Julius Caesar-Introduction
Authorship information:
Suetonius (Suet.12Caes.Julius.56), in his biography of Julius Caesar states that
the Gallic and Civil Wars were written by Caesar, and that the 8th book of the
Gallic Wars was written by (Aulus) Hirtius. Suetonius also indicates that either
Caesar's friend Oppius, or Hirtius likely wrote about the Alexandrian, African
and Spanish wars, but that their authorship was not certain.
Subject of the books:
This is a detailed discription of the war campaigns of Julius Caesar, starting
from the time that he was in charge of the Roman forces in France (Gaul).
Caesar's writting style is that of a detailed factual report, prepared year by
year, of the events. The parts not written by him attempt a similiar style, but
are not as clean (See the notes of Hortius, at the start of the 8th book of the
Gallic Wars). Caesar's writings present himself as a much more balanced and just
leader than Suetonius or Plutarch indicate in their biographies of him. Also,
the accounts of the army during the Spanish campaign show a more brutal side to
his leadership.
Miscellaneous:
The original preface indicates that the publishers attempted to provide a
literal translation of the text.
Latin versions of Caesar's works are available on the Internet
The text transcribing was done with an attempt to duplicate the original
published print, except for a correction of a few printing errors. No attempt
was made to update the spelling to that of more modern American English.
Suspected spelling errors in names and places were retained, since there was no
way to insure which was more correct.
The text indexing is from the printed book, and may or may not match that found
in the Loeb's Classical Library. In addition, there are two known indexing
errors, both of which exist in the printed copy and the transcriber was unable
to resolve their accuracy: Gallic Wars, Book 7: Skips chapter 89 ; Gallic Wars,
Book 8: Skips chapter 46
Dating of the events (approximate):
Gallic Wars: Book 1 -- -58 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 2 -- -57 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 3 -- -56 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 4 -- -55 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 5 -- -54 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 6 -- -53 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 7 -- -52 B.C.
Gallic Wars: Book 8 -- -51-50 B.C.
Civil Wars: Book 1 -- -50 B.C.
Civil Wars: Book 2 -- -49 B.C.
Civil Wars: Book 3 -- -48-47 B.C.
De bello gallico (Gallic Wars)
Book 1
58 B.C.
"caes.gal.1.1": [1.1] All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the
Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called
Celts, in our Gauls, the third. All these differ from each other in language,
customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the
Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. Of all these, the Belgae are
the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of
[our] Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those
things which tend to effeminate the mind; and they are the nearest to the
Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war;
for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as
they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel
them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. One
part of these, which it has been said that the Gauls occupy, takes its beginning
at the river Rhone; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the ocean, and the
territories of the Belgae; it borders, too, on the side of the Sequani and the
Helvetii, upon the river Rhine, and stretches toward the north. The Belgae rises
from the extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the river Rhine;
and look toward the north and the rising sun. Aquitania extends from the river
Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains and to that part of the ocean which is near
Spain: it looks between the setting of the sun, and the north star.
"caes.gal.1.2": [1.2] Among the Helvetii, Orgetorix was by far the most
distinguished and wealthy. He, when Marcus Messala and Marcus Piso were consuls,
incited by lust of sovereignty, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, and
persuaded the people to go forth from their territories with all their
possessions, [saying] that it would be very easy, since they excelled all in
valor, to acquire the supremacy of the whole of Gaul. To this he the more easily
persuaded them, because the Helvetii, are confined on every side by the nature
of their situation; on one side by the Rhine, a very broad and deep river, which
separates the Helvetian territory from the Germans; on a second side by the
Jura, a very high mountain, which is [situated] between the Sequani and the
Helvetii; on a third by the Lake of Geneva, and by the river Rhone, which
separates our Province from the Helvetii. From these circumstances it resulted,
that they could range less widely, and could less easily make war upon their
neighbors; for which reason men fond of war [as they were] were affected with
great regret. They thought, that considering the extent of their population, and
their renown for warfare and bravery, they had but narrow limits, although they
extended in length 240, and in breadth 180 [Roman] miles.
