Noviodunum was a town of the Aedui, advantageously situated on the banks of the Loire.
Noviodunum erat oppidum Aeduorum ad ripas Ligeris opportuno loco positum.
Caesar had conveyed hither all the hostages of Gaul, the corn, public money, a great part of his own baggage and that of his army;
Huc Caesar omnes obsides Galliae, frumentum, pecuniam publicam, suorum atque exercitus impedimentorum magnam partem contulerat;
he had sent hither a great number of horses, which he had purchased in Italy and Spain on account of this war.
huc magnum numerum equorum huius belli causa in Italia atque Hispania coemptum miserat.
When Eporedirix and Viridomarus came to this place, and received information of the disposition of the state, that Litavicus had been admitted by the Aedui into Bibracte, which is a town of the greatest importance among them, that Convictolitanis the chief magistrate and a great part of the senate had gone to meet him, that embassadors had been publicly sent to Vercingetorix to negotiate a peace and alliance; they thought that so great an opportunity ought not to be neglected.
Eo cum Eporedorix Viridomarusque venissent et de statu civitatis cognovissent, Litaviccum Bibracti ab Aeduis receptum, quod est oppidum apud eos maximae auctoritatis, Convictolitavim magistratum magnamque partem senatus ad eum convenisse, legatos ad Vercingetorigem de pace et amicitia concilianda publice missos, non praetermittendum tantum commodum existimaverunt.
Therefore, having put to the sword the garrison of Noviodunum, and those who had assembled there for the purpose of trading or were on their march, they divided the money and horses among themselves;
Itaque interfectis Novioduni custodibus quique eo negotiandi causa convenerant pecuniam atque equos inter se partiti sunt;
they took care that the hostages of the [different] states should be brought to Bibracte, to the chief magistrate;
obsides civitatum Bibracte ad magistratum deducendos curaverunt; oppidum,
they burned the town to prevent its being of any service to the Romans, as they were of opinion that they could not hold it;
quod a se teneri non posse iudicabant, ne cui esset usui Romanis, incenderunt;
they carried away in their vessels whatever corn they could in the hurry, they destroyed the remainder, by [throwing it] into the river or setting it on fire, they themselves began to collect forces from the neighboring country, to place guards and garrisons in different positions along the banks of the Loire, and to display the cavalry on all sides to strike terror into the Romans, [to try] if they could cut them off from a supply of provisions.
frumenti quod subito potuerunt navibus avexerunt, reliquum flumine atque incendio corruperunt. Ipsi ex finitimis regionibus copias cogere, praesidia custodiasque ad ripas Ligeris disponere equitatumque omnibus locis iniciendi timoris causa ostentare coeperunt, si ab re frumentaria Romanos excludere aut adductos inopia in provinciam expellere possent.
In which expectation they were much aided, from the circumstance that the Loire had swollen to such a degree from the melting of the snows, that it did not seem capable of being forded at all.
quam ad spem multum eos adiuvabat, quod Liger ex nivibus creverat, ut omnino vado non posse transiri videretur.