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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea6d33f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55926 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55926) diff --git a/old/55926-0.txt b/old/55926-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bcedd8c..0000000 --- a/old/55926-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5189 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Commentaries of Caesar, by Anthony Trollope - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Commentaries of Caesar - -Author: Anthony Trollope - -Release Date: November 9, 2017 [EBook #55926] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMMENTARIES OF CAESAR *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Books project.) - - - - - - - - - - - _Ancient Classics for English Readers_ - - EDITED BY THE - REV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A. - - CÆSAR - - - - - _The Volumes published of this Series contain_ - - - HOMER: THE ILIAD, BY THE EDITOR. - - HOMER: THE ODYSSEY, BY THE SAME. - - HERODOTUS, BY GEORGE C. SWAYNE, M.A. - Late Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. - - The following Authors, by various Contributors, are in preparation:-- - - VIRGIL. - HORACE. - ÆSCHYLUS. - SOPHOCLES. - ARISTOPHANES. - CICERO. - JUVENAL. - XENOPHON. - - OTHERS WILL FOLLOW. - - _A Volume will be published on the 1st of every - alternate Month, price 2s. 6d._ - - - - - THE COMMENTARIES - OF - CÆSAR - - BY - ANTHONY TROLLOPE - - WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - MDCCCLXX - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -CHAP. PAGE - - I. INTRODUCTION, 1 - - II. FIRST BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR DRIVES - FIRST THE SWISS AND THEN THE GERMANS OUT - OF GAUL.--B.C. 58, 28 - - III. SECOND BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR SUBDUES - THE BELGIAN TRIBES.--B.C. 57, 45 - - IV. THIRD BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR SUBDUES - THE WESTERN TRIBES OF GAUL.--B.C. 56, 54 - - V. FOURTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR - CROSSES THE RHINE, SLAUGHTERS THE GERMANS, - AND GOES INTO BRITAIN.--B.C. 55, 63 - - VI. FIFTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR’S - SECOND INVASION OF BRITAIN.--THE GAULS - RISE AGAINST HIM.--B.C. 54, 74 - - VII. SIXTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR PURSUES - AMBIORIX.--THE MANNERS OF THE GAULS - AND OF THE GERMANS ARE CONTRASTED.--B.C. - 53, 88 - -VIII. SEVENTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--THE REVOLT - OF VERCINGETORIX.--B.C. 52, 100 - - IX. FIRST BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--CÆSAR CROSSES - THE RUBICON.--FOLLOWS POMPEY TO BRUNDUSIUM.--AND - CONQUERS AFRANIUS IN SPAIN.--B.C. - 49, 116 - - X. SECOND BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--THE TAKING OF - MARSEILLES.--VARRO IN THE SOUTH OF SPAIN.--THE - FATE OF CURIO BEFORE UTICA.--B.C. 49, 131 - - XI. THIRD BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--CÆSAR FOLLOWS - POMPEY INTO ILLYRIA.--THE LINES OF PETRA - AND THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.--B.C. 48, 146 - - XII. CONCLUSION, 174 - -CÆSAR - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -INTRODUCTION. - - -It may perhaps be fairly said that the Commentaries of Cæsar are the -beginning of modern history. He wrote, indeed, nearly two thousand years -ago; but he wrote, not of times then long past, but of things which were -done under his own eyes, and of his own deeds. And he wrote of countries -with which we are familiar,--of our Britain, for instance, which he -twice invaded, of peoples not so far remote but that we can identify -them with our neighbours and ourselves; and he so wrote as to make us -feel that we are reading actual history, and not romance. The simplicity -of the narratives which he has left is their chief characteristic, if -not their greatest charm. We feel sure that the circumstances which he -tells us did occur, and that they occurred very nearly as he tells them. -He deals with those great movements in Europe from which have sprung, -and to which we can trace, the present political condition of the -nations. Interested as the scholar, or the reader of general literature, -may be in the great deeds of the heroes of Greece, and in the burning -words of Greek orators, it is almost impossible for him to connect to -any intimate and thoroughly-trusted link the fortunes of Athens, or -Sparta, or Macedonia, with our own times and our own position. It is -almost equally difficult to do so in regard to the events of Rome and -the Roman power before the time of Cæsar. We cannot realise and bring -home to ourselves the Punic Wars or the Social War, the Scipios and the -Gracchi, or even the contest for power between Marius and Sulla, as we -do the Gallic Wars and the invasion of Britain, by which the -civilisation of Rome was first carried westwards, or the great civil -wars,--the “Bellum Civile,”--by which was commenced a line of emperors -continued almost down to our own days, and to which in some degree may -be traced the origin and formation of almost every existing European -nation. It is no doubt true that if we did but know the facts correctly, -we could refer back every political and social condition of the present -day to the remotest period of man’s existence; but the interest fails us -when the facts become doubtful, and when the mind begins to fear that -history is mixed with romance. Herodotus is so mythic that what delight -we have in his writings comes in a very slight degree from any desire on -our part to form a continuous chain from the days of which he wrote down -to our own. Between the marvels of Herodotus and the facts of Cæsar -there is a great interval, from which have come down to us the works of -various noble historians; but with Cæsar it seems that that certainty -commences which we would wish to regard as the distinguishing -characteristic of modern history. - -It must be remembered from the beginning that Cæsar wrote only of what -he did or of what he caused to be done himself. At least he only so -wrote in the two works of his which remain to us. We are told that he -produced much besides his Commentaries,--among other works, a poem,--but -the two Commentaries are all of his that we have. The former, in seven -books, relates the facts of his seven first campaigns in Gaul for seven -consecutive years; those campaigns in which he reduced the nations -living between the Rhine, the Rhone, the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees, -and the sea which we now call the British Channel.[1] The latter -Commentary relates the circumstances of the civil war in which he -contended for power against Pompey, his former colleague, with Crassus, -in the first triumvirate, and established that empire to which Augustus -succeeded after a second short-lived triumvirate between himself and -Lepidus and Antony. - -It is the object of this little volume to describe Cæsar’s Commentaries -for the aid of those who do not read Latin, and not to write Roman -history; but it may be well to say something, in a few introductory -lines, of the life and character of our author. We are all more or less -familiar with the name of Julius Cæsar. In our early days we learned -that he was the first of those twelve Roman emperors with whose names -it was thought right to burden our young memories; and we were taught to -understand that when he began to reign there ceased to exist that form -of republican government in which two consuls elected annually did in -truth preside over the fortunes of the empire. There had first been -seven kings,--whose names have also been made familiar to us,--then the -consuls, and after them the twelve Cæsars, of whom the great Julius was -the first. So much we all know of him; and we know, too, that he was -killed in the Capitol by conspirators just as he was going to become -emperor, although this latter scrap of knowledge seems to be -paradoxically at variance with the former. In addition to this we know -that he was a great commander and conqueror and writer, who did things -and wrote of them in the “veni, vidi, vici” style--saying of himself, “I -came, I saw, I conquered.” We know that a great Roman army was intrusted -to him, and that he used this army for the purpose of establishing his -own power in Rome by taking a portion of it over the Rubicon, which -little river separated the province which he had been appointed to -govern from the actual Roman territory within which, as a military -servant of the magistrates of the republic, he had no business to appear -as a general at the head of his army. So much we know; and in the -following very short memoir of the great commander and historian, no -effort shall be made,--as has been so frequently and so painfully done -for us in late years,--to upset the teachings of our youth, and to -prove that the old lessons were wrong. They were all fairly accurate, -and shall now only be supplemented by a few further circumstances which -were doubtless once learned by all school-boys and school-girls, but -which some may perhaps have forgotten since those happy days. - -Dean Merivale, in one of the early chapters of his admirable history of -the Romans under the Empire, declares that Caius Julius Cæsar is the -greatest name in history. He makes the claim without reserve, and -attaches to it no restriction, or suggestion that such is simply his own -opinion. Claims of this nature, made by writers on behalf of their -pet-heroes, we are, all of us, generally inclined to dispute; but this -claim, great as it is, can hardly be disputed. Dr Merivale does not say -that Cæsar was the greatest man that ever lived. In measuring such -supremacy, men take for themselves various standards. To satisfy the -judgment of one, it is necessary that a poet should be selected; for -another, a teacher of religion; for a third, some intellectual hero who -has assisted in discovering the secrets of nature by the operations of -his own brain; for a fourth, a ruler,--and so on. But the names of some -of these cannot be said to be great in history. Homer, Luther, Galileo, -and Charles V., are great names,--as are also Shakespeare, Knox, Queen -Elizabeth, and Newton. Among these, the two rulers would probably be the -least in general admiration. But no one can assert that the names of the -poets, divines, and philosophers, are greater than theirs in history. -The Dean means that of all men who have lived, and whose deeds are -known to us, Julius Cæsar did most to move the world; and we think that -the Dean is right. Those whom we might, perhaps, compare with Cæsar, are -Alexander, Charlemagne, Cromwell, Napoleon, and Washington. In regard to -the first two, we feel, when claims are made for them, that they are -grounded on the performance of deeds only partially known to us. In the -days of Alexander, history was still dark,--and it had become dark again -in those of Charlemagne. What Cromwell did was confined to our own -islands, and, though he was great for us, he does not loom as large -before the eyes of mankind in general as does one who moved all Europe, -present and future. If there be any fair antagonist to Cæsar in this -claim, it is Napoleon. As a soldier he was equally great, and the area -of his operations was as extended. But there is an old saying which -tells us that no one can be sure of his fortune till the end shall have -come; and Cæsar’s death on the steps of the Capitol was more in -accordance with our ideas of greatness than that of Napoleon at St -Helena. We cannot, moreover, but feel that there were fewer drawbacks -from greatness in the personal demeanour of the Roman “Imperator” and -Dictator than in that of the French Emperor. For Julius Cæsar was never -really emperor, in that sense in which we use the word, and in -accordance with which his successor Augustus really became an emperor. -As to Washington, we may perhaps allow that in moral attributes he was -the greatest of all. To aid his country he dared all,--even a rebel’s -disgraceful death, had he not succeeded where success was most -improbable; and in all that he attempted he succeeded. His is the name -that culminates among those of the men who made the United States a -nation, and does so by the eager consent of all its people. And his work -came altogether from patriotism,--with no alloy of personal ambition. -But it cannot be said that the things he did were great as those which -were done by Cæsar, or that he himself was as potent in the doing of -them. He ventured everything with as grand a purpose as ever warmed the -heart of man, and he was successful; but the things which he did were in -themselves small in comparison with those effected by his less noble -rival for fame. Mommsen, the German historian, describes Cæsar as a man -too great for the scope of his intelligence and power of delineation. -“The historian,” he says, speaking of Cæsar, “when once in a thousand -years he encounters the perfect, can only be silent regarding it.” -Napoleon also, in his life of Cæsar, paints his hero as perfect; but -Napoleon when doing so is, in fact, claiming godlike perfection for that -second Cæsar, his uncle. And the perfection which he claims is not that -of which Mommsen speaks. The German intends to convey to us his -conviction that Cæsar was perfect in human capacity and intelligence. -Napoleon claims for him moral perfection. “We may be convinced,” says -the Emperor, “by the above facts, that during his first consulate, one -only motive animated Cæsar,--namely, the public interest.” We cannot, -however, quite take the facts as the Emperor of the French gives them to -us, nor can we share his conviction; but the common consent of reading -men will probably acknowledge that there is in history no name so great -as that of Julius Cæsar,--of whose written works some account is -intended to be given in the following chapters. - -He was born just one hundred years before Christ, and came of an old -noble Roman family, of which Julius and not Cæsar was the distinctive -name. Whence came the name of Cæsar has been a matter of doubt and of -legend. Some say that it arose from the thick hair of one of the Julian -tribe; others that a certain scion of the family, like Macduff, “was -from his mother’s womb untimely ripped,” for which derivations Latin -words are found to be opportune. Again we are told that one of the -family once kept an elephant,--and we are referred to some eastern -language in which the word for elephant has a sound like Cæsar. Another -legend also rose from Cæsar’s name, which, in the Gallic language of -those days,--very luckily for Cæsar,--sounded as though one should say, -“Send him back.” Cæsar’s horse once ran away with him, and carried him -over to the enemy. An insolent Gaul, who knew him, called out, “Cæsar, -Cæsar!” and so the other Gauls, obeying the order supposed to be given, -allowed the illustrious one to escape. It must be acknowledged, however, -that the learned German who tells us this story expresses a contemptuous -conviction that it cannot be true. Whatever may have produced the word, -its significance, derived from the doings and writings of Caius Julius, -has been very great. It has come to mean in various languages the holder -of despotic power; and though it is said that, as a fact, the Russian -title Czar has no connection with the Roman word, so great is the -prestige of the name, that in the minds of men the popular appellation -of the Russian Emperor will always be connected with that of the line of -the Roman Emperor. - -Cæsar was the nephew by marriage of that Marius who, with alternations -of bloody successes and seemingly irreparable ruin, had carried on a -contest with Sulla for supreme power in the republic. Sulla in these -struggles had represented the aristocrats and patricians,--what we -perhaps may call the Conservative interest; while Marius, whose origin -was low, who had been a common soldier, and, rising from the ranks, had -become the darling of the army and of the people, may perhaps be -regarded as one who would have called himself a Liberal, had any such -term been known in those days. His liberality,--as has been the case -with other political leaders since his time,--led him to personal power. -He was seven times Consul, having secured his seventh election by -atrocious barbarities and butcherings of his enemies in the city; and -during this last consulship he died. The young Cæsar, though a patrician -by birth, succeeded his uncle in the popular party, and seems from a -very early age,--from his very boyhood,--to have looked forward to the -power which he might win by playing his cards with discretion. - -And very discreet he was,--self-confident to a wonderful degree, and -patient also. It is to be presumed that most of our readers know how the -Roman Republic fell, and the Roman Empire became established as the -result of the civil wars which began with Marius and ended with, that -“young Octavius” whom we better recognise as Augustus Cæsar. Julius -Cæsar was the nephew by marriage of Marius, and Augustus was the -great-nephew and heir of Julius. By means of conscriptions and murders, -worse in their nature, though less probably in number, than those which -disgraced the French Revolution, the power which Marius achieved almost -without foresight, for which the great Cæsar strove from his youth -upwards with constant foresight, was confirmed in the hands of Augustus, -and bequeathed by him to the emperors. In looking back at the annals of -the world, we shall generally find that despotic power has first grown -out of popular movement against authority. It was so with our own -Cromwell, has twice been so in the history of modern France, and -certainly was so in the formation of the Roman Empire. In the great work -of establishing that empire, it was the mind and hand and courage of -Cæsar that brought about the result, whether it was for good or evil. -And in looking at the lives of the three men--Marius, Cæsar, and -Augustus, who followed each other, and all worked to the same end, the -destruction of that oligarchy which was called a Republic in Rome--we -find that the one was a man, while the others were beasts of prey. The -cruelties of Marius as an old man, and of Augustus as a young one, were -so astounding as, even at this distance, to horrify the reader, though -he remembers that Christianity had not yet softened men’s hearts. -Marius, the old man, almost swam in the blood of his enemies, as also -did his rival Sulla; but the young Octavius, he whom the gods favoured -so long as the almost divine[2] Augustus, cemented his throne with the -blood of his friends. To complete the satisfaction of Lepidus and -Antony, his comrades in the second triumvirate, he did not scruple to -add to the list of those who were to die, the names of the nearest and -dearest to him. Between these monsters of cruelty--between Marius and -Sulla, who went before him, and Octavius and Antony who followed -him--Cæsar has become famous for clemency. And yet the hair of the -reader almost stands on end with horror as Cæsar recounts in page after -page the stories of cities burned to the ground, and whole communities -slaughtered in cold blood. Of the destruction of the women and children -of an entire tribe, Cæsar will leave the unimpassioned record in one -line. But this at least may be said of Cæsar, that he took no delight in -slaughter. When it became in his sight expedient that a people should -suffer, so that others might learn to yield and to obey, he could give -the order apparently without an effort. And we hear of no regrets, or of -any remorse which followed the execution of it. But bloodshed in itself -was not sweet to him. He was a discreet, far-seeing man, and could do -without a scruple what discretion and caution demanded of him. - -And it may be said of Cæsar that he was in some sort guided in his life -by sense of duty and love of country; as it may also be said of his -great contemporaries, Pompey and Cicero. With those who went before -him, Marius and Sulla, as also with those who followed him, Antony and -Augustus, it does not seem that any such motives actuated them. Love of -power and greed, hatred of their enemies and personal ambition, a -feeling that they were urged on by their fates to seek for high place, -and a resolve that it was better to kill than be killed, impelled them -to their courses. These feelings were strong, too, with Cæsar, as they -are strong to this day with statesmen and with generals; but mingled -with them in Cæsar’s breast there was a noble idea, that he would be -true to the greatness of Rome, and that he would grasp at power in order -that the Roman Empire might be well governed. Augustus, doubtless, ruled -well; and to Julius Cæsar very little scope for ruling was allowed after -his battling was done; but to Augustus no higher praise can be assigned -than that he had the intelligence to see that the temporary wellbeing of -the citizens of Rome was the best guarantee for his own security. - -Early in life Cæsar lifted himself to high position, though he did so in -the midst of dangers. It was the wonder of those around him that Sulla -did not murder him when he was young,--crush him while he was yet, as it -were, in his shell; but Sulla spared him, and he rose apace. We are told -that he became priest of Jupiter at seventeen, and he was then already a -married man. He early trained himself as a public orator, and amidst -every danger espoused the popular cause in Rome. He served his country -in the East,--in Bithynia, probably,--escaping, by doing so, the perils -of a residence in the city. He became Quæstor and then Ædile, assisted -by all the Marian party, as that party would assist the rising man whom -they regarded as their future leader. He attacked and was attacked, and -was “indefatigable in harassing the aristocracy,”[3] who strove, but -strove in vain, to crush him. Though young, and addicted to all the -pleasures of youth,--a trifler, as Sulla once called him,--he omitted to -learn nothing that was necessary for him to know as a chief of a great -party and a leader of great armies. When he was thirty-seven he was made -Pontifex Maximus, the official chief of the priesthood of Rome, the -office greatest in honour of any in the city, although opposed by the -whole weight of the aristocracy, and although Catulus was a candidate, -who, of all that party, was the highest not only in renown but in -virtue. He became Prætor the next year, though again he was opposed by -all the influence of those who feared him. And, after his twelve months -of office, he assumed the government of Spain,--the province allotted to -him as Proprætor, in accordance with the usage of the Republic,--in the -teeth of a decree of the Senate ordering him to remain in Rome. Here he -gained his first great military success, first made himself known to his -soldiery, and came back to Rome entitled to the honour of a triumph. - -But there was still another step on the ladder of the State before he -could assume the position which no doubt he already saw before him. He -must be Consul before he could be the master of many legions, and in -order that he might sue in proper form for the consulship, it was -necessary that he should abandon his Triumph. He could only triumph as -holding the office of General of the Republic’s forces, and as General -or Imperator he could not enter the city. He abandoned the Triumph, sued -for his office in the common fashion, and enabled the citizens to say -that he preferred their service to his personal honours. At the age of -forty-one he became Consul. It was during the struggle for the -consulship that the triumvirate was formed, of which subsequent ages -have heard so much, and of which Romans at the time heard probably so -little. Pompey, who had been the political child of Sulla, and had been -the hope of the patricians to whom he belonged, had returned to Rome -after various victories which he had achieved as Proconsul in the East, -had triumphed,--and had ventured to recline on his honours, disbanding -his army and taking to himself the credit of subsiding into privacy. The -times were too rough for such honest duty, and Pompey found himself for -a while slighted by his party. Though he had thought himself able to -abandon power, he could not bear the loss of it. It may be that he had -conceived himself able to rule the city by his influence without the aid -of his legions. Cæsar tempted him, and they two with Crassus, who was -wanted for his wealth, formed the first triumvirate. By such pact among -themselves they were to rule all Rome and all Rome’s provinces; but -doubtless, by resolves within himself of which no one knew, Cæsar -intended even then to grasp the dominion of the whole in his own hands. -During the years that followed,--the years in which Cæsar was engaged -in his Gallic wars,--Pompey remained at Rome, not indeed as Cæsar’s -friend--for that hollow friendship was brought to an end by the death of -Julia, Cæsar’s daughter, whom Pompey, though five years Cæsar’s elder, -had married--but in undecided rivalship to the active man who in foreign -wars was preparing legions by which to win the Empire. Afterwards, when -Cæsar, as we shall hear, had crossed the Rubicon, their enmity was -declared. It was natural that they should be enemies. In middle life, -Pompey, as we have seen, had married Cæsar’s daughter, and Cæsar’s -second wife had been a Pompeia.