I. Caesar, expecting for
many reasons a greater commotion in Gaul, resolves
to hold a levy by the means of M. Silanus, C.
Antistius Reginus, and T. Sextius, his lieutenants:
at the same time he requested of Cn. Pompey,
the proconsul, that since he was remaining near the
city invested with military command for the interests
of the commonwealth, he would command those men whom
when consul he had levied by the military oath in
Cisalpine Gaul, to join their respective corps, and
to proceed to him; thinking it of great importance,
as far as regarded the opinion which the Gauls
would entertain for the future, that the resources
of Italy should appear so great, that if any loss
should be sustained in war, not only could it be repaired
in a short time, but likewise be further supplied
by still larger forces. And when Pompey had granted
this to the interests of the commonwealth and the claims
of friendship, Caesar having quickly completed the
levy by means of his lieutenants, after three legions
had been both formed and brought to him before the
winter [had] expired, and the number of those cohorts
which he had lost under Q. Titurius had been doubled,
taught the Gauls, both by his dispatch and by
his forces, what the discipline and the power of the
Roman people could accomplish.
II. Indutiomarus having
been slain, as we have stated, the government was
conferred upon his relatives by the Treviri. They
cease not to importune the neighbouring Germans and
to promise them money: when they could not obtain
[their object] from those nearest them, they try those
more remote. Having found some states willing
to accede to their wishes, they enter into a compact
with them by a mutual oath, and give hostages as a
security for the money: they attach Ambiorix
to them by an alliance and confederacy. Caesar,
on being informed of their acts, since he saw that
war was being prepared on all sides, that the Nervii,
Aduatuci, and Menapii, with the addition of all
the Germans on this side of the Rhine were under arms,
that the Senones did not assemble according to
his command, and were concerting measures with the
Carnutes and the neighbouring states, that the
Germans were importuned by the Treviri in frequent
embassies, thought that he ought to take measures for
the war earlier [than usual].
III.-Accordingly, while the winter
was not yet ended, having concentrated the four nearest
legions, he marched unexpectedly into the territories
of the Nervii, and before they could either assemble,
or retreat, after capturing a large number of cattle
and of men, and wasting their lands and giving up
that booty to the soldiers, compelled them to enter
into a surrender and give him hostages. That business
having been speedily executed, he again led his legions
back into winter-quarters. Having proclaimed
a council of Gaul in the beginning of the spring,
as he had been accustomed [to do], when the deputies
from the rest, except the Senones, the Carnutes,
and the Treviri, had come, judging this to be the
commencement of war and revolt, that he might appear
to consider all things of less consequence [than that
war], he transfers the council to Lutetia of the Parisii.
These were adjacent to the Senones, and had united
their state to them during the memory of their fathers,
but were thought to have no part in the present plot.
Having proclaimed this from the tribunal, he advances
the same day towards the Senones with his legions
and arrives among them by long marches.
IV. Acco, who had been
the author of that enterprise, on being informed of
his arrival, orders the people to assemble in the towns;
to them, while attempting this and before it could
be accomplished, news is brought that the Romans are
close at hand: through necessity they give over
their design and send ambassadors to Caesar for the
purpose of imploring pardon; they make advances to
him through the Aedui, whose state was from ancient
times under the protection of Rome. Caesar readily
grants them pardon and receives their excuse at the
request of the Aedui; because he thought that
the summer season was one for an impending war, not
for an investigation. Having imposed one hundred
hostages, he delivers these to the Aedui to be
held in charge by them. To the same place the
Carnutes send ambassadors and hostages, employing
as their mediators the Remi, under whose protection
they were: they receive the same answers.
Caesar concludes the council and imposes a levy of
cavalry on the states.
V. This part of Gaul having
been tranquillized, he applies himself entirely both
in mind and soul to the war with the Treviri and Ambiorix.
He orders Cavarinus to march with him with the cavalry
of the Senones, lest any commotion should arise
either out of his hot temper, or out of the hatred
of the state which he had incurred. After arranging
these things, as he considered it certain that Ambiorix
would not contend in battle, he watched his other
plans attentively. The Menapii bordered on
the territories of the Eburones, and were protected
by one continued extent of morasses and woods; and
they alone out of Gaul had never sent ambassadors
to Caesar on the subject of peace. Caesar knew
that a tie of hospitality subsisted between them and
Ambiorix: he also discovered that the latter
had entered into an alliance with the Germans by means
of the Treviri. He thought that these auxiliaries
ought to be detached from him before he provoked him
to war; lest he, despairing of safety, should either
proceed to conceal himself in the territories of the
Menapii, or should be driven to coalesce with
the Germans beyond the Rhine. Having entered
upon this resolution, he sends the baggage of the whole
army to Labienus, in the territories of the Treviri
and orders two legions to proceed to him: he
himself proceeds against the Menapii with five
lightly-equipped legions. They, having assembled
no troops, as they relied on the defence of their
position, retreat into the woods and morasses, and
convey thither all their property.
VI. Caesar, having divided
his forces with C. Fabius, his lieutenant, and M.
Crassus, his questor, and having hastily constructed
some bridges, enters their country in three divisions,
burns their houses and villages, and gets possession
of a large number of cattle and men. Constrained
by these circumstances, the Menapii send ambassadors
to him for the purpose of suing for peace. He,
after receiving hostages, assures them that he will
consider them in the number of his enemies if they
shall receive within their territories either Ambiorix
or his ambassadors. Having determinately settled
these things, he left among the Menapii, Commius
the Atrebatian with some cavalry as a guard; he himself
proceeds toward the Treviri.
