Aquitani another; those who in their own language are called Celts, in
ours Gauls, the third. All these differ from each other in language,
customs, and laws. Among the Gauls the Helvetii surpass the rest in
valour, as they constantly contend in battle with the Germans. When
Messala and Piso were consuls, Orgetorix, the most distinguished of the
Helvetii, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, persuading them that,
since they excelled all in valour, it would be very easy to acquire the
supremacy of the whole of Gaul. They made great preparations for the
expedition, but suddenly Orgetorix died, nor was suspicion lacking that
he committed suicide.
After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempted the exodus from
their territories. When it was reported to Cæsar that they were
attempting to make their route through our province, he gathered as
great a force as possible, and by forced marches arrived at Geneva.
The Helvetii now sent ambassadors to Cæsar, requesting permission to
pass through the province, which he refused, inasmuch as he remembered
that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had been slain and his army routed, and
made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii. Disappointed in their hope,
the Helvetii attempted to force a passage across the Rhone, but, being
resisted by the soldier, desisted.
After the war with the Helvetii was concluded, ambassadors from almost
all parts of Gaul assembled to congratulate Cæsar, and to declare that
his victory had happened no less to the benefit of the land of Gaul than
of the Roman people, because the Helvetii had quitted their country with
the design of subduing the whole of Gaul.
When the assembly was dismissed, the chiefs' of the Ædui and of the
Sequani waited upon Cæsar to complain that Ariovistus, the king of the
Germans, had seized a third of their land, which was the best in Gaul,
and was now ordering them to depart from another third part.
To ambassadors sent by Cæsar, demanding an appointment of some spot for
a conference, Ariovistus gave an insolent reply, which was repeated on a
second overture. Hearing that the king of the Germans was threatening to
seize Vesontio, the capital of the Sequani, Cæsar, by a forced march,
arrived there and took possession of the city. Apprised of this event,
Ariovistus changed his attitude, and sent messengers intimating that he
agreed to meet Cæsar, as they were now nearer to each other, and could
meet without danger.
The conference took place, but it led to no successful result, for
Ariovistus demanded that the Romans should withdraw from Gaul and his
conduct became afterwards so hostile that it led to war. A battle took
place about fifty miles from the Rhine. The Germans were routed and fled
to the river, across which many escaped, the rest being slain in
pursuit. Cæsar, having concluded two very important wars in one
campaign, conducted his army into winter quarters.
_II.--Taming the Rebellious Belgæ_
While Cæsar was in winter quarters in Hither Gaul frequent reports were
brought to him that all the Belgæ were entering into a confederacy
against the Roman people, because they feared that, after all Celtic
Gaul was subdued, our army would be led against them. Cæsar, alarmed,
levied two new legions in Hither Gaul, and proceeded to the territory of
the Belgæ. As he arrived there unexpectedly, and sooner than anyone
anticipated, the Remi, who are the nearest of the Belgæ to Celtic Gaul,
sent messages of submission and gave Cæsar full information about the
other Belgæ.
Cæsar next learned that the Nervii, a savage and very brave people,
whose territories bordered those just conquered, had upbraided the rest
of the Belgæ who had surrendered themselves to the Roman people, and had
declared that they themselves would neither send ambassadors nor accept
any condition of peace. He was informed concerning them that they
allowed no access of any merchants, and that they suffered no wine and
other things tending to luxury to be imported, because they thought that
by their use the mind is enervated and the courage impaired.
After he had made three days' march into their territory, Cæsar
discovered that all the Nervii had stationed themselves on the other
side of the River Sambre, not more than ten miles from his camp, and
that they had persuaded the Atrebates and the Veromandui to join with
them, and that likewise the Aduatuci were expected by them, and were on
the march. The Roman army proceeded to encamp in front of the river, on
a site sloping towards it. Here they were fiercely attacked by the
Nervii, the assault being so sudden that Cæsar had to do all things at
one time. The standard as the sign to run to arms had to be displayed,
the soldiers were to be called from the works on the rampart, the order
of battle was to be formed, and a great part of these arrangements was
prevented by the shortness of time and the sudden charge of the enemy.
