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EVENTS OF THE YEAR 699.


[Sidenote: Campaign against the Usipetes and the Tencteri. ]

I. The successes of the preceding campaign, and the existence of a Roman
fleet in the waters of the Morbihan, must have given Cæsar the hope that
nothing henceforth would prevent an expedition against Great Britain;
yet new events came to delay his projects.

In the winter between 698 and 699, the Usipetes and the Tencteri,
peoples of German origin, to escape the oppression of the Suevi, passed
the Rhine not far from its mouth, towards Xanten and Clèves. They
numbered 400,000, of all ages and both sexes; they sought new lands to
settle in, and, in the spring of 699, the head of the emigration had
already reached the country where now stand Aix-la-Chapelle and Liége.
Cæsar, alarmed at this event, starts for the army sooner than usual,
proceeds to Amiens, there assembles his troops, and finds the Gaulish
chiefs profoundly shaken in their fidelity by the approach of these new
barbarians, whose co-operation they hope to obtain. He confirms their
feeling of duty, obtains a contingent of cavalry, marches to encounter
the Usipetes and the Tencteri, and arrives on the Meuse, which he
crosses at Maëstricht. These latter, on hearing of the approach of the
Roman army, had concentrated in Southern Gueldres. Established on the
river Niers, in the plains of Goch, they send a deputation to Cæsar, who
had arrived near Venloo, to ask him not to attack them, but to allow
them to keep the lands they had conquered. The Roman general refuses,
and continues his march. After new conferences, the object of which, on
the part of the Germans, was to give their cavalry, sent beyond the
Meuse, time to return, a truce of one day is accepted. Cæsar declares,
nevertheless, that he will advance to Niers. Suddenly, however, his
vanguard is treacherously attacked in its march and routed by the German
cavalry; he then believes himself freed from his engagements; and when
next day the deputies come to excuse this perfidious aggression, he has
them arrested, falls unexpectedly on the camp of the Germans, and
pursues them without remission to the confluence of the Rhine and the
Meuse (towards the place occupied now by Fort Saint-André), where these
unfortunate people nearly all perish.

In the sequel of this exploit, which brought him little glory, and in
which doubt has been thrown on his good faith, Cæsar resolved to cross
the Rhine, on the pretence of claiming from the Sicambri the cavalry of
the Usipetes and the Tencteri, who had taken refuge among them, but, in
reality, to intimidate the Germans, and make them abandon the practice
of seconding the insurrections in Gaul. He therefore proceeded up the
valley of the Rhine, and arrived at Bonn, opposite the territory of the
Ubii, a people which had already solicited his alliance and support
against the Suevi. He caused to be built in ten days a bridge of piles,
which he crossed with his troops, but he did not penetrate far into
Germany: unable to come up with either the Sicambri or the Suevi, who
had withdrawn into the interior of their country, he re-crossed to the
left bank, and caused the bridge to be broken.


[Sidenote: First Descent in England. ]

II. Though the summer was already advanced, Cæsar determined to take
advantage of the time which still remained to pass into England and
visit that island, concerning which people had but confused notions, and
which was only known to the Romans by the intervention of the islanders
in all the wars in Gaul. He therefore started from Bonn, travelled
towards Boulogne, marking out, as we might say, the road which
subsequently Augustus ordered to be constructed between those two towns,
and collected in that port the ships of the neighbouring coasts and the
fleet which, the year before, had vanquished that of the Morbihan. After
sending one of his officers to assure himself of the point of landing,
he started from Boulogne, in the night of the 24th to the 25th of
August, with two legions, reconnoitred in his turn the coast of Dover,
and landed at Deal. The shore was covered with armed men, who offered a
vigorous opposition to the landing of the Roman army, which, having
repulsed them, established itself on land near the sea. The Britons,
astonished at such boldness, came from all sides to implore peace and
make their submission. But the elements conspired against the invaders,
and a dreadful tempest destroyed the transport ships and galleys. At the
news of this disaster, the Britons raised their heads again; on their
side the Roman soldiers, far from desponding, hastened to repair their
ships with so much zeal that, out of eighty, sixty-eight were made fit
for sea again. Not far from Cæsar’s camp, the Britons one day drew a
legion into an ambuscade; this led to a general battle, in which the
Romans were victorious. Then Cæsar, hurried by the approach of the
equinox, treated with the chiefs of some tribes, received hostages, and
crossed again to the continent on the 12th of September, having remained
eighteen days only in England. On the day after his arrival at Boulogne,
the two legions he brought with him were dispatched against the people
of the territory of Boulogne, who had taken refuge, since the preceding
year, in the marshes of their country; other troops were sent to
chastise the inhabitants of Brabant. After these expeditions, Cæsar
placed his legions in winter quarters among the Belgæ, and then departed
to visit the opposite part of his vast command, namely, Illyria, where
also he had to protect the Roman frontiers against the incursion of the
barbarians.


[Sidenote: Cæsar’s Habits when in Campaign. ]

We are astonished, in reading the “Commentaries”, at the ease with which
Cæsar repaired every year from Gaul into Italy, or into Illyria. There
must have been relays established on the principal lines along which he
had to travel, not only for his own use, but also for the couriers who
carried dispatches. We have seen that, in 696, Cæsar passed in eight
days from the banks of the Tiber to Geneva. According to Suetonius, he
travelled 100 miles a day, or 150 kilometres in twenty-four hours,
which makes a little more than six kilometres an hour. The couriers took
twenty-eight or thirty days to go from England to Rome. Plutarch informs
us that, in order to lose no time, Cæsar travelled by night, sleeping in
a chariot or litter. [657] By day he had with him a secretary, who wrote
under his dictation, and he was followed by a soldier who carried his
sword. In his military marches he went sometimes on horseback, but most
frequently he preceded the soldiers on foot, and, with head uncovered,
he gave no care either to sun or rain. [658]

In the midst of the most perilous enterprises, he found time to
correspond with men of influence, and even to read poems which Cicero
sent him, to whom he sent back his opinions and criticisms;[659] his
mind was incessantly occupied with the events which were passing in
Rome.


[Sidenote: Consulship of Pompey and Crassus. ]

IV. At the beginning of the year 699, the consuls were not yet
nominated. In such circumstances, the Senate appointed _interreges_,
who, invested with the consular powers, succeeded each other in office
every five days. It was by favour of this interregnum that the comitia
were held. The result was foreseen. Besides their immense _clientelle_,
Pompey and Crassus were assured of the support of Cæsar, who, as we
have said, had taken care to send on leave a great number of his
legionaries to vote. [660] They arrived in charge of Publius Crassus, son
of the triumvir, whose exploits in Aquitaine had given him celebrity.

