Commentaries on the Gallic War
Book I
1 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. All these differ from each
other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from
the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. Of all
these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the
civilization and refinement of [our] Province, and merchants least frequently
resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind; and
they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they
are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest
of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily
battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves
wage war on their frontiers. One part of these, which it has been said that the
Gauls occupy, takes its beginning at the river Rhone; it is bounded by the
river Garonne, the ocean, and the territories of the Belgae; it borders, too,
on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, upon the river Rhine, and
stretches toward the north. The Belgae rises from the extreme frontier of Gaul,
extend to the lower part of the river Rhine; and look toward the north and the
rising sun. Aquitania extends from the river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains
and to that part of the ocean which is near Spain: it looks between the setting
of the sun, and the north star.
2
Among the Helvetii, Orgetorix was by far the most distinguished and wealthy.
He, when Marcus Messala and Marcus Piso were consuls [61 B.C.], incited by lust
of sovereignty, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, and persuaded the
people to go forth from their territories with all their possessions, [saying]
that it would be very easy, since they excelled all in valor, to acquire the
supremacy of the whole of Gaul. To this he the more easily persuaded them,
because the Helvetii, are confined on every side by the nature of their
situation; on one side by the Rhine, a very broad and deep river, which
separates the Helvetian territory from the Germans; on a second side by the
Jura, a very high mountain, which is [situated] between the Sequani and the
Helvetii; on a third by the Lake of Geneva, and by the river Rhone, which
separates our Province from the Helvetii. From these circumstances it resulted,
that they could range less widely, and could less easily make war upon their
neighbors; for which reason men fond of war [as they were] were affected with
great regret. They thought, that considering the extent of their population,
and their renown for warfare and bravery, they had but narrow limits, although
they extended in length 240, and in breadth 180 [Roman] miles.
3
Induced by these considerations, and influenced by the authority of Orgetorix,
they determined to provide such things as were necessary for their
expedition-to buy up as great a number as possible of beasts of burden and
wagons-to make their sowings as large as possible, so that on their march
plenty of corn might be in store-and to establish peace and friendship with the
neighboring states. They reckoned that a term of two years would be sufficient
for them to execute their designs; they fix by decree their departure for the
third year. Orgetorix is chosen to complete these arrangements. He took upon
himself the office of embassador to the states: on this journey he persuades
Casticus, the son of Catamantaledes (one of the Sequani, whose father had
possessed the sovereignty among the people for many years, and had been styled
“friend” by the senate of the Roman people), to seize upon the
sovereignty in his own state, which his father had held before him, and he
likewise persuades Dumnorix, an Aeduan, the brother of Divitiacus, who at that
time possessed the chief authority in the state, and was exceedingly beloved by
the people, to attempt the same, and gives him his daughter in marriage. He proves
to them that to accomplish their attempts was a thing very easy to be done,
because he himself would obtain the government of his own state; that there was
no doubt that the Helvetii were the most powerful of the whole of Gaul; he
assures them that he will, with his own forces and his own army, acquire the
sovereignty for them. Incited by this speech, they give a pledge and oath to
one another, and hope that, when they have seized the sovereignty, they will,
by means of the three most powerful and valiant nations, be enabled to obtain
possession of the whole of Gaul.
4
When this scheme was disclosed to the Helvetii by informers, they, according to
their custom, compelled Orgetorix to plead his cause in chains; it was the law
that the penalty of being burned by fire should await him if condemned. On the
day appointed for the pleading of his cause, Orgetorix drew together from all
quarters to the court, all his vassals to the number of ten thousand persons;
and led together to the same place all his dependents and debtor-bondsmen, of
whom he had a great number; by means of those he rescued himself from [the
necessity of] pleading his cause. While the state, incensed at this act, was
endeavoring to assert its right by arms, and the magistrates were mustering a
large body of men from the country, Orgetorix died; and there is not wanting a
suspicion, as the Helvetii think, of his having committed suicide.
5
After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempt to do that which they had
resolved on, namely, to go forth from their territories. When they thought that
they were at length prepared for this undertaking, they set fire to all their
towns, in number about twelve-to their villages about four hundred-and to the
private dwellings that remained; they burn up all the corn, except what they
intend to carry with them; that after destroying the hope of a return home,
they might be the more ready for undergoing all dangers. They order every one
to carry forth from home for himself provisions for three months, ready ground.
They persuade the Rauraci, and the Tulingi, and the Latobrigi, their neighbors,
to adopt the same plan, and after burning down their towns and villages, to set
out with them: and they admit to their party and unite to themselves as
confederates the Boii, who had dwelt on the other side of the Rhine, and had
crossed over into the Norican territory, and assaulted Noreia.
6
There were in all two routes, by which they could go forth from their country
one through the Sequani narrow and difficult, between Mount Jura and the river
Rhone (by which scarcely one wagon at a time could be led; there was, moreover,
a very high mountain overhanging, so that a very few might easily intercept
them; the other, through our Province, much easier and freer from obstacles,
because the Rhone flows between the boundaries of the Helvetii and those of the
Allobroges, who had lately been subdued, and is in some places crossed by a
ford. The furthest town of the Allobroges, and the nearest to the territories
of the Helvetii, is Geneva. From this town a bridge extends to the Helvetii.
They thought that they should either persuade the Allobroges, because they did
not seem as yet well-affected toward the Roman people, or compel them by force
to allow them to pass through their territories. Having provided every thing
for the expedition, they appoint a day, on which they should all meet on the
bank of the Rhone. This day was the fifth before the kalends of April [i.e.,
the 28th of March], in the consulship of Lucius Piso and Aulus Gabinius [B.C.
58.]
7
When it was reported to Caesar that they were attempting to make their route
through our Province he hastens to set out from the city, and, by as great
marches as he can, proceeds to Further Gaul, and arrives at Geneva. He orders
the whole Province [to furnish] as great a number of soldiers as possible, as
there was in all only one legion in Further Gaul: he orders the bridge at
Geneva to be broken down. When the Helvetii are apprized of his arrival they
send to him, as embassadors, the most illustrious men of their state (in which
embassy Numeius and Verudoctius held the chief place), to say “that it was
their intention to march through the Province without doing any harm, because
they had” [according to their own representations,] “no other route: that they
requested, they might be allowed to do so with his consent.” Caesar, inasmuch
as he kept in remembrance that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had been slain, and
his army routed and made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii, did not think
that [their request] ought to be granted: nor was he of opinion that men of
hostile disposition, if an opportunity of marching through the Province were
given them, would abstain from outrage and mischief. Yet, in order that a
period might intervene, until the soldiers whom he had ordered [to be
furnished] should assemble, he replied to the ambassadors, that he would take
time to deliberate; if they wanted any thing, they might return on the day
before the ides of April [on April 12th].
8
Meanwhile, with the legion which he had with him and the soldiers which had
assembled from the Province, he carries along for nineteen [Roman, not quite
eighteen English] miles a wall, to the height of sixteen feet, and a trench,
from the Lake of Geneva, which flows into the river Rhone, to Mount Jura, which
separates the territories of the Sequani from those of the Helvetii. When that
work was finished, he distributes garrisons, and closely fortifies redoubts, in
order that he may the more easily intercept them, if they should attempt to
cross over against his will. When the day which he had appointed with the
embassadors came, and they returned to him; he says, that he can not,
consistently with the custom and precedent of the Roman people, grant any one a
passage through the Province; and he gives them to understand, that, if they
should attempt to use violence he would oppose them. The Helvetii, disappointed
in this hope, tried if they could force a passage (some by means of a bridge of
boats and numerous rafts constructed for the purpose; others, by the fords of
the Rhone, where the depth of the river was least, sometimes by day, but more
frequently by night), but being kept at bay by the strength of our works, and
by the concourse of the soldiers, and by the missiles, they desisted from this
attempt.
