On the
approach
of harvest, Cæsar marched against Ambiorix, with his
ten legions, except the guard left at the bridge of the Rhine.
ten legions, except the guard left at the bridge of the Rhine.
Napoleon - History of Julius Caesar - b
According to Polyænus, the despatch contained these words:
θαῥῥεἱν βοἡθειαν προσδἑχου (“Courage! expect succour”). [439]
As soon as he arrived near the camp, the Gaul, not daring to penetrate
to it, did as Cæsar had directed him. By chance his javelin remained two
days stuck in a tower. It was only on the third that it was seen and
carried to Cicero. The letter, read in the presence of the assembled
soldiers, excited transports of joy. Soon afterwards they perceived in
the distance the smoke of burning habitations, which announced the
approach of the army of succour. At that moment, after a five days’
march, it had arrived within twenty kilomètres of Charleroi, near
Binche, where it encamped. The Gauls, when they were informed of it by
their scouts, raised the siege, and then, to the number of about 60,000,
marched to meet the legions.
Cicero, thus liberated, sent another Gaul to announce to Cæsar that the
enemy were turning all their forces against him. At this news, received
towards the middle of the night, Cæsar informed his soldiers, and
strengthened them in their desire of vengeance. At daybreak next day he
raised his camp. After advancing four miles, he perceived a crowd of
enemies on the other side of a great valley traversed by the stream of
the Haine. [440] Cæsar did not consider it prudent to descend into the
valley to engage in combat against so great a number of troops.
Moreover, Cicero once rescued, there was no need for hurrying his march;
he therefore halted, and chose a good position for retrenching--mount
Sainte-Aldegonde. Although his camp, containing hardly 7,000 men,
without baggage, was necessarily of limited extent, he diminished it as
much as possible by giving less width to the streets, in order to
deceive the enemy as to his real strength. At the same time he sent out
scouts to ascertain the best place for crossing the valley.
That day passed in skirmishes of cavalry on the banks of the stream, but
each kept his positions: the Gauls, because they were waiting for
re-enforcements; Cæsar, because he counted on his simulated fear to draw
the enemies out of their position, and compel them to fight on his side
of the Haine, before his camp. If he could not succeed, he obtained time
to reconnoitre the roads sufficiently to pass the river and valley with
less danger. On the morrow, at daybreak, the enemy’s cavalry came up to
the retrenchments, and attacked that of the Romans. Cæsar ordered his
men to give way, and return into the camp; at the same time he caused
the height of the ramparts to be increased, the gates to be stopped up
with mere lumps of turf, and directed his soldiers to execute his
directions with tumultuous haste and all the signs of fear.
The Gauls, drawn on by this feint, passed the stream, and formed in
order of battle in a disadvantageous place. Seeing that the Romans had
even abandoned the _vallum_, they approached nearer to it, threw their
missiles over it from all sides, and caused their heralds to proclaim
round the retrenchments that, until the third hour (ten o’clock), every
Gaul or Roman who should desert to them should have his life saved. At
last, having no hope of forcing the gates, which they supposed to be
solidly fortified, they carried their boldness so far as to begin to
fill up the fosse, and to pull down the palisades with their hands. But
Cæsar held his troops in readiness to profit by the excessive confidence
of the Gauls: at a signal given, they rush through all the gates at
once; the enemy does not resist, but takes to flight, abandoning their
arms, and leaves the ground covered with his dead.
Cæsar did not pursue far, on account of the woods and marshes; he would
not have been able, indeed, to inflict further loss; he marched with his
troops, without having suffered any loss, towards the camp of Cicero,
where he arrived the same day. [441] The towers, the covered galleries,
and the retrenchments of the barbarians, excited his astonishment.
Having assembled the soldiers of Cicero’s legion, nine-tenths of whom
were wounded, he could judge how much danger they had run and how much
courage they had displayed. He loaded with praise the general and
soldiers, addressing individually the centurions and the tribunes who
had distinguished themselves. The prisoners gave him more ample details
on the deaths of Sabinus and Cotta, whose disaster had produced a deep
impression in the army. The next day he reminds the troops convoked for
that purpose of the past event, consoles and encourages them, throws the
fault of this check on the imprudence of the lieutenant, and exhorts
them to resignation the more, because, thanks to the valour of the
soldiers and the protection of the gods, the expiation had been prompt,
and left no further reason for the enemies to rejoice, or for the Romans
to be afflicted. [442]
We see, from what precedes, how small a number of troops, disseminated
over a vast territory, surmounted, by discipline and courage, a
formidable insurrection. Quintus Cicero, by following the principle
invoked by Cotta, _not to enter into negotiations with an enemy in
arms_, saved both his army and his honour. As to Cæsar, he gave proof,
in this circumstance, of an energy and strength of mind which Quintus
Cicero did not fail to point out to his brother when he wrote to
him. [443] If we believe Suetonius and Polyænus, Cæsar felt so great a
grief for the check experienced by Sabinus, that, in sign of mourning,
he let his beard and hair grow until he had avenged his
lieutenants,[444] which only happened in the year following, by the
destruction of the Eburones and the Nervii.
[Sidenote: Cæsar places his Troops in Winter Quarters. Labienus defeats
Indutiomarus. ]
XV. Meanwhile the news of Cæsar’s victory reached Labienus, across the
country of the Remi, with incredible speed: his winter quarters were at
a distance of about sixty miles from Cicero’s camp, where Cæsar had only
arrived after the ninth hour of the day (three o’clock in the
afternoon), and yet before midnight shouts of joy were raised at the
gates of the camp, the acclamations of the Remi who came to congratulate
Labienus. The noise spread in the army of the Treviri, and Indutiomarus,
who had resolved to attack the camp of Labienus next day, withdrew
during the night, and took all his troops with him.
These events having been accomplished, Cæsar distributed the seven
legions he had left in the following manner: he sent Fabius with his
legion to his winter quarters among the Morini, and established himself
in the neighbourhood of Amiens with three legions, which he separated in
three quarters: they were the legion of Crassus, which had remained
stationary, that of Cicero, and that of Trebonius. There are still seen,
along the Somme, in the neighbourhood of Amiens, three camps at a short
distance from each other, which appear to have been those of that
period. [445] Labienus, Plancus, and Roscius continued to occupy the same
positions. The gravity of the circumstances determined Cæsar to remain
all the winter with the army. In fact, on the news of the disaster of
Sabinus, nearly all the people of Gaul showed a disposition to take
arms, sent deputations and messages to each other, communicated their
projects, and deliberated upon the point from which the signal for war
should be given. They held nocturnal assemblies in bye-places, and
during the whole winter not a day passed in which there was not some
meeting or some movement of the Gauls to cause uneasiness to Cæsar. Thus
he learnt from L. Roscius, lieutenant placed at the head of the 13th
legion, that considerable troops of Armorica had assembled to attack
him; they were not more than eight miles from his winter quarters, when
the news of Cæsar’s victory had compelled them to retreat precipitately
and in disorder.
The Roman general called to his presence the _principes_ of each state,
terrified some by letting them know that he was informed of their plots,
exhorted the others to perform their duty, and by these means maintained
the tranquillity of a great part of Gaul. Meanwhile a vexatious event
took place in the country of the Senones, a powerful and influential
nation among the Gauls. They had resolved, in an assembly, to put to
death Cavarinus, whom Cæsar had given them for king. Cavarinus had fled;
upon which they pronounced his deposition, banished him, and pursued him
to the limits of their territory. They had sought to justify themselves
to Cæsar, who ordered them to send him all their senators. They refused.
This boldness on the part of the Senones, by showing to the barbarians
some individuals capable of resisting the Romans, produced so great a
change in their minds, that, with the exception of the Ædui and the
Remi, there was not a people which did not fall under suspicion of
revolt, each desiring to free itself from foreign domination.
During the whole winter, the Treviri and Indutiomarus never ceased
urging the people on the other side of the Rhine to take up arms,
assuring them that the greater part of the Roman army had been
destroyed. But not one of the German nations could be persuaded to pass
the Rhine. The remembrance of the double defeat of Ariovistus and the
Tencteri made them cautious of trying their fortune again. Deceived in
his expectations, Indutiomarus did not discontinue collecting troops,
exercising them, buying horses from the neighbouring countries, and
drawing to him from all parts of Gaul outlaws and condemned criminals.
His ascendency was soon so great, that from all parts people eagerly
sought his friendship and protection.
When he saw some rallying to him spontaneously, others, such as the
Senones and the Carnutes, engaging in his cause through a consciousness
of their fault; the Nervii and the Aduatuci preparing for war, and a
crowd of volunteers disposed to join him as soon as he should have
quitted his country, Indutiomarus, according to the custom of the Gauls
at the beginning of a campaign, called together an assembly in arms. He
pronounced Cingetorix, his son-in-law, who remained faithful to Cæsar,
an enemy of his country; and announced that, in reply to the appeal of
the Senones and Carnutes, he would go to them through the country of the
Remi, whose lands he would ravage; but, above all, he would attack the
camp of Labienus.
The latter, established on the Ourthe, master of a position naturally
formidable, which he had further fortified, was in fear of no attack,
but dreamt, on the contrary, of seizing the first opportunity of
combating with advantage. Informed by Cingetorix of the designs of
Indutiomarus, he demanded cavalry of the neighbouring states, pretended
fear, and, letting the enemy’s cavalry approach with impunity, remained
shut up in his camp.
While, deceived by these appearances, Indutiomarus became daily more
presumptuous, Labienus introduced secretly into his camp during the
night the auxiliary cavalry, and, by keeping a close watch, prevented
the Treviri from being informed of it. The enemy, ignorant of the
arrival of this re-enforcement, advanced nearer and nearer to the
retrenchments, and redoubled his provocations. They were unnoticed, and
towards evening he withdrew in disorder. Suddenly Labienus causes his
cavalry, seconded by his cohorts, to issue by the two gates. Foreseeing
the rout of the enemy, he urges his troops to follow Indutiomarus alone,
and promises great rewards to those who shall bring his head. Fortune
seconded his designs; Indutiomarus was overtaken just at the ford of the
river (the Ourthe), and put to death, and his head was brought into the
camp. The cavalry, in their return, slew all the enemies they found in
their way. The Eburones and the Nervii dispersed. The result of these
events was to give to Gaul a little more tranquillity. [446]
[Sidenote: Observations. ]
XVI. The Emperor Napoleon, in his _Précis des Guerres de César_,
explains in the following manner the advantage the Romans drew from
their camps:--
“The Romans owe the constancy of their successes to the method, from
which they never departed, of encamping every night in a fortified camp,
and of never giving battle without having behind them a retrenched camp,
to serve them as a place of retreat, and to contain their magazines,
their baggage, and their wounded. The nature of arms in those ages was
such that, in these camps, they were not only in safety from the attacks
of an equal army, but even an army which was stronger; they were the
masters to fight or to wait a favourable opportunity. Marius is assailed
by a cloud of Cimbri or Teutones; he shuts himself up in his camp,
remains there until the favourable day or occasion comes, then he issues
with victory before him. Cæsar arrives near the camp of Cicero; the
Gauls abandon the latter, and march to meet the former; they are four
times more numerous. Cæsar takes a position in a few hours, retrenches
his camp, and in it he bears patiently the insults and provocations of
an enemy whom he is not yet willing to combat; but a favourable
opportunity is not long in presenting itself. He then issues through all
his gates; the Gauls are vanquished.
“Why, then, has a rule so wise, so fertile in great results, been
abandoned by modern generals? Because offensive arms have changed its
character; arms for the hand were the principal arms of the ancients; it
was with his short sword that the legionary conquered the world; it was
with the Macedonian pike that Alexander conquered Asia. The principal
arms of modern armies are projectiles; the musket is superior to
anything ever invented by man; no defensive arm is a protection against
it.
“As the principal arm of the ancients was the sword or the pike, their
habitual formation was in deep order. The legion and the phalanx, in
whatever situation they were attacked, either in front, or in right
flank, or in left flank, faced everywhere without disadvantage; they
could encamp on surfaces of small extent, in order to have less labour
in fortifying the line of circuit, and in order to hold their ground
with the smallest detachment possible. The principal arm of the moderns
is the projectile; their habitual order has naturally been narrow order,
the only one which permits them to bring all their projectiles to bear.
“A consular army enclosed in its camp, attacked by a modern army of
equal force, would be driven out of it without assault, and without
being able to use their swords; it would not be necessary to fill up the
fosses or to scale the ramparts: surrounded on all sides by the
attacking army, pierced through, enveloped, and raked by the fire, the
camp would be the common drain of all the shots, of all the balls, of
all the bullets: fire, devastation, and death would open the gates and
throw down the retrenchments. A modern army, placed in a Roman camp,
would at first, no doubt, make use of all its artillery; but, though
equal to the artillery of the besieger, it would be taken in _rouage_
and quickly reduced to silence; a part only of the infantry could use
their muskets, but it would fire upon a line less extended, and would be
far from producing an effect equal to the injury it would receive. The
fire from the centre to the circumference is null; that from the
circumference to the centre is irresistible. All these considerations
have decided modern generals in renouncing the system of retrenched
camps, to adopt instead natural positions well chosen.