"caes.gal.1.3": [1.3] Induced by these considerations, and influenced by the
authority of Orgetorix, they determined to provide such things as were necessary
for their expedition-to buy up as great a number as possible of beasts of burden
and wagons-to make their sowings as large as possible, so that on their march
plenty of corn might be in store-and to establish peace and friendship with the
neighboring states. They reckoned that a term of two years would be sufficient
for them to execute their designs; they fix by decree their departure for the
third year. Orgetorix is chosen to complete these arrangements. He took upon
himself the office of embassador to the states: on this journey he persuades
Casticus, the son of Catamantaledes (one of the Sequani, whose father had
possessed the sovereignty among the people for many years, and had been styled
"friend" by the senate of the Roman people), to seize upon the sovereignty in
his own state, which his father had held before him, and he likewise persuades
Dumnorix, an Aeduan, the brother of Divitiacus, who at that time possessed the
chief authority in the state, and was exceedingly beloved by the people, to
attempt the same, and gives him his daughter in marriage. He proves to them that
to accomplish their attempts was a thing very easy to be done, because he
himself would obtain the government of his own state; that there was no doubt
that the Helvetii were the most powerful of the whole of Gaul; he assures them
that he will, with his own forces and his own army, acquire the sovereignty for
them. Incited by this speech, they give a pledge and oath to one another, and
hope that, when they have seized the sovereignty, they will, by means of the
three most powerful and valiant nations, be enabled to obtain possession of the
whole of Gaul.
"caes.gal.1.4": [1.4] When this scheme was disclosed to the Helvetii by
informers, they, according to their custom, compelled Orgetorix to plead his
cause in chains; it was the law that the penalty of being burned by fire should
await him if condemned. On the day appointed for the pleading of his cause,
Orgetorix drew together from all quarters to the court, all his vassals to the
number of ten thousand persons; and led together to the same place all his
dependents and debtor-bondsmen, of whom he had a great number; by means of those
he rescued himself from [the necessity of] pleading his cause. While the state,
incensed at this act, was endeavoring to assert its right by arms, and the
magistrates were mustering a large body of men from the country, Orgetorix died;
and there is not wanting a suspicion, as the Helvetii think, of his having
committed suicide.
"caes.gal.1.5": [1.5] After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempt to
do that which they had resolved on, namely, to go forth from their territories.
When they thought that they were at length prepared for this undertaking, they
set fire to all their towns, in number about twelve-to their villages about four
hundred-and to the private dwellings that remained; they burn up all the corn,
except what they intend to carry with them; that after destroying the hope of a
return home, they might be the more ready for undergoing all dangers. They order
every one to carry forth from home for himself provisions for three months,
ready ground. They persuade the Rauraci, and the Tulingi, and the Latobrigi,
their neighbors, to adopt the same plan, and after burning down their towns and
villages, to set out with them: and they admit to their party and unite to
themselves as confederates the Boii, who had dwelt on the other side of the
Rhine, and had crossed over into the Norican territory, and assaulted Noreia.
"caes.gal.1.6": [1.6] There were in all two routes, by which they could go
forth from their country one through the Sequani narrow and difficult, between
Mount Jura and the river Rhone (by which scarcely one wagon at a time could be
led; there was, moreover, a very high mountain overhanging, so that a very few
might easily intercept them; the other, through our Province, much easier and
freer from obstacles, because the Rhone flows between the boundaries of the
Helvetii and those of the Allobroges, who had lately been subdued, and is in
some places crossed by a ford. The furthest town of the Allobroges, and the
nearest to the territories of the Helvetii, is Geneva. From this town a bridge
extends to the Helvetii. They thought that they should either persuade the
Allobroges, because they did not seem as yet well-affected toward the Roman
people, or compel them by force to allow them to pass through their territories.
Having provided every thing for the expedition, they appoint a day, on which
they should all meet on the bank of the Rhone. This day was the fifth before the
kalends of April [i.e. the 28th of March], in the consulship of Lucius Piso and
Aulus Gabinius [B.C. 58.]