9
There was left one way, [namely] through the Sequani, by which, on account of
its narrowness, they could not pass without the consent of the Sequani. As they
could not of themselves prevail on them, they send embassadors to Dumnorix the Aeduan,
that through his intercession, they might obtain their request from the
Sequani. Dumnorix, by his popularity and liberality, had great influence among
the Sequani, and was friendly to the Helvetii, because out of that state he had
married the daughter of Orgetorix; and, incited by lust of sovereignty, was
anxious for a revolution, and wished to have as many states as possible
attached to him by his kindness toward them. He, therefore, undertakes the
affair, and prevails upon the Sequani to allow the Helvetii to march through
their territories, and arranges that they should give hostages to each
other-the Sequani not to obstruct the Helvetii in their march-the Helvetii, to
pass without mischief and outrage.
10
It is again told Caesar, that the Helvetii intended to march through the
country of the Sequani and the Aedui into the territories of the Santones,
which are not far distant from those boundaries of the Tolosates, which [viz.
Tolosa, Toulouse] is a state in the Province. If this took place, he saw that
it would be attended with great danger to the Province to have warlike men,
enemies of the Roman people, bordering upon an open and very fertile tract of
country. For these reasons he appointed Titus Labienus, his lieutenant, to the
command of the fortification which he had made. He himself proceeds to Italy by
forced marches, and there levies two legions, and leads out from
winter-quarters three which were wintering around Aquileia, and with these five
legions marches rapidly by the nearest route across the Alps into Further Gaul.
Here the Centrones and the Graioceli and the Caturiges, having taken possession
of the higher parts, attempt to obstruct the army in their march. After having
routed these in several battles, he arrives in the territories of the Vocontii
in the Further Province on the seventh day from Ocelum, which is the most
remote town of the Hither Province; thence he leads his army into the country
of the Allobroges, and from the Allobroges to the Segusiani. These people are
the first beyond the Province on the opposite side of the Rhone.
11
The Helvetii had by this time led their forces over through the narrow defile
and the territories of the Sequani, and had arrived at the territories of the
Aedui, and were ravaging their lands. The Aedui, as they could not defend
themselves and their possessions against them, send embassadors to Caesar to
ask assistance, [pleading] that they had at all times so well deserved of the
Roman people, that their fields ought not to have been laid waste-their
children carried off into slavery-their towns stormed, almost within sight of
our army. At the same time the Ambarri, the friends and kinsmen of the Aedui,
apprize Caesar, that it was not easy for them, now that their fields had been
devastated, to ward off the violence of the enemy from their towns: the
Allobroges likewise, who had villages and possessions on the other side of the
Rhone, betake themselves in flight to Caesar, and assure him that they had
nothing remaining, except the soil of their land. Caesar, induced by these
circumstances, decides, that he ought not to wait until the Helvetii, after
destroying all the property of his allies, should arrive among the Santones.
12
There is a river [called] the Saone, which flows through the territories of the
Aedui and Sequani into the Rhone with such incredible slowness, that it can not
be determined by the eye in which direction it flows. This the Helvetii were
crossing by rafts and boats joined together. When Caesar was informed by spies
that the Helvetii had already conveyed three parts of their forces across that
river, but that the fourth part was left behind on this side of the Saone, he
set out from the camp with three legions during the third watch, and came up
with that division which had not yet crossed the river. Attacking them
encumbered with baggage, and not expecting him, he cut to pieces a great part
of them; the rest betook themselves to flight, and concealed themselves in the
nearest woods. That canton [which was cut down] was called the Tigurine; for
the whole Helvetian state is divided into four cantons. This single canton
having left their country, within the recollection of our fathers, had slain
Lucius Cassius the consul, and had made his army pass under the yoke. Thus,
whether by chance, or by the design of the immortal gods, that part of the
Helvetian state which had brought a signal calamity upon the Roman people, was
the first to pay the penalty. In this Caesar avenged not only the public but
also his own personal wrongs, because the Tigurini had slain Lucius Piso the
lieutenant [of Cassius], the grandfather of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, his
[Caesar’s] father-in-law, in the same battle as Cassius himself.
13
This battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the remaining forces
of the Helvetii, he procures a bridge to be made across the Saone, and thus
leads his army over. The Helvetii, confused by his sudden arrival, when they
found that he had effected in one day, what they, themselves had with the
utmost difficulty accomplished in twenty namely, the crossing of the river,
send embassadors to him; at the head of which embassy was Divico, who had been
commander of the Helvetii, in the war against Cassius. He thus treats with
Caesar:—that, “if the Roman people would make peace with the Helvetii they
would go to that part and there remain, where Caesar might appoint and desire them
to be; but if he should persist in persecuting them with war that he ought to
remember both the ancient disgrace of the Roman people and the characteristic
valor of the Helvetii. As to his having attacked one canton by surprise, [at a
time] when those who had crossed the river could not bring assistance to their
friends, that he ought not on that account to ascribe very much to his own
valor, or despise them; that they had so learned from their sires and
ancestors, as to rely more on valor than on artifice and stratagem. Wherefore
let him not bring it to pass that the place, where they were standing, should
acquire a name, from the disaster of the Roman people and the destruction of
their army or transmit the remembrance [of such an event to posterity].”
14
To these words Caesar thus replied:—that “on that very account he felt less
hesitation, because he kept in remembrance those circumstances which the
Helvetian embassadors had mentioned, and that he felt the more indignant at
them, in proportion as they had happened undeservedly to the Roman people: for
if they had been conscious of having done any wrong, it would not have been
difficult to be on their guard, but for that very reason had they been
deceived, because neither were they aware that any offense had been given by
them, on account of which they should be afraid, nor did they think that they
ought to be afraid without cause. But even if he were willing to forget their
former outrage, could he also lay aside the remembrance of the late wrongs, in
that they had against his will attempted a route through the Province by force,
in that they had molested the Aedui, the Ambarri, and the Allobroges? That as
to their so insolently boasting of their victory, and as to their being
astonished that they had so long committed their outrages with impunity, [both
these things] tended to the same point; for the immortal gods are wont to allow
those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater
prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely
from a reverse of circumstances. Although these things are so, yet, if hostages
were to be given him by them in order that he may be assured these will do what
they promise, and provided they will give satisfaction to the Aedui for the
outrages which they had committed against them and their allies, and likewise
to the Allobroges, he [Caesar] will make peace with them.” Divico replied, that
“the Helvetii had been so trained by their ancestors, that they were accustomed
to receive, not to give hostages; of that fact the Roman people were witness.”
Having given this reply, he withdrew.
15
On the following day they move their camp from that place; Caesar does the
same, and sends forward all his cavalry, to the number of four thousand (which
he had drawn together from all parts of the Province and from the Aedui and
their allies), to observe toward what parts the enemy are directing their
march. These, having too eagerly pursued the enemy’s rear, come to a battle
with the cavalry of the Helvetii in a disadvantageous place, and a few of our
men fall. The Helvetii, elated with this battle, because they had with five
hundred horse repulsed so large a body of horse, began to face us more boldly,
sometimes too from their rear to provoke our men by an attack. Caesar [however]
restrained his men from battle, deeming it sufficient for the present to
prevent the enemy from rapine, forage, and depredation. They marched for about
fifteen days in such a manner that there was not more than five or six miles
between the enemy’s rear and our van.