“A Roman camp was placed independently of localities: all these were
good for armies whose strength consisted in arms used with the hand; it
required neither experienced eye nor military genius to encamp well;
whereas the choice of positions, the manner of occupying them and
placing the different arms, by taking advantage of the circumstances of
the ground, is an art which forms part of the genius of the modern
captain.
“If it were said now-a-days to a general, You shall have, like Cicero,
under your orders, 5,000 men, sixteen pieces of cannon, 5,000 pioneers’
tools, 5,000 sacks of earth; you shall be within reach of a forest, on
ordinary ground; in fifteen days you shall be attacked by an army of
60,000 men, having 120 pieces of cannon; you shall not be succoured till
eighty or ninety-six hours after having been attacked. What are the
works, what are the plans, what are the profiles, which art prescribes?
Has the art of the engineer secrets which can solve this problem? ”[447]
CHAPTER IX.
(Year of Rome 701. )
(BOOK VI. OF THE “COMMENTARIES. ”)
CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NERVII AND THE TREVIRI--SECOND PASSAGE OF THE
RHINE--WAR AGAINST AMBIORIX AND THE TREVIRI.
[Sidenote: Cæsar augments his Army. ]
I. The state of Gaul gave Cæsar cause to anticipate serious agitations,
and he felt convinced of the necessity of new levies. He employed on
this mission his lieutenants M. Silanus, C. Antistius Reginus, and T.
Sextius; at the same time he asked Pompey, who had remained before Rome
with the _imperium_, in order to watch over the public interests, to
recall to their colours and send him the soldiers of Cisalpine Gaul
enlisted under the consulate of the latter in 699. Cæsar attached, with
a view to the present and to the future, great importance to giving the
Gauls a high idea of the resources of Italy, and to proving to them that
it was easy for the Republic, after a check, not only to repair its
losses, but also to bring into the field troops more numerous than ever.
Pompey, through friendship and consideration for the public good,
granted his demand. Thanks to the activity of his lieutenants, before
the end of winter three new legions (or thirty cohorts) were raised and
joined to the army: the 1st, the 14th, which had just taken the number
of the legion annihilated at Aduatuca, and the 15th. In this manner, the
fifteen cohorts lost under Sabinus were replaced by double their number,
and it was seen, by this rapid display of forces, what was the power of
the military organization and resources of the Roman people. It was the
first time that Cæsar commanded ten legions.
[Sidenote: War against the Nervii, General Assembly of Gaul. ]
II. After the death of Indutiomarus, the Treviri took for their chiefs
some members of his family. These in vain urged the nearest peoples of
the right bank of the Rhine to make common cause with them; but they
succeeded with some of the more distant tribes, particularly the Suevi,
and persuaded Ambiorix to enter into their league. From all parts, from
the Rhine to the Scheldt, were announced preparations for war. The
Nervii, the Aduatuci, the Menapii, all the Germans on this side of the
Rhine, were in arms. The Senones persisted in their disobedience, and
acted in concert with the Carnutes and the neighbouring states;
everything urged upon Cæsar the counsel to open the campaign earlier
than usual. Accordingly, without waiting for the end of winter, he
concentrates the four legions nearest to Amiens, his head-quarters
(those of Fabius, Crassus, Cicero, and Trebonius), invades unexpectedly
the territory of the Nervii, gives them time neither to assemble nor to
fly, but carries off the men and cattle, abandons the booty to the
soldiers, and forces this people to submission.
This expedition so rapidly terminated, the legions returned to their
winter quarters. At the beginning of spring, Cæsar convoked, according
to his custom, the general assembly of Gaul, which met, no doubt, at
Amiens. The different peoples sent thither their representatives, with
the exception of the Senones, the Carnutes, and the Treviri. He regarded
this absence as a sign of revolt, and in order to pursue his designs
without neglecting the general affairs, he resolved to transfer the
assembly nearer to the insurrection, to Lutetia. This town belonged to
the Parisii, who bordered on the Senones, and although formerly these
peoples had formed but one, the Parisii do not appear to have entered
into the conspiracy. Cæsar, having announced this decision from the
summit of his prætorium (_pro suggestu pronuntiata_), started the same
day at the head of his legions, and advanced by forced marches towards
the country of the Senones.
At the news of his approach, Acco, the principal author of the revolt,
ordered the population to retire into the _oppida_; but, taken by
surprise by the arrival of the Romans, the Senones employed the Ædui,
once their patrons, to intercede in their favour. Cæsar pardoned them
without difficulty, preferring to employ the fine season in war than in
the search of those who were culpable. A hundred hostages exacted from
the Senones were entrusted to the Ædui. The Carnutes imitated the
example of the Senones, and, by the intermediation of the Remi, whose
clients they were, obtained their pardon. Cæsar pronounced the close of
the assembly of Gaul, and ordered the different states to furnish their
contingents of cavalry. [448]
[Sidenote: Submission of the Menapii. ]
III. Having pacified this part of the country, Cæsar turned all his
thoughts towards the war with the Treviri and with Ambiorix, the chief
of the Eburones. He was, above all, impatient to take a striking
vengeance for the humiliation inflicted on his arms at Aduatuca. Knowing
well that Ambiorix would not hazard a battle, he sought to penetrate his
designs. Two things were to be feared: the first, that Ambiorix, when
his territory was invaded, would take refuge among the Menapii, whose
country, adjoining that of the Eburones, was defended by woods and vast
marshes, and who, alone among the Gauls, had never made an act of
submission; the second, that he might join the Germans beyond the Rhine,
with whom, as was known, he had entered into friendly relations through
the intermediation of the Treviri. Cæsar conceived the plan of first
preventing these two eventualities, in order to isolate Ambiorix.
Wishing, above all, to reduce to submission the Menapii and Treviri, and
carry the war at the same time into the countries of these two peoples,
he undertook in person the expedition against the Menapii, and entrusted
that against the Treviri to Labienus, his best lieutenant, who had
operated against them on several occasions. Labienus, after his victory
over Indutiomarus, had continued in his winter quarters with his legions
at Lavacherie, on the Ourthe. [449] Cæsar sent him all the baggage of
the army and two legions. He marched in person towards the country of
the Menapii, at the head of five legions without baggage. He took with
him Cavarinus and the Senonese cavalry, fearing lest the resentment of
this king against his people, or the hatred which he had drawn upon
himself, might raise some disorders, and, following the general
direction of Sens, Soissons, Bavay, and Brussels, he reached the
frontier of the Menapii. The latter, trusting in the nature of the
ground, had assembled no forces, but took refuge in the woods and
marshes. Cæsar divided his troops with the lieutenant C. Fabius and the
questor M. Crassus, formed them into three columns, and, causing bridges
to be hastily constructed, to cross the marshy water-courses, penetrated
at three points into their territory, which he ravaged. The Menapii,
reduced to extremity, demanded peace: it was granted to them on the
express condition that they should refuse all shelter to Ambiorix or to
his lieutenants. Cæsar left Commius among them with part of the cavalry
to hold them under surveillance, and marched thence towards the country
of the Treviri. [450]
[Sidenote: Success of Labienus against the Treviri. ]
IV. On his part, Labienus had obtained brilliant successes; the Treviri
had marched with considerable forces against his winter quarters. They
were no more than two days’ march from him, when they learnt that he
had been joined by two other legions. Resolving then to wait the succour
of the Germans, they halted at a distance of fifteen miles from the camp
of Labienus. The latter, informed of the cause of their inaction, and
hoping that their imprudence would present an opportunity for giving
battle, left five cohorts to guard the greatest part of the baggage,
and, with the twenty-five others and a numerous cavalry, established his
camp within a mile of the enemy.
The two armies were separated by the river Ourthe, the passage of which
was rendered difficult by the steepness of the banks. Labienus had no
intention of crossing it, but he feared that the enemy might imitate his
prudence until the arrival of the Germans, who were expected
immediately. To draw them to him, he spread a rumour that he should
withdraw on the morrow at break of day, in order to avoid having to
combat the united forces of the Treviri and the Germans. He assembled
during the night the tribunes and centurions of the first class,
informed them of his design, and, contrary to Roman discipline, broke up
his camp with every appearance of disorder and a precipitate retreat.
The proximity of the camps allowed the enemy to obtain information of
this movement by his scouts before daybreak.
The rear-guard of Labienus had no sooner begun its march, than the
barbarians urge each other not to let a prey so long coveted escape
them. They imagine that the Romans are struck with terror, and, thinking
it disgraceful to wait any longer the succour of the Germans, they cross
the river and advance unhesitatingly upon unfavourable ground.
Labienus, seeing the success of his stratagem, continued slowly his
apparent retreat, in order to draw all the Gauls over the river. He had
sent forward, to an eminence, the baggage, guarded by a detachment of
cavalry. Suddenly he orders the ensigns to be turned towards the enemy,
forms his troops in order of battle, the cavalry on the wings, and
exhorts them to display the same valour as if Cæsar were present. Then
an immense cry rises in the ranks, and the _pila_ are thrown from all
sides. The Gauls, surprised at seeing an enemy they believed they were
pursuing turn against them, did not sustain even the first shock, but
fled precipitately into the neighbouring forests. Pressed by the
cavalry, they were slain or captured in great numbers.
Labienus employed those wise tactics to which the Romans owed their
greatest successes. Invincible in their fortified camps, they could, as
the Emperor Napoleon I. has so well remarked, either combat or wait for
the opportune moment. The Gauls, on the contrary, warlike peoples,
carried away by a fiery courage, not understanding the patience and
wiliness of their adversaries, fell always into the snare which was laid
for them. It was enough to feign terror, and inspire them with contempt
for the enemy’s forces, to make them engage instantly in disorderly
attacks, which the Romans, by sudden sorties, easily defeated. This was
the system followed by Sabinus when attacked by the Unelli, by Cæsar on
his way to the relief of Cicero, and by Labienus himself in the previous
year.
A few days afterwards the country submitted; for, on the news of the
defeat of the Treviri, the Germans returned home, followed by the
relatives of Indutiomarus, the author of the revolt. Cingetorix,
constant in his fidelity to the Romans, was replaced at the head of the
nation. The double object proposed by Cæsar was thus attained; for, on
one hand, since the submission of the Menapii, Ambiorix could no longer
dream of finding a refuge among them; and, on the other, the victory of
Labienus, followed by the retreat of the Germans, placed it out of his
power to league with these latter. Nevertheless, to assure this double
result, punish the Germans for their readiness to succour the Treviri,
and cut off Ambiorix from all retreat, Cæsar, after having effected his
junction with Labienus, resolved to pass the Rhine a second time. [451]
[Sidenote: Second Passage of the Rhine. ]
V. He had passed from the country of the Menapii into that of the
Treviri, and had arrived near the locality where now stands the town of
Bonn. He there caused a bridge to be built a little above the spot where
his army had crossed two years before. In consequence of the experience
gained by the processes employed on the former occasion, and of the
extreme zeal of the soldiers, the work was finished in a few days.
Having left for the protection of the bridge a strong detachment on the
bank belonging to the Treviri, for fear of some movement on their part,
Cæsar crossed the river with the legions and the cavalry. The Ubii, who
had long before made their submission, assured him that they had
neither sent assistance to the Treviri or violated their oath; that the
Suevi alone had furnished auxiliaries; and that thus he ought not to
confound them with the latter in his anger against the Germans. He
accepted their excuses, and obtained information on the roads and passes
which led to the country of the Suevi.
A few days afterwards, he learnt that the latter were concentrating on a
single point their troops and the contingents of the tribes under their
dependence. He provided for the supply of provisions, chose a favourable
position for his camp, and enjoined the Ubii to transport their cattle
and goods into their _oppida_, hoping to compel the barbarians by famine
to fight at disadvantage. The Ubii were similarly charged to watch the
enemy by means of numerous scouts. A few days later, they informed Cæsar
that the Suevi, at the approach of the Romans, had retired, with all
their troops and those of their allies, to the extremity of their
territory. There lay the forest Bacenis,[452] which advanced very far
into the country, and which, placed like a natural barrier between the
Suevi and the Cherusci, separated these two peoples and defended them
against their mutual excursions. It was at the entrance to this forest,
probably towards the mountains of Thuringia, that the Suevi had resolved
to await the Romans.
In this expedition, as in the one preceding, Cæsar feared to engage
himself too far in the middle of an uncultivated country, where
provisions might have failed him. He therefore repassed the Rhine. But
to keep the barbarians in fear of his return, and to prevent their
re-enforcements from reaching the Gauls, he did not destroy the whole
bridge, but only cut off 200 feet on the side of the Ubian bank; at the
extremity of the truncated part he built a tower of four stories, and
left on the left bank twelve cohorts in a retrenched post. Young C.
Volcatius Tullus had the command of it. Cæsar’s two expeditions to the
right bank of the Rhine led to no battle, and yet the moral effect was
so great, that after this period the Germans no longer supported the
insurrections in Gaul, and even became the auxiliaries of the
Romans. [453]
[Sidenote: War against Ambiorix. ]
VI.