The only candidate of the previous year, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus,
excited by Cato, his brother-in-law, persisted in his candidature to the
last moment. Starting before daybreak to the comitia, with M. Cato and
many of his clients, he and his followers were exposed to violent
attacks. The slave who walked before him with a lantern in his hand was
killed, and Cato wounded. Domitius was seized with terror, and sought
shelter in his house. The interrex who presided over the comitia
proclaimed, without opposition, Crassus and Pompey consuls.

The arrangements concluded at Lucca had thus succeeded, and the ambition
of the three eminent personages who absorbed public attention was
satisfied; but the aim of this ambition varied according to their
several tempers. Crassus only desired the command of an army, in order
to increase his reputation and his immense riches. Pompey, without deep
convictions, placed his vanity in being the first man of the Republic.
Cæsar, the head of the popular party, aspired to power, in order, above
all other considerations, to ensure the triumph of his cause. The way
which would offer itself to his mind was not to excite civil war, but to
obtain his own nomination several times to the consulship; the great
citizens who had preceded him had followed no other way, and the there
is a natural tendency to take for our example that which has been
successful in the past. The glory acquired in Gaul assured Cæsar
beforehand of the public favour, which was to carry him again to the
first magistracy. Nevertheless, to dispel the obstacles continually
raised by a powerful party, it was necessary to remove hostile
competitors from important offices; to gain the support of distinguished
men, such as Cicero; and, as everything was venal, to buy, with the
produce of the booty he made by war, the consciences which were for
sale. This course, seconded by Pompey and Crassus, promised success.

Pompey, always under the influence of his wife’s charms, appeared to
rest satisfied with the part which was assigned to him. Had he been free
from all engagement, and obeyed his own instincts, he would have
embraced the cause of the Senate rather than that which he was
sustaining; for men of a nature so vain as his, prefer the flattering
adherence of the aristocracy in the middle of which they live, to the
expression of the approbation of the people, which rarely reaches their
ears. Dragged on by the force of circumstances, he was obliged to
wrestle against those who stood in his way; and the more the opposition
showed itself ardent, the more he gave way to the violence of his
temper. Legality, moreover, was observed by nobody, as the following
incident proves. Cato aspired to the prætorship. On the day of the
comitia, the first century, to which the epithet of _prœrogativæ_ was
given, and the suffrage of which exercised a great influence over the
others, voted for him. Pompey, not doubting the same result from the
other centuries, declared suddenly that he heard a clap of
thunder,[661] and dismissed the assembly. Some days afterwards, by
purchasing votes and employing all the means of intimidation at their
disposal, the new consuls caused P. Vatinius, the author of the motion
which, in 695, procured for Cæsar the government of the Cisalpine
province, to be elected prætor, in the place of M. Cato. [662] Most of
the other magistrates were similarly chosen among their creatures, and
there were only two tribunes of the people, C. Ateius Capito and P.
Aquilius Gallus, to represent the opposition. All these elections were
conducted with a certain degree of order, troubled only once in the
comitia for the ædileship. A battle took place in the Campus Martius, in
which there were killed and wounded. Pompey rushed into the middle of
the riot to appease it, and had his toga covered with blood. His slaves
took it to his house to bring another. At the view of this blood, Julia,
who was in an advanced state of pregnancy, believed that her husband had
been slain, and suffered a miscarriage. This accident injured her
health, but was not, as has been stated, the cause of her death, which
occurred only in the year following. [663]


[Sidenote: Motion of Trebonius on the Government of the Provinces. ]

V. There was no further resistance to the two consuls. The factions
appeared to be vanquished. Cicero himself and Clodius became reconciled,
and, through the mediation of Pompey and Crassus, promised reciprocal
concessions. [664] The moment had arrived for presenting the law which
was to give provinces and armies to the two first magistrates of the
Republic: the latter wished the motion to come from a tribune of the
people, and they had entrusted it to C. Trebonius, who was subsequently
one of Cæsar’s lieutenants. The Senate had not proceeded to the
distribution of provinces before the consular elections, as the law
required. Trebonius, following the example given a few years before, in
the case of the government of Gaul, addressed the people, and took the
initiative of the two motions, one relating to Pompey and Crassus, the
other to Cæsar.

The provinces destined for the two consuls, on quitting office, were not
named separately for each, but Pompey and Crassus were to arrange the
partition between them: Dio Cassius even pretends that they drew lots.
This assertion appears to be incorrect. An insurrection of the Vaccæi
and the reduction of the revolt of Clunia[665] served as a pretext to
ask that Spain should be given to Pompey with four legions; Crassus was
to have Syria and the neighbouring states, with a considerable army. The
name of Parthians was not pronounced, but everybody knew why Crassus
coveted Syria. [666] Although advanced in age (he was sixty years old),
he dreamt of making the conquest of the countries which extend from the
Euphrates to the Indus. [667] As to Cæsar, he was to be continued in his
province. The duration of these governments was for five years; they
conferred the power of raising Roman or allied troops, and of making
war or peace.

The propositions of Trebonius were warmly combated by M. Cato, by
Favonius, and by two other tribunes of the people, Ateius and Aquilius
Gallus. “But Favonius,” says Plutarch, “was listened to by nobody; some
were retained by their respect for Pompey and Crassus, the greater
number sought to please Cæsar, and remained quiet, placing all their
hopes in him. ”[668] The enemies of the consuls in the Senate were
intimidated, and kept silence. Cicero, to avoid the discussion, had
retired to the country.

