De Bello Gallico and Other Commentaries - Caius Julius Caesar
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VI.--Caesar, having divided his forces with C. Fabius, his lieutenant,
and M. Crassus, his questor, and having hastily constructed some
bridges, enters their country in three divisions, burns their houses and
villages, and gets possession of a large number of cattle and men.
Constrained by these circumstances, the Menapii send ambassadors to him
for the purpose of suing for peace. He, after receiving hostages,
assures them that he will consider them in the number of his enemies if
they shall receive within their territories either Ambiorix or his
ambassadors. Having determinately settled these things, he left among
the Menapii, Commius the Atrebatian with some cavalry as a guard; he
himself proceeds toward the Treviri.
VII.--While these things are being performed by Caesar, the Treviri,
having drawn together large forces of infantry and of cavalry, were
preparing to attack Labienus and the legion which was wintering in their
territories, and were already not further distant from him than a
journey of two days, when they learn that two legions had arrived by the
order of Caesar. Having pitched their camp fifteen miles off, they
resolve to await the support of the Germans. Labienus, having learned
the design of the enemy, hoping that through their rashness there would
be some opportunity of engaging, after leaving a guard of five cohorts
for the baggage, advances against the enemy with twenty-five cohorts and
a large body of cavalry, and, leaving the space of a mile between them,
fortifies his camp. There was between Labienus and the enemy a river
difficult to cross and with steep banks: this neither did he himself
design to cross, nor did he suppose the enemy would cross it. Their hope
of auxiliaries was daily increasing. He [Labienus] openly says in a
council that "since the Germans are said to be approaching, he would not
bring into uncertainty his own and the army's fortunes, and the next day
would move his camp at early dawn. These words are quickly carried to
the enemy, since out of so large a number of cavalry composed of Gauls,
nature compelled some to favour the Gallic interests. Labienus, having
assembled the tribunes of the soldiers and principal centurions by
night, states what his design is, and, that he may the more easily give
the enemy a belief of his fears, he orders the camp to be moved with
greater noise and confusion than was usual with the Roman people. By
these means he makes his departure [appear], like a retreat. These
things, also, since the camps were so near, are reported to the enemy by
scouts before daylight.
VIII.--Scarcely had the rear advanced beyond the fortifications when the
Gauls, encouraging one another "not to cast from their hands the
anticipated booty, that it was a tedious thing, while the Romans were
panic stricken, to be waiting for the aid of the Germans, and that their
dignity did not suffer them to fear to attack with such great forces so
small a band, particularly when retreating and encumbered," do not
hesitate to cross the river and give battle in a disadvantageous
position. Labienus suspecting that these things would happen, was
proceeding quietly, and using the same pretence of a march, in order
that he might entice them across the river. Then, having sent forward
the baggage some short distance and placed it on a certain eminence, he
says, "Soldiers, you have the opportunity you have sought: you hold the
enemy in an encumbered and disadvantageous position: display to us your
leaders the same valour you have ofttimes displayed to your general:
imagine that he is present and actually sees these exploits." At the
same time he orders the troops to face about towards the enemy and form
in line of battle, and, despatching a few troops of cavalry as a guard
for the bag gage, he places the rest of the horse on the wings. Our men,
raising a shout, quickly throw their javelins at the enemy. They, when,
contrary to their expectation, they saw those whom they believed to be
retreating, advance towards them with threatening banners, were not able
to sustain even the charge, and, being put to flight at the first
onslaught, sought the nearest woods: Labienus pursuing them with the
cavalry, upon a large number being slain, and several taken prisoners,
got possession of the state a few days after; for the Germans who were
coming to the aid of the Treviri, having been informed of their flight,
retreated to their homes. The relations of Indutiomarus, who had been
the promoters of the revolt, accompanying them, quitted their own state
with them. The supreme power and government were delivered to
Cingetorix, whom we have stated to have remained firm in his allegiance
from the commencement.
