De Bello Gallico and Other Commentaries - Caius Julius Caesar
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XLIII.--In the meantime, when intelligence was brought that all their
soldiers were in Caesar's power, they run in a body to Aristius; they
assure him that nothing had been done by public authority; they order an
inquiry to be made about the plundered property; they confiscate the
property of Litavicus and his brothers; they send ambassadors to Caesar
for the purpose of clearing themselves. They do all this with a view to
recover their soldiers; but being contaminated by guilt, and charmed by
the gains arising from the plundered property, as that act was shared in
by many, and being tempted by the fear of punishment, they began to form
plans of war and stir up the other states by embassies. Although Caesar
was aware of this proceeding, yet he addresses the ambassadors with as
much mildness as he can: "That he did not think worse of the state on
account of the ignorance and fickleness of the mob, nor would diminish
his regard for the Aedui." He himself, fearing a greater commotion in
Gaul, in order to prevent his being surrounded by all the states, began
to form plans as to the manner in which he should return from Gergovia
and again concentrate his forces, lest a departure arising from the fear
of a revolt should seem like a flight.
XLIV.--Whilst he was considering these things an opportunity of acting
successfully seemed to offer. For, when he had come into the smaller
camp for the purpose of securing the works, he noticed that the hill in
the possession of the enemy was stript of men, although, on the former
days, it could scarcely be seen on account of the numbers on it. Being
astonished, he inquires the reason of it from the deserters, a great
number of whom flocked to him daily. They all concurred in asserting,
what Caesar himself had already ascertained by his scouts, that the back
of that hill was almost level; but likewise woody and narrow, by which
there was a pass to the other side of the town; that they had serious
apprehensions for this place, and had no other idea, on the occupation
of one hill by the Romans, than that, if they should lose the other,
they would be almost surrounded, and cut off from all egress and
foraging; that they were all summoned by Vercingetorix to fortify this
place.
XLV.--Caesar, on being informed of this circumstance, sends several
troops of horse to the place immediately after midnight; he orders them
to range in every quarter with more tumult than usual. At dawn he orders
a large quantity of baggage to be drawn out of the camp, and the
muleteers with helmets, in the appearance and guise of horsemen, to ride
round the hills. To these he adds a few cavalry, with instructions to
range more widely to make a show. He orders them all to seek the same
quarter by a long circuit; these proceedings were seen at a distance
from the town, as Gergovia commanded a view of the camp, nor could the
Gauls ascertain at so great a distance what certainty there was in the
manoeuvre. He sends one legion to the same hill, and after it had
marched a little, stations it in the lower ground, and conceals it in
the woods. The suspicions of the Gauls are increased, and all their
forces are marched to that place to defend it. Caesar, having perceived
the camp of the enemy deserted, covers the military insignia of his men,
conceals the standards, and transfers his soldiers in small bodies from
the greater to the less camp, and points out to the lieutenants whom he
had placed in command over the respective legions, what he should wish
to be done; he particularly advises them to restrain their men from
advancing too far, through their desire of fighting, or their hope of
plunder; he sets before them what disadvantages the unfavourable nature
of the ground carries with it; that they could be assisted by despatch
alone: that success depended on a surprise, and not on a battle. After
stating these particulars, he gives the signal for action, and detaches
the Aedui at the same time by another ascent an the right.
XLVI.--The town wall was 1200 paces distant from the plain and foot of
the ascent, in a straight line, if no gap intervened; whatever circuit
was added to this ascent, to make the hill easy, increased the length of
the route. But almost in the middle of the hill, the Gauls had
previously built a wall six feet high, made of large stones, and
extending in length as far as the nature of the ground permitted, as a
barrier to retard the advance of our men; and leaving all the lower
space empty, they had filled the upper part of the hill, as far as the
wall of the town, with their camps very close to one another. The
soldiers, on the signal being given, quickly advance to this
fortification, and passing over it, make themselves masters of the
separate camps. And so great was their activity in taking the camps,
that Teutomarus, the king of the Nitiobriges, being suddenly surprised
in his tent, as he had gone to rest at noon, with difficulty escaped
from the hands of the plunderers, with the upper part of his person
naked, and his horse wounded.