In the assembly of the people, M. Cato spoke against the project of law
of Trebonius, or rather he employed the two hours allowed him in
declamations on the conduct of the depositaries of power. When the two
hours were expired, Trebonius, who presided over the assembly, enjoined
him to quit the tribune. Cato refused to obey; one of the tribune’s
lictors dragged him from it; he slipped from him, and a moment after
re-appeared on the rostra, trying to speak again. Trebonius ordered him
to be taken to prison, and, to obtain possession of his person, it
required a regular contest; but, in the midst of this tumult, Cato had
gained what he wanted, namely, to make them lose a day. [669]

A second assembly had better success. Considerable sums had been
distributed among the tribes, and armed bands were in readiness to
interfere in case of need. The opposition, on their side, had omitted
no preparation for disputing the victory. The tribune P. Aquilius,
fearing that they might prevent him from approaching the public place,
conceived the idea of hiding himself the previous evening in the Curia
Hostilia, which opened upon the Forum. Trebonius, informed of this,
caused the doors to be locked, and kept him in all the night and the
next day. [670] M. Cato, Favonius, and Ateius succeeded with great
difficulty in reaching the Forum; but, unable to force a way through the
crowd up to the rostra, they mounted on the shoulders of some of their
clients, and began to shout that _Jupiter was thundering_, and that
there could be no deliberation. But it was all in vain; always repulsed,
but always protesting, they gave up the contest when Trebonius had
proclaimed that the law was accepted by the people. [671] One of its
provisions decreed that Pompey should remain at Rome after his
consulship, and that he should govern his province of Spain through his
lieutenants. The vote was published in the midst of the most stormy
tumult. Ateius was wounded in the fray, which cost the lives of several
citizens; this was a thing then too frequent to produce any great
sensation.

Such was the memorable struggle now commenced at Rome between the
consuls and the opposition. If we judge only from certain acts of
violence related by the historians, we are at first tempted to accuse
Crassus and Pompey of having had recourse to a strange abuse of force;
but a more attentive examination proves that they were, so to say,
constrained to it by the turbulent intrigues of a factious minority. In
fact, these same historians, who describe complacently the means of
culpable compulsion employed by the candidates for the consulship, allow
contrary assertions to escape them here and there in the sequel, which
help to deface the disagreeable impression made by their narrative.
Thus, according to Cicero, public opinion blamed the hostility which was
exercised against Pompey and Crassus. [672] Plutarch, after presenting
under the most unfavourable colours the manœuvres of the consuls for
the distribution of the governments of the provinces, adds: “This
partition pleased all parties. The people desired that Pompey might not
be sent away from Rome. ”[673]

Cæsar might hope that the consulship of Pompey and Crassus would restore
order and the supremacy of the laws: it did nothing of the sort. After
having themselves so often violated legality and corrupted the
elections, they sought to remedy the evil, which they had contributed to
aggravate, by proposing severe measures against corruption; this tardy
homage rendered to public morality was destined to remain without
effect, like all the remedies which had hitherto been employed.


[Sidenote: Pompey’s Sumptuary Law. ]

VI. They sought to repress extravagance by a sumptuary law, but a speech
of Hortensius was sufficient to cause its rejection. The orator, after a
brilliant picture of the greatness of the Republic, and of the progress
of civilisation, of which Rome was the centre, proceeded to laud the
consuls for their magnificence, and for the noble use they made of their
immense riches. [674] And, in fact, at that very moment Pompey was
building the theatre which bore his name, and was giving public games,
in which it seemed his wish to surpass the acts of sumptuous
extravagance of the most prodigal courtiers of the Roman people. [675] In
these games, which lasted several days, 500 lions and eighteen elephants
were slain. This spectacle inspired the mob with admiration; but it was
remarked that, usually insensible to the death of the gladiators who
expired under their eyes, they were affected by the cries of pain of the
elephants. Cicero, who was present at these festivals, places, in the
relation he addresses to one of his friends, the men and the animals on
the same footing, and displays no more regret for the one than for the
other, the spirit of humanity was still so little developed! [676]

The splendour of these games had dazzled Rome and Italy, and restored to
Pompey a great part of his prestige; but the levies of troops, which he
was obliged to order soon afterwards, caused great discontent. Several
tribunes vainly opposed their veto; they were obliged to renounce a
struggle which had Pompey, and especially Crassus, to sustain it.


[Sidenote: Departure of Crassus for Syria. ]

VII. Without waiting for the end of his consulship, Crassus determined
on quitting Rome; he left in the last days of October. [677] As we have
said, it was not the government of Syria which excited his ardour; his
aim was to carry the war into the country of the Parthians, in order to
acquire new glory, and obtain possession of the treasures of those rich
countries.

The idea of this expedition was not new. The Parthians had long awakened
the jealousy of Rome. They had extended their frontiers from the
Caucasus to the Euphrates,[678] and considerably increased their
importance; their chief assumed, like Agamemnon, the title of _king of
kings_. It is true that the part of Mesopotamia taken from the Parthians
by Tigranes had been restored to them by Lucullus, and Pompey had
renewed the treaty which made the Euphrates the frontier of the empire
of the Arsacides. But this treaty had not always been respected, for it
was not one of the habits of the Republic to suffer a too powerful
neighbour. Nevertheless, different circumstances might, at this moment,
lead the Senate to make war upon the Parthians. While A. Gabinius
exercised the command in Syria, Mithridates, dethroned, on account of
his cruelty, by his younger brother Orodes, had invoked the support of
the proconsul; and the latter was on the point of giving it, when Pompey
sent him orders to repair first into Egypt to replace Ptolemy on his
throne. Mithridates, besieged in Babylon, had surrendered to his
brother, who had caused him to be put to death. [679] On another hand,
the Parthians were always at war with the kings of Armenia, allies of
the Romans. The Senate, had it the wish, was not, therefore, in want of
pretexts for declaring war. It had to avenge the death of a friendly
pretender, and to sustain a threatened ally. To what point could the law
of nations be invoked? That is doubtful; but, for several centuries, the
Republic had been in the habit of consulting its own interests much more
than justice, and the war against the Parthians was quite as legitimate
as the wars against Perseus, Antiochus, or Carthage.

Nevertheless, this enterprise encountered a warm opposition at Rome; the
party hostile to the consuls feared the glory which it might reflect
upon Crassus, and many prudent minds dreaded the perils of so distant an
expedition; but Cæsar, who had inherited that passion of the ancient
Romans who dreamt for their town the empire of the world, encouraged
Crassus in his projects, and, in the winter of 700, he sent Publius to
his father, with 1,000 picked Gaulish cavalry.

Inauspicious auguries marked the departure of the proconsul. The two
tribunes of the people, C. Ateius Capito and P. Aquilius Gallus,
adherents of the party of the nobles, opposed it. They had succeeded in
imparting their sentiments to many of their fellow-citizens. Crassus,
intimidated, took with him Pompey, whose ascendency over the people was
so powerful that his presence was sufficient to put a stop to all
hostile manifestation. Ateius Capito was not discouraged; he gave orders
to an usher to place Crassus under arrest at the moment when he was
leaving Rome. The other tribune prevented this act of violence. Then,
seeing that all his efforts had failed, he had recourse to an extreme
measure: he sent for a chafing-dish, and threw perfumes into it, while
he pronounced against Crassus the most terrible curses. These
imprecations were of a nature to strike the superstitious minds of the
Romans. People did not fail to call them to memory afterwards, when news
came of the Syrian disasters.