VII. While these things
are being performed by Caesar, the Treviri, having
drawn together large forces of infantry and of cavalry,
were preparing to attack Labienus and the legion which
was wintering in their territories, and were already
not further distant from him than a journey of two
days, when they learn that two legions had arrived
by the order of Caesar. Having pitched their
camp fifteen miles off, they resolve to await the
support of the Germans. Labienus, having learned
the design of the enemy, hoping that through their
rashness there would be some opportunity of engaging,
after leaving a guard of five cohorts for the baggage,
advances against the enemy with twenty-five cohorts
and a large body of cavalry, and, leaving the space
of a mile between them, fortifies his camp. There
was between Labienus and the enemy a river difficult
to cross and with steep banks: this neither did
he himself design to cross, nor did he suppose the
enemy would cross it. Their hope of auxiliaries
was daily increasing. He [Labienus] openly says
in a council that “since the Germans are said
to be approaching, he would not bring into uncertainty
his own and the army’s fortunes, and the next
day would move his camp at early dawn. These
words are quickly carried to the enemy, since out
of so large a number of cavalry composed of Gauls,
nature compelled some to favour the Gallic interests.
Labienus, having assembled the tribunes of the soldiers
and principal centurions by night, states
what his design is, and, that he may the more easily
give the enemy a belief of his fears, he orders the
camp to be moved with greater noise and confusion
than was usual with the Roman people. By these
means he makes his departure [appear], like a retreat.
These things, also, since the camps were so near,
are reported to the enemy by scouts before daylight.
VIII. Scarcely had the
rear advanced beyond the fortifications when the Gauls,
encouraging one another “not to cast from their
hands the anticipated booty, that it was a tedious
thing, while the Romans were panic stricken, to be
waiting for the aid of the Germans, and that their
dignity did not suffer them to fear to attack with
such great forces so small a band, particularly when
retreating and encumbered,” do not hesitate
to cross the river and give battle in a disadvantageous
position. Labienus suspecting that these things
would happen, was proceeding quietly, and using the
same pretence of a march, in order that he might entice
them across the river. Then, having sent forward
the baggage some short distance and placed it on a
certain eminence, he says, “Soldiers, you have
the opportunity you have sought: you hold the
enemy in an encumbered and disadvantageous position:
display to us your leaders the same valour you have
ofttimes displayed to your general: imagine that
he is present and actually sees these exploits.”
At the same time he orders the troops to face about
towards the enemy and form in line of battle, and,
despatching a few troops of cavalry as a guard for
the bag gage, he places the rest of the horse on the
wings. Our men, raising a shout, quickly throw
their javelins at the enemy. They, when, contrary
to their expectation, they saw those whom they believed
to be retreating, advance towards them with threatening
banners, were not able to sustain even the charge,
and, being put to flight at the first onslaught, sought
the nearest woods: Labienus pursuing them with
the cavalry, upon a large number being slain, and
several taken prisoners, got possession of the state
a few days after; for the Germans who were coming
to the aid of the Treviri, having been informed of
their flight, retreated to their homes. The relations
of Indutiomarus, who had been the promoters of
the revolt, accompanying them, quitted their own state
with them. The supreme power and government were
delivered to Cingetorix, whom we have stated
to have remained firm in his allegiance from the commencement.
IX. Caesar, after he came
from the territories of the Menapii into those
of the Treviri, resolved for two reasons to cross the
Rhine; one of which was, because they had sent assistance
to the Treviri against him; the other, that Ambiorix
might not have a retreat among them. Having determined
on these matters, he began to build a bridge a little
above that place, at which he had before conveyed over
his army. The plan having been known and laid
down, the work is accomplished in a few days by the
great exertion of the soldiers. Having left a
strong guard at the bridge on the side of the Treviri,
lest any commotion should suddenly arise among them,
he leads over the rest of the forces and the cavalry.
The Ubii, who before had sent hostages and come
to a capitulation, send ambassadors to him, for the
purpose of vindicating themselves, to assure him that
“neither had auxiliaries been sent to the Treviri
from their state, nor had they violated their allegiance”;
they entreat and beseech him “to spare them,
lest, in his common hatred of the Germans, the innocent
should suffer the penalty of the guilty: they
promise to give more hostages, if he desire them.”
Having investigated the case, Caesar finds that the
auxiliaries had been sent by the Suevi; he accepts
the apology of the Ubii, and makes minute inquiries
concerning the approaches and the routes to the territories
of the Suevi. X. In the meanwhile
he is informed by the Ubii, a few days after,
that the Suevi are drawing all their forces into
one place, and are giving orders to those nations
which are under their government to send auxiliaries
of infantry and of cavalry. Having learned these
things, he provides a supply of corn, selects a proper
place for his camp, and commands the Ubii to
drive off their cattle and carry away all their possessions
from the country parts into the towns, hoping that
they, being a barbarous and ignorant people, when harassed
by the want of provisions, might be brought to an
engagement on disadvantageous terms: he orders
them to send numerous scouts among the Suevi,
and learn what things are going on among them.
