In what language was "Commentaries on the Gallic Wars" written?

I'm guessing latin.... am I right?

Yes. From Wikipedia -
Commentarii de Bello Gallico (literally Commentaries on the Gallic Wars in Latin) is an account written by Julius Caesar about his nine years of war in Gaul. English translations of the book often retain the Latin title; sometimes, various translations of the book's Latin title are used, including About the Gallic War, Of the Gallic War, On the Gallic War, The Conquest of Gaul, and The Gallic War.

It is often lauded for its polished, clear Latin. This book is traditionally the first authentic text assigned to students of Latin, as Xenophon's Anabasis is for students of Greek. It is therefore not always remembered with affection. On the other hand, a literary classic in an ancient language that can be read by high-school students is a rare thing. On re-reading it in later life, many people can perceive the clarity of syntax and beauty of style of which an early Latin teacher tried to convince them. The style is indeed simple and elegant, essential and not rhetorical, dry as a chronicle, yet rich in details.

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur.

All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are
called Celts, in our Gauls, the third.


In my second year of Latin, our first assignment was to translate the entire book. Oy!

quote:

Originally posted by DorianGreyed:
In my second year of Latin, our first assignment was to translate the entire book. Oy!

Really ? What happened to that nice man Vercingetorix ? Did he win?

(When I last looked Caesar was still busy striking a camp in some place called Ablativus Absolutus before throwing his maniples two thousand paces over the river Flumen. How painful was that? )

Sorry, Fred, but after the first week, I found book at a book sale that had a word-for-word running translation. From that point on, my friends and I became copyists rather than translators. Besides, that was over 40 years ago; now I am lucky to remember where I put my glasses or what I had for breakfast. (Did I even have breakfast today?)

But I think I remember that the Romans used an idiom, "pitch a camp" rather than "strike a camp."

quote:

Originally posted by DorianGreyed:
Sorry, Fred, but after the first week, I found book at a book sale that had a word-for-word running translation. From that point on, my friends and I became copyists rather than translators. Besides, that was over 40 years ago; now I am lucky to remember where I put my glasses or what I had for breakfast. (Did I even have breakfast today?)

But I think I remember that the Romans used an idiom, "pitch a camp" rather than "strike a camp."

Ah, is that why the only Latin words in your post are from the first section of the first book of Gallic Wars ? I think they are the very first lines, indeed. Join the club! Unfortunately I had to pass my first exam on one of the books in the middle of the wars, in which nothing happens much apart from a few skirmishes and Caesar, as usual, spinning an exaggerated account of events so as to massage his own ego and impress the bosses back home.

I learned the very last lines of the Aeneid too, thereby hoping to give the impression I'd read and translated the whole twelve(?) volumes instead of just the one or two of that. Sadly my Latin master reported that everyone knew the beginning of Gallic Wars and the end of the Aeneid, and the more advanced also knew that bit of Horace about his finishing a work more lasting than bronze: 'exegi monumentum aere perennius' (Damn, I remembered that too !)

The Romans 'pitched' camp when they arrived and 'struck' it when they left, methinks. Hope your translation was a Loeb, the classicists' favourite: the best grammatically, expensive and written in a form of English which was so old-fashioned (academic c19 ) that it was sometimes almost as impenetrable as the Latin That made it difficult to copy from: the language shouted out 'he's cribbed this verbatim from Loeb'

I gather from a BBC documentary that it was a very close run thing but Vercingetorix lost in the last reel