16
Meanwhile, Caesar kept daily importuning the Aedui for the corn which they had
promised in the name of their state; for, in consequence of the coldness (Gaul,
being as before said, situated toward the north), not only was the corn in the
fields not ripe, but there was not in store a sufficiently large quantity even
of fodder: besides he was unable to use the corn which he had conveyed in ships
up the river Saone, because the Helvetii, from whom he was unwilling to retire
had diverted their march from the Saone. The Aedui kept deferring from day to
day, and saying that it was being collected—brought in—on the road.” When he
saw that he was put off too long, and that the day was close at hand on which
he ought to serve out the corn to his soldiers, having called together their
chiefs, of whom he had a great number in his camp, among them Divitiacus and
Liscus who was invested with the chief magistracy (whom the Aedui style the
Vergobretus, and who is elected annually and has power of life or death over
his countrymen), he severely reprimands them, because he is not assisted by
them on so urgent an occasion, when the enemy were so close at hand, and when
[corn] could neither be bought nor taken from the fields, particularly as, in a
great measure urged by their prayers, he had undertaken the war; much more
bitterly, therefore does he complain of his being forsaken.
17
Then at length Liscus, moved by Caesar’s speech, discloses what he had hitherto
kept secret:—that “there are some whose influences with the people is very
great, who, though private men, have more power than the magistrates
themselves: that these by seditions and violent language are deterring the
populace from contributing the corn which they ought to supply; [by telling
them] that, if they can not any longer retain the supremacy of Gaul, it were
better to submit to the government of Gauls than of Romans, nor ought they to
doubt that, if the Romans should overpower the Helvetii, they would wrest their
freedom from the Aedui together with the remainder of Gaul. By these very men,
[said he], are our plans and whatever is done in the camp, disclosed to the
enemy; that they could not be restrained by him: nay more, he was well
aware, that though compelled by necessity, he had disclosed the matter to
Caesar, at how great a risk he had done it; and for that reason, he had been
silent as long as he could.”
18
Caesar perceived that by this speech of Liscus, Dumnorix, the brother of
Divitiacus, was indicated; but, as he was unwilling that these matters should
be discussed while so many were present, he speedily dismisses: the council,
but detains Liscus: he inquires from him when alone, about those things which
he had said in the meeting. He [Liscus] speaks more unreservedly and boldly. He
[Caesar] makes inquiries on the same points privately of others, and discovered
that it is all true; that “Dumnorix is the person, a man of the highest daring,
in great favor with the people on account of his liberality, a man eager for a
revolution: that for a great many years he has been in the habit of contracting
for the customs and all the other taxes of the Aedui at a small cost, because
when he bids, no one dares to bid against him. By these means he has both
increased his own private property, and amassed great means for giving
largesses; that he maintains constantly at his own expense and keeps about his
own person a great number of cavalry, and that not only at home, but even among
the neighboring states, he has great influence, and for the sake of
strengthening this influence has given his mother in marriage among the
Bituriges to a man the most noble and most influential there; that he has
himself taken a wife from among the Helvetii, and has given his sister by the
mother’s side and his female relations in marriage into other states; that he
favors and wishes well to the Helvetii on account of this connection; and that
he hates Caesar and the Romans, on his own account, because by their arrival
his power was weakened, and his brother, Divitiacus, restored to his former position
of influence and dignity: that, if any thing should happen to the Romans, he
entertains the highest hope of gaining the sovereignty by means of the
Helvetii, but that under the government of the Roman people he despairs not
only of royalty, but even of that influence which he already has.” Caesar
discovered too, on inquiring into the unsuccessful cavalry engagement which had
taken place a few days before, that the commencement of that flight had been
made by Dumnorix and his cavalry (for Dumnorix was in command of the cavalry
which the Aedui had sent for aid to Caesar); that by their flight the rest of
the cavalry were dismayed.
19
After learning these circumstances, since to these suspicions the most
unequivocal facts were added, viz., that he had led the Helvetii through the
territories of the Sequani; that he had provided that hostages should be
mutually given; that he had done all these things, not only without any orders
of his [Caesar’s] and of his own state’s, but even without their [the Aedui]
knowing any thing of it themselves; that he [Dumnorix] was reprimanded: by the
[chief] magistrate of the Aedui; he [Caesar] considered that there was
sufficient reason, why he should either punish him himself, or order the state
to do so. One thing [however] stood in the way of all this—that he had learned
by experience his brother Divitiacus’s very high regard for the Roman people,
his great affection toward him, his distinguished faithfulness, justice, and
moderation; for he was afraid lest by the punishment of this man, he should
hurt the feelings of Divitiacus. Therefore, before he attempted any thing, he
orders Divitiacus to be summoned to him, and, when the ordinary interpreters
had been withdrawn, converses with him through Caius Valerius Procillus, chief
of the province of Gaul, an intimate friend of his, in whom he reposed the
highest confidence in every thing; at the same time he reminds him of what was
said about Dumnorix in the council of the Gauls, when he himself was present,
and shows what each had said of him privately in his [Caesar’s] own presence;
he begs and exhorts him, that, without offense to his feelings, he may either
himself pass judgment on him [Dumnorix] after trying the case, or else order the
[Aeduan] state to do so.
20
Divitiacus, embracing Caesar, begins to implore him, with many tears, that “he
would not pass any very severe sentence upon his brother; saying, that he knows
that those charges are true, and that nobody suffered more pain on that account
than he himself did; for when he himself could effect a very great deal by his
influence at home and in the rest of Gaul, and he [Dumnorix] very little on
account of his youth, the latter had become powerful through his means, which
power and strength he used not only to the lessening of his [Divitiacus]
popularity, but almost to his ruin; that he, however, was influenced both by
fraternal affection and by public opinion. But if any thing very severe from Caesar
should befall him [Dumnorix], no one would think that it had been done without
his consent, since he himself held such a place in Caesar’s friendship: from
which circumstance it would arise, that the affections of the whole of Gaul
would be estranged from him.” As he was with tears begging these things of
Caesar in many words, Caesar takes his right hand, and, comforting him, begs
him to make an end of entreating, and assures him that his regard for him is so
great, that he forgives both the injuries of the republic and his private
wrongs, at his desire and prayers. He summons Dumnorix to him; he brings in his
brother; he points out what he censures in him; he lays before him what he of
himself perceives, and what the state complains of; he warns him for the future
to avoid all grounds of suspicion; he says that he pardons the past, for the
sake of his brother, Divitiacus. He sets spies over Dumnorix that he may be
able to know what he does, and with whom he communicates.
21
Being on the same day informed by his scouts, that the enemy had encamped at
the foot of a mountain eight miles from his own camp; he sent persons to
ascertain what the nature of the mountain was, and of what kind the ascent on
every side. Word was brought back, that it was easy. During the third watch he
orders Titus Labienus, his lieutenant with praetorian powers, to ascend to the
highest ridge of the mountain with two legions, and with those as guides who
had examined the road; he explains what his plan is. He himself during the
fourth watch, hastens to them by the same route by which the enemy had gone,
and sends on all the cavalry before him. Publius Considius, who was reputed to
be very experienced in military affairs, and had been in the army of Lucius
Sulla, and afterward in that of Marcus Crassus, is sent forward with the
scouts.