They execute the orders, and, a few days having intervened,
report that all the Suevi, after certain intelligence
concerning the army of the Romans had come, retreated
with all their own forces and those of their allies,
which they had assembled, to the utmost extremities
of their territories: that there is a wood there
of very great extent, which is called Bacenis; that
this stretches a great way into the interior, and,
being opposed as a natural barrier, defends from injuries
and incursions the Cherusci against the Suevi,
and the Suevi against the Cherusci: that
at the entrance of that forest the Suevi had
determined to await the coming up of the Romans.
XI. Since we have come
to this place, it does not appear to be foreign to
our subject to lay before the reader an account of
the manners of Gaul and Germany, and wherein these
nations differ from each other. In Gaul there
are factions not only in all the states, and in all
the cantons and their divisions, but almost in each
family, and of these factions those are the leaders
who are considered according to their judgment to
possess the greatest influence, upon whose will and
determination the management of all affairs and measures
depends. And that seems to have been instituted
in ancient times with this view, that no one of the
common people should be in want of support against
one more powerful; for none [of those leaders] suffers
his party to be oppressed and defrauded, and if he
do otherwise, he has no influence among his party.
This same policy exists throughout the whole of Gaul;
for all the states are divided into two factions.
XII. When Caesar arrived
in Gaul, the Aedui were the leaders of one faction,
the Sequani of the other. Since the latter
were less powerful by themselves, inasmuch as the
chief influence was from of old among the Aedui,
and their dependencies were great, they had united
to themselves the Germans and Ariovistus, and had
brought them over to their party by great sacrifices
and promises. And having fought several successful
battles and slain all the nobility of the Aedui,
they had so far surpassed them in power, that they
brought over, from the Aedui to themselves, a
large portion of their dependants and received from
them the sons of their leading men as hostages, and
compelled them to swear in their public character
that they would enter into no design against them;
and held a portion of the neighbouring land, seized
on by force, and possessed the sovereignty of the
whole of Gaul. Divitiacus urged by this necessity,
had proceeded to Rome to the senate, for the purpose
of entreating assistance, and had returned without
accomplishing his object. A change of affairs
ensued on the arrival of Caesar, the hostages were
returned to the Aedui, their old dependencies
restored, and new acquired through Caesar (because
those who had attached themselves to their alliance
saw that they enjoyed a better state and a milder
government), their other interests, their influence,
their reputation were likewise increased, and in consequence,
the Sequani lost the sovereignty. The Remi
succeeded to their place, and, as it was perceived
that they equalled the Aedui in favour with Caesar,
those, who on account of their old animosities could
by no means coalesce with the Aedui, consigned
themselves in clientship to the Remi. The latter
carefully protected them. Thus they possessed
both a new and suddenly acquired influence. Affairs
were then in that position, that the Aedui were
considered by far the leading people, and the Remi
held the second post of honour.
XIII. Throughout all Gaul
there are two orders of those men who are of any rank
and dignity: for the commonality is held almost
in the condition of slaves, and dares to undertake
nothing of itself and is admitted to no deliberation.
The greater part, when they are pressed either by
debt, or the large amount of their tributes, or the
oppression of the more powerful, give themselves up
in vassalage to the nobles, who possess over them
the same rights without exception as masters over
their slaves. But of these two orders, one is
that of the Druids, the other that of the knights.
The former are engaged in things sacred, conduct the
public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all
matters of religion. To these a large number
of the young men resort for the purpose of instruction,
and they [the Druids] are in great honour among them.
For they determine respecting almost all controversies,
public and private; and if any crime has been perpetrated,
if murder has been committed, if there be any dispute
about an inheritance, if any about boundaries, these
same persons decide it; they decree rewards and punishments
if any one, either in a private or public capacity,
has not submitted to their decision, they interdict
him from the sacrifices. This among them is the
most heavy punishment. Those who have been thus
interdicted are esteemed in the number of the impious
and the criminal: all shun them, and avoid their
society and conversation, lest they receive some evil
from their contact; nor is justice administered to
them when seeking it, nor is any dignity bestowed on
them. Over all these Druids one presides, who
possesses supreme authority among them. Upon
his death, if any individual among the rest is pre-eminent
in dignity, he succeeds; but, if there are many equal,
the election is made by the suffrages of the
Druids; sometimes they even contend for the presidency
with arms. These assemble at a fixed period of
the year in a consecrated place in the territories
of the Carnutes, which is reckoned the central
region of the whole of Gaul. Hither all, who have
disputes, assemble from every part, and submit to
their decrees and determinations. This institution
is supposed to have been devised in Britain, and to
have been brought over from it into Gaul; and now those
who desire to gain a more accurate knowledge of that
system generally proceed thither for the purpose of
studying it.
XIV. The Druids do not
go to war, nor pay tribute together with the rest;
they have an exemption from military service and a
dispensation in all matters. Induced by such
great advantages, many embrace this profession of
their own accord, and [many] are sent to it by their
parents and relations. They are said there to
learn by heart a great number of verses; accordingly
some remain in the course of training twenty years.
Nor do they regard it lawful to commit these to writing,
though in almost all other matters, in their public
and private transactions, they use Greek characters.