On the approach of harvest, Cæsar marched against Ambiorix, with his
ten legions, except the guard left at the bridge of the Rhine. He
started from Bonn, and advanced towards the country of the Eburones, by
way of Zulpich and Eupen (_see Plate 14_), across the forest of the
Ardennes, which extended, it will be remembered, from the banks of the
Rhine to the country of the Nervii. In the hope of surprising the enemy,
he sent forward M. Minucius Basilus, with all the cavalry, recommending
to him not to light fires, which would reveal his approach, and
informing him that he should follow him closely.
Basilus, faithful to his orders, fell by surprise on a great number of
Eburones, proceeded straight towards the locality to which Ambiorix was
said to have retired with a few cavalry, succeeded in penetrating to the
abode of this chieftain, and seized upon all his effects; but the
latter, protected by some of his followers, escaped on horseback
through the woods; his partisans dispersed. It was thus that fortune,
which plays so important a part in war, favoured at the same time the
enterprise against Ambiorix and his escape. The Eburon chief sent secret
messages in all directions, recommending the inhabitants to provide for
their own safety. Some concealed themselves in the forest of the
Ardennes, others in the midst of the marshes. Those who were nearest to
the ocean sought refuge in the islands which are formed at high tide;
others expatriated themselves, and settled in distant countries.
Catuvolcus, king of one-half of the country of the Eburones, crushed
with age and misfortunes, took poison, that he might not fall alive into
the power of the Romans.
During this time, Cæsar was approaching the country of the Segni and
Condrusi,[454] who came to implore him not to confound in the same cause
all the Germans beyond the Rhine, and protested their neutrality. The
fact having been satisfactorily proved, Cæsar assured them that, if they
would deliver up to him the Eburones who had sought refuge among them,
their territory should be respected. Having arrived at Visé, on the
Meuse, where a ford exists from time immemorial, he divided his troops
into three bodies, and sent the baggage of all the legions to Aduatuca
(_Tongres_): it was the place which had witnessed the recent disaster of
Sabinus. He gave preference to this position, because the retrenchments
of the preceding year, still standing, would spare the troops much
labour. He left, as a guard for the baggage, the 14th legion, and placed
it, with 200 cavalry, under the command of Quintus Cicero.
Of the nine legions remaining with Cæsar, three were sent with T.
Labienus to the north towards the ocean, into the part of the country of
the Eburones which touched on that of the Menapii; three to the south
with C. Trebonius, to ravage the districts neighbouring on the Aduatuci
(towards the south-west, between the Meuse and the Demer); lastly,
Cæsar, at the head of the three others, advanced towards the Scheldt,
the waters of which, at this period, mingled with those of the
Meuse. [455] (_See Plate 14. _) It was his intention to gain the extremity
of the Ardennes (between Brussels and Antwerp), whither it was said that
Ambiorix had retired with a few horsemen. He announced, on his
departure, that he should return to Aduatuca on the seventh day, the
period for the distribution of provisions to the legion which was left
at that place in charge of the baggage. Labienus and Trebonius were, if
they found it possible, to return at the same period, in order to
concert again on the measures to be taken after they had made themselves
acquainted with the designs of the enemy.
The Eburones had neither regular force, nor garrison, nor _oppidum_.
They formed a scattered multitude, always in ambush, attacking the
soldiers when isolated, and obliging the Romans to carry on a harassing
war, without any decisive result; for the nature of the country, covered
with thick forests, and intersected by marshes, protected the
barbarians, who could only be reached by small detachments. In the midst
of these difficulties, Cæsar preferred doing less injury to the enemy,
and sparing the lives of his own soldiers, by having recourse to the
Gauls. He accordingly sent messages to invite the neighbouring peoples
to come and ravage the territory of the Eburones, and assist him in
exterminating a race guilty of having slaughtered his soldiers. At his
call, numerous hordes rushed from all sides, and the entire territory of
the Eburones was soon given up to pillage. [456]
[Sidenote: The Sicambri attack Aduatuca. ]
VII. Meanwhile, the seventh day, the period fixed for Cæsar’s return,
approached. Chance, so common in war, brought about a remarkable
incident. The enemy, scattered, and struck with terror, could no longer
inspire the least fear. But rumour having spread beyond the Rhine, among
the Germans, that all peoples were invited to ravage the country of the
Eburones, the Sicambri, neighbours to the river, who had, as we have
seen, received the Usipetes and Tencteri after their defeat, collect
2,000 cavalry; they pass the Rhine on rafts and boats, thirty miles
below where Cæsar had built his bridge and left a guard (forty-five
kilomètres below Bonn. )[457] They invade the territory of the Eburones,
pick up a crowd of fugitives, and seize upon a great number of cattle.
The attraction of booty draws them on farther and farther; bred in the
midst of war and plundering, nothing stops them--neither marshes nor
woods. On their arrival at some distance from the Meuse, they learn from
prisoners the absence of Cæsar and the distance of the army, and that in
three hours they can reach Aduatuca, where the riches of the Romans are
deposited. They are made to believe that this fortress is defended by a
garrison too weak to line the walls or venture to issue from the
retrenchments. Trusting in this information, the Germans hide their
booty, and, guided by a prisoner, march against Aduatuca, crossing the
Meuse at Maestricht.
Hitherto, Cicero had scrupulously executed Cæsar’s order, and retained
the troops in the camp without even permitting a single valet to quit
it; but on the seventh day, reckoning no longer on the return of the
general at the term fixed, he yielded to the complaints of the soldiers,
who blamed his obstinacy in keeping them shut up as though they were
besieged. He believed, moreover, that the nine legions, and the numerous
cavalry which scoured the country, permitted him to venture without
danger to a distance of three miles from his camp, especially after the
dispersion of the enemy’s forces; he therefore sent five cohorts to cut
wheat in the nearest fields, situated to the north of Aduatuca, and
separated from the camp only by a hill. With them went, under the same
ensign, 300 men of different legions left sick, but then restored, and
a multitude of valets, taking with them a great number of beasts of
burden, which were in the camp.
Suddenly the German cavalry arrive; their march had been concealed by
the woods. Without halting, they rush toward the Decuman gate, and
attempt to enter the camp. (_See Plate 18. _) The attack is so sudden,
that the merchants established under the _vallum_ have not time to
enter. The soldiers, taken by surprise, are in confusion; the cohort on
guard struggles to prevent the enemy from entering the gate. The
Sicambri spread themselves round the camp, to discover another passage;
but, fortunately, the nature of the locality and the retrenchments
render access impossible everywhere but at the gates. They attempt to
force an entry there, and are prevented with difficulty. The alarm and
disorder are at their height. The soldiers are uncertain where to direct
their steps, or where to assemble; some pretend that the camp is taken,
others that the army and Cæsar have perished. A feeling of superstitious
anxiety recalls to their minds the disaster of Sabinus and Cotta, slain
at the same place. At the sight of such a general consternation, the
barbarians are confirmed in their opinion that the Romans are too few to
resist; they strive to force an entrance, and urge one another not to
let so rich a prey escape.
Among the sick left in the camp was the primipilus P. Sextius Baculus,
who had signalised himself in the preceding combats. For five days he
had taken no food. Uneasy for the safety of all, as well as his own, he
leaves his tent without arms, sees before him the enemy and the danger,
snatches a sword from the first man he meets, and takes his post at a
gate. The centurions of the cohort on guard follow him, and all together
sustain the attack for a few instants. Baculus, grievously wounded,
faints. He is passed from hand to hand, and only saved with difficulty.
This incident gives the others time to recover their courage. They
remain on the rampart, and present at least some appearance of defence.
At this moment the soldiers who had gone out to reap were on their way
back to the camp; they are struck with the cries they hear; the cavalry
press forward, perceive the imminence of the danger, and see, with
terror, that it is no longer possible to obtain refuge behind the
retrenchments. The newly-levied soldiers, inexperienced in war,
interrogate the tribune and centurions with their looks, and wait their
orders. There is no one so brave as not to be agitated by so unexpected
an event. The Sicambri, perceiving the ensigns at a distance, believe at
first that the legions were returning, and cease from the attack; but
soon, filled with contempt for such a handful of men, they rush upon
them on all sides.
The valets take refuge on a neighbouring hill, that on which now stands
the village of Berg. Driven from this post, they rush back into the
midst of the ensigns and manipuli, and increase the fear of the already
intimidated men. Among the soldiers, some propose to form in wedge, in
order to open themselves a way to the camp they see so near them: the
loss of a small number will be the safety of all. Others advise to
remain firm on the heights, and run the same chance together. This
latter opinion is not that of the old soldiers, united under the same
ensign. Led by C. Trebonius, a Roman knight, they fight their way
through the enemy, and re-enter the camp without the loss of a single
man. Under protection of this bold movement, the valets and cavalry
succeed in following them. As to the young soldiers who had posted
themselves on the heights, they were not able, in their inexperience,
either to maintain their resolution to defend themselves in their
position, or to imitate the successful energy of the veterans; they
engaged on disadvantageous ground in an attempt to regain the camp, and
their destruction would have been certain but for the devotedness of the
centurions. Some had been promoted from the lowest ranks of the army to
this grade, in reward for their courage; and for a moment they
intimidated the enemy, by sacrificing their lives in order to justify
their renown. This heroic act, contrary to all expectation, enabled
three cohorts to re-enter the camp; the two others perished.
During these combats, the defenders of the camp had recovered from their
first alarm. When they saw them stationed on the rampart, the Germans
despaired of being able to force the retrenchments; they withdrew, and
repassed the Rhine with their booty. The terror they had spread was such
that, even after their retreat, when, the following night, C. Volusenus
arrived at Aduatuca with the cavalry which preceded the legions, the
return of Cæsar and the safety of the army seemed hardly credible. Men’s
minds were affected to such a degree that they supposed the cavalry
alone had escaped from the disaster; for, they said, the Germans would
never have attacked the camp if the legions had not been defeated. The
arrival of Cæsar alone dissipated all their fears.
Accustomed to the various chances of war, and to events which must be
supported without complaining, he uttered no reproach;[458] he merely
reminded them that they should not have run the least risk by letting
the troops go out of the camp; that, moreover, if they might blame
fortune for the sudden attack of the enemy, they might, on the other
hand, congratulate themselves on having driven them back from the gates
of the camp. He was astonished, nevertheless, that the Germans, having
crossed the Rhine for the purpose of ravaging the territory of the
Eburones, should have acted so as to render the most signal service to
Ambiorix, by coming to attack the Romans.
Cæsar, to complete the ruin of the Eburones, marched again, collected a
great number of pillagers from the neighbouring states, and sent them in
different directions in pursuit of the enemy, to plunder and burn
everything. Their villages and habitations became, without exception, a
prey to the flames. The cavalry scoured the country in all directions,
in the hope of overtaking Ambiorix; the prospect of seizing him, and
gaining thereby the gratitude of the general, made them support infinite
fatigues, almost beyond human endurance. At every moment they believed
they were on the point of seizing the fugitive, and continually the
thick forests or deep retreats hid him from their pursuit. At last,
under protection of night, he reached other regions, escorted by four
horsemen, the only friends left to whom he dared trust his life.
Ambiorix escaped, but the massacre of the legion of Sabinus was cruelly
avenged by the devastation of the country of the Eburones!
After this expedition, Cæsar led back to Durocortorum (_Rheims_), the
chief town of the Remi, the army diminished by the two cohorts lost at
Aduatuca. He there convoked the assembly of Gaul, and caused judgment to
be passed on the conspiracy of the Senones and Carnutes. Acco, the chief
of the revolt, was condemned to death, and executed according to the old
Roman custom. Some others, fearing the same fate, took flight. They were
forbidden fire and water (that is, they were condemned to exile). Cæsar
sent two legions to winter quarters on the frontier of the Treviri, two
among the Lingones, and the six others among the Senones, at Agedincum
(_Sens_). After providing for the provisionment of the army, he
proceeded into Italy. [459]
CHAPTER X.
(Year of Rome 702. )
(BOOK VII. OF THE “COMMENTARIES. ”)
REVOLT OF GAUL--CAPTURE OF VELLAUNODUNUM, GENABUM, AND
NOVIODUNUM--SIEGES OF AVARICUM AND GERGOVIA--CAMPAIGN OF LABIENUS
AGAINST THE PARISII--SIEGE OF ALESIA.
[Sidenote: Revolt of Gaul. ]
I. The Roman arms had in six years subjugated, one after another, the
principal states of Gaul. Belgium, Aquitaine, and the countries on the
sea-coast, had been the theatre of the most desperate struggles. The
inhabitants of the isle of Britain, like the Germans, had become prudent
by the defeats they had suffered. Cæsar had just taken a signal
vengeance upon the revolted Eburones, and thought that he might without
danger leave his army and proceed into Italy, to hold the assemblies.
