one more summer to hold his command, and that after that time they would
have nothing more to fear. He left therefore the lieutenant Quintus
Calenus at the head of his two legions, with orders to follow him by
ordinary marches, and, with his cavalry, hastened by long marches toward
Uxellodunum. Cæsar, arriving unexpectedly before the town, found it
completely defended at all accessible points. He judged that it could
not be taken by assault (_neque ab oppugnatione recedi vidaret ulla
conditione posse_), and, as it was abundantly provided with provisions,
conceived the project of depriving the inhabitants of water.
The mountain was surrounded almost on every side by very low ground, but
on one side there existed a valley through which a river (the Tourmente)
ran. As it flowed at the foot of two precipitous mountains the
disposition of the localities did not admit of turning it aside and
conducting it into lower channels. It was difficult for the besieged to
come down to it, and the Romans rendered the approaches to it still more
dangerous. They placed posts of archers and slingers, and brought
engines which commanded all the slopes which gave access to the river.
The besieged had thenceforth no other means of procuring water but by
carrying it from an abundant spring which arose at the foot of the wall
three hundred feet from the channel of the Tourmente. Cæsar resolved to
drain this spring, and for this purpose he did not hesitate to attempt a
laborious undertaking. Opposite the point where it rose he ordered
covered galleries to be pushed forward against the mountain, and under
protection of these a terrace to be raised--labors which were carried on
in the midst of continual fighting and weariness.
Although the besieged from their elevated position fought without danger
and wounded many Romans, yet the latter did not yield to discouragement,
but continued the work. At the same time they made a subterranean
gallery, which, running from the covered galleries, was intended to lead
up to the spring. This work, carried on free from all danger, was
executed without being perceived by the enemy. The terrace attained a
height of sixty feet and was surmounted by a tower of ten stories,
which, without equalling the elevation of the wall--a result it was
impossible to obtain--still commanded the fountain. Its approaches,
battered by engines from the top of this tower, became inaccessible. In
consequence of this, many men and animals in the place died of thirst.
The besieged, terrified at this mortality, filled barrels with pitch,
grease, and shavings, and rolled them flaming upon the Roman works,
making at the same time a sally to prevent them from extinguishing the
fire. Soon it spread to the covered galleries and the terrace, which
stopped the progress of the inflammable materials.
Notwithstanding the difficult nature of the ground and the increasing
danger, the Romans still persevered in their struggle. The battle took
place on a height within sight of the army. Loud cries were raised on
both sides. Each individual sought to rival his fellow in zeal, and the
more he was exposed to view the more courageously he faced the missiles
and the fire.
Caesar, as he was sustaining great loss, determined to feign an assault.
In order to create a diversion he ordered some cohorts to climb the hill
on all sides, uttering loud cries. This movement terrified the besieged,
who, fearing to be attacked at other points, called back to the defence
of the wall those who were setting fire to the works. Then the Romans
were enabled to extinguish the flames. The Gauls, although exhausted by
thirst and reduced to a small number, ceased not to defend themselves
vigorously. At length the subterranean gallery having reached the source
of the spring, the supply was turned aside. The besieged, beholding the
fountain suddenly become dry, believed in their despair that it was an
intervention of the gods, and, submitting to necessity, surrendered.
Caesar considered that the pacification of Gaul would never be completed
if as strong a resistance was encountered in other towns. He thought it
advisable to spread terror by a severe example--so much the more so as
"the well-known mildness of his temper," says Hirtius, "would not allow
this necessary rigor to be ascribed to cruelty." He ordered that all
those who had borne arms should have their hands cut off, and sent them
away living examples of the punishment reserved for rebels.
Drappes, who had been taken prisoner, starved himself to death;
Lucterius, who had been arrested by the Arvernan Epasnactus (a friend of
the Romans), was delivered up to Caesar. While these events were taking
place on the banks of the Dordogne, Labienus, in a cavalry engagement,
had gained a decisive advantage over a part of the Treviri and Germans;
had taken prisoner their chief, and thus subjected a people who were
always ready to support any insurrection against the Romans. The Aeduan
Surus fell also into his hands. He was a chief distinguished for his
courage and birth, and the only one of that nation who had not yet laid
down his arms.
From that moment Caesar considered Gaul to be completely pacified. He
resolved, however, to go himself to Aquitaine, which he had not yet
visited and which Publius Crassus had partly conquered. Arriving there
at the head of two legions, he obtained the complete submission of that
country without difficulty. All the tribes sent him hostages. He
proceeded next to Narbonne with a detachment of cavalry and charged his
lieutenants to put the army into winter quarters. Four legions, under
the orders of Mark Antony, Caius Trebonius, Publius Vatinius, and Q.
Tullius, were quartered in Belgium, two among the Aedui and two among
the Turones on the frontier of the Carnutes, to hold in check all the
countries bordering on the ocean.