"caes.gal.1.7": [1.7] When it was reported to Caesar that they were
attempting to make their route through our Province he hastens to set out from
the city, and, by as great marches as he can, proceeds to Further Gaul, and
arrives at Geneva. He orders the whole Province [to furnish] as great a number
of soldiers as possible, as there was in all only one legion in Further Gaul: he
orders the bridge at Geneva to be broken down. When the Helvetii are apprized of
his arrival they send to him, as embassadors, the most illustrious men of their
state (in which embassy Numeius and Verudoctius held the chief place), to say
"that it was their intention to march through the Province without doing any
harm, because they had" [according to their own representations,] "no other
route: that they requested, they might be allowed to do so with his consent."
Caesar, inasmuch as he kept in remembrance that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had
been slain, and his army routed and made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii,
did not think that [their request] ought to be granted: nor was he of opinion
that men of hostile disposition, if an opportunity of marching through the
Province were given them, would abstain from outrage and mischief. Yet, in order
that a period might intervene, until the soldiers whom he had ordered [to be
furnished] should assemble, he replied to the ambassadors, that he would take
time to deliberate; if they wanted any thing, they might return on the day
before the ides of April [on April 12th].
"caes.gal.1.8": [1.8] Meanwhile, with the legion which he had with him and
the soldiers which had assembled from the Province, he carries along for
nineteen [Roman, not quite eighteen English] miles a wall, to the height of
sixteen feet, and a trench, from the Lake of Geneva, which flows into the river
Rhone, to Mount Jura, which separates the territories of the Sequani from those
of the Helvetii. When that work was finished, he distributes garrisons, and
closely fortifies redoubts, in order that he may the more easily intercept them,
if they should attempt to cross over against his will. When the day which he had
appointed with the embassadors came, and they returned to him; he says, that he
can not, consistently with the custom and precedent of the Roman people, grant
any one a passage through the Province; and he gives them to understand, that,
if they should attempt to use violence he would oppose them. The Helvetii,
disappointed in this hope, tried if they could force a passage (some by means of
a bridge of boats and numerous rafts constructed for the purpose; others, by the
fords of the Rhone, where the depth of the river was least, sometimes by day,
but more frequently by night), but being kept at bay by the strength of our
works, and by the concourse of the soldiers, and by the missiles, they desisted
from this attempt.
"caes.gal.1.9": [1.9] There was left one way, [namely] through the Sequani,
by which, on account of its narrowness, they could not pass without the consent
of the Sequani. As they could not of themselves prevail on them, they send
embassadors to Dumnorix the Aeduan, that through his intercession, they might
obtain their request from the Sequani. Dumnorix, by his popularity and
liberality, had great influence among the Sequani, and was friendly to the
Helvetii, because out of that state he had married the daughter of Orgetorix;
and, incited by lust of sovereignty, was anxious for a revolution, and wished to
have as many states as possible attached to him by his kindness toward them. He,
therefore, undertakes the affair, and prevails upon the Sequani to allow the
Helvetii to march through their territories, and arranges that they should give
hostages to each other-the Sequani not to obstruct the Helvetii in their
march-the Helvetii, to pass without mischief and outrage.
"caes.gal.1.10": [1.10] It is again told Caesar, that the Helvetii intended
to march through the country of the Sequani and the Aedui into the territories
of the Santones, which are not far distant from those boundaries of the
Tolosates, which [viz. Tolosa, Toulouse] is a state in the Province. If this
took place, he saw that it would be attended with great danger to the Province
to have warlike men, enemies of the Roman people, bordering upon an open and
very fertile tract of country. For these reasons he appointed Titus Labienus,
his lieutenant, to the command of the fortification which he had made. He
himself proceeds to Italy by forced marches, and there levies two legions, and
leads out from winter-quarters three which were wintering around Aquileia, and
with these five legions marches rapidly by the nearest route across the Alps
into Further Gaul. Here the Centrones and the Graioceli and the Caturiges,
having taken possession of the higher parts, attempt to obstruct the army in
their march. After having routed these in several battles, he arrives in the
territories of the Vocontii in the Further Province on the seventh day from
Ocelum, which is the most remote town of the Hither Province; thence he leads
his army into the country of the Allobroges, and from the Allobroges to the
Segusiani. These people are the first beyond the Province on the opposite side
of the Rhone.