[Sidenote: Cato proposes to deliver Cæsar to the Germans. ]

VIII. About the same time, the news arrived at Rome of the defeat of the
Usipetes and Tencteri, of the passage of the Rhine, and of the descent
in Britain; they excited a warm enthusiasm, and the Senate decreed
twenty days of thanksgiving. [680] The last expedition especially made a
great impression on people’s minds; it was like the discovery of a new
world; the national pride was flattered at learning that the legions had
penetrated into an unknown country, from which immense advantages for
the Republic were promised. [681] Yet all were not dazzled by the
military successes; some pretended that Cæsar had crossed, not the
ocean, but a mere pool,[682] and Cato, persevering in his hatred,
proposed to deliver him to the Germans. He accused him of having
attacked them at the moment when they were sending deputies, and, by
this violation of the law of nations, drawn upon Rome the anger of
Heaven; “they must,” he said, “turn it upon the head of the perfidious
general:” an impotent diatribe, which did not prevail against the public
feeling! [683] Yet, as soon as Cæsar was informed of it, too sensitive,
perhaps, to the insult, he wrote to the Senate a letter full of
invectives and accusations against Cato. The latter at first repelled
them calmly; then, taking advantage of the circumstance, he began to
paint, in the darkest colours, Cæsar’s pretended designs. “It was,” he
said, “neither the Germans nor the Gauls they had to fear, but this
ambitious man, whose designs were apparent to everybody. ” These words
produced a strong impression on an auditory already prejudiced
unfavourably. Nevertheless, the fear of the public opinion prevented any
decision; for, according to Plutarch, “Cato made no impression outside
the Senate; the people desired that Cæsar should be raised to the
highest power, and the Senate, though it was of the same opinion as
Cato, dared not to act, through fear of the people. ”[684]




CHAPTER V.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 700


[Sidenote: Second Descent in England. ]

I. The expedition to England, in 699, may be said to have been only a
reconnoitring visit, showing the necessity of more numerous forces and
more considerable preparations to subjugate the warlike people of Great
Britain. Accordingly, before starting for Italy, Cæsar gave orders to
build on the coast, and especially at the mouth of the Seine, a great
number of ships fitted for the transport of troops. In the month of June
he left Italy, visited his stocks where the vessels were building,
appointed Boulogne as the general rendezvous of his fleet, and, while it
was assembling, marched rapidly, with four legions, towards the country
of the Treviri, where the inhabitants, who had rebelled against his
orders, were divided into two parties, having at their head, one
Indutiomarus, and the other Cingetorix. He gave the power to the latter,
who was favourable to the Romans. After having thus calmed the agitation
of that country, Cæsar repaired at once to Boulogne, where he found 800
ships ready to put to sea; he embarked with five legions and 2,000
cavalry, and, without any resistance, landed, as in the year before,
near Deal. A first successful combat, not far from Kingston, engaged him
to continue his advance, when he received information that a tempest
had just destroyed part of his fleet; he then returned to the coast,
took the measures necessary for repairing this new disaster, caused all
his ships to be drawn on land, and surrounded them with a retrenchment
adjoining to the camp. He next marched towards the Thames. On his way he
encountered the Britons, who, vanquished in two successive combats, had
nevertheless more than once scattered trouble and disorder through the
ranks of the legions, thanks to their chariots; these engines of war,
mixed with the cavalry, spread terror and disconcerted the Roman
tactics. Cæsar forced the passage of the Thames at Sunbury, went to
attack the citadel of Cassivellaunus near St. Albans, and obtained
possession of it. Several tribes, situated to the south of that river,
made their submission. Then, dreading the approach of the equinox, and
especially the troubles which might break out in Gaul during his
absence, he returned to the continent.


[Sidenote: Displacement of the Army. Disaster of Sabinus. ]

II. Immediately on his return, he placed his legions in winter quarters:
Sabinus and Cotta at Tongres; Cicero at Charleroi; Labienus at
Lavacherie, on the Ourthe; Fabius at Saint-Pol; Trebonius at Amiens;
Crassus at Montdidier; Plancus at Champlieu; and, lastly, Roscius in the
country of Séez. This displacement of the army, rendered necessary by
the difficulty of provisioning it, separated by great distances the
quarters from each other, though all, except that of Roscius, were
comprised in a radius of 100 miles.

As in the preceding years, Cæsar believed he might repair into Italy;
but Gaul still chafed under the yoke of the foreigner, and, while the
people of Orleans massacred Tasgetius, who had been given them for their
king three years before, events of a more serious character were in
preparation in the countries situate between the Rhine and the Meuse.
The people of Liége, led by Ambiorix and Cativolcus, revolt and attack,
at Tongres, the camp occupied by Sabinus and Cotta with fifteen cohorts.
Unable to take it by assault, they have recourse to stratagem: they
spread abroad the report of the departure of Cæsar, and of the revolt of
the whole of Gaul; they offer the two lieutenants to let them go,
without obstacle, to rejoin the nearest winter quarters. Sabinus
assembles a council of war, in which Cotta, an old experienced soldier,
refused all arrangement with the enemy; but, as often happens in such
meetings, the majority rallies to the least energetic opinion; the
fifteen cohorts, trusting in the promise of the Gauls, abandon their
impregnable position, and begin their march. On arriving at the defile
of Lowaige, they are attacked and massacred by the barbarians, who had
placed themselves in an ambuscade in the woods. Ambiorix, emboldened by
this success, raises all the peoples on his way, and hastens, at
Charleroi, to attack the camp of Cicero. The legion, though taken
unexpectedly, defends itself bravely, but the Gauls have learnt from
deserters the art of besieging fortresses in the Roman manner; they
raise towers, construct covered galleries, and surround the camp with a
countervallation. Meanwhile Cicero has found the means of informing
Cæsar of his critical position. The latter was at Amiens; the morrow of
the day on which he receives this news, he starts with two legions, and
sends a Gaul to announce his approach. The assailants, informed on their
part of Cæsar’s march, abandon the siege, and go to meet him. The two
armies encounter near the little stream of the Haine, at fourteen
kilomètres from Charleroi. Shut up in his retrenchments on Mont
Sainte-Aldegonde, Cæsar counterfeits fear, in order to provoke the Gauls
to attack him; and when they rush upon the ramparts to storm them, he
sallies out through all the gates, puts the enemies to the rout, and
strews the ground with their dead. The same day he rejoins Cicero,
congratulates the soldiers on their courage, and his lieutenant for
having been faithful to the Roman principle of never entering into
negotiation with an enemy in arms. For the moment this victory defeated
at one blow the aggressive attempts of the populations on the banks of
the Rhine against Labienus, and those of the maritime peoples on the
coasts of the Straits against Roscius; but soon new disturbances arose:
the inhabitants of the state of Sens expelled Cavarinus, whom Cæsar had
given them for king; and, a little later, Labienus was forced to combat
the inhabitants of the country of Trèves, whom he defeated in an
engagement in which Indutiomarus was slain. With the exception of the
peoples of Burgundy and Champagne, all Gaul was in fermentation, which
obliged Cæsar to pass the winter in it.


