De Bello Gallico and Other Commentaries - Caius Julius Caesar
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XII.--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 cannot 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 [B.C. 107]. 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.
XIII.--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 ambassadors 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 valour 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 valour, or despise them; that
they had so learned from their sires and ancestors, as to rely more on
valour than on artifice or 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]."
XIV.--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 ambassadors 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 offence 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 they 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.
XV.--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 towards 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.
XVI.--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 towards 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 and 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.
XVII.--Then at length Liscus, moved by Caesar's speech, discloses what
he had hitherto kept secret:--that "there are some whose influence with
the people is very great, who, though private men, have more power than
the magistrates themselves: that these by seditious and violent language
are deterring the populace from contributing the corn which they ought
to supply; [by telling them] that, if they cannot 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."
XVIII.--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 discovers that it
is all true; that "Dumnorix is the person, a man of the highest daring,
in great favour 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
neighbouring 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 favours 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 anything 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 was dismayed.
XIX.--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 anything 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 towards 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 anything, 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
everything; 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 offence 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.
XX.-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 anything 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.
XXI.--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 afterwards in that of Marcus Crassus, is sent forward with
the scouts.
XXII.--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 afterwards 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.
XXIII.--The next day (as there remained in all only two days' 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 off
from the provisions, altering their plan and changing their route, began
to pursue and to annoy our men in the rear.
XXIV.--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 waggons, 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.
XXV.--Caesar, having removed out of sight first his own horse, then
those of all, that he might make the danger of all 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 hindrance 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 neighbourhood 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.
XXVI.--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 waggons. 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 waggons 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 waggons 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 were taken.
After that 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, whilst 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 anything 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.
XXVII.--The Helvetii, compelled by the want of everything, sent
ambassadors to him about a surrender. When these had met him in 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. Whilst 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.
XXVIII.--But when Caesar discovered this, he commanded those through
whose territories 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 burnt. 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 valour to whom they gave
lands, and whom they afterwards admitted to the same state of rights and
freedom as themselves.
XXIX.--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.
XXX.--When the war with the Helvetii was concluded, ambassadors from
almost all parts of Gaul, the chiefs of states, assembled to
congratulate Caesar, [saying] that they were well aware, that, although
he had taken vengeance on the Helvetii in war, for the old wrongs done
by them to the Roman people, yet that circumstance had happened no less
to the benefit of the land of Gaul than of the Roman people, because the
Helvetii, while their affairs were most flourishing, had quitted their
country with the design of making war upon the whole of Gaul, and
seizing the government of it, and selecting, out of a great abundance,
that spot for an abode which they should judge to be the most convenient
and most productive of all Gaul, and hold the rest of the states as
tributaries. They requested that they might be allowed to proclaim an
assembly of the whole of Gaul for a particular day, and to do that with
Caesar's permission, [stating] that they had some things which, with the
general consent, they wished to ask of him. This request having been
granted, they appointed a day for the assembly, and ordained by an oath
with each other, that no one should disclose [their deliberations]
except those to whom this [office] should be assigned by the general
assembly.