Caesar's De Bello Gallico: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
38 flashcard terms for AP Latin Unit 4, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 20-question quiz — free, no account needed.
The opening sentence of Book 1 divides Gaul among the Belgae, the Aquitani, and the Celts (called Galli in Latin), differing in language, customs, and laws.
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae
Caesar ranks the Belgae bravest because they are farthest from Roman culture and luxury and nearest to the Germans, an ethnographic assumption that hardship breeds courage.
Commentarii as a Genre
Caesar's work is styled as commentarii, plain field notes rather than polished history, written in the third person ('Caesar') to project objectivity.
Third-Person Narration
Caesar refers to himself as 'Caesar' or 'ipse,' creating apparent detachment while shaping the reader's judgment of his decisions.
Orgetorix
Wealthy Helvetian noble who conspired to seize royal power and persuaded his people to migrate; arrested, he died mysteriously (perhaps by suicide) before trial.
Helvetian Migration
In 58 BCE the Helvetii burned their towns and villages (oppida, vici) so there could be no return, planning to march through the Roman Province or the Sequani's lands.
Casticus and Dumnorix
Orgetorix's co-conspirators from the Sequani and Aedui; Dumnorix, brother of Diviciacus, later obstructs Caesar and is killed while resisting arrest in Book 5.
Diviciacus
Pro-Roman Aeduan druid and leader who pleads for his brother Dumnorix and asks Caesar to help against Ariovistus.
Ariovistus
German king who crossed the Rhine, defeated by Caesar in 58 BCE after a tense parley; his defeat ended German expansion into Gaul (Book 1).
Book 4: Germans and Britain
Book 4 (55 BCE) covers Caesar's massacre of the Usipetes and Tencteri, the ten-day bridge over the Rhine, and the first expedition to Britain.
Rhine Bridge
Caesar's engineers built a pile bridge across the Rhine in ten days, described in detail; he crossed to intimidate the Germans, then destroyed it after eighteen days.
First Invasion of Britain (55 BCE)
Caesar landed near Kent late in the season with two legions; the standard-bearer of the Tenth Legion (aquilifer) leapt into the sea to shame the hesitating soldiers.
Aquilifer of the Tenth
'Desilite, milites, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prodere' (Jump down, soldiers, unless you want to betray the eagle to the enemy) — a model of virtus that rallies the landing.
Book 5: Second Expedition and Winter Quarters
Book 5 (54 BCE) covers the second British expedition (Cassivellaunus), the death of Dumnorix, and the destruction of Sabinus and Cotta's legion by Ambiorix.
Cassivellaunus
British chieftain who led resistance with chariots (essedarii); he eventually surrendered, gave hostages, and agreed to tribute.
Ambiorix
King of the Eburones who tricked the Roman commanders Sabinus and Cotta into leaving their camp and destroyed them in an ambush (Book 5).
Sabinus and Cotta
Legates whose disagreement over Ambiorix's advice ends in disaster; Sabinus wants to march, Cotta to stay; Caesar's account faults Sabinus' credulity.
Quintus Cicero
Brother of the orator; besieged in the territory of the Nervii, he held out until Caesar arrived; a Gaulish slave carried the message wrapped around a javelin.
Two rival centurions in Cicero's camp who compete for glory and end up saving each other, an exemplum of Roman virtus (Book 5.44).
Vercingetorix (Book 7)
Arvernian leader of the great revolt of 52 BCE, defeated at Alesia; not in the Latin syllabus but read in English.
Book 6: Ethnography
Book 6 contains the digression on the customs of the Gauls and Germans (druids, knights, gods, sacrifices) and on the Hercynian forest and its animals.
Druids
Priestly class of the Gauls who judged disputes, taught orally over twenty years, believed in transmigration of souls, and (Caesar says) supervised human sacrifice.
Equites (Gallic Knights)
The warrior aristocracy of Gaul whose power depended on the number of clients and retainers (ambacti); Caesar contrasts them with the near-slavery of the plebs.
Wicker Man
Caesar reports that Gauls burned victims in huge wickerwork figures (immani magnitudine simulacra), preferring thieves and criminals but using innocents if needed.
Gallic Gods
Caesar identifies Gallic deities with Roman ones (interpretatio Romana): Mercury most worshipped, then Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, Minerva; the Gauls claim descent from Dis Pater.
German Customs
Germans have no druids, worship only Sun, Moon, and Vulcan, prize hunting and war, hold land in common, and consider it praiseworthy to lay waste borderlands.
Hercynian Forest
Vast German forest taking nine days to cross; Caesar describes its strange animals: a one-horned ox, the alces (elk) with no knee joints, and the uri (aurochs).
Ambiorix and Book 6
Caesar ravages the Eburones to punish Ambiorix, who escapes; the Sugambri cross the Rhine and nearly take Cicero's camp at Aduatuca.
Legion Structure
A legion of roughly 4,000-5,000 men had ten cohorts, each of six centuries led by centurions; the aquila (eagle) standard was the legion's sacred symbol.
Legatus, Quaestor, Tribunus
Legates were senior commanders delegated by Caesar; the quaestor handled finances; military tribunes were young officers of equestrian or senatorial rank.
Castra
The Roman marching camp with rampart (vallum), ditch (fossa), and gates; Caesar's care in fortifying camps contrasts with Gallic disorder.
Hostages (Obsides)
Caesar routinely demands obsides from tribes as guarantees of loyalty; the practice structures Roman diplomacy throughout the work.
Clementia and Terror
Caesar presents both mercy and exemplary brutality (e.g., cutting off the hands of the defenders of Uxellodunum) as tools of policy.
Historical Present
Caesar's frequent use of present-tense verbs for past action (mittit, pervenit) enlivens the narrative; translate as past.
Ablative Absolutes in Caesar
Caesar's prose is dense with ablative absolutes ('his rebus cognitis', 'obsidibus acceptis') to compress background action before the main verb.
Indirect Discourse in Caesar
Long stretches of oratio obliqua render speeches and negotiations; subordinate verbs shift to the subjunctive and main verbs to accusative + infinitive.