22
At day-break, when the summit of the mountain was in the possession of Titus
Labienus, and he himself was not further off than a mile and half from the
enemy’s camp, nor, as he afterward ascertained from the captives, had either
his arrival or that of Labienus been discovered; Considius, with his horse at
full gallop, comes up to him says that the mountain which he [Caesar] wished
should be seized by Labienus, is in possession of the enemy; that he has
discovered this by the Gallic arms and ensigns. Caesar leads off his forces to
the next hill, [and] draws them up in battle-order. Labienus, as he had been
ordered by Caesar not to come to an engagement unless [Caesar’s] own forces
were seen near the enemy’s camp, that the attack upon the enemy might be made
on every side at the same time, was, after having taken possession of the
mountain, waiting for our men, and refraining from battle. When, at length, the
day was far advanced, Caesar learned through spies, that the mountain was in
possession of his own men, and that the Helvetii had moved their camp, and that
Considius, struck with fear, had reported to him, as seen, that which he had
not seen. On that day he follows the enemy at his usual distance, and pitches
his camp three miles from theirs.
23
The next day (as there remained in all only two day’s space [to the time] when
he must serve out the corn to his army, and as he was not more than eighteen
miles from Bibracte, by far the largest and best-stored town of the Aedui), he
thought that he ought to provide for a supply of corn; and diverted his march
from the Helvetii, and advanced rapidly to Bibracte. This circumstance is
reported to the enemy by some deserters from Lucius Aemilius, a captain, of the
Gallic horse. The Helvetii, either because they thought that the Romans, struck
with terror, were retreating from them, the more so, as the day before, though
they had seized on the higher grounds, they had not joined battle or because
they flattered themselves that they might be cut of from the provisions,
altering their plan and changing their route, began to pursue, and to annoy our
men in the rear.
24
Caesar, when he observes this, draws off his forces to the next hill, and sent
the cavalry to sustain the attack of the enemy. He himself, meanwhile, drew up
on the middle of the hill a triple line of his four veteran legions in such a
manner, that he placed above him on the very summit the two legions, which he
had lately levied in Hither Gaul, and all the auxiliaries; and he ordered that
the whole mountain should be covered with men, and that meanwhile the baggage
should be brought together into one place, and the position be protected by
those who were posted in the upper line. The Helvetii having followed with all
their wagons, collected their baggage into one place: they themselves, after having
repulsed our cavalry and formed a phalanx, advanced up to our front line in
very close order.
25
Caesar, having removed out of sight first his own horse, then those of all,
that he might make the danger of a11 equal, and do away with the hope of
flight, after encouraging his men, joined battle. His soldiers hurling their
javelins from the higher ground, easily broke the enemy’s phalanx. That being
dispersed, they made a charge on them with drawn swords. It was a great
hindrance to the Gauls in fighting, that, when several of their bucklers had
been by one stroke of the (Roman) javelins pierced through and pinned fast
together, as the point of the iron had bent itself, they could neither pluck it
out, nor, with their left hand entangled, fight with sufficient ease; so that
many, after having long tossed their arm about, chose rather to cast away the
buckler from their hand, and to fight with their person unprotected. At length,
worn out with wounds, they began to give way, and, as there was in the
neighborhood a mountain about a mile off, to betake themselves thither. When
the mountain had been gained, and our men were advancing up, the Boii and
Tulingi, who with about 15,000 men closed the enemy’s line of march and served
as a guard to their rear, having assailed our men on the exposed flank as they
advanced [prepared] to surround them; upon seeing which, the Helvetii who had
betaken themselves to the mountain, began to press on again and renew the
battle. The Romans having faced about, advanced to the attack in two divisions;
the first and second line, to withstand those who had been defeated and driven
off the field; the third to receive those who were just arriving.
26
Thus, was the contest long and vigorously carried on with doubtful success.
When they could no longer withstand the attacks of our men, the one division,
as they had begun to do, betook themselves to the mountain; the other repaired
to their baggage and wagons. For during the whole of this battle, although the
fight lasted from the seventh hour [i.e. 12 (noon) 1 P.M.] to eventide,
no one could see an enemy with his back turned. The fight was carried on also
at the baggage till late in the night, for they had set wagons in the way as a
rampart, and from the higher ground kept throwing weapons upon our men, as they
came on, and some from between the wagons and the wheels kept darting their
lances and javelins from beneath, and wounding our men. After the fight had lasted
some time, our men gained possession of their baggage and camp. There the
daughter and one of the sons of Orgetorix was taken. After the battle about
130,000 men [of the enemy] remained alive, who marched incessantly during the
whole of that night; and after a march discontinued for no part of the night,
arrived in the territories of the Lingones on the fourth day, while our men,
having stopped for three days, both on account of the wounds of the soldiers
and the burial of the slain, had not been able to follow them. Caesar sent
letters and messengers to the Lingones [with orders] that they should not
assist them with corn or with any thing else; for that if they should assist
them, he would regard them in the same light as the Helvetii. After the three days’
interval he began to follow them himself with all his forces.
27
The Helvetii, compelled by the want of every thing, sent embassadors to him
about a surrender. When these had met him on the way and had thrown themselves
at his feet, and speaking in suppliant tone had with tears sued for peace, and
[when] he had ordered them to await his arrival, in the place, where they then
were, they obeyed his commands. When Caesar arrived at that place, he demanded
hostages, their arms, and the slaves who had deserted to them. While those
things are being sought for and got together, after a night’s interval, about
6000 men of that canton which is called the Verbigene, whether terrified by
fear, lest after delivering up their arms, they should suffer punishment, or
else induced by the hope of safety, because they supposed that, amid so vast a
multitude of those who had surrendered themselves, their flight might
either be concealed or entirely overlooked, having at night-fall departed out
of the camp of the Helvetii, hastened to the Rhine and the territories of the
Germans.
28
But when Caesar discovered this, he commanded those through whose territory
they had gone, to seek them out and to bring them back again, if they meant to
be acquitted before him; and considered them, when brought back, in the light
of enemies; he admitted all the rest to a surrender, upon their delivering up
the hostages, arms, and deserters. He ordered the Helvetii, the Tulingi, and
the Latobrigi, to return to their territories from which they had come, and as
there was at home nothing whereby they might support their hunger, all the
productions of the earth having been destroyed, he commanded the Allobroges to
let them have a plentiful supply of corn; and ordered them to rebuild the towns
and villages which they had burned. This he did, chiefly, on this account,
because he was unwilling that the country, from which the Helvetii had
departed, should be untenanted, lest the Germans, who dwell on the other side
of the Rhine, should, on account of the excellence of the lands, cross over
from their own territories into those of the Helvetii, and become borderers
upon the province of Gaul and the Allobroges. He granted the petition of the
Aedui, that they might settle the Boii, in their own (i.e. in the
Aeduan) territories, as these were known to be of distinguished valor, to whom
they gave lands, and whom they afterward admitted to the same state of rights
and freedom as themselves.
29
In the camp of the Helvetii, lists were found, drawn up in Greek characters,
and were brought to Caesar, in which an estimate had been drawn up, name by
name, of the number which had gone forth from their country of those who were
able to bear arms; and likewise the boys, the old men, and the women,
separately. Of all which items the total was:—
Out of these, such as could bear
arms, [amounted] to about 92,000. When the census of those who returned home was
taken, as Caesar had commanded, the number was found to be 110,000.
30
When the war with the Helvetii was concluded, embassadors from almost all parts
of Gaul, the chiefs of states, assembled to congratulate Caesar, [saying] that
they were well aware, that, although he had taken vengeance on the Helvetii in
war, for the old wrong done by them to the Roman people, yet that circumstance
had happened no less to the benefit of the land of Gaul than of the Roman people,
because the Helvetii, while their affairs were most flourishing, had quitted
their country with the design of making war upon the whole of Gaul, and seizing
the government of it, and selecting, out of a great abundance, that spot for an
abode, which they should judge to be the most convenient and most productive of
all Gaul, and hold the rest of the states as tributaries. They requested that
they might be allowed to proclaim an assembly of the whole of Gaul for a
particular day, and to do that with Caesar’s permission, [stating] that they
had some things which, with the general consent, they wished to ask of him.
