CÆSAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. B.C. 58-50.
Cæsar set out for his province immediately after Cicero had gone into
exile (B.C. 58). During the next nine years he was occupied with the
subjugation of Gaul. In this time he conquered the whole of Transalpine
Gaul, which had hitherto been independent of the Romans, with the
exception of the part called Provincia. Twice he crossed the Rhine, and
carried the terror of the Roman arms beyond that river. Twice he landed
in Britain, which had been hitherto unknown to the Romans. We can only
offer a very brief sketch of the principal events of each year.
_First Campaign_, B.C. 58.--Cæsar left Rome toward the latter end of
April, and arrived in Geneva in eight days. His first campaign was
against the Helvetii, a Gallic people situated to the north of the Lake
of Geneva, and between the Rhine and Mount Jura. This people, quitting
their homes, had passed through the country of the Sequani, and were
plundering the territories of the Ædui. Three out of their four clans
had already crossed the Arar (_Saône_); but the fourth, which was still
on the other side of the river, was surprised by Cæsar and cut to
pieces. He then threw a bridge across the Arar, followed them cautiously
for some days, and at length fought a pitched battle with them near the
town of Bibracte (_Autun_). The Helvetii were defeated with great
slaughter, and the remnant compelled to return to their former homes.
This great victory raised Cæsar's fame among the various tribes of
Gauls, and the Ædui solicited his assistance against Ariovistus, a
German king who had invaded Gaul, and was constantly bringing over the
Rhine fresh swarms of Germans. Cæsar commanded Ariovistus to abstain
from introducing any more Germans into Gaul, to restore the hostages to
the Ædui, and not to attack the latter or their allies. A haughty answer
was returned to these commands, and both parties prepared for war. Cæsar
advanced northward through the country of the Sequani, took possession
of Vesontio (_Besançon_), an important town on the Dubis (_Doubs_), and
some days afterward fought a decisive battle with Ariovistus, who
suffered a total defeat, and fled with the remains of his army to the
Rhine, a distance of fifty miles. Only a very few, and, among the rest,
Ariovistus himself, crossed the river; the rest were cut to pieces by
the Roman cavalry.
_Second Campaign_, B.C. 57.--The following year was occupied with the
Belgic war. Alarmed at Cæsar's success, the various Belgic tribes which
dwelt between the Sequana (_Seine_) and the Rhine, and were the most
warlike of all the Gauls, had entered into a confederacy to oppose him,
and had raised an army of 300,000 men. Cæsar opened the campaign by
marching into the country of the Remi, who submitted at his approach. He
then crossed the Axona (_Aisne_), and pitched his camp in a strong
position on the right bank. The enemy soon began to suffer from want of
provisions, and they came to the resolution of breaking up their vast
army, and retiring to their own territories. Hitherto Cæsar had remained
in his intrenchments, but he now broke up from his quarters and resumed
the offensive. The Suessiones, the Bellovaci, and Ambiani were subdued
in succession, or surrendered of their own accord; but a more formidable
task awaited him when he came to the Nervii, the most warlike of all the
Belgic tribes. In their country, near the River Sabis (_Sambre_), the
Roman army was surprised by the enemy while engaged in fortifying the
camp. The attack of the Nervii was so unexpected, that before the Romans
could form in rank the enemy was in their midst: the Roman soldiers
began to give way, and the battle seemed entirely lost. Cæsar freely
exposed his own person in the first line of the battle, and discharged
alike the duties of a brave soldier and an able general. His exertions
and the discipline of the Roman troops at length triumphed, and the
Nervii were defeated with such immense slaughter, that out of 60,000
fighting men only 500 remained in the state. When the Senate received
the dispatches of Cæsar announcing this victory, they decreed a public
thanksgiving of fifteen days--a distinction which had never yet been
granted to any one.
_Third Campaign_, B.C. 56.--In the third campaign Cæsar completed the
subjugation of Gaul. He conducted in person a naval war against the
Veneti, the inhabitants of the modern Brittany, and, by means of his
lieutenants, conquered the remaining tribes who still held out. In the
later part of the summer Cæsar marched against the Morini and Menapii
(in the neighborhood of Calais and Boulogne). Thus all Gaul had been
apparently reduced to subjection in three years; but the spirit of the
people was yet unbroken, and they only waited for an opportunity to rise
against their conquerors.