That practice they seem to me to have adopted for
two reasons; because they neither desire their doctrines
to be divulged among the mass of the people, nor those
who learn, to devote themselves the less to the efforts
of memory, relying on writing; since it generally
occurs to most men, that, in their dependence on writing,
they relax their diligence in learning thoroughly,
and their employment of the memory. They wish
to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets,
that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death
from one body to another, and they think that men
by this tenet are in a great degree excited to valour,
the fear of death being disregarded. They likewise
discuss and impart to the youth many things respecting
the stars and their motion, respecting the extent of
the world and of our earth, respecting the nature of
things, respecting the power and the majesty of the
immortal gods.
XV. The other order is
that of the knights. These, when there is occasion
and any war occurs (which before Caesar’s arrival
was for the most part wont to happen every year, as
either they on their part were inflicting injuries
or repelling those which others inflicted on them),
are all engaged in war. And those of them most
distinguished by birth and resources, have the greatest
number of vassals and dependants about them.
They acknowledge this sort of influence and power only.
XVI. The nation of all
the Gauls is extremely devoted to superstitious
rites; and on that account they who are troubled with
unusually severe diseases and they who are engaged
in battles and dangers, either sacrifice men as victims,
or vow that they will sacrifice them, and employ the
Druids as the performers of those sacrifices; because
they think that unless the life of a man be offered
for the life of a man, the mind of the immortal gods
cannot be rendered propitious, and they have sacrifices
of that kind ordained for national purposes. Others
have figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed
of osiers they fill with living men, which being
set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the flames.
They consider that the oblation of such as have been
taken in theft, or in robbery, or any other offence,
is more acceptable to the immortal gods; but when
a supply of that class is wanting, they have recourse
to the oblation of even the innocent.
XVII. They worship as their
divinity, Mercury in particular, and have many images
of him, and regard him as the inventor of all arts,
they consider him, the guide of their journeys and
marches, and believe him to have very great influence
over the acquisition of gain and mercantile transactions.
Next to him they worship Apollo, and Mars, and Jupiter,
and Minerva; respecting these deities they have for
the most part the same belief as other nations:
that Apollo averts diseases, that Minerva imparts
the invention of manufactures, that Jupiter possesses
the sovereignty of the heavenly powers; that Mars
presides over wars. To him when they have determined
to engage in battle, they commonly vow those things
they shall take in war. When they have conquered,
they sacrifice whatever captured animals may have
survived the conflict, and collect the other things
into one place. In many states you may see piles
of these things heaped up in their consecrated spots;
nor does it often happen that any one, disregarding
the sanctity of the case, dares either to secrete
in his house things captured, or take away those deposited;
and the most severe punishment, with torture, has been
established for such a deed.
XVIII. All the Gauls
assert that they are descended from the god Dis,
and say that this tradition has been handed down by
the Druids. For that reason they compute the
divisions of every season, not by the number of days,
but of nights; they keep birthdays and the beginnings
of months and years in such an order that the day
follows the night. Among the other usages of
their life, they differ in this from almost all other
nations, that they do not permit their children to
approach them openly until they are grown up so as
to be able to bear the service of war; and they regard
it as indecorous for a son of boyish age to stand in
public in the presence of his father.
XIX. Whatever sums of money
the husbands have received in the name of dowry from
their wives, making an estimate of it, they add the
same amount out of their own estates. An account
is kept of all this money conjointly, and the profits
are laid by: whichever of them shall have survived
[the other], to that one the portion of both reverts,
together with the profits of the previous time.
Husbands have power of life and death over their wives
as well as over their children: and when the
father of a family, born in a more than commonly distinguished
rank, has died, his relations assemble, and, if the
circumstances of his death are suspicious, hold an
investigation upon the wives in the manner adopted
towards slaves; and if proof be obtained, put them
to severe torture, and kill them. Their funerals,
considering the state of civilization among the Gauls,
are magnificent and costly; and they cast into the
fire all things, including living creatures, which
they suppose to have been dear to them when alive;
and, a little before this period, slaves and dependants,
who were ascertained to have been beloved by them,
were, after the regular funeral rites were completed,
burnt together with them.
XX. Those states which
are considered to conduct their commonwealth more
judiciously, have it ordained by their laws, that,
if any person shall have heard by rumour and report
from his neighbours anything concerning the commonwealth,
he shall convey it to the magistrate and not impart
it to any other; because it has been discovered that
inconsiderate and inexperienced men were often alarmed
by false reports and driven to some rash act, or else
took hasty measures in affairs of the highest importance.
The magistrates conceal those things which require
to be kept unknown; and they disclose to the people
whatever they determine to be expedient. It is
not lawful to speak of the commonwealth, except in
council.
XXI. The Germans differ
much from these usages, for they have neither Druids
to preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great
regard to sacrifices. They rank in the number
of the gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose
instrumentality they are obviously benefited, namely,
the sun, fire, and the moon; they have not heard of
the other deities even by report. Their whole
life is occupied in hunting and in the pursuits of
the military art; from childhood they devote themselves
to fatigue and hardships. Those who have remained
chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest
commendation among their people: they think that
by this the growth is promoted, by this the physical
powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened.
And to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth
year they reckon among the most disgraceful acts;
of which matter there is no concealment, because they
bathe promiscuously in the rivers and [only] use skins
or small cloaks of deers’ hides, a large portion
of the body being in consequence naked.
