(Year of Rome 698.)
(BOOK III. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)
WAR OF THE VENETI--VICTORY OVER THE UNELLI--SUBMISSION OF
AQUITAINE--MARCH AGAINST THE MORINI AND THE MENAPII.
[Sidenote: Insurrection of the Maritime Peoples.]
I. While Cæsar was visiting Illyria and the different towns of the
Cisalpine, such as Ravenna and Lucca, war broke out anew in Gaul. The
cause was this. Young P. Crassus was in winter quarters with the 7th
legion among the Andes, near the ocean; as he fell short of wheat, he
sent several prefects and military tribunes to ask for provisions from
the neighbouring peoples. T. Terrasidius was deputed to the Unelli,[274]
M. Trebius Gallus to the Curiosolitæ, and Quintus Velanius, with T.
Silius, to the Veneti. This last people was the most powerful on the
whole coast through its commerce and its navy. Its numerous ships served
to carry on a traffic with the isle of Britain. Possessed of consummate
skill in the art of navigation, it ruled over this part of the ocean.
The Veneti first seized Silius and Velanius, in the hope of obtaining in
exchange for them the return of the hostages given to Crassus. Their
example was soon followed. The Unelli and the Curiosolitæ seized, with
the same design, Trebius and Terrasidius; they entered into an
engagement with the Veneti, through their chiefs, to run the same
fortune, excited the rest of the neighbouring maritime peoples to
recover their liberty, and all together intimated to Crassus that he
must send back the hostages if he wished his tribunes and prefects to be
restored.
Cæsar, then very far distant from the scene of these events, learnt them
from Crassus. He immediately ordered galleys to be constructed on the
Loire, rowers to be fetched from the coast of the Mediterranean, and
sailors and pilots to be procured. These measures having been promptly
executed, he repaired to the army as soon as the season permitted. At
the news of his approach, the Veneti and their allies, conscious that
they had been guilty of throwing into fetters envoys invested with a
character which is inviolable, made preparations proportionate to the
danger with which they saw they were threatened. Above all, they set to
work making their ships ready for action. Their confidence was great:
they knew that the tides would intercept the roads on the sea-coast;
they reckoned on the difficulty of the navigation in those unknown
latitudes, where the ports are few, and on the want of provisions, which
would not permit the Romans to make a long stay in their country.
Their determination once taken, they fortified their _oppida_, and
transported to them the wheat from their fields. Persuaded that the
country of the Veneti would be the first attacked, they gathered
together all their ships, no doubt in the vast estuary formed by the
river Auray in the Bay of Quiberon. (_See Plate 12._) They allied
themselves with the maritime peoples of the coast, from the mouth of the
Loire to that of the Scheldt,[275] and demanded succour from the isle of
Britain.[276]
In spite of the difficulties of this war, Cæsar undertook it without
hesitation. He was influenced by grave motives: the violation of the
right of nations, the rebellion after submission, the coalition of so
many peoples; above all, by the fear that their impunity would be an
encouragement to others. If we believe Strabo, Cæsar, as well as the
Veneti, had other reasons to desire this war: on one side, the latter,
possessed of the commerce of Britain, already suspected the design of
the Roman general to pass into that island, and they sought to deprive
him of the means; and, on the other, Cæsar could not attempt the
dangerous enterprise of a descent on England till after he had destroyed
the fleet of the Veneti, the sole masters of the ocean.[277]
[Sidenote: War against the Veneti.]
II. Be this as it may, in order to prevent new risings, Cæsar divided
his army so as to occupy the country militarily. The lieutenant T.
Labienus, at the head of a part of the cavalry, was sent to the Treviri,
with the mission to visit the Remi and other peoples of Belgic Gaul, to
maintain them in their duty, and to oppose the passage of the Rhine by
the Germans, who were said to have been invited by the Belgæ. P. Crassus
was ordered, with twelve legionary cohorts, and a numerous body of
cavalry, to repair into Aquitaine, to prevent the inhabitants of that
province from swelling the forces of the insurrection. The lieutenant Q.
Titurius Sabinus was detached with three legions to restrain the Unelli,
the Curiosolitæ, and the Lexovii. The young D. Brutus,[278] who had
arrived from the Mediterranean with the galleys,[279] received the
command of the fleet, which was increased by the Gaulish ships borrowed
from the Pictones, the Santones, and other peoples who had submitted.