"caes.gal.1.11": [1.11] The Helvetii had by this time led their forces over
through the narrow defile and the territories of the Sequani, and had arrived at
the territories of the Aedui, and were ravaging their lands. The Aedui, as they
could not defend themselves and their possessions against them, send embassadors
to Caesar to ask assistance, [pleading] that they had at all times so well
deserved of the Roman people, that their fields ought not to have been laid
waste-their children carried off into slavery-their towns stormed, almost within
sight of our army. At the same time the Ambarri, the friends and kinsmen of the
Aedui, apprize Caesar, that it was not easy for them, now that their fields had
been devastated, to ward off the violence of the enemy from their towns: the
Allobroges likewise, who had villages and possessions on the other side of the
Rhone, betake themselves in flight to Caesar, and assure him that they had
nothing remaining, except the soil of their land. Caesar, induced by these
circumstances, decides, that he ought not to wait until the Helvetii, after
destroying all the property of his allies, should arrive among the Santones.
"caes.gal.1.12": [1.12] There is a river [called] the Saone, which flows
through the territories of the Aedui and Sequani into the Rhone with such
incredible slowness, that it can not be determined by the eye in which direction
it flows. This the Helvetii were crossing by rafts and boats joined together.
When Caesar was informed by spies that the Helvetii had already conveyed three
parts of their forces across that river, but that the fourth part was left
behind on this side of the Saone, he set out from the camp with three legions
during the third watch, and came up with that division which had not yet crossed
the river. Attacking them encumbered with baggage, and not expecting him, he cut
to pieces a great part of them; the rest betook themselves to flight, and
concealed themselves in the nearest woods. That canton [which was cut down] was
called the Tigurine; for the whole Helvetian state is divided into four cantons.
This single canton having left their country, within the recollection of our
fathers, had slain Lucius Cassius the consul, and had made his army pass under
the yoke. Thus, whether by chance, or by the design of the immortal gods, that
part of the Helvetian state which had brought a signal calamity upon the Roman
people, was the first to pay the penalty. In this Caesar avenged not only the
public but also his own personal wrongs, because the Tigurini had slain Lucius
Piso the lieutenant [of Cassius], the grandfather of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, his
[Caesar's] father-in-law, in the same battle as Cassius himself.
"caes.gal.1.13": [1.13] This battle ended, that he might be able to come up
with the remaining forces of the Helvetii, he procures a bridge to be made
across the Saone, and thus leads his army over. The Helvetii, confused by his
sudden arrival, when they found that he had effected in one day, what they,
themselves had with the utmost difficulty accomplished in twenty namely, the
crossing of the river, send embassadors to him; at the head of which embassy was
Divico, who had been commander of the Helvetii, in the war against Cassius. He
thus treats with Caesar:-that, "if the Roman people would make peace with the
Helvetii they would go to that part and there remain, where Caesar might appoint
and desire them to be; but if he should persist in persecuting them with war
that he ought to remember both the ancient disgrace of the Roman people and the
characteristic valor of the Helvetii. As to his having attacked one canton by
surprise, [at a time] when those who had crossed the river could not bring
assistance to their friends, that he ought not on that account to ascribe very
much to his own valor, or despise them; that they had so learned from their
sires and ancestors, as to rely more on valor than on artifice and stratagem.
Wherefore let him not bring it to pass that the place, where they were standing,
should acquire a name, from the disaster of the Roman people and the destruction
of their army or transmit the remembrance [of such an event to posterity]."
"caes.gal.1.14": [1.14] To these words Caesar thus replied:-that "on that
very account he felt less hesitation, because he kept in remembrance those
circumstances which the Helvetian embassadors had mentioned, and that he felt
the more indignant at them, in proportion as they had happened undeservedly to
the Roman people: for if they had been conscious of having done any wrong, it
would not have been difficult to be on their guard, but for that very reason had
they been deceived, because neither were they aware that any offense had been
given by them, on account of which they should be afraid, nor did they think
that they ought to be afraid without cause. But even if he were willing to
forget their former outrage, could he also lay aside the remembrance of the late
wrongs, in that they had against his will attempted a route through the Province
by force, in that they had molested the Aedui, the Ambarri, and the Allobroges?