This request having been granted, they appointed a day for the assembly, and
ordained by an oath with each other, that no one should disclose [their
deliberations] except those to whom this [office] should be assigned by the
general assembly.
31
When that assembly was dismissed, the same chiefs of states, who had before
been to Caesar, returned, and asked that they might be allowed to treat with
him privately (in secret) concerning the safety of themselves and of all. That
request having been obtained, they all threw themselves in tears at Caesar’s
feet, [saying] that they no less begged and earnestly desired that what they
might say should not be disclosed, than that they might obtain those things
which they wished for; inasmuch as they saw, that, if a disclosure was made,
they should be put to the greatest tortures. For these Divitiacus the Aeduan
spoke and told him:—“That there were two parties in the whole of Gaul: that the
Aedui stood at the head of one of these, the Arverni of the other. After these
had been violently struggling with one another for the superiority for many
years, it came to pass that the Germans were called in for hire by the Arverni
and the Sequani. That about 15,000 of them [i.e. of the Germans] had at
first crossed the Rhine : but after that these wild and savage men had become
enamored of the lands and the refinement and the abundance of the Gauls, more
were brought over, that there were now as many as 120,000 of them in Gaul: that
with these the Aedui and their dependents had repeatedly struggled in arms;
that they had been routed, and had sustained a great calamity,—had lost all their
nobility, all their senate, all their cavalry. And that broken by such
engagements and calamities, although they had formerly been very powerful in
Gaul, both from their own valor and from the Roman people’s hospitality and
friendship, they were now compelled to give the chief nobles of their state, as
hostages to the Sequani, and to bind their state by an oath, that they would
neither demand hostages in return, nor supplicate aid from the Roman people,
nor refuse to be forever under their sway and empire. That he was the only one
out of all the state of the Aedui, who could not be prevailed upon to take the
oath or to give his children as hostages. On that account he had fled from his
state and had gone to the senate at Rome to beseech aid, as he alone was bound
neither by oath nor hostages. But a worse thing had befallen the victorious
Sequani than the vanquished Aedui, for Ariovistus the king of the Germans, had
settled in their territories, and had seized upon a third of their land, which
was the best in the whole of Gaul, and was now ordering them to depart from
another third part, because a few months previously 24,000 men of the Harudes
had come to him, for whom room and settlements must be provided. The
consequence would be, that in a few years they would all be driven from the
territories of Gaul, and all the Germans would cross the Rhine; for neither
must the land of Gaul be compared with the land of the Germans, nor must the
habit of living of the latter be put on a level with that of the former. Moreover,
[as for] Ariovistus, no sooner did he defeat the forces of the Gauls in a
battle which took place at Magetobria, than [he began] to lord it haughtily and
cruelly, to demand as hostages the children of all the principal nobles, and
wreak on them every kind of cruelty, if every thing was not done at his nod or
pleasure; that he was a savage, passionate, and reckless man, and that his
commands could no longer be borne. Unless there was some aid in Caesar and the
Roman people, the Gauls must all do the same thing that the Helvetii have done,
[viz.] emigrate from their country, and seek another dwelling place, other
settlements remote from the Germans, and try whatever fortune may fall to their
lot. If these things were to be disclosed to Ariovistus, [Divitiacus adds] that
he doubts not that he would inflict the most severe punishment on all the
hostages who are in his possession, [and says] that Caesar could, either by his
own influence and by that of his army, or by his late victory, or by name of
the Roman people, intimidate him, so as to prevent a greater number of Germans
being brought over the Rhine, and could protect all Gaul from the outrages of
Ariovistus.”
32
When this speech had been delivered by Divitiacus, all who were present began
with loud lamentation to entreat assistance of Caesar. Caesar noticed that the
Sequani were the only people of all who did none of those things which the
others did, but, with their heads bowed down, gazed on the earth in sadness.
Wondering what was the reason of this conduct, he inquired of themselves. No
reply did the Sequani make, but silently continued in the same sadness. When he
had repeatedly inquired of them and could not elicit any answer at all, the
same Divitiacus the Aeduan answered, that—“the lot of the Sequani was more
wretched and grievous than that of the rest, on this account, because they
alone durst not even in secret complain or supplicate aid; and shuddered at the
cruelty of Ariovistus [even when] absent, just as if he were present; for, to
the rest, despite of every thing there was an opportunity of flight given; but
all tortures must be endured by the Sequani, who had admitted Ariovistus within
their territories, and whose towns were all in his power.”
33
Caesar, on being informed of these things, cheered the minds of the Gauls with
his words, and promised that this affair should be an object of his concern,
[saying] that he had great hopes that Ariovistus, induced both by his kindness
and his power, would put an end to his oppression. After delivering this
speech, he dismissed the assembly; and, besides those statements, many
circumstances induced him to think that this affair ought to be considered and
taken up by him; especially as he saw that the Aedui, styled [as they had been]
repeatedly by the senate “brethren” and “kinsmen,” were held in the thraldom
and dominion of the Germans, and understood that their hostages were with
Ariovistus and the Sequani, which in so mighty an empire [as that] of the Roman
people he considered very disgraceful to himself and the republic. That,
moreover, the Germans should by degrees become accustomed to cross the Rhine,
and that a great body of them should come into Gaul, he saw [would be]
dangerous to the Roman people, and judged, that wild and savage men would not
be likely to restrain themselves, after they had possessed themselves of all
Gaul, from going forth into the province and thence marching into Italy (as the
Cimbri and Teutones had done before them), particularly as the Rhone [was the
sole barrier that] separated the Sequani from our province. Against which
events he thought he ought to provide as speedily as possible. Moreover,
Ariovistus, for his part, had assumed to himself such pride and arrogance, that
he was felt to be quite insufferable.
34
He therefore determined to send embassadors to Ariovistus to demand of him to
name some intermediate spot for a conference between the two, [saying] that he
wished to treat him on state-business and matters of the highest importance to
both of them. To this embassy Ariovistus replied, that if he himself had had
need of any thing from Caesar, he would have gone to him; and that if Caesar
wanted any thing from him he ought to come to him. That, besides, neither dare
he go without an army into those parts of Gaul which Caesar had possession of,
nor could he, without great expense and trouble, draw his army together to one
place; that to him, moreover, it appeared strange, what business either Caesar
or the Roman people at all had in his own Gaul, which he had conquered in war.
35
When these answers were reported to Caesar, he sends embassadors to him a
second time with this message: “Since, after having been treated with so much
kindness by himself and the Roman people (as he had in his consulship been
styled ‘king and friend’ by the senate [59 B.C.]), he makes this recompense to
[Caesar] himself and the Roman people, [viz.] that when invited to a conference
he demurs, and does not think that it concerns him to advise and inform himself
about an object of mutual interest, these are the things which he requires of
him; first, that he do not any more bring over any body of men across the Rhine
into Gaul; in the next place, that he restore the hostages, which he has from
the Aedui, and grant the Sequani permission to restore to them with his consent
those hostages which they have, and that he neither provoke the Aedui by
outrage nor make war upon them or their allies; if he would accordingly do
this,” [Caesar says] that “he himself and the Roman people will entertain a
perpetual feeling of favor and friendship toward him; but that if he [Caesar]
does not obtain [his desires] that he (forasmuch as in the consulship of Marcus
Messala and Marcus Piso [61 B.C.] the senate had decreed that, whoever should
have the administration of the province of Gaul should, as far as he could do
so consistently with the interests of the republic, protect the Aedui and the
other friends of the Roman people), will not overlook the wrongs of the Aedui.”