XLVII.--Caesar, having accomplished the object which he had in view,
ordered the signal to be sounded for a retreat; and the soldiers of the
tenth legion, by which he was then accompanied, halted. But the soldiers
of the other legions, not hearing the sound of the trumpet, because
there was a very large valley between them, were however kept back by
the tribunes of the soldiers and the lieutenants, according to Caesar's
orders; but being animated by the prospect of speedy victory, and the
flight of the enemy, and the favourable battles of former periods, they
thought nothing so difficult that their bravery could not accomplish it;
nor did they put an end to the pursuit, until they drew nigh to the wall
of the town and the gates. But then, when a shout arose in every quarter
of the city, those who were at a distance being alarmed by the sudden
tumult, fled hastily from the town, since they thought that the enemy
were within the gates. The matrons begin to cast their clothes and
silver over the wall, and bending over as far as the lower part of the
bosom, with outstretched hands beseech the Romans to spare them, and not
to sacrifice to their resentment even women and children, as they had
done at Avaricum. Some of them let themselves down from the walls by
their hands, and surrendered to our soldiers. Lucius Fabius, a centurion
of the eighth legion, who, it was ascertained, had said that day among
his fellow soldiers that he was excited by the plunder of Avaricum, and
would not allow any one to mount the wall before him, finding three men
of his own company, and being raised up by them, scaled the wall. He
himself, in turn, taking hold of them one by one, drew them up to the
wall.
XLVIII.--In the meantime those who had gone to the other part of the
town to defend it, as we have mentioned above, at first, aroused by
hearing the shouts, and, afterwards, by frequent accounts that the town
was in possession of the Romans, sent forward their cavalry, and
hastened in larger numbers to that quarter. As each first came he stood
beneath the wall, and increased the number of his countrymen engaged in
action. When a great multitude of them had assembled, the matrons, who a
little before were stretching their hands from the walls to the Romans,
began to beseech their countrymen, and after the Gallic fashion to show
their dishevelled hair, and bring their children into public view.
Neither in position nor in numbers was the contest an equal one to the
Romans; at the same time, being exhausted by running and the long
continuation of the fight, they could not easily withstand fresh and
vigorous troops.
XLIX.--Caesar, when he perceived that his soldiers were fighting on
unfavourable ground, and that the enemy's forces were increasing, being
alarmed for the safety of his troops, sent orders to Titus Sextius, one
of his lieutenants, whom he had left to guard the smaller camp, to lead
out his cohorts quickly from the camp, and post them at the foot of the
hill, on the right wing of the enemy; that if he should see our men
driven from the ground, he should deter the enemy from following too
closely. He himself, advancing with the legion a little from that place
where he had taken his post, awaited the issue of the battle.
L.--While the fight was going on most vigorously, hand to hand, and the
enemy depended on their position and numbers, our men on their bravery,
the Aedui suddenly appeared on our exposed flank, as Caesar had sent
them by another ascent on the right, for the sake of creating a
diversion. These, from the similarity of their arms, greatly terrified
our men; and although they were discovered to have their right shoulders
bare, which was usually the sign of those reduced to peace, yet the
soldiers suspected that this very thing was done by the enemy to deceive
them. At the same time Lucius Fabius the centurion, and those who had
scaled the wall with him, being surrounded and slain, were cast from the
wall. Marcus Petreius, a centurion of the same legion, after attempting
to hew down the gates, was overpowered by numbers, and, despairing of
his safety, having already received many wounds, said to the soldiers of
his own company who followed him: "Since I cannot save you as well as
myself, I shall at least provide for your safety, since I allured by the
love of glory, led you into this danger, do you save yourselves when an
opportunity is given." At the same time he rushed into the midst of the
enemy, and slaying two of them, drove back the rest a little from the
gate. When his men attempted to aid him, "In vain," he says, "you
endeavour to procure my safety since blood and strength are now failing
me, therefore leave this, while you have the opportunity, and retreat to
the legion." Thus he fell fighting a few moments after, and saved his
men by his own death.