[4] But when they were young, and each -was anxious to attach himself to the politics of his own party, Pompey -had married the daughter-in-law of Sulla, and Cæsar had married the -daughter of Cinna, who had almost been joined with Marius in leading -the popular party. Such having been the connection they had made in -their early lives, it was natural that Pompey and Cæsar should be -enemies, and that the union of those two with any other third in a -triumvirate should be but a hollow compromise, planned and carried out -only that time might be gained. - -Cæsar was now Consul, and from his consular chair laughed to scorn the -Senate and the aristocratic colleague with whom he was joined,--Bibulus, -of whom we shall again hear in the Commentary on the civil war. During -his year of office he seems to have ruled almost supreme and almost -alone. The Senate was forced to do his bidding, and Pompey, at any rate -for this year, was his ally. We already know that to prætors and to -consuls, after their year of office in the city, were confided the -government of the great provinces of the Republic, and that these -officers while so governing were called proprætors and proconsuls. After -his prætorship Cæsar had gone for a year to southern Spain, the province -which had been assigned to him, whence he came back triumphant,--but not -to enjoy his Triumph. At the expiration of his consulship the joint -provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum were assigned to him, not for -one year, but for five years; and to these was added Transalpine Gaul, -by which grant dominion was given to him over all that country which we -now know as Northern Italy, over Illyria to the east, and to the west -across the Alps, over the Roman province already established in the -south of France. This province, bounded on the north by Lake Leman and -the Swiss mountains, ran south, to the Mediterranean, and to the west -half across the great neck of land which joins Spain to the continent of -Europe. This province of Transalpine Gaul was already Roman, and to -Cæsar was intrusted the task of defending this, and of defending Rome -itself, from the terrible valour of the Gauls. That he might do this it -was necessary that he should collect his legions in that other Gaul -which we now know as the north of Italy. - -It does not seem that there was any preconceived idea that Cæsar should -reduce all Gallia beneath the Roman yoke. Hitherto Rome had feared the -Gauls, and had been subject to their inroads. The Gauls in former years -had even made their way as invaders into the very city, and had been -bought out with a ransom. They had spread themselves over Northern -Italy, and hence, when Northern Italy was conquered by Roman arms, it -became a province under the name of Cisalpine Gaul. Then, during the -hundred years which preceded Cæsar’s wars, a province was gradually -founded and extended in the south of France, of which Marseilles was the -kernel. Massilia had been a colony of Greek merchants, and was supported -by the alliance of Rome. Whither such alliance leads is known to all -readers of history. The Greek colony became a Roman town, and the Roman -province stretched itself around the town. It was Cæsar’s duty, as -governor of Transalpine Gaul, to see that the poor province was not hurt -by those ravaging Gauls. How he performed that duty he tells us in his -first Commentary. - -During the fourth year of his office, while Pompey and Crassus, his -colleagues in the then existing triumvirate, were consuls, his term of -dominion over the three provinces was prolonged by the addition of five -other years. But he did not see the end of the ten years in that scene -of action. Julia, his daughter, had died, and his great rival was -estranged from him. The Senate had clamoured for his recall, and Pompey, -with doubtful words, had assented, A portion of his army was demanded -from him, was sent by him into Italy in obedience to the Senate, and -shortly afterwards was placed under the command of Pompey. Then Cæsar -found that the Italian side of the Alps was the more convenient for his -purposes, that the Hither or Cisalpine Gaul demanded his services, and -that it would be well for him to be near the Rubicon. The second -Commentary, in three books, ‘De Bello Civili,’ giving us his record of -the civil war, tells us of his deeds and fortunes for the next two -years,--the years B.C. 49 and 48. The continuation of his career as a -general is related in three other Commentaries, not by his own hand, to -which, as being beyond the scope of this volume, only short allusion -will be made. Then came one year of power, full of glory, and, upon the -whole, well used; and after that there came the end, of which the tale -has been so often told, when he fell, stabbed by friend and foe, at the -foot of Pompey’s pillar in the Capitol. - -It is only further necessary that a few words should be added as to the -character of Cæsar’s writings,--for it is of his writings rather than of -his career that it is intended here to give some idea to those who have -not an opportunity of reading them. Cæsar’s story can hardly be told in -this little volume, for it is the history of the world as the world then -was. The word which our author has chosen as a name for his work,--and -which now has become so well known as connected with Cæsar, that he who -uses it seems to speak of Cæsar,--means, in Cæsar’s sense, a Memoir. -Were it not for Cæsar, a “Commentary” would be taken to signify that -which the critic had added, rather than the work which the author had -first produced. Cæsar’s “Commentaries” are memoirs written by himself, -descriptive of his different campaigns, in which he treats of himself in -the third person, and tells his story as it might have been told by some -accompanying scribe or secretary. This being so, we are of course driven -to inquire whether some accompanying scribe or secretary may not in -truth have done the work. And there is doubtless one great argument -which must be powerful with us all towards the adoption of such a -surmise. The amount of work which Cæsar had on hand, not only in regard -to his campaigns, but in the conduct of his political career, was so -great as to have overtasked any brain without the addition of literary -labour. Surely no man was ever so worked; for the doctrine of the -division of labour did not prevail then in great affairs as it does now. -Cæsar was not only a general; he was also an engineer, an astronomer, an -orator, a poet, a high priest--to whom, as such, though himself, as we -are told, a disbeliever in the gods of Olympus, the intricate and -complicated system of Roman worship was a necessary knowledge. And he -was a politician, of whom it may be said that, though he was intimately -acquainted with the ferocity of opposition, he knew nothing of its -comparative leisure. We have had busy statesmen writing books, two prime -ministers translating Homer, another writing novels, a fourth known as a -historian, a dramatist, and a biographer. But they did not lead armies -as well as the Houses of Parliament, and they were occasionally blessed -by the opportunities of comparative political retirement which -opposition affords. From the beginning of the Gallic war, Cæsar was -fighting in person every year but one till he died. It was only by -personal fighting that he could obtain success. The reader of the -following pages will find that, with the solitary exception of the siege -of Marseilles, nothing great was done for him in his absence. And he had -to make his army as well as to lead it. Legion by legion, he had to -collect it as he needed it, and to collect it by the force of his own -character and of his own name. The abnormal plunder with which it was -necessary that his soldiers should be allured to abnormal valour and -toil had to be given as though from his own hand. For every detail of -the soldiers’ work he was responsible; and at the same time it was -incumbent on him so to manipulate his Roman enemies at Rome,--and, -harder still than that, his Roman friends,--that confusion and -destruction should not fall upon him as a politician. Thus weighted, -could he write his own Commentaries? There is reason to believe that -there was collected by him, no doubt with the aid of his secretaries, a -large body of notes which were known as the Ephemerides of -Cæsar,--jottings down, as we may say, taken from day to day. Were not -the Commentaries which bear Cæsar’s name composed from these notes by -some learned and cunning secretary? - -These notes have been the cause of much scholastic wrath to some of the -editors and critics. One learned German, hotly arguing that Cæsar wrote -no Ephemerides, does allow that somebody must have written down the -measurements of the journeys, of the mountains, and of the rivers, the -numbers also of the captives and of the slaves.[5] “Not even I,” says -he,--“not even do I believe that Cæsar was able to keep all these things -simply in his memory.” Then he goes on to assert that to the keeping of -such notes any scribe was equal; and that it was improbable that Cæsar -could have found time for the keeping of notes when absolutely in his -tent. The indignation and enthusiasm are comic, but the reasoning seems -to be good. The notes were probably collected under Cæsar’s immediate -eyes by his secretaries; but there is ample evidence that the -Commentaries themselves are Cæsar’s own work. They seem to have become -known at once to the learned Romans of the day; and Cicero, who was -probably the most learned, and certainly the best critic of the time, -speaks of them without any doubt as to their authorship. It was at once -known that the first seven books of the Gallic War were written by -Cæsar, and that the eighth was not. This seems to be conclusive. But in -addition to this, there is internal evidence. Cæsar writes in the third -person, and is very careful to maintain that mode of expression. But he -is not so careful but that on three or four occasions he forgets -himself, and speaks in the first person. No other writer, writing for -Cæsar, would have done so. And there are certain trifles in the mode of -telling the story, which must have been personal to the man. He writes -of “young” Crassus, and “young” Brutus, as no scribe would have written; -and he shows, first his own pride in obtaining a legion from Pompey’s -friendship, and then his unmeasured disgust when the Senate demand and -obtain from him that legion and another one, and when Pompey uses them -against himself, in a fashion which would go far to prove the -authenticity of each Commentary, were any proof needed. But the assent -of Cæsar’s contemporaries suffices for this without other evidence. - -And it seems that they were written as the wars were carried on, and -that each was published at once. Had it not been so, we could not -understand that Cæsar should have begun the second Commentary before he -had finished the first. It seems that he was hindered by the urgency of -the Civil War from writing what with him would have been the two last -books of the Gallic War, and therefore put the completion of that work -into the hands of his friend Hirtius, who wrote the memoir of the two -years in one book. And Cæsar’s mode of speaking of men who were at one -time his friends and then his enemies, shows that his first Commentary -was completed and out of hand before the other was written. Labienus, -who in the Gallic War was Cæsar’s most trusted lieutenant, went over to -the other side and served under Pompey in the Civil War. He could not -have failed to allude in some way to the desertion of Labienus, in the -first Commentary, had Labienus left him and joined Pompey while the -first Commentary was still in his hands. - -His style was at once recognised by the great literary critic of the day -as being excellent for its intended purpose. Cæsar is manifestly not -ambitious of literary distinction, but is very anxious to convey to his -readers a narrative of his own doings, which shall be graphic, succinct, -intelligible, and sufficiently well expressed to insure the attention of -readers. Cicero, the great critic, thus speaks of the Commentaries; -“Valde quidam, inquam, probandos; nudi enim sunt, recti, et venusti, -omni ornatu orationis, tanquam veste, detracto.” The passage is easily -understood, but not perhaps very easily translated into English. “I -pronounce them, indeed, to be very commendable, for they are simple, -straightforward, agreeable, with all rhetorical ornament stripped from -them, as a garment is stripped.” This was written by Cicero while Cæsar -was yet living, as the context shows. And Cicero does not mean to imply -that Cæsar’s writings are bald or uncouth: the word “venusti” is -evidence of this. And again, speaking of Cæsar’s language, Cicero says -that Cæsar spoke with more finished choice of words than almost any -other orator of the day. And if he so spoke, he certainly so wrote, for -the great speeches of the Romans were all written compositions. -Montaigne says of Cæsar: “I read this author with somewhat more -reverence and respect than is usually allowed to human writings, one -while considering him in his person, by his actions and miraculous -greatness, and another in the purity and inimitable polish of his -language and style, wherein he not only excels all other historians, as -Cicero confesses, but peradventure even Cicero himself.” Cicero, -however, confesses nothing of the kind, and Montaigne is so far wrong. -Cæsar was a great favourite with Montaigne, who always speaks of his -hero with glowing enthusiasm. - -To us who love to make our language clear by the number of words used, -and who in writing rarely give ourselves time for condensation, the -closely-packed style of Cæsar is at first somewhat difficult of -comprehension. It cannot be read otherwise than slowly till the reader’s -mind is trained by practice to Cæsarean expressions, and then not with -rapidity. Three or four adjectives, or more probably participles, joined -to substantives in a sentence, are continually intended to convey an -amount of information for which, with us, three or four other distinct -sentences would be used. It is almost impossible to give the meaning of -Cæsar in English without using thrice as many words as he uses. The same -may be said of many Latin writers,--perhaps of all; so great was the -Roman tendency to condensation, and so great is ours to dilution. But -with Cæsar, though every word means much, there are often many words in -the same sentence, and the reader is soon compelled to acknowledge that -skipping is out of the question, and that quick reading is undesirable. - -That which will most strike the ordinary English reader in the narrative -of Cæsar is the cruelty of the Romans,--cruelty of which Cæsar himself -is guilty to a frightful extent, and of which he never expresses -horror. And yet among his contemporaries he achieved a character for -clemency which he has retained to the present day. In describing the -character of Cæsar, without reference to that of his contemporaries, it -is impossible not to declare him to have been terribly cruel. From -bloodthirstiness he slaughtered none; but neither from tenderness did he -spare any. All was done from policy; and when policy seemed to him to -demand blood, he could, without a scruple,--as far as we can judge, -without a pang,--order the destruction of human beings, having no regard -to number, sex, age, innocence, or helplessness. Our only excuse for him -is that he was a Roman, and that Romans were indifferent to blood. -Suicide was with them the common mode of avoiding otherwise inevitable -misfortune, and it was natural that men who made light of their own -lives should also make light of the lives of others. Of all those with -whose names the reader will become acquainted in the following pages, -hardly one or two died in their beds. Cæsar and Pompey, the two great -ones, were murdered. Dumnorix, the Æduan, was killed by Cæsar’s orders. -Vercingetorix, the gallantest of the Gauls, was kept alive for years -that his death might grace Cæsar’s Triumph. Ariovistus, the German, -escaped from Cæsar, but we hear soon after of his death, and that the -Germans resented it. He doubtless was killed by a Roman weapon. What -became of the hunted Ambiorix we do not know, but his brother king -Cativolcus poisoned himself with the juice of yew-tree. Crassus, the -partner of Cæsar and Pompey in the first triumvirate, was killed by the -Parthians. Young Crassus, the son, Cæsar’s officer in Gaul, had himself -killed by his own men that he might not fall into the hands of the -Parthians, and his head was cut off and sent to his father. Labienus -fell at Munda, in the last civil war in Spain. Quintus Cicero, Cæsar’s -lieutenant, and his greater brother, the orator, and his son, perished -in the proscriptions of the second triumvirate. Titurius and Cotta were -slaughtered with all their army by Ambiorix. Afranius was killed by -Cæsar’s soldiers after the last battle in Africa. Petreius was hacked to -pieces in amicable contest by King Juba. Varro indeed lived to be an old -man, and to write many books. Domitius, who defended Marseilles for -Pompey, was killed in the flight after Pharsalia. Trebonius, who -attacked Marseilles by land, was killed by a son-in-law of Cicero at -Smyrna. Of Decimus Brutus, who attacked Marseilles by sea, one Camillus -cut off the head and sent it as a present to Antony. Curio, who -attempted to master the province of Africa on behalf of Cæsar, rushed -amidst his enemy’s swords and was slaughtered. King Juba, who conquered -him, failing to kill himself, had himself killed by a slave. Attius -Varus, who had held the province for Pompey, fell afterwards at Munda. -Marc Antony, Cæsar’s great lieutenant in the Pharsalian wars, stabbed -himself. Cassius Longinus, another lieutenant under Cæsar, was drowned. -Scipio, Pompey’s partner in greatness at Pharsalia, destroyed himself in -Africa. Bibulus, his chief admiral, pined to death. Young Ptolemy, to -whom Pompey fled, was drowned in the Nile. The fate of his sister -Cleopatra is known to all the world. Pharnaces, Cæsar’s enemy in Asia, -fell in battle. Cato destroyed himself at Utica. Pompey’s eldest son, -Cnæus, was caught wounded in Spain and slaughtered. Sextus the younger -was killed some years afterwards by one of Antony’s soldiers. Brutus and -Cassius, the two great conspirators, both committed suicide. But of -these two we hear little or nothing in the Commentaries; nor of Augustus -Cæsar, who did contrive to live in spite of all the bloodshed through -which he had waded to the throne. Among the whole number there are not -above three, if so many, who died fairly fighting in battle. - -The above is a list of the names of men of mark,--of warriors chiefly, -of men who, with their eyes open, knowing what was before them, went out -to encounter danger for certain purposes. The bloody catalogue is so -complete, so nearly comprises all whose names are mentioned, that it -strikes the reader with almost a comic horror. But when we come to the -slaughter of whole towns, the devastation of country effected purposely -that men and women might starve, to the abandonment of the old, the -young, and the tender, that they might perish on the hillsides, to the -mutilation of crowds of men, to the burning of cities told us in a -passing word, to the drowning of many thousands,--mentioned as we should -mention the destruction of a brood of rats,--the comedy is all over, and -the heart becomes sick. Then it is that we remember that the coming of -Christ has changed all things, and that men now,--though terrible things -have been done since Christ came to us,--are not as men were in the days -of Cæsar. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -FIRST BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR DRIVES FIRST THE SWISS AND THEN -THE GERMANS OUT OF GAUL.--B.C. 58. - - -It has been remarked in the preceding chapter that Cæsar does not appear -to have received any commission for the subjugation of Gaul when he took -military charge of his three provinces. The Gauls were still feared in -Rome, and it was his duty to see that they did not make their way over -the Alps into the Roman territory. It was also his duty to protect from -invasion, and also from rebellion, that portion of Gaul which had -already been constituted a Roman province, but in which the sympathies -of the people were still rather with their old brethren than with their -new masters. The experience, however, which we have of great and -encroaching empires tells us how probable it is that the protection of -that which the strong already holds should lead to the grasping of more, -till at last all has been grasped. It is thus that our own empire in -India has grown. It was thus that the Spanish empire grew in America. It -is thus that the empire of the United States is now growing. It was thus -that Prussia, driven, as we all remember, by the necessity of -self-preservation, took Nassau the other day, and Hanover and Holstein -and Hesse. It was thus that the wolf claimed all the river, not being -able to endure the encroaching lamb. The humane reader of history -execrates, as he reads, the cruel, all-absorbing, ravenous wolf. But the -philosophical reader perceives that in this way, and in no other, is -civilisation carried into distant lands. The wolf, though he be a -ravenous wolf, brings with him energy and knowledge. - -What may have been Cæsar’s own aspirations in regard to Gaul, when the -government of the provinces was confided to him, we have no means of -knowing. We may surmise,--indeed we feel that we know,--that he had a -project in hand much greater to him, in his view of its result, than -could be the adding of any new province to the Republic, let the -territory added be as wide as all Gaul. He had seen enough of Roman -politics to know that real power in Rome could only belong to a master -of legions. Both Marius and Sulla had prevailed in the city by means of -the armies which they had levied as the trusted generals of the -Republic. Pompey had had his army trained to conquest in the East, and -it had been expected that he also would use it to the same end. He had -been magnanimous, or half-hearted, or imprudent, as critics of his -conduct might choose to judge him then and may choose to judge him now, -and on reaching Italy from the East had disbanded his legions. As a -consequence, he was at that moment, when Cæsar was looking out into the -future and preparing his own career, fain to seek some influence in the -city by joining himself in a secret compact with Cæsar, his natural -enemy, and with Crassus. Cæsar, seeing all this, knowing how Marius and -Sulla had succeeded and had failed, seeing what had come of the -magnanimity of Pompey--resolved no doubt that, whatever might be the -wars in which they should be trained, he would have trained legions at -his command. When, therefore, he first found a cause for war, he was -ready for war. He had not been long proconsul before there came a wicked -lamb and drank at his stream. - -In describing to us the way in which he conquered lamb after lamb -throughout the whole country which he calls Gallia, he tells us almost -nothing of himself. Of his own political ideas, of his own ambition, -even of his doings in Italy through those winter months which he -generally passed on the Roman side of the Alps, having left his army in -winter quarters under his lieutenants, he says but a very few words. His -record is simply the record of the campaigns; and although he now and -then speaks of the dignity of the Republic, he hardly ever so far -digresses from the narrative as to give to the reader any idea of the -motives by which he is actuated. Once in these seven memoirs of seven -years’ battling in Gaul, and once only, does he refer to a motive -absolutely personal to himself. When he succeeded in slaughtering a -fourth of the emigrating Swiss, which was his first military success in -Gaul, he tells us that he had then revenged an injury to himself as well -as an injury to the Republic, because the grandfather of his -father-in-law had in former wars been killed by the very tribe which he -had just destroyed! - -It is to be observed, also, that he does not intentionally speak in the -first person, and that when he does so it is in some passage of no -moment, in which the personality is accidental and altogether trivial. -He does not speak of “I” and “me,” but of Cæsar, as though he, Cæsar, -who wrote the Commentary, were not the Cæsar of whom he is writing. Not -unfrequently he speaks strongly in praise of himself; but as there is no -humility in his tone, so also is there no pride, even when he praises -himself. He never seems to boast, though he tells us of his own exploits -as he does of those of his generals and centurions. Without any -diffidence he informs us now and again how, at the end of this or that -campaign, a “supplication,” or public festival and thanksgiving for his -victories, was decreed in Rome, on the hearing of the news,--to last for -fifteen or twenty days, as the case might be. - -Of his difficulties at home,--the political difficulties with which he -had to contend,--he says never a word. And yet at times they must have -been very harassing. We hear from other sources that during these wars -in Gaul his conduct was violently reprobated in Rome, in that he had, -with the utmost cruelty, attacked and crushed states supposed to be in -amity with Rome, and that it was once even proposed to give him up to -the enemy as a punishment for grievous treachery to the enemy. Had it -been so resolved by the Roman Senate,--had such a law been enacted,--the -power to carry out the law would have been wanted. It was easier to -grant a “supplication” for twenty days than to stop his career after his -legions had come to know him. - -Nor is there very much said by Cæsar of his strategic difficulties; -though now and then, especially when his ships are being knocked about -on the British coast, and again when the iron of his heel has so bruised -the Gauls that they all turn against him in one body under -Vercingetorix, the reader is allowed to see that he is pressed hard -enough. But it is his rule to tell the thing he means to do, the way he -does it, and the completeness of the result, in the fewest possible -words. If any student of the literature of battles would read first -Cæsar’s seven books of the Gallic War, and then Mr Kinglake’s first four -volumes of the ‘Invasion of the Crimea,’ he would be able to compare two -most wonderful examples of the dexterous use of words, in the former of -which the narrative is told with the utmost possible brevity, and in the -latter with almost the utmost possible prolixity. And yet each narrative -is equally clear, and each equally distinguished by so excellent an -arrangement of words, that the reader is forced to acknowledge that the -story is told to him by a great master. - -In praising others,--his lieutenants, his soldiers, and occasionally his -enemies,--Cæsar is often enthusiastic, though the praise is conferred by -a word or two,--is given, perhaps, simply in an epithet added on for -that purpose to a sentence planned with a wholly different purpose. Of -blame he is very sparing; so much so, that it almost seems that he -looked upon certain imperfections, in regard even to faith as well as -valour or prudence, as necessary to humanity, and pardonable because of -their necessity. He can tell of the absolute destruction of a legion -through the folly and perhaps cowardice of one of his lieutenants, -without heaping a word of reproach on the name of the unfortunate. He -can relate how a much-favoured tribe fell off from their faith again and -again without expressing anger at their faithlessness, and can explain -how they were,--hardly forgiven, but received again as friends,--because -it suited him so to treat them. But again he can tell us, without -apparently a quiver of the pen, how he could devote to destruction a -city with all its women and all its children, so that other cities might -know what would come to them if they did not yield and obey, and become -vassals to the godlike hero in whose hands Providence had placed their -lives and their possessions. - -It appears that Cæsar never failed to believe in himself. He is far too -simple in his language, and too conscious of his own personal dignity, -to assert that he has never been worsted. But his very simplicity seems -to convey the assurance that such cannot ultimately be the result of any -campaign in which he is engaged. He seems to imply that victory attends -him so certainly that it would be futile in any case to discuss its -probability. He feared no one, and was therefore the cause of awe to -others. He could face his own legions when they would not obey his call -to arms, and reduce them to obedience by a word. Lucan, understanding -his character well, says of him that “he deserved to be feared, for he -feared nothing;” “meruitque timeri Nil metuens.” He writes of himself -as we might imagine some god would write who knew that his divine -purpose must of course prevail, and who would therefore never be in the -way of entertaining a doubt. With Cæsar there is always this godlike -simplicity, which makes his “Veni, vidi, vici,” the natural expression -of his mind as to his own mode of action. The same thing is felt in the -very numerous but very brief records of the punishments which he -inflicted. Cities are left desolate, as it were with a wave of his hand, -but he hardly deigns to say that his own hand has even been waved. He -tells us of one Acco who had opposed him, that, “Graviore sententiâ -pronunciatâ,”--as though there had been some jury to pronounce this -severe sentence, which was in fact pronounced only by himself, -Cæsar,--he inflicted punishment on him “more majorum.” We learn from -other sources that this punishment consisted in being stripped naked, -confined by the neck in a cleft stick, and then being flogged to death. -In the next words, having told us in half a sentence that he had made -the country too hot to hold the fugitive accomplices of the tortured -chief, he passes on into Italy with the majestic step of one much too -great to dwell long on these small but disagreeable details. And we feel -that he is too great. - -It has been already said that the great proconsular wolf was not long in -hearing that a lamb had come down to drink of his stream. The Helvetii, -or Swiss, as we call them,--those tribes which lived on the Lake Leman, -and among the hills and valleys to the north of the lake,--had made up -their minds that they were inhabiting but a poor sort of country, and -that they might considerably better themselves by leaving their -mountains and going out into some part of Gaul, in which they might find -themselves stronger than the existing tribes, and might take possession -of the fat of the land. In doing so, their easiest way out of their own -country would lie by the Rhone, where it now runs through Geneva into -France. But in taking this route the Swiss would be obliged to pass over -a corner of the Roman province. Here was a case of the lamb troubling -the waters with a vengeance. When this was told to Cæsar,--that these -Swiss intended, “facero iter per Provinciam nostram”--“to do their -travelling through our Province,”--he hurried over the Alps into Gaul, -and came to Geneva as fast as he could travel. - -He begins his first book by a geographical definition of Gaul, which no -doubt was hardly accurate, but which gives us a singularly clear idea of -that which Cæsar desired to convey. In speaking of Gallia he intends to -signify the whole country from the outflow of the Rhine into the ocean -down to the Pyrenees, and then eastward to the Rhone, to the Swiss -mountains, and the borders of the Roman Province. This he divides into -three parts, telling us that the Belgians inhabited the part north of -the Seine and Marne, the people of Aquitania the part south of the -Garonne, and the Gauls or Celts the intermediate territory. Having so -far described the scene of his action, he rushes off at once to the -dreadful sin of the Swiss emigrants in desiring to pass through “our -Province.” - -He has but one legion in Further Gaul,--that is, in the Roman province -on the further side of the Alps from Rome; and therefore, when -ambassadors come to him from the Swiss, asking permission to go through -the corner of land, and promising that they will do no harm in their -passage, he temporises with them. He can’t give them an answer just -then, but must think of it. They must come back to him by a certain -day,--when he will have more soldiers ready. Of course he refuses. The -Swiss make some slight attempt, but soon give that matter up in despair. -There is another way by which they can get out of their -mountains,--through the territory of a people called Sequani; and for -doing this they obtain leave. But Cæsar knows how injurious the Swiss -lambs will be to him and his wolves, should they succeed in getting -round to the back of his Province,--that Roman Province which left the -name of Provence in modern France till France refused to be divided any -longer into provinces. And he is, moreover, invited by certain friends -of the Roman Republic, called the Ædui, to come and stop these rough -Swiss travellers. He is always willing to help the Ædui, although these -Ædui are a fickle, inconstant people,--and he is, above all things, -willing to get to war. So he comes upon the rear of the Swiss when three -portions of the people have passed the river Arar (Saone), and one -portion is still behind. This hindermost tribe,--for the wretches were -all of one tribe or mountain canton,--he sets upon and utterly destroys; -and on this occasion congratulates himself on having avenged himself -upon the slayers of the grandfather of his father-in-law. - -There can be nothing more remarkable in history than this story of the -attempted emigration of the Helvetii, which Cæsar tells us without the -expression of any wonder. The whole people made up their minds that, as -their borders were narrow, their numbers increasing, and their courage -good, they would go forth,--men, women, and children,--and seek other -homes. We read constantly of the emigrations of people,--of the Northmen -from the north covering the southern plains, of Danes and Jutes entering -Britain, of men from Scandinavia coming down across the Rhine, and the -like. We know that after this fashion the world has become peopled. But -we picture to ourselves generally a concourse of warriors going forth -and leaving behind them homes and friends, to whom they may or may not -return. With these Swiss wanderers there was to be no return. All that -they could not take with them they destroyed, burning their houses, and -burning even their corn, so that there should be no means of turning -their steps backward. They do make considerable progress, getting as far -into France as Autun,--three-fourths of them at least getting so far; -but near this they are brought to an engagement by Cæsar, who -outgenerals them on a hill. The prestige of the Romans had not as yet -established itself in these parts, and the Swiss nearly have the best of -it. Cæsar owns, as he does not own again above once or twice, that the -battle between them was very long, and for long very doubtful. But at -last the poor Helvetii are driven in slaughter. Cæsar, however, is not -content that they should simply fly. He forces them back upon their old -territory,--upon their burnt houses and devastated fields,--lest certain -Germans should come and live there, and make themselves disagreeable. -And they go back;--so many, at least, go back as are not slain in the -adventure. With great attempt at accuracy, Cæsar tells us that 368,000 -human beings went out on the expedition, and that 110,000, or less than -a third, found their way back. Of those that perished, many hecatombs -had been offered up to the shade of his father-in-law’s grandfather. - -Hereupon the Gauls begin to see how great a man is Cæsar. He tells us -that no sooner was that war with the Swiss finished than nearly all the -tribes of Gallia send to congratulate him. And one special tribe, those -Ædui,--of whom we hear a great deal, and whom we never like because they -are thoroughly anti-Gallican in all their doings till they think that -Cæsar is really in trouble, and then they turn upon him,--have to beg of -him a great favour. Two tribes,--the Ædui, whose name seems to have left -no trace in France, and the Arverni, whom we still know in -Auvergne,--have been long contending for the upper hand; whereupon the -Arverni and their friends the Sequani have called in the assistance of -certain Germans from across the Rhine. It went badly then with the Ædui. -And now one of their kings, named Divitiacus, implores the help of -Cæsar. Would Cæsar be kind enough to expel these horrid Germans, and -get back the hostages, and free them from a burdensome dominion, and put -things a little to rights? And, indeed, not only were the Ædui suffering -from these Germans, and their king, Ariovistus; it is going still worse -with the Sequani, who had called them in. In fact, Ariovistus was an -intolerable nuisance to that eastern portion of Gaul. Would Cæsar be -kind enough to drive him out? Cæsar consents, and then we are made to -think of another little fable,--of the prayer which the horse made to -the man for assistance in his contest with the stag, and of the manner -in which the man got upon the horse, and never got down again. Cæsar was -not slow to mount, and when once in the saddle, certainly did not mean -to leave it. - -Cæsar tells us his reasons for undertaking this commission. The Ædui had -often been called “brothers” and “cousins” by the Roman Senate; and it -was not fitting that men who had been so honoured should be domineered -over by Germans. And then, unless these marauding Germans could be -stopped, they would fall into the habit of coming across the Rhine, and -at last might get into the Province, and by that route into Italy -itself. And Ariovistus himself was personally so arrogant a man that the -thing must be made to cease. So Cæsar sends ambassadors to Ariovistus, -and invites the barbarian to a meeting. The barbarian will not come to -the meeting. If he wanted to see the Roman, he would go to the Roman: if -the Roman wants to see him, the Roman may come to him. Such is the reply -of Ariovistus. Ambassadors pass between them, and there is a good deal -of argument, in which the barbarian has the best of it. Cæsar, with his -godlike simplicity, scorns not to give the barbarian the benefit of his -logic. Ariovistus reminds Cæsar that the Romans have been in the habit -of governing the tribes conquered by them after their fashion, without -interference from him, Ariovistus; and that the Germans claim and mean -to exercise the same right. He goes on to say that he is willing enough -to live in amity with the Romans; but will Cæsar be kind enough to -remember that the Germans are a people unconquered in war, trained to -the use of arms, and how hardy he might judge when he was told that for -fourteen years they had not slept under a roof? In the mean time other -Gauls were complaining, and begging for assistance. The Treviri, people -of the country where Treves now stands, are being harassed by the -terrible yellow-haired Suevi, who at this time seem to have possessed -nearly the whole of Prussia as it now exists on the further side of the -Rhine, and who had the same desire to come westward that the Prussians -have evinced since. And a people called the Harudes, from the Danube, -are also harassing the poor Ædui. Cæsar, looking at these things, sees -that unless he is quick, the northern and southern Germans may join -their forces. He gets together his commissariat, and flies at Ariovistus -very quickly. - -Throughout all his campaigns, Cæsar, as did Napoleon afterwards, -effected everything by celerity. He preaches to us no sermon on the -subject, favours us with no disquisition as to the value of despatch in -war, but constantly tells us that he moved all his army “magnis -itineribus”--by very rapid marches; that he went on with his work night -and day, and took precautions “magno opere,”--with much labour and all -his care,--to be beforehand with the enemy. In this instance Ariovistus -tries to reach a certain town of the poor Sequani, then called Vesontio, -now known to us as Besançon,--the same name, but very much altered. It -consisted of a hill, or natural fortress, almost surrounded by a river, -or natural fosse. There is nothing, says Cæsar, so useful in a war as -the possession of a place thus naturally strong. Therefore he hurries on -and gets before Ariovistus, and occupies the town. The reader already -begins to feel that Cæsar is destined to divine success. The reader -indeed knows that beforehand, and expects nothing worse for Cæsar than -hairbreadth escapes. But the Romans themselves had not as yet the same -confidence in him. Tidings are brought to him at Vesontio that his men -are terribly afraid of the Germans. And so, no doubt, they were. These -Romans, though by the art of war they had been made fine -soldiers,--though they had been trained in the Eastern conquests and the -Punic wars, and invasions of all nations around them,--were -nevertheless, up to this day, greatly afraid even of the Gauls. The -coming of the Gauls into Italy had been a source of terror to them ever -since the days of Brennus. And the Germans were worse than the Gauls. -The boast made by Ariovistus that his men never slept beneath a roof was -not vain or useless. They were a horrid, hirsute, yellow-haired people, -the flashing aspect of whose eyes could hardly be endured by an -Italian. The fear is so great that the soldiers “sometimes could not -refrain even from tears;”--“neque interdum lacrimas tenere poterant.” -When we remember what these men became after they had been a while with -Cæsar, their blubbering awe of the Germans strikes us as almost comic. -And we are reminded that the Italians of those days were, as they are -now, more prone to show the outward signs of emotion than is thought to -be decorous with men in more northern climes. We can hardly realise the -idea of soldiers crying from fear. Cæsar is told by his centurions that -so great is this feeling, that the men will probably refuse to take up -their arms when called upon to go out and fight; whereupon he makes a -speech to all his captains and lieutenants, full of boasting, full of -scorn, full, no doubt, of falsehood, but using a bit of truth whenever -the truth could aid him. We know that among other great gifts Cæsar had -the gift of persuasion. From his tongue, also, as from Nestor’s, could -flow “words sweeter than honey,”--or sharper than steel. At any rate, if -others will not follow him, his tenth legion, he knows, will be true to -him. He will go forth with that one legion,--if necessary, with that -legion of true soldiers, and with no others. Though he had been at his -work but a short time, he already had his picked men, his guards, his -favourite regiments, his tenth legion; and he knew well how to use their -superiority and valour for the creation of those virtues in others. - -Then Ariovistus sends ambassadors, and declares that he now is willing -to meet Cæsar. Let them meet on a certain plain, each bringing only his -cavalry guard. Ariovistus suggests that foot-soldiers might be -dangerous, knowing that Cæsar’s foot-soldiers would be Romans, and that -his cavalry are Gauls. Cæsar agrees, but takes men out of his own tenth -legion, mounted on the horses of the less-trusted allies. The accounts -of these meetings, and the arguments which we are told are used on this -and that side, are very interesting. We are bound to remember that Cæsar -is telling the story for both sides, but we feel that he tries to tell -it fairly. Ariovistus had very little to say to Cæsar’s demands, but a -great deal to say about his own exploits. The meeting, however, was -broken up by an attack made by the Germans on Cæsar’s mounted guard, and -Cæsar retires,--not, however, before he has explained to Ariovistus his -grand idea of the protection due by Rome to her allies. Then Ariovistus -proposes another meeting, which Cæsar declines to attend, sending, -however, certain ambassadors. Ariovistus at once throws the ambassadors -into chains, and then there is nothing for it but a fight. - -The details of all these battles cannot be given within our short -limits, and there is nothing special in this battle to tempt us to dwell -upon it. Cæsar describes to us the way in which the German cavalry and -infantry fought together, the footmen advancing from amidst the -horsemen, and then returning for protection. His own men fight well, and -the Germans, in spite of their flashing eyes, are driven headlong in a -rout back to the Rhine. Ariovistus succeeds in getting over the river -and saving himself, but he has to leave his two daughters behind, and -his two wives. The two wives and one of the daughters are killed; the -other daughter is taken prisoner. Cæsar had sent as one of his -ambassadors to the German a certain dear friend of his, who, as we heard -before, was, with his comrade, at once subjected to chains. In the -flight this ambassador is recovered. “Which thing, indeed, gave Cæsar -not less satisfaction than the victory itself,--in that he saw one of -the honestest men of the Province of Gaul, his own familiar friend and -guest, rescued from the hands of his enemies and restored to him. Nor -did Fortune diminish this gratification by any calamity inflicted on the -man. Thrice, as he himself told the tale, had it been decided by lot in -his own presence whether he should then be burned alive or reserved for -another time.” So Cæsar tells the story, and we like him for his -enthusiasm, and are glad to hear that the comrade ambassador also is -brought back. - -The yellow-haired Suevi, when they hear of all this, desist from their -invasion on the lower Rhine, and hurry back into their own country, not -without misfortunes on the road. So great already is Cæsar’s name, that -tribes, acting as it were on his side, dare to attack even the Suevi. -Then, in his “Veni, vidi, vici” style, he tells us that, having in one -summer finished off two wars, he is able to put his army into winter -quarters even before the necessary time, so that he himself may go into -his other Gaul across the Alps,--“ad conventus agendos,”--to hold some -kind of session or assizes for the government of his province, and -especially to collect more soldiers. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -SECOND BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR SUBDUES THE BELGIAN TRIBES.--B.C. -57. - - -The man had got on the horse’s back, but the horse had various -disagreeable enemies in attacking whom the man might be very useful, and -the horse was therefore not as yet anxious to unseat his rider. Would -Cæsar be so good as to go and conquer the Belgian tribes? Cæsar is not -slow in finding reasons for so doing. The Belgians are conspiring -together against him. They think that as all Gaul has been reduced,--or -“pacified,” as Cæsar calls it,--the Roman conqueror will certainly bring -his valour to bear upon them, and that they had better be ready. Cæsar -suggests that it would no doubt be felt by them as a great grievance -that a Roman army should remain all the winter so near to them. In this -way, and governed by these considerations, the Belgian lambs disturb the -stream very sadly, and the wolf has to look to it. He collects two more -legions, and, as soon as the earth brings forth the food necessary for -his increased number of men and horses, he hurries off against these -Belgian tribes of Northern Gallia. Of these, one tribe, the Remi, -immediately send word to him that they are not wicked lambs like the -others; they have not touched the waters. All the other Belgians, say -the Remi, and with them a parcel of Germans, are in a conspiracy -together. Even their very next-door neighbours, their brothers and -cousins, the Suessiones, are wicked; but they, the Remi, have steadily -refused even to sniff at the stream, which they acknowledge to be the -exclusive property of the good wolf. Would the wolf be kind enough to -come and take possession of them and all their belongings, and allow -them to be the humblest of his friends? We come to hate these Remi, as -we do the Ædui; but they are wise in their generation, and escape much -of the starvation and massacring and utter ruin to which the other -tribes are subjected. Among almost all these so-called Belgian tribes we -find the modern names which are familiar to us. Rheims is in the old -country of the Remi, Soissons in that of the Suessiones. Beauvais -represents the Bellovaci, Amiens the Ambiani, Arras the Atrebates, -Treves the Treviri,--as has been pointed out before. Silva Arduenna is, -of course, the Forest of Ardennes. - -The campaign is commenced by an attack made by the other Belgians on -those unnatural Remi who have gone over to the Romans. There is a town -of theirs, Bibrax, now known, or rather not known, as Bievre, and here -the Remi are besieged by their brethren. When Bibrax is on the point of -falling,--and we can imagine what would then have been the condition of -the townsmen,--they send to Cæsar, who is only eight miles distant. -Unless Cæsar will help, they cannot endure any longer such onslaught as -is made on them. Cæsar, having bided his time, of course sends help, and -the poor besieging Belgians fall into inextricable confusion. They agree -to go home, each to his own country, and from thence to proceed to the -defence of any tribe which Cæsar might attack. “So,” says Cæsar, as he -ends the story of this little affair, “without any danger on our part, -our men killed as great a number of theirs as the space of the day would -admit.” When the sun set, and not till then, came an end to the -killing,--such having been the order of Cæsar. - -That these Belgians had really formed any intention of attacking the -Roman province, or even any Roman ally, there is no other proof than -that Cæsar tells us that they had all conspired. But whatever might be -their sin, or what the lack of sin on their part, he is determined to go -on with the war till he has subjugated them altogether. On the very next -day he attacks the Suessiones, and gets as far as Noviodunum,--Noyons. -The people there, when they see how terrible are his engines of war, -give up all idea of defending themselves, and ask for terms. The -Bellovaci do the same. At the instigation of his friends the Remi, he -spares the one city, and, to please the Ædui, the other. But he takes -away all their arms, and exacts hostages. From the Bellovaci, because -they have a name as a powerful people, he takes 600 hostages. Throughout -all these wars it becomes a matter of wonder to us what Cæsar did with -all these hostages, and how he maintained them. It was, however, no -doubt clearly understood that they would be killed if the town, or -state, or tribe by which they were given should misbehave, or in any way -thwart the great conqueror. - -The Ambiani come next, and the ancestors of our intimate friends at -Amiens soon give themselves up. The next to them are the Nervii, a -people far away to the north, where Lille now is and a considerable -portion of Flanders. Of these Cæsar had heard wonderful travellers’ -tales. They were a people who admitted no dealers among them, being in -this respect very unlike their descendants, the Belgians of to-day; they -drank no wine, and indulged in no luxuries, lest their martial valour -should be diminished. They send no ambassadors to Cæsar, and resolve to -hold their own if they can. They trust solely to infantry in battle, and -know nothing of horses. Against the cavalry of other nations, however, -they are wont to protect themselves by artificial hedges, which they -make almost as strong as walls. - -Cæsar in attacking the Nervii had eight legions, and he tells us how he -advanced against them “consuetudine suâ,”--after his usual fashion. For -some false information had been given to the Nervii on this subject, -which brought them into considerable trouble. He sent on first his -cavalry, then six legions, the legions consisting solely of -foot-soldiers; after these all the baggage, commissariat, and burden of -the army, comprising the materials necessary for sieges; and lastly, the -two other legions, which had been latest enrolled. It may be as well to -explain here that the legion in the time of Cæsar consisted on paper of -six thousand heavy-armed foot-soldiers. There were ten cohorts in a -legion, and six centuries, or six hundred men, in each cohort. It may -possibly be that, as with our regiments, the numbers were frequently not -full. Eight full legions would thus have formed an army consisting of -48,000 infantry. The exact number of men under his orders Cæsar does not -mention here or elsewhere. - -According to his own showing, Cæsar is hurried into a battle before he -knows where he is. Cæsar, he says, had everything to do himself, all at -the same time,--to unfurl the standard of battle, to give the signal -with the trumpet, to get back the soldiers from their work, to call back -some who had gone to a distance for stuff to make a rampart, to draw up -the army, to address the men, and then to give the word. In that matter -of oratory, he only tells them to remember their old valour. The enemy -was so close upon them, and so ready for fighting, that they could -scarcely put on their helmets and take their shields out of their cases. -So great was the confusion that the soldiers could not get to their own -ranks, but had to fight as they stood, under any flag that was nearest -to them. There were so many things against them, and especially those -thick artificial hedges, which prevented them even from seeing, that it -was impossible for them to fight according to any method, and in -consequence there were vicissitudes of fortune. One is driven to feel -that on this occasion Cæsar was caught napping. The Nervii did at times -and places seem to be getting the best of it. The ninth and tenth -legions pursue one tribe into a river, and then they have to fight them -again, and drive them out of the river. The eleventh and eighth, having -put to flight another tribe, are attacked on the very river-banks. The -twelfth and the seventh have their hands equally full, when Boduognatus, -the Nervian chief, makes his way into the very middle of the Roman camp. -So great is the confusion that the Treviri, who had joined Cæsar on this -occasion as allies, although reputed the bravest of the cavalry of Gaul, -run away home, and declare that the Romans are conquered. Cæsar, -however, comes to the rescue, and saves his army on this occasion by -personal prowess. When he saw how it was going,--“rem esse in -angusto,”--how the thing had got itself into the very narrowest neck of -a difficulty, he seizes a shield from a common soldier,--having come -there himself with no shield,--and rushes into the fight. When the -soldiers saw him, and saw, too, that what they did was done in his -sight, they fought anew, and the onslaught of the enemy was checked. - -Perhaps readers will wish that they could know how much of all this is -exactly true. It reads as though it were true. We cannot in these days -understand how one brave man at such a moment should be so much more -effective than another, how he should be known personally to the -soldiers of an army so large, how Cæsar should have known the names of -the centurions,--for he tells us that he addresses them by name;--and -yet it reads like truth; and the reader feels that as Cæsar would hardly -condescend to boast, so neither would he be constrained by any modern -feeling of humility from telling any truth of himself. It is as though -Minerva were to tell us of some descent which she made among the -Trojans. The Nervii fight on, but of course they are driven in flight. -The nation is all but destroyed, so that the very name can but hardly -remain;--so at least we are told here, though we hear of them again as a -tribe by no means destroyed or powerless. When out of six hundred -senators there are but three senators left, when from sixty thousand -fighting men the army has been reduced to scarcely five hundred, Cæsar -throws the mantle of his mercy over the survivors. He allows them even -to go and live in their own homes, and forbids their neighbours to -harass them. There can be no doubt that Cæsar nearly got the worst of it -in this struggle, and we may surmise that he learned a lesson which was -of service to him in subsequent campaigns. - -But there are still certain Aduatici to be disposed of before the summer -is over,--people who had helped the Nervii,--who have a city of their -own, and who live somewhere in the present Namur district.[6] At first -they fight a little round the walls of their town; but when they see -what terrible instruments Cæsar has, by means of which to get at them -over their very walls,--how he can build up a great turret at a -distance, which, at that distance, is ludicrous to them, but which he -brings near to them, so that it overhangs them, from which to harass -them with arrows and stones, and against which, so high is it, they have -no defence--then they send out and beg for mercy. Surely, they say, -Cæsar and the Romans must have more than human power. They will give up -everything, if only Cæsar out of his mercy will leave to them their -arms. They are always at war with all their neighbours; and where would -they be without arms? - -Cæsar replies. Merits of their own they have none. How could a tribe -have merits against which Cæsar was at war? Nevertheless, such being his -custom, he will admit them to some terms of grace if they surrender -before his battering-ram has touched their walls. But as for their arms, -surely they must be joking with him. Of course their arms must be -surrendered. What he had done for the Nervii he would do for them. He -would tell their neighbours not to hurt them. They agree, and throw -their arms into the outside ditch of the town, but not quite all their -arms. A part,--a third,--are cunningly kept back; and when Cæsar enters -the town, they who have kept their arms, and others unarmed, try to -escape from the town. They fight, and some thousands are slain. Others -are driven back, and these are sold for slaves. Who, we wonder, could -have been the purchasers, and at what price on that day was a man to be -bought in the city of the Aduatici? - -Then Cæsar learns through his lieutenant, young Crassus, the son of his -colleague in the triumvirate, that all the Belgian states, from the -Scheldt to the Bay of Biscay, have been reduced beneath the yoke of the -Roman people. The Germans, too, send ambassadors to him, so convinced -are they that to fight against him is of no avail,--so wonderful an idea -of this last war has pervaded all the tribes of barbarians. But Cæsar is -in a hurry, and can hear no ambassadors now. He wants to get into Italy, -and they must come again to him next summer. - -For all which glorious doings a public thanksgiving of fifteen days is -decreed, as soon as the news is heard in Rome. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THIRD BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR SUBDUES THE WESTERN TRIBES OF -GAUL.