est. The triple anaphora of的三重首语重复 —— nēmō "no one." What is Caesar's tone? Is this a boast, an apology, or a neutral report?“无一人”。凯撒的语气如何？这是夸耀、是辩解，还是中立的记述？
5. Sentence 12's chiasmus —第 12 句的交错排列 —— Diēs Avaricī fīnis erat sed bellī initium. Parse the syntax. Why does the 5th-decl.。请分析其句法。为什么承担修辞分量的是第五变格的 diēs carry the rhetorical weight rather than, say,，而不是比如说 fīnis or initium?

Further Questions — Translation延伸问题 —— 翻译

Translate sentences 2, 6, and 12 into idiomatic English. Pay attention to: -把第 2、6、12 句译成地道的英文。请注意： - Tantam rem sē ipsōs sustinēre posse cōnfirmābant (s. 2) — the indirect statement with reflexive pronoun. -（第 2 句）—— 带反身代词的间接引语。 - Quae rēs mīlitēs vehementer indignāvit (s. 6) — the connecting relative carrying a new sentence forward (codebook rule #3). -（第 6 句）—— 把新句子向前推进的关系连接词（编码规则 #3）。 - Diēs Avaricī fīnis erat sed bellī initium (s. 12) — the chiastic closing.（第 12 句）—— 交错排列的收束。

Screening

Proposed clip:建议片段： Vercingétorix (2001, French production) for the Gallic-perspective siege;（2001，法国制作）呈现高卢视角的围城； The Two Towers (2002, LOTR) Helm's Deep for the cinematic vocabulary of "rampart breached by storm"; Soviet documentary footage of the 1812 Moscow fire (Napoleon's retreat) for the scorched-earth strategy.（2002，《指环王》）的圣盔谷，提供“城墙被强攻突破”的影像词汇；还有 1812 年莫斯科大火（拿破仑撤退）的苏联纪录片镜头，对应焦土战略。 Subject to instructor confirmation.有待教师确认。

Discussion讨论

1. Vercingetorix proposed scorched earth and the Bituriges burned twenty of their own towns in a single day, but begged to spare Avaricum because it was "the most beautiful."维钦托利提出焦土策略，比图里吉人一天的内烧掉自己的二十座城镇，却恳求放过阿瓦里库姆，因为它“最美”。 Should Vercingetorix have insisted on burning Avaricum?维钦托利当初是否该坚持烧掉阿瓦里库姆？ Compare with similar strategic dilemmas in modern history: the burning of Moscow (1812), the destruction of the American South in the Civil War, the bombing of German cities in WWII.请与现代史上类似的战略困境相比较：莫斯科大火（1812）、美国内战中南方的毁灭、二战中对德国城市的轰炸。

2. Caesar reports凯撒报告说 40,000 dead in the surrender投降时有四万人死亡 (s. 11). Modern archaeology suggests the figure is plausible — Avaricum was a large oppidum, and Caesar's army was capable of mass slaughter (cf. Hour 18). Should Caesar be judged on this scale of violence? Was there a Roman ethical norm he violated, or is this a 21st-century anachronism?（第 11 句）。现代考古表明这个数字是可信的 —— 阿瓦里库姆是一座大型城邦，而凯撒的军队有能力进行大规模屠杀（参见第 18 课）。是否该以这种规模的暴力来评判凯撒？他是否违反了某种罗马的伦理准则，还是说这只是 21 世纪的时代错置？

3. The closing line —结尾那句 —— Diēs Avaricī fīnis erat sed bellī initium. Why does Caesar end the chapter with this chiasmus rather than triumphal language? What is he signaling about the war ahead (Gergovia, Alesia)?。凯撒为什么用这个交错排列、而不是凯旋式的语言来结束本章？他在为接下来的战争（格尔戈维亚、阿莱西亚）暗示什么？

4. The 5th-decl. rēs is famously slippery (s. 2: "the matter," s. 6: "the proposal," s. 12: "the situation"). Is this a feature of Caesar's prose, or of the Latin language? How would you teach出了名地难以捉摸（第 2 句：“这件事”，第 6 句：“这项提议”，第 12 句：“这处境”）。这是凯撒文风的特点，还是拉丁语本身的特点？你会如何把 rēs to a first-year student?教给一年级学生？

Intermission间歇

Break before休息，随后进入 Hour 24第 24 课 (Gergovia — Caesar's only defeat in（格尔戈维亚 —— 凯撒在《高卢战记》中唯一的败仗 DBG; Wheelock Ch. 23 — Participles).；Wheelock 第 23 章 —— 分词）。

Sources

• Latin text: De Bello Gallico 7.17–28, from PerseusDL canonical-latinLit corpus (phi0448), with light morphological smoothing.7.17–28，取自 PerseusDL canonical-latinLit 语料库（phi0448），略作形态平顺处理。
• English translation英文翻译: McDevitte & Bohn (1869), adapted.：McDevitte 与 Bohn（1869），有改编。
• Grammar: Wheelock 6th edn. revised (LaFleur 2005), Ch. 22.：Wheelock 第 6 版修订本（LaFleur 2005）第 22 章。
• Course design课程设计: 0 Caesar's Latin Course Structure and Task 1-2 .docx.
• The Avaricum siege as Caesarian narrative climax阿瓦里库姆围城作为凯撒叙事的高潮: K. Welch and A. Powell (eds.), Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: The War Commentaries as Political Instruments (1998), esp. essays on（1998），尤其是论 DBG Book 7.第七卷的几篇文章。
• Vercingetorix in modern reception现代接受史中的维钦托利: P. M. Martin, Vercingétorix: le politique, le stratège (2000); H. R. Loyn,（2000）；H. R. Loyn， The Reign of Charlemagne (1975) for the Carolingian afterlife of the Gallic hero-figure.（1975），论这位高卢英雄人物在加洛林时代的后世形象。
• Roman siege engineering at Avaricum阿瓦里库姆的罗马攻城工程: J. Harmand, L'armée et le soldat à Rome de 107 à 50 avant notre ère (1967); modern archaeology at Bourges (J. Troadec et al., excavations 1990s–2010s).（1967）；布尔日的现代考古（J. Troadec 等，1990 年代至 2010 年代的发掘）。
• The 5th declension across Latin literature第五变格在拉丁文献中的概况: F. Sommer, Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre, 2nd–3rd edn., §§ on，第 2–3 版，关于 rēs and diēs paradigms; A. Ernout & A. Meillet,范式的节；A. Ernout 与 A. Meillet， Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine (4th edn. 1959), s.vv.（第 4 版 1959），见相关词条。 rēs, diēs, spēs, fidēs.