No More Learning

[525] _Eadem altitudine_. See paragraph XIII. , Details on the
Excavations of Alesia, page 364.

[526] _Dolabratis_, diminished to a point, and not _delibratis_, peeled.

[527] In the excavations at Alesia, five _stimuli_ have been found, the
form of which is represented in _Plate 27_. The new names which Cæsar’s
soldiers gave to these accessory defenses prove that they were used for
the first time.

[528] This appears from a passage in _De Bello Civili_, III. 47.

[529]

The Ædui and their clients, the Segusiavi, the Ambluareti, the MEN.
Aulerci-Brannovices, and the Blannovii 35,000

The Arverni, with the people in their dependence, as the
Cadurci-Eleutheri, the Gabali, the Vellavi 35,000

The Senones, the Sequani, the Bituriges, the Santones, the Ruteni,
the Carnutes (each 12,000) 72,000

The Bellovaci 10,000

The Lemovices 10,000

The Pictones, the Turones, the Parisii, the Helvii (each 8,000) 32,000

The Suessiones, the Ambiani, the Mediomatrice, the Petrocorii,
the Nervii, the Morini, the Nitiobriges (each 5,000) 35,000

The Aulerci-Cenomanni 5,000

The Atrebates 4,000

The Veliocasses, the Lexovii, the Aulerci-Eburovices (each 3,000) 9,000

The Rauraci and the Boii (each 3,000) 6,000

Lastly, the peoples who dwelt on the shores of the ocean, and
whom the Gauls called Armoricans, amongst whom were the
Curiosolites, the Redones, the Ambibari, the Caletes, the
Osismii, the Lemovices-Armoricani, the Veneti, and the Unelli,
had to furnish together 30,000
-------
Total 283,000


[530]: See note on page 143.

[531] This passage proves clearly that the army of succour attacked also
the circumvallation of the plain. In fact, how can we admit that, of
240,000 men, only 60,000 should have been employed? It follows, from the
accounts given in the “Commentaries,” that among this multitude of
different peoples, the chiefs chose the most courageous men to form the
corps of 60,000 which operated the movement of turning the hills; and
that the others, unaccustomed to war, and less formidable, employed in
the assault of the retrenchments in the plain, were easily repulsed.

[532] According to Polyænus (VIII. xxiii. 11), Cæsar, during the night,
detached 3,000 legionaries and all his cavalry to take the enemy in the
rear.

[533] “Cæsar (at Alexandria) was greatly perplexed, being burdened with
his _purple_ vestments, which prevented him from swimming. ” (Xiphilinus,
_Julius Cæsar_, p. 26. )--“Crassus, instead of appearing before his
troops in a purple-coloured _paludamentum_, as is the custom of the
Roman generals. . . . ” (Plutarch, _Crassus_, 28. )

[534] “The inhabitants of Alesia despaired of their safety when they saw
the Roman soldiers bringing from all sides into their camp an immense
quantity of shields ornamented with gold and silver, cuirasses stained
with blood, plate, and Gaulish flags. ” (Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 30. )

[535] Florus, III. x. 26. --According to Plutarch (_Cæsar_, 30),
Vercingetorix, after having laid down his arms, seated himself in
silence at the foot of Cæsar’s tribunal.

[536] _De Bello Gallico_, VII. 90. --By comparing the data of the VIIth
book with those of the VIIIth, we obtain the following results:

LEGIONS.

In Franche-Comté, Labienus with the 7th and 15th 2
In the country of the Remi, Fabius and Basilius with the 8th
and 9th 2
Between the Loire and the Allier, Reginus with the 11th 1
In Berrry, Sextius with the 13th 1
In Rouergue, Rebilus with the 1st 1
At Mâcon, Tullius Cicero with the 6th 1
At Chalon, Sulpicius with the 14th 1
At Bibracte, Mark Antony with the 10th and 12th 2
--
Total 11