Time was lacking even for putting on helmets and uncovering shields. In
such an unfavorable state of affairs, various events of fortune
followed. The soldiers of the ninth and tenth legions speedily drove
back the Atrebates, who were breathless with running and fatigue. Many
of them were slain. In like manner the Veromandui were routed by the
eighth and eleventh legions; but as part of the camp was very exposed,
the Nervii hastened in a very close body, under Boduagnatus, their
leader, to rush against that quarter. Our horsemen and light-armed
infantry were by the first assault routed, and the enemy, rushing into
our camp in great numbers, pressed hard on the legions. But Cæsar,
seizing a shield and encouraging the soldiers, many of whose centurions
had been slain, ordering them to extend their companies that they might
more freely use their swords.
So great a change was soon effected that, though the enemy displayed
great courage, the battle was ended so disastrously for them that the
Nervii were almost annihilated. Scarcely five hundred were left who
could bear arms. Their old men sent ambassadors to Cæsar by the consent
of all who remained, surrendering themselves. The Aduatuci, before
mentioned, who were coming to the help of the Nervii, returned home when
they heard of this battle.
All Gaul being now subdued, so high an opinion of this war was spread
among the barbarians that ambassadors were sent to Cæsar by those
nations that dwelt beyond the Rhine, to promise that they would give
hostages and execute his commands. He ordered these embassies to return
to him at the beginning of the following summer, because he was
hastening into Italy and Illyricum. Having led his legions into winter
quarters among the Carnutes, the Andes, and the Turones, which states
were close to those in which he had waged war, he set out for Italy, and
a public thanksgiving of fifteen days was decreed for these
achievements, an honour which before that time had been conferred on
none.
_III.--War by Land and Sea in Gaul_
When Cæsar was setting out for Italy, he sent Servius Galba with the
twelfth legion and part of the cavalry against the Nantuates, the
Veragri, and the Seduni, who extend from the territories of the
Allobroges and the Lake of Geneva and the River Rhone to the top of the
Alps. The reason for sending him was that he desired that the pass along
the Alps, through which the Roman merchants had been accustomed to
travel with great danger, should be opened.
Galba fought several successful battles, stormed some of their forts,
and concluded a peace. He then determined to winter in a village of the
Veragri, which is called Octodurus. But before the winter camp could be
completed the tops of the mountains were seen to be crowded with armed
men, and soon these rushed down from all parts and discharged stones and
darts on the ramparts.
The fierce battle that followed lasted for more than six hours. During
the fight more than a third part of the army of 30,000 men of the Seduni
and the Veragri were slain, and the rest were put to flight,
panic-stricken. Then Galba, unwilling to tempt fortune again, after
having burned all the buildings in that village, hastened to return into
the province, urged chiefly by the want of corn and provision. As no
enemy opposed his march, he brought his forces safely into the country
of the Allobroges, and there wintered.
These things being achieved, Cæsar, who was visiting Illyricum to gain a
knowledge of that country, had every reason to suppose that Gaul was
reduced to a state of tranquillity. For the Belgæ had been overcome, the
Germans had been expelled, and the Seduni and the Veragri among the Alps
defeated. But a sudden war sprang up in Gaul.
The occasion of that war was this. P. Crassus, a young man, had taken up
his winter quarters with the seventh legion among the Andes, who border
on the Atlantic Ocean. As corn was scarce, he sent out officers among
the neighbouring states for the purpose of procuring supplies. The most
considerable of these states was the Veneti, who have a very great
number of ships with which they have been accustomed to sail into
Britain, and thus they excel the rest of the states in nautical affairs.
With them arose the beginning of the revolt.
The Veneti detained Silius and Velanius, who had been sent among them,
for they thought they should recover by their means the hostages which
they had given Crassus. The neighbouring people, the Essui and the
Curiosolitæ, led on by the influence of the Veneti (as the measures of
the Gauls are sudden and hasty) detained other officers for the same
motive. All the sea-coast being quickly brought over to the sentiments
of these states, they sent a common embassy to P. Crassus to say "If he
wished to receive back his officers, let him send back to them their
hostages."