IX.--Caesar, after he came from the territories of the Menapii into
those of the Treviri, resolved for two reasons to cross the Rhine; one
of which was, because they had sent assistance to the Treviri against
him; the other, that Ambiorix might not have a retreat among them.
Having determined on these matters, he began to build a bridge a little
above that place, at which he had before conveyed over his army. The
plan having been known and laid down, the work is accomplished in a few
days by the great exertion of the soldiers. Having left a strong guard
at the bridge on the side of the Treviri, lest any commotion should
suddenly arise among them, he leads over the rest of the forces and the
cavalry. The Ubii, who before had sent hostages and come to a
capitulation, send ambassadors to him, for the purpose of vindicating
themselves, to assure him that "neither had auxiliaries been sent to the
Treviri from their state, nor had they violated their allegiance"; they
entreat and beseech him "to spare them, lest, in his common hatred of
the Germans, the innocent should suffer the penalty of the guilty: they
promise to give more hostages, if he desire them." Having investigated
the case, Caesar finds that the auxiliaries had been sent by the Suevi;
he accepts the apology of the Ubii, and makes minute inquiries
concerning the approaches and the routes to the territories of the
Suevi. X.--In the meanwhile he is informed by the Ubii, a few days
after, that the Suevi are drawing all their forces into one place, and
are giving orders to those nations which are under their government to
send auxiliaries of infantry and of cavalry. Having learned these
things, he provides a supply of corn, selects a proper place for his
camp, and commands the Ubii to drive off their cattle and carry away all
their possessions from the country parts into the towns, hoping that
they, being a barbarous and ignorant people, when harassed by the want
of provisions, might be brought to an engagement on disadvantageous
terms: he orders them to send numerous scouts among the Suevi, and learn
what things are going on among them. They execute the orders, and, a few
days having intervened, report that all the Suevi, after certain
intelligence concerning the army of the Romans had come, retreated with
all their own forces and those of their allies, which they had
assembled, to the utmost extremities of their territories: that there is
a wood there of very great extent, which is called Bacenis; that this
stretches a great way into the interior, and, being opposed as a natural
barrier, defends from injuries and incursions the Cherusci against the
Suevi, and the Suevi against the Cherusci: that at the entrance of that
forest the Suevi had determined to await the coming up of the Romans.
XI.--Since we have come to this place, it does not appear to be foreign
to our subject to lay before the reader an account of the manners of
Gaul and Germany, and wherein these nations differ from each other. In
Gaul there are factions not only in all the states, and in all the
cantons and their divisions, but almost in each family, and of these
factions those are the leaders who are considered according to their
judgment to possess the greatest influence, upon whose will and
determination the management of all affairs and measures depends. And
that seems to have been instituted in ancient times with this view, that
no one of the common people should be in want of support against one
more powerful; for none [of those leaders] suffers his party to be
oppressed and defrauded, and if he do otherwise, he has no influence
among his party. This same policy exists throughout the whole of Gaul;
for all the states are divided into two factions.
XII.--When Caesar arrived in Gaul, the Aedui were the leaders of one
faction, the Sequani of the other. Since the latter were less powerful
by themselves, inasmuch as the chief influence was from of old among the
Aedui, and their dependencies were great, they had united to themselves
the Germans and Ariovistus, and had brought them over to their party by
great sacrifices and promises. And having fought several successful
battles and slain all the nobility of the Aedui, they had so far
surpassed them in power, that they brought over, from the Aedui to
themselves, a large portion of their dependants and received from them
the sons of their leading men as hostages, and compelled them to swear
in their public character that they would enter into no design against
them; and held a portion of the neighbouring land, seized on by force,
and possessed the sovereignty of the whole of Gaul. Divitiacus urged by
this necessity, had proceeded to Rome to the senate, for the purpose of
entreating assistance, and had returned without accomplishing his
object. A change of affairs ensued on the arrival of Caesar, the
hostages were returned to the Aedui, their old dependencies restored,
and new acquired through Caesar (because those who had attached
themselves to their alliance saw that they enjoyed a better state and a
milder government), their other interests, their influence, their
reputation were likewise increased, and in consequence, the Sequani lost
the sovereignty. The Remi succeeded to their place, and, as it was
perceived that they equalled the Aedui in favour with Caesar, those, who
on account of their old animosities could by no means coalesce with the
Aedui, consigned themselves in clientship to the Remi. The latter
carefully protected them. Thus they possessed both a new and suddenly
acquired influence. Affairs were then in that position, that the Aedui
were considered by far the leading people, and the Remi held the second
post of honour.