During his abode in this part of his command, the murder of P. Clodius
took place (the 13th of the Calends of February, 30th of December, 701),
which caused a great agitation, and gave rise to the Senatus-consultus,
which ordered all the youths of Italy to take the military oath; Cæsar
took advantage of it to make levies also in the Province. The rumours of
what was taking place at Rome soon passed the Alps, to revive the
resentments and hopes of the Gauls; they believed that the domestic
troubles would detain Cæsar in Italy, and would give rise to a
favourable opportunity for a new insurrection.
The principal chiefs meet in secluded spots; mutually excite each other
by the recital of their grievances, and by the remembrance of the death
of Acco; promise great rewards to those who, at the peril of their
lives, will commence the war; but decide that, before all, the return of
Cæsar to his army must be rendered impossible, a project the execution
of which was so much the easier, since the legions would not dare to
leave their winter quarters in the absence of their general, and since
the general himself could not join them without a sufficient escort.
The Carnutes are the first to offer to take arms: as the necessity of
acting secretly did not allow them to exchange hostages, they exact as
security an oath of alliance. This oath is taken by all the ensigns in a
meeting in which the moment for the rising is fixed.
On the day appointed, the Carnutes, led by two resolute men, Cotuatus
and Conetodunus, rush to Genabum (_Gien_), plunder and slaughter the
Roman merchants, amongst others the knight C. Fusius Cita, charged by
Cæsar with the victualling department. These news reached every state in
Gaul with an extreme celerity, according to the custom of the Gauls of
communicating remarkable events by cries transmitted from neighbour to
neighbour across the country. [460] Thus what had happened at Genabum at
sunrise, was known by the Arverni before the end of the first watch
(towards eight o’clock at night), at a distance of 160 miles.
Vercingetorix, a young Arvernan who possessed great influence in his
country,[461] and whose father, Celtillus, for a time chief of all Gaul,
had been put to death by his countrymen for having aspired to the
royalty, calls his clients together, and excites their zeal. Expelled
from Gergovia by those who were unwilling to tempt fortune with him, he
raises the country, and, with the help of a numerous band, retakes the
town, and causes himself to be proclaimed king. Soon he seduces the
Senones, the Parisii, the Pictones, the Cadurci, the Turones, the
Aulerci, the Lemovices of Armorica, the Andes, and the other peoples who
dwell on the shores of the ocean. The commandment is given to him by
unanimous consent. He exacts hostages from those peoples, orders a
prompt levy of soldiers, fixes the number of men and arms which each
country is to furnish in a given time, and occupies himself especially
with the raising of the cavalry. Active, daring, severe, and inflexible
even to cruelty, he subjects to the most atrocious tortures those who
hesitate, and by these means of terror soon forms an army.
He sent a part of it to the Ruteni, under the command of Cadurcus
Lucterius, a man full of daring; and to draw the Bituriges into the
insurrection, he invaded their territory. By acting thus, he threatened
the Province, and protected his rear whilst he moved towards the north,
where the Roman occupation was concentrated. On his approach, the
Bituriges solicited the help of the Ædui, their allies. The last, by the
advice of Cæsar’s lieutenants, who had remained with the army, sent them
a body of cavalry and infantry to support them against Vercingetorix;
but, when they reached the Loire, which separated the territory of the
two peoples, these auxiliary troops halted for some days, and then
returned, without having dared to cross the river, pretending that they
had been betrayed by the Bituriges. Immediately after their departure,
the latter joined the Arverni. [462]
[Sidenote: Cæsar begins the Campaign. ]
II. Cæsar heard of these events in Italy, and, reassured on the troubles
in Rome, which had been appeased by the firmness of Pompey, he took his
departure from Transalpine Gaul. When he arrived on the other side of
the Alps (perhaps on the banks of the Rhone), he was struck with the
difficulties which lay in the way of his joining the army. If he sent
for the legions into the Roman province, they would be compelled, on
their way, to fight without him; if, on the other hand, he would go to
them, he was obliged to pass through populations to whom,
notwithstanding their apparent tranquillity, it would have been
imprudent to trust his person.
While Cæsar found so great difficulties before him, Lucterius,[463] who
had been sent by Vercingetorix to the Ruteni, brings them over to the
alliance with the Arverni, advances towards the Nitiobriges and the
Gabali, from whom he receives hostages, and, at the head of a numerous
army, threatens the Province in the direction of Narbonne. These events
made Cæsar resolve to proceed to that town. His arrival put an end to
people’s fears. He placed garrisons among the peoples who bordered on
the territory of the enemy, the Ruteni of the left bank of the Tarn
(_Ruteni provinciales_), the Volcæ Arecomici, the Tolosates, and near
Narbonne. At the same time, he ordered a part of the troops of the
province, and the re-enforcements which he had brought from Italy, to
unite on the territory of the Helvi, which bordered upon that of the
Arverni. [464] Intimidated by these dispositions, Lucterius did not
venture to engage himself in the midst of these garrisons, and retired.
This first danger averted, it was important for Cæsar to prevent
Vercingetorix from raising other peoples, who might perhaps be inclined
to follow the example of the Bituriges. By invading the country of the
Arverni, Cæsar might hope to draw the Gaulish chief into his own
country, and thus remove him from those where the legions were
wintering. He proceeded, therefore, to the country of the Helvi, where
he joined the troops who had just concentrated there. The mountains of
the Cévennes, which separated this people from the Arverni, were covered
with six feet of snow; the soldiers opened a passage by dint of labour.
Advancing by Aps and Saint-Cirgues, between the sources of the Loire and
the Allier (_see Plate 19_), Cæsar debouched on Le Puy and Brioude. The
Arverni, at this season, the most rigorous of the year, believed
themselves defended by the Cévennes, as by an insurmountable wall: he
fell upon them unexpectedly, and, in order to spread still greater
terror, he caused the cavalry to scour the country far around.
Quickly informed of this march, Vercingetorix, at the prayer of the
Arverni, who implored his succour, abandoned the country of the
Bituriges. Cæsar had foreseen this; so he only remains two days amongst
the Arverni, and, quitting them under the pretext of increasing his
forces, he leaves the command to young Brutus, whom he enjoins to throw
out his reconnoitring parties to as great a distance as possible, and
promises to return at the end of three days. Having by this diversion
drawn Vercingetorix southward, he proceeds in great haste to Vienne,
arrives there unexpectedly, takes the newly-raised cavalry which he had
sent thither, marches night and day, crosses the country of the Ædui,
and directs his march towards the Lingones, where two legions were in
winter quarters. By this extreme rapidity he seeks to prevent any evil
design on the part of the Ædui. Scarcely has he arrived amongst the
Lingones, when he sends orders to the other legions, two of which were
on the frontiers of the Treviri, and the six others in the country of
the Senones, to concentrate the whole army at Agedincum (_Sens_) before
his march is known to the Arverni. As soon as Vercingetorix was informed
of this movement, he returned with his army to the country of the
Bituriges, and thence started to lay siege to Gorgobina
(_Saint-Parize-le-Châtel_), an _oppidum_ of the Boii, who had settled,
after the defeat of the Helvetii, near the confluence of the Allier and
the Loire. [465]
[Sidenote: Taking of Vellaunodunum, Genabum, and Noviodunum. ]
III. Although Cæsar had succeeded in uniting his troops, and in placing
himself at their head, he found it still difficult to fix upon a
determined plan. If he opened the campaign too early, the army might run
short of provisions through the difficulty of transport. If, on the
other hand, during the rest of the winter,[466] his army, remaining
inactive, allowed Vercingetorix to take Gorgobina, a place tributary to
the Ædui, the example might discourage his allies and lead to the
defection of the whole of Gaul. Rather than undergo such an affront, he
resolved to brave all obstacles. He engaged the Ædui, therefore, to
furnish provisions, announced his speedy arrival to the Boii,
recommended them to remain faithful, and to offer an energetic
resistance; and then, leaving at Agedincum two legions and the baggage
of the whole army, he marched with the eight others towards the
territory of the Boii. On the second day[467] he arrived at
Vellaunodunum (_Triguères_), a town of the Senones, and prepared to lay
siege to it, in order to protect his rear and secure his supply of
provisions. (_See Plate 19. _) The countervallation was finished in two
days. On the third, the town offered to surrender: the capitulation was
only accepted on condition of delivering up the arms, the beasts of
burden, and 600 hostages. Cæsar left C. Trebonius, his lieutenant, to
see the convention executed, and marched in haste towards Genabum
(_Gien_), a town of the Carnutes. [468] He arrived there in two days,
and sufficiently early to surprise the inhabitants, who, thinking that
the siege of Vellaunodunum would last longer, had not yet assembled
sufficient troops for the defence of the place. The Roman army took its
position before the _oppidum_; but the approach of night made it
necessary to postpone the attack until the following morning. However,
as Genabum had a bridge on the Loire adjoining to the town, Cæsar kept
two legions under arms to watch it, in the fear that the besieged might
escape during the night. And, in fact, towards midnight they silently
issued from Genabum and began to pass the river. Cæsar, informed by his
scouts, set fire to the gates, introduced the legions he had kept in
reserve, and took possession of the place. The fugitives, who were
closely crowded together at the issues of the town, and at the entrance
of the bridge, which were too narrow to allow them to pass, fell nearly
all into the hands of the Romans. Genabum was plundered and burnt, and
the spoil abandoned to the soldiers. Then the army passed the Loire,
arrived on the territory of the Bituriges, and continued its march.
The town of Noviodunum (_Sancerre_), belonging to this latter people,
lay in Cæsar’s route; he undertook to lay siege to it. The inhabitants
were already hastening to make their submission, and a part of the
hostages had been delivered, when they saw in the distance the cavalry
of Vercingetorix, who, warned of the approach of the Romans, had raised
the siege of Gorgobina, and marched to meet them. At this sight, the
besieged, mustering courage again, seize their arms, shut their gates,
and man the wall. The Roman cavalry was immediately sent to meet the
enemy; staggered at the first shock, it was on the point of giving way;
but soon, supported by about 400 German cavalry, in Cæsar’s pay since
the commencement of the campaign, they entirely routed the Gauls. This
defeat having again spread terror in the town, the inhabitants delivered
up the instigators of the revolt, and surrendered. Cæsar marched thence,
through the fertile territory of the Biturges, towards Avaricum
(_Bourges_), the largest and strongest _oppidum_ of that people. The
taking of this town, he considered, would render him master of the whole
country. [469]
[Sidenote: Siege of Avaricum. ]
IV. Vercingetorix, after having experienced so many reverses
successively at Vellaunodunum, at Genabum, and at Noviodunum, convokes a
council, in which he explains the necessity of adopting a new system of
warfare. Above all, according to him, they must take advantage of the
season, and of the numerous Gaulish cavalry, to cut off the Romans from
provisions and forage, sacrifice private interest to the common welfare,
set fire to the habitations, burgs, and _oppida_ which they could not
defend, so as to spread desolation from the territory of the Boii as far
as the enemy could extend his incursions. If that be an extreme
sacrifice, it is nothing in comparison with death and slavery.
This advice having been unanimously approved, the Bituriges, in one
single day, set fire to more than twenty towns; the neighbouring
countries follow their example. The hope of a speedy victory made them
support this painful sight with resignation. They deliberated whether
Avaricum should not undergo the same fate; the Bituriges implored them
to spare one of the most beautiful towns in Gaul, the ornament and
bulwark of their country; “the defence of it will be easy,” they added,
“on account of its almost inaccessible position. ” Vercingetorix, at
first of a contrary opinion, ended by giving way to this general feeling
of compassion, entrusted the place to men capable of defending it, and,
following Cæsar by short marches, pitched his camp in a spot defended by
woods and marshes, sixteen miles from Avaricum[470] (two kilomètres to
the north of _Dun-le-Roy_, at the confluence of the Auron and the
Taisseau).
Avaricum was situated, as Bourges is at present, at the extremity of a
piece of ground surrounded, to the north and west, by several marshy
streams: the Yèvre, the Yévrette, and the Auron. (_See Plate 20. _) The
Gaulish town, adorned with public places, and enclosing 40,000 souls,
exceeded, no doubt, in extent the Gallo-Roman circuit. The aspect of the
locality is certainly no longer the same: the marshes have been dried,
and the courses of water reduced within regular limits; the ruins
accumulated so many centuries ago have raised the level of the ground on
many points. To the south of Bourges, at a distance of 700 mètres, the
ground forms a neck, which, in the time of Cæsar’s wars, was narrower
than at present; it inclined more towards the place, and presented, at
80 mètres from the walls, a sudden depression, resembling a vast fosse.
(_See the section along C D. _) The slopes, then, abrupt towards the
Yévrette and the Auron, defined more clearly the only and very narrow
avenue (_unum et perangustum aditum_) which gave access to the
town. [471]
Cæsar established his camp behind this tongue of land, to the south, and
at 700 mètres from Avaricum, between the Auron and the Yévrette. As the
nature of the locality prevented all countervallation, he took his
dispositions for a regular siege. The place was only open to attack
towards that part of the enclosure which faced the avenue, on a width of
from 300 to 400 Roman feet (about 100 mètres). In this place the summit
of the walls commanded by about 80 feet (twenty-four mètres) the ground
situated in advance. [472] Cæsar commanded a terrace to be commenced,
covered galleries to be pushed towards the _oppidum_, and two towers to
be constructed.