[537] There have been found, on a length of 200 mètres, in the bottom of
the upper fosse, ten Gaulish coins, twenty arrow-heads, fragments of
shields, four balls of stone of different diameters, two millstones of
granite, skulls and bones, earthenware, and fragments of amphoras in
such quantity, that it would lead us to suppose that the Romans threw
upon the assailants everything that came to hand. In the lower fosse,
near which the struggle was hotter after the sally of Labienus, the
result has surpassed all hopes. This fosse has been opened for a space
of 500 mètres in length from _X_ to _X_ (_see Plate 25_): it contained,
besides 600 coins (_see Appendix C_), fragments of pottery, and numerous
bones, the following objects: ten Gaulish swords and nine scabbards of
iron, thirty-nine pieces which belonged to arms of the description of
the Roman _pilum_, thirty heads of javelins, which, on account of their
lightness, are supposed to have been the points of the _hasta amentata_;
seventeen more heavy heads may also have served for javelins thrown by
the _amentum_, or simply by the hand, or even for lances; sixty-two
blades, of various form, which present such finished workmanship that
they may be ranged among the spears.

Among objects of defensive armour there have been found one iron helmet
and seven cheek-pieces, the forms of which are analogous to those which
we see represented on Roman sculptures; umbos of Roman and Gaulish
shields; an iron belt of a legionary; and numerous collars, rings and
fibulæ.

[538] In the fosses of the plain of Laumes have been found a fine sword,
several nails, and some bones; on the left bank of the Oserain, two
coins, three arrow-heads, and other fragments of arms; in the fosse
which descends towards the Ose, on the northern slopes of Mont
Penneville, a prodigious quantity of bones of animals. A spot planted
with vines, close by, on the southern slope of Mont Penneville, is still
at the present day called, on the register of lands, _Cæsar’s Kitchen_
(_la Cuisine de César_).

[539] In the fosses of the circumvallation in the plain of Laumes have
been found stone balls, some fragments of arms, pottery, and a
magnificent silver vase, of good Greek art. This last was found at _z_
(_see Plate 25_), near the imperial road from Paris to Dijon, at the
very bottom of the fosse, at a depth of 1·40m. Bronze arms, consisting
of ten spears, two axes, and two swords, have been found previously at
_y_ near the Oserain.

[540] This book, as is known, was written by Hirtius.

[541] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 5.

[542] Viz. , the Aulerci-Eburovices.

[543] It has been objected that Mont Saint-Pierre was not sufficiently
large to contain seven legions; but, since Cæsar for a long while had
only four legions with him, the camp was made for that number.
Afterwards, instead of remaining on the defensive, he determined, as at
Alesia, to invest the Gaulish camp, and it was then only that he sent
for three more legions. The appearance of the different camps which have
been found is, on the contrary, very rational, and in conformity with
the number of troops mentioned in the “Commentaries. ” Thus, the camp of
Berry-au-Bac, which contained eight legions, had forty-one hectares of
superfices; that of Gergovia, for six legions, had thirty-three
hectares; and that of Mont Saint-Pierre, for four legions, twenty-four
hectares.

[544] “Non solum vallo et sudibus, sed etiam turriculis instruunt. . . .
quod opus loriculam vocant. ” (Vegetius, IV. 28. )

[545] It may be seen, by the profiles of the fosses which have been
brought to light, that they could not have had vertical sides; the
expression used by Hirtius leads us to believe that, by _lateribus
directis_, he meant fosses not triangular, but with a square bottom.

[546] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 17.

[547] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 23.

[548] Rebilus had at first only one legion; we believe, with Rustow,
that the 10th, which was quartered at Bibracte, had come to join him. It
is said (VII. 90) that Rebilus had been sent to the Ruteni; but it
appears, from a passage of Orosius (VI. 11), “that he was stopped on his
way by a multitude of enemies, and ran the greatest dangers. ” He
remained, therefore, in the country of the Pictones, where Fabius came
to his succour.

[549] Some manuscripts read erroneously the 13th legion.

[550] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 25.

[551] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 31.

[552] See his biography in _Appendix D_.

[553] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 44.

[554] It is due to the persevering research of M. J. B. Cessac, assisted
subsquently by the departmental commission of the Lot.

[555] List of the objects found at Puy-d’Issolu: one blade of a
_dolabrum_, thirty-six arrow-heads, six heads of darts for throwing by
catapults, fragments of bracelets, bear’s tooth (an amulet), necklace
beads, rings, a blade of a knife, and nails.

[556] According to Frontinus (_Stratag. _, II. 11), Commius sought an
asylum in Great Britain.