XIII.--Throughout all Gaul there are two orders of those men who are of
any rank and dignity: for the commonality is held almost in the
condition of slaves, and dares to undertake nothing of itself and is
admitted to no deliberation. The greater part, when they are pressed
either by debt, or the large amount of their tributes, or the oppression
of the more powerful, give themselves up in vassalage to the nobles, who
possess over them the same rights without exception as masters over
their slaves. But of these two orders, one is that of the Druids, the
other that of the knights. The former are engaged in things sacred,
conduct the public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all matters
of religion. To these a large number of the young men resort for the
purpose of instruction, and they [the Druids] are in great honour among
them. For they determine respecting almost all controversies, public and
private; and if any crime has been perpetrated, if murder has been
committed, if there be any dispute about an inheritance, if any about
boundaries, these same persons decide it; they decree rewards and
punishments if any one, either in a private or public capacity, has not
submitted to their decision, they interdict him from the sacrifices.
This among them is the most heavy punishment. Those who have been thus
interdicted are esteemed in the number of the impious and the criminal:
all shun them, and avoid their society and conversation, lest they
receive some evil from their contact; nor is justice administered to
them when seeking it, nor is any dignity bestowed on them. Over all
these Druids one presides, who possesses supreme authority among them.
Upon his death, if any individual among the rest is pre-eminent in
dignity, he succeeds; but, if there are many equal, the election is made
by the suffrages of the Druids; sometimes they even contend for the
presidency with arms. These assemble at a fixed period of the year in a
consecrated place in the territories of the Carnutes, which is reckoned
the central region of the whole of Gaul. Hither all, who have disputes,
assemble from every part, and submit to their decrees and
determinations. This institution is supposed to have been devised in
Britain, and to have been brought over from it into Gaul; and now those
who desire to gain a more accurate knowledge of that system generally
proceed thither for the purpose of studying it.
XIV.--The Druids do not go to war, nor pay tribute together with the
rest; they have an exemption from military service and a dispensation in
all matters. Induced by such great advantages, many embrace this
profession of their own accord, and [many] are sent to it by their
parents and relations. They are said there to learn by heart a great
number of verses; accordingly some remain in the course of training
twenty years. Nor do they regard it lawful to commit these to writing,
though in almost all other matters, in their public and private
transactions, they use Greek characters. That practice they seem to me
to have adopted for two reasons; because they neither desire their
doctrines to be divulged among the mass of the people, nor those who
learn, to devote themselves the less to the efforts of memory, relying
on writing; since it generally occurs to most men, that, in their
dependence on writing, they relax their diligence in learning
thoroughly, and their employment of the memory. They wish to inculcate
this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct,
but pass after death from one body to another, and they think that men
by this tenet are in a great degree excited to valour, the fear of death
being disregarded. They likewise discuss and impart to the youth many
things respecting the stars and their motion, respecting the extent of
the world and of our earth, respecting the nature of things, respecting
the power and the majesty of the immortal gods.
XV.--The other order is that of the knights. These, when there is
occasion and any war occurs (which before Caesar's arrival was for the
most part wont to happen every year, as either they on their part were
inflicting injuries or repelling those which others inflicted on them),
are all engaged in war. And those of them most distinguished by birth
and resources, have the greatest number of vassals and dependants about
them. They acknowledge this sort of influence and power only.