Cæsar, being informed of these things, since he was himself so far
distant, ordered ships of war to be built on the River Loire; rowers to
be raised from the province; sailors and pilots to be provided. These
matters being quickly executed, he hastened to the army as soon as the
season of the year admitted.
Cæsar at once ordered his army, divided into several detachments, to
attack the towns of the enemy in different districts. Many were stormed,
yet much of the warfare was vain and much labour was lost, because the
Veneti, having numerous ships specially adapted for such a purpose,
their keels being flatter than those of our ships, could easily navigate
the shallows and estuaries, and thus their flight hither and thither
could not be prevented.
At length, in a naval fight, our fleet, being fully assembled, gained a
victory so signal that, by that one battle, the war with the Veneti and
the whole sea-coast was finished. Cæsar thought that severe punishment
should be inflicted, in order that for the future the rights of
ambassadors should be respected by barbarians; he therefore put to death
all their senate, and sold the rest for slaves.
About the same time P. Crassus arrived in Aquitania, which, as was
already said, is, both from its extent and its number of population, a
third part of Gaul. Here, a few years before, L. Valerius Præconius, the
lieutenant, had been killed and his army routed, so that Crassus
understood no ordinary care must be used. On his arrival being known,
the Sotiates assembled great forces, and the battle that followed was
long and vigorously contested. The Sotiates being routed, they retired
to their principal stronghold, but it was stormed, and they submitted.
Crassus then marched into the territories of the Vocates and the
Tarusites, who raised a great host of men to carry on the war, but
suffered total defeat, after which the greater part of Aquitania of its
own accord surrendered to the Romans, sending hostages of their own
accord from different tribes. A few only--and those remote
nations--relying on the time of year, neglected to do this.
_IV.--The First Landing in Britain_
The following winter, this being the year in which Cn. Pompey and M.
Crassus were consuls [this was the year 699 after the building of Rome,
55 before Christ; it was the fourth year of the Gallic war] the Germans,
called the Usipetes, and likewise the Tenchtheri, with a great number of
men, crossed the Rhine, not far from the place at which that river falls
into the sea. The motive was to escape from the Suevi, the largest and
strongest nation in Germany, by whom they had been for several years
harassed and hindered from agricultural pursuits.
The Suevi are said to possess a hundred cantons, from each of which they
send forth for war a thousand armed men yearly, the others remaining at
home, and going forth in their turn in other years.
Cæsar, hearing that various messages had been sent to them by the Gauls
(whose fickle disposition he knew) asking them to come forward from the
Rhine, and promising them all that they needed, set forward for the army
earlier in the year than usual. When he had arrived in the region, he
discovered that those things which he had suspected would occur, had
taken place, and that, allured by the hopes held out to them, the
Germans were then making excursions to greater distances, and had
advanced to the territories of the Euburones and the Condrusi, who are
under the protection of the Treviri. After summoning the chiefs of Gaul,
Cæsar thought proper to pretend ignorance of the things which he had
discovered, and, having conciliated and confirmed their minds, and
ordered some cavalry to be raised, resolved to make war against the
Germans.
When he had advanced some distance, the Germans sent ambassadors,
begging him not to advance further, as they had come hither reluctantly,
having been expelled from their country. But Cæsar, knowing that they
wished for delay only to make further secret preparations, refused the
overtures. Marshalling his army in three lines, and marching eight
miles, he took them by surprise, and the Romans rushed their camp. Many
of the enemy were slain, the rest being either scattered or drowned in
attempting to escape by crossing the Meuse in the flight.
The conflict with the Germans being finished, Cæsar thought it expedient
to cross the Rhine. Since the Germans were so easily urged to go into
Gaul, he desired they should have fears for their own territories.