_Fourth Campaign_, B.C. 55.--In the following year Cæsar determined to
attack the Germans. The Gauls had suffered too much in the last three
campaigns to make any farther attempt against the Romans at present; but
Cæsar's ambition would not allow him to be idle. Fresh wars must be
undertaken to employ his troops in active service. Two German tribes,
the Usipetes and the Tenchtheri, had been driven out of their own
country by the Suevi, and had crossed the Rhine with the intention of
settling in Gaul. This, however, Cæsar was resolved to prevent, and
accordingly prepared to attack them. The Germans opened negotiations
with him, but, while these were going on, a body of their cavalry
defeated Cæsar's Gallic horse. On the next day all the German chiefs
came into Cæsar's camp to apologize for what they had done; but Cæsar
detained them, and straightway led his troops to attack the enemy.
Deprived of their leaders and taken by surprise, the Germans, after a
feeble resistance, took to flight, and were almost all destroyed by the
Roman cavalry. After this victory Cæsar resolved to cross the Rhine, in
order to strike terror into the Germans. In ten days he built a bridge
of boats across the river, probably in the neighborhood of Cologne; and
after spending eighteen days on the eastern side of the Rhine, and
ravaging the country of the Sigambri, he returned to Gaul and broke down
the bridge.
Although the greater part of the summer was now gone, Cæsar resolved to
invade Britain. His object in undertaking this expedition at such a late
period of the year was more to obtain some knowledge of the island from
personal observation than with any view to permanent conquest at
present. He accordingly took with him only two legions, with which he
sailed from the port Itius (probably Witsand, between Calais and
Boulogne), and effected a landing somewhere near the South Foreland,
after a severe struggle with the natives. Several of the British tribes
hereupon sent offers of submission to Cæsar; but, in consequence of the
loss of a great part of the Roman fleet a few days afterward, they took
up arms again. Being, however, defeated, they again sent offers of
submission to Cæsar, who simply demanded double the number of hostages
he had originally required, as he was anxious to return to Gaul before
the autumnal equinox.
The news of these victories over the Germans and far-distant Britons was
received at Rome with the greatest enthusiasm. The Senate voted a public
thanksgiving of twenty days, notwithstanding the opposition of Cato, who
declared that Cæsar ought to be delivered up to the Usipetes and
Tenchtheri, to atone for his treachery in seizing the sacred persons of
embassadors.
_Fifth Campaign_, B.C. 54.--The greater part of Cæsar's fifth campaign
was occupied with his second invasion of Britain. He sailed from the
port Itius with an army of five legions, and landed, without opposition,
at the same place as in the former year. The British states had
intrusted the supreme command to Cassivellaunus, a chief whose
territories were divided from the maritime states by the River Tamesis
(Thames). The Britons bravely opposed the progress of the invaders, but
were defeated in a series of engagements. Cæsar crossed the Thames above
London, probably in the neighborhood of Kingston, took the town of
Cassivellaunus, and conquered great part of the counties of Essex and
Middlesex. In consequence of these disasters, Cassivellaunus sued for
peace; and after demanding hostages, and settling the tribute which
Britain should pay yearly to the Roman people, Cæsar returned to Gaul
toward the latter part of the summer. He gained no more by his second
invasion of Britain than by his first. He had penetrated, it is true,
farther into the country, but had left no garrisons or military
establishments behind him, and the people obeyed the Romans as little
afterward as they had done before.
In consequence of the great scarcity of corn in Gaul, Cæsar was obliged
to divide his forces, and station his legions for the winter in
different parts. This seemed to the Gauls a favorable opportunity for
recovering their lost independence and destroying their conquerors. The
Eburones, a Gallic people between the Meuse and the Rhine, near the
modern _Tongres_, destroyed the detachment under the command of T.
Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta. They next attacked the camp
of Q. Cicero, the brother of the orator, who was stationed among the
Nervii. Cicero repulsed the enemy in all their attempts, till he was at
length relieved by Cæsar in person, who came to his assistance with two
legions as soon as he heard of the dangerous position of his legate. The
forces of the enemy, which amounted to 60,000, were defeated by Cæsar,
who then joined Cicero, and praised him and his men for the bravery they
had shown.