That as to their so insolently boasting of their victory, and as to their being
astonished that they had so long committed their outrages with impunity, [both
these things] tended to the same point; for the immortal gods are wont to allow
those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater
prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely
from a reverse of circumstances. Although these things are so, yet, if hostages
were to be given him by them in order that he may be assured these will do what
they promise, and provided they will give satisfaction to the Aedui for the
outrages which they had committed against them and their allies, and likewise to
the Allobroges, he [Caesar] will make peace with them." Divico replied, that
"the Helvetii had been so trained by their ancestors, that they were accustomed
to receive, not to give hostages; of that fact the Roman people were witness."
Having given this reply, he withdrew.
"caes.gal.1.15": [1.15] On the following day they move their camp from that
place; Caesar does the same, and sends forward all his cavalry, to the number of
four thousand (which he had drawn together from all parts of the Province and
from the Aedui and their allies), to observe toward what parts the enemy are
directing their march. These, having too eagerly pursued the enemy's rear, come
to a battle with the cavalry of the Helvetii in a disadvantageous place, and a
few of our men fall. The Helvetii, elated with this battle, because they had
with five hundred horse repulsed so large a body of horse, began to face us more
boldly, sometimes too from their rear to provoke our men by an attack. Caesar
[however] restrained his men from battle, deeming it sufficient for the present
to prevent the enemy from rapine, forage, and depredation. They marched for
about fifteen days in such a manner that there was not more than five or six
miles between the enemy's rear and our van.
"caes.gal.1.16": [1.16] Meanwhile, Caesar kept daily importuning the Aedui
for the corn which they had promised in the name of their state; for, in
consequence of the coldness (Gaul, being as before said, situated toward the
north), not only was the corn in the fields not ripe, but there was not in store
a sufficiently large quantity even of fodder: besides he was unable to use the
corn which he had conveyed in ships up the river Saone, because the Helvetii,
from whom he was unwilling to retire had diverted their march from the Saone.
The Aedui kept deferring from day to day, and saying that it was being
collected-brought in-on the road." When he saw that he was put off too long, and
that the day was close at hand on which he ought to serve out the corn to his
soldiers;-having called together their chiefs, of whom he had a great number in
his camp, among them Divitiacus and Liscus who was invested with the chief
magistracy (whom the Aedui style the Vergobretus, and who is elected annually
and has power of life or death over his countrymen), he severely reprimands
them, because he is not assisted by them on so urgent an occasion, when the
enemy were so close at hand, and when [corn] could neither be bought nor taken
from the fields, particularly as, in a great measure urged by their prayers, he
had undertaken the war; much more bitterly, therefore does he complain of his
being forsaken.
"caes.gal.1.17": [1.17] Then at length Liscus, moved by Caesar's speech,
discloses what he had hitherto kept secret:-that there are some whose influences
with the people is very great, who, though private men, have more power than the
magistrates themselves: that these by seditions and violent language are
deterring the populace from contributing the corn which they ought to supply;
[by telling them] that, if they can not any longer retain the supremacy of Gaul,
it were better to submit to the government of Gauls than of Romans, nor ought
they to doubt that, if the Romans should overpower the Helvetii, they would
wrest their freedom from the Aedui together with the remainder of Gaul. By these
very men, [said he], are our plans and whatever is done in the camp, disclosed
to the enemy; that they could not be restrained by him: nay more, he was well
aware, that though compelled by necessity, he had disclosed the matter to
Caesar, at how great a risk he had done it; and for that reason, he had been
silent as long as he could."