His instructions enjoined him to sail as soon as possible for the
country of the Veneti. As to Cæsar, he proceeded thither with the rest
of the land army.
The eight legions of the Roman army were then distributed thus: to the
north of the Loire, three legions; in Aquitaine, with Crassus, a legion
and two cohorts; one legion, no doubt, on the fleet; and two legions and
eight cohorts with the general-in-chief, to undertake the war against
the Veneti.[280]
We may admit that Cæsar started from the neighbourhood of Nantes, and
directed his march to the Roche-Bernard, where he crossed the Vilaine.
Having arrived in the country of the Veneti, he resolved to profit by
the time which must pass before the arrival of his fleet to obtain
possession of the principal _oppida_ where the inhabitants took refuge.
Most of these petty fortresses on the coast of the Veneti were situated
at the extremities of tongues of land or promontories; at high tide they
could not be reached by land, while at low tide the approach was
inaccessible to ships, which remained dry on the flats; a double
obstacle to a siege.
The Romans attacked them in the following manner: they constructed on
the land, at low tide, two parallel dykes, at the same time serving for
terraces (_aggere ac molibus_), and forming approaches towards the
place. During the course of construction, the space comprised between
these two dykes continued to be inundated with water at every high tide;
but as soon as they had succeeded in joining them up to the _oppidum_,
this space, where the sea could no longer penetrate, remained finally
dry, and then presented to the besiegers a sort of place of arms useful
in the attack.[281]
With the aid of these long and laborious works, in which the height of
the dykes finished by equalling that of the walls, the Romans succeeded
in taking several of these _oppida_. But all their labours were thrown
away; for, as soon as the Veneti thought themselves no longer safe, they
evacuated the _oppidum_, embarked with all their goods on board their
numerous vessels, and withdrew to the neighbouring _oppida_, the
situations of which offered the same advantages for a new resistance.
The greater part of the fine season had passed away in this manner.
Cæsar, convinced at length that the assistance of his ships was
indispensable, came to the resolution of suspending these laborious and
fruitless operations until the arrival of his fleet; and, that he might
be near at hand to receive it, he encamped to the south of the Bay of
Quiberon, near the coast, on the heights of Saint-Gildas. (_See Plate
12._)
The vessels of the fleet, held back by contrary winds, had not yet been
able to assemble at the mouth of the Loire. As the Veneti had foreseen,
they navigated with difficulty on this vast sea, subject to high tides,
and almost entirely unfurnished with ports. The inexperience of the
sailors, and even the form of the ships, added to their difficulties.
The enemy’s ships, on the contrary, were built and rigged in a manner to
enable them to wrestle with all obstacles; flatter than those of the
Romans, they had less to fear from the shallows and low tide. Built of
oak, they supported the most violent shocks; the front and back, very
lofty, were beyond the reach of the strongest missiles. The beams
(_transtra_), made of pieces of timber a foot thick, were fixed with
iron nails, an inch in bigness; and the anchors were held by iron chains
instead of cables; soft skins, made very thin, served for sails, either
because those peoples were nearly or entirely unacquainted with linen,
or because they regarded the ordinary sails as insufficient to support,
with such heavy ships, the impetuosity of the winds of the ocean. The
Roman ships were superior to them only in agility and the impulse of the
oars. In everything else, those of the Veneti were better adapted to the
nature of the localities and to the heavy seas. By the solidity of their
construction they resisted the ships’ beaks, and by their elevation they
were secure from the missiles, and were difficult to seize with the
grappling-irons (_copulæ_).[282]
[Sidenote: Naval Combat against the Veneti.]
III. The Roman fleet, thanks to a wind from the east or north-east, was
at length enabled to set sail.[283] It quitted the Loire, and directed
its course towards the Bay of Quiberon and Point Saint-Jaques. (_See
Plate 12._) As soon as the Veneti perceived it, they sent out from the
port formed by the river Auray 220 ships well armed and well equipped,
which advanced to encounter it. During this time, the Roman fleet
reached Point Saint-Jaques, where it formed in order of battle near the
shore. That of the Veneti drew up in front of it. The battle took place
under the very eyes of Cæsar and his troops, who occupied the heights on
the shore.
It was the first time that a Roman fleet appeared on the ocean.