--B.C. 56. - - -In the first few lines of the third book we learn that Cæsar had an eye -not only for conquest, but for the advantages of conquest also. When he -went into Italy at the end of the last campaign, he sent one Galba, -whose descendant became emperor after Nero, with the twelfth legion, to -take up his winter quarters in the upper valley of the Rhone, in order -that an easier traffic might be opened to traders passing over the Alps -in and out of Northern Italy. It seems that the passage used was that of -the Great St Bernard, and Galba placed himself with his legion at that -junction of the valley which we all know so well as Martigny. Here, -however, he was attacked furiously in his camp by the inhabitants of the -valley, who probably objected to being dictated to as to the amount of -toll to be charged upon the travelling traders, and was very nearly -destroyed. The Romans, however, at last, when they had neither weapons -nor food left for maintaining their camp, resolved to cut their way -through their enemies. This they did so effectually that they -slaughtered more than ten thousand men, and the other twenty thousand -of Swiss warriors all took to flight! Nevertheless Galba thought it as -well to leave that inhospitable region, in which it was almost -impossible to find food for the winter, and took himself down the valley -and along the lake to the Roman Province. He made his winter-quarters -among the Allobroges, who belonged to the Province,--a people living -just south of the present Lyons. How the Allobroges liked it we are not -told, but we know that they were then very faithful, although in former -days they had given great trouble. Their position made faith to Rome -almost a necessity. Whether, in such a position, Cæsar’s lieutenants -paid their way, and bought their corn at market price, we do not know. -It was Cæsar’s rule, no doubt, to make the country on which his army -stood support his army. - -When the number of men whom Cæsar took with him into countries hitherto -unknown to him or his army is considered, and the apparently reckless -audacity with which he did so, it must be acknowledged that he himself -says very little about his difficulties. He must constantly have had -armies for which to provide twice as large as our Crimean -army,--probably as large as the united force of the English and French -in the Crimea; and he certainly could not bring with him what he wanted -in ships. The road from Balaclava up to the heights over Sebastopol, we -know, was very bad; but it was short. The road from the foot of the Alps -in the Roman province to the countries with which we were dealing in the -last chapter could not, we should say, have been very good two thousand -years ago, and it certainly was very long;--nearly a hundred miles for -Cæsar to every single one of those that were so terrible to us in the -Crimea. Cæsar, however, carried but little with him beyond his arms and -implements of war, and of those the heaviest he no doubt made as he -went. The men had an allowance of corn per day, besides so much pay. We -are told that the pay before Cæsar’s time was 100 _asses_ a-month for -the legionaries,--the _as_ being less than a penny,--and that this was -doubled by Cæsar. We can conceive that the money troubled him -comparatively slightly, but that the finding of the daily corn and -forage for so large a host of men and horses must have been very -difficult. He speaks of the difficulty often, but never with that -despair which was felt as to the roasting of our coffee in the Crimea. -We hear of his waiting till forage should have grown, and sometimes -there are necessary considerations “de re frumentariâ,”--about that -great general question of provisions; but of crushing difficulties very -little is said, and of bad roads not a word. One great advantage Cæsar -certainly had over Lord Raglan;--he was his own special correspondent. -Coffee his men certainly did not get; but if their corn were not -properly roasted for them, and if, as would be natural, the men -grumbled, he had with him no licensed collector of grumbles to make -public the sufferings of his men. - -And now, when this affair of Galba’s had been finished,--when Cæsar, as -he tells us, really did think that all Gaul was “pacatam,” -tranquillised, or at least subdued,--the Belgians conquered, the Germans -driven off, those Swiss fellows cut to pieces in the valley of the -Rhone; when he thought that he might make a short visit into that other -province of his, Illyricum, so that he might see what that was like,--he -is told that another war has sprung up in Gaul! Young Crassus, with that -necessity which of course was on him of providing winter food for the -seventh legion which he had been ordered to take into Aquitania, has -been obliged to send out for corn into the neighbouring countries. Of -course a well-instructed young general, such as was Crassus, had taken -hostages before he sent his men out among strange and wild barbarians. -But in spite of that, the Veneti, a maritime people of ancient Brittany, -just in that country of the Morbihan whither we now go to visit the -works of the Druids at Carnac and Locmariaker, absolutely detained his -two ambassadors;--so called afterwards, though in his first mention of -them Cæsar names them as præfects and tribunes of the soldiers. Vannes, -the capital of the department of the Morbihan, gives us a trace of the -name of this tribe. The Veneti, who were powerful in ships, did not see -why they should give their corn to Crassus. Cæsar, when he hears that -ambassadors,--sacred ambassadors,--have been stopped, is filled with -shame and indignation, and hurries off himself to look after the affair, -having, as we may imagine, been able to see very little of Illyricum. - -This horror of Cæsar in regard to his ambassadors,--in speaking of which -he alludes to what the Gauls themselves felt when they came to -understand what a thing they had done in making ambassadors -prisoners,--“legatos,”--a name that has always been held sacred and -inviolate among all nations,--is very great, and makes him feel that he -must really be in earnest. We are reminded of the injunctions, printed -in Spanish, which the Spaniards distributed among the Indians of the -continent, in the countries now called Venezuela and New Granada, -explaining to the people, who knew nothing of Spanish or of printing, -how they were bound to obey the orders of a distant king, who had the -authority of a more distant Pope, who again,--so they claimed,--was -delegated by a more distant God. The pain of history consists in the -injustice of the wolf towards the lamb, joined to the conviction that -thus, and no otherwise, could the lamb be brought to better than a -sheepish mode of existence! But Cæsar was in earnest.[7] The following -is a translation of the tenth section of this book; “There were these -difficulties in carrying on the war which we have above shown.”--He -alludes to the maritime capacities of the people whom he desires to -conquer.--“Many things, nevertheless, urged Cæsar on to this war;--the -wrongs of those Roman knights who had been detained, rebellion set on -foot after an agreed surrender,”--that any such surrender had been made -we do not hear, though we do hear, incidentally, that Crassus had taken -hostages;--“a falling off from alliance after hostages had been given; -conspiracy among so many tribes; and then this first consideration, that -if this side of the country were disregarded, the other tribes might -learn to think that they might take the same liberty. Then, when he -bethought himself that, as the Gauls were prone to rebellion, and were -quickly and easily excited to war, and that all men, moreover, are fond -of liberty and hate a condition of subjection, he resolved that it would -be well, rather than that other states should conspire,”--and to avoid -the outbreak on behalf of freedom which might thus probably be -made,--“that his army should be divided, and scattered about more -widely.” Treating all Gaul as a chess-board, he sends round to provide -that the Treviri should be kept quiet. Headers will remember how far -Treves is distant from the extremities of Brittany. The Belgians are to -be looked to, lest they should rise and come and help. The Germans are -to be prevented from crossing the Rhine. Labienus, who, during the -Gallic wars, was Cæsar’s general highest in trust, is to see to all -this. Crassus is to go back into Aquitania and keep the south quiet. -Titurius Sabinus, destined afterwards to a sad end, is sent with three -legions,--eighteen thousand men,--among the neighbouring tribes of -Northern Brittany and Normandy. “Young” Decimus Brutus,--Cæsar speaks of -him with that kind affection which the epithet conveys, and we remember, -as we read, that this Brutus appears afterwards in history as one of -Cæsar’s slayers, in conjunction with his greater namesake,--young -Decimus Brutus, the future conspirator in Rome, has confided to him the -fleet which is to destroy these much less guilty distant conspirators, -and Cæsar himself takes the command of his own legions on the spot. All -this is told in fewer words than are here used in describing the -telling, and the reader feels that he has to do with a mighty man, whose -eyes are everywhere, and of whom an ordinary enemy would certainly say, -Surely this is no man, but a god. - -He tells us how great was the effect of his own presence on the shore, -though the battle was carried on under young Brutus at sea. “What -remained of the conflict,” he says, after describing their manœuvres, -“depended on valour, in which our men were far away the superior; and -this was more especially true because the affair was carried on so -plainly in the sight of Cæsar and the whole army that no brave deed -could pass unobserved. For all the hills and upper lands, from whence -the view down upon the sea was close, were covered by the army.” - -Of course he conquers the Veneti and other sea-going tribes, even on -their own element. Whereupon they give themselves and all their -belongings up to Cæsar. Cæsar, desirous that the rights of ambassadors -shall hereafter be better respected among barbarians, determines that he -must use a little severity. “Gravius vindicandum statuit;”--“he resolved -that the offence should be expiated with more than ordinary punishment.” -Consequently, he kills all the senate, and sells all the other men as -slaves! The pithy brevity, the unapologetic dignity of the sentence, as -he pronounced it and tells it to us, is heartrending, but, at this -distance of time, delightful also. “Itaque, omni senatu necato, reliquos -sub coronâ vendidit;”--“therefore, all the senate having been -slaughtered, he sold the other citizens with chaplets on their -heads;”--it being the Roman custom so to mark captives in war intended -for sale. We can see him as he waves his hand and passes on. Surely he -must be a god! - -His generals in this campaign are equally successful. One Viridovix, a -Gaul up in the Normandy country,--somewhere about Avranches or St Lo, we -may imagine,--is entrapped into a fight, and destroyed with his army. -Aquitania surrenders herself to Crassus, after much fighting, and gives -up her arms. - -Then Cæsar reflects that the Morini and the Menapii had as yet never -bowed their heads to him. Boulogne and Calais stand in the now -well-known territory of the Morini, but the Menapii lie a long way off, -up among the mouths of the Scheldt and the Rhine,--the Low Countries of -modern history,--an uncomfortable people then, who would rush into their -woods and marshes after a spell of fighting, and who seemed to have no -particular homes or cities that could be attacked or destroyed. It was -nearly the end of summer just now, and the distance between, let us say, -Vannes in Brittany, and Breda, or even Antwerp, seems to us to be -considerable, when we remember the condition of the country, and the -size of Cæsar’s army. But he had a few weeks to fill up, and then he -might feel that all Gaul had been “pacified.” At present there was this -haughty little northern corner. “Omni Galliâ pacatâ, Morini Menapiique -supererant;”--“all Gaul having been pacified, the Morini and Menapii -remained.” He was, moreover, no doubt beginning to reflect that from the -Morini could be made the shortest journey into that wild Ultima Thule of -an island in which lived the Britanni. Cæsar takes advantage of the few -weeks, and attacks these uncomfortable people. When they retreat into -the woods, he cuts the woods down. He does cut down an immense quantity -of wood, but the enemy only recede into thicker and bigger woods. Bad -weather comes on, and the soldiers can no longer endure life in their -skin tents. Let us fancy these Italians encountering winter in undrained -Flanders, with no walls or roofs to protect them, and ordered to cut -down interminable woods! Had a ‘Times’ been then written and filed, -instead of a “Commentary” from the hands of the General-in-chief, we -should probably have heard of a good deal of suffering. As it is, we are -only told that Cæsar had to give up his enterprise for that year. He -therefore burned all their villages, laid waste all their fields, and -then took his army down into a more comfortable region south of the -Seine, and there put them into winter quarters,--not much to the comfort -of the people there residing. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - FOURTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR CROSSES THE RHINE, - SLAUGHTERS THE GERMANS, AND GOES INTO BRITAIN.--B.C. 55. - - -In the next year certain Germans, Usipetes and others, crossed the Rhine -into Gaul, not far from the sea, as Cæsar tells us. He tells us again, -that when he drove the Germans back over the river, it was near the -confluence of the Meuse and the Rhine. When we remember how difficult it -was for Cæsar to obtain information, we must acknowledge that his -geography as to the passage of the Rhine out to the sea, and of the -junction of the Rhine and the Meuse by the Waal, is wonderfully correct. -The spot indicated as that at which the Germans were driven into the -river would seem to be near Bommel in Holland, where the Waal and the -Meuse join their waters, at the head of the island of Bommel, where Fort -St André stands, or stood.[8] - -Those wonderful Suevi, among whom the men alternately fight and plough, -year and year about, caring more, however, for cattle than they do for -corn, who are socialists in regard to land, having no private property -in their fields,--who, all of them, from their youth upwards, do just -what they please,--large, bony men, who wear, even in these cold -regions, each simply some scanty morsel of skin covering,--who bathe in -rivers all the year through, who deal with traders only to sell the -spoils of war, who care but little for their horses, and ride, when they -do ride, without saddles,--thinking nothing of men to whom such delicate -appendages are necessary,--who drink no wine, and will have no -neighbours near them,--these ferocious Suevi have driven other German -tribes over the Rhine into Gaul. Cæsar, hearing this, is filled with -apprehension. He knows the weakness of his poor friends the Gauls,--how -prone they are to gossiping, of what a restless temper. It is in the -country of the Menapii, the tribe with which he did not quite finish his -little affair in the last chapter, that these Germans are settling; and -there is no knowing what trouble the intruders may give him if he allows -them to make themselves at home on that side of the river. So he -hurries off to give help to the poor Menapii. - -Of course there is a sending of ambassadors. The Germans acknowledge -that they have been turned out of their own lands by their brethren, the -Suevi, who are better men than they are. But they profess that, in -fighting, the Suevi, and the Suevi only, are their masters. Not even the -immortal gods can stand against the Suevi. But they also are Germans, -and are not at all afraid of the Romans. But in the proposition which -they make they show some little awe. Will Cæsar allow them to remain -where they are, or allot to them some other region on that side of the -Rhine? Cæsar tells them that they may go and live, if they please, with -the Ubii,--another tribe of Germans who occupy the Rhine country, -probably where Cologne now stands, or perhaps a little north of it, and -who seem already to have been forced over the Rhine,--they, or some of -them,--and to have made good their footing somewhere in the region in -which Charlemagne built his church, now called Aix-la-Chapelle. There -they are, Germans still, and probably are so because these Ubii made -good their footing. The Ubii also are in trouble with the Suevi; and if -these intruders will go and join the Ubii, Cæsar will make it all -straight for them. The intruders hesitate, but do not go, and at last -attack Cæsar’s cavalry, not without some success. During this fight -there is double treachery,--first on the part of the Germans, and then -on Cæsar’s part,--which is chiefly memorable for the attack made on -Cæsar in Rome. It was in consequence of the deceit here practised that -it was proposed by his enemies in the city that he should be given up by -the Republic to the foe. Had any such decree been passed, it would not -have been easy to give up Cæsar. - -The Germans are, of course, beaten, and they are driven into the river -on those low and then undrained regions in which the Rhine and the Meuse -and the Waal confuse themselves and confuse travellers;--either here, or -much higher up the river at Coblentz; but the reader will already have -settled that question for himself at the beginning of the chapter. Cæsar -speaks of these Germans as though they were all drowned,--men, women, -and children. They had brought their entire families with them, and, -when the fighting went against them, with their entire families they -fled into the river. Cæsar was pursuing them after the battle, and they -precipitated themselves over the banks. There, overcome by fear, -fatigue, and the waters, they perished. There was computed to be a -hundred and eighty thousand of them who were destroyed; but the Roman -army was safe to a man.[9] - -Then Cæsar made up his mind to cross the river. It seems that he had no -intention of extending the empire of the Republic into what he called -Germany, but that he thought it necessary to frighten the Germans. The -cavalry of those intruding Usipetes had, luckily for them, been absent, -foraging over the river; and he now sent to the Sigambri, among whom -they had taken refuge, desiring that these horsemen should be given up -to him. But the Sigambri will not obey. The Germans seem to have -understood that Cæsar had Gaul in his hands, to do as he liked with it; -but they grudged his interference beyond the Rhine. Cæsar, however, -always managed to have a set of friends among his enemies, to help him -in adjusting his enmities. We have heard of the Ædui in central Gaul, -and of the Remi in the north. The Ubii were his German friends, who were -probably at this time occupying both banks of the river; and the Ubii -ask him just to come over and frighten their neighbours. Cæsar resolves -upon gratifying them. And as it is not consistent either with his safety -or with his dignity to cross the river in boats, he determines to build -a bridge. - -Is there a schoolboy in England, or one who has been a schoolboy, at any -Cæsar-reading school, who does not remember those memorable words, -“Tigna bina sesquipedalia,” with which Cæsar begins his graphic account -of the building of the bridge? When the breadth of the river is -considered, its rapidity, and the difficulty which there must have been -in finding tools and materials for such a construction, in a country so -wild and so remote from Roman civilisation, the creation of this bridge -fills us with admiration for Cæsar’s spirit and capacity. He drove down -piles into the bed of the river, two and two, prone against the stream. -We could do that now, though hardly as quickly as Cæsar did it; but we -should want coffer-dams and steam-pumps, patent rammers, and a clerk of -the works. He explains to us that he so built the foundations that the -very strength of the stream added to their strength and consistency. In -ten days the whole thing was done, and the army carried over. Cæsar does -not tell us at what suffering, or with the loss of how many men. It is -the simplicity of everything which is so wonderful in these -Commentaries. We have read of works constructed by modern armies, and of -works which modern armies could not construct. We remember the road up -from Balaclava, and the railway which was sent out from England. We -know, too, what are the aids and appliances with which science has -furnished us. But yet in no modern warfare do the difficulties seem to -have been so light, so little worthy of mention, as they were to Cæsar. -He made his bridge and took over his army, cavalry and all, in ten days. -There must have been difficulty and hardship, and the drowning, we -should fear, of many men; but Cæsar says nothing of all this. - -Ambassadors immediately are sent. From the moment in which the bridge -was begun, the Sigambri ran away and hid themselves in the woods. Cæsar -burns all their villages, cuts down all their corn, and travels down -into the country of the Ubii. He comforts them; and tidings of his -approach then reach those terrible Suevi. They make ready for war on a -grand scale; but Cæsar, reflecting that he had not brought his army over -the river for the sake of fighting the Suevi, and telling us that he had -already done enough for honour and for the good of the cause, took his -army back after eighteen days spent in the journey, and destroyed his -bridge. - -Then comes a passage which makes a Briton vacillate between shame at his -own ancient insignificance, and anger at Cæsar’s misapprehension of his -ancient character. There were left of the fighting season after Cæsar -came back across the Rhine just a few weeks; and what can he do better -with them than go over and conquer Britannia? This first record of an -invasion upon us comes in at the fag-end of a chapter, and the invasion -was made simply to fill up the summer! Nobody, Cæsar tells us, seemed to -know anything about the island; and yet it was the fact that in all his -wars with the Gauls, the Gauls were helped by men out of Britain. Before -he will face the danger with his army he sends over a trusty messenger, -to look about and find out something as to the coasts and harbours. The -trusty messenger does not dare to disembark, but comes back and tells -Cæsar what he has seen from his ship. Cæsar, in the mean time, has got -together a great fleet somewhere in the Boulogne and Calais country; -and,--so he says,--messengers have come to him from Britain, whither -rumours of his purpose have already flown, saying that they will submit -themselves to the Roman Republic. We may believe just as much of that as -we please. But he clearly thinks less of the Boulogne and Calais people -than he does even of the Britons, which is a comfort to us. When these -people,--then called Morini,--came to him, asking pardon for having -dared to oppose him once before, and offering any number of hostages, -and saying that they had been led on by bad advice, Cæsar admitted them -into some degree of grace; not wishing, as he tells us, to be kept out -of Britain by the consideration of such very small affairs. “Neque has -tantularum rerum occupationes sibi Britanniæ anteponendas judicabat.” We -hope that the Boulogne and Calais people understand and appreciate the -phrase. Having taken plenty of hostages, he determines to trust the -Boulogne and Calais people, and prepares his ships for passing the -Channel. He starts nearly at the third watch,--about midnight, we may -presume. A portion of his army,--the cavalry,--encounter some little -delay, such as has often occurred on the same spot since, even to -travellers without horses. He himself got over to the British coast at -about the fourth hour. This, at midsummer, would have been about a -quarter past eight. As it was now late in the summer, it may have been -nine o’clock in the morning when Cæsar found himself under the cliffs of -Kent, and saw our armed ancestors standing along all the hills ready to -meet him. He stayed at anchor, waiting for his ships, till about two -P.M. His cavalry did not get across till four days afterwards. Having -given his orders, and found a fitting moment and a fitting spot, Cæsar -runs his ships up upon the beach. - -Cæsar confesses to a good deal of difficulty in getting ashore. When we -know how very hard it is to accomplish the same feat, on the same coast, -in these days, with all the appliances of modern science to aid us, and, -as we must presume, with no real intention on the part of the Cantii, or -men of Kent, to oppose our landing, we can quite sympathise with Cæsar. -The ships were so big that they could not be brought into very shallow -water. The Roman soldiers were compelled to jump into the sea, heavily -armed, and there to fight with the waves and with the enemy. But the -Britons, having the use of all their limbs, knowing the ground, standing -either on the shore or just running into the shallows, made the landing -uneasy enough. “Nostri,”--our men,--says Cæsar, with all these things -against them, were not all of them so alert at fighting as was usual -with them on dry ground;--at which no one can be surprised. - -Cæsar had two kinds of ships--“naves longæ,” long ships for carrying -soldiers; and “naves onerariæ,” ships for carrying burdens. The long -ships do not seem to have been such ships of war as the Romans generally -used in their sea-fights, but were handier, and more easily worked, than -the transports. These he laid broadside to the shore, and harassed the -poor natives with stones and arrows. Then the eagle-bearer of the tenth -legion jumped into the sea, proclaiming that he, at any rate, would do -his duty. Unless they wished to see their eagle fall into the hands of -the enemy, they must follow him. “Jump down, he said, my -fellow-soldiers, unless you wish to betray your eagle to the enemy. I at -least will do my duty to the Republic and to our General. When he had -said this with a loud voice, he threw himself out of the ship and -advanced the eagle against the enemy.” Seeing and hearing this, the men -leaped forth freely, from that ship and from others. As usual, there was -some sharp fighting. “Pugnatum est ab utrisque acriter.” It is nearly -always the same thing. Cæsar throws away none of his glory by -underrating his enemy. But at length the Britons fly. “This thing only -was wanting to Cæsar’s usual good fortune,”--that he was deficient in -cavalry wherewith to ride on in pursuit, and “take the island!” -Considering how very short a time he remains in the island, we feel that -his complaint against fortune is hardly well founded. But there is a -general surrender, and a claiming of hostages, and after a few days a -sparkle of new hope in the breasts of the Britons. A storm arises, and -Cæsar’s ships are so knocked about that he does not know how he will get -back to Gaul. He is troubled by a very high tide, not understanding the -nature of these tides. As he had only intended this for a little -tentative trip,--a mere taste of a future war with Britain,--he had -brought no large supply of corn with him. He must get back, by hook or -by crook. The Britons, seeing how it is with him, think that they can -destroy him, and make an attempt to do so. The seventh legion is in -great peril, having been sent out to find corn, but is rescued. Certain -of his ships,--those which had been most grievously handled by the -storm,--he breaks up, in order that he may mend the others with their -materials. When we think how long it takes us to mend ships, having -dockyards, and patent slips, and all things ready, this is most -marvellous to us. But he does mend his ships, and while so doing he has -a second fight with the Britons, and again repulses them. There is a -burning and destroying of everything far and wide, a gathering of -ambassadors to Cæsar asking for terms, a demand for hostages,--a double -number of hostages now,--whom Cæsar desired to have sent over to him to -Gaul, because at this time of the year he did not choose to trust them -to ships that were unseaworthy; and he himself, with all his army, gets -back into the Boulogne and Calais country. Two transports only are -missing, which are carried somewhat lower down the coast. There are but -three hundred men in these transports, and these the Morini of those -parts threaten to kill unless they will give up their arms. But Cæsar -sends help, and even these three hundred are saved from disgrace. There -is, of course, more burning of houses and laying waste of fields because -of this little attempt, and then Cæsar puts his army into winter -quarters. - -What would have been the difference to the world if the Britons, as they -surely might have done, had destroyed Cæsar and every Roman, and not -left even a ship to get back to Gaul? In lieu of this Cæsar could send -news to Rome of these various victories, and have a public thanksgiving -decreed,--on this occasion for twenty days. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -FIFTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR’S SECOND INVASION OF BRITAIN.--THE -GAULS RISE AGAINST HIM.