θαῥῥεἱν βοἡθειαν προσδἑχου (“Courage! expect succour”). [439]
As soon as he arrived near the camp, the Gaul, not daring to penetrate
to it, did as Cæsar had directed him. By chance his javelin remained two
days stuck in a tower. It was only on the third that it was seen and
carried to Cicero. The letter, read in the presence of the assembled
soldiers, excited transports of joy. Soon afterwards they perceived in
the distance the smoke of burning habitations, which announced the
approach of the army of succour. At that moment, after a five days’
march, it had arrived within twenty kilomètres of Charleroi, near
Binche, where it encamped. The Gauls, when they were informed of it by
their scouts, raised the siege, and then, to the number of about 60,000,
marched to meet the legions.
Cicero, thus liberated, sent another Gaul to announce to Cæsar that the
enemy were turning all their forces against him. At this news, received
towards the middle of the night, Cæsar informed his soldiers, and
strengthened them in their desire of vengeance. At daybreak next day he
raised his camp. After advancing four miles, he perceived a crowd of
enemies on the other side of a great valley traversed by the stream of
the Haine. [440] Cæsar did not consider it prudent to descend into the
valley to engage in combat against so great a number of troops.
Moreover, Cicero once rescued, there was no need for hurrying his march;
he therefore halted, and chose a good position for retrenching--mount
Sainte-Aldegonde. Although his camp, containing hardly 7,000 men,
without baggage, was necessarily of limited extent, he diminished it as
much as possible by giving less width to the streets, in order to
deceive the enemy as to his real strength. At the same time he sent out
scouts to ascertain the best place for crossing the valley.
That day passed in skirmishes of cavalry on the banks of the stream, but
each kept his positions: the Gauls, because they were waiting for
re-enforcements; Cæsar, because he counted on his simulated fear to draw
the enemies out of their position, and compel them to fight on his side
of the Haine, before his camp. If he could not succeed, he obtained time
to reconnoitre the roads sufficiently to pass the river and valley with
less danger. On the morrow, at daybreak, the enemy’s cavalry came up to
the retrenchments, and attacked that of the Romans. Cæsar ordered his
men to give way, and return into the camp; at the same time he caused
the height of the ramparts to be increased, the gates to be stopped up
with mere lumps of turf, and directed his soldiers to execute his
directions with tumultuous haste and all the signs of fear.
The Gauls, drawn on by this feint, passed the stream, and formed in
order of battle in a disadvantageous place. Seeing that the Romans had
even abandoned the _vallum_, they approached nearer to it, threw their
missiles over it from all sides, and caused their heralds to proclaim
round the retrenchments that, until the third hour (ten o’clock), every
Gaul or Roman who should desert to them should have his life saved. At
last, having no hope of forcing the gates, which they supposed to be
solidly fortified, they carried their boldness so far as to begin to
fill up the fosse, and to pull down the palisades with their hands. But
Cæsar held his troops in readiness to profit by the excessive confidence
of the Gauls: at a signal given, they rush through all the gates at
once; the enemy does not resist, but takes to flight, abandoning their
arms, and leaves the ground covered with his dead.
Cæsar did not pursue far, on account of the woods and marshes; he would
not have been able, indeed, to inflict further loss; he marched with his
troops, without having suffered any loss, towards the camp of Cicero,
where he arrived the same day. [441] The towers, the covered galleries,
and the retrenchments of the barbarians, excited his astonishment.
Having assembled the soldiers of Cicero’s legion, nine-tenths of whom
were wounded, he could judge how much danger they had run and how much
courage they had displayed. He loaded with praise the general and
soldiers, addressing individually the centurions and the tribunes who
had distinguished themselves. The prisoners gave him more ample details
on the deaths of Sabinus and Cotta, whose disaster had produced a deep
impression in the army. The next day he reminds the troops convoked for
that purpose of the past event, consoles and encourages them, throws the
fault of this check on the imprudence of the lieutenant, and exhorts
them to resignation the more, because, thanks to the valour of the
soldiers and the protection of the gods, the expiation had been prompt,
and left no further reason for the enemies to rejoice, or for the Romans
to be afflicted. [442]
We see, from what precedes, how small a number of troops, disseminated
over a vast territory, surmounted, by discipline and courage, a
formidable insurrection. Quintus Cicero, by following the principle
invoked by Cotta, _not to enter into negotiations with an enemy in
arms_, saved both his army and his honour. As to Cæsar, he gave proof,
in this circumstance, of an energy and strength of mind which Quintus
Cicero did not fail to point out to his brother when he wrote to
him. [443] If we believe Suetonius and Polyænus, Cæsar felt so great a
grief for the check experienced by Sabinus, that, in sign of mourning,
he let his beard and hair grow until he had avenged his
lieutenants,[444] which only happened in the year following, by the
destruction of the Eburones and the Nervii.
[Sidenote: Cæsar places his Troops in Winter Quarters. Labienus defeats
Indutiomarus. ]
XV. Meanwhile the news of Cæsar’s victory reached Labienus, across the
country of the Remi, with incredible speed: his winter quarters were at
a distance of about sixty miles from Cicero’s camp, where Cæsar had only
arrived after the ninth hour of the day (three o’clock in the
afternoon), and yet before midnight shouts of joy were raised at the
gates of the camp, the acclamations of the Remi who came to congratulate
Labienus. The noise spread in the army of the Treviri, and Indutiomarus,
who had resolved to attack the camp of Labienus next day, withdrew
during the night, and took all his troops with him.
These events having been accomplished, Cæsar distributed the seven
legions he had left in the following manner: he sent Fabius with his
legion to his winter quarters among the Morini, and established himself
in the neighbourhood of Amiens with three legions, which he separated in
three quarters: they were the legion of Crassus, which had remained
stationary, that of Cicero, and that of Trebonius. There are still seen,
along the Somme, in the neighbourhood of Amiens, three camps at a short
distance from each other, which appear to have been those of that
period. [445] Labienus, Plancus, and Roscius continued to occupy the same
positions. The gravity of the circumstances determined Cæsar to remain
all the winter with the army. In fact, on the news of the disaster of
Sabinus, nearly all the people of Gaul showed a disposition to take
arms, sent deputations and messages to each other, communicated their
projects, and deliberated upon the point from which the signal for war
should be given. They held nocturnal assemblies in bye-places, and
during the whole winter not a day passed in which there was not some
meeting or some movement of the Gauls to cause uneasiness to Cæsar. Thus
he learnt from L. Roscius, lieutenant placed at the head of the 13th
legion, that considerable troops of Armorica had assembled to attack
him; they were not more than eight miles from his winter quarters, when
the news of Cæsar’s victory had compelled them to retreat precipitately
and in disorder.
The Roman general called to his presence the _principes_ of each state,
terrified some by letting them know that he was informed of their plots,
exhorted the others to perform their duty, and by these means maintained
the tranquillity of a great part of Gaul. Meanwhile a vexatious event
took place in the country of the Senones, a powerful and influential
nation among the Gauls. They had resolved, in an assembly, to put to
death Cavarinus, whom Cæsar had given them for king. Cavarinus had fled;
upon which they pronounced his deposition, banished him, and pursued him
to the limits of their territory. They had sought to justify themselves
to Cæsar, who ordered them to send him all their senators. They refused.
This boldness on the part of the Senones, by showing to the barbarians
some individuals capable of resisting the Romans, produced so great a
change in their minds, that, with the exception of the Ædui and the
Remi, there was not a people which did not fall under suspicion of
revolt, each desiring to free itself from foreign domination.
During the whole winter, the Treviri and Indutiomarus never ceased
urging the people on the other side of the Rhine to take up arms,
assuring them that the greater part of the Roman army had been
destroyed. But not one of the German nations could be persuaded to pass
the Rhine. The remembrance of the double defeat of Ariovistus and the
Tencteri made them cautious of trying their fortune again. Deceived in
his expectations, Indutiomarus did not discontinue collecting troops,
exercising them, buying horses from the neighbouring countries, and
drawing to him from all parts of Gaul outlaws and condemned criminals.
His ascendency was soon so great, that from all parts people eagerly
sought his friendship and protection.
When he saw some rallying to him spontaneously, others, such as the
Senones and the Carnutes, engaging in his cause through a consciousness
of their fault; the Nervii and the Aduatuci preparing for war, and a
crowd of volunteers disposed to join him as soon as he should have
quitted his country, Indutiomarus, according to the custom of the Gauls
at the beginning of a campaign, called together an assembly in arms. He
pronounced Cingetorix, his son-in-law, who remained faithful to Cæsar,
an enemy of his country; and announced that, in reply to the appeal of
the Senones and Carnutes, he would go to them through the country of the
Remi, whose lands he would ravage; but, above all, he would attack the
camp of Labienus.
The latter, established on the Ourthe, master of a position naturally
formidable, which he had further fortified, was in fear of no attack,
but dreamt, on the contrary, of seizing the first opportunity of
combating with advantage. Informed by Cingetorix of the designs of
Indutiomarus, he demanded cavalry of the neighbouring states, pretended
fear, and, letting the enemy’s cavalry approach with impunity, remained
shut up in his camp.
While, deceived by these appearances, Indutiomarus became daily more
presumptuous, Labienus introduced secretly into his camp during the
night the auxiliary cavalry, and, by keeping a close watch, prevented
the Treviri from being informed of it. The enemy, ignorant of the
arrival of this re-enforcement, advanced nearer and nearer to the
retrenchments, and redoubled his provocations. They were unnoticed, and
towards evening he withdrew in disorder. Suddenly Labienus causes his
cavalry, seconded by his cohorts, to issue by the two gates. Foreseeing
the rout of the enemy, he urges his troops to follow Indutiomarus alone,
and promises great rewards to those who shall bring his head. Fortune
seconded his designs; Indutiomarus was overtaken just at the ford of the
river (the Ourthe), and put to death, and his head was brought into the
camp. The cavalry, in their return, slew all the enemies they found in
their way. The Eburones and the Nervii dispersed. The result of these
events was to give to Gaul a little more tranquillity. [446]
[Sidenote: Observations. ]
XVI. The Emperor Napoleon, in his _Précis des Guerres de César_,
explains in the following manner the advantage the Romans drew from
their camps:--
“The Romans owe the constancy of their successes to the method, from
which they never departed, of encamping every night in a fortified camp,
and of never giving battle without having behind them a retrenched camp,
to serve them as a place of retreat, and to contain their magazines,
their baggage, and their wounded. The nature of arms in those ages was
such that, in these camps, they were not only in safety from the attacks
of an equal army, but even an army which was stronger; they were the
masters to fight or to wait a favourable opportunity. Marius is assailed
by a cloud of Cimbri or Teutones; he shuts himself up in his camp,
remains there until the favourable day or occasion comes, then he issues
with victory before him. Cæsar arrives near the camp of Cicero; the
Gauls abandon the latter, and march to meet the former; they are four
times more numerous. Cæsar takes a position in a few hours, retrenches
his camp, and in it he bears patiently the insults and provocations of
an enemy whom he is not yet willing to combat; but a favourable
opportunity is not long in presenting itself. He then issues through all
his gates; the Gauls are vanquished.
“Why, then, has a rule so wise, so fertile in great results, been
abandoned by modern generals? Because offensive arms have changed its
character; arms for the hand were the principal arms of the ancients; it
was with his short sword that the legionary conquered the world; it was
with the Macedonian pike that Alexander conquered Asia. The principal
arms of modern armies are projectiles; the musket is superior to
anything ever invented by man; no defensive arm is a protection against
it.
“As the principal arm of the ancients was the sword or the pike, their
habitual formation was in deep order. The legion and the phalanx, in
whatever situation they were attacked, either in front, or in right
flank, or in left flank, faced everywhere without disadvantage; they
could encamp on surfaces of small extent, in order to have less labour
in fortifying the line of circuit, and in order to hold their ground
with the smallest detachment possible. The principal arm of the moderns
is the projectile; their habitual order has naturally been narrow order,
the only one which permits them to bring all their projectiles to bear.
“A consular army enclosed in its camp, attacked by a modern army of
equal force, would be driven out of it without assault, and without
being able to use their swords; it would not be necessary to fill up the
fosses or to scale the ramparts: surrounded on all sides by the
attacking army, pierced through, enveloped, and raked by the fire, the
camp would be the common drain of all the shots, of all the balls, of
all the bullets: fire, devastation, and death would open the gates and
throw down the retrenchments. A modern army, placed in a Roman camp,
would at first, no doubt, make use of all its artillery; but, though
equal to the artillery of the besieger, it would be taken in _rouage_
and quickly reduced to silence; a part only of the infantry could use
their muskets, but it would fire upon a line less extended, and would be
far from producing an effect equal to the injury it would receive. The
fire from the centre to the circumference is null; that from the
circumference to the centre is irresistible. All these considerations
have decided modern generals in renouncing the system of retrenched
camps, to adopt instead natural positions well chosen.