[Sidenote: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus and Appius Claudius Pulcher,
Consuls. ]

III. During this time, the struggle of parties continued at Rome, and
Pompey, charged with the supplying of provisions, having under his
orders lieutenants and legions, posted himself at the gates of the town;
his presence in Italy, a pledge of order and tranquillity, was accepted
by all good citizens. [685] His influence was, as Cæsar thought, to
paralyse that of L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who had obtained the
consulship. In fact, when on the preceding occasion Crassus and Pompey
placed themselves on the ranks as candidates for the consulship, the
opposite party, hopeless of defeating both, had sought the admission of
at least one of their candidates. They tried again the manœuvre they
had employed in 695, by which they succeeded in the nomination of
Bibulus as the colleague of Cæsar. The attempt had failed; but, at the
moment when the question of the election of consuls for the year 700 was
agitated, the aristocratic party, having no longer to contend against
persons of such eminence as Crassus and Pompey, obtained without
difficulty the election of Ahenobarbus. This latter represented alone,
in that high magistracy, the passions hostile to the triumvirs, since
his colleague Appius Claudius Pulcher was still, at that epoch,
favourable to Cæsar.

The authority of the consuls, whoever they might be, was powerless for
remedying the demoralisation of the upper classes, which was revealed by
numerous symptoms at Rome as well as in the provinces. Cicero himself,
as the following event proves, treated legality with contempt when it
interfered with his affections or political opinions.


[Sidenote: Re-establishment of Ptolemy in Egypt. ]

IV. The Sibylline oracle, it will be remembered, had forbidden recourse
to arms for the purpose of restoring Ptolemy, King of Egypt, to his
states. In spite of this prohibition, Cicero, as early as the year 698,
had engaged P. Lentulus, proconsul in Cilicia and in Cyprus, to
re-establish him by force, and, to encourage this enterprise, he had
suggested to him the prospect of impunity in success, without, however,
concealing from him that, in case of reverse, the legal question, as
well, as the religious question, would assume a threatening form. [686]
Lentulus had thought it prudent to abstain; but Gabinius, proconsul in
Syria in the following year, had not shown the same degree of scruple.
Bribed by the king, some said, but, as others said, having received
orders from Pompey, he had left his son in Syria with a few troops, and
had marched with his legions towards Egypt.

After having, on his way, plundered Judæa, and sent prisoner to Rome its
king Aristobulus, he crossed the desert, and arrived before Pelusium. A
certain Archelaus, who was looked upon as a good general, and had served
under Mithridates, was detained in Syria. Gabinius, informed that Queen
Berenice wished to place him at the head of her army, and that she
offered a large sum of money for his ransom, immediately set him at
liberty, showing thereby as much avidity for riches as contempt for the
Egyptians. He defeated them in several battles, slew Archelaus, and
entered Alexandria, where he re-established Ptolemy on the throne, and
the latter, it is said, gave him 10,000 talents. [687] In this
expedition, Mark Antony, who was soon to be Cæsar’s quæstor, commanded
the cavalry; he distinguished himself by his intrepidity and by his
military talent. [688] This was the commencement of his fortune.

Gabinius, if we believe Dio Cassius, took good care not to send an
account of his conduct, but it was not long in becoming known, and he
was compelled to return to Rome, where serious accusations awaited him.
Unfortunately for him, when the period of his trial came on, Pompey, his
protector, was no longer consul.

Gabinius had to undergo in succession two accusations: he was acquitted
of the first, on the double head of sacrilege and high treason, because
he paid heavy bribes to his judges. [689] As to the second accusation,
relating to acts of extortion, he experienced more difficulties. Pompey,
who had been obliged to absent himself, in order to provide for the
provisioning with which he was charged, hastened to the gates of Rome,
which his office of proconsul did not allow him to enter, convoked an
assembly of the people outside the Pomœrium, employed all his
authority, and even read letters from Cæsar, in favour of the accused.
Still more, he begged Cicero to undertake his defence, and Cicero
accepted the task, forgetting the invectives with which he had
overwhelmed Gabinius before the Senate. All these efforts failed: it was
necessary to yield to the rage of the public opinion, skilfully excited
by the enemies of Gabinius; and the latter, condemned, went into exile,
where he remained until Cæsar’s dictatorship. [690]


[Sidenote: Corruption of the Elections. ]

V. We are astonished to see personages such as Pompey and Cæsar
protecting men who seem to have borne such bad character as Gabinius;
but, to judge with impartiality the men of that period, we must not
forget, in the first place, that there were very few without blemish,
and, further, that the political parties never hesitated in throwing
upon their adversaries the most odious calumnies. Gabinius, belonging to
the popular faction, and the partisan of Pompey, had incurred the hatred
of the aristocracy and of the farmers of the revenues. The nobles never
pardoned him for being the author of the law which had entrusted to
Pompey the command of the expedition against the pirates, and for having
shown, during his proconsulship in Syria, want of deference in regard to
the Senate. So that assembly refused, in 698, to order thanksgivings for
his victories. [691] The farmers of the revenues bore ill-will towards
him on account of his decrees against usury,[692] and his solicitude for
the interests of his province. [693] This proconsul, who is represented
as an adventurer pillaging those under his administration, appears to
have governed Judæa with justice, and to have restored with skill, on
his return from Egypt, the order which had been disturbed during his
absence. His military capacity cannot be called in doubt. In speaking of
him, the historian Josephus closes with these words his account of the
battle against the Nabathæi: “This great captain, after so many
exploits, returned to Rome, and Crassus succeeded him in the government
of Syria. ”[694] Nevertheless, it is very probable that Gabinius was not
more scrupulous than the other proconsuls in matter of probity; for, if
corruption then displayed itself with impudence in the provinces, it was
perhaps still more shameless in Rome. The following is a striking
example. Two candidates for the consulship, Domitius Calvinus and
Memmius Gemellus, united their clients and resources of all kinds to
obtain the first magistracy. In their desire to procure the support of
Ahenobarbus and Claudius Pulcher, the consuls in office, they engaged by
writing to secure for them, on their quitting office, the provinces they
desired, and that by a double fraud: they promised first to bring three
augurs to affirm the existence of a supposititious curiate law, and then
to find two consulars who would declare that they had assisted at the
regulation relative to the distribution of the provinces; in case of
non-performance, there was stipulated, for the profit of the consuls,
400,000 sestertii. [695] This shameless traffic and others of the same
kind, in which were compromised Æmilius Scaurus and Valerius Messala,
had caused the interest of money to be doubled. [696] The bargain would
probably have been carried out, if, in consequence of a quarrel between
the two consuls, Memmius had not denounced the convention in full
Senate, and produced the contract. The scandal was enormous, but it
remained unpunished as regarded the consuls.