LI.--Our soldiers, being hard pressed on every side, were dislodged from
their position, with the loss of forty-six centurions; but the tenth
legion, which had been posted in reserve on ground a little more level,
checked the Gauls in their eager pursuit. It was supported by the
cohorts of the thirteenth legion, which, being led from the smaller
camp, had, under the command of Titus Sextius, occupied the higher
ground. The legions, as soon as they reached the plain, halted and faced
the enemy. Vercingetorix led back his men from the part of the hill
within the fortifications. On that day little less than seven hundred of
the soldiers were missing.
LII.--On the next day, Caesar, having called a meeting, censured the
rashness and avarice of his soldiers, "In that they had judged for
themselves how far they ought to proceed, or what they ought to do, and
could not be kept back by the tribunes of the soldiers and the
lieutenants;" and stated, "what the disadvantage of the ground could
effect, what opinion he himself had entertained at Avaricum, when having
surprised the enemy without either general or cavalry, he had given up a
certain victory, lest even a trifling loss should occur in the contest
owing to the disadvantage of position. That as much as he admired the
greatness of their courage, since neither the fortifications of the
camp, nor the height of the mountain, nor the wall of the town could
retard them; in the same degree he censured their licentiousness and
arrogance, because they thought that they knew more than their general
concerning victory, and the issue of actions: and that he required in
his soldiers forbearance and self-command, not less than valour and
magnanimity."
LIII.--Having held this assembly, and having encouraged the soldiers at
the conclusion of his speech, "That they should not be dispirited on
this account, nor attribute to the valour of the enemy what the
disadvantage of position had caused;" entertaining the same views of his
departure that he had previously had, he led forth the legions from the
camp, and drew up his army in order of battle in a suitable place. When
Vercingetorix, nevertheless, would not descend to the level ground, a
slight cavalry action, and that a successful one, having taken place, he
led back his army into the camp. When he had done this, the next day,
thinking that he had done enough to lower the pride of the Gauls, and to
encourage the minds of his soldiers, he moved his camp in the direction
of the Aedui. The enemy not even then pursuing us, on the third day he
repaired the bridge over the river Allier, and led over his whole army.
LIV.--Having then held an interview with Viridomarus and Eporedorix the
Aeduans, he learns that Litavicus had set out with all the cavalry to
raise the Aedui; that it was necessary that they too should go before
him to confirm the state in their allegiance. Although he now saw
distinctly the treachery of the Aedui in many things, and was of opinion
that the revolt of the entire state would be hastened by their
departure; yet he thought that they should not be detained, lest he
should appear either to offer an insult, or betray some suspicion of
fear. He briefly states to them when departing his services towards the
Aedui: in what a state and how humbled he had found them, driven into
their towns, deprived of their lands, stripped of all their forces, a
tribute imposed on them, and hostages wrested from them with the utmost
insult; and to what condition and to what greatness he had raised them,
[so much so] that they had not only recovered their former position, but
seemed to surpass the dignity and influence of all the previous eras of
their history. After giving these admonitions he dismissed them.
LV.--Noviodunum was a town of the Aedui, advantageously situated on the
banks of the Loire. Caesar had conveyed hither all the hostages of Gaul,
the corn, public money, a great part of his own baggage and that of his
army; he had sent hither a great number of horses, which he had
purchased in Italy and Spain on account of this war. When Eporedorix and
Viridomarus came to this place, and received information of the
disposition of the state, that Litavicus had been admitted by the Aedui
into Bibracte, which is a town of the greatest importance among them,
that Convictolitanis the chief magistrate and a great part of the senate
had gone to meet him, that ambassadors had been publicly sent to
Vercingetorix to negotiate a peace and alliance; they thought that so
great an opportunity ought not to be neglected. Therefore, having put to
the sword the garrison of Noviodunum and those who had assembled there
for the purpose of trading or were on their march, they divided the
money and horses among themselves; they took care that the hostages of
the [different] states should be brought to Bibracte, to the chief
magistrate; they burnt the town to prevent its being of any service to
the Romans, as they were of opinion that they could not hold it; they
carried away in their vessels whatever corn they could in the hurry;
they destroyed the remainder, by [throwing it] into the river or setting
it on fire; they themselves began to collect forces from the
neighbouring country, to place guards and garrisons in different
positions along the banks of the Loire, and to display the cavalry on
all sides to strike terror into the Romans, [to try] if they could cut
them off from a supply of provisions. In which expectation they were
much aided, from the circumstance that the Loire had swollen to such a
degree from the melting of the snows, that it did not seem capable of
being forded at all.