--B.C. 54. - - -On his return out of Britain, Cæsar, as usual, went over the Alps to -look after his other provinces, and to attend to his business in Italy; -but he was determined to make another raid upon the island. He could not -yet assume that he had “taken it,” and therefore he left minute -instructions with his generals as to the building of more ships, and the -repair of those which had been so nearly destroyed. He sends to Spain, -he tells us, for the things necessary to equip his ships. We never hear -of any difficulty about money. We know that he did obtain large grants -from Rome for the support of his legions; but no scruple was made in -making war maintain war, as far as such maintenance could be obtained. -Cæsar personally was in an extremity of debt when he commenced his -campaigns. He had borrowed an enormous sum, eight hundred and thirty -talents, or something over £200,000, from Crassus,--who was specially -the rich Roman of those days,--before he could take charge of his -Spanish province. When his wars were over, he returned to Rome with a -great treasure; and indeed during these wars in Gaul he expended large -sums in bribing Romans. We may suppose that he found hoards among the -barbarians, as Lord Clive did in the East Indies. Clive contented -himself with taking some: Cæsar probably took all. - -Having given the order about his ships, he settled a little matter in -Illyricum, taking care to raise some tribute there also. He allows but a -dozen lines for recording this winter work, and then tells us that he -hurried back to his army and his ships. His command had been so well -obeyed in regard to vessels, that he finds ready, of that special sort -which he had ordered with one bank of oars only on each side, as many as -six hundred, and twenty-eight of the larger sort. He gives his soldiers -very great credit for their exertions, and sends his fleet to the Portus -Itius. The exact spot which Cæsar called by this name the geographers -have not identified, but it is supposed to be between Boulogne and -Calais. It may probably have been at Wissant. Having seen that things -were thus ready for a second trip into Britain, he turns round and -hurries off with four legions and eight hundred cavalry,--an army of -25,000 men,--into the Treves country. There is a quarrel going on there -between two chieftains which it is well that he should settle,--somewhat -as the monkey settled the contest about the oyster. This, however, is a -mere nothing of an affair, and he is back again among his ships at the -Portus Itius in a page and a half. - -He resolves upon taking five legions of his own soldiers into Britain, -and two thousand mounted Gauls. He had brought together four thousand of -these horsemen, collected from all Gaul, their chiefs and nobles, not -only as fighting allies, but as hostages that the tribes should not rise -in rebellion while his back was turned. These he divides, taking half -with him, and leaving half with three legions of his own men, under -Labienus, in the Boulogne country, as a base to his army, to look after -the provisions, and to see that he be not harassed on his return. There -is a little affair, however, with one of the Gaulish chieftains, -Dumnorix the Æduan, who ought to have been his fastest friend. Dumnorix -runs away with all the Æduan horsemen. Cæsar, however, sends after him -and has him killed, and then all things are ready. He starts with -altogether more than 800 ships at sunset, and comes over with a gentle -south-west wind. He arrives off the coast of Britain at about noon, but -can see none of the inhabitants on the cliff. He imagines that they have -all fled, frightened by the number of his ships. Cæsar establishes his -camp, and proceeds that same night about twelve miles into the -country,--eleven miles, we may say, as our mile is longer than the -Roman,--and there he finds the Britons. There is some fighting, after -which Cæsar returns and fortifies his camp. Then there comes a storm and -knocks his ships about terribly,--although he had found, as he thought, -a nice soft place for them. But the tempest is very violent, and they -are torn away from their anchors, and thrust upon the shore, and dashed -against each other till there is infinite trouble. He is obliged to -send over to Labienus, telling him to build more ships; and those which -are left he drags up over the shore to his camp, in spite of the -enormous labour required in doing it. He is ten days at this work, night -and day, and we may imagine that his soldiers had not an easy time of -it. When this has been done, he advances again into the country after -the enemy, and finds that Cassivellaunus is in command of the united -forces of the different tribes. Cassivellaunus comes from the other side -of the Thames, over in Middlesex or Hertfordshire. The Britons had not -hitherto lived very peaceably together, but now they agree that against -the Romans they will act in union under Cassivellaunus. - -Cæsar’s description of the island is very interesting. The interior is -inhabited by natives,--or rather by “aborigines.” Cæsar states this at -least as the tradition of the country. But the maritime parts are held -by Belgian immigrants, who, for the most part, have brought with them -from the Continent the names of their tribes. The population is great, -and the houses, built very like the houses in Gaul, are numerous and -very thick together. The Britons have a great deal of cattle. They use -money, having either copper coin or iron rings of a great weight. Tin is -found in the middle of the island, and, about the coast, iron. But the -quantity of iron found is small. Brass they import. They have the same -timber as in Gaul,--only they have neither beech nor fir. Hares and -chickens and geese they think it wrong to eat; but they keep these -animals as pets. The climate, on the whole, is milder than in Gaul. The -island is triangular. One corner, that of Kent, has an eastern and a -southern aspect. This southern side of the island he makes 500 miles, -exceeding the truth by about 150 miles. Then Cæsar becomes a little hazy -in his geography,--telling us that the other side, meaning the western -line of the triangle, where Ireland lies, verges towards Spain. Ireland, -he says, is half the size of Britain, and about the same distance from -it that Britain is from Gaul. In the middle of the channel dividing -Ireland from Britain there is an island called Mona,--the Isle of Man. -There are also some other islands which at midwinter have thirty -continuous days of night. Here Cæsar becomes not only hazy but mythic. -But he explains that he has seen nothing of this himself, although he -has ascertained, by scientific measurement, that the nights in Britain -are shorter than on the Continent. Of course the nights are shorter with -us in summer than they are in Italy, and longer in winter. The western -coast he makes out to be 700 miles long; in saying which he is nearly -100 miles over the mark. The third side he describes as looking towards -the north. He means the eastern coast. This he calls 800 miles long, and -exaggerates our territories by more than 200 miles. The marvel, however, -is that he should be so near the truth. The men of Kent are the most -civilised: indeed they are almost as good as Gauls in this respect! What -changes does not time make in the comparative merits of countries! The -men in the interior live on flesh and milk, and do not care for corn. -They wear skin clothing. They make themselves horrible with woad, and go -about with very long hair. They shave close, except the head and upper -lip. Then comes the worst habit of all;--ten or a dozen men have their -wives in common between them. - -We have a very vivid and by no means unflattering account of the -singular agility of our ancestors in their mode of fighting from their -chariots. “This,” says Cæsar, “is the nature of their chariot-fighting. -They first drive rapidly about the battle-field,--“per omnes -partes,”--and throw their darts, and frequently disorder the ranks by -the very terror occasioned by the horses and by the noise of the wheels; -and when they have made their way through the bodies of the cavalry, -they jump down and fight on foot. Then the charioteers go a little out -of the battle, and so place their chariots that they may have a ready -mode of returning should their friends be pressed by the number of their -enemies. Thus they unite the rapidity of cavalry and the stability of -infantry; and so effective do they become by daily use and practice, -that they are accustomed to keep their horses, excited as they are, on -their legs on steep and precipitous ground, and to manage and turn them -very quickly, and to run along the pole and stand upon the yoke,”--by -which the horses were held together at the collars,--“and again with the -greatest rapidity to return to the chariot.”[10] All which is very -wonderful. - -Of course there is a great deal of fighting, and the Britons soon learn -by experience to avoid general engagements and maintain guerilla -actions. Cæsar by degrees makes his way to the Thames, and with great -difficulty gets his army over it. He can only do this at one place, and -that badly. The site of this ford he does not describe to us. It is -supposed to have been near the place which we now know as Sunbury. He -does tell us that his men were so deep in the water that their heads -only were above the stream. But even thus they were so impetuous in -their onslaught, that the Britons would not wait for them on the -opposite bank, but ran away. Soon there come unconditional surrender, -and hostages, and promises of tribute. Cassivellaunus, who is himself -but a usurper, and therefore has many enemies at home, endeavours to -make himself secure in a strong place or town, which is supposed to have -been on or near the site of our St Albans. Cæsar, however, explains that -the poor Britons give the name of a town,--“oppidum,”--to a spot in -which they have merely surrounded some thick woods with a ditch and -rampart. Cæsar, of course, drives them out of their woodland fortress, -and then there quickly follows another surrender, more hostages, and the -demand for tribute. Cæsar leaves his orders behind him, as though to -speak were to be obeyed. One Mandubratius, and not Cassivellaunus, is -to be the future king in Middlesex and Hertfordshire,--that is, over the -Trinobantes who live there. He fixes the amount of tribute to be sent -annually by the Britons to Rome; and he especially leaves orders that -Cassivellaunus shall do no mischief to the young Mandubratius. Then he -crosses back into Gaul at two trips,--his ships taking half the army -first and coming back for the other half; and he piously observes that -though he had lost many ships when they were comparatively empty, hardly -one had been destroyed while his soldiers were in them. - -So was ended Cæsar’s second and last invasion of Britain. That he had -reduced Britain as he had reduced Gaul he certainly could not -boast;--though Quintus Cicero had written to his brother to say that -Britannia was,--“confecta,”--finished. Though he had twice landed his -army under the white cliffs, and twice taken it away with comparative -security, he had on both occasions been made to feel how terribly strong -an ally to the Britons was that channel which divided them from the -Continent. The reader is made to feel that on both occasions the -existence of his army and of himself is in the greatest peril. Cæsar’s -idea in attacking Britain was probably rather that of making the Gauls -believe that his power could reach even beyond them,--could extend -itself all round them, even into distant islands,--than of absolutely -establishing the Roman dominion beyond that distant sea. The Britons had -helped the Gauls in their wars with him, and it was necessary that he -should punish any who presumed to give such help. Whether the orders -which he left behind him were obeyed we do not know; but we may imagine -that the tribute exacted was not sent to Rome with great punctuality. In -fact, Cæsar invaded the island twice, but did not reduce it. - -On his return to Gaul, nearly at the close of the summer, he found -himself obliged to distribute his army about the country because of a -great scarcity of provisions. There had been a drought, and the crops -had failed. Hitherto he had kept his army together during the winter; -now he was obliged to divide his legions, placing one with one tribe, -and another with another. A legion and a half he stations under two of -his generals, L. Titurius Sabinus, and L. Aurunculeius Cotta, among the -Eburones, who live on the banks of the Meuse in the Liege and Namur -country,--a very stout people, who are still much averse to the dominion -of Rome. In this way he thought he might best get over that difficulty -as to the scarcity of provisions; but yet he so well understood the -danger of separating his army, that he is careful to tell us that, with -the exception of one legion which he had stationed in a very quiet -country,--among the Essui, where Alençon now stands,--they were all -within a hundred miles of each other. Nevertheless, in spite of this -precaution, there now fell upon Cæsar the greatest calamity which he had -ever yet suffered in war. - -During all these campaigns, the desire of the Gauls to free themselves -from the power and the tyranny of Rome never ceased; nor did their -intention to do so ever fade away. Cæsar must have been to them as a -venomous blight, or some evil divinity sent to afflict them for causes -which they could not understand. There were tribes who truckled to him, -but he had no real friends among them. If any Gauls could have loved -him, the Ædui should have done so; but that Dumnorix, the Æduan, who ran -away with the horsemen of his tribe when he was wanted to help in the -invasion of Britain, had, before he was killed, tried to defend himself, -asserting vociferously that he was a free man and belonging to a free -state. He had failed to understand that, in being admitted to the -alliance of Cæsar, he was bound to obey Cæsar. Cæsar speaks of it all -with his godlike simplicity, as though he saw nothing ungodlike in the -work he was doing. There was no touch of remorse in him, as he ordered -men to be slaughtered and villages to be burned. He was able to look at -those things as trifles,--as parts of a great whole. He felt no more -than does the gentleman who sends the sheep out of his park to be -slaughtered at the appointed time. When he seems to be most cruel, it is -for the sake of example,--that some politic result may follow,--that -Gauls may know, and Italians know also, that they must bow the knee to -Cæsar. But the heart of the reader is made to bleed as he sees the -unavailing struggles of the tribes. One does not specially love the -Ædui; but Dumnorix protesting that he will not return, that he is a free -man, of a free state, and then being killed, is a man to be loved. Among -the Carnutes, where Chartres now stands, Cæsar has set up a pet king, -one Tasgetius; but when Cæsar is away in Britain, the Carnutes kill -Tasgetius. They will have no pet of Cæsar’s. And now the stout Eburones, -who have two kings of their own over them, Ambiorix and Cativolcus, -understanding that Cæsar’s difficulty is their opportunity, attack the -Roman camp, with its legion and a half of men under Titurius and Cotta. - -Ambiorix, the chieftain, is very crafty. He persuades the Roman generals -to send ambassadors to him, and to these he tells his story. He himself, -Ambiorix, loves Cæsar beyond all things. Has not Cæsar done him great -kindnesses? He would not willingly lift a hand against Cæsar, but he -cannot control his state. The facts, however, are thus; an enormous body -of Germans has crossed the Rhine, and is hurrying on to destroy that -Roman camp; and it certainly will be destroyed, so great is the number -of the Germans. Thus says Ambiorix; and then suggests whether it would -not be well that Titurius and Cotta with their nine or ten thousand -men,--a mere handful of men against all these Germans who are already -over the Rhine;--would it not be well that the Romans should go and join -some of their brethren, either the legion that is among the Nervii to -the east, under Quintus Cicero, the brother of the great orator--or that -other legion which Labienus has, a little to the south, on the borders -of the Remi and Treviri? And in regard to a good turn on his own part, -so great is the love and veneration which he, Ambiorix, feels for Cæsar, -that he is quite ready to see the Romans safe through the territories of -the Eburones. He begs Titurius and Cotta to think of this, and to allow -him to aid them in their escape while escape is possible. The two Roman -generals do think of it. Titurius thinks that it will be well to take -the advice of Ambiorix. Cotta, and with him many of the tribunes and -centurions of the soldiers, think that they should not stir without -Cæsar’s orders;--think also that there is nothing baser or more foolish -in warfare than to act on advice given by an enemy. Titurius, however, -is clear for going, and Cotta, after much argument and some invective, -gives way. Early on the next morning they all leave their camp, taking -with them their baggage, and marching forth as though through a friendly -country,--apparently with belief in the proffered friendship of -Ambiorix. The Eburones had of course prepared an ambush, and the Roman -army is attacked both behind and before, and is thrown into utter -confusion. - -The legion, or legion and a half, with its two commanders, is altogether -destroyed. Titurius goes out from his ranks to meet Ambiorix, and pray -for peace. He is told to throw away his arms, and submitting to the -disgrace, casts them down. Then, while Ambiorix is making a long speech, -the Roman general is surrounded and slaughtered. Cotta is killed -fighting; as also are more than half the soldiers. The rest get back -into the camp at night, and then, despairing of any safety, overwhelmed -with disgrace, conscious that there is no place for hope, they destroy -themselves. Only a few have escaped during the fighting to tell the tale -in the camp of Labienus. - -As a rule the reader’s sympathies are with the Gauls; but we cannot help -feeling a certain regret that a Roman legion should have thus been wiled -on to destruction through the weakness of its general. If Titurius could -have been made to suffer alone we should bear it better. When we are -told how the gallant eagle-bearer, Petrosidius, throws his eagle into -the rampart, and then dies fighting before the camp, we wish that -Ambiorix had been less successful. Of this, however, we feel quite -certain, that there will come a day, and that soon, in which Cæsar will -exact punishment. - -Having done so much, Ambiorix and the Eburones do not desist. Now, if -ever, after so great a disgrace, and with legions still scattered, may -Cæsar be worsted. Q. Cicero is with his legion among the Nervii, and -thither Ambiorix goes. The Nervii are quite ready, and Cicero is -attacked in his camp. And here, too, for a long while it goes very badly -with the Romans;--so badly that Cicero is hardly able to hold his -ramparts against the attacks made upon them by the barbarians. Red-hot -balls of clay and hot arrows are thrown into the camp, and there is a -fire. The messengers sent to Cæsar for help are slain on the road, and -the Romans begin to think that there is hardly a chance for them of -escape. Unless Cæsar be with them they are not safe. All their power, -their prestige, their certainty of conquest, lies in Cæsar. Cicero -behaves like a prudent and a valiant man; but unless he had at last -succeeded in getting a Gaulish slave to take a letter concealed in a -dart to Cæsar, the enemy would have destroyed him. - -There is a little episode of two Roman centurions, Pulfius and Varenus, -who were always quarrelling as to which was the better man of the two. -Pulfius with much bravado rushes out among the enemy, and Varenus -follows him. Pulfius gets into trouble, and Varenus rescues him. Then -Varenus is in a difficulty, and Pulfius comes to his assistance. -According to all chances of war, both should have been killed; but both -get back safe into the camp;--and nobody knows from that day to this -which was the better man. Cæsar, of course, hastens to the assistance -of his lieutenant, having sent word of his coming by a letter fastened -to another dart, which, however, hardly reaches Cicero in time to -comfort him before he sees the fires by which the coming legions wasted -the country along their line of march. Then there is more fighting. -Cæsar conquers, and Q. Cicero is rescued from his very disagreeable -position. Labienus has also been in difficulty, stationed, as we -remember, on the borders of the Treviri. The Treviri were quite as eager -to attack him as the Eburones and Nervii to destroy the legions left in -their territories. But before the attack is made, the news of Cæsar’s -victory, travelling with wonderful speed, is heard of in those parts, -and the Treviri think it best to leave Labienus alone. - -But Cæsar has perceived that, although he has so often boasted that all -Gaul was at last at peace, all Gaul is prepared to carry on the war -against him. It is during this winter that he seems to realise a -conviction that his presence in the country is not popular with the -Gauls in general, and that he has still much to do before he can make -them understand that they are not free men, belonging to free states. -The opposition to him has become so general that he himself determines -to remain in Gaul all the winter; and even after telling us of the -destruction of Indutiomarus, the chief of the Treviri, by Labienus, he -can only boast that--“Cæsar had, after that was done, Gaul a little -quieter,”--a little more like a subject country bound hand and -foot,--than it was before. During this year Cæsar’s proconsular power -over his provinces was extended for a second period of five years. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - SIXTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--CÆSAR PURSUES AMBIORIX.--THE - MANNERS OF THE GAULS AND OF THE GERMANS ARE CONTRASTED.--B.C. 53. - - -Cæsar begins the next campaign before the winter is over, having, as we -have seen, been forced to continue the last long after the winter had -commenced. The Gauls were learning to unite themselves, and things were -becoming very serious with him. One Roman army, with probably ten -thousand men, had been absolutely destroyed, with its generals Titurius -Sabinus and Aurunculeius Cotta. Another under Quintus Cicero would have -suffered the same fate, but for Cæsar’s happy intervention. A third -under Labienus had been attacked. All Gaul had been under arms, or -thinking of arms, in the autumn; and though Cæsar had been able to -report at the end of the campaign that Gaul,--his Gaul, as he intended -that it should be,--was a little quieter, nevertheless he understood -well that he still had his work to do before he could enter upon -possession. He had already been the master of eight legions in Gaul, -containing 48,000 foot-soldiers, levied on the Italian side of the Alps. -He had added to this a large body of Gaulish cavalry and light -infantry, over and above his eight legions. He had now lost an entire -legion and a half, besides the gaps which must have been made in -Britain, and by the loss of those who had fallen when attacked under -Cicero by the Nervii. But he would show the Gauls that when so treated -he could begin again, not only with renewed but with increased force. He -would astound them by his display of Roman power, “thinking that, for -the future, it would greatly affect the opinion of Gaul that the power -of Italy should be seen to be so great that, if any reverse in war were -suffered, not only could the injury be cured in a short time, but that -the loss could be repaired even by increased forces.” He not only levies -fresh troops, but borrows a legion which Pompey commands outside the -walls of Rome. He tells us that Pompey yields his legion to the -“Republic and to Friendship.” The Triumvirate was still existing, and -Cæsar’s great colleague probably felt that he had no alternative. In -this way Cæsar not only re-established the legion which had been -annihilated, but completes the others, and takes the field with two new -legions added to his army. He probably now had as many as eighty -thousand men under his command. - -He first makes a raid against our old friends the Nervii, who had nearly -conquered Cicero before Christmas, and who were already conspiring again -with certain German and neighbouring Belgian tribes. The reader will -perhaps remember that in the second book this tribe was said to have -been so utterly destroyed that hardly their name remained. That, no -doubt, was Cæsar’s belief after the great slaughter. There had been, -however, enough of them left nearly to destroy Q. Cicero and his legion. -Then Cæsar goes to Paris,--Lutetia Parisiorum, of which we now hear for -the first time,--and, with the help of his friends the Ædui and the -Remi, makes a peace with the centre tribes of Gaul, the Senones and -Carnutes. Then he resolves upon attacking Ambiorix with all his heart -and soul. Ambiorix had destroyed his legion and killed his two generals, -and against Ambiorix he must put forth all his force. It is said that -when Cæsar first heard of that misfortune he swore that he would not cut -his hair or shave himself till he was avenged. But he feels that he must -first dispose of those who would naturally be the allies of this -much-to-be-persecuted enemy. The Menapii, with whom we may remember that -he had never quite settled matters in his former war, and who live on -the southern banks of the Meuse not far from the sea, have not even yet -sent to him messengers to ask for peace. He burns their villages, takes -their cattle, makes slaves of the men, and then binds them by hostages -to have no friendship with Ambiorix. In the mean time Labienus utterly -defeats the great north-eastern tribe, the Treviri, whom he cunningly -allures into fighting just before they are joined by certain Germans who -are coming to aid them. “Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” These -unfortunate Gauls and Germans fall into every trap that is laid for -them. The speech which Cæsar quotes as having been made by Labienus to -his troops on this occasion is memorable. “Now,” says Labienus, “you -have your opportunity. You have got your enemy thoroughly at advantage. -That valour which you have so often displayed before the ‘Imperator,’ -Cæsar, display now under my command. Think that Cæsar is present, and -that he beholds you.” To have written thus of himself Cæsar must have -thought of himself as of a god. He tells the story as though it were -quite natural that Labienus and the soldiers should so regard him. - -After this battle, in which the Treviri are of course slaughtered, Cæsar -makes a second bridge over the Rhine, somewhat above the spot at which -he had crossed before. He does this, he says, for two reasons,--first, -because the Germans had sent assistance to the Nervii; and secondly, -lest his great enemy Ambiorix should find shelter among the Suevi. Then -he suggests that the opportunity is a good one for saying something to -his readers of the different manners of Gaul and of Germany. Among the -Gauls, in their tribes, their villages, and even in their families, -there are ever two factions, so that one should always balance the -other, and neither become superior. Cæsar so tells us at this particular -point of his narrative, because he is anxious to go back and explain how -it was that he had taken the part of the Ædui, and had first come into -conflict with the Germans, driving Ariovistus back across the Rhine for -their sake. In eastern Gaul two tribes had long balanced each other, -each, of course, striving for mastery,--the Ædui and the Sequani. The -Sequani had called in the aid of the Germans, and the Ædui had been very -hardly treated. In their sufferings they had appealed to Rome, having -had former relations of close amity with the Republic. Divitiacus, their -chief magistrate,--the brother of Dumnorix who was afterwards killed by -Cæsar’s order for running away with the Æduan cavalry before the second -invasion of Britain,--had lived for a while in Rome, and had enjoyed -Roman friendships, that of Cicero among others. There was a good deal of -doubt in Rome as to what should be done with these Ædui; but at last, as -we know, Cæsar decided on taking their part; and we know also how he -drove Ariovistus back into Germany, with the loss of his wives and -daughters. Thus it came to pass, Cæsar tells us, that the Ædui were -accounted first of all the Gauls in regard to friendship with Rome; -while the Remi, who came to his assistance so readily when the Belgians -were in arms against him, were allowed the second place. - -Among the Gauls there are, he says, two classes of men held in -honour,--the Druids and the knights; by which we understand that two -professions or modes of life, and two only, were open to the -nobility,--the priesthood and the army. All the common people, Cæsar -says, are serfs, or little better. They do not hesitate, when oppressed -by debt or taxation, or the fear of some powerful enemy, to give -themselves into slavery, loving the protection so obtained. The Druids -have the chief political authority, and can maintain it by the dreadful -power of excommunication. The excommunicated wretch is an outlaw, -beyond the pale of civil rights. Over the Druids is one great Druid, at -whose death the place is filled by election among all the Druids, unless -there be one so conspicuously first that no ceremony of election is -needed. Their most sacred spot for worship is among the Carnutes, in the -middle of the country. Their discipline and mysteries came to them from -Britain, and when any very knotty point arises they go to Britain to -make inquiry. The Druids don’t fight, and pay no taxes. The ambition to -be a Druid is very great; but then so is the difficulty. Twenty years of -tuition is not uncommonly needed; for everything has to be learned by -heart. Of their religious secrets nothing may be written. Their great -doctrine is the transmigration