Memmius, formerly Cæsar’s enemy, had recently joined his party;
nevertheless, the latter, incensed at his impudence, blamed his conduct,
and abandoned him; Memmius was exiled. [697] As to Domitius, he was, it
is true, accused of solicitation, and the Senate intended absolutely to
close the consulship against him by deciding that the consular comitia
should not be held until after judgment had been given on his trial.

All these facts bear witness to the decay of society, for the moral
degradation of the individuals must infallibly bring with it the
abasement of the institutions.


[Sidenote: Death of Cæsar’s Daughter. ]

VI. Towards the month of August of the year 700, Cæsar lost his mother
Aurelia, and, a few days afterwards, his daughter Julia. The latter,
whose health had been declining since the troubles of the preceding
year, had become pregnant; she died in giving birth to a son, which did
not survive. Cæsar was painfully affected by this misfortune,[698] of
which he received the news during his expedition to Britain. [699] Pompey
was desirous of burying his wife in his estate of Alba; but the populace
opposed it, carried the body to the Campus Martius, and insisted on its
being buried there. By that rare privilege reserved to illustrious men,
the people sought, according to Plutarch, to honour rather the daughter
of Cæsar than the wife of Pompey. [700] This death broke one of the ties
which united the two most important men of the Republic. To create new
ties, Cæsar proposed his niece Octavia in marriage to Pompey, whose
daughter he offered to espouse, although she was already married to
Faustus Sylla. [701]


[Sidenote: Cæsar’s Buildings at Rome. ]

VII. At the same period, the proconsul of Gaul was, with the produce of
his booty, rebuilding at Rome a magnificent edifice, the old basilica of
the Forum, which was extended as far as to the Temple of Liberty. “It
will be the most beautiful thing in the world,” says Cicero; “there will
be in the Campus Martius seven electoral enclosures and galleries of
marble which will be surrounded with great porticoes of a thousand
paces. Near it will be a public villa. ” Paulus was charged with the
execution of the works; Cicero and Oppius considered that 60,000,000
sestertii was a small sum for such an undertaking. [702] According to
Pliny, the mere purchase of the site in the Forum cost Cæsar the sum of
100,000,000 sestertii. [703] This building, interrupted by events, was
only finished after the African war. [704]


[Sidenote: His Relations with Cicero. ]

VIII. While Cæsar was gaining, by these works destined for the public,
the general admiration, he neglected none of those attentions which were
of a nature to ensure him the alliance of men of importance. Cicero, as
we have seen, was already reconciled with him, and Cæsar had done all in
his power to gain his attachment still further. He flattered his
self-love, listened to all his recommendations,[705] treating with great
friendship Quintus Cicero, whom he had made one of his lieutenants; he
went so far as to place at the disposal of the great orator his credit
and fortune,[706] and accordingly Cicero was in continual
correspondence with him. He composed, as we have seen, poems in his
honour, and he wrote to Quintus “that he placed above everything the
friendship of such a man, whose affection he prized as much as that of
his brother and children. ”[707] Elsewhere he said: “The memorable and
truly divine behaviour of Cæsar towards me and towards my brother has
imposed upon me the duty of seconding him in all his designs. ”[708] And
he had kept his word. It was at Cæsar’s request that Cicero had
consented to resume his old friendly relations with Crassus,[709] and to
defend Gabinius and Rabirius. This last, compromised in the affairs of
Egypt, was accused of having received great sums of money from King
Ptolemy; but Cicero proved that he was poor, and reduced to live upon
Cæsar’s generosity, and, in the course of the trial, he expressed
himself as follows:--

“Will you, judges, know the truth? If the generosity of C. Cæsar,
extreme towards everybody, had not, in regard to Rabirius, passed all
belief, we should have ceased long ago to see him in the Forum. Cæsar
singly performs towards Postumus the duty of his numerous friends; and
the services which these rendered to his prosperity, Cæsar lavishes them
upon his adversity. Postumus is no longer more than the shadow of a
Roman knight; if he preserves this title, it is by the protection, by
the devotedness of a single friend. This phantom of his old rank, which
Cæsar alone has preserved for him and assists him in sustaining, is the
only wealth that we can now take from him. And this is a reason why we
ought the more to maintain him in it in his distress. It cannot be the
effect of a mean merit, to inspire, absent and in misfortune, so much
interest in such a man, who, in so lofty a fortune, does not disdain to
cast down his looks on the affairs of others. In that pre-occupation
with the great things which he is doing or has done, we should not be
astonished if we saw him forget his friends, and, if he forgot them, he
would easily obtain forgiveness.

“I have recognised in Cæsar very eminent and wonderful qualities; but
his other virtues are, as on a vast theatre, exposed to the gaze of
nations. To choose with skill the place for a camp, to marshal an army,
to take fortresses, break through enemies’ lines, face the rigour of
winter and those frosts which we support with difficulty in the bosom of
our towns and houses, to pursue the enemy in that same season when the
wild beasts hide in the depth of their retreats, and where everywhere
the law of nations gives a truce to combats: these are great things; who
denies it? but they have for their motive the most magnificent of
recompenses, the hope of living for ever in men’s memory. Such efforts
cause us no surprise in the man who aspires to immortality.