[557] _De Bello Gallico_, VIII. 48.

[558] Plutarch, _Marius_, 19.

[559] _Mémoires de Napoléon I. _, Revolt of Pavia, VII. 4.

[560] For the clearer intelligence of the recapitulation, we have
adopted the modern names of the different people of Gaul, although these
names are far from answering to their ancient boundaries.

[561] Cicero, when proconsul in Cilicia, obtained the sum of twelve
millions of sesterii (2,280,000 francs) from the sale of prisoners made
at the siege of Pindenissus. (Cicero, _Epistolæ ad Atticum_, V. 20. )

[562] Julian (_Cæsares_, p. 72, edit. Lasius) makes Cæsar say that he
had treated the Helvetii _like a philanthropist_, and rebuilt their
burnt towns.

[563] It was probably at this time that the chiefs of Auvergne, and
perhaps Vercingetorix himself, as Dio Cassius tells us, came to render
homage to the Roman proconsul. (See above, p. 80. )

[564] Mommsen, _Römische Geschichte_, III. , p. 291. Berlin, 1861.

[565] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 51, 52.

[566] “He soon allowed himself to be enervated by his love for his young
wife. Entirely occupied in pleasing her, he passed whole days with her
in his country house or in his gardens, and ceased to think of public
affairs. Thus even Clodius, then tribune of the people, regarding him no
longer with anything but contempt, dared to embark in the rashest
enterprises. ” (Plutarch, _Pompey_, 50. )

[567] Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 13.

[568] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 51, 52.

[569] Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 30.

[570] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 48 and 50.

[571] “Pompey is going at last to labour on my recall: he only waited
for a letter from Cæsar to cause the proposal to be made by one of his
partisans. ” (Cicero, _Epist. ad Atticum_, III. 18. )--“If Cæsar has
abandoned me, if he has joined my enemies, he has been unfaithful to his
friendship, and has done me an injury; I ought to have been his enemy, I
deny it not; but if Cæsar has interested himself in my restoration, if
it be true that you thought it important for me that Cæsar should not be
opposed,” &c. . . . (_Orat. de Provinciis Consularibus_, 18. )

[572] “It was then that P. Sextius, the tribune nominate, repaired to
Cæsar to interest him in my recall. I say only that if Cæsar were well
intentioned towards me, and I believe he was, these proceedings added
nothing to his good intentions. He (Sextius) thought that, if they
wished to restore concord among the citizens and decide on my recall,
they must secure the consent of Cæsar. ” (Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 33)

[573] “Pompey took my brother as witness that all he had done for me he
had done by the will of Cæsar. ” (Cicero, _Epist. Familiar. _, I. 9. )

[574] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 31, _et seq. _

[575] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 31.

[576] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 51. --Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 32; _De Responsu
Haruspic. _, 23: _Pro Milone_, 7. --Asconius, _Comment. in Orat. pro
Milone_, p. 47, edit. Orelli.

[577] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 51. --Cicero, _Pro Milone_, 7. --Asconius,
_Comment. in Orat. pro Milone_, p. 47, edit. Orelli.

[578] Cicero, _Epist. ad Atticum_, III. 23. --Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 6.

[579] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 33.

[580] Cicero, _Orat. pro Domo sua_, 27; _Pro Sextio_, 34.

[581] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 34; _De Legibus_, III. 19.

[582] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 34.

[583] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 35. --Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 7. --Plutarch,
_Pompey_, 51.

[584] Cicero, _Pro Sextio_, 35; _Orat. prima post Reditum_, 5, 6.

[585] Cicero, _De Officiis_, II. 17; _Orat. pro Sextio_, 39. --Dio
Cassius XXXIX. 8.

[586] Cicero, _Orat. secunda post Reditum ad Senatum_, 10; _Orat. pro
Domo sua_, 28; _Orat. in Pisonem_, 15.

[587] We thus see that the power of observing the sky continued to exist
in spite of the law Clodia.

[588] Cicero, in the passages cited.

[589] Cicero, _Epist. ad Atticum_, IV, 1.

[590] Asconius, _Comment in Orat. Ciceronis pro Milone_, p. 48, edit.
Orelli.

[591] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 9. --Plutarch, _Pompey_, 52.