XXII. They do not pay much
attention to agriculture, and a large portion of their
food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh; nor has any
one a fixed quantity of land or his own individual
limits; but the magistrates and the leading men each
year apportion to the tribes and families, who have
united together, as much land as, and in the place
in which, they think proper, and the year after compel
them to remove elsewhere. For this enactment
they advance many reasons lest seduced by
long-continued custom, they may exchange their ardour
in the waging of war for agriculture; lest they may
be anxious to acquire extensive estates, and the more
powerful drive the weaker from their possessions;
lest they construct their houses with too great a desire
to avoid cold and heat; lest the desire of wealth
spring up, from which cause divisions and discords
arise; and that they may keep the common people in
a contented state of mind, when each sees his own means
placed on an equality with [those of] the most powerful.
XXIII. It is the greatest
glory to the several states to have as wide deserts
as possible around them, their frontiers having been
laid waste. They consider this the real evidence
of their prowess, that their neighbours shall be driven
out of their lands and abandon them, and that no one
dare settle near them; at the same time they think
that they shall be on that account the more secure,
because they have removed the apprehension of a sudden
incursion. When a state either repels war waged
against it, or wages it against another, magistrates
are chosen to preside over that war with such authority,
that they have power of life and death. In peace
there is no common magistrate, but the chiefs of provinces
and cantons administer justice and determine controversies
among their own people. Robberies which are committed
beyond the boundaries of each state bear no infamy,
and they avow that these are committed for the purpose
of disciplining their youth and of preventing sloth.
And when any of their chiefs has said in an assembly
“that he will be their leader, let those who
are willing to follow, give in their names”;
they who approve of both the enterprise and the man
arise and promise their assistance and are applauded
by the people; such of them as have not followed him
are accounted in the number of deserters and traitors,
and confidence in all matters is afterwards refused
them. To injure guests they regard as impious;
they defend from wrong those who have come to them
for any purpose whatever, and esteem them inviolable;
to them the houses of all are open and maintenance
is freely supplied.
XXIV. And there was formerly
a time when the Gauls excelled the Germans in
prowess, and waged war on them offensively, and, on
account of the great number of their people and the
insufficiency of their land, sent colonies over the
Rhine. Accordingly, the Volcae Tectosages seized
on those parts of Germany which are the most fruitful
[and lie] around the Hercynian forest (which, I perceive,
was known by report to Eratosthenes and some other
Greeks, and which they call Orcynia) and settled there.
Which nation to this time retains its position in those
settlements, and has a very high character for justice
and military merit: now also they continue in
the same scarcity, indigence, hardihood, as the Germans,
and use the same food and dress; but their proximity
to the Province and knowledge of commodities from
countries beyond the sea supplies to the Gauls
many things tending to luxury as well as civilization.
Accustomed by degrees to be overmatched and worsted
in many engagements, they do not even compare themselves
to the Germans in prowess.
XXV. The breadth of this
Hercynian forest, which has been referred to above,
is to a quick traveller, a journey of nine days.
For it cannot be otherwise computed, nor are they
acquainted with the measures of roads. It begins
at the frontiers of the Helvetii, Nemetes, and Rauraci,
and extends in a right line along the river Danube
to the territories of the Daci and the Anartes:
it bends thence to the left in a different direction
from the river, and owing to its extent touches the
confines of many nations; nor is there any person
belonging to this part of Germany who says that he
either has gone to the extremity of that forest, though
he had advanced a journey of sixty days, or has heard
in what place it begins. It is certain that many
kinds of wild beasts are produced in it which have
not been seen in other parts; of which the following
are such as differ principally from other animals,
and appear worthy of being committed to record.
XXVI. There is an ox of
the shape of a stag, between whose ears a horn rises
from the middle of the forehead, higher and straighter
than those horns which are known to us. From
the top of this, branches, like palms; stretch out
a considerable distance. The shape of the female
and of the male is the same; the appearance and the
size of the horns is the same.
XXVII. There are also [animals]
which are called elks. The shape of these, and
the varied colour of their skins, is much like roes,
but in size they surpass them a little and are destitute
of horns, and have legs without joints and ligatures;
nor do they lie down for the purpose of rest, nor,
if they have been thrown down by any accident, can
they raise or lift themselves up. Trees serve
as beds to them; they lean themselves against them,
and thus reclining only slightly, they take their
rest; when the huntsmen have discovered from the footsteps
of these animals whither they are accustomed to betake
themselves, they either undermine all the trees at
the roots, or cut into them so far that the upper
part of the trees may appear to be left standing.
When they have leant upon them, according to their
habit, they knock down by their weight the unsupported
trees, and fall down themselves along with them.
XXVIII.-There is a third kind, consisting
of those animals which are called uri. These
are a little below the elephant in size, and of the
appearance, colour, and shape of a bull. Their
strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither
man nor wild beast which they have espied. These
the Germans take with much pains in pits and kill them.
The young men harden themselves with this exercise,
and practice themselves in this kind of hunting, and
those who have slain the greatest number of them,
having produced the horns in public, to serve as evidence,
receive great praise. But not even when taken
very young can they be rendered familiar to men and
tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their
horns differ much from the horns of our oxen.
These they anxiously seek after, and bind at the tips
with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous
entertainments.