“But this is the glory which I admire in Cæsar, a glory which is neither
celebrated by the verses of poets nor by the monuments of history, but
which is weighed in the balance of the sage: a Roman knight, his old
friend, attached, devoted, affectioned to his person, had been ruined,
not by his excesses, not by shameful extravagance and the losses
brought on by indulgence of the passions, but by a speculation which had
for its object to augment his patrimony: Cæsar has arrested him in his
descent; he has not suffered him to fall, he has held out his hand to
him, has sustained him with his wealth, with his credit, and he still
sustains him at the present time; he holds back his friend on the edge
of the precipice, and the calm of his mind is no more disturbed by the
brightness of his own name, than his eyes are dazzled by the blaze of
his glory. May the actions of which I have spoken be as great in our
esteem as they are in reality! Let people think what they will of my
opinion in this respect; but when I see, in the bosom of such a power
and of such a prodigious fortune, this generosity towards others, this
unforgetfulness of friendship, I prefer them to all the other virtues.
And you, judges, far from this character of goodness, so new and so rare
among considerable and illustrious men, being disdained or repulsed by
you, you should wrap it up in your favour, and seek to encourage it; you
should do this the more, since this moment seems to have been chosen for
attacking Cæsar’s consideration, although, in this respect, we could do
nothing but he supports it with constancy or repairs it without
difficulty. But if he hears that one of his best friends has been struck
in his honour, it will be with the deepest pain, and to him an
irreparable misfortune. ”[710]

In another circumstance, Cicero explained as follows the reason of his
attachment for the conqueror of Gaul: “Should I refuse my praises to
Cæsar, when I know that the people, and, after its example, the Senate,
from which my heart has never been severed, have shown their esteem for
him by loud and multiplied testimonies? Then, without doubt, it must be
confessed that the general interest has no influence on my sentiments,
and that individuals alone are the objects of my hatred or of my
friendship! What then? Should I see my vessel float with full sails
towards a port which, without being the same which I preferred formerly,
is neither less sure nor less tranquil, and, at the risk of my life,
wrestle against the tempest rather than trust myself to the skill of the
pilot who promises to save me? No, there is no inconstancy in following
the movements which storms impress on the vessel of the state. For me, I
have learned, I have recognized, I have read a truth, and the writers of
our nation, as well as those of other peoples, have consecrated it in
their works by the example of the wisest and most illustrious of men; it
is, that we ought not to persist irrevocably in our opinions, but that
we ought to accept the sentiments which are required by the situation of
the state, the diversity of conjunctures, and the interests of
peace. ”[711]

In his _Oration against Piso_, he exclaims: “It would be impossible for
me, in contemplation of the great things which Cæsar has done, and which
he is doing every day, not to be his friend. Since he has the command of
your armies, it is no longer the rampart of the Alps which I seek to
oppose to the invasion of the Gauls; it is no longer by means of the
barrier of the Rhine, with all its gurges, that I seek to arrest the
fierce Germanic nations. Cæsar has done so much that, if the mountains
should be levelled, and the rivers dried, our Italy, deprived of her
natural fortifications, would find, in the result of his victories and
exploits, a safe defence. ”[712]

The warm expansion of such sentiments must have touched Cæsar, and
inspired him with confidence; therefore he earnestly engaged Cicero not
to quit Rome. [713]

The influence of Cæsar continued to increase, as the letters and
orations of Cicero sufficiently testify. If it was required to raise
citizens such as C. Messius, M. Orfius, M. Curtius, C. Trebatius,[714]
to elevated positions, or to excite the interest of the judges in favour
of an accused, as in the trials of Balbus, Rabirius, and Gabinius, it
was always the same support which was invoked. [715]




CHAPTER VI.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 701.


[Sidenote: Expedition to the North of Gaul. Second Passage of the
Rhine. ]

I. The disturbed state of Gaul and the loss of fifteen cohorts at
Tongres obliged Cæsar to augment his army; he raised two legions in the
Cisalpine, and asked for a third from Pompey. Again at the head of ten
legions, Cæsar, with his usual activity, hastened to repress the
incipient insurrections. From the Scheldt to the Rhine, from the Seine
to the Loire, most of the peoples were in arms. Those of Trèves had
called the Suevi to their assistance.

Without waiting for the end of winter, Cæsar brought together four
legions at Amiens, and, falling unexpectedly upon the peoples of
Hainault, forced from them a speedy submission. Then he convoked in this
latter town the general assembly of Gaul; but the peoples of Sens,
Orleans, and Trèves did not repair to it. He then transferred the
assembly to Paris, and afterwards marched upon Sens, where his
appearance sufficed to pacify not only that country, but also that of
Orleans. Having thus appeased in a short time the troubles of the north
and centre of Gaul, he directed all his attention towards the countries
situated between the Rhine and the Meuse, where Ambiorix continued to
excite revolt. He was impatient to avenge upon him the defeat of
Sabinus; but, to make more sure of overtaking him, he resolved first to
make two expeditions, one into Brabant, the other into the country of
Trèves, and in this manner to cut off that chieftain from all retreat,
either on the side of the north, or on the side of the east, where the
Germans were.

He advanced in person towards Brabant, which he soon reduced to
obedience. During this time, Labienus gained, on the banks of the
Ourthe, a great victory over the inhabitants of the country of Trèves.
At the news of this defeat, the Germans, who had already crossed the
Rhine, returned home. Cæsar rejoined Labienus on the territory of
Trèves, and, determined to chastise the Suevi, he a second time crossed
the Rhine, near Bonn, a little above the place where he had built a
bridge two years before. After compelling the Suevi to take refuge in
the interior of their territory, he returned to Gaul, caused a part of
the bridge to be cut, and left a strong garrison on the left bank.


[Sidenote: Pursuit of Ambiorix. ]

II. Having thus rendered all retreat impossible to Ambiorix, he advanced
with his army towards the country of Liége by way of Zulpich and Eupen,
across the forest of the Ardennes. Having arrived on the Meuse, he
divided his troops into three corps, and sent all his baggage with the
14th legion, under the command of Cicero, into the fortress of Tongres,
the scene of the disaster of Sabinus. Of these three corps, the first
was sent towards the north, near the southern frontiers of Brabant; the
second towards the west, between the Meuse and the Demer; and the third
marched towards the Scheldt, under the command of Cæsar, whose intention
was to gain the extremity of the forest of the Ardennes between Brussels
and Antwerp, where Ambiorix was said to have taken refuge. When he
quitted Tongres, he announced that he should return in seven days. But,
unwilling to risk his troops on difficult ground, against men who,
scattered, carried on a war of partisans, he sent messengers to invite
the neighbouring peoples to go and ravage the country of Liége, and, at
his call, all hurried to take part in the pillage. Among them 2,000
Sicambrian cavalry, attracted from beyond the Rhine, conceived the idea
of falling upon Cicero’s camp in order to carry off the riches it
contained. They arrived at the moment when a part of the garrison had
gone to forage. It was with great difficulty, and with the loss of two
cohorts, that the Romans repulsed this attack. The devastation of the
country of Liége was completed, but Ambiorix escaped.