[592] Cicero, _Epist. ad Atticum_, IV. 1. --Cicero’s proposal was further
amplified by C. Messius, tribune of the people, who demanded for Pompey
a fleet, an army, and the authority to dispose of the finances.

[593] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 52. --Cicero, _Orat. pro Domo sua_, 10.

[594] _Epist. ad Attic. _, IV. 2.
[595] “I will add that, in the opinion of the public, Clodius is
regarded as a victim reserved for Milo. ” (Cicero, _De Respons. Harusp. _,
3. )--This oration on the reply of the Aruspices is of May, June, or
July, 698. See, also, what he says in his letter to Atticus, of
November, 697. (_Epist. ad Attic. _ IV. 3. )

[596] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 23. --_De Bello Gallico_, II. 35.

[597] “But why, especially on that occasion, should any one be
astonished at my conduct or blame it, when I myself have already several
times supported propositions which were more honourable for Cæsar than
necessary for the state? I voted in his favour fifteen days of prayers;
it was enough for the Republic to have decreed to Cæsar the same number
of days which Marius had obtained. The gods would have been satisfied, I
think, with the same thanksgivings which had been rendered to them in
the most important wars. So great a number of days had therefore for its
only object to honour Cæsar personally. Ten days of thanksgivings were
accorded, for the first time, to Pompey, when the war of Mithridates had
been terminated by the death of that prince. I was consul, and, on my
report, the number of days usually decreed to the consulars was doubled,
after you had heard Pompey’s letter, and been convinced that all the
wards were terminated on land and sea. You adopted the proposal I made
to you of ordaining ten days of prayers. At present I have admired the
virtue and greatness of soul of Cn. Pompey, who, loaded with
distinctions such as no other before him had received the like, gave to
another more honours than he had obtained himself. Thus, then, those
prayers which I voted in favour of Cæsar were accorded to the immortal
gods, to the customs of our ancestors, and to the needs of the state;
but the flattering terms of the decree, this new distinction, and the
extraordinary number of days, it is to the person itself of Cæsar that
they were addressed, and they were a homage rendered to his glory. ”
(Cicero, _Orat. pro Provinc. Consular. _, 10, 11. ) (August, A. U. C. 698. )

[598] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quint. _, II. 1.

[599] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quint. _, II. 1.

[600] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quint. _, II. 1.

[601] Cicero, _Epist. ad Attic. _, IV. 3.

[602] Cicero, _Epist. ad Attic. _, IV. 2 and 3; _Epist. ad Quint. _, II.
1.

[603] Atia had wedded in first marriage Octavius, by whom she had a son,
who was afterwards Augustus.

[604] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 14.

[605] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 12, 13. --Plutarch, _Pompey_, 52.

[606] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 14. --“I do not spare upon him even reproaches,
to prevent him (Pompey) from meddling in this infamy. ” Cicero, _Epist.
Famil. _, I. 1.

[607] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 15.

[608] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 2.

[609] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 16.

[610] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 2. --Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 18.

[611] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 18, 19.

[612] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3.

[613] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 20.

[614] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3.

[615] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3.

[616] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3. --We look upon this word as
giving the explanation of the quarrel then existing between the two
triumvirs. Egypt was so rich a prey, that it was calculated to cause
division between them.

[617] “Clodius is cast down from the tribune, and I steal away, for fear
of accident. ” (Cicero, _Ep. ad Quint. _, II. 3. )

[618] Cicero, _Ep. ad Quint. _, II. 3.

[619] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 22.

[620] Plutarch, _Cato_, 45, tells us that Cato returned under the
consulship of Marcius Philippus.

[621] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 23.

[622] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 7.

[623] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 1.

[624] Plutarch, _Cato_, 40; _Cicero_, 45.

[625] “There has reached me a mass of private talk of people here, whom
you may guess, who have always been, and always are, in the same ranks
with me. They openly rejoice at knowing that I am, at the same time,
already on terms of coolness with Pompey, and on the point of
quarrelling with Cæsar; but what was most cruel was to see their
attitude towards my enemy (Clodius), to see them embrace him, flatter
him, coax him, and cover him with caresses. ” (Cicero, _Epist.
Familiar. _, I. 9. )

[626] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3.