XXIX. Caesar, after he
discovered through the Ubian scouts that the Suevi
had retired into their woods, apprehending a scarcity
of corn, because, as we have observed above, all the
Germans pay very little attention to agriculture,
resolved not to proceed any farther; but, that he
might not altogether relieve the barbarians from the
fear of his return, and that he might delay their
succours, having led back his army, he breaks down,
to the length of 200 feet, the farther end of the
bridge, which joined the banks of the Ubii, and,
at the extremity of the bridge raises towers of four
stories, and stations a guard of twelve cohorts for
the purpose of defending the bridge, and strengthens
the place with considerable fortifications. Over
that fort and guard he appointed C. Volcatius Tullus,
a young man; he himself, when the corn began to ripen,
having set forth for the war with 40 Ambiorix
(through the forest Arduenna, which is the largest
of all Gaul, and reaches from the banks of the Rhine
and the frontiers of the Treviri to those of the Nervii,
and extends over more than 500 miles), he sends forward
L. Minucius Basilus with all the cavalry, to try if
he might gain any advantage by rapid marches and the
advantage of time, he warns him to forbid fires being
made in the camp, lest any indication of his approach
be given at a distance: he tells him that he will
follow immediately.
XXX. Basilus does as he
was commanded; having performed his march rapidly,
and even surpassed the expectations of all, he surprises
in the fields many not expecting him; through their
information he advances towards Ambiorix himself,
to the place in which he was said to be with a few
horse. Fortune accomplishes much, not only in
other matters, but also in the art of war. For
as it happened by a remarkable chance, that he fell
upon [Ambiorix] himself unguarded and unprepared,
and that his arrival was seen by the people before
the report or information of his arrival was carried
thither; so it was an incident of extraordinary fortune
that, although every implement of war which he was
accustomed to have about him was seized, and his chariots
and horses surprised, yet he himself escaped death.
But it was effected owing to this circumstance, that
his house being surrounded by a wood, (as are generally
the dwellings of the Gauls, who, for the purpose
of avoiding heat, mostly seek the neighbourhood of
woods and rivers) his attendants and friends in a
narrow spot sustained for a short time the attack of
our horse. While they were fighting, one of his
followers mounted him on a horse: the woods sheltered
him as he fled. Thus fortune tended much both
towards his encountering and his escaping danger.
XXXI. Whether Ambiorix
did not collect his forces from cool deliberation,
because he considered he ought not to engage in a battle,
or [whether] he was debarred by time and prevented
by the sudden arrival of our horse, when he supposed
the rest of the army was closely following, is doubtful;
but certainly, despatching messengers through the
country, he ordered every one to provide for himself;
and a part of them fled into the forest Arduenna,
a part into the extensive morasses; those who were
nearest the ocean, concealed themselves in the islands
which the tides usually form; many, departing from
their territories, committed themselves and all their
possessions to perfect strangers. Cativolcus,
king of one-half of the Eburones, who had entered
into the design together with Ambiorix, since,
being now worn out by age, he was unable to endure
the fatigue either of war or flight, having cursed
Ambiorix with every imprecation, as the person
who had been the contriver of that measure, destroyed
himself with the juice of the yew tree, of which there
is a great abundance in Gaul and Germany.
XXXII. The Segui and Condrusi,
of the nation and number of the Germans, and who are
between the Eburones and the Treviri, sent ambassadors
to Caesar to entreat that he would not regard them
in the number of his enemies, nor consider that the
cause of all the Germans on this side the Rhine was
one and the same; that they had formed no plans of
war, and had sent no auxiliaries to Ambiorix.
Caesar, having ascertained this fact by an examination
of his prisoners commanded that if any of the Eburones
in their flight had repaired to them, they should be
sent back to him; he assures them that if they did
that, he will not injure their territories. Then,
having divided his forces into three parts, he sent
the baggage of all the legions to Aduatuca. That
is the name of a fort. This is nearly in the
middle of the Eburones, where Titurius and Aurunculeius
had been quartered for the purpose of wintering.
This place he selected as well on other accounts as
because the fortifications of the previous year remained,
in order that he might relieve the labour of the soldiers.
He left the fourteenth legion as a guard for the baggage,
one of those three which he had lately raised in Italy
and brought over. Over that legion and camp he
places Q. Tullius Cicero and gives him 200 horse.
XXXIII. Having divided
the army, he orders T. Labienus to proceed with three
legions towards the ocean into those parts which border
on the Menappii; he sends C. Trebonius with a like
number of legions to lay waste that district which
lies contiguous to the Aduatuci; he himself determines
to go with the remaining three to the river Sambre,
which flows into the Meuse, and to the most remote
parts of Arduenna, whither he heard that Ambiorix
had gone with a few horse. When departing, he
promises that he will return before the end of the
seventh day, on which day he was aware corn was due
to that legion which was being left in garrison.
He directs Labienus and Trebonius to return by the
same day, if they can do so agreeably to the interests
of the republic; so that their measures having been
mutually imparted, and the plans of the enemy having
been discovered, they might be able to commence a different
line of operations.
XXXIV. There was, as we
have above observed, no regular army, nor a town,
nor a garrison which could defend itself by arms; but
the people were scattered in all directions.
Where either a hidden valley, or a woody spot, or
a difficult morass furnished any hope of protection
or of security to any one, there he had fixed himself.