36
To this Ariovistus replied, that “the right of war was, that they who had
conquered should govern those whom they had conquered, in what manner they
pleased; that in that way the Roman people were wont to govern the nations
which they had conquered, not according to the dictation of any other, but
according to their own discretion. If he for his part did not dictate to the
Roman people as to the manner in which they were to exercise their right, he
ought not to be obstructed by the Roman people in his right; that the Aedui,
inasmuch as they had tried the fortune of war and had engaged in arms and been conquered,
had become tributaries to him; that Caesar was doing a great injustice, in that
by his arrival he was making his revenues less valuable to him; that he should
not restore their hostages to the Aedui, but should not make war wrongfully
either upon them or their allies, if they abided by that which had been agreed
on, and paid their tribute annually: if they did not continue to do
that, the Roman people’s name of ‘brothers’ would avail them naught. As to
Caesar’s threatening him, that he would not overlook the wrongs of the Aedui,
[he said] that no one had ever entered into a contest with him
[Ariovistus] without utter ruin to himself. That Caesar might enter the lists
when he chose; he would feel what the invincible Germans, well-trained [as they
were] beyond all others to arms, who for fourteen years had not been beneath a
roof, could achieve by their valor.”
37
At the same time that this message was delivered to Caesar, embassadors came
from the Aedui and the Treviri; from the Aedui to complain that the Harudes,
who had lately been brought over into Gaul, were ravaging their territories;
that they had not been able to purchase peace from Ariovistus, even by giving
hostages: and from the Treviri, [to state] that a hundred cantons of the Suevi
had encamped on the banks of the Rhine, and were attempting to cross it; that
the brothers, Nasuas and Cimberius, headed them. Being greatly alarmed at these
things, Caesar thought that he ought to use all dispatch, lest, if this new
band of Suevi should unite with the old troops of Ariovistus, he [Ariovistus]
might be less easily withstood. Having therefore, as quickly as he could,
provided a supply of corn, he hastened to Ariovistus by forced marches.
38
When he had proceeded three days’ journey, word was brought to him that
Ariovistus was hastening with all his forces to seize on Vesontio, which is the
largest town of the Sequani, and had advanced three days’ journey from its
territories. Caesar thought that he ought to take the greatest precautions lest
this should happen, for there was in that town a most ample supply of every
thing which was serviceable for war; and so fortified was it by the nature of
the ground, as to afford a great facility for protracting the war, inasmuch as
the river Doubs almost surrounds the whole town, as though it were traced round
it with a pair of compasses. A mountain of great height shuts in the remaining
space, which is not more than 600 feet, where the river leaves a gap, in such a
manner that the roots of that mountain extend to the river’s bank on either
side. A wall thrown around it makes a citadel of this [mountain], and connects
it with the town. Hither Caesar hastens by forced marches by night and day,
and, after having seized the town, stations a garrison there.
39
While he is tarrying a few days at Vesontio, on account of corn and provisions;
from the inquiries of our men and the reports of the Gauls and traders (who
asserted that the Germans were men of huge stature, of incredible valor and
practice in arms; that oftentimes they, on encountering them, could not bear
even their countenance, and the fierceness of their eyes,) so great a panic on
a sudden seized the whole army, as to discompose the minds and spirits of all
in no slight degree. This first arose from the tribunes of the soldiers, the
prefects and the rest, who, having followed Caesar from the city [Rome] from
motives of friendship, had no great experience in military affairs. And
alleging, some of them one reason, some another, which they said made it
necessary for them to depart, they requested that by his consent they might be
allowed to withdraw; some, influenced by shame, stayed behind in order that
they might avoid the suspicion of cowardice. These could neither compose their
countenance, nor even sometimes check their tears: but hidden in their tents,
either bewailed their fate, or deplored with their comrades the general danger.
Wills were sealed universally throughout the whole camp. By the expressions and
cowardice of these men, even those who possessed great experience in the camp,
both soldiers and centurions, and those [the decurions] who were in command of
the cavalry, were gradually disconcerted. Such of them as wished to be
considered less alarmed, said that they did not dread the enemy, but feared the
narrowness of the roads and the vastness of the forests which lay between them
and Ariovistus, or else that the supplies could not be brought up readily
enough. Some even declared to Caesar, that when he gave orders for the camp to
be moved and the troops to advance, the soldiers would not be obedient to the
command, nor advance in consequence of their fear.
40
When Caesar observed these things, having called a council, and summoned to it
the centurions of all the companies, he severely reprimanded them,
“particularly, for supposing that it belonged to them to inquire or conjecture,
either in what direction they were marching, or with what object. That
Ariovistus, during his [Caesar’s] consulship [59 B.C.], had most anxiously
sought after the friendship of the Roman people; why should any one judge that
he would so rashly depart from his duty? He for his part was persuaded, that,
when his demands were known and the fairness of the terms considered, he would
reject neither his nor the Roman people’s favor. But even if, driven on by rage
and madness, he should make war upon them, what after all were they afraid
of?—or why should they despair either of their own valor or of his zeal? Of
that enemy a trial had been made within our fathers’ recollection, when, on the
defeat of the Cimbri and Teutones by Caius Marius, the army was regarded as
having deserved no less praise than their commander himself. It had been made
lately, too, in Italy, during the rebellion of the slaves, whom, however, the
experience and training which they had received from us, assisted in some
respect. From which a judgment might be formed of the advantages which
resolution carries with it inasmuch as those whom for some time they had
groundlessly dreaded when unarmed, they had afterward vanquished, when well
armed and flushed with success. In short, that these were the same men whom the
Helvetii, in frequent encounters, not only in their own territories, but also
in theirs [the German], have generally vanquished, and yet can not have been a
match for our army. If the unsuccessful battle and flight of the Gauls
disquieted any, these, if they made inquiries, might discover that, when the
Gauls had been tired out by the long duration of the war, Ariovistus, after he
had many months kept himself in his camp and in the marshes, and had given no
opportunity for an engagement, fell suddenly upon them, by this time despairing
of a battle and scattered in all directions, and was victorious more through
stratagem and cunning than valor. But though there had been room for such
stratagem against savage and unskilled men, not even [Ariovistus] himself
expected that thereby our armies could be entrapped. That those who ascribed
their fear to a pretense about the [deficiency of] supplies and the narrowness
of the roads, acted presumptuously, as they seemed either to distrust their
general’s discharge of his duty, or to dictate to him. That these things were
his concern; that the Sequani, the Leuci, and the Lingones were to furnish the
corn; and that it was already ripe in the fields; that as to the road they
would soon be able to judge for themselves. As to its being reported that the
soldiers would not be obedient to command, or advance, he was not at all
disturbed at that; for he knew, that in the case of all those whose army had
not been obedient to command, either upon some mismanagement of an affair,
fortune had deserted them, or, that upon some crime being discovered,
covetousness had been clearly proved [against them]. His integrity had been
seen throughout his whole life, his good fortune in the war with the Helvetii.
That he would therefore instantly set about what he had intended to put off
till a more distant day, and would break up his camp the next night, in the
fourth watch, that he might ascertain, as soon as possible, whether a sense of
honor and duty, or whether fear had more influence with them. But that, if no
one else should follow, yet he would go with only the tenth legion, of which he
had no misgivings, and it should be his praetorian cohort.”—This legion Caesar
had both greatly favored, and in it, on account of its valor, placed the
greatest confidence.