"caes.gal.1.18": [1.18] Caesar perceived that by this speech of Liscus,
Dumnorix, the brother of Divitiacus, was indicated; but, as he was unwilling
that these matters should be discussed while so many were present, he speedily
dismisses: the council, but detains Liscus: he inquires from him when alone,
about those things which he had said in the meeting. He [Liscus] speaks more
unreservedly and boldly. He [Caesar] makes inquiries on the same points
privately of others, and discovered that it is all true; that "Dumnorix is the
person, a man of the highest daring, in great favor with the people on account
of his liberality, a man eager for a revolution: that for a great many years he
has been in the habit of contracting for the customs and all the other taxes of
the Aedui at a small cost, because when he bids, no one dares to bid against
him. By these means he has both increased his own private property, and amassed
great means for giving largesses; that he maintains constantly at his own
expense and keeps about his own person a great number of cavalry, and that not
only at home, but even among the neighboring states, he has great influence, and
for the sake of strengthening this influence has given his mother in marriage
among the Bituriges to a man the most noble and most influential there; that he
has himself taken a wife from among the Helvetii, and has given his sister by
the mother's side and his female relations in marriage into other states; that
he favors and wishes well to the Helvetii on account of this connection; and
that he hates Caesar and the Romans, on his own account, because by their
arrival his power was weakened, and his brother, Divitiacus, restored to his
former position of influence and dignity: that, if any thing should happen to
the Romans, he entertains the highest hope of gaining the sovereignty by means
of the Helvetii, but that under the government of the Roman people he despairs
not only of royalty, but even of that influence which he already has." Caesar
discovered too, on inquiring into the unsuccessful cavalry engagement which had
taken place a few days before, that the commencement of that flight had been
made by Dumnorix and his cavalry (for Dumnorix was in command of the cavalry
which the Aedui had sent for aid to Caesar); that by their flight the rest of
the cavalry were dismayed.
"caes.gal.1.19": [1.19] After learning these circumstances, since to these
suspicions the most unequivocal facts were added, viz., that he had led the
Helvetii through the territories of the Sequani; that he had provided that
hostages should be mutually given; that he had done all these things, not only
without any orders of his [Caesar's] and of his own state's, but even without
their [the Aedui] knowing any thing of it themselves; that he [Dumnorix] was
reprimanded: by the [chief] magistrate of the Aedui; he [Caesar] considered that
there was sufficient reason, why he should either punish him himself, or order
the state to do so. One thing [however] stood in the way of all this-that he had
learned by experience his brother Divitiacus's very high regard for the Roman
people, his great affection toward him, his distinguished faithfulness, justice,
and moderation; for he was afraid lest by the punishment of this man, he should
hurt the feelings of Divitiacus. Therefore, before he attempted any thing, he
orders Divitiacus to be summoned to him, and, when the ordinary interpreters had
been withdrawn, converses with him through Caius Valerius Procillus, chief of
the province of Gaul, an intimate friend of his, in whom he reposed the highest
confidence in every thing; at the same time he reminds him of what was said
about Dumnorix in the council of the Gauls, when he himself was present, and
shows what each had said of him privately in his [Caesar's] own presence; he
begs and exhorts him, that, without offense to his feelings, he may either
himself pass judgment on him [Dumnorix] after trying the case, or else order the
[Aeduan] state to do so.
"caes.gal.1.20": [1.20] Divitiacus, embracing Caesar, begins to implore him,
with many tears, that "he would not pass any very severe sentence upon his
brother; saying, that he knows that those charges are true, and that nobody
suffered more pain on that account than he himself did; for when he himself
could effect a very great deal by his influence at home and in the rest of Gaul,
and he [Dumnorix] very little on account of his youth, the latter had become
powerful through his means, which power and strength he used not only to the
lessening of his [Divitiacus] popularity, but almost to his ruin; that he,
however, was influenced both by fraternal affection and by public opinion. But
if any thing very severe from Caesar should befall him [Dumnorix], no one would
think that it had been done without his consent, since he himself held such a
place in Caesar's friendship: from which circumstance it would arise, that the
affections of the whole of Gaul would be estranged from him." As he was with
tears begging these things of Caesar in many words, Caesar takes his right hand,
and, comforting him, begs him to make an end of entreating, and assures him that
his regard for him is so great, that he forgives both the injuries of the
republic and his private wrongs, at his desire and prayers. He summons Dumnorix
to him; he brings in his brother; he points out what he censures in him; he lays
before him what he of himself perceives, and what the state complains of; he
warns him for the future to avoid all grounds of suspicion; he says that he
pardons the past, for the sake of his brother, Divitiacus. He sets spies over
Dumnorix that he may be able to know what he does, and with whom he
communicates.