These places were known to those that dwelt in the
neighbourhood, and the matter demanded great attention,
not so much in protecting the main body of the army
(for no peril could occur to them altogether from
those alarmed and scattered troops), as in preserving
individual soldiers; which in some measure tended
to the safety of the army. For both the desire
of booty was leading many too far, and the woods with
their unknown and hidden routes would not allow them
to go in large bodies. If he desired the business
to be completed and the race of those infamous people
to be cut off, more bodies of men must be sent in
several directions and the soldiers must be detached
on all sides; if he were disposed to keep the companies
at their standards, as the established discipline and
practice of the Roman army required, the situation
itself was a safeguard to the barbarians, nor was
there wanting to individuals the daring to lay secret
ambuscades and beset scattered soldiers. But amidst
difficulties of this nature as far as precautions
could be taken by vigilance, such precautions were
taken; so that some opportunities of injuring the enemy
were neglected, though the minds of all were burning
to take revenge, rather than that injury should be
effected with any loss to our soldiers. Caesar
despatches messengers to the neighbouring states; by
the hope of booty he invites all to him, for the purpose
of plundering the Eburones, in order that the
life of the Gauls might be hazarded in the woods
rather than the legionary soldiers; at the same time,
in order that a large force being drawn around them,
the race and name of that state may be annihilated
for such a crime. A large number from all quarters
speedily assembles.
XXXV. These things were
going on in all parts of the territories of the Eburones,
and the seventh day was drawing near, by which day
Caesar had purposed to return to the baggage and the
legion. Here it might be learned how much fortune
achieves in war, and how great casualties she produces.
The enemy having been scattered and alarmed, as we
related above, there was no force which might produce
even a slight occasion of fear. The report extends
beyond the Rhine to the Germans that the Eburones
are being pillaged, and that all were without distinction
invited to the plunder. The Sigambri, who are
nearest to the Rhine, by whom, we have mentioned above,
the Tenchtheri and Usipetes were received after their
retreat, collect 2000 horse; they cross the Rhine in
ships and barks thirty miles below that place where
the bridge was entire and the garrison left by Caesar;
they arrive at the frontiers of the Eburones,
surprise many who were scattered in flight, and get
possession of a large amount of cattle, of which barbarians
are extremely covetous. Allured by booty, they
advance farther; neither morass nor forest obstructs
these men, born amidst war and depredations; they inquire
of their prisoners in what parts Caesar is; they find
that he has advanced farther, and learn that all the
army has removed. Thereon one of the prisoners
says, “Why do you pursue such wretched and trifling
spoil; you, to whom it is granted to become even now
most richly endowed by fortune? In three hours
you can reach Aduatuca; there the Roman army has deposited
all its fortunes; there is so little of a garrison
that not even the wall can be manned, nor dare any
one go beyond the fortifications.” A hope
having been presented them, the Germans leave in concealment
the plunder they had acquired; they themselves hasten
to Aduatuca, employing as their guide the same man
by whose information they had become informed of these
things.
XXXVI. Cicero, who during
all the foregoing days had kept his soldiers in camp
with the greatest exactness, and agreeably to the injunctions
of Caesar, had not permitted even any of the camp-followers
to go beyond the fortification, distrusting on the
seventh day that Caesar would keep his promise as
to the number of days, because he heard that he had
proceeded farther, and no report as to his return was
brought to him, and being urged at the same time by
the expressions of those who called his tolerance
almost a siege, if, forsooth, it was not permitted
them to go out of the camp, since he might expect
no disaster, whereby he could be injured, within three
miles of the camp, while nine legions and all the
cavalry were under arms, and the enemy scattered and
almost annihilated, sent five cohorts into the neighbouring
cornlands, between which and the camp only one hill
intervened, for the purpose of foraging. Many
soldiers of the legions had been left invalided in
the camp, of whom those who had recovered in this
space of time, being about 300, are set together under
one standard; a large number of soldiers’ attendants
besides, with a great number of beasts of burden, which
had remained in the camp, permission being granted,
follow them.
XXXVII. At this very time,
the German horse by chance come up, and immediately,
with the same speed with which they had advanced, attempt
to force the camp at the Decuman gate, nor were they
seen, in consequence of woods lying in the way on
that side, before they were just reaching the camp:
so much so, that the sutlers who had their booths
under the rampart had not an opportunity of retreating
within the camp. Our men, not anticipating it,
are perplexed by the sudden affair, and the cohort
on the outpost scarcely sustains the first attack.
The enemy spread themselves on the other sides to
ascertain if they could find any access. Our
men with difficulty defend the gates; the very position
of itself and the fortification secures the other accesses.
There is a panic in the entire camp, and one inquires
of another the cause of the confusion, nor do they
readily determine whither the standards should be
borne, nor into what quarter each should betake himself.
One avows that the camp is already taken, another maintains
that, the enemy having destroyed the army and commander-in-chief,
are come thither as conquerors; most form strange
superstitious fancies from the spot, and place before
their eyes the catastrophe of Cotta and Titurius,
who had fallen in the same fort. All being greatly
disconcerted by this alarm, the belief of the barbarians
is strengthened that there is no garrison within,
as they had heard from their prisoner. They endeavour
to force an entrance and encourage one another not
to cast from their hands so valuable a prize.
XXXVIII.-P. Sextius Baculus,
who had led a principal century under Caesar (of whom
we have made mention in previous engagements), had
been left an invalid in the garrison, and had now
been five days without food. He, distrusting
his own safety and that of all, goes forth from his
tent unarmed; he sees that the enemy are close at hand
and that the matter is in the utmost danger; he snatches
arms from those nearest, and stations himself at the
gate. The centurions of that cohort which
was on guard follow him; for a short time they sustain
the fight together. Sextius faints, after
receiving many wounds; he is with difficulty saved,
drawn away by the hands of the soldiers. This
space having intervened, the others resume courage,
so far as to venture to take their place on the fortifications
and present the aspect of defenders.