41
Upon the delivery of this speech, the minds of all were changed in a surprising
manner, and the highest ardor and eagerness for prosecuting the war were
engendered; and the tenth legion was the first to return thanks to him, through
their military tribunes, for his having expressed this most favorable opinion
of them; and assured him that they were quite ready to prosecute the war. Then,
the other legions endeavored, through their military tribunes and the
centurions of the principal companies, to excuse themselves to Caesar, [saying]
that they had never either doubted or feared, or supposed that the
determination of the conduct of the war was theirs and not their general’s.
Having accepted their excuse, and having had the road carefully reconnoitered
by Divitiacus, because in him of all others he had the greatest faith [he
found] that by a circuitous route of more than fifty miles he might lead his
army through open parts; he then set out in the fourth watch, as he had said
[he would]. On the seventh day, as he did not discontinue his march, he was
informed by scouts that the forces of Ariovistus were only four and twenty
miles distant from ours.
42
Upon being apprized of Caesar’s arrival, Ariovistus sends embassadors to him,
[saying] that what he had before requested as to a conference, might now, as
far as his permission went, take place, since he [Caesar] had approached
nearer, and he considered that he might now do it without danger. Caesar did
not reject the proposal and began to think that he was now returning to a
rational state of mind as he spontaneously proffered that which he had
previously refused to him when requesting it; and was in great hopes that, in
consideration of his own and the Roman people’s great favors toward him, the
issue would be that he would desist from his obstinacy upon his demands being
made known. The fifth day after that was appointed as the day of conference.
Meanwhile, as ambassadors were being often sent to and fro between them,
Ariovistus demanded that Caesar should not bring any foot-soldier with him to
the conference, [saying] that “he was afraid of being ensnared by him through
treachery; that both should come accompanied by cavalry; that he would not come
on any other condition.” Caesar, as he neither wished that the conference
should, by an excuse thrown in the way, be set aside, nor durst trust his life
to the cavalry of the Gauls, decided that it would be most expedient to take
away from the Gallic cavalry all their horses, and thereon to mount the
legionary soldiers of the tenth legion, in which he placed the greatest
confidence, in order that he might have a body-guard as trustworthy as
possible, should there be any need for action. And when this was done, one of
the soldiers of the tenth legion said, not without a touch of humor, “that
Caesar did more for them than he had promised; he had promised to have the
tenth legion in place of his praetorian cohort; but he now converted them into
horse.”
43
There was a large plain, and in it a mound of earth of considerable size. This
spot was at nearly an equal distance from both camps. Thither, as had been
appointed, they came for the conference. Caesar stationed the legion, which he
had brought [with him] on horseback, 200 paces from this mound. The cavalry of
Ariovistus also took their stand at an equal distance. Ariovistus then demanded
that they should confer on horseback, and that, besides themselves, they should
bring with them ten men each to the conference. When they were come to the
place, Caesar, in the opening of his speech, detailed his own and the senate’s
favors toward him [Ariovistus], in that he had been styled king, in that [he
had been styled] friend, by the senate, in that very considerable presents had
been sent him; which circumstance he informed him had both fallen to the lot of
few, and had usually been bestowed in consideration of important personal
services; that he, although he had neither an introduction, nor a just ground
for the request, had obtained these honors through the kindness and munificence
of himself [Caesar] and the senate. He informed him too, how old and how just
were the grounds of connection that existed between themselves [the Romans] and
the Aedui, what decrees of the senate had been passed in their favor, and how
frequent and how honorable; how from time immemorial the Aedui had held the
supremacy of the whole of Gaul; even [said Caesar] before they had sought our
friendship; that it was the custom of the Roman people to desire not only that
its allies and friends should lose none of their property, but be advanced in
influence, dignity, and honor: who then could endure that what they had brought
with them to the friendship of the Roman people should be torn from them?” He
then made the same demands which he had commissioned the embassadors to make,
that [Ariovistus] should not make war either upon the Aedui or their allies,
that he should restore the hostages; that if he could not send back to their
country any part of the Germans, he should at all events suffer none of them
any more to cross the Rhine.
44
Ariovistus briefly replied to the demands of Caesar; but expatiated largely on
his own virtues, “that he had crossed the Rhine not of his own accord, but on
being invited and sent for by the Gauls; that he had not left home and kindred
without great expectations and great rewards; that he had settlements in Gaul,
granted by the Gauls themselves; that the hostages had been given by their
good-will; that he took by right of war the tribute which conquerors are
accustomed to impose on the conquered; that he had not made war upon the Gauls,
but the Gauls upon him; that all the states of Gaul came to attack him, and had
encamped against him; that all their forces had been routed and beaten by him
in a single battle; that if they chose to make a second trial, he was ready to
encounter them again; but if they chose to enjoy peace, it was unfair to refuse
the tribute, which of their own free-will they had paid up to that time. That
the friendship of the Roman people ought to prove to him an ornament and a
safeguard, not a detriment; and that he sought it with that expectation. But if
through the Roman people the tribute was to be discontinued, and those who
surrendered to be seduced from him, he would renounce the friendship of the
Roman people no less heartily than he had sought it. As to his leading over a
host of Germans into Gaul, that he was doing this with a view of securing
himself, not of assaulting Gaul: that there was evidence of this, in that he
did not come without being invited, and in that he did not make war, but merely
warded it off. That he had come into Gaul before the Roman people. That never
before this time did a Roman army go beyond the frontiers of the province of
Gaul. What [said he] does [Caesar] desire?—why come into his [Ariovistus]
domains?—that this was his province of Gaul, just as that is ours. As it ought
not to be pardoned in him, if he were to make an attack upon our territories;
so, likewise, that we were unjust, to obstruct him in his prerogative. As for
Caesar’s saying that the Aedui had been styled ‘brethren’ by the senate, he was
not so uncivilized nor so ignorant of affairs, as not to know that the Aedui in
the very last war with the Allobroges had neither rendered assistance to the
Romans, nor received any from the Roman people in the struggles which the Aedui
had been maintaining with him and with the Sequani. He must feel suspicious,
that Caesar, though feigning friendship as the reason for his keeping an army
in Gaul, was keeping it with the view of crushing him. And that unless he
depart and withdraw his army from these parts, he shall regard him not as a
friend, but as a foe; and that, even if he should put him to death, he should
do what would please many of the nobles and leading men of the Roman people; he
had assurance of that from themselves through their messengers, and could
purchase the favor and the friendship of them all by his [Caesar’s] death. But
if he would depart and resign to him the free possession of Gaul, he would
recompense him with a great reward, and would bring to a close whatever wars he
wished to be carried on, without any trouble or risk to him.”
45
Many things were stated by Caesar to the effect [to show]: “why he could not
waive the business, and that neither his nor the Roman people’s practice would
suffer him to abandon most meritorious allies, nor did he deem that Gaul
belonged to Ariovistus rather than to the Roman people; that the Arverni and
the Ruteni had been subdued in war by Quintus Fabius Maximus, and that the
Roman people had pardoned them and had not reduced them into a province or
imposed a tribute upon them. And if the most ancient period was to be
regarded—then was the sovereignty of the Roman people in Gaul most just: if the
decree of the Senate was to be observed, then ought Gaul to be free, which they
[the Romans] had conquered in war, and had permitted to enjoy its own laws.”
46
While these things are being transacted in the conference it was announced to
Caesar that the cavalry of Ariovistus were approaching nearer the mound, and
were riding up to our men, and casting stones and weapons at them. Caesar made
an end of his speech and betook himself to his men; and commanded them that
they should by no means return a weapon upon the enemy. For though he saw that
an engagement with the cavalry would be without any danger to his chosen
legion, yet he did not think proper to engage, lest, after the enemy were
routed, it might be said that they had been insnared by him under the sanction
of a conference. When it was spread abroad among the common soldiery with what
haughtiness Ariovistus had behaved at the conference, and how he had ordered
the Romans to quit Gaul, and how his cavalry had made an attack upon our men,
and how this had broken off the conference, a much greater alacrity and
eagerness for battle was infused into our army.