_Sixth Campaign_, B.C. 63.--In the next year the Gauls again took up
arms, and entered into a most formidable conspiracy to recover their
independence. The destruction of the Roman troops under Sabinus and
Cotta, and the unsettled state of Gaul during the winter, had led Cæsar
to apprehend a general rising of the natives; and he had accordingly
levied two new legions in Cisalpine Gaul, and obtained one from Pompey,
who was remaining in the neighborhood of Rome as Proconsul with the
imperium. Being thus at the head of a powerful army, he was able to
subdue the tribes that revolted, and soon compelled the Nervii, Senones,
Carnutes, Menapii, and Treviri to return to obedience. But as the
Treviri had been supported by the Germans, he crossed the Rhine again a
little above the spot where he had passed over two years before, and,
after receiving the submission of the Ubii, ravaged the country of the
Suevi. On his return to Gaul he laid waste the country of the Eburones
with fire and sword. At the conclusion of the campaign he prosecuted a
strict inquiry into the revolt of the Senones and Carautes, and caused
Acco, who had been the chief ringleader in the conspiracy, to be put to
death.
_Seventh Campaign_, B.C. 52.--The unsuccessful issue of last year's
revolt had not yet damped the spirits of the Gauls. The execution of
Acco had frightened all the chiefs, as every one feared that his turn
might come next; the hatred of the Roman yoke was intense; and thus all
the materials were ready for a general conflagration. It was first
kindled by the Carnutes, and in a short time it spread from district to
district till almost the whole of Gaul was in flames. Even the Ædui, who
had been hitherto the faithful allies of the Romans, and had assisted
them in all their wars, subsequently joined the general revolt. At the
head of the insurrection was Vercingetorix, a young man of noble family
belonging to the Arverni, and by far the ablest general that Cæsar had
yet encountered. Never before had the Gauls been so united: Cæsar's
conquests of the last six years seemed to be now entirely lost. The
campaign of this year, therefore, was by far the most arduous that Cæsar
had yet carried on; but his genius triumphed over every obstacle, and
rendered it the most brilliant of all. He concentrated his forces with
incredible rapidity, and lost no time in attacking the chief towns in
the hands of the enemy. Vellaunodunum (in the country of
_Château-Landon_), Genabum (_Orléans_), and Noviodunum (_Nouan_, between
Orleans and Bourges), fell into his hands without difficulty. Alarmed at
his rapid progress, Vercingetorix persuaded his countrymen to lay waste
their country and destroy their towns. This plan was accordingly carried
into effect; but, contrary to the wishes of Vercingetorix, Avaricum
(_Bourges_), the chief town of the Bituriges, and a strongly-fortified
place, was spared from the general destruction. This town Cæsar
accordingly besieged, and, notwithstanding the heroic resistance of the
Gauls, it was at length taken, and all the inhabitants, men, women, and
children, were indiscriminately butchered.
Cæsar now divided his army into two parts: one division, consisting of
four legions, he sent, under the command of T. Labienus, against the
Senones and Parisii; the other, comprising six legions, he led in person
into the country of the Arverni, and with them laid siege to Gergovia
(near _Clermont_). The revolt of the Ædui shortly afterward compelled
him to raise the siege, and inspired the Gauls with fresh courage.
Vercingetorix retired to Alesia (_Alise_, in Burgundy), which was
considered impregnable, and resolved to wait for succors from his
countrymen. Cæsar immediately laid siege to the place, and drew lines of
circumvallation around it. The Romans, however, were in their turn soon
surrounded by a vast Gallic army which had assembled to raise the siege.
Cæsar's army was thus placed in imminent peril, and on no occasion in
his whole life was his military genius so conspicuous. He was between
two great armies. Vercingetorix had 70,000 men in Alesia, and the Gallic
army without consisted of between 250,000 and 300,000 men. Still he
would not raise the siege. He prevented Vercingetorix from breaking
through the lines, entirely routed the Gallic army without, and finally
compelled Alesia to surrender. Vercingetorix himself fell into his
hands. The fall of Alesia was followed by the submission of the Ædui and
Arvemi. Cæsar then led his troops into winter quarters. After receiving
his dispatches, the Senate voted him a public thanksgiving of twenty
days, as in the year B.C. 55.
_Eighth Campaign_, B.C. 51.--The victories of the preceding year had
determined the fate of Gaul; but many states still remained in arms, and
entered into fresh conspiracies during the winter. This year was
occupied in the reduction of these states, into the particulars of which
we need not enter. During the winter Cæsar employed himself in the
pacification of Gaul, and, as he already saw that his presence would
soon be necessary in Italy, he was anxious to remove all causes for
future wars. He accordingly imposed no new taxes, treated the states
with honor and respect, and bestowed great presents upon the chiefs. The
experience of the last two years had taught the Gauls that they had no
hope of contending successfully against Cæsar, and, as he now treated
them with mildness, they were the more readily induced to submit
patiently to the Roman yoke.
[Illustration: Ruins on the Esquiline.]