[627] These words are reported by Cicero (_Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 3),
to whom they were addressed by Pompey. Dio Cassius, contrary to all
probability, pretends that Pompey, from this moment, was irritated
against Cæsar, and sought to deprive him of his province. There is no
proof of such an allegation. The interview at Lucca, which took place
this same year, offers a formal contradiction to it.

[628] See Nonius Marcellus (edit. Gerlach and Roth, p. 261), who quotes
a passage from Book XXII. of the _Annals_ of Fenestella, who wrote under
Augustus or Tiberius.

[629] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 24.

[630] Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 5.

[631] Cicero, _Epist. Familiar_. , I. 9.

[632] “The question of the lands of Campania, which ought to have been
settled on the day of the Ides and the day following, is not yet
decided. I have much difficulty in making up my mind on this question. ”
(Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 8. ) (April, 698. )

[633] “Appius is not yet returned from his visit to Cæsar. ” (Cicero,
_Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 6. ) (April, 698. )

[634] “Knowing well that small news as well as great news have reached
Cæsar. ” (_Epist. ad Quintum_, III. i. 3. )

[635] Dio Cassius, XXXIX. 25.

[636] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 24.

[637] “Appius, he says, has visited Cæsar, in order to wrest from him
some nominations of tribunes. ” (Cicero, _Epist. ad Quintum_, II. 15. )

[638] Appian, _Civil Wars_, II. 17. --The consuls and proconsuls had
twelve lictors, the prætors six, the dictators twenty-four, and the
master of the cavalry a number which varied. The curule ædiles, the
quæstors, and the tribunes of the people, not having the _imperium_, had
no lictors. As, at the time of the conference of Lucca, there was no
dictator or master of cavalry, the number of 120 fasces can only apply
to the collective escort of proconsuls and prætors. It is not probable
that the two consuls then in office at Rome should have gone to Lucca.
On the other hand, the proconsuls were prohibited from quitting their
provinces as long as they were in the exercise of their commands. (see
Titus Livius, XLI. 7; XLIII. 1. ) But as the conferences of Lucca took
place just at the epoch when the proconsuls and proprætors were starting
for their provinces (we know from Cicero, _Epist. ad Atticum_, III. 9,
that this departure took place in the months of April and May), it is
probable that the newly-named proconsuls and proprætors repaired to
Lucca before they went to take possession of their commands. Thus the
number of 120 fasces would represent the collective number of the
lictors of proprætors or proconsuls who could pass through Lucca before
embarking either at Pisa, or Adria, or at Ravenna.

On this hypothesis, we should have the following numbers:--

Proprætor of Sicily 6 fasces.
“ of Sardinia 6 “
Proconsul of Citerior Spain 12 “
“ of Ulterior Spain 12 “
“ of Africa 12 “
“ of Asia 12 “
“ of Macedonia 12 “
“ of Bithynia 12 “
“ of Crete 12 “
“ of Syria 12 “
“ of Cilicia 12 “
---
120

Plutarch (_Pompey_, 53) says in so many words that there were seen every
day at his door 120 fasces of proconsuls and prætors.

[639] Appian, _Civil Wars_, II. 17.

[640] See Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 24. --The proof that this plan originated
with Cæsar is found in the fact that Pompey and Crassus had not
previously taken any steps to ensure their election.

[641] We have put into the mouth of Cæsar the following words of Cicero:
“In giving the Alps as a boundary to Italy, Nature had not done it
without a special intention of the gods. If the entrance had been open
to the ferocity and the multitude of the Gauls, this town would never
have been the seat and centre of a great empire. These lofty mountains
may now level themselves; there is now nothing, from the Alps to the
ocean, which Italy has to fear. One or two campaigns more, and fear or
hope, punishments or recompenses, arms or the laws, will reduce all Gaul
into subjection to us, and attach her to us by everlasting ties. ”
(Cicero, _Orat. de Provinciis Consularibus_, 14.

[642] Cicero, _Orat. pro Muræna_, 18.

[643] _Orat. de Provinciis Consularibus_, 15.

[644] “Evidently all opposition to these great men, especially since the
brilliant successes of Cæsar, was contrary to the general feeling, and
unanimously rejected. ” (Cicero, _Epist. Familiar. _, I.