The defeat of Sabinus at Tongres thus cruelly avenged, Cæsar returned to
Rheims, convoked there the assembly of Gaul, and caused judgment to be
passed on the conspiracy of the peoples of Sens and Orleans. Acco, the
head of the revolt, was condemned to death and executed, and Cæsar,
after placing his legions in winter quarters in the countries watered by
the Moselle, the Marne, and the Yonne, repaired to Italy.


[Sidenote: C. Domitius Calvinus and M. Valerius Messala, Consuls. ]

III. At Rome, the legal working of the institutions was incessantly
clogged by the ambitions of individuals. The year 700 had closed
without the holding of the consular comitia. Sometimes the tribunes of
the people, the only magistrates whose elections took place on a fixed
day, opposed the holding of the comitia; sometimes the _interreges_
themselves failed to obtain favourable auspices, or, in moments of
trouble, dared not assemble the people. [716] The boldness of the
agitators of all parties explains this anarchy.

Weary of intrigues and disorder, the public opinion looked for the end
of it only from a new power, which wrests from Cicero this painful
confession: “The Republic is without force; Pompey alone is
powerful. ”[717] Already people even spoke of the dictatorship. [718]
Several men, according to Plutarch, ventured to say openly “that the
power of a single person was the only remedy for the evils of the
Republic, and that this remedy must be sought from the mildest
physician, which clearly indicated Pompey. ”[719] Accordingly, the
tribune Lucceius brought forward the formal motion to elect Pompey
dictator. Cato rose energetically against this ill-timed motion. Several
of Pompey’s friends considered it prudent to justify him by affirming
that he never asked or desired the dictatorship. Cato’s reproaches had
none the less produced their effect; and, to put an end to suspicions,
Pompey permitted the consular comitia to be held. [720] In fact, he had
never the courage equal to his ambition, and “although he affected in
his speeches,” says Plutarch, “to refuse absolute power, all his
actions showed a desire to arrive at it. ”[721]

The comitia opened in the month of Sextilis of the year 701; the consuls
named were Cn. Domitius Calvinus and M. Valerius Messala. The first had
been placed under accusation, as we have seen above; but the
pre-occupations of the moment had caused his trial to drag out in
length; and it is unknown whether he was acquitted, or whether all
judicial action had been paralysed on account of the absence of
magistrates during the first months of the year 701. Moreover, Calvinus
was protected by Pompey, and his colleague, Messala, was favoured by
Cæsar, at the recommendation of Cicero.


[Sidenote: Expedition of Crassus against the Parthians, and his Death. ]

IV. Crassus had left for Syria about eighteen months before, full of
ambitious hopes, and flattering himself with the prospect of immense
conquests. He intended not only to subjugate the Parthians, but even to
renew the campaigns of Alexander, penetrate into Bactriana, and reach
India; unfortunately, he was not equal to such a task. Forgetting the
first rules of a general-in-chief, which consist in never despising his
enemies, and in placing on his side all the chances of success, he had
no care for the army he was going to combat, had made no inquiries
either as to the roads, or as to the countries he had to cross, and
neglected the alliances and succours which the peoples who were
neighbours and enemies to the Parthians might have offered him.

He had started from Brundusium in spite of the bad season, had landed at
Dyrrachium, not without the loss of several vessels; thence, following
the direct military road which led from the coasts of the Adriatic to
the Bosphorus,[722] he had proceeded by land into Galatia, and had
entered into Mesopotamia, after crossing the Euphrates. [723]

The Parthians, taken by surprise, offered no resistance, and the rich
and flourishing Greek colonies on the Euphrates and Tigris, who detested
the Parthian yoke, received Crassus as a liberator. The town of
Nicephorium (_Rakkah_), situated near Ichnæ, on the Balissus, opened its
gates to him; Zenodotium alone stood a siege. Instead of taking
advantage of the concurrence of circumstances, and advancing promptly
upon the Tigris, carrying the considerable town of Seleucia,
Ctesiphon,[724] the ordinary residence of the King of the Parthians, and
even Babylon, he confined himself to plundering the province. Having
left 7,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry in garrison in a few fortresses,
he returned to Syria to take his winter quarters. There, without
occupying himself with the next campaign, he only thought of committing
exactions and of pillaging the temples of Hierapolis and Jerusalem.

At the commencement of 701, Crassus took the field again with seven
legions, nearly 4,000 cavalry, and the same number of light-armed
infantry,[725] and re-entered Mesopotamia. He had for lieutenants his
son Publius, celebrated for his courage, his elevated sentiments, and
his conduct in Gaul; the brave Octavius, who afterwards perished rather
than abandon his general; Vargunteius, Censorinus, and Petronius: for
quæstor, C. Cassius Longinus, esteemed for his valour and prudence, and
who was, ten years afterwards, one of the murderers of Cæsar. An Arab
had become his auxiliary; it was the chief of the Osroenes, Bedouins of
the desert, who had formerly served Pompey in his campaign against
Mithridates; he was named Abgaros, or Abgar,[726] and had been bribed by
the King of the Parthians to betray Crassus.

Artabazus, King of Armenia, visited the proconsul at the head of 6,000
cavalry, promising him 10,000 more, and 30,000 foot, if he consented to
attack the Parthians through Armenia, where the mountainous character of
the country rendered their numerous and formidable cavalry useless.
Crassus rejected this proposal, alleging the necessity of proceeding
into Mesopotamia to the garrisons he had left there in the preceding
year. These, in fact, were already blockaded by the Parthians, and
soldiers who had escaped brought information of the immense preparations
Orodes was making to resist him. A second time, then, he crossed the
Euphrates, not far from Biradjik, the place of the passage of Alexander
the Great. [727] There he had his choice of two roads to reach Seleucia:
either to descend the left bank of the Euphrates to the point where it
approaches the Tigris,[728] or to cross the desert. The first, proposed
by Cassius, although the longest, procured him the immense advantage of
having his right wing constantly supported by the Euphrates, on which
boats could have carried his provisions. The second offered, it is true,
a shorter passage; but in following it, the army was exposed to want of
water and provisions, and to more laborious marches.