of souls; so that men should believe that -the soul never dies, and that death, therefore, or that partial death -which we see, need not be feared. They are great also in astronomy, -geography, natural history,--and general theology, of course. - -The knights, or nobles, have no resource but to fight. Cæsar suggests -that before the blessing of his advent they were driven to the -disagreeable necessity of fighting yearly with each other. Of all people -the Gauls, he says, are the most given to superstition; in so much so, -that in all dangers and difficulties they have recourse to human -sacrifices, in which the Druids are their ministers. They burn their -victims to appease their deities, and, by preference, will burn thieves -and murderers,--the gods loving best such polluted victims,--but, in -default of such, will have recourse to an immolation of innocents. Then -Cæsar tells us that among the gods they chiefly worship Mercury, whom -they seem to have regarded as the cleverest of the gods; but they also -worship Apollo, Mars, Jove, and Minerva, ascribing to them the -attributes which are allowed them by other nations. How the worship of -the Greek and Roman gods became mingled with the religion of the Druids -we are not told, nor does Cæsar express surprise that it should have -been so. Cæsar gives the Roman names of these gods, but he does not -intend us to understand that they were so called by the Gauls, who had -their own names for their deities. The trophies of war they devote to -Mars, and in many states keep large stores of such consecrated spoils. -It is not often that a Gaul will commit the sacrilege of appropriating -to his own use anything thus made sacred; but the punishment of such -offence, when it is committed, is death by torture. There is the -greatest veneration from sons to their fathers. Until the son can bear -arms he does not approach his father, or even stand in public in his -presence. The husband’s fortune is made to equal the wife’s dowry, and -then the property is common between them. This seems well enough, and -the law would suit the views of British wives of the present day. But -the next Gaulish custom is not so well worthy of example. Husbands have -the power of life and death over their wives and children; and when any -man of mark dies, if there be cause for suspicion, his wives are -examined under torture, and if any evil practice be confessed, they are -then tortured to death. We learn from this passage that polygamy was -allowed among the Gauls. The Gauls have grand funerals. Things which -have been dear to the departed are burned at these ceremonies. Animals -were thus burned in Cæsar’s time, but in former days slaves also, and -dependants who had been specially loved. The best-governed states are -very particular in not allowing rumours as to state affairs to be made -matter of public discussion. Anything heard is to be told to the -magistrate; but there is to be no discussion on public affairs except in -the public council. So much we hear of the customs of the Gauls. - -The Germans differ from the Gauls in many things. They know nothing of -Druids, nor do they care for sacrifices. They worship only what they see -and enjoy,--the sun, and fire, and the moon. They spend their time in -hunting and war, and care little for agriculture. They live on milk, -cheese, and flesh. They are communists as to the soil, and stay no -longer than a year on the same land. These customs they follow lest they -should learn to prefer agriculture to war; lest they should grow fond of -broad possessions, so that the rich should oppress the poor; lest they -should by too much comfort become afraid of cold and heat; lest the love -of money should grow among them, and one man should seek to be higher -than another. From all which it seems that the Germans were not without -advanced ideas in political economy. - -It is a great point with the Germans to have no near neighbours. For the -sake of safety and independence, each tribe loves to have a wide -margin. In war the chieftains have power of life and death. In time of -peace there are no appointed magistrates, but the chiefs in the cantons -declare justice and quell litigation as well as they can. Thieving in a -neighbouring state,--not in his own,--is honourable to a German. -Expeditions for thieving are formed, which men may join or not as they -please; but woe betide him who, having promised, fails. They are good to -travelling strangers. There was a time when the Gauls were better men -than the Germans, and could come into Germany and take German land. Even -now, says Cæsar, there are Gaulish tribes living in Germany after German -fashion. But the nearness of the Province to Gaul has taught the Gauls -luxury, and so it has come to pass that the Gauls are not as good in -battle as they used to be. It is interesting to gather from all these -notices the progress of civilisation through the peoples of Europe, and -some hint as to what has been thought to be good and bad for humanity by -various races before the time of Christ. - -Cæsar then tells us of a great Hercynian forest, beginning from the -north of Switzerland and stretching away to the Danube. A man in nine -days would traverse its breadth; but even in sixty days a man could not -get to the end of it lengthwise. We may presume that the Black Forest -was a portion of it. It contains many singular beasts,--bisons with one -horn; elks, which are like great stags, but which have no joints in -their legs, and cannot lie down,--nor, if knocked down, can they get -up,--which sleep leaning against trees; but the trees sometimes break, -and then the elk falls and has a bad time of it. Then there is the urus, -almost as big as an elephant, which spares neither man nor beast. It is -a great thing to kill a urus, but no one can tame them, even when young. -The Germans are fond of mounting the horns of this animal with silver, -and using them for drinking-cups. - -Cæsar does very little over among the Germans. He comes back, partly -destroys his bridge, and starts again in search of Ambiorix. His -lieutenant Basilus nearly takes the poor hunted chieftain, but Ambiorix -escapes, and Cæsar moralises about fortune. Ambiorix, the reader will -remember, was joint-king over the Eburones with one Cativolcus. -Cativolcus, who is old, finding how his people are harassed, curses his -brother king who has brought these sorrows on the nation, and poisons -himself with the juice of yew-tree. - -All the tribes in the Belgic country, Gauls as well as Germans, were now -very much harassed. They all had helped, or might have helped, or, if -left to themselves, might at some future time give help to Ambiorix and -the Eburones. Cæsar divides his army, but still goes himself in quest of -his victim into the damp, uncomfortable countries near the mouths of the -Scheldt and Meuse. Here he is much distracted between his burning desire -to extirpate that race of wicked men over whom Ambiorix had been king, -and his anxiety lest he should lose more of his own men in the work -than the wicked race is worth. He invites the neighbouring Gauls to help -him in the work, so that Gauls should perish in those inhospitable -regions rather than his own legionaries. This, however, is fixed in his -mind, that a tribe which has been guilty of so terrible an -offence,--which has destroyed in war an army of his, just as he would -have delighted to destroy a Gaulish army,--must be extirpated, so that -its very name may cease to exist! “Pro tali facinore, stirps ac nomen -civitatis tollatur.” - -Cæsar, in dividing his army, had stationed Q. Cicero with one legion and -the heavy baggage and spoils of the army, in a fortress exactly at that -spot from which Titurius Sabinus had been lured by the craft of -Ambiorix. Certain Germans, the Sigambri, having learned that all the -property of the Eburones had been given up by Cæsar as a prey to any who -would take it, had crossed the Rhine that they might thus fill their -hands. But it is suggested to them that they may fill their hands much -fuller by attacking Q. Cicero in his camp; and they do attack him, when -the best part of his army is away looking for provisions. That special -spot in the territory of the Eburones is again nearly fatal to a Roman -legion. But the Germans, not knowing how to press the advantage they -gain, return with their spoil across the Rhine, and Cæsar again comes up -like a god. But he has not as yet destroyed Ambiorix,--who indeed is not -taken at last,--and expresses his great disgust and amazement that the -coming of these Germans, which was planned with the view of injuring -Ambiorix, should have done instead so great a service to that -monstrously wicked chieftain. - -He does his very best to catch Ambiorix in person, offering great -rewards and inducing his men to undergo all manner of hardships in the -pursuit. Ambiorix, however, with three or four chosen followers, escapes -him. But Cæsar is not without revenge. He burns all the villages of the -Eburones, and all their houses. He so lays waste the country that even -when his army is gone not a soul should be able to live there. After -that he probably allowed himself to be shaved. Ambiorix is seen here and -is seen there, but with hairbreadth chances eludes his pursuer. Cæsar, -having thus failed, returns south, as winter approaches, to -Rheims,--Durocortorum; and just telling us in four words how he had one -Acco tortured to death because Acco had headed a conspiracy in the -middle of Gaul among the Carnutes and Senones, and how he outlawed and -banished others whom he could not catch, he puts his legions into winter -quarters, and again goes back to Italy to hold assizes and look after -his interests amid the great affairs of the Republic. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -SEVENTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.--THE REVOLT OF VERCINGETORIX.--B.C. 52. - - -In opening his account of his seventh campaign Cæsar makes almost the -only reference to the affairs of Rome which we find in these memoirs. -Clodius has been murdered. We know, too, that Crassus had been killed at -the head of his army in the east, and that, at the death of Clodius, -Pompey had been created Dictator in the city with the name of sole -Consul. Cæsar, however, only mentions the murder of Clodius, and then -goes on to say that the Gauls, knowing how important to him must be the -affairs of Rome at this moment, think that he cannot now attend to them, -and that, in his absence, they may shake off the Roman yoke. The affairs -of Rome must indeed have been important to Cæsar, if, as no doubt is -true, he had already before his eyes a settled course of action by which -to make himself supreme in the Republic. Clodius, the demagogue, was -dead, whom he never could have loved, but whom it had not suited him to -treat as an enemy. Crassus, too, was dead, whom, on account of his -wealth, Cæsar had admitted as a colleague. Pompey, the third triumvir, -remained at Rome, and was now sole Consul; Pompey who, only twelve -months since, had so fondly given up his legion for the sake of the -Republic,--and for friendship. Cæsar, no doubt, foresaw by this time -that the struggle must be at last between himself and Pompey. The very -forms of the old republican rule were being turned adrift, and Cæsar -must have known, as Pompey also knew, and Clodius had known, and even -Crassus, that a new power would become paramount in the city. But the -hands to wrest such power must be very strong. And the day had not yet -quite come. Having spent six summers in subduing Gaul, Cæsar would not -lose the prestige, the power, the support, which such a territory, -really subdued, would give him. Things, doubtless, were important at -Rome, but it was still his most politic course to return over the Alps -and complete his work. Before the winter was over he heard that the -tribes were conspiring, because it was thought that at such an emergency -Cæsar could not leave Italy. - -This last book of the Commentary, as written by Cæsar, tells the story -of the gallant Vercingetorix, one of the Arverni,--the modern -Auvergne,--whose father, Celtillus, is said to have sought the -chieftainship of all Gaul, and to have been killed on that account by -his own state. Vercingetorix is certainly the hero of these wars on the -Gaulish side, though we hear nothing of him till this seventh campaign. -The conspiracy against Rome is afloat, the Carnutes, whose chief town is -Genabum,--Orleans,--having commenced it. Vercingetorix excites his own -countrymen to join, but is expelled from their town, Gergovia, for the -attempt. The Arverni, or at least their chief men, fear to oppose the -Romans; but Vercingetorix obtains a crowd of followers out in the -country, and perseveres. Men of other tribes come to him, from as far -north as Paris, and west from the Ocean. He assumes supreme power, and -enacts and carries out most severe laws for his guidance during the war. -For any greater offence he burns the offender alive and subjects him to -all kinds of torments. For any small fault he cuts off a man’s ears, -pokes out one of his eyes, and sends him home, that he may be an example -visible to all men. By threats of such punishment to those who do not -join him, and by inflicting such on those who do and are then untrue to -him or lukewarm, he gets together a great army. Cæsar, who is still in -Italy, hears of all this, and having made things comfortable with -Pompey, hurries into the province. He tells us of his great difficulty -in joining his army,--of the necessity which is incumbent on him of -securing even the Roman Province from invasion, and of the manner in -which he breaks through snow-clad mountains, the Cevennes, at a time of -the year in which such mountains were supposed to be impassable. He is -forced into fighting before the winter is over, because, unless he does -so, the few friends he has in Gaul,--the Ædui, for instance,--will have -been gained over by the enemy. This made it very difficult, Cæsar tells -us, for him to know what to do; but he decides that he must begin his -campaign, though it be winter still. - -Cæsar, moving his army about with wonderful quickness, takes three towns -in the centre of Gaul, of which Genabum, Orleans, is the first, and -thus provides himself with food. Vercingetorix, when he hears of these -losses, greatly troubled in his mind that Cæsar should thus he enabled -to exist on the provisions gathered by the Gauls, determines to burn all -the Gaulish towns in those parts. He tells his people that there is -nothing else for them in their present emergency, and that they must -remember when they see their hearths smoking and their property -destroyed, that it would be, or ought to be, much more grievous for them -to know that their wives and children would become slaves, as -undoubtedly would be their fate, if Cæsar were allowed to prevail. The -order is given. Twenty cities belonging to one tribe are burned to the -ground. The same thing is done in other states. But there is one very -beautiful city, the glory of the country round, which can, they say, be -so easily defended that it will be a comfort rather than a peril to -them. Avaricum, the present Bourges,--must that also be burned? May not -Avaricum be spared? Vercingetorix is all for burning Avaricum as he has -burned the others; but he allows himself to be persuaded, and the city -is spared--for the time. - -Cæsar, of course, determines to take Avaricum; but he encounters great -difficulties. The cattle have been driven away. There is no corn. Those -wretched Ædui do almost nothing for him; and the Boii, who are their -neighbours, and who, at the best, are but a poor scanty people, are -equally unserviceable. Some days his army is absolutely without food; -but yet no word of complaint is heard “unworthy of the majesty and -former victories of the Roman people.” The soldiers even beg him to -continue the siege when he offers to raise it because of the hardships -they are enduring. Let them endure anything, they say, but failure! -“Moreover Cæsar, when he would accost his legions one by one at their -work, and would tell them that he would raise the siege if they could -but ill bear their privations, was implored by all of them not to do -that. They said that for many years under his command they had so well -done their duty that they had undergone no disgrace, had never quitted -their ground leaving aught unfinished,”--except the subjugation of -Britain they might perhaps have said,--“that they would be now disgraced -if they should raise a siege which had been commenced; that they would -rather bear all hardships than not avenge the Roman citizens who had -perished at Genabum by the perfidy of the Gauls.” Cæsar puts these words -into the mouths of his legionaries, and as we read them we believe that -such was the existing spirit of the men. Cæsar’s soldiers now had -learned better than to cry because they were afraid of their enemies. - -Then we hear that Vercingetorix is in trouble with the Gauls. The Gauls, -when they see the Romans so near them, think that they are to be -betrayed into Cæsar’s hands, and they accuse their leader. But -Vercingetorix makes them a speech, and brings up certain Roman prisoners -to give evidence as to the evil condition of the Roman army. -Vercingetorix swears that these prisoners are soldiers from the Roman -legions, and so settles that little trouble; but Cæsar, defending his -legionaries, asserts that the men so used were simply slaves. - -Vercingetorix is in his camp at some little distance from Avaricum, -while Cæsar is determined to take the city. We have the description of -the siege, concise, graphic, and clear. We are told of the nature of the -walls; how the Gauls were good at mining and countermining; how they -flung hot pitch and boiling grease on the invaders; how this was kept -up, one Gaul after another stepping on to the body of his dying comrade; -how at last they resolved to quit the town and make their way by night -to the camp of Vercingetorix, but were stopped by the prayers of their -own women, who feared Cæsar’s mercies;--and how at last the city was -taken. We cannot but execrate Cæsar when he tells us coolly of the -result. They were all killed. The old, the women, and the children, -perished altogether, slaughtered by the Romans. Out of forty thousand -inhabitants, Cæsar says that about eight hundred got safely to -Vercingetorix. Of course we doubt the accuracy of Cæsar’s figures when -he tells us of the numbers of the Gauls; but we do not doubt that but a -few escaped, and that all but a few were slaughtered. When, during the -last campaign, the Gauls at Genabum (Orleans) had determined on revolt -against Cæsar, certain Roman traders--usurers for the most part, who had -there established themselves--were killed. Cæsar gives this as the -cause, and sufficient cause, for the wholesale slaughter of women and -children! One reflects that not otherwise, perhaps, could he have -conquered Gaul, and that Gaul had to be conquered; but we cannot for -the moment but abhor the man capable of such work. Vercingetorix bears -his loss bravely. He reminds the Gauls that had they taken his advice -the city would have been destroyed by themselves and not defended; he -tells them that all the states of Gaul are now ready to join him; and he -prepares to fortify a camp after the Roman fashion. Hitherto the Gauls -have fought either from behind the walls of towns, or out in the open -country without other protection than that of the woods and hills. - -Then there is another episode with those unsatisfactory Ædui. There is a -quarrel among them who shall be their chief magistrate,--a certain old -man or a certain young man,--and they send to Cæsar to settle the -question. Cæsar’s hands are very full; but, as he explains, it is -essential to him that his allies shall be kept in due subordinate order. -He therefore absolutely goes in person to one of their cities, and -decides that the young man shall be the chief magistrate. But, as he -seldom does anything for nothing, he begs that ten thousand Æduan -infantry and all the Æduan cavalry may be sent to help him against -Vercingetorix. The Ædui have no alternative but to comply. Their -compliance, however, is not altogether of a friendly nature. The old man -who has been put out of the magistracy gets hold of the Æduan general of -the forces; and the Æduan army takes the field,--to help, not Cæsar, but -Vercingetorix! There is a large amount of lying and treachery among the -Ædui, and of course tidings of what is going on are carried to Cæsar. -Over and over again these people deceive him, betray him, and endeavour -to injure his cause; but he always forgives them, or pretends to forgive -them. It is his policy to show to the Gauls how great can be the -friendship and clemency of Cæsar. If he would have burned the Ædui and -spared Bourges we should have liked him better; but then, had he done -so, he would not have been Cæsar. - -While Cæsar is thus troubled with his allies, he has trouble enough also -with his enemies. Vercingetorix, with his followers, after that terrible -reverse at Avaricum,--Bourges,--goes into his own country which we know -as Auvergne, and there encamps his army on a high hill with a flat top, -called Gergovia. All of us who have visited Clermont have probably seen -the hill. Vercingetorix makes three camps for his army on the hill, and -the Arverni have a town there. The Gaul has so placed himself that there -shall be a river not capable of being forded between himself and Cæsar. -But the Roman general makes a bridge and sets himself down with his -legions before Gergovia. The limits of this little work do not admit of -any detailed description of Cæsar’s battles; but perhaps there is none -more interesting than this siege. The three Gaulish camps are taken. The -women of Gergovia, thinking that their town is taken also, leaning over -the walls, implore mercy from the Romans, and beg that they may not be -treated as have the women of Avaricum. Certain leading Roman soldiers -absolutely climb up into the town. The reader also thinks that Cæsar is -to prevail, as he always does prevail. But he is beaten back, and has -to give it up. On this occasion the gallant Vercingetorix is the master -of the day, and Cæsar excuses himself by explaining how it was that his -legions were defeated through the rash courage of his own men, and not -by bad generalship of his own. And it probably was so. The reader always -feels inclined to believe the Commentary, even when he may most dislike -Cæsar. Cæsar again makes his bridge over the river, the Allier, and -retires into the territory of his doubtful friends the Ædui. He tells us -himself that in that affair he lost 700 men and 46 officers. - -It seems that at this time Cæsar with his whole army must have been in -great danger of being destroyed by the Gauls. Why Vercingetorix did not -follow up his victory and prevent Cæsar from escaping over the Allier is -not explained. No doubt the requirements of warfare were not known to -the Gaul as they were to the Roman. As it was, Cæsar had enough to do to -save his army. The Ædui, of course, turned against him again. All his -stores and treasure and baggage were at Noviodunum,--Nevers,--a town -belonging to the Ædui. These are seized by his allies, who destroy all -that they cannot carry away, and Cæsar’s army is in danger of being -starved. Everything has been eaten up where he is, and the Loire, -without bridges or fords, was between him and a country where food was -to be found. He does cross the river, the Ædui having supposed that it -would be impossible. He finds a spot in which his men can wade across -with their shoulders just above the waters. Bad as the spot is for -fording, in his great difficulty he makes the attempt and accomplishes -it. - -Then there is an account of a battle which Labienus is obliged to fight -up near Paris. He has four legions away with him there, and having heard -of Cæsar’s misfortune at Gergovia, knows how imperative it is that he -should join his chief. He fights his battle and wins it, and Cæsar tells -the story quite as enthusiastically as though he himself had been the -conqueror. When this difficulty is overcome, Labienus comes south and -joins his Imperator. - -The Gauls are still determined to drive Cæsar out of their country, and -with this object call together a great council at Bibracte, which was -the chief town of the Ædui. It was afterwards called Augustodunum, which -has passed into the modern name Autun. At this meeting, the Ædui, who, -having been for some years past bolstered up by Rome, think themselves -the first of all the Gauls, demand that the chief authority in the -revolt against Rome,--now that they have revolted,--shall be intrusted -to them. An Æduan chief, they think, should be the commander-in-chief in -this war against Rome. Who has done so much for the revolt as the Ædui, -who have thrown over their friends the Romans,--now for about the tenth -time? But Vercingetorix is unanimously elected, and the Æduan chiefs are -disgusted. Then there is another battle. Vercingetorix thinks that he is -strong enough to attack the enemy as Cæsar is going down south towards -the Province. Cæsar, so says Vercingetorix, is in fact retreating. And, -indeed, it seems that Cæsar was retreating. But the Gauls are beaten and -fly, losing some three thousand of their men who are slaughtered in the -fight. Vercingetorix shuts himself up in a town called Alesia, and -Cæsar prepares for another siege. - -The taking of Alesia is the last event told in Cæsar’s Commentary on the -Gallic War, and of all the stories told, it is perhaps the most -heartrending. Civilisation was never forwarded in a fashion more -terrible than that which prevailed at this siege. Vercingetorix with his -whole army is forced into the town, and Cæsar surrounds it with ditches, -works, lines, and ramparts, so that no one shall be able to escape from -it. Before this is completed, and while there is yet a way open of -leaving the town, the Gaulish chief sends out horsemen, who are to go to -all the tribes of Gaul, and convene the fighting men to that place, so -that by their numbers they may raise the siege and expel the Romans. We -find that these horsemen do as they are bidden, and that a great Gaulish -conference is held, at which it is decided how many men shall be sent by -each tribe. Vercingetorix has been very touching in his demand that all -this shall be done quickly. He has food for the town for thirty days. -Probably it may be stretched to last a little longer. Then, if the -tribes are not true to him, he and the eighty thousand souls he has with -him must perish. The horsemen make good their escape from the town, and -Vercingetorix, with his eighty thousand hungry souls around him, -prepares to wait. It seems to us, when we think what must have been the -Gallia of those days, and when we remember how far thirty days would now -be for sufficing for such a purpose, that the difficulties to be -overcome were insuperable. But Cæsar says that the tribes did send their -men, each tribe sending the number demanded, except the Bellovaci,--the -men of Beauvais,--who declared that they chose to wage war on their own -account; but even they, out of kindness, lent two thousand men. Cæsar -explains that even his own best friends among the Gauls,--among whom was -one Commius, who had been very useful to him in Britain, and whom he had -made king over his own tribe, the Atrebates,--at this conjuncture of -affairs felt themselves bound to join the national movement. This -Commius had even begged for the two thousand men of Beauvais. So great, -says Cæsar, was the united desire of Gaul to recover Gallic liberty, -that they were deterred from coming by no memory of benefits or of -friendship. Eight thousand horsemen and two hundred and forty thousand -footmen assembled themselves in the territories of the Ædui. Alesia was -north of the Ædui, amidst the Lingones. This enormous army chose its -generals, and marched off to Alesia to relieve Vercingetorix. - -But the thirty days were past, and more than past, and the men and women -in Alesia were starving. No tidings ever had reached Alesia of the -progress which was being made in the gathering of their friends. It had -come to be very bad with them there. Some were talking of unconditional -surrender. Others proposed to cut their way through the Roman lines. -Then one Critognatus had a suggestion to make, and Cæsar gives us the -words of his speech. It has been common with the Greek and Latin -historians to put speeches into the mouths of certain orators, adding -the words when the matter has come within either their knowledge or -belief. Cæsar does not often thus risk his credibility; but on this -occasion he does so. We have the speech of Critognatus, word for word. -Of those who speak of surrender he thinks so meanly that he will not -notice them. As to