LVI.--Caesar on being informed of these movements was of opinion that he
ought to make haste, even if he should run some risk in completing the
bridges, in order that he might engage before greater forces of the
enemy should be collected in that place. For no one even then considered
it an absolutely necessary act, that changing his design he should
direct his march into the Province, both because the infamy and disgrace
of the thing, and the intervening mount Cevennes, and the difficulty of
the roads prevented him; and especially because he had serious
apprehensions for the safety of Labienus whom he had detached, and those
legions whom he had sent with him. Therefore, having made very long
marches by day and night, he came to the river Loire, contrary to the
expectation of all; and having by means of the cavalry found out a ford,
suitable enough considering the emergency, of such depth that their arms
and shoulders could be above water for supporting their accoutrements,
he dispersed his cavalry in such a manner as to break the force of the
current, and having confounded the enemy at the first sight, led his
army across the river in safety; and finding corn and cattle in the
fields, after refreshing his army with them, he determined to march into
the country of the Senones.
LVII.--Whilst these things are being done by Caesar, Labienus, leaving
at Agendicum the recruits who had lately arrived from Italy, to guard
the baggage, marches with four legions to Lutetia (which is a town of
the Parisii, situated on an island of the river Seine), whose arrival
being discovered by the enemy, numerous forces arrived from the
neighbouring states. The supreme command is entrusted to Camulogenus,
one of the Aulerci, who, although almost worn out with age, was called
to that honour on account of his extraordinary knowledge of military
tactics. He, when he observed that there was a large marsh which
communicated with the Seine, and rendered all that country impassable,
encamped there, and determined to prevent our troops from passing it.
LVIII.--Labienus at first attempted to raise vineae, fill up the marsh
with hurdles and clay, and secure a road. After he perceived that this
was too difficult to accomplish, he issued in silence from his camp at
the third watch, and reached Melodunum by the same route by which he
came. This is a town of the Senones, situated on an island in the Seine,
as we have just before observed of Lutetia. Having seized upon about
fifty ships and quickly joined them together, and having placed soldiers
in them, he intimidated by his unexpected arrival the inhabitants, of
whom a great number had been called out to the war, and obtains
possession of the town without a contest. Having repaired the bridge,
which the enemy had broken down during the preceding days, he led over
his army, and began to march along the banks of the river to Lutetia.
The enemy, on learning the circumstance from those who had escaped from
Melodunum, set fire to Lutetia, and order the bridges of that town to be
broken down: they themselves set out from the marsh, and take their
position on the banks of the Seine, over against Lutetia and opposite
the camp of Labienus.
LIX.--Caesar was now reported to have departed from Gergovia;
intelligence was likewise brought to them concerning the revolt of the
Aedui, and a successful rising in Gaul; and that Caesar, having been
prevented from prosecuting his journey and crossing the Loire, and
having been compelled by the want of corn, had marched hastily to the
province. But the Bellovaci, who had been previously disaffected of
themselves, on learning the revolt of the Aedui, began to assemble
forces and openly to prepare for war; Then Labienus, as the change in
affairs was so great, thought that he must adopt a very different system
from what he had previously intended, and he did not now think of making
any new acquisitions, or of provoking the enemy to an action; but that
he might bring back his army safe to Agendicum. For, on one side, the
Bellovaci, a state which held the highest reputation for prowess in
Gaul, were pressing on him; and Camulogenus, with a disciplined and
well-equipped army, held the other side; moreover, a very great river
separated and cut off the legions from the garrison and baggage. He saw
that, in consequence of such great difficulties being thrown in his way,
he must seek aid from his own energy of disposition.
