Toward evening Caesar ordered the gates to be shut, and the soldiers to go out of the town, lest the towns-people should receive any injury from them by night.
Sub vesperum Caesar portas claudi militesque ex oppido exire iussit, ne quam noctu oppidani a militibus iniuriam acciperent.
They [the Aduatuci], by a design before entered into, as we afterwards understood, because they believed that, as a surrender had been made, our men would dismiss their guards, or at least would keep watch less carefully, partly with those arms which they had retained and concealed, partly with shields made of bark or interwoven wickers, which they had hastily covered over with skins, (as the shortness of time required) in the third watch, suddenly made a sally from the town with all their forces [in that direction] in which the ascent to our fortifications seemed the least difficult.
Illi ante inito, ut intellectum est, consilio, quod deditione facta nostros praesidia deducturos aut denique indiligentius servaturos crediderant, partim cum iis quae retinuerant et celaverant armis, partim scutis ex cortice factis aut viminibus intextis, quae subito, ut temporis exiguitas postulabat, pellibus induxerant, tertia vigilia, qua minime arduus ad nostras munitiones ascensus videbatur, omnibus copiis repente ex oppido eruptionem fecerunt.
The signal having been immediately given by fires, as Caesar had previously commended, a rush was made thither [i. e. by the Roman soldiers] from the nearest fort;
Celeriter, ut ante Caesar imperaverat, ignibus significatione facta, ex proximis castellis eo concursum est,
and the battle was fought by the enemy as vigorously as it ought to be fought by brave men, in the last hope of safety, in a disadvantageous place, and against those who were throwing their weapons from a rampart and from towers; since all hope of safety depended on their courage alone.
pugnatumque ab hostibus ita acriter est ut a viris fortibus in extrema spe salutis iniquo loco contra eos qui ex vallo turribusque tela iacerent pugnari debuit, cum in una virtute omnis spes consisteret.
About 4,000 of the men having been slain, the rest were forced back into the town.
Occisis ad hominum milibus IIII reliqui in oppidum reiecti sunt.
The day after, Caesar, after breaking open the gates, which there was no one then to defend, and sending in our soldiers, sold the whole spoil of that town.
Postridie eius diei refractis portis, cum iam defenderet nemo, atque intromissis militibus nostris, sectionem eius oppidi universa Caesar vendidit.
The number of 53,000 persons was reported to him by those who had bought them.
Ab iis qui emerant capitum numerus ad eum relatus est milium LIII.