"caes.gal.1.21": [1.21] Being on the same day informed by his scouts, that
the enemy had encamped at the foot of a mountain eight miles from his own camp;
he sent persons to ascertain what the nature of the mountain was, and of what
kind the ascent on every side. Word was brought back, that it was easy. During
the third watch he orders Titus Labienus, his lieutenant with praetorian powers,
to ascend to the highest ridge of the mountain with two legions, and with those
as guides who had examined the road; he explains what his plan is. He himself
during the fourth watch, hastens to them by the same route by which the enemy
had gone, and sends on all the cavalry before him. Publius Considius, who was
reputed to be very experienced in military affairs, and had been in the army of
Lucius Sulla, and afterward in that of Marcus Crassus, is sent forward with the
scouts.
"caes.gal.1.22": [1.22] At day-break, when the summit of the mountain was in
the possession of Titus Labienus, and he himself was not further off than a mile
and half from the enemy's camp, nor, as he afterward ascertained from the
captives, had either his arrival or that of Labienus been discovered; Considius,
with his horse at full gallop, comes up to him says that the mountain which he
[Caesar] wished should be seized by Labienus, is in possession of the enemy;
that he has discovered this by the Gallic arms and ensigns. Caesar leads off his
forces to the next hill: [and] draws them up in battle-order. Labienus, as he
had been ordered by Caesar not to come to an engagement unless [Caesar's] own
forces were seen near the enemy's camp, that the attack upon the enemy might be
made on every side at the same time, was, after having taken possession of the
mountain, waiting for our men, and refraining from battle. When, at length, the
day was far advanced, Caesar learned through spies, that the mountain was in
possession of his own men, and that the Helvetii had moved their camp, and that
Considius, struck with fear, had reported to him, as seen, that which he had not
seen. On that day he follows the enemy at his usual distance, and pitches his
camp three miles from theirs.
"caes.gal.1.23": [1.23] The next day (as there remained in all only two day's
space [to the time] when he must serve out the corn to his army, and as he was
not more than eighteen miles from Bibracte, by far the largest and best-stored
town of the Aedui), he thought that he ought to provide for a supply of corn;
and diverted his march from the Helvetii, and advanced rapidly to Bibracte. This
circumstance is reported to the enemy by some deserters from Lucius Aemilius, a
captain, of the Gallic horse. The Helvetii, either because they thought that the
Romans, struck with terror, were retreating from them, the more so, as the day
before, though they had seized on the higher grounds, they had not joined battle
or because they flattered themselves that they might be cut of from the
provisions, altering their plan and changing their route, began to pursue, and
to annoy our men in the rear.
"caes.gal.1.24": [1.24] Caesar, when he observes this, draws off his forces
to the next hill, and sent the cavalry to sustain the attack of the enemy. He
himself, meanwhile, drew up on the middle of the hill a triple line of his four
veteran legions in such a manner, that he placed above him on the very summit
the two legions, which he had lately levied in Hither Gaul, and all the
auxiliaries; and he ordered that the whole mountain should be covered with men,
and that meanwhile the baggage should be brought together into one place, and
the position be protected by those who were posted in the upper line. The
Helvetii having followed with all their wagons, collected their baggage into one
place: they themselves, after having repulsed our cavalry and formed a phalanx,
advanced up to our front line in very close order.
"caes.gal.1.25": [1.25] Caesar, having removed out of sight first his own
horse, then those of all, that he might make the danger of a11 equal, and do
away with the hope of flight, after encouraging his men, joined battle. His
soldiers hurling their javelins from the higher ground, easily broke the enemy's
phalanx. That being dispersed, they made a charge on them with drawn swords. It
was a great hinderance to the Gauls in fighting, that, when several of their
bucklers had been by one stroke of the (Roman) javelins pierced through and
pinned fast together, as the point of the iron had bent itself, they could
neither pluck it out, nor, with their left hand entangled, fight with sufficient
ease; so that many, after having long tossed their arm about, chose rather to
cast away the buckler from their hand, and to fight with their person
unprotected. At length, worn out with wounds, they began to give way, and, as
there was in the neighborhood a mountain about a mile off, to betake themselves
thither. When the mountain had been gained, and our men were advancing up, the
Boii and Tulingi, who with about 15,000 men closed the enemy's line of march and
served as a guard to their rear, having assailed our men on the exposed flank as
they advanced [prepared] to surround them; upon seeing which, the Helvetii who
had betaken themselves to the mountain, began to press on again and renew the
battle. The Romans having faced about, advanced to the attack in two divisions;
the first and second line, to withstand those who had been defeated and driven
off the field; the third to receive those who were just arriving.