Everything conspired to disconcert Brutus, as well as the tribunes of
the soldiers and the centurions who commanded each vessel: the impotence
of the beaks against the Gaulish ships; the height of the enemy’s poops,
which overlooked even the high towers of the Roman vessels; and lastly,
the inefficiency of the missiles thrown upwards. The military chiefs
were hesitating, and had already experienced some loss,[284] when, to
remedy this disadvantage, they imagined a method having some analogy
with that to which Duillius owed his victory over the Carthaginians in
492: they tried to disable the Gaulish vessels by the aid of hooks
(_falces_) similar to those which were used in attacks on fortresses
(_non absimili forma muralium falcium_).[285] The _falx_ was an iron
with a point and sharpened hook, fixed at the end of long poles, which,
suspended to the masts by ropes, received an impulsion similar to that
of the ram. One or more ships approached a Gaulish vessel, and, as soon
as the crew had succeeded in catching with one of these hooks the ropes
which attached the yards to the masts, the sailors rowed away with all
their strength, so as to break or cut the cords. The yards fell; the
disabled vessel was immediately surrounded by the Romans, who boarded
it; and then all depended on mere valour. This manœuvre was
completely successful. The soldiers of the fleet, knowing that no act of
courage could pass unperceived by Cæsar and the land troops, emulated
one another in zeal, and captured several of the enemy’s vessels. The
Gauls prepared to seek their safety in flight. They had already swerved
their ships to the wind, when suddenly there came on a dead calm. This
unexpected occurrence decided the victory. Left without the possibility
of moving, the heavy Gaulish vessels were captured one after another; a
very small number succeeded in gaining the coast under favour of the
night.
The battle, which began at ten o’clock in the morning, had lasted till
sunset. It terminated the war with the Veneti and the other maritime
peoples of the ocean. They lost in it, at one blow, all their youth, all
their principal citizens, and all their fleet; without refuge, without
the means of defending any longer their _oppida_, they surrendered
themselves, bodies and goods. Cæsar, wishing to compel the Gauls in
future to respect the rights of nations, caused the whole Senate to be
put to death and the rest of the inhabitants to be sold for slaves.
Cæsar has been justly reproached with this cruel chastisement; yet this
great man gave such frequent proofs of his clemency towards the
vanquished, that he must have yielded to very powerful political motives
to order an execution so contrary to his habits and temper. Moreover, it
was a sad effect of the war to expose incessantly the chiefs of the
Gallic states to the resentments of the conquerors and the fury of the
mob. While the Roman general punished the Senate of the Veneti for its
revolt and obstinate resistance, the Aulerci-Eburovices and the Lexovii
slaughtered theirs because it laboured to prevent them from joining the
insurrection.[286]
[Sidenote: Victory of Sabinus over the Unelli.]
IV. While these events were taking place among the Veneti, Q. Titurius
Sabinus gained a decisive victory over the Unelli. At the head of this
nation, and other states in revolt, was Viridovix, who had been joined,
a few days before, by the Aulerci-Eburovices and the Lexovii. A
multitude of men of no account, who had joined him from all parts of
Gaul, in the hope of pillage, came to increase the number of his troops.
Sabinus, starting, we believe, from the neighbourhood of Angers with his
three legions, arrived in the country of the Unelli, and chose there for
his camp a position which was advantageous in all respects. He
established himself on a hill belonging to the line of heights which
separates the basin of the Sée from that of the Célune, where we now
find the vestiges of a camp called Du Chastellier.[287] (_See Plate
13._) This hill is defended on the west by escarpments; to the north,
the ground descends from the summit by a gentle slope of about 1,000
paces (1,500 mètres) to the banks of the Sée. Viridovix came and took a
position in face of the Roman camp, at a distance of two miles, on the
heights of the right bank of the stream. Every day he deployed his
troops and offered battle in vain. As Sabinus remained prudently shut up
in his camp, his inaction drew upon him the sarcasms of his own
soldiers, and to such a degree the contempt of the enemy, that the
latter advanced to the foot of his entrenchments. He considered that, in
face of so great a number of troops, it was not the duty of a
lieutenant, in the absence of his general-in-chief, to give battle,
without at least having in his favour all the chances of success. But,
not satisfied with having convinced the enemies of his weakness, he
determined further to make use of a stratagem; he persuaded a clever and
cunning Gaul to repair to Viridovix, under pretence of being a
deserter, and to spread the report that the Romans, during the following
night, would quit secretly their camp, in order to go to the succour of
Cæsar. At this news, the barbarians cried out that they must seize the
favourable opportunity to march against the Romans, and let none of them
escape. Full of ardour, they compelled Viridovix to give the order for
arming. Already confident of victory, they loaded themselves with
branches and brushwood to fill up the fosses, and rushed to attack the
retrenchments. In the hope of not giving time to the Romans to assemble
and arm, they advance with rapidity, and arrive out of breath. But
Sabinus was prepared, and, at the opportune moment, he gives the order
to issue suddenly by the two gates, and to fall upon the enemies while
they were encumbered with their burdens. The advantage of the locality,
the unskilfulness and fatigue of the Gauls, and the valour of the
Romans, all contributed to their success. The barbarians, pursued by the
cavalry, were cut to pieces. The neighbouring peoples immediately
submitted.