“A Roman camp was placed independently of localities: all these were
good for armies whose strength consisted in arms used with the hand; it
required neither experienced eye nor military genius to encamp well;
whereas the choice of positions, the manner of occupying them and
placing the different arms, by taking advantage of the circumstances of
the ground, is an art which forms part of the genius of the modern
captain.
“If it were said now-a-days to a general, You shall have, like Cicero,
under your orders, 5,000 men, sixteen pieces of cannon, 5,000 pioneers’
tools, 5,000 sacks of earth; you shall be within reach of a forest, on
ordinary ground; in fifteen days you shall be attacked by an army of
60,000 men, having 120 pieces of cannon; you shall not be succoured till
eighty or ninety-six hours after having been attacked. What are the
works, what are the plans, what are the profiles, which art prescribes?
Has the art of the engineer secrets which can solve this problem? ”[447]
CHAPTER IX.
(Year of Rome 701. )
(BOOK VI. OF THE “COMMENTARIES. ”)
CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NERVII AND THE TREVIRI--SECOND PASSAGE OF THE
RHINE--WAR AGAINST AMBIORIX AND THE TREVIRI.
[Sidenote: Cæsar augments his Army. ]
I. The state of Gaul gave Cæsar cause to anticipate serious agitations,
and he felt convinced of the necessity of new levies. He employed on
this mission his lieutenants M. Silanus, C. Antistius Reginus, and T.
Sextius; at the same time he asked Pompey, who had remained before Rome
with the _imperium_, in order to watch over the public interests, to
recall to their colours and send him the soldiers of Cisalpine Gaul
enlisted under the consulate of the latter in 699. Cæsar attached, with
a view to the present and to the future, great importance to giving the
Gauls a high idea of the resources of Italy, and to proving to them that
it was easy for the Republic, after a check, not only to repair its
losses, but also to bring into the field troops more numerous than ever.
Pompey, through friendship and consideration for the public good,
granted his demand. Thanks to the activity of his lieutenants, before
the end of winter three new legions (or thirty cohorts) were raised and
joined to the army: the 1st, the 14th, which had just taken the number
of the legion annihilated at Aduatuca, and the 15th. In this manner, the
fifteen cohorts lost under Sabinus were replaced by double their number,
and it was seen, by this rapid display of forces, what was the power of
the military organization and resources of the Roman people. It was the
first time that Cæsar commanded ten legions.
[Sidenote: War against the Nervii, General Assembly of Gaul. ]
II. After the death of Indutiomarus, the Treviri took for their chiefs
some members of his family. These in vain urged the nearest peoples of
the right bank of the Rhine to make common cause with them; but they
succeeded with some of the more distant tribes, particularly the Suevi,
and persuaded Ambiorix to enter into their league. From all parts, from
the Rhine to the Scheldt, were announced preparations for war. The
Nervii, the Aduatuci, the Menapii, all the Germans on this side of the
Rhine, were in arms. The Senones persisted in their disobedience, and
acted in concert with the Carnutes and the neighbouring states;
everything urged upon Cæsar the counsel to open the campaign earlier
than usual. Accordingly, without waiting for the end of winter, he
concentrates the four legions nearest to Amiens, his head-quarters
(those of Fabius, Crassus, Cicero, and Trebonius), invades unexpectedly
the territory of the Nervii, gives them time neither to assemble nor to
fly, but carries off the men and cattle, abandons the booty to the
soldiers, and forces this people to submission.
This expedition so rapidly terminated, the legions returned to their
winter quarters. At the beginning of spring, Cæsar convoked, according
to his custom, the general assembly of Gaul, which met, no doubt, at
Amiens. The different peoples sent thither their representatives, with
the exception of the Senones, the Carnutes, and the Treviri. He regarded
this absence as a sign of revolt, and in order to pursue his designs
without neglecting the general affairs, he resolved to transfer the
assembly nearer to the insurrection, to Lutetia. This town belonged to
the Parisii, who bordered on the Senones, and although formerly these
peoples had formed but one, the Parisii do not appear to have entered
into the conspiracy. Cæsar, having announced this decision from the
summit of his prætorium (_pro suggestu pronuntiata_), started the same
day at the head of his legions, and advanced by forced marches towards
the country of the Senones.
At the news of his approach, Acco, the principal author of the revolt,
ordered the population to retire into the _oppida_; but, taken by
surprise by the arrival of the Romans, the Senones employed the Ædui,
once their patrons, to intercede in their favour. Cæsar pardoned them
without difficulty, preferring to employ the fine season in war than in
the search of those who were culpable. A hundred hostages exacted from
the Senones were entrusted to the Ædui. The Carnutes imitated the
example of the Senones, and, by the intermediation of the Remi, whose
clients they were, obtained their pardon. Cæsar pronounced the close of
the assembly of Gaul, and ordered the different states to furnish their
contingents of cavalry. [448]
[Sidenote: Submission of the Menapii. ]
III. Having pacified this part of the country, Cæsar turned all his
thoughts towards the war with the Treviri and with Ambiorix, the chief
of the Eburones. He was, above all, impatient to take a striking
vengeance for the humiliation inflicted on his arms at Aduatuca. Knowing
well that Ambiorix would not hazard a battle, he sought to penetrate his
designs. Two things were to be feared: the first, that Ambiorix, when
his territory was invaded, would take refuge among the Menapii, whose
country, adjoining that of the Eburones, was defended by woods and vast
marshes, and who, alone among the Gauls, had never made an act of
submission; the second, that he might join the Germans beyond the Rhine,
with whom, as was known, he had entered into friendly relations through
the intermediation of the Treviri. Cæsar conceived the plan of first
preventing these two eventualities, in order to isolate Ambiorix.
Wishing, above all, to reduce to submission the Menapii and Treviri, and
carry the war at the same time into the countries of these two peoples,
he undertook in person the expedition against the Menapii, and entrusted
that against the Treviri to Labienus, his best lieutenant, who had
operated against them on several occasions. Labienus, after his victory
over Indutiomarus, had continued in his winter quarters with his legions
at Lavacherie, on the Ourthe. [449] Cæsar sent him all the baggage of
the army and two legions. He marched in person towards the country of
the Menapii, at the head of five legions without baggage. He took with
him Cavarinus and the Senonese cavalry, fearing lest the resentment of
this king against his people, or the hatred which he had drawn upon
himself, might raise some disorders, and, following the general
direction of Sens, Soissons, Bavay, and Brussels, he reached the
frontier of the Menapii. The latter, trusting in the nature of the
ground, had assembled no forces, but took refuge in the woods and
marshes. Cæsar divided his troops with the lieutenant C. Fabius and the
questor M. Crassus, formed them into three columns, and, causing bridges
to be hastily constructed, to cross the marshy water-courses, penetrated
at three points into their territory, which he ravaged. The Menapii,
reduced to extremity, demanded peace: it was granted to them on the
express condition that they should refuse all shelter to Ambiorix or to
his lieutenants. Cæsar left Commius among them with part of the cavalry
to hold them under surveillance, and marched thence towards the country
of the Treviri. [450]
[Sidenote: Success of Labienus against the Treviri. ]
IV. On his part, Labienus had obtained brilliant successes; the Treviri
had marched with considerable forces against his winter quarters. They
were no more than two days’ march from him, when they learnt that he
had been joined by two other legions. Resolving then to wait the succour
of the Germans, they halted at a distance of fifteen miles from the camp
of Labienus. The latter, informed of the cause of their inaction, and
hoping that their imprudence would present an opportunity for giving
battle, left five cohorts to guard the greatest part of the baggage,
and, with the twenty-five others and a numerous cavalry, established his
camp within a mile of the enemy.
The two armies were separated by the river Ourthe, the passage of which
was rendered difficult by the steepness of the banks. Labienus had no
intention of crossing it, but he feared that the enemy might imitate his
prudence until the arrival of the Germans, who were expected
immediately. To draw them to him, he spread a rumour that he should
withdraw on the morrow at break of day, in order to avoid having to
combat the united forces of the Treviri and the Germans. He assembled
during the night the tribunes and centurions of the first class,
informed them of his design, and, contrary to Roman discipline, broke up
his camp with every appearance of disorder and a precipitate retreat.
The proximity of the camps allowed the enemy to obtain information of
this movement by his scouts before daybreak.
The rear-guard of Labienus had no sooner begun its march, than the
barbarians urge each other not to let a prey so long coveted escape
them. They imagine that the Romans are struck with terror, and, thinking
it disgraceful to wait any longer the succour of the Germans, they cross
the river and advance unhesitatingly upon unfavourable ground.
Labienus, seeing the success of his stratagem, continued slowly his
apparent retreat, in order to draw all the Gauls over the river. He had
sent forward, to an eminence, the baggage, guarded by a detachment of
cavalry. Suddenly he orders the ensigns to be turned towards the enemy,
forms his troops in order of battle, the cavalry on the wings, and
exhorts them to display the same valour as if Cæsar were present. Then
an immense cry rises in the ranks, and the _pila_ are thrown from all
sides. The Gauls, surprised at seeing an enemy they believed they were
pursuing turn against them, did not sustain even the first shock, but
fled precipitately into the neighbouring forests. Pressed by the
cavalry, they were slain or captured in great numbers.
Labienus employed those wise tactics to which the Romans owed their
greatest successes. Invincible in their fortified camps, they could, as
the Emperor Napoleon I. has so well remarked, either combat or wait for
the opportune moment. The Gauls, on the contrary, warlike peoples,
carried away by a fiery courage, not understanding the patience and
wiliness of their adversaries, fell always into the snare which was laid
for them. It was enough to feign terror, and inspire them with contempt
for the enemy’s forces, to make them engage instantly in disorderly
attacks, which the Romans, by sudden sorties, easily defeated. This was
the system followed by Sabinus when attacked by the Unelli, by Cæsar on
his way to the relief of Cicero, and by Labienus himself in the previous
year.
A few days afterwards the country submitted; for, on the news of the
defeat of the Treviri, the Germans returned home, followed by the
relatives of Indutiomarus, the author of the revolt. Cingetorix,
constant in his fidelity to the Romans, was replaced at the head of the
nation. The double object proposed by Cæsar was thus attained; for, on
one hand, since the submission of the Menapii, Ambiorix could no longer
dream of finding a refuge among them; and, on the other, the victory of
Labienus, followed by the retreat of the Germans, placed it out of his
power to league with these latter. Nevertheless, to assure this double
result, punish the Germans for their readiness to succour the Treviri,
and cut off Ambiorix from all retreat, Cæsar, after having effected his
junction with Labienus, resolved to pass the Rhine a second time. [451]
[Sidenote: Second Passage of the Rhine. ]
V. He had passed from the country of the Menapii into that of the
Treviri, and had arrived near the locality where now stands the town of
Bonn. He there caused a bridge to be built a little above the spot where
his army had crossed two years before. In consequence of the experience
gained by the processes employed on the former occasion, and of the
extreme zeal of the soldiers, the work was finished in a few days.
Having left for the protection of the bridge a strong detachment on the
bank belonging to the Treviri, for fear of some movement on their part,
Cæsar crossed the river with the legions and the cavalry. The Ubii, who
had long before made their submission, assured him that they had
neither sent assistance to the Treviri or violated their oath; that the
Suevi alone had furnished auxiliaries; and that thus he ought not to
confound them with the latter in his anger against the Germans. He
accepted their excuses, and obtained information on the roads and passes
which led to the country of the Suevi.
A few days afterwards, he learnt that the latter were concentrating on a
single point their troops and the contingents of the tribes under their
dependence. He provided for the supply of provisions, chose a favourable
position for his camp, and enjoined the Ubii to transport their cattle
and goods into their _oppida_, hoping to compel the barbarians by famine
to fight at disadvantage. The Ubii were similarly charged to watch the
enemy by means of numerous scouts. A few days later, they informed Cæsar
that the Suevi, at the approach of the Romans, had retired, with all
their troops and those of their allies, to the extremity of their
territory. There lay the forest Bacenis,[452] which advanced very far
into the country, and which, placed like a natural barrier between the
Suevi and the Cherusci, separated these two peoples and defended them
against their mutual excursions. It was at the entrance to this forest,
probably towards the mountains of Thuringia, that the Suevi had resolved
to await the Romans.
In this expedition, as in the one preceding, Cæsar feared to engage
himself too far in the middle of an uncultivated country, where
provisions might have failed him. He therefore repassed the Rhine. But
to keep the barbarians in fear of his return, and to prevent their
re-enforcements from reaching the Gauls, he did not destroy the whole
bridge, but only cut off 200 feet on the side of the Ubian bank; at the
extremity of the truncated part he built a tower of four stories, and
left on the left bank twelve cohorts in a retrenched post. Young C.
Volcatius Tullus had the command of it. Cæsar’s two expeditions to the
right bank of the Rhine led to no battle, and yet the moral effect was
so great, that after this period the Germans no longer supported the
insurrections in Gaul, and even became the auxiliaries of the
Romans. [453]
[Sidenote: War against Ambiorix. ]
VI.