Therefore, notwithstanding the difficulty of constructing a bridge,
owing to the breadth, rapidity, and depth of the river, he devised and
built one of timber and of great strength, piles being first driven in
on which to erect it.
The army was led over into Germany, advanced some distance, and burnt
some villages of the hostile Sigambri, who had concealed themselves in
the woods after conveying away all their possessions. Then Cæsar, having
done enough to strike fear into the Germans and to serve both honour and
interest, after a stay of eighteen days across the Rhine, returned into
Gaul and cut down the bridge.
During the short part of the summer which remained he resolved to
proceed into Britain, because succours had been constantly furnished to
the Gauls from that country. He thought it expedient, if he only entered
the island, to see into the character of the people, and to gain
knowledge of their localities, harbours, and landing-places. Having
collected about eighty transport ships, he set sail with two legions in
fair weather, and the soldiers were attacked instantly on landing by the
cavalry and charioteers of the barbarians. The enemy were vanquished,
but could not be pursued, because the Roman horse had not been able to
maintain their course at sea and to reach the island. This alone was
wanting to Cæsar's accustomed success.
_V.--Cæsar on the Thames_
During the winter Cæsar commanded as many ships as possible to be
constructed, and the old repaired. About six hundred transports and
twenty ships of war were built, and, after settling some disputes in
Gaul among the chiefs, Cæsar went to Port Itius with the legions. He
took with him several of the leading chiefs of the Gauls, determined to
retain them as hostages and to keep them with him during his next
expedition to Britain, lest a commotion should arise in Gaul during his
absence.
Cæsar, having crossed to the shore of Britain and disembarked his army
at a convenient spot advanced about twelve miles and repelled all
attacks of the cavalry and charioteers of the enemy. Then he led his
forces into the territories of Cassivellaunus to the River Thames, which
river can be forded in one place only. Here an engagement took place
which resulted in the flight of the Britons. But Cassivellaunus had sent
messengers to the four kings who reigned over Kent and the districts by
the sea, Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taximaquilus, and Segonax, commanding
them to collect all their forces and assail the naval camp.
In the battle which ensued the Romans were victorious, and when
Cassivellaunus heard of this disaster he sent ambassadors to Cæsar to
treat about a surrender. Cæsar, since he had resolved to pass the winter
on the continent, on account of sudden revolts in Gaul, demanded
hostages and prescribed what tribute Britain should pay each year to the
Roman people.
Cæsar, expecting for many reasons greater commotion in Gaul, levied
additional forces. He saw that war was being prepared on all sides, that
the Nervii, Aduatuci, and Menapii, with the addition of all the Germans
on this side of the Rhine, were under arms; that the Senones did not
assemble according to his command, and were concerting measures with
Carnutes and the neighbouring states; and that the Germans were
importuned by the Treviri in frequent embassies. Therefore he thought
that he ought to take prompt measures for the war.
Accordingly, before the winter was ended, he marched with four legions
unexpectedly into the territories of the Nervii, captured many men and
much cattle, wasted their lands, and forced them to surrender and give
hostages. He followed up his success by worsting the Senones, Carnutes,
and Menapii, while Labienus defeated the Treviri.
Gaul being tranquil, Cæsar, as he had determined, set out for Italy to
hold the provincial assizes. There he was informed of the decree of the
senate that all the youth of Italy should take the military oath, and he
determined to hold a levy throughout the entire province. The Gauls,
animated by the opportunity afforded through his absence, and indignant
that they were reduced beneath the dominion of Rome, began to organise
their plans for war openly.
Many of the nations confederated and selected as their commander
Vercingetorix, a young Avernian. On hearing what had happened, Cæsar set
out from Italy for Transalpine Gaul, and began the campaign by marching
into the country of the Helvii, although it was the severest time of the
year, and the country was covered with deep snow.
