Language focus: passive and deponent forms
Inde Caesar, postquam pauca lēgātīs respondīt, suōs mīlitēs hortātus, mūnītiōnem magnam aedificāre cōnstituit. Eā legiōne, quam sēcum habēbat, atque mīlitibus, quī ex prōvinciā convēnerant, ā lacū Lemannō ad montem Iūram, quō fīnēs Sēquanōrum ab Helvētiīs dīviduntur, mūrum et fossam perdūcit. Ā Caesare, ubi id opus perfectum est, praesidia distribuuntur atque turrēs mūniuntur. Itaque hostēs, hāc mūnītiōne impedītī, suās cōpiās facile transportāre nōn poterant.
The text shifts from past tense to present tense forms; this is a common feature of classical narrative, in which the present tense — known as the historical present — is used to describe past events in order to give the narrative greater vividness and immediacy.
The translation below reflects the tenses actually used, though it would also be possible to translate the entire passage using past tenses.
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Then Caesar, after he said a few words to the envoys, and having encouraged his soldiers, decided to construct a great fortification. With that legion which he had with him, and with the soldiers who had assembled from the province, from Lake Geneva to Mount Jura, by which the borders of the Sequani are divided from the Helvetii, he extends a wall and a ditch. When that work was completed, garrisons are distributed by Caesar, and towers are fortified. And so the enemy, hindered by this fortification, were not able easily to transport their forces.