These two last legions took up their winter quarters on the territory of
the Lemovices, not far from the Arverni, so that no part of Gaul should
be without troops. Caesar remained but a short time in the province,
presiding hastily over the assemblies, determining cases of public
dispute, and rewarding those who had served him well. He had had
occasion more than anyone to know their sentiments individually, because
during the general revolt of Gaul the fidelity and succor of the
province had aided him in triumphing over it. When these affairs were
settled he returned to his legions in Belgium and took up his winter
quarters at Nemetocenna (Arras).
There he was informed of the last attempts of Commius, who, continuing a
partisan war at the head of a small number of cavalry, intercepted the
Roman convoys. Mark Antony had charged C. Volusenus Quadratus, prefect
of the cavalry, to pursue him. He had accepted the task eagerly in the
hope of succeeding the second time better than the first, but Commius,
taking advantage of the rash ardor with which his enemy had rushed upon
him, had wounded him seriously and escaped. He was discouraged, however,
and had promised Mark Antony to retire to any spot which should be
appointed him on condition that he should never be compelled to appear
before a Roman. This condition having been accepted, he had given
hostages. Gaul was hereby subjugated. Death or slavery had carried off
its principal citizens. Of all the chiefs who had fought for its
independence only two survived--Commius and Ambiorix.
Banished far from their country they died in obscurity.
ROMAN INVASION AND CONQUEST OF BRITAIN
B.C. 55 - A.D. 79
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
(When Julius Caesar received the province of Gaul as his government,
B.C. 58, it was only a small portion of the territory inhabited by the
Gauls or Celts, being almost conterminous with the mediaeval Provence.
It was also at peace, and there seemed no excuse for making an extension
of Roman territory among the three tribes or races between which
Northern and Western Gaul were divided. But the Helvetii, who occupied
that part of the Alps known to-day as Switzerland, meditated an
emigration into the plains of Gaul, and, as their shortest route lay
across the Roman provinces, they asked leave of Caesar to pass three
hundred and sixty thousand souls in all, counting women and children,
through the imperial territory.
The Roman commander, after giving them an evasive answer, met them in
the territory of the Sequani and Aedui and defeated them, driving them
back to their mountains. He next went to the aid of the Aedui, ancient
allies of Rome, against the Arverni and Sequani, who had invaded the
Aeduan territory under a German chieftain, Ariovistus. The result was
that Ariovistus was defeated and driven eastward across the Rhine. He
then defeated the Belgae, who, in B.C. 57, took up arms against the
garrisons which he had left in the country of the Sequani [dwellers on
the Seine]. He continued his conquest of the Belgic territory, and
subjected the three nations who occupied it, finally entering the
country of the warlike Nervii, whom he only conquered after a stubborn
and bloody battle. As soon as he had subjugated the whole of Gaul, he
crossed the Rhine for the purpose of intimidating the Germans and
teaching them to keep within their own boundaries.
He pursued the same policy with regard to the Britons, who, according to
information received by him, had sent aid to the Gauls in their struggle
with Rome. His ships were brought round from the Loire to that part of
the French coast now known as Boulogne, and he set out for Britain,
where he landed, and eventually received the submission of the British
chieftains.)
The Britons in their rude and barbarous state seemed to stand in need of
more polished instructors; and indeed whatever evils may attend the
conquest of heroes, their success has generally produced one good effect
in disseminating the arts of refinement and humanity. It ever happens
when a barbarous nation is conquered by another more advanced in the
arts of peace, that it gains in elegance a recompense for what it loses
in liberty.
The Britons had long remained in this rude but independent state, when
Cæsar, having overrun Gaul with his victories, and willing still further
to extend his fame, determined upon the conquest of a country that
seemed to promise an easy triumph. He was allured neither by the riches
nor by the renown of the inhabitants; but being ambitious rather of
splendid than of useful conquests, he was willing to carry the Roman
arms into a country the remote situation of which would add seeming
difficulty to the enterprise and consequently produce an increase of
reputation. His pretence was to punish these islanders for having sent
succors to the Gauls while he waged war against that nation, as well as
for granting an asylum to such of the enemy as had sought protection
from his resentment.
The natives, informed of his intention, were sensible of the unequal
contest and endeavored to appease him by submission. He received their
ambassadors with great complacency, and having exhorted them to continue
steadfast in the same sentiments, in the mean time made preparations for
the execution of his design. When the troops designed for the expedition
were embarked he set sail for Britain about midnight, and the next
morning arrived on the coast near Dover, where he saw the rocks and
cliffs covered with armed men to oppose his landing.