XXXIX. The foraging having
in the meantime been completed, our soldiers distinctly
hear the shout; the horse hasten on before and discover
in what danger the affair is. But here there
is no fortification to receive them, in their alarm:
those last enlisted and unskilled in military discipline
turn their faces to the military tribune and the centurions;
they wait to find what orders may be given by them.
No one is so courageous as not to be disconcerted
by the suddenness of the affair. The barbarians,
espying our standard in the distance, desist from the
attack; at first they suppose that the legions, which
they had learned from their prisoners had removed
farther off, had returned; afterwards, despising their
small number, they make an attack on them at all sides.
XL.-The camp-followers run forward
to the nearest rising ground; being speedily driven
from this they throw themselves among the standards
and companies: they thus so much the more alarm
the soldiers already affrighted. Some propose
that, forming a wedge, they suddenly break through,
since the camp was so near; and if any part should
be surrounded and slain, they fully trust that at
least the rest may be saved; others, that they take
their stand on an eminence, and all undergo the same
destiny. The veteran soldiers, whom we stated
to have set out together [with the others] under a
standard, do not approve of this. Therefore encouraging
each other, under the conduct of Caius Trebonius,
a Roman knight, who had been appointed over them, they
break through the midst of the enemy, and arrive in
the camp safe to a man. The camp-attendants and
the horse following close upon them with the same
impetuosity, are saved by the courage of the soldiers.
But those who had taken their stand upon the eminence
having even now acquired no experience of military
matters, neither could persevere in that resolution
which they approved of, namely, to defend themselves
from their higher position, nor imitate that vigour
and speed which they had observed to have availed
others; but, attempting to reach the camp, had descended
into an unfavourable situation. The Centurions,
some of whom had been promoted for their valour from
the lower ranks of other legions to higher ranks in
this legion, in order that they might not forfeit
their glory for military exploits previously acquired,
fell together fighting most valiantly. The enemy
having been dislodged by their valour, a part of the
soldiers arrived safe in camp contrary to their expectations;
a part perished, surrounded by the barbarians.
XLI. The Germans, despairing
of taking the camp by storm, because they saw that
our men had taken up their position on the fortifications,
retreated beyond the Rhine with that plunder which
they had deposited in the woods. And so great
was the alarm, even after the departure of the enemy,
that when C. Volusenus, who had been sent with the
cavalry, arrived that night, he could not gain credence
that. Caesar was close at hand with his army
safe. Fear had so pre-occupied the minds of all,
that, their reason being almost estranged, they said
that all the other forces having been cut off, the
cavalry alone had arrived there by flight, and asserted
that, if the army were safe, the Germans would not
have attacked the camp: which fear the arrival
of Caesar removed.
XLII. He, on his return,
being well aware of the casualties of war, complained
of one thing [only], namely, that the cohorts had been
sent away from the outposts and garrison [duty], and
pointed out that room ought not to have been left
for even the most trivial casualty; that fortune had
exercised great influence in the sudden arrival of
their enemy; much greater, in that she had turned
the barbarians away from the very rampart and gates
of the camp. Of all which events, it seemed the
most surprising that the Germans, who had crossed the
Rhine with this object, that they might plunder the
territories of Ambiorix, being led to the camp
of the Romans, rendered Ambiorix a most acceptable
service.
XLIII. Caesar, having again
marched to harass the enemy, after collecting a large
number [of auxiliaries] from the neighbouring states,
despatches them in all directions. All the villages
and all the buildings, which each beheld, were on
fire: spoil was being driven off from all parts;
the corn not only was being consumed by so great numbers
of cattle and men, but also had fallen to the earth,
owing to the time of the year and the storms; so that
if any had concealed themselves for the present, still,
it appeared likely that they must perish through want
of all things, when the army should be drawn off.
And frequently it came to that point, as so large
a body of cavalry had been sent abroad in all directions,
that the prisoners declared Ambiorix had just
then been seen by them in flight, and had not even
passed out of sight, so that the hope of overtaking
him being raised, and unbounded exertions having been
resorted to, those who thought they should acquire
the highest favour with Caesar, nearly overcame nature
by their ardour, and continually a little only seemed
wanting to complete success; but he rescued himself
by [means of] lurking-places and forests, and, concealed
by the night, made for other districts and quarters,
with no greater guard than that of four horsemen,
to whom alone he ventured to confide his life.
XLIV. Having devastated
the country in such a manner, Caesar leads back his
army with the loss of two cohorts to Durocortorum of
the Remi, and, having summoned a council of Gaul to
assemble at that place, he resolved to hold an investigation
respecting the conspiracy of the Senones and
Carnutes, and having pronounced a most severe
sentence upon Acco, who had been the contriver of
that plot, he punished him after the custom of our
ancestors. Some fearing a trial, fled; when he
had forbidden these fire and water, he stationed in
winter quarters two legions at the frontiers of the
Treviri, two among the Lingones, the remaining six
at Agendicum, in the territories of the Senones;
and, having provided corn for the army, he set out
for Italy, as he had determined, to hold the assizes.