On the approach of harvest, Cæsar marched against Ambiorix, with his
ten legions, except the guard left at the bridge of the Rhine. He
started from Bonn, and advanced towards the country of the Eburones, by
way of Zulpich and Eupen (_see Plate 14_), across the forest of the
Ardennes, which extended, it will be remembered, from the banks of the
Rhine to the country of the Nervii. In the hope of surprising the enemy,
he sent forward M. Minucius Basilus, with all the cavalry, recommending
to him not to light fires, which would reveal his approach, and
informing him that he should follow him closely.
Basilus, faithful to his orders, fell by surprise on a great number of
Eburones, proceeded straight towards the locality to which Ambiorix was
said to have retired with a few cavalry, succeeded in penetrating to the
abode of this chieftain, and seized upon all his effects; but the
latter, protected by some of his followers, escaped on horseback
through the woods; his partisans dispersed. It was thus that fortune,
which plays so important a part in war, favoured at the same time the
enterprise against Ambiorix and his escape. The Eburon chief sent secret
messages in all directions, recommending the inhabitants to provide for
their own safety. Some concealed themselves in the forest of the
Ardennes, others in the midst of the marshes. Those who were nearest to
the ocean sought refuge in the islands which are formed at high tide;
others expatriated themselves, and settled in distant countries.
Catuvolcus, king of one-half of the country of the Eburones, crushed
with age and misfortunes, took poison, that he might not fall alive into
the power of the Romans.
During this time, Cæsar was approaching the country of the Segni and
Condrusi,[454] who came to implore him not to confound in the same cause
all the Germans beyond the Rhine, and protested their neutrality. The
fact having been satisfactorily proved, Cæsar assured them that, if they
would deliver up to him the Eburones who had sought refuge among them,
their territory should be respected. Having arrived at Visé, on the
Meuse, where a ford exists from time immemorial, he divided his troops
into three bodies, and sent the baggage of all the legions to Aduatuca
(_Tongres_): it was the place which had witnessed the recent disaster of
Sabinus. He gave preference to this position, because the retrenchments
of the preceding year, still standing, would spare the troops much
labour. He left, as a guard for the baggage, the 14th legion, and placed
it, with 200 cavalry, under the command of Quintus Cicero.
Of the nine legions remaining with Cæsar, three were sent with T.
Labienus to the north towards the ocean, into the part of the country of
the Eburones which touched on that of the Menapii; three to the south
with C. Trebonius, to ravage the districts neighbouring on the Aduatuci
(towards the south-west, between the Meuse and the Demer); lastly,
Cæsar, at the head of the three others, advanced towards the Scheldt,
the waters of which, at this period, mingled with those of the
Meuse. [455] (_See Plate 14. _) It was his intention to gain the extremity
of the Ardennes (between Brussels and Antwerp), whither it was said that
Ambiorix had retired with a few horsemen. He announced, on his
departure, that he should return to Aduatuca on the seventh day, the
period for the distribution of provisions to the legion which was left
at that place in charge of the baggage. Labienus and Trebonius were, if
they found it possible, to return at the same period, in order to
concert again on the measures to be taken after they had made themselves
acquainted with the designs of the enemy.
The Eburones had neither regular force, nor garrison, nor _oppidum_.
They formed a scattered multitude, always in ambush, attacking the
soldiers when isolated, and obliging the Romans to carry on a harassing
war, without any decisive result; for the nature of the country, covered
with thick forests, and intersected by marshes, protected the
barbarians, who could only be reached by small detachments. In the midst
of these difficulties, Cæsar preferred doing less injury to the enemy,
and sparing the lives of his own soldiers, by having recourse to the
Gauls. He accordingly sent messages to invite the neighbouring peoples
to come and ravage the territory of the Eburones, and assist him in
exterminating a race guilty of having slaughtered his soldiers. At his
call, numerous hordes rushed from all sides, and the entire territory of
the Eburones was soon given up to pillage. [456]
[Sidenote: The Sicambri attack Aduatuca. ]
VII. Meanwhile, the seventh day, the period fixed for Cæsar’s return,
approached. Chance, so common in war, brought about a remarkable
incident. The enemy, scattered, and struck with terror, could no longer
inspire the least fear. But rumour having spread beyond the Rhine, among
the Germans, that all peoples were invited to ravage the country of the
Eburones, the Sicambri, neighbours to the river, who had, as we have
seen, received the Usipetes and Tencteri after their defeat, collect
2,000 cavalry; they pass the Rhine on rafts and boats, thirty miles
below where Cæsar had built his bridge and left a guard (forty-five
kilomètres below Bonn. )[457] They invade the territory of the Eburones,
pick up a crowd of fugitives, and seize upon a great number of cattle.
The attraction of booty draws them on farther and farther; bred in the
midst of war and plundering, nothing stops them--neither marshes nor
woods. On their arrival at some distance from the Meuse, they learn from
prisoners the absence of Cæsar and the distance of the army, and that in
three hours they can reach Aduatuca, where the riches of the Romans are
deposited. They are made to believe that this fortress is defended by a
garrison too weak to line the walls or venture to issue from the
retrenchments. Trusting in this information, the Germans hide their
booty, and, guided by a prisoner, march against Aduatuca, crossing the
Meuse at Maestricht.
Hitherto, Cicero had scrupulously executed Cæsar’s order, and retained
the troops in the camp without even permitting a single valet to quit
it; but on the seventh day, reckoning no longer on the return of the
general at the term fixed, he yielded to the complaints of the soldiers,
who blamed his obstinacy in keeping them shut up as though they were
besieged. He believed, moreover, that the nine legions, and the numerous
cavalry which scoured the country, permitted him to venture without
danger to a distance of three miles from his camp, especially after the
dispersion of the enemy’s forces; he therefore sent five cohorts to cut
wheat in the nearest fields, situated to the north of Aduatuca, and
separated from the camp only by a hill. With them went, under the same
ensign, 300 men of different legions left sick, but then restored, and
a multitude of valets, taking with them a great number of beasts of
burden, which were in the camp.
Suddenly the German cavalry arrive; their march had been concealed by
the woods. Without halting, they rush toward the Decuman gate, and
attempt to enter the camp. (_See Plate 18. _) The attack is so sudden,
that the merchants established under the _vallum_ have not time to
enter. The soldiers, taken by surprise, are in confusion; the cohort on
guard struggles to prevent the enemy from entering the gate. The
Sicambri spread themselves round the camp, to discover another passage;
but, fortunately, the nature of the locality and the retrenchments
render access impossible everywhere but at the gates. They attempt to
force an entry there, and are prevented with difficulty. The alarm and
disorder are at their height. The soldiers are uncertain where to direct
their steps, or where to assemble; some pretend that the camp is taken,
others that the army and Cæsar have perished. A feeling of superstitious
anxiety recalls to their minds the disaster of Sabinus and Cotta, slain
at the same place. At the sight of such a general consternation, the
barbarians are confirmed in their opinion that the Romans are too few to
resist; they strive to force an entrance, and urge one another not to
let so rich a prey escape.
Among the sick left in the camp was the primipilus P. Sextius Baculus,
who had signalised himself in the preceding combats. For five days he
had taken no food. Uneasy for the safety of all, as well as his own, he
leaves his tent without arms, sees before him the enemy and the danger,
snatches a sword from the first man he meets, and takes his post at a
gate. The centurions of the cohort on guard follow him, and all together
sustain the attack for a few instants. Baculus, grievously wounded,
faints. He is passed from hand to hand, and only saved with difficulty.
This incident gives the others time to recover their courage. They
remain on the rampart, and present at least some appearance of defence.
At this moment the soldiers who had gone out to reap were on their way
back to the camp; they are struck with the cries they hear; the cavalry
press forward, perceive the imminence of the danger, and see, with
terror, that it is no longer possible to obtain refuge behind the
retrenchments. The newly-levied soldiers, inexperienced in war,
interrogate the tribune and centurions with their looks, and wait their
orders. There is no one so brave as not to be agitated by so unexpected
an event. The Sicambri, perceiving the ensigns at a distance, believe at
first that the legions were returning, and cease from the attack; but
soon, filled with contempt for such a handful of men, they rush upon
them on all sides.
The valets take refuge on a neighbouring hill, that on which now stands
the village of Berg. Driven from this post, they rush back into the
midst of the ensigns and manipuli, and increase the fear of the already
intimidated men. Among the soldiers, some propose to form in wedge, in
order to open themselves a way to the camp they see so near them: the
loss of a small number will be the safety of all. Others advise to
remain firm on the heights, and run the same chance together. This
latter opinion is not that of the old soldiers, united under the same
ensign. Led by C. Trebonius, a Roman knight, they fight their way
through the enemy, and re-enter the camp without the loss of a single
man. Under protection of this bold movement, the valets and cavalry
succeed in following them. As to the young soldiers who had posted
themselves on the heights, they were not able, in their inexperience,
either to maintain their resolution to defend themselves in their
position, or to imitate the successful energy of the veterans; they
engaged on disadvantageous ground in an attempt to regain the camp, and
their destruction would have been certain but for the devotedness of the
centurions. Some had been promoted from the lowest ranks of the army to
this grade, in reward for their courage; and for a moment they
intimidated the enemy, by sacrificing their lives in order to justify
their renown. This heroic act, contrary to all expectation, enabled
three cohorts to re-enter the camp; the two others perished.
During these combats, the defenders of the camp had recovered from their
first alarm. When they saw them stationed on the rampart, the Germans
despaired of being able to force the retrenchments; they withdrew, and
repassed the Rhine with their booty. The terror they had spread was such
that, even after their retreat, when, the following night, C. Volusenus
arrived at Aduatuca with the cavalry which preceded the legions, the
return of Cæsar and the safety of the army seemed hardly credible. Men’s
minds were affected to such a degree that they supposed the cavalry
alone had escaped from the disaster; for, they said, the Germans would
never have attacked the camp if the legions had not been defeated. The
arrival of Cæsar alone dissipated all their fears.
Accustomed to the various chances of war, and to events which must be
supported without complaining, he uttered no reproach;[458] he merely
reminded them that they should not have run the least risk by letting
the troops go out of the camp; that, moreover, if they might blame
fortune for the sudden attack of the enemy, they might, on the other
hand, congratulate themselves on having driven them back from the gates
of the camp. He was astonished, nevertheless, that the Germans, having
crossed the Rhine for the purpose of ravaging the territory of the
Eburones, should have acted so as to render the most signal service to
Ambiorix, by coming to attack the Romans.
Cæsar, to complete the ruin of the Eburones, marched again, collected a
great number of pillagers from the neighbouring states, and sent them in
different directions in pursuit of the enemy, to plunder and burn
everything. Their villages and habitations became, without exception, a
prey to the flames. The cavalry scoured the country in all directions,
in the hope of overtaking Ambiorix; the prospect of seizing him, and
gaining thereby the gratitude of the general, made them support infinite
fatigues, almost beyond human endurance. At every moment they believed
they were on the point of seizing the fugitive, and continually the
thick forests or deep retreats hid him from their pursuit. At last,
under protection of night, he reached other regions, escorted by four
horsemen, the only friends left to whom he dared trust his life.
Ambiorix escaped, but the massacre of the legion of Sabinus was cruelly
avenged by the devastation of the country of the Eburones!
After this expedition, Cæsar led back to Durocortorum (_Rheims_), the
chief town of the Remi, the army diminished by the two cohorts lost at
Aduatuca. He there convoked the assembly of Gaul, and caused judgment to
be passed on the conspiracy of the Senones and Carnutes. Acco, the chief
of the revolt, was condemned to death, and executed according to the old
Roman custom. Some others, fearing the same fate, took flight. They were
forbidden fire and water (that is, they were condemned to exile). Cæsar
sent two legions to winter quarters on the frontier of the Treviri, two
among the Lingones, and the six others among the Senones, at Agedincum
(_Sens_). After providing for the provisionment of the army, he
proceeded into Italy. [459]
CHAPTER X.
(Year of Rome 702. )
(BOOK VII. OF THE “COMMENTARIES. ”)
REVOLT OF GAUL--CAPTURE OF VELLAUNODUNUM, GENABUM, AND
NOVIODUNUM--SIEGES OF AVARICUM AND GERGOVIA--CAMPAIGN OF LABIENUS
AGAINST THE PARISII--SIEGE OF ALESIA.
[Sidenote: Revolt of Gaul. ]
I. The Roman arms had in six years subjugated, one after another, the
principal states of Gaul. Belgium, Aquitaine, and the countries on the
sea-coast, had been the theatre of the most desperate struggles. The
inhabitants of the isle of Britain, like the Germans, had become prudent
by the defeats they had suffered. Cæsar had just taken a signal
vengeance upon the revolted Eburones, and thought that he might without
danger leave his army and proceed into Italy, to hold the assemblies.
During his abode in this part of his command, the murder of P. Clodius
took place (the 13th of the Calends of February, 30th of December, 701),
which caused a great agitation, and gave rise to the Senatus-consultus,
which ordered all the youths of Italy to take the military oath; Cæsar
took advantage of it to make levies also in the Province. The rumours of
what was taking place at Rome soon passed the Alps, to revive the
resentments and hopes of the Gauls; they believed that the domestic
troubles would detain Cæsar in Italy, and would give rise to a
favourable opportunity for a new insurrection.