Finding it impracticable to gain the shore where he first intended, from
the agitation of the sea and the impending mountains, he resolved to
choose a landing-place of greater security. The place he chose was about
eight miles farther on (some suppose at Deal), where an inclining shore
and a level country invited his attempts. The poor, naked, ill-armed
Britons we may well suppose were but an unequal match for the
disciplined Romans who had before conquered Gaul and afterward became
the conquerors of the world. However, they made a brave opposition
against the veteran army; the conflicts between them were fierce, the
losses mutual, and the success various.
The Britons had chosen Cassibelaunus for their commander-in-chief; but
the petty princes under his command, either desiring his station or
suspecting his fidelity, threw off their allegiance. Some of them fled
with their forces into the internal parts of the kingdom, others
submitted to Caesar; till at length Cassibelaunus himself, weakened by
so many desertions, resolved upon making what terms he was able while
yet he had power to keep the field. The conditions offered by Caesar and
accepted by him were that he should send to the Continent double the
number of hostages at first demanded and that he should acknowledge
subjection to the Romans.
The Romans were pleased with the name of this new and remote conquest,
and the senate decreed a supplication of twenty days in consequence of
their general's success. Having therefore in this manner rather
discovered than subdued the southern parts of the island, Caesar
returned into Gaul with his forces and left the Britons to enjoy their
customs, religion, and laws. But the inhabitants, thus relieved from the
terror of his arms, neglected the performance of their stipulations, and
only two of their states sent over hostages according to the treaty.
Caesar, it is likely, was not much displeased at the omission, as it
furnished him with a pretext for visiting the island once more and
completing a conquest which he had only begun.
Accordingly the ensuing spring he set sail for Britain with eight
hundred ships,[69] and arriving at the place of his descent he landed
without opposition. The islanders being apprised of his invasion had
assembled an army and marched down to the sea-side to oppose him, but
seeing the number of his forces, and the whole sea, as it were, covered
with his shipping, they were struck with consternation and retired to
their places of security. The Romans, however, pursued them to their
retreats until at last common danger induced these poor barbarians to
forget their former dissensions and to unite their whole strength for
the mutual defence of their liberty and possessions.
[Footnote 69: With regard to these Roman _ships_, let not our readers be
misled by a familiar notion or a pompous name. They were but little more
than rowboats, as may be easily imagined from the fact that Cicero
instances for its uncommon magnitude a _ship_ of only fifty-six tons!
These ancient vessels were occasionally sheathed with leather or lead,
and had the prow decorated with paint and gilding, while the stern was
sometimes carved in the figure of a shield, elaborately adorned. Upon a
staff there erected hung ribbons distinctive of the ship and serving at
the same time to show the direction of the wind. There, too, stood the
_tutela_, or chosen patron of the ship, to whom prayers and sacrifices
were daily offered. The selection of this deity was guided by either
private or professional reasons, and as merchants committed themselves
to the protection of Mercury, or lovers to the care of Cupid, warriors,
it will at once be surmised, made Mars the object of their pious
supplication.
At a later period than the epoch to which our present note attaches,
when Constantius removed from Heliopolis to Rome an enormous obelisk,
weighing fifteen hundred tons, the vessel on board of which it was
shipped also carried _eleven hundred and thirty-eight tons_ of pulse;
but such vast and unmanageable masses were regarded as monsters, and
owed their existence to the absolute urgency of a remarkable purpose,
backed by the despotic institutions of the times.]
Cassibelaunus was chosen to conduct the common cause, and for some time
he harassed the Romans in their march and revived the desponding hopes
of his countrymen. But no opposition that undisciplined strength could
make was able to repress the vigor and intrepidity of Cæsar. He
discomfited the Britons in every action; he advanced into the country,
passed the Thames in the face of the enemy, took and burned the capital
city of Cassibelaunus, established his ally Mandubratius as sovereign of
the Trinobantes; and having obliged the inhabitants to make new
submissions, he again returned with his army into Gaul, having made
himself rather the nominal than the real possessor of the island.
Whatever the stipulated tribute might have been, it is more than
probable, as there was no authority left to exact it, that it was but
indifferently paid. Upon the accession of Augustus, that Emperor had
formed a design of visiting Britain, but was diverted from it by an
unexpected revolt of the Pannonians. Some years after he resumed his
design; but being met in his way by the British ambassadors, who
promised the accustomed tribute and made the usual submissions, he
desisted from his intention. The year following, finding them remiss in
their supplies and untrue to their former professions, he once more
prepared for the invasion of the country; but a well-timed embassy again
averted his indignation, and the submissions he received seemed to
satisfy his resentment; upon his death-bed he appeared sensible of the
overgrown extent of the Roman Empire and recommended it to his
successors never to enlarge their territories.
Tiberius followed the maxims of Augustus and, wisely judging the empire
already too extensive, made no attempt upon Britain. Some Roman soldiers
having been wrecked on the British coast the inhabitants not only
assisted them with the greatest humanity, but sent them in safety back
to their general. In consequence of these friendly dispositions, a
constant intercourse of good offices subsisted between the two nations;
the principal British nobility resorted to Rome, and many received their
education there.
