"Incolae antīquī insulae nostrae ferī et bellicōsī erant. Hastīs, sagittīs, essedīs inter sē pugnābant. Proelia Britannōs antīquōs dēlectābant. Multī et dīversī erant populī Britannōrum. Multī ex populīs erant Celtae. Celtīs antīquīs, sīcut Germānīs, capillī flāvī, oculī caeruleī, membra magna et rōbusta erant. Sīc Tacitus dē Calēdoniīs narrat. Incolae Cambriae merīdiānae 'colōrātī' erant. Sed Rōmānīs statūra parva, oculī et capillī nigrī erant. Ūniversī Britannī, ut Gāius Iūlius affirmat, membra vitrō colōrābant, sīcut nautae nostrī hodiernī. Vestīmenta ex coriīs ferārum cōnstābant. In casīs parvīs circum silvās suās habitābant."
Hīc
amita mea "Nōnne in oppidīs habitābant?" inquit.
Et
ille "Oppida aedificābant," inquit "sed, sī Gāius Iūlius vēra
affirmat, oppida Britannōrum antīquōrum loca firmāta erant, nōn loca ubi
habitābant. Sed Britannia merīdiāna crēbra erat incolīs et aedificiīs.
Sīc narrat Caesar in librō quintō Bellī Gallicī. Multī ūnā habitābant, ut
putō."
"Itaque
nōn plānē barbarī erant," inquit amita mea.
Et
ille: "Incolae Cantiī agrī cultūrae operam dabant, atque etiam mercātūrae.
Nam Venetī ex Galliā in Britanniam mercātūrae causā nāvigābant. Britannī
frūmentum, armenta, aurum, argentum, ferrum, coria, catulōs vēnāticōs, servōs
et captīvōs exportābant; frēna, vitrea, gemmās, cētera importābant. Itaque
mediocriter hūmānī erant, nec multum dīversī ā Gallīs."
"Multī
mortuōs cremābant, sīcut Graecī et Rōmānī: exstant in Cantiō sepulchra cum
urnīs pulchrē ornātīs. Exstant etiam nummī Britannicī, aureī, argenteī, aēneī.
Esseda quoque fabricābant: nōn plānē inhūmānī erant, sī rotās ferrātās
essedōrum et nummōs aureōs aēneōsque fabricāre poterant. Britannīs antīquīs
magnus numerus gallōrum gallīnārumque erat; animī, nōn escae, causā curābant,
ut Gāius Iūlius affirmat. Sed incolae mediterrāneōrum et Calēdoniī ferī et
barbarī erant. Mortuōs humābant. Agrī cultūrae operam nōn dabant; nōn
frūmentō sed ferīnā victitābant.”
“Deōrum fāna in lūcīs sacrīs et silvīs ātrīs erant. Sacra cūrābant Druidae.
Sacra erant saeva: virōs, fēminās, līberōs prō victimīs sacrificābant.
Inter sē saepe pugnābant; captīvōs miserōs vēnumdābant, vel cruciābant et
trucīdābant: nōnnumquam simulācra magna, plēna victimīs hūmānīs,
cremābant. Populōrum inter sē discordiae victōriam Rōmānōrum parābant."
[1] Rōmānīs [dative] statūra parva, oculī et capillī
nigrī erant │ Dative of possession; literally: to the Romans were
a small stature etc. = The Romans had a small stature, black eyes and
hair.
[2] Note several uses of the ablative case:
[i] causa, -ae [1/f]: cause; reason; in the ablative case
and placed after the noun it acts as a preposition meaning ‘for the sake of; on
account of’, the noun itself in the genitive case
mercātūrae [genitive] causā [ablative] │ on
account ¦ of trade
animī, nōn escae, causā curābant │ They
looked after (these animals) not for the sake of food but for amusement
[ii] nōn frūmentō sed ferīnā victitābant │
They did not feed on grain but on game
[iii] Britannia merīdiāna crēbra erat incolīs et
aedificiīs [ablative] │ Southern Britain was packed with inhabitants
and buildings.
[iv] virōs, fēminās, līberōs prō victimīs
sacrificābant
prō + ablative: this preposition has many different meanings
e.g. [i] for [ii] for the sake of; on behalf of [iii] before; in front of. As
is often the case in Latin, you need to see the word in context to get to its
meaning. Here, they sacrificed men, women and children as sacrificial
victims.
[v] The ablative case can be used when ‘abundance’ is
expressed; examples from the entire text [Parts 1 and 2]
Britannia quondam silvīs densīs crēbra
erat │ at one time Britain was packed / abundant with dense
forests
Metallīs … multīs abundābat │ It
(the earth / soil) abounded in many metals
[v] plēnus, -a, -um
which can be used with [i] the ablative (similar to Engl. filled with) or
[ii] the genitive (similar to Engl. full of)
[i] simulācra magna, plēna victimīs hūmānīs
│ Large effigies filled with human sacrificial victims
[ii] Silvae plēnae erant ferārum - lūpōrum,
ursōrum, cervōrum, aprōrum. │ The forests were full
of wild animals – (of) wolves, bears, stags and wild boars
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