XVI.--The nation of all the Gauls is extremely devoted to superstitious
rites; and on that account they who are troubled with unusually severe
diseases and they who are engaged in battles and dangers, either
sacrifice men as victims, or vow that they will sacrifice them, and
employ the Druids as the performers of those sacrifices; because they
think that unless the life of a man be offered for the life of a man,
the mind of the immortal gods cannot be rendered propitious, and they
have sacrifices of that kind ordained for national purposes. Others have
figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with
living men, which being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the
flames. They consider that the oblation of such as have been taken in
theft, or in robbery, or any other offence, is more acceptable to the
immortal gods; but when a supply of that class is wanting, they have
recourse to the oblation of even the innocent.
XVII.--They worship as their divinity, Mercury in particular, and have
many images of him, and regard him as the inventor of all arts, they
consider him, the guide of their journeys and marches, and believe him
to have very great influence over the acquisition of gain and mercantile
transactions. Next to him they worship Apollo, and Mars, and Jupiter,
and Minerva; respecting these deities they have for the most part the
same belief as other nations: that Apollo averts diseases, that Minerva
imparts the invention of manufactures, that Jupiter possesses the
sovereignty of the heavenly powers; that Mars presides over wars. To him
when they have determined to engage in battle, they commonly vow those
things they shall take in war. When they have conquered, they sacrifice
whatever captured animals may have survived the conflict, and collect
the other things into one place. In many states you may see piles of
these things heaped up in their consecrated spots; nor does it often
happen that any one, disregarding the sanctity of the case, dares either
to secrete in his house things captured, or take away those deposited;
and the most severe punishment, with torture, has been established for
such a deed.
XVIII.--All the Gauls assert that they are descended from the god Dis,
and say that this tradition has been handed down by the Druids. For that
reason they compute the divisions of every season, not by the number of
days, but of nights; they keep birthdays and the beginnings of months
and years in such an order that the day follows the night. Among the
other usages of their life, they differ in this from almost all other
nations, that they do not permit their children to approach them openly
until they are grown up so as to be able to bear the service of war; and
they regard it as indecorous for a son of boyish age to stand in public
in the presence of his father.
XIX.--Whatever sums of money the husbands have received in the name of
dowry from their wives, making an estimate of it, they add the same
amount out of their own estates. An account is kept of all this money
conjointly, and the profits are laid by: whichever of them shall have
survived [the other], to that one the portion of both reverts, together
with the profits of the previous time. Husbands have power of life and
death over their wives as well as over their children: and when the
father of a family, born in a more than commonly distinguished rank, has
died, his relations assemble, and, if the circumstances of his death are
suspicious, hold an investigation upon the wives in the manner adopted
towards slaves; and if proof be obtained, put them to severe torture,
and kill them. Their funerals, considering the state of civilization
among the Gauls, are magnificent and costly; and they cast into the fire
all things, including living creatures, which they suppose to have been
dear to them when alive; and, a little before this period, slaves and
dependants, who were ascertained to have been beloved by them, were,
after the regular funeral rites were completed, burnt together with
them.
XX.--Those states which are considered to conduct their commonwealth
more judiciously, have it ordained by their laws, that, if any person
shall have heard by rumour and report from his neighbours anything
concerning the commonwealth, he shall convey it to the magistrate and
not impart it to any other; because it has been discovered that
inconsiderate and inexperienced men were often alarmed by false reports
and driven to some rash act, or else took hasty measures in affairs of
the highest importance. The magistrates conceal those things which
require to be kept unknown; and they disclose to the people whatever
they determine to be expedient. It is not lawful to speak of the
commonwealth, except in council.
XXI.--The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have neither
Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great regard to
sacrifices. They rank in the number of the gods those alone whom they
behold, and by whose instrumentality they are obviously benefited,
namely, the sun, fire, and the moon; they have not heard of the other
deities even by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and in
the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote themselves
to fatigue and hardships. Those who have remained chaste for the longest
time, receive the greatest commendation among their people: they think
that by this the growth is promoted, by this the physical powers are
increased and the sinews are strengthened. And to have had knowledge of
a woman before the twentieth year they reckon among the most disgraceful
acts; of which matter there is no concealment, because they bathe
promiscuously in the rivers and [only] use skins or small cloaks of
deers' hides, a large portion of the body being in consequence naked.