"caes.gal.1.26": [1.26] Thus, was the contest long and vigorously carried on
with doubtful success. When they could no longer withstand the attacks of our
men, the one division, as they had begun to do, betook themselves to the
mountain; the other repaired to their baggage and wagons. For during the whole
of this battle, although the fight lasted from the seventh hour [i.e. 12 (noon)
1 P. M.] to eventide, no one could see an enemy with his back turned. The fight
was carried on also at the baggage till late in the night, for they had set
wagons in the way as a rampart, and from the higher ground kept throwing weapons
upon our men, as they came on, and some from between the wagons and the wheels
kept darting their lances and javelins from beneath, and wounding our men. After
the fight had lasted some time, our men gained possession of their baggage and
camp. There the daughter and one of the sons of Orgetorix was taken. After the
battle about 130,000 men [of the enemy] remained alive, who marched incessantly
during the whole of that night; and after a march discontinued for no part of
the night, arrived in the territories of the Lingones on the fourth day, while
our men, having stopped for three days, both on account of the wounds of the
soldiers and the burial of the slain, had not been able to follow them. Caesar
sent letters and messengers to the Lingones [with orders] that they should not
assist them with corn or with any thing else; for that if they should assist
them, he would regard them in the same light as the Helvetii. After the three
days' interval he began to follow them himself with all his forces.
"caes.gal.1.27": [1.27] The Helvetii, compelled by the want of every thing,
sent embassadors to him about a surrender. When these had met him on the way and
had thrown themselves at his feet, and speaking in suppliant tone had with tears
sued for peace, and [when] he had ordered them to await his arrival, in the
place, where they then were, they obeyed his commands. When Caesar arrived at
that place, he demanded hostages, their arms, and the slaves who had deserted to
them. While those things are being sought for and got together, after a night's
interval, about 6000 men of that canton which is called the Verbigene, whether
terrified by fear, lest after delivering up their arms, they should suffer
punishment, or else induced by the hope of safety, because they supposed that,
amid so vast a multitude of those who had surrendered themselves, their flight
might either be concealed or entirely overlooked, having at night-fall departed
out of the camp of the Helvetii, hastened to the Rhine and the territories of
the Germans.
"caes.gal.1.28": [1.28] But when Caesar discovered this, he commanded those
through whose territory they had gone, to seek them out and to bring them back
again, if they meant to be acquitted before him; and considered them, when
brought back, in the light of enemies; he admitted all the rest to a surrender,
upon their delivering up the hostages, arms, and deserters. He ordered the
Helvetii, the Tulingi, and the Latobrigi, to return to their territories from
which they had come, and as there was at home nothing whereby they might support
their hunger, all the productions of the earth having been destroyed, he
commanded the Allobroges to let them have a plentiful supply of corn; and
ordered them to rebuild the towns and villages which they had burned. This he
did, chiefly, on this account, because he was unwilling that the country, from
which the Helvetii had departed, should be untenanted, lest the Germans, who
dwell on the other side of the Rhine, should, on account of the excellence of
the lands, cross over from their own territories into those of the Helvetii, and
become borderers upon the province of Gaul and the Allobroges. He granted the
petition of the Aedui, that they might settle the Boii, in their own (i. e. in
the Aeduan) territories, as these were known to be of distinguished valor, to
whom they gave lands, and whom they afterward admitted to the same state of
rights and freedom as themselves.
"caes.gal.1.29": [1.29] In the camp of the Helvetii, lists were found, drawn
up in Greek characters, and were brought to Caesar, in which an estimate had
been drawn up, name by name, of the number which had gone forth from their
country of those who were able to bear arms; and likewise the boys, the old men,
and the women, separately. Of all which items the total was:
Of the Helvetii [lit. of the heads of the Helvetii] 263,000
Of the Tulingi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,000
Of the Latobrigi .-. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,000
Of the Rauraci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23,000
Of the Boii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,000
The sum of all amounted to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368,000
Out of these, such as could bear arms, [amounted] to about 92,000. When the
census of those who returned home was taken, as Caesar had commanded, the number
was found to be 110,000.