The armies met, and Vercingetorix sustained a series of losses at
Vellaunodunum, Genabum, and Noviodunum. The Gauls then threw a strong
garrison into Avaricum, which Cæsar besieged, and at length Cæsar's
soldiers took it by storm. All the Gauls, with few exceptions, joined in
the revolt; and the united forces, under Vercingetorix, attacked the
Roman army while it was marching into the country of the Sequani, but
they suffered complete defeat. After struggling vainly to continue the
war, Vercingetorix surrendered, and the Gallic chieftains laid down
their arms. Cæsar demanded a great number of hostages, sent his
lieutenants with various legions to different stations in Gaul, and
determined himself to winter at Bibracte. A supplication of twenty days
was decreed at Rome by the senate on hearing of these successes.
* * * * *
TACITUS
Annals
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was born perhaps at Rome, shortly
before the accession of the Emperor Nero in 54 A.D. He married
the daughter of Agricola, famous in the history of Britain,
and died probably about the time of Hadrian's accession to the
empire, 117 A.D. He attained distinction as a pleader at the
bar, and in public life; but his fame rests on his historical
works. A man of strong prepossessions and prejudices, he
allowed them to colour his narratives, and particularly his
portraits; but he cannot be charged with dishonesty. The
portraits themselves are singularly powerful; his narrative is
picturesque, vivid, dramatic; but the condensed character of
his style and the pregnancy of his phrases make his work
occasionally obscure, and particularly difficult to render in
translation. His "Germania" is a most valuable record of the
early institutions of the Teutonic peoples. His "Histories" of
the empire from Galba to Domitian are valuable as dealing with
events of which he was an eye-witness. His "Annals," covering
practically the reigns from Tiberius to Nero, open only some
forty years before his own birth. Of the original sixteen
books, four are lost, and four are incomplete. The following
epitome has been specially prepared from the Latin text.
_I.--Emperor and Nephew_
Tiberius, adopted son and actual stepson of Augustus, was summoned from
Illyria by his mother Livia to the bedside of the dying emperor at Nola.
Augustus left a granddaughter, Agrippina, who was married to Germanicus,
the nephew of Tiberius; and a grandson, Agrippa Postumus, a youth of
evil reputation. The succession of Tiberius was not in doubt; but his
first act was to have Agrippa Postumus put to death--according to his
own statement, by the order of Augustus. At Rome, consuls, senators, and
knights hurried to embrace their servitude. The nobler the name that
each man bore, the more zealous was he in his hypocrisy. The grave
pretence of Tiberius that he laid no claim to imperial honours was met
by the grave pretence that the needs of the state forbade his refusal of
them, however reluctant he might be. His mother, Livia Augusta, was the
object of a like sycophancy. But the world was not deceived by the
solemn farce.
The death of Augustus, however, was the signal for mutinous outbreaks
among the legions on the European frontiers of the empire; first in
Pannonia, then in Germany. In Pannonia, the ostensible motive was
jealousy of the higher pay and easier terms of service of the Prætorian
guard. So violent were the men, and so completely did the officers lose
control, that Drusus, the son of Tiberius, was sent to make terms with
the mutineers, and only owed his success to the reaction caused by the
superstitious alarm of the soldiery at an eclipse of the moon.
Germanicus, who was in command in Germany, was absent in Gaul. Here the
mutiny of the Lower Army, under Cæcina, was very serious, because it was
clearly organised, the men working systematically and not haphazard.
News of the outbreak brought their popular general, Germanicus, to the
spot. The mutineers at once offered to make him emperor, a proposal
which he indignantly repudiated. The position, in a hostile country,
made some concession necessary; but fresh disturbances broke out when it
was suspected that the arrival of a commission from the senate meant
that the concessions would be cancelled. Here the reaction which broke
down the mutiny was caused by the shame of the soldiers themselves, when
Germanicus sent his wife and child away from a camp where their lives
were in danger. Of their own accord, the best of the soldiers turned on
their former ringleaders, and slew them. And the legions under Cæcina
took similar steps to recover their lost credit. Germanicus, however,
saw that the true remedy for the disaffection would be found in an
active campaign. The desired effect was attained by an expedition
against the Marsi, conducted with a success which Tiberius, at Rome,
regarded with mixed feelings.