XXII.--They do not pay much attention to agriculture, and a large
portion of their food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh; nor has any
one a fixed quantity of land or his own individual limits; but the
magistrates and the leading men each year apportion to the tribes and
families, who have united together, as much land as, and in the place in
which, they think proper, and the year after compel them to remove
elsewhere. For this enactment they advance many reasons--lest seduced by
long-continued custom, they may exchange their ardour in the waging of
war for agriculture; lest they may be anxious to acquire extensive
estates, and the more powerful drive the weaker from their possessions;
lest they construct their houses with too great a desire to avoid cold
and heat; lest the desire of wealth spring up, from which cause
divisions and discords arise; and that they may keep the common people
in a contented state of mind, when each sees his own means placed on an
equality with [those of] the most powerful.
XXIII.--It is the greatest glory to the several states to have as wide
deserts as possible around them, their frontiers having been laid waste.
They consider this the real evidence of their prowess, that their
neighbours shall be driven out of their lands and abandon them, and that
no one dare settle near them; at the same time they think that they
shall be on that account the more secure, because they have removed the
apprehension of a sudden incursion. When a state either repels war waged
against it, or wages it against another, magistrates are chosen to
preside over that war with such authority, that they have power of life
and death. In peace there is no common magistrate, but the chiefs of
provinces and cantons administer justice and determine controversies
among their own people. Robberies which are committed beyond the
boundaries of each state bear no infamy, and they avow that these are
committed for the purpose of disciplining their youth and of preventing
sloth. And when any of their chiefs has said in an assembly "that he
will be their leader, let those who are willing to follow, give in their
names"; they who approve of both the enterprise and the man arise and
promise their assistance and are applauded by the people; such of them
as have not followed him are accounted in the number of deserters and
traitors, and confidence in all matters is afterwards refused them. To
injure guests they regard as impious; they defend from wrong those who
have come to them for any purpose whatever, and esteem them inviolable;
to them the houses of all are open and maintenance is freely supplied.
XXIV.--And there was formerly a time when the Gauls excelled the Germans
in prowess, and waged war on them offensively, and, on account of the
great number of their people and the insufficiency of their land, sent
colonies over the Rhine. Accordingly, the Volcae Tectosages seized on
those parts of Germany which are the most fruitful [and lie] around the
Hercynian forest (which, I perceive, was known by report to Eratosthenes
and some other Greeks, and which they call Orcynia) and settled there.
Which nation to this time retains its position in those settlements, and
has a very high character for justice and military merit: now also they
continue in the same scarcity, indigence, hardihood, as the Germans, and
use the same food and dress; but their proximity to the Province and
knowledge of commodities from countries beyond the sea supplies to the
Gauls many things tending to luxury as well as civilization. Accustomed
by degrees to be overmatched and worsted in many engagements, they do
not even compare themselves to the Germans in prowess.
XXV.--The breadth of this Hercynian forest, which has been referred to
above, is to a quick traveller, a journey of nine days. For it cannot be
otherwise computed, nor are they acquainted with the measures of roads.
It begins at the frontiers of the Helvetii, Nemetes, and Rauraci, and
extends in a right line along the river Danube to the territories of the
Daci and the Anartes: it bends thence to the left in a different
direction from the river, and owing to its extent touches the confines
of many nations; nor is there any person belonging to this part of
Germany who says that he either has gone to the extremity of that
forest, though he had advanced a journey of sixty days, or has heard in
what place it begins. It is certain that many kinds of wild beasts are
produced in it which have not been seen in other parts; of which the
following are such as differ principally from other animals, and appear
worthy of being committed to record.