The principal chiefs meet in secluded spots; mutually excite each other
by the recital of their grievances, and by the remembrance of the death
of Acco; promise great rewards to those who, at the peril of their
lives, will commence the war; but decide that, before all, the return of
Cæsar to his army must be rendered impossible, a project the execution
of which was so much the easier, since the legions would not dare to
leave their winter quarters in the absence of their general, and since
the general himself could not join them without a sufficient escort.
The Carnutes are the first to offer to take arms: as the necessity of
acting secretly did not allow them to exchange hostages, they exact as
security an oath of alliance. This oath is taken by all the ensigns in a
meeting in which the moment for the rising is fixed.
On the day appointed, the Carnutes, led by two resolute men, Cotuatus
and Conetodunus, rush to Genabum (_Gien_), plunder and slaughter the
Roman merchants, amongst others the knight C. Fusius Cita, charged by
Cæsar with the victualling department. These news reached every state in
Gaul with an extreme celerity, according to the custom of the Gauls of
communicating remarkable events by cries transmitted from neighbour to
neighbour across the country. [460] Thus what had happened at Genabum at
sunrise, was known by the Arverni before the end of the first watch
(towards eight o’clock at night), at a distance of 160 miles.
Vercingetorix, a young Arvernan who possessed great influence in his
country,[461] and whose father, Celtillus, for a time chief of all Gaul,
had been put to death by his countrymen for having aspired to the
royalty, calls his clients together, and excites their zeal. Expelled
from Gergovia by those who were unwilling to tempt fortune with him, he
raises the country, and, with the help of a numerous band, retakes the
town, and causes himself to be proclaimed king. Soon he seduces the
Senones, the Parisii, the Pictones, the Cadurci, the Turones, the
Aulerci, the Lemovices of Armorica, the Andes, and the other peoples who
dwell on the shores of the ocean. The commandment is given to him by
unanimous consent. He exacts hostages from those peoples, orders a
prompt levy of soldiers, fixes the number of men and arms which each
country is to furnish in a given time, and occupies himself especially
with the raising of the cavalry. Active, daring, severe, and inflexible
even to cruelty, he subjects to the most atrocious tortures those who
hesitate, and by these means of terror soon forms an army.
He sent a part of it to the Ruteni, under the command of Cadurcus
Lucterius, a man full of daring; and to draw the Bituriges into the
insurrection, he invaded their territory. By acting thus, he threatened
the Province, and protected his rear whilst he moved towards the north,
where the Roman occupation was concentrated. On his approach, the
Bituriges solicited the help of the Ædui, their allies. The last, by the
advice of Cæsar’s lieutenants, who had remained with the army, sent them
a body of cavalry and infantry to support them against Vercingetorix;
but, when they reached the Loire, which separated the territory of the
two peoples, these auxiliary troops halted for some days, and then
returned, without having dared to cross the river, pretending that they
had been betrayed by the Bituriges. Immediately after their departure,
the latter joined the Arverni. [462]
[Sidenote: Cæsar begins the Campaign. ]
II. Cæsar heard of these events in Italy, and, reassured on the troubles
in Rome, which had been appeased by the firmness of Pompey, he took his
departure from Transalpine Gaul. When he arrived on the other side of
the Alps (perhaps on the banks of the Rhone), he was struck with the
difficulties which lay in the way of his joining the army. If he sent
for the legions into the Roman province, they would be compelled, on
their way, to fight without him; if, on the other hand, he would go to
them, he was obliged to pass through populations to whom,
notwithstanding their apparent tranquillity, it would have been
imprudent to trust his person.
While Cæsar found so great difficulties before him, Lucterius,[463] who
had been sent by Vercingetorix to the Ruteni, brings them over to the
alliance with the Arverni, advances towards the Nitiobriges and the
Gabali, from whom he receives hostages, and, at the head of a numerous
army, threatens the Province in the direction of Narbonne. These events
made Cæsar resolve to proceed to that town. His arrival put an end to
people’s fears. He placed garrisons among the peoples who bordered on
the territory of the enemy, the Ruteni of the left bank of the Tarn
(_Ruteni provinciales_), the Volcæ Arecomici, the Tolosates, and near
Narbonne. At the same time, he ordered a part of the troops of the
province, and the re-enforcements which he had brought from Italy, to
unite on the territory of the Helvi, which bordered upon that of the
Arverni. [464] Intimidated by these dispositions, Lucterius did not
venture to engage himself in the midst of these garrisons, and retired.
This first danger averted, it was important for Cæsar to prevent
Vercingetorix from raising other peoples, who might perhaps be inclined
to follow the example of the Bituriges. By invading the country of the
Arverni, Cæsar might hope to draw the Gaulish chief into his own
country, and thus remove him from those where the legions were
wintering. He proceeded, therefore, to the country of the Helvi, where
he joined the troops who had just concentrated there. The mountains of
the Cévennes, which separated this people from the Arverni, were covered
with six feet of snow; the soldiers opened a passage by dint of labour.
Advancing by Aps and Saint-Cirgues, between the sources of the Loire and
the Allier (_see Plate 19_), Cæsar debouched on Le Puy and Brioude. The
Arverni, at this season, the most rigorous of the year, believed
themselves defended by the Cévennes, as by an insurmountable wall: he
fell upon them unexpectedly, and, in order to spread still greater
terror, he caused the cavalry to scour the country far around.
Quickly informed of this march, Vercingetorix, at the prayer of the
Arverni, who implored his succour, abandoned the country of the
Bituriges. Cæsar had foreseen this; so he only remains two days amongst
the Arverni, and, quitting them under the pretext of increasing his
forces, he leaves the command to young Brutus, whom he enjoins to throw
out his reconnoitring parties to as great a distance as possible, and
promises to return at the end of three days. Having by this diversion
drawn Vercingetorix southward, he proceeds in great haste to Vienne,
arrives there unexpectedly, takes the newly-raised cavalry which he had
sent thither, marches night and day, crosses the country of the Ædui,
and directs his march towards the Lingones, where two legions were in
winter quarters. By this extreme rapidity he seeks to prevent any evil
design on the part of the Ædui. Scarcely has he arrived amongst the
Lingones, when he sends orders to the other legions, two of which were
on the frontiers of the Treviri, and the six others in the country of
the Senones, to concentrate the whole army at Agedincum (_Sens_) before
his march is known to the Arverni. As soon as Vercingetorix was informed
of this movement, he returned with his army to the country of the
Bituriges, and thence started to lay siege to Gorgobina
(_Saint-Parize-le-Châtel_), an _oppidum_ of the Boii, who had settled,
after the defeat of the Helvetii, near the confluence of the Allier and
the Loire. [465]
[Sidenote: Taking of Vellaunodunum, Genabum, and Noviodunum. ]
III. Although Cæsar had succeeded in uniting his troops, and in placing
himself at their head, he found it still difficult to fix upon a
determined plan. If he opened the campaign too early, the army might run
short of provisions through the difficulty of transport. If, on the
other hand, during the rest of the winter,[466] his army, remaining
inactive, allowed Vercingetorix to take Gorgobina, a place tributary to
the Ædui, the example might discourage his allies and lead to the
defection of the whole of Gaul. Rather than undergo such an affront, he
resolved to brave all obstacles. He engaged the Ædui, therefore, to
furnish provisions, announced his speedy arrival to the Boii,
recommended them to remain faithful, and to offer an energetic
resistance; and then, leaving at Agedincum two legions and the baggage
of the whole army, he marched with the eight others towards the
territory of the Boii. On the second day[467] he arrived at
Vellaunodunum (_Triguères_), a town of the Senones, and prepared to lay
siege to it, in order to protect his rear and secure his supply of
provisions. (_See Plate 19. _) The countervallation was finished in two
days. On the third, the town offered to surrender: the capitulation was
only accepted on condition of delivering up the arms, the beasts of
burden, and 600 hostages. Cæsar left C. Trebonius, his lieutenant, to
see the convention executed, and marched in haste towards Genabum
(_Gien_), a town of the Carnutes. [468] He arrived there in two days,
and sufficiently early to surprise the inhabitants, who, thinking that
the siege of Vellaunodunum would last longer, had not yet assembled
sufficient troops for the defence of the place. The Roman army took its
position before the _oppidum_; but the approach of night made it
necessary to postpone the attack until the following morning. However,
as Genabum had a bridge on the Loire adjoining to the town, Cæsar kept
two legions under arms to watch it, in the fear that the besieged might
escape during the night. And, in fact, towards midnight they silently
issued from Genabum and began to pass the river. Cæsar, informed by his
scouts, set fire to the gates, introduced the legions he had kept in
reserve, and took possession of the place. The fugitives, who were
closely crowded together at the issues of the town, and at the entrance
of the bridge, which were too narrow to allow them to pass, fell nearly
all into the hands of the Romans. Genabum was plundered and burnt, and
the spoil abandoned to the soldiers. Then the army passed the Loire,
arrived on the territory of the Bituriges, and continued its march.
The town of Noviodunum (_Sancerre_), belonging to this latter people,
lay in Cæsar’s route; he undertook to lay siege to it. The inhabitants
were already hastening to make their submission, and a part of the
hostages had been delivered, when they saw in the distance the cavalry
of Vercingetorix, who, warned of the approach of the Romans, had raised
the siege of Gorgobina, and marched to meet them. At this sight, the
besieged, mustering courage again, seize their arms, shut their gates,
and man the wall. The Roman cavalry was immediately sent to meet the
enemy; staggered at the first shock, it was on the point of giving way;
but soon, supported by about 400 German cavalry, in Cæsar’s pay since
the commencement of the campaign, they entirely routed the Gauls. This
defeat having again spread terror in the town, the inhabitants delivered
up the instigators of the revolt, and surrendered. Cæsar marched thence,
through the fertile territory of the Biturges, towards Avaricum
(_Bourges_), the largest and strongest _oppidum_ of that people. The
taking of this town, he considered, would render him master of the whole
country. [469]
[Sidenote: Siege of Avaricum. ]
IV. Vercingetorix, after having experienced so many reverses
successively at Vellaunodunum, at Genabum, and at Noviodunum, convokes a
council, in which he explains the necessity of adopting a new system of
warfare. Above all, according to him, they must take advantage of the
season, and of the numerous Gaulish cavalry, to cut off the Romans from
provisions and forage, sacrifice private interest to the common welfare,
set fire to the habitations, burgs, and _oppida_ which they could not
defend, so as to spread desolation from the territory of the Boii as far
as the enemy could extend his incursions. If that be an extreme
sacrifice, it is nothing in comparison with death and slavery.
This advice having been unanimously approved, the Bituriges, in one
single day, set fire to more than twenty towns; the neighbouring
countries follow their example. The hope of a speedy victory made them
support this painful sight with resignation. They deliberated whether
Avaricum should not undergo the same fate; the Bituriges implored them
to spare one of the most beautiful towns in Gaul, the ornament and
bulwark of their country; “the defence of it will be easy,” they added,
“on account of its almost inaccessible position. ” Vercingetorix, at
first of a contrary opinion, ended by giving way to this general feeling
of compassion, entrusted the place to men capable of defending it, and,
following Cæsar by short marches, pitched his camp in a spot defended by
woods and marshes, sixteen miles from Avaricum[470] (two kilomètres to
the north of _Dun-le-Roy_, at the confluence of the Auron and the
Taisseau).
Avaricum was situated, as Bourges is at present, at the extremity of a
piece of ground surrounded, to the north and west, by several marshy
streams: the Yèvre, the Yévrette, and the Auron. (_See Plate 20. _) The
Gaulish town, adorned with public places, and enclosing 40,000 souls,
exceeded, no doubt, in extent the Gallo-Roman circuit. The aspect of the
locality is certainly no longer the same: the marshes have been dried,
and the courses of water reduced within regular limits; the ruins
accumulated so many centuries ago have raised the level of the ground on
many points. To the south of Bourges, at a distance of 700 mètres, the
ground forms a neck, which, in the time of Cæsar’s wars, was narrower
than at present; it inclined more towards the place, and presented, at
80 mètres from the walls, a sudden depression, resembling a vast fosse.
(_See the section along C D. _) The slopes, then, abrupt towards the
Yévrette and the Auron, defined more clearly the only and very narrow
avenue (_unum et perangustum aditum_) which gave access to the
town. [471]
Cæsar established his camp behind this tongue of land, to the south, and
at 700 mètres from Avaricum, between the Auron and the Yévrette. As the
nature of the locality prevented all countervallation, he took his
dispositions for a regular siege. The place was only open to attack
towards that part of the enclosure which faced the avenue, on a width of
from 300 to 400 Roman feet (about 100 mètres). In this place the summit
of the walls commanded by about 80 feet (twenty-four mètres) the ground
situated in advance. [472] Cæsar commanded a terrace to be commenced,
covered galleries to be pushed towards the _oppidum_, and two towers to
be constructed.