47
Two days after, Ariovistus sends embassadors to Caesar, to state “that he
wished to treat with him about those things which had been begun to be treated
of between them, but had not been concluded;” [and to beg] that “he would
either again appoint a day for a conference; or, if he were not willing to do
that, that he would send one of his [officers] as an embassador to him.” There
did not appear to Caesar any good reason for holding a conference; and the more
so as the day before the Germans could not be restrained from casting weapons
at our men. He thought he should not without great danger send to him as
embassador one of his [Roman] officers, and should expose him to savage men. It
seemed [therefore] most proper to send to him C. Valerius Procillus, the son of
C. Valerius Caburus, a young man of the highest courage and accomplishments
(whose father had been presented with the freedom of the city by C. Valerius
Flaccus), both on account of his fidelity and on account of his knowledge of
the Gallic language, which Ariovistus, by long practice, now spoke fluently;
and because in his case the Germans would have no motive for committing
violence; and [as his colleague] M. Mettius, who had shared the hospitality of
Ariovistus. He commissioned them to learn what Ariovistus had to say, and to
report to him. But when Ariovistus saw them before him in his camp, he cried
out in the presence of his army, “Why were they come to him? Was it for the
purpose of acting as spies?” He stopped them when attempting to speak, and cast
them into chains.
48
The same day he moved his camp forward and pitched under a hill six miles from
Caesar’s camp. The day following he led his forces past Caesar’s camp, and
encamped two miles beyond him; with this design,—that he might cut off Caesar
from the corn and provisions, which might be conveyed to him from the Sequani
and the Aedui. For five successive days from that day, Caesar drew out his
forces before the camp, and put them in battle order, that, if Ariovistus
should be willing to engage in battle, an opportunity might not be wanting to
him. Ariovistus all this time kept his army in camp: but engaged daily in
cavalry skirmishes. The method of battle in which the Germans had practiced
themselves was this. There were 6,000 horse, and as many very active and
courageous foot, one of whom each of the horse selected out of the whole army
for his own protection. By these [foot] they were constantly accompanied in
their engagements; to these the horse retired; these on any emergency rushed
forward; if any one, upon receiving a very severe wound, had fallen from his
horse, they stood around him: if it was necessary to advance further than
usual, or to retreat more rapidly, so great, from practice, was their
swiftness, that, supported by the manes of the horses, they could keep pace
with their speed.
49
Perceiving that Ariovistus kept himself in camp, Caesar, that he might not any
longer be cut off from provisions, chose a convenient position for a camp
beyond that place in which the Germans had encamped, at about 600 paces from
them, and having drawn up his army in three lines, marched to that place. He
ordered the first and second lines to be under arms; the third to fortify the
camp. This place was distant from the enemy about 600 paces, as has been
stated. Thither Ariovistus sent light troops, about 16,000 men in number, with
all his cavalry; which forces were to intimidate our men, and hinder them in
their fortification. Caesar nevertheless, as he had before arranged, ordered
two lines to drive off the enemy: the third to execute the work. The camp being
fortified, he left there two legions and a portion of the auxiliaries; and led
back the other four legions into the larger camp.
50
The next day, according to his custom, Caesar led out his forces from both
camps, and having advanced a little from the larger one, drew up his line of
battle, and gave the enemy an opportunity of fighting. When he found that they
did not even then come out [from their intrenchments], he led back his army
into camp about noon. Then at last Ariovistus sent part of his forces to attack
the lesser camp. The battle was vigorously maintained on both sides till the
evening. At sunset, after many wounds had been inflicted and received, Ariovistus
led back his forces into camp. When Caesar inquired of his prisoners, wherefore
Ariovistus did not come to an engagement, he discovered this to be the reason:
that among the Germans it was the custom for their matrons to pronounce from
lots and divination, whether it were expedient that the battle should be
engaged in or not; that they had said, “that it was not the will of heaven that
the Germans should conquer, if they engaged in battle before the new moon.”
51
The day following, Caesar left what seemed sufficient as a guard for both
camps; [and then] drew up all the auxiliaries in sight of the enemy, before the
lesser camp, because he was not very powerful in the number of legionary
soldiers, considering the number of the enemy; that [thereby] he might make use
of his auxiliaries for appearance. He himself, having drawn up his army in
three lines, advanced to the camp of the enemy. Then at last of necessity the
Germans drew their forces out of camp, and disposed them canton by canton, at
equal distances, the Harudes, Marcomanni, Tribocci, Vangiones, Nemetes,
Sedusii, Suevi; and surrounded their whole army with their chariots and wagons,
that no hope might be left in flight. On these they placed their women, who,
with disheveled hair and in tears, entreated the soldiers, as they went forward
to battle, not to deliver them into slavery to the Romans.
52
Caesar appointed over each legion a lieutenant and a questor, that every one
might have them as witnesses of his valor. He himself began the battle at the
head of the right wing, because he had observed that part of the enemy to be
the least strong. Accordingly our men, upon the signal being given, vigorously
made an attack upon the enemy, and the enemy so suddenly and rapidly rushed
forward, that there was no time for casting the javelins at them. Throwing
aside [therefore] their javelins, they fought with swords hand to hand. But the
Germans, according to their custom, rapidly forming a phalanx, sustained the
attack of our swords. There were found very many of our soldiers who leaped
upon the phalanx, and with their hands tore away the shields, and wounded the
enemy from above. Although the army of the enemy was routed on the left wing
and put to flight, they [still] pressed heavily on our men from the right wing,
by the great number of their troops. On observing which, P. Crassus, a young
man, who commanded the cavalry,—as he was more disengaged than those who were
employed in the fight,—sent the third line as a relief to our men who were in
distress.
53
Thereupon the engagement was renewed, and all the enemy turned their backs, nor
did they cease to flee until they arrived at the river Rhine, about fifty miles
from that place. There some few, either relying on their strength, endeavored
to swim over, or, finding boats, procured their safety. Among the latter was
Ariovistus, who meeting with a small vessel tied to the bank, escaped in it; our
horse pursued and slew all the rest of them. Ariovistus had two wives, one a
Suevan by nation, whom he brought with him from home; the other a Norican, the
sister of king Vocion, whom he had married in Gaul, she having been sent
[thither for that purpose] by her brother. Both perished in that flight. Of
their two daughters, one was slain, the other captured. C. Valerius Procillus,
as he was being dragged by his guards in the fight, bound with a triple chain,
fell into the hands of Caesar himself, as he was pursuing the enemy with his
cavalry. This circumstance indeed afforded Caesar no less pleasure than the
victory itself; because he saw a man of the first rank in the province of Gaul,
his intimate acquaintance and friend, rescued from the hand of the enemy, and
restored to him, and that fortune had not diminished aught of the joy and
exultation [of that day] by his destruction. He [Procillus] said that, in his
own presence, the lots had been thrice consulted respecting him, whether he
should immediately be put to death by fire, or be reserved for another time:
that by the favor of the lots he was uninjured. M. Mettius, also, was found and
brought back to him [Caesar].
54
This battle having been reported beyond the Rhine, the Suevi, who had come to
the banks of that river, began to return home, when the Ubii, who dwelt nearest
to the Rhine, pursuing them, while much alarmed, slew a great number of them.
Caesar having concluded two very important wars in one campaign, conducted his
army into winter quarters among the Sequani, a little earlier than the season
of the year required. He appointed Labienus over the winter-quarters, and set
out in person for Hither Gaul to hold the assizes.
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