Cæsar and Sabinius received intelligence at the same time, one of the
victory over the Unelli, the other of the result of the combat against
the Veneti.[288]
[Sidenote: Conquest of Aquitaine by P. Crassus.]
V. Almost at the same time, P. Crassus, detached, as we have seen, with
twelve cohorts and a body of cavalry, arrived in Aquitaine, which,
according to the “Commentaries,” formed the third part of Gaul.[289] He
believed that he could not display too much prudence in a country
where, a few years before, the lieutenant L. Valerius Præconinus had
lost his army and his life, and the proconsul L. Mallius had experienced
a great defeat. Having provided for supplies, assembled the auxiliaries,
and chosen by name the most courageous men of Toulouse and Narbonne, he
led his army into the lands of the Sotiates, who, very numerous, and
strong especially in excellent cavalry, attacked the Roman army during
its march. Their horsemen were at first repulsed and pursued; but,
suddenly unmasking their infantry, which lay in ambush in a defile (_in
convalle_), they charge the Romans as they were dispersed, and the
battle re-commenced with fury.
Proud of their ancient victories, the Sotiates expected by their valour
to save Aquitaine; on their side, the troops of Crassus sought to show
what they could do under a young chief, at a distance from their general
and the other legions. The victory in the end remained with the Romans.
Crassus pursued his march, and having arrived before the _oppidum_ of
the Sotiates (the town of _Sos_), attempted to carry it by assault; but
the vigorous resistance he met with obliged him to have recourse to
covered galleries and towers. The enemies had recourse sometimes to
sallies, sometimes to subterranean galleries, carried so far that they
went under the works of the besiegers (a labour familiar to the
Aquitanians on account of the numerous mines they worked); yet, all
their efforts failing against the activity of the Roman soldiers, they
made offers to surrender. Crassus accepted their submission, and the
Sotiates delivered up their arms. During the capitulation,
Adiatunnus,[290] supreme chief of the country, followed by 600 trusty
men of the class called _soldures_, attempted a sally from another side
of the town. At the clamours which arose, the Romans ran to arms, and,
after a severe struggle, drove him back into the _oppidum_;
nevertheless, Crassus granted him the same terms as the others.
When he had received their arms and hostages, Crassus started for the
countries of the Vasates and the Tarusates. But these barbarians, far
from being discouraged by the so prompt fall of an _oppidum_ fortified
by nature and art, leagued together, raised troops, and demanded succour
and chiefs of the peoples of Citerior Spain, which joined upon
Aquitaine. Formerly companions in arms of Q. Sertorius, these chiefs
enjoyed a great military reputation, and, in their tactics as well as in
their method of fortifying their camps, imitated the Romans. Crassus had
too few troops to spread them far from him, while the enemies threw out
detachments on all sides, who intercepted his provisions. At last, as he
saw their numbers increasing daily, he became convinced that there was
danger in deferring a battle. He assembled his council; which was of the
same opinion, and the combat was fixed for the morrow.