From that time the Britons began to improve in all the arts which
contribute to the advancement of human nature. The first art which a
savage people is generally taught by politer neighbors is that of war.
The Britons thenceforward, though not wholly addicted to the Roman
method of fighting, nevertheless adopted several of their improvements,
as well in their arms as in their arrangement in the field. Their
ferocity to strangers, for which they had been always remarkable, was
mitigated and they began to permit an intercourse of commerce even in
the internal parts of the country. They still, however, continued to
live as herdsmen and hunters; a manifest proof that the country was yet
but thinly inhabited. A nation of hunters can never be populous, as
their subsistence is necessarily diffused over a large tract of country,
while the husbandman converts every part of nature to human use, and
flourishes most by the vicinity of those whom he is to support.
The wild extravagances of Caligula by which he threatened Britain with
an invasion served rather to expose him to ridicule than the island to
danger. The Britons therefore for almost a century enjoyed their liberty
unmolested, till at length the Romans in the reign of Claudius began to
think seriously of reducing them under their dominion. The expedition
for this purpose was conducted in the beginning by Plautius and other
commanders, with that success which usually attended the Roman arms.
Claudius himself, finding affairs sufficiently prepared for his
reception, made a journey thither and received the submission of such
states as living by commerce were willing to purchase tranquillity at
the expense of freedom. It is true that many of the inland provinces
preferred their native simplicity to imported elegance and, rather than
bow their necks to the Roman yoke, offered their bosoms to the sword.
But the southern coast with all the adjacent inland country was seized
by the conquerors, who secured the possession by fortifying camps,
building fortresses, and planting colonies. The other parts of the
country, either thought themselves in no danger or continued patient
spectators of the approaching devastation.
Caractacus was the first who seemed willing, by a vigorous effort, to
rescue his country and repel its insulting and rapacious conquerors.[70]
The venality and corruption of the Roman prætors and officers, who were
appointed to levy the contributions in Britain, served to excite the
indignation of the natives and give spirit to his attempts. This rude
soldier, though with inferior forces, continued for about the space of
nine years to oppose and harass the Romans; so that at length Ostorius
Scapula was sent over to command their armies. He was more successful
than his predecessors. He advanced the Roman conquest over Britain,
pierced the country of the Silures, a warlike nation along the banks of
the Severn, and at length came up with Caractacus, who had taken
possession of a very advantageous post upon an almost inaccessible
mountain, washed by a deep and rapid stream.
[Footnote 70: The character of this hero has been powerfully depicted by
Beaumont and Fletcher, in one of their noblest dramas.]
The unfortunate British general, when he saw the enemy approaching, drew
up his army, composed of different tribes, and going from rank to rank
exhorted them to strike the last blow for liberty, safety, and life. To
these exhortations his soldiers replied with shouts of determined valor.
But what could undisciplined bravery avail against the attack of an army
skilled in all the arts of war and inspired by a long train of
conquests? The Britons were, after an obstinate resistance, totally
routed, and a few days after Caractacus himself was delivered up to the
conquerors by Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, with whom he had
taken refuge. The capture of this general was received with such joy at
Rome that Claudius commanded that he should be brought from Britain in
order to be exhibited as a spectacle to the Roman people. Accordingly,
on the day appointed for that purpose, the Emperor, ascending his
throne, ordered the captives and Caractacus among the number to be
brought into his presence. The vassals of the British King, with the
spoils taken in war, were first brought forward; these were followed by
his family, who, with abject lamentations, were seen to implore for
mercy.
Last of all came Caractacus with an undaunted air and a dignified
aspect. He appeared no way dejected at the amazing concourse of
spectators that were gathered upon this occasion, but, casting his eyes
on the splendors that surrounded him, "Alas!" cried he, "how is it
possible that a people possessed of such magnificence at home could envy
me an humble cottage in Britain?" When brought into the Emperor's
presence he is said to have addressed him in the following manner: "Had
my moderation been equal to my birth and fortune, I had arrived in this
city not as a captive, but as a friend. But my present misfortunes
redound as much to your honor as to my disgrace; and the obstinacy of my
opposition serves to increase the splendor of your victory. Had I
surrendered myself in the beginning of the contest, neither my disgrace
nor your glory would have attracted the attention of the world, and my
fate would have been buried in general oblivion. I am now at your mercy;
but if my life be spared, I shall remain an eternal monument of your
clemency and moderation." The Emperor was affected with the British
hero's misfortunes and won by his address. He ordered him to be
unchained upon the spot, with the rest of the captives, and the first
use they made of their liberty was to go and prostrate themselves before
the empress Agrippina, who as some suppose had been an intercessor for
their freedom.