LX.--Having, therefore, called a council of war a little before evening,
he exhorted his soldiers to execute with diligence and energy such
commands as he should give; he assigns the ships which he had brought
from Melodunum to Roman knights, one to each, and orders them to fall
down the river silently for four miles, at the end of the fourth watch,
and there wait for him. He leaves the five cohorts, which he considered
to be the most steady in action, to guard the camp; he orders the five
remaining cohorts of the same legion to proceed a little after midnight
up the river with all their baggage, in a great tumult. He collects also
some small boats; and sends them in the same direction, with orders to
make a loud noise in rowing. He himself, a little after, marched out in
silence, and, at the head of three legions, seeks that place to which he
had ordered the ships to be brought.
LXI.--When he had arrived there, the enemy's scouts, as they were
stationed along every part of the river, not expecting an attack,
because a great storm had suddenly arisen, were surprised by our
soldiers: the infantry and cavalry are quickly transported, under the
superintendence of the Roman knights, whom he had appointed to that
office. Almost at the same time, a little before daylight, intelligence
was given to the enemy that there was an unusual tumult in the camp of
the Romans, and that a strong force was marching up the river, and that
the sound of oars was distinctly heard in the same quarter, and that
soldiers were being conveyed across in ships a little below. On hearing
these things, because they were of opinion that the legions were passing
in three different places, and that the entire army, being terrified by
the revolt of the Aedui, were preparing for flight, they divided their
forces also into three divisions. For leaving a guard opposite to the
camp and sending a small body in the direction of Metiosedum, with
orders to advance as far as the ships would proceed, they led the rest
of their troops against Labienus.
LXII.--By day-break all our soldiers were brought across and the army of
the enemy was in sight. Labienus, having encouraged his soldiers "to
retain the memory of their ancient valour, and so many most successful
actions, and imagine Caesar himself, under whose command they had so
often routed the enemy, to be present," gives the signal for action. At
the first onset the enemy are beaten and put to flight in the right
wing, where the seventh legion stood: on the left wing, which position
the twelfth legion held, although the first ranks fell transfixed by the
javelins of the Romans, yet the rest resisted most bravely; nor did any
one of them show the slightest intention of flying. Camulogenus, the
general of the enemy, was present and encouraged his troops. But when
the issue of the victory was still uncertain, and the circumstances
which were taking place on the left wing were announced to the tribunes
of the seventh legion, they faced about their legion to the enemy's rear
and attacked it: not even then did any one retreat, but all were
surrounded and slain. Camulogenus met the same fate. But those who were
left as a guard opposite the camp of Labienus, when they heard that the
battle was commenced, marched to aid their countrymen and take
possession of a hill, but were unable to withstand the attack of the
victorious soldiers. In this manner, mixed with their own fugitives,
such as the woods and mountains did not shelter were cut to pieces by
our cavalry. When this battle was finished, Labienus returns to
Agendicum, where the baggage of the whole army had been left: from it he
marched with all his forces to Caesar.
LXIII.--The revolt of the Aedui being known, the war grows more
dangerous. Embassies are sent by them in all directions: as far as they
can prevail by influence, authority, or money, they strive to excite the
state [to revolt]. Having got possession of the hostages whom Caesar had
deposited with them, they terrify the hesitating by putting them to
death. The Aedui request Vercingetorix to come to them and communicate
his plans of conducting the war. On obtaining this request they insist
that the chief command should be assigned to them; and when the affair
became a disputed question, a council of all Gaul is summoned to
Bibracte. They come together in great numbers and from every quarter to
the same place. The decision is left to the votes of the mass: all to a
man approve of Vercingetorix as their general. The Remi, Lingones, and
Treviri were absent from this meeting; the two former because they
attached themselves to the alliance of Rome; the Treviri because they
were very remote and were hard pressed by the Germans; which was also
the reason of their being absent during the whole war, and their sending
auxiliaries to neither party. The Aedui are highly indignant at being
deprived of the chief command; they lament the change of fortune, and
miss Caesar's indulgence towards them; however, after engaging in the
war, they do not dare to pursue their own measures apart from the rest.
Eporedorix and Viridomarus, youths of the greatest promise, submit
reluctantly to Vercingetorix.