At daybreak, the Roman troops issued from the camp and formed in two
lines, with the auxiliaries in the centre; in this position they awaited
the enemy. The latter, trusting in their numbers, full of recollections
of their ancient glory, imagined that they could easily overpower the
weak Roman army. Still they thought it more prudent to obtain the
victory without a blow, persuaded that by intercepting his provisions
they would force Crassus to a retreat, and that they should then attack
with advantage in the confusion of his march. They therefore remained
shut up in their camp, and let the Romans range their troops and offer
battle. But this deliberate temporising, which had all the appearance of
fear, kindled, on the contrary, that of the Romans: they demanded with
loud cries to march against the enemy without delay. Crassus yields to
their impatience, and leads them forward. Some fill the fosse, others
drive away with a shower of missiles the barbarians who stand on the
rampart. The auxiliaries, on whom Crassus placed little reliance for
action, render, nevertheless, important services: they pass the stones
and missiles, or carry heaps of turf to fill up the fosse. Meanwhile the
enemy was offering an obstinate resistance, when some of the cavalry
brought information to Crassus that, on the side of the Decuman gate,
the camp was not so well fortified, and that the access was more
easy.[291] He then directs the prefects of the cavalry to excite the
ardour of the soldiers with the hope of recompenses; orders them to take
the cohorts who, left to guard the camp, had not yet been engaged in
the battle, and to lead them by a long circuit to the place reported to
be least defended. While the barbarians are solely occupied with the
principal attack, these cohorts rush into the camp; on hearing the
clamour which arises from this attack, the assailants, led by Crassus,
redouble their efforts. The barbarians, surrounded on all sides, lose
courage, rush out of the retrenchments, and seek their safety in flight.
The cavalry overtook them in the open plain, and of 50,000 Aquitanians
or Cantabrians, hardly one quarter escaped, who only reached the camp
very late in the night.
At the news of this victory, the greater part of the peoples of
Aquitaine[292] submitted to Crassus, and sent spontaneously him
hostages; some, nevertheless, who were more distant, and reckoned on the
advanced period of the season, refused to make their submission.[293]
[Sidenote: March against the Morini and the Menapii.]
VI. Towards the same time, Cæsar, in spite of the near approach of the
end of the fine season, marched against the Morini and the Menapii, who
alone, after the entire pacification of Gaul, remained in arms, and had
not sent him deputies. These peoples had no towns: they dwelt in
caverns[294] or under the tent.[295] Taught by the example of their
neighbours, they avoided engaging in pitched battles, and withdrew into
the recesses of woods and marshes. Cæsar, when he arrived in their
country, was attacked by surprise at the moment he was beginning to
fortify his camp. He drove them back into the woods, but not without
experiencing some loss; then, to open himself a wider road in the forest
which had become their asylum, he caused the trees between him and the
enemy to be cut down, and, heaping them up to the right and the left, he
formed two ramparts, which secured him from attacks on the flank. This
work was executed in a few days over a great space with incredible
celerity. Cæsar had already reached the place of refuge of the Morini
and the Menapii, who retired further and further into the thickness of
the forests; already he had captured their herds and baggage, which they
were obliged to leave behind, when rain falling in torrents, no longer
permitting the soldiers to remain under tents, compelled him to
retire.[296] He ravaged the country, burnt the habitations, and withdrew
his army, which he placed in winter quarters (between the Seine and the
Loire), among the Aulerci, the Lexovii, and the other peoples recently
vanquished.[297]
[Sidenote: Observations.]
VII. The war of 698, directed almost exclusively against the peoples on
the shores of the ocean, shows clearly that Cæsar already, at that time,
entertained the design of making an expedition into the isle of Britain,
for he not only destroys the only important fleet that could be brought
against him, that of the Veneti, but he subjugates, either in person or
by his lieutenants, all the countries which extend from Bayonne to the
mouth of the Scheldt.
It is worthy of remark how much the Romans were superior to the
barbarians, by discipline, tactics, and the art of sieges; with what
facility they raised terraces, made dykes, or promptly cut down a forest
to clear themselves a passage through it. Truly, it is to the genius of
Cæsar that the glory of all these brilliant successes belongs; but we
must also acknowledge that he had under his orders the best army in the
world, and the men most experienced in the military profession. Among
these were the chiefs placed over the machines and siege operations,
named _præfecti fabrorum_. They rendered him the most signal services.
Mention is made of L. Cornelius Balbus,[298] who prepared the material
of his army during his consulate, and Mamurra,[299] who, in spite of the
bad character Catullus gives him in his satires, gave proof of his
genius during the wars in Gaul.