that cutting a way through the Roman lines, which -means death, he is of opinion that to endure misfortune is greater than -to die. Many a man can die who cannot bravely live and suffer. Let them -endure a little longer. Why doubt the truth and constancy of the tribes? -Then he makes his suggestion. Let those who can fight, and are thus -useful,--eat those who are useless and cannot fight; and thus live till -the levies of all Gaul shall have come to their succour! Those who have -authority in Alesia cannot quite bring themselves to this, but they do -that which is horrible in the next degree. They will turn out of the -town all the old, all the weak, and all the women. After that,--if that -will not suffice,--then they will begin to eat each other. The town -belongs, or did belong, to a people called the Mandubii,--not to -Vercingetorix or his tribe; and the Mandubii, with their children and -women, are compelled to go out. - -But whither shall they go? Cæsar has told us that there was a margin of -ground between his lines and the city wall,--an enclosed space from -which there was no egress except into Cæsar’s camp or into the besieged -town. Here stand these weak ones,--aged men, women, and children,--and -implore Cæsar to receive them into his camp, so that they may pass out -into the open country. There they stood as supplicants, on that narrow -margin of ground between two armies. Their own friends, having no food -for them, had expelled them from their own homes. Would Cæsar have -mercy? Cæsar, with a wave of his hand, declines to have mercy. He tells -us what he himself decides to do in eight words. “At Cæsar, depositis in -vallo custodiis, recipi prohibebat.” “But Cæsar, having placed guards -along the rampart, forbade that they should be received.” We hear no -more of them, but we know that they perished! - -The collected forces of Gaul do at last come up to attempt the rescue of -Vercingetorix,--and indeed they come in time; were they able by coming -to do anything? They attack Cæsar in his camp, and a great battle is -fought beneath the eyes of the men in Alesia. But Cæsar is very careful -that those who now are hemmed up in the town shall not join themselves -to the Gauls who had spread over the country all around him. We hear how -during the battle Cæsar comes up himself, and is known by the colour of -his cloak. We again feel, as we read his account of the fighting, that -the Gauls nearly win, and that they ought to win. But at last they are -driven headlong in flight,--all the levies of all the tribes. The Romans -kill very many: were not the labour of killing too much for them, they -might kill all. A huge crowd, however, escapes, and the men scatter -themselves back into their tribes. - -On the next day Vercingetorix yields himself and the city to Cæsar. -During the late battle he and his men shut up within the walls have been -simply spectators of the fighting. Cæsar is sitting in his lines before -his camp; and there the chieftains, with Vercingetorix at their head, -are brought up to him. Plutarch tells us a story of the chieftain -riding up before Cæsar, to deliver himself, with gilt armour, on a grand -horse, caracolling and prancing. We cannot fancy that any horse out of -Alesia, could, after the siege, have been fit for such holiday occasion. -The horses out of Vercingetorix’s stables had probably been eaten many -days since. Then Cæsar again forgives the Ædui; but Vercingetorix is -taken as a prisoner to Rome, is kept a prisoner for six years, is then -led in Cæsar’s Triumph, and, after these six years, is destroyed, as a -victim needed for Cæsar’s glory,--that so honour may be done to Cæsar! -Cæsar puts his army into winter quarters, and determines to remain -himself in Gaul during the winter. When his account of these things -reaches Home, a “supplication” of twenty days is decreed in his honour. - - * * * * * - -This is the end of Cæsar’s Commentary “De Bello Gallico.” The war was -carried on for two years more; and a memoir of Cæsar’s doings during -those two years,--B.C. 51 and 50,--was written, after Cæsar’s manner, by -one Aulus Hirtius. There is no pretence on the writer’s part that this -was the work of Cæsar’s hands, as in a short preface he makes an -author’s apology for venturing to continue what Cæsar had begun. The -most memorable circumstance of Cæsar’s warfares told in this record of -two campaigns is the taking of Uxellodunum, a town in the south-west of -France, the site of which is not now known. Cæsar took the town by -cutting off the water, and then horribly mutilated the inhabitants who -had dared to defend their own hearths. “Cæsar,” says this historian, -“knowing well that his clemency was acknowledged by all men, and that he -need not fear that any punishment inflicted by him would be attributed -to the cruelty of his nature, perceiving also that he could never know -what might be the end of his policy if such rebellions should continue -to break out, thought that other Gauls should be deterred by the fear of -punishment.” So he cut off the hands of all those who had borne arms at -Uxellodunum, and turned the maimed wretches adrift upon the world! And -his apologist adds, that he gave them life so that the punishment of -these wicked ones,--who had fought for their liberty,--might be the more -manifest to the world at large! This was perhaps the crowning act of -Cæsar’s cruelty,--defended, as we see, by the character he had achieved -for clemency! - -Soon after this Gaul was really subdued, and then we hear the first -preparatory notes of the coming civil war. An attempt was made at Rome -to ruin Cæsar in his absence. One of the consuls of the year,--B.C. -51,--endeavoured to deprive him of the remainder of the term of his -proconsulship, and to debar him from seeking the suffrages of the people -for the consulship in his absence. Two of his legions are also demanded -from him, and are surrendered by him. The order, indeed, is for one -legion from him and one from Pompeius; but he has had with him, as the -reader will remember, a legion borrowed from Pompeius;--and thus in fact -Cæsar is called upon to give up two legions. And he gives them up,--not -being as yet quite ready to pass the Rubicon. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - FIRST BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--CÆSAR CROSSES THE RUBICON.--FOLLOWS - POMPEY TO BRUNDUSIUM.--AND CONQUERS AFRANIUS IN SPAIN.--B.C. 49. - - -Cæsar now gives us his history of that civil war in which he and Pompey -contended for the mastery over Rome and the Republic. In his first -Commentary he had recorded his campaigns in Gaul,--campaigns in which he -reduced tribes which were, if not hostile, at any rate foreign, and by -his success in which he carried on and maintained the potency, -traditions, and purport of the Roman Republic. It was the ambition of -the Roman to be master of the known world. In his ideas no more of the -world was really known than had become Roman, and any extension to the -limits of this world could only be made by the addition of so-called -barbarous tribes to the number of Roman subjects. In reducing Gaul, -therefore, and in fighting with the Germans, and in going over to -Britain, Cæsar was doing that which all good Romans wished to see done, -and was rivalling in the West the great deeds which Pompey had -accomplished for the Republic in the East. In this second Commentary he -is forced to deal with a subject which must have been less gratifying to -Roman readers. He relates to us the victories which he won with Roman -legions over other legions equally Roman, and by which he succeeded in -destroying the liberty of the Republic. - -It must he acknowledged on Cæsar’s behalf that in truth liberty had -fallen in Rome before Cæsar’s time. Power had produced wealth, and -wealth had produced corruption. The tribes of Rome were bought and sold -at the various elections, and a few great oligarchs, either of this -faction or of that, divided among themselves the places of trust and -honour and power, and did so with hands ever open for the grasping of -public wealth. An honest man with clean hands and a conscience, with -scruples and a love of country, became unfitted for public employment. -Cato in these days was simply ridiculous; and even Cicero, though he was -a trimmer, was too honest for the times. Laws were wrested from their -purposes, and the very Tribunes[11] of the people had become the worst -of tyrants. It was necessary, perhaps, that there should be a -master;--so at least Cæsar thought. He had, no doubt, seen this -necessity during all these years of fighting in Gaul, and had resolved -that he would not be less than First in the new order of things. So he -crossed the Rubicon. - -The reader of this second Commentary will find it less alluring than the -first. There is less in it of adventure, less of new strange life, and -less of that sound, healthy, joyous feeling which sprang from a -thorough conviction on Cæsar’s part that in crushing the Gauls he was -doing a thoroughly good thing. To us, and our way of thinking, his -doings in Gaul were stained with terrible cruelty. To him and to his -Romans they were foul with no such stain. How other Roman conquerors -acted to other conquered peoples we may learn from the fact, that Cæsar -obtained a character for great mercy by his forbearance in Gaul. He -always writes as though he were free from any sting of conscience, as he -tells us of the punishments which policy called upon him to inflict. But -as he writes of these civil wars, there is an absence of this feeling of -perfect self-satisfaction, and at the same time he is much less cruel. -Hecatombs of Gauls, whether men or women or children, he could see -burned or drowned or starved, mutilated or tortured, without a shudder. -He could give the command for such operations with less remorse than we -feel when we order the destruction of a litter of undesirable puppies. -But he could not bring himself to slay Roman legionaries, even in fair -fighting, with anything like self-satisfaction. In this he was either -soft-hearted or had a more thorough feeling of country than generals or -soldiers who have fought in civil contests since his time have shown. In -the Wars of the Roses and in those of Cromwell we recognise no such -feeling. The American generals were not so restrained. But Cæsar seems -to have valued a Roman legionary more than a tribe of Gauls. - -Nevertheless he crossed the Rubicon. We have all heard of this crossing -of the Rubicon, but Cæsar says nothing about it. The Rubicon was a -little river, now almost if not altogether unknown, running into the -Adriatic between Ravenna and Ariminum,--Rimini,--and dividing the -provinces of so-called Cisalpine Gaul from the territory under the -immediate rule of the magistracy of Rome. Cæsar was, so to say, at home -north of the Rubicon. He was in his own province, and had all things -under his command. But he was forbidden by the laws even to enter the -territory of Rome proper while in the command of a Roman province; and -therefore, in crossing the Rubicon, he disobeyed the laws, and put -himself in opposition to the constituted authorities of the city. It -does not appear, however, that very much was thought of this, or that -the passage of the river was in truth taken as the special sign of -Cæsar’s purpose, or as a deed that was irrevocable in its consequences. -There are various pretty stories of Cæsar’s hesitation as he stood on -the brink of the river, doubting whether he would plunge the world into -civil war. We are told how a spirit appeared to him and led him across -the water with martial music, and how Cæsar, declaring that the die was -cast, went on and crossed the fatal stream. But all this was fable, -invented on Cæsar’s behalf by Romans who came after Cæsar. Cæsar’s -purpose was, no doubt, well understood when he brought one of his -legions down into that corner of his province, but offers to treat with -him on friendly terms were made by Pompey and his party after he had -established himself on the Roman side of the river. - -When the civil war began, Cæsar had still, according to the assignment -made to him, two years and a half left of his allotted period of -government in the three provinces; but his victories and his power had -been watched with anxious eyes from Rome, and the Senate had attempted -to decree that he should be recalled. Pompey was no longer Cæsar’s -friend, nor did Cæsar expect his friendship. Pompey, who had lately -played his cards but badly, and must have felt that he had played them -badly, had been freed from his bondage to Cæsar by the death of Crassus, -the third triumvir, by the death of Julia, Cæsar’s daughter, and by the -course of things in Rome. It had been an unnatural alliance arranged by -Cæsar with the view of clipping his rival’s wings. The fortunes of -Pompey had hitherto been so bright, that he also had seemed to be -divine. While still a boy, he had commanded and conquered, women had -adored him, the soldiers had worshipped him. Sulla had called him the -Great; and, as we are told, had raised his hat to him in token of -honour. He had been allowed the glory of a Triumph while yet a youth, -and had triumphed a second time before he had reached middle life. He -had triumphed again a third time, and the three Triumphs had been won in -the three quarters of the globe. In all things he had been successful, -and in all things happy. He had driven the swarming pirates from every -harbour in the Mediterranean, and had filled Rome with corn. He had -returned a conqueror with his legions from the East, and had dared to -disband them, that he might live again as a private citizen. And after -that, when it was thought necessary that the city should be saved, in -her need, from the factions of her own citizens, he had been made sole -consul. It is easier now to understand the character of Pompey than the -position which, by his unvaried successes, he had made for himself in -the minds both of the nobles and of the people. Even up to this time, -even after Cæsar’s wars in Gaul, there was something of divinity hanging -about Pompey, in which the Romans of the city trusted. He had been -imperious, but calm in manner and self-possessed,--allowing no one to be -his equal, but not impatient in making good his claims; grand, handsome, -lavish when policy required it, rapacious when much was needed, never -self-indulgent, heartless, false, cruel, politic, ambitious, very brave, -and a Roman to the backbone. But he had this failing, this -weakness;--when the time for the last struggle came, he did not quite -know what it was that he desired to do; he did not clearly see his -future. The things to be done were so great, that he had not ceased to -doubt concerning them when the moment came in which doubt was fatal. -Cæsar saw it all, and never doubted. That little tale of Cæsar standing -on the bridge over the Rubicon pondering as to his future -course,--divided between obedience and rebellion,--is very pretty. But -there was no such pondering, and no such division. Cæsar knew very well -what he meant and what he wanted. - -Cæsar is full of his wrongs as he begins his second narrative. He tells -us how his own friends are silenced in the Senate and in the city; how -his enemies, Scipio, Cato, and Lentulus the consul, prevail; how no one -is allowed to say a word for him. “Pompey himself,” he says, “urged on -by the enemies of Cæsar, and because he was unwilling that any one -should equal himself in honour, had turned himself altogether from -Cæsar’s friendship, and had gone back to the fellowship of their common -enemies,--enemies whom he himself had created for Cæsar during the time -of their alliance. At the same time, conscious of the scandal of those -two legions which he had stopped on their destined road to Asia and -Syria and taken into his own hand, he was anxious that the question -should be referred to arms.” Those two legions are very grievous to -Cæsar. One was the legion, which, as we remember, Pompey had given up to -friendship,--and the Republic. When, in the beginning of these contests -between the two rivals, the Senate had decided on weakening each by -demanding from each a legion, Pompey had asked Cæsar for the restitution -of that which he had so kindly lent. Cæsar, too proud to refuse payment -of the debt, had sent that to his former friend, and had also sent -another legion, as demanded, to the Senate. They were required nominally -for service in the East, and now were in the hands of him who had been -Cæsar’s friend but had become his enemy. It is no wonder that Cæsar -talks of the infamy or scandal of the two legions! He repeats his -complaint as to the two legions again and again. - -In the month of January Cæsar was at Ravenna, just north of the Rubicon, -and in his own province. Messages pass between him and the Senate, and -he proposes his terms. The Senate also proposes its terms. He must lay -down his arms, or he will be esteemed an enemy by the Republic. All Rome -is disturbed. The account is Cæsar’s account, but we imagine that Rome -was disturbed. “Soldiers are recruited over all Italy; arms are -demanded, taxes are levied on the municipalities, and money is taken -from the sacred shrines; all laws divine and human are disregarded.” -Then Cæsar explains to his soldiers his wrongs, and the crimes of -Pompey. He tells them how they, under his guidance, have been -victorious, how under him they have “pacified” all Gaul and Germany, and -he calls upon them to defend him who has enabled them to do such great -things. He has but one legion with him, but that legion declares that it -will obey him,--him and the tribunes of the people, some of whom, acting -on Cæsar’s side, have come over from Rome to Ravenna. We can appreciate -the spirit of this allusion to the tribunes, so that there may seem to -be still some link between Cæsar and the civic authorities. When the -soldiers have expressed their goodwill, he goes to Ariminum, and so the -Rubicon is passed. - -There are still more messages. Cæsar expresses himself as greatly -grieved that he should be subjected to so much suspense, nevertheless he -is willing to suffer anything for the Republic;--“omnia pati reipublicæ -causâ.” Only let Pompey go to his province, let the legions in and about -Rome be disbanded, let all the old forms of free government be restored, -and panic be abolished, and then,--when that is done,--all difficulties -may be settled in a few minutes’ talking. The consuls and Pompey send -back word that if Cæsar will go back into Gaul and dismiss his army, -Pompey shall go at once to Spain. But Pompey and the consuls with their -troops will not stir till Cæsar shall have given security for his -departure. Each demands that the other shall first abandon his position. -Of course all these messages mean nothing. - -Cæsar, complaining bitterly of injustice, sends a portion of his small -army still farther into the Roman territory. Marc Antony goes to Arezzo -with five cohorts, and Cæsar occupies three other cities with a cohort -each. The marvel is that he was not attacked and driven back by Pompey. -We may probably conclude that the soldiers, though under the command of -Pompey, were not trustworthy as against Cæsar. As Cæsar regrets his two -legions, so no doubt do the two legions regret their commander. At any -rate, the consular forces with Pompey and the consuls and a host of -senators retreat southwards to Brundusium,--Brindisi,--intending to -leave Italy by the port which we shall all use before long when we go -eastwards. During this retreat, the first blood in the civil war is -spilt at Corfinium, a town which, if it now stood at all, would stand in -the Abruzzi. Cæsar there is victor in a small engagement, and obtains -possession of the town. The Pompeian officers whom he finds there he -sends away, and allows them even to carry with them money which he -believes to have been taken from the public treasury. Throughout his -route southward the soldiers of Pompey,--who had heretofore been his -soldiers,--return to him. Pompey and the consuls still retreat, and -still Cæsar follows them, though Pompey had boasted, when first warned -to beware of Cæsar, that he had only to stamp upon Italian soil and -legions would arise from the earth ready to obey him. He knows, however, -that away from Rome, in her provinces, in Macedonia and Achaia, in Asia -and Cilicia, in Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa, in Mauritania and the two -Spains, there are Roman legions which as yet know no Cæsar. It may be -better for Pompey that he should stamp his foot somewhere out of Italy. -At any rate he sends the obedient consuls and his attendant senators -over to Dyrrachium in Illyria with a part of his army, and follows with -the remainder as soon as Cæsar is at his heels. Cæsar makes an effort to -intercept him and his fleet, but in that he fails. Thus Pompey deserts -Rome and Italy,--and never again sees the imperial city or the fair -land. - -Cæsar explains to us why he does not follow his enemy and endeavour at -once to put an end to the struggle. Pompey is provided with shipping and -he is not; and he is aware that the force of Rome lies in her provinces. -Moreover, Rome may be starved by Pompey, unless he, Cæsar, can take care -that the corn-growing countries, which are the granaries of Rome, are -left free for the use of the city. He must make sure of the two Gauls, -and of Sardinia, and of Sicily, of Africa too, if it may be possible. He -must win to his cause the two Spains, of which at least the northern -province was at present devoted to Pompey. He sends one lieutenant to -Sardinia with a legion, another to Sicily with three legions,--and from -Sicily over into Africa. These provinces had been allotted to partisans -of Pompey; but Cæsar is successful with them all. To Cato, the virtuous -man, had been assigned the government of Sicily; but Cato finds no -Pompeian army ready for his use, and, complaining bitterly that he has -been deceived and betrayed by the head of his faction, runs away, and -leaves his province to Cæsar’s officers. Cæsar determines that he -himself will carry the war into Spain. - -But he found it necessary first to go to Rome, and Cæsar, in his account -of what he did there, hardly tells us the whole truth. We quite go along -with him when he explains to us that, having collected what sort of a -Senate he could,--for Pompey had taken away with him such senators as he -could induce to follow him,--and having proposed to this meagre Senate -that ambassadors should be sent to Pompey, the Senate accepted his -suggestion; but that nobody could be induced to go on such an errand. -Pompey had already declared that all who remained at Rome were his -enemies. And it may probably be true that Cæsar, as he says, found a -certain tribune of the people at Rome who opposed him in all that he was -doing, though we should imagine that the opposition was not violent. But -his real object in going to Rome was to lay hand on the treasure of the -Republic,--the sanctius ærarium,--which was kept in the temple of Saturn -for special emergencies of State. That he should have taken this we do -not wonder;--but we do wonder that he should have taken the trouble to -say that he did not do so. He professes that he was so hindered by that -vexatious tribune, that he could not accomplish the purposes for which -he had come. But he certainly did take the money, and we cannot doubt -but that he went to Rome especially to get it. - -Cæsar, on his way to Spain, goes to Marseilles, which, under the name of -Massilia, was at this time, as it is now, the most thriving mercantile -port on the Mediterranean. It belonged to the province of Further Gaul, -but it was in fact a colony of Greek traders. Its possession was now -necessary to Cæsar. The magistrates of the town, when called upon for -their adhesion, gave a most sensible answer. They protest that they are -very fond of Cæsar, and very fond of Pompey. They don’t understand all -these affairs of Rome, and regret that two such excellent men should -quarrel. In the mean time they prefer to hold their own town. Cæsar -speaks of this decision as an injury to himself, and is instigated by -such wrongs against him to besiege the city, which he does both by land -and sea, leaving officers there for the purpose, and going on himself to -Spain. - -At this time all Spain was held by three officers, devoted to the cause -of Pompey, though, from what has gone before, it is clear that Cæsar -fears nothing from the south. Afranius commanded in the north and east, -holding the southern spurs of the Pyrenees. Petreius, who was stationed -in Lusitania, in the south-west, according to agreement, hurries up to -the assistance of Afranius as soon as Cæsar approaches. The Pompeian and -Cæsarian armies are brought into close quarters in the neighbourhood of -Ilerda (Lerida), on the little river Sicoris, or Segre, which runs into -the Ebro. They are near the mountains here, and the nature of the -fighting is controlled by the rapidity and size of the rivers, and the -inequality of the ground. Cæsar describes the campaign with great -minuteness, imparting to it a wonderful interest by the clearness of his -narrative. Afranius and Petreius hold the town of Ilerda, which is full -of provisions. Cæsar is very much pressed by want, as the corn and grass -have not yet grown, and the country supplies of the former year are -almost exhausted. So great are his difficulties, that tidings reach Rome -that Afranius has conquered him. Hearing this, many who were still -clinging to the city, doubtful as to the side they would take, go away -to Pompey. But Cæsar at last manages to make Ilerda too hot for the -Pompeian generals. He takes his army over one river in coracles, such as -he had seen in Britain; he turns the course of another; fords a third, -breaking the course of the stream by the bulk of his horses; and bridges -a fourth. Afranius and Petreius find that they must leave Ilerda, and -escape over the Ebro among the half-barbarous tribe further south, and -make their way, if possible, among the Celtibri,--getting out of Aragon -into Castile, as the division was made in after-ages. Cæsar gives us as -one reason for this intended march on the part of his enemies, that -Pompey was well known by those tribes, but that the name of Cæsar was a -name as yet obscure to the barbarians. It was not, however, easy for -Afranius to pass over the Ebro without Cæsar’s leave, and Cæsar will by -no means give him leave. He intercepts the Pompeians, and now turns upon -them that terrible engine of want from which he had suffered so much. He -continues so to drive them about, still north of the Ebro, that they can -get at no water; and at last they are compelled to surrender. - -During the latter days of this contest the Afranians, as they are -called--Roman legionaries, as are the soldiers of Cæsar--fraternise with -their brethren in Cæsar’s camp, and there is something of free -intercourse between the two Roman armies. The upshot is that the -soldiers of Afranius resolve to give themselves up to Cæsar, bargaining, -however, that their own generals shall be secure. Afranius is willing -enough; but his brother-general, Petreius, with more of the Roman at -heart, will not hear of it. We shall hear hereafter the strange fate of -this Petreius. He stops the conspiracy with energy, and forces from his -own men, and even from Afranius, an oath against surrender. He orders -that all Cæsar’s soldiers found in their camp shall be killed, and, as -Cæsar tells us, brings back the affair to the old form of war. But it is -all of no avail. The Afranians are so driven by the want of water, that -the two generals are at last compelled to capitulate and lay down their -arms. - -Five words which are used by Cæsar in the description of this affair -give us a strong instance of his conciseness in the use of words, and of -the capability for conciseness which the Latin language affords. -“Premebantur Afraniani pabulatione, aquabantur ægre.” “The soldiers of -Afranius were much distressed in the matter of forage, and could obtain -water only with great difficulty.” These twenty words translate those -five which Cæsar uses, perhaps with fair accuracy; but many more than -twenty would probably have been used by any English historian in dealing -with the same facts. - -Cæsar treats his compatriots with the utmost generosity. So many -conquered Gauls he would have sold as slaves, slaughtering their -leaders, or he would have cut off their hands, or have driven them down -upon the river and have allowed them to perish in the waters. But his -conquered foes are Roman soldiers, and he simply demands that the army -of Afranius shall be disbanded, and that the leaders of it shall -go,--whither they please. He makes them a speech in which he explains -how badly they have treated him. Nevertheless he will hurt no one. He -has borne it all, and will bear it, patiently. Let the generals only -leave the Province, and let the army which they have led be disbanded. -He will not keep a soldier who does not wish to stay with him, and will -even pay those whom Afranius has been unable to pay out of his own -funds. Those who have houses and land in Spain may remain there. Those -who have none he will first feed and afterwards take back, if not to -Italy, at any rate to the borders of Italy. The property which his own -soldiers have taken from them in the chances of war shall be restored, -and he out of his own pocket will compensate his own men. He performs -his promise, and takes all those who do not choose to remain, to the -banks of the Var, which divides the Province from Italy, and there sets -them down, full, no doubt, of gratitude to their conqueror. Never was -there such clemency,--or, we may say, better policy! Cæsar’s whole -campaign in Spain had occupied him only forty days. - -In the mean time Decimus Brutus, to whom we remember that Cæsar had -given the command of the ships which he prepared against the Veneti in -the west of Gaul, and who was hereafter to be one of those who slew him -in the Capitol, obtains a naval victory over the much more numerous -fleet of the Massilians. They had prepared seventeen big ships,--“naves -longæ” they are called by Cæsar,--and of these Brutus either destroys or -takes nine. In his next book Cæsar proceeds to tell us how things went -on at Marseilles both by sea and land after this affair. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - SECOND BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--THE TAKING OF MARSEILLES.--VARRO IN - THE SOUTH OF SPAIN.--THE FATE OF CURIO BEFORE UTICA.--B.C. 49. - - -In his chronicle of the Gallic war, Cæsar in each book completed the -narrative of a year’s campaign. In treating of the civil war he devotes -the first and second books to the doings of one year. There are three -distinct episodes of the year’s campaign narrated in the second;--the -taking of Marseilles, the subjugation of the southern province of -Spain,--if that can be said to be subjugated which gave itself up very -readily,--and the destruction of a Roman army in Africa under the hands -of a barbarian king. But of all Cæsar’s writings it is perhaps the least -interesting, as it tells us but little of what Cæsar did himself,--and -in fact contains chiefly Cæsar’s records of the doings of his -lieutenants by sea and land. - -He begins by telling us of the enormous exertions made both by the -besiegers and by the besieged at Massilia, which town was now held by -Domitius on the part of Pompey,--to supplement whom at sea a certain -Nasidius was sent with a large fleet. Young Brutus, as will be -remembered, was attacking the harbour on behalf of Cæsar, and had -already obtained a victory over the Massilians before Nasidius came up; -and Trebonius, also on the part of Cæsar, was besieging the town from -the land. This Decimus Brutus was one of those conspirators who -afterwards conspired against Cæsar and slew him,--and Trebonius was -another of the number. The wise Greeks of the city,--more wise than -fortunate, however,--had explained to Cæsar when he first expressed his -wish to have the town on his side, that really to them there was no -difference between Pompey and Cæsar, both of whom they loved with all -their hearts,--but they had been compelled to become partisans of -Pompey, the Pompeian general Domitius being the first to enter their -town; and now they find themselves obliged to fight as Pompeians in -defence of their wealth and their homes. Thus driven by necessity, they -fight well and do their very best to favour the side which we must -henceforward call that of the Republic as against an autocrat;--for, -during this siege of Marseilles, Cæsar had been appointed Dictator, and -a law to that effect had been passed at Rome, where the passing of such -a law was no doubt easy enough in the absence of Pompey, of the consuls, -and of all the senators who were Pompey’s friends. - -The Massilians had now chosen their side, and they do their very best. -We are told that the Cæsarean troops, from the high ground on which -Trebonius had placed his camp, could look down into the town, and could -see “how all the youth who had been left in the city, and all the elders -with their children and wives, and the sentinels of the city, either -stretched their hands to heaven from the walls, or, entering the temples -of the immortal gods, and throwing themselves before their sacred -images, prayed that the heavenly powers would give them victory. Nor was -there one among them who did not believe that on the result of that day -depended all that they had,”--namely, liberty, property, and life; for -the Massilians, doubtless, had heard of Avaricum, of Alesia, and of -Uxellodunum. “When the battle was begun,” says Cæsar, “the Massilians -failed not at all in valour; but, mindful of the lessons they had just -received from their townsmen, fought with the belief that the present -was their only opportunity of doing aught for their own preservation; -and that to those who should fall in battle, loss of life would only -come a little sooner than to the others, who would have to undergo the -same fate, should the city be taken.” Cæsar, as he wrote this, doubtless -thought of what he had done in Gaul when policy demanded from him an -extremity of cruelty; and, so writing, he enhanced the clemency with -which, as he is about to tell us, he afterwards treated the Massilians. -When the time came it did not suit him to depopulate a rich town, the -trade of whose merchants was beneficial both to Rome and to the -Province. He is about to tell us of his mercy, and therefore explains to -us beforehand how little was mercy expected from him. We feel that every -line he writes is weighed, though the time for such weighing must have -been very short with one whose hands were so full as were always the -hands of Cæsar. - -Nasidius, whom we may call Pompey’s admiral, was of no use at all. The -Massilians, tempted by his coming, attack bravely the ship which bears -the flag of young Brutus; but young Brutus is too quick for them, and -the unhappy Massilians run two of their biggest vessels against each -other in their endeavour to pin that of the Cæsarean admiral between -them. The Massilian fleet is utterly dispersed. Five are sunk, four are -taken: one gets off with Nasidius, who runs away, making no effort to -fight; who has been sent there,--so Cæsar hints,--by Pompey, not to give -assistance, but only to pretend to give assistance. One ship gets back -into the harbour with the sad tidings; and the Massilians--despairing -only for a moment at the first blush of the bad news--determine that -their walls may still be defended. - -The town was very well supplied with such things as were needed for -defence, the people being a provident people, well instructed and -civilised, with means at their command. We are told of great poles -twelve feet long, with sharp iron heads to them, which the besiegers -could throw with such force from the engines on their walls as to drive -them through four tiers of the wicker crates or stationary shields which -the Cæsareans built up for their protection,--believing that no force -could drive a weapon through them. As we read of this we cannot but -think of Armstrong and Whitfield guns, and iron plates, and granite -batteries, and earthworks. These terrible darts, thrown from “balistæ,” -are very sore upon the Cæsareans; they therefore contrive an immense -tower, so high that it cannot be reached by any weapon, so built that -no wood or material subject to fire shall be on the outside,--which they -erect story by story, of very great strength. And as they raise this -step by step, each story is secured against fire and against the enemy. -The reader,--probably not an engineer himself,--is disposed to think as -he struggles through this minute description of the erection which Cæsar -gives, and endeavours to realise the way in which it is done, that Cæsar -must himself have served specially as an engineer. But in truth he was -not at this siege himself, and had nothing to do with the planning of -the tower, and must in this instance at least have got a written -description from his officer,--as he probably did before when he built -the memorable bridge over the Rhine. And when the tower is finished, -they make a long covered way or shed,--musculum or muscle Cæsar calls -it; and with this they form for themselves a passage from the big tower -to a special point in the walls of the town. This muscle is so strong -with its sloping roof that nothing thrown upon it will break or burn it. -The Massilians try tubs of flaming pitch, and great fragments of rock; -but these simply slip to the ground, and are pulled away with long poles -and forks. And the Cæsareans, from the height of their great tower, have -so terrible an advantage! The Massilians cannot defend their wall, and a -breach is made, or almost made. - -The Massilians can do no more. The very gods are against them. So they -put on the habit of supplicants, and go forth to the conquerors. They -will give their city to Cæsar. Cæsar is expected. Will Trebonius be so -good as to wait till Cæsar comes? If Trebonius should proceed with his -work so that the soldiers should absolutely get into the town, -then;--Trebonius knows very well what would happen then. A little delay -cannot hurt. Nothing shall be done till Cæsar comes. As it happens, -Cæsar has already especially ordered that the city shall be spared; and -a kind of truce is made, to endure till Cæsar shall come and take -possession. Trebonius has a difficulty in keeping his soldiers from the -plunder; but he does restrain them, and besiegers and besieged are at -rest, and wait for Cæsar. - -But these Massilians are a crafty people. The Cæsarean soldiers, having -agreed to wait, take it easily, and simply amuse themselves in these -days of waiting. When they are quite off their guard, and a high wind -favours the scheme, the Massilians rush out and succeed in burning the -tower, and the muscle, and the rampart, and the sheds, and all the -implements. Even though the tower was built with brick, it burns -freely,--so great is the wind. Then Trebonius goes to work, and does it -all again. Because there is no more wood left round about the camp, he -makes a rampart of a new kind,--hitherto unheard of,--with bricks. -Doubtless the Cæsarean soldiers had first to make the bricks, and we can -imagine what were their feelings in reference to the Massilians. But -however that may be, they work so well and so hard that the Massilians -soon see that their late success is of no avail. Nothing is left to -them. Neither perfidy nor valour can avail them, and now again they give -themselves up. They are starved and suffering from pestilence, their -fortifications are destroyed, they have no hope of aid from -without,--and now they give themselves up,--intending no fraud. “Sese -dedere sine fraude constituunt.” Domitius, the Pompeian general, manages -to escape in a ship. He starts with three ships, but the one in which he -himself sails alone escapes the hands of “young” Brutus. Surely now will -Marseilles be treated with worse treatment than that which fell on the -Gaulish cities. But such is by no means Cæsar’s will. Cæsar takes their -public treasure and their ships, and reminding them that he spares them -rather for their name and old character than for any merits of theirs -shown towards him, leaves two legions among them, and goes to Rome. At -Avaricum, when the Gauls had fought to defend their own liberties, he -had destroyed everybody;--at Alesia he had decreed the death of every -inhabitant when they had simply asked him leave to pass through his -camp;--at Uxellodunum he had cut off the hands and poked out the eyes of -Gauls who had dared to fight for their country. But the Gauls were -barbarians whom it was necessary that Cæsar should pacify. The -Massilians were Greeks, and a civilised people,--and might be useful. - -Before coming on to Marseilles there had been a little more for Cæsar to -do in Spain, where, as was told in the last chapter, he had just -compelled Afranius and Petreius to lay down their arms and disband their -legions. Joined with them had been a third Pompeian general, one -Varro,--a distinguished man, though not, perhaps, a great general,--of -whom Cæsar tells us that with his Roman policy he veered between -Pompeian and Cæsarean tactics till, unfortunately for himself, he -declared for Pompey and the wrong side, when he heard that Afranius was -having his own way in the neighbourhood of Lerida. But Varro is in the -south of Spain, in Andalusia,--or Bætica, as it was then called,--and in -this southern province of Spain it seems that Cæsar’s cause was more -popular than that of Pompey. Cæsar, at any rate, has but little -difficulty with Varro. The Pompeian officer is deserted by his legions, -and gives himself up very quickly. Cæsar does not care to tell us what -he did with Varro, but we know that he treated his brother Roman with -the utmost courtesy. Varro was a very learned man, and a friend of -Cicero’s, and one who wrote books, and was a credit to Rome as a man of -letters if not as a general. We are told that he wrote 490 volumes, and -that he lived to be eighty-eight,--a fate very uncommon with Romans who -meddled with public affairs in these days. Cæsar made everything smooth -in the south of Spain, restoring the money and treasures which Varro had -taken from the towns, and giving thanks to everybody. Then he went on -over the Pyrenees to Marseilles, and made things smooth there. - -But in the mean time things were not at all smooth in Africa. The name -of Africa was at this time given to a small province belonging to the -Republic, lying to the east of Numidia, in which Carthage had stood when -Carthage was a city, containing that promontory which juts out towards -Sicily, and having Utica as its Roman capital. It has been already said -that when Cæsar determined to gain possession of certain provinces of -the Republic before he followed Pompey across the Adriatic, he sent a -lieutenant with three legions into Sicily, desiring him to go on to -Africa as soon as things should have been arranged in the island after -the Cæsarean fashion. The Sicilian matter is not very troublesome, as -Cato, the virtuous man, in whose hands the government of the island had -been intrusted on behalf of the Republic, leaves it on the arrival of -the Cæsarean legions, complaining bitterly of Pompey’s conduct. Then -Cæsar’s lieutenant goes over to Africa with two legions, as commanded, -proposing to his army the expulsion of one Attius Varus, who had, -according to Cæsar’s story, taken irregular possession of the province, -keeping it on behalf of Pompey, but not allowing the governor appointed -by the Republic so much as to put his foot on the shore. This lieutenant -was a great favourite of Cæsar, by name Curio, who had been elected -tribune of the people just when the Senate was making its attempt to -recall Cæsar from his command in Gaul. In that emergency, Curio as -tribune had been of service to Cæsar, and Cæsar loved the young man. He -was one of those who, though noble by birth, had flung themselves among -the people, as Catiline had done and Clodius,--unsteady, turbulent, -unscrupulous, vicious, needy, fond of pleasure, rapacious, but well -educated, brave, and clever. Cæsar himself had been such a man in his -youth, and could easily forgive such faults in the character of one who, -in addition to such virtues as have been named, possessed that farther -and greater virtue of loving Cæsar. Cæsar expected great things from -Curio, and trusted him thoroughly. Curio, with many ships and his two -legions, lands in Africa, and prepares to win the province for his great -friend. He does obtain some little advantage, so that he is called -“Imperator” by his soldiers,--a name not given to a general till he has -been victorious in the field; but it seems clear, from Cæsar’s telling -of the story, that Curio’s own officers and own soldiers distrusted him, -and were doubtful whether they would follow him, or would take -possession of the ships and return to Sicily;--or would go over to -Attius Varus, who had been their commander in Italy before they had -deserted from Pompey to Cæsar. A council of war is held, and there is -much doubt. It is not only or chiefly of Attius Varus, their Roman -enemy, that they are afraid; but there is Juba in their neighbourhood, -the king of Numidia, who will certainly fight for Varus and against -Curio. He is Pompey’s declared friend, and equally declared as Cæsar’s -foe. He has, too, special grounds of quarrel against Curio himself; and -if he comes in person with his army,--bringing such an army as he can -bring if he pleases,--it will certainly go badly with Curio, should -Curio be distant from his camp. Then Curio, not content with his council -of war, and anxious that his soldiers should support him in his desire -to fight, makes a speech to the legionaries. We must remember, of -course, that Cæsar gives us the words of this speech, and that Cæsar -must himself have put the words together. - -It is begun in the third person. He,--that is Curio,--tells the men how -useful they were to Cæsar at Corfinium, the town at which they went over -from Pompey to Cæsar. But in the second sentence he breaks into the -first person and puts the very words into Curio’s mouth. “For you and -your services,” he says, “were copied by all the towns; nor is it -without cause that Cæsar thinks kindly of you, and the Pompeians -unkindly. For Pompey, having lost no battle, but driven by the result of -your deed, fled from Italy. Me, whom Cæsar holds most dear, and Sicily -and Africa without which he cannot hold Rome and Italy, Cæsar has -intrusted to your honour. There are some who advise you to desert -me,--for what can be more desirable to such men than that they at the -same time should circumvent me, and fasten upon you a foul crime?... But -you,--have you not heard of the things done by Cæsar in Spain,--two -armies beaten, two generals conquered, two provinces gained, and all -this done in forty days from that on which Cæsar first saw his enemy? -Can those who, uninjured, were unable to stand against him, resist him -now that they are conquered? And you, who followed Cæsar when victory on -his side was uncertain, now that fortune has declared herself, will you -go over to the conquered side when you are about to realise the reward -of your zeal?... But perhaps, though you love Cæsar, you distrust me. I -will not say much of my own deserts towards you,--which are indeed less -as yet than I had wished or you had expected.” Then, having thus -declared that he will not speak of himself, he does venture to say a few -words on the subject. “But why should I pass over my own work, and the -result that has been as yet achieved, and my own fortune in war? Is it -displeasing to you that I brought over the whole army, safe, without -losing a ship? That, as I came, at my first onslaught, I should have -dispersed the fleet of the enemy? That, in two days, I should have been -twice victorious with my cavalry; that I should have cut out two hundred -transports from the enemy’s harbour; that I should have so harassed the -enemy that neither by land nor sea could they get food to supply their -wants? Will it please you to repudiate such fortune and such guidance, -and to connect yourself with the disgrace at Corfinium, the flight from -Italy,”--namely, Pompey’s flight to Dyrrachium,--“the surrender of -Spain, and the evils of this African war? I indeed have wished to be -called Cæsar’s soldier, and you have called me your Imperator. If it -repents you of having done so, I give you back the compliment. Give me -back my own name, lest it seem that in scorn you have called me by that -title of honour.” - -This is very spirited; and the merely rhetorical assertion by Cæsar that -Curio thus spoke to his soldiers is in itself interesting, as showing us -the way in which the legionaries were treated by their commanders, and -in which the greatest general, of that or of any age, thought it natural -that a leader should address his troops. It is of value, also, as -showing the difficulty of keeping any legion true to either side in a -civil war, in which, on either side, the men must fight for a commander -they had learned to respect, and against a commander they -respected,--the commander in each case being a Roman Imperator. Curio, -too, as we know, was a man who on such an occasion could use words. But -that he used the words here put into his mouth, or any words like them, -is very improbable. Cæsar was anxious to make the best apology he could -for the gallant young friend who had perished in his cause, and has -shown his love by making the man he loved memorable to all posterity. - -But before the dark hour comes upon him the young man has a gleam of -success, which, had he really spoken the words put into his mouth by -Cæsar, would have seemed to justify them. He attacks the army of his -fellow-Roman, Varus, and beats it, driving it back into Utica. He then -resolves to besiege the town, and Cæsar implies that he would have been -successful through the Cæsarean sympathies of the townsmen,--had it not -been for the approach of the terrible Juba. Then comes a rumour which -reaches Curio,--and which reaches Varus too inside the town,--that the -Numidian king is hurrying to the scene with all his forces. He has -finished another affair that he had on hand, and can now look to his -Roman friends,--and to his Roman enemies. Juba craftily sends forward -his præfect, or lieutenant, Sabura, with a small force of cavalry, and -Curio is led to imagine that Juba has not come, and that Sabura has been -sent with scanty aid to the relief of Varus. Surely he can give a good -account of Sabura and that small body of Numidian horsemen. We see from -the very first that Curio is doomed. Cæsar, in a few touching words, -makes his apology. “The young man’s youth had much to do with it, and -his high spirit; his former success, too, and his own faith in his own -good fortune.” There is no word of reproach. Curio makes another speech -to his soldiers. “Hasten to your prey,” he says, “hasten to your glory!” -They do hasten,--after such a fashion that when the foremost of them -reach Sabura’s troops, the hindermost of them are scattered far back on -the road. They are cut to pieces by Juba. Curio is invited by one of his -officers to escape back to his tent. But Cæsar tells us that Curio in -that last moment replied that having lost the army with which Cæsar had -trusted him, he would never again look Cæsar in the face. That he did -say some such words as these, and that they were repeated by that -officer to Cæsar, is probable enough. “So, fighting, he is slain;”--and -there is an end of the man whom Cæsar loved. - -What then happened was very sad for a Roman army. Many hurry down to the -ships at the sea; but there is so much terror, so much confusion, and -things are so badly done, that but very few get over to Sicily. The -remainder endeavour to give themselves up to Varus; after doing which, -could they have done it, their position would not have been very bad. A -Roman surrendering to a Roman would, at the worst, but find that he was -compelled to change his party. But Juba comes up and claims them as his -prey, and Varus does not dare to oppose the barbarian king. Juba kills -the most of them, but sends a few, whom he thinks may serve his purpose -and add to his glory, back to his own kingdom. In doing which Juba -behaved no worse than Cæsar habitually behaved in Gaul; but Cæsar always -writes as though not only a Roman must regard a Roman as more than a -man, but as though also all others must so regard Romans. And by making -such assertions in their own behalf, Romans were so regarded. We are -then told that the barbarian king of Numidia rode into Utica triumphant, -with Roman senators in his train; and the names of two special Roman -senators Cæsar sends down to posterity as having been among that base -number. As far as we can spare them, they shall be spared. - -Of Juba the king, and of his fate, we shall hear again. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - THIRD BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.--CÆSAR FOLLOWS POMPEY INTO - ILLYRIA.--THE LINES OF PETRA AND THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.--B.C. 48. - - -Cæsar begins the last book of his last Commentary by telling us that -this was the year in which he, Cæsar, was by the law permitted to name a -consul. He names Publius Servilius to act in conjunction with himself. -The meaning of this is, that, as Cæsar had been created Dictator, Pompey -having taken with him into Illyria the consuls of the previous year, -Cæsar was now the only magistrate under whose authority a consul could -be elected. No doubt he did choose the man, but the election was -supposed to have been made in accordance with the forms of the Republic. -He remained at Rome as Dictator for eleven days, during which he made -various laws, of which the chief object was to lessen the insecurity -caused by the disruption of the ordinary course of things; and then he -went down to Brindisi on the track of Pompey. He had twelve legions with -him, but was but badly off for ships in which to transport them; and he -owns that the health of the men is bad, an autumn in the south of Italy -having been very severe on men accustomed to the healthy climate of -Gaul and the north of Spain. Pompey, he tells us, had had a whole year -to prepare his army,--a whole year, without warfare, and had collected -men and ships and money, and all that support which assent gives, from -Asia and the Cyclades, from Corcyra, Athens, Bithynia, Cilicia, -Phœnicia, Egypt, and the free states of Achaia. He had with him nine -Roman legions, and is expecting two more with his father-in-law Scipio -out of Syria. He has three thousand archers from Crete, from Sparta, and -from Pontus; he has twelve hundred slingers, and he has seven thousand -cavalry from Galatia, Cappadocia, and Thrace. A valorous prince from -Macedonia had brought him two hundred men, all mounted. Five hundred of -Galatian and German cavalry, who had been left to overawe Ptolemy in -Egypt, are brought to Pompey by the filial care of young Cnæus. He too -had armed eight hundred of their own family retainers, and had brought -them armed. Antiochus of Commagena sends him two hundred mounted -archers,--mercenaries, however, not sent without promise of high -payment. Dardani,--men from the land of old Troy, Bessi, from the banks -of the Hebrus, Thessalians and Macedonians, have all been crowded -together under Pompey’s standard. We feel that Cæsar’s mouth waters as -he recounts them. But we feel also that he is preparing for the -triumphant record in which he is about to tell us that all these swarms -did he scatter to the winds of heaven with the handful of Roman -legionaries which he at last succeeded in landing on the shores of -Illyria. - -Pompey has also collected from all parts “frumenti vim maximam”--“a -great power of corn indeed,” as an Irishman would say, translating the -words literally. And he has covered the seas with his ships, so as to -hinder Cæsar from coming out of Italy. He has eight vice-admirals to -command his various fleets,--all of whom Cæsar names; and over them all, -as admiral-in-chief, is Bibulus, who was joint-consul with Cæsar before -Cæsar went to Gaul, and who was so harassed during his consulship by the -Cæsareans that he shut himself up in his house, and allowed Cæsar to -rule as sole consul. Now he is about to take his revenge; but the -vengeance of such a one as Bibulus cannot reach Cæsar. - -Cæsar having led his legions to Brindisi, makes them a speech which -almost beats in impudence anything that he ever said or did. He tells -them that as they have now nearly finished all his work for him;--they -have only got to lay low the Republic with Pompey the Great, and all the -forces of the Republic--to which, however, have to be added King Ptolemy -in Egypt, King Pharnaces in Asia, and King Juba in Numidia;--they had -better leave behind them at Brindisi all their little property, the -spoils of former wars, so that they may pack the tighter in the boats in -which he means to send them across to Illyria,--if only they can escape -the mercies of ex-Consul Admiral Bibulus. There is no suggestion that at -any future time they will recover their property. For their future hopes -they are to trust entirely to Cæsar’s generosity. With one shout they -declare their readiness to obey him. He takes over seven legions, -escaping the dangers of those “rocks of evil fame,” the Acroceraunia of -which Horace tells us,--and escaping Bibulus also, who seems to have -shut himself up in his ship as he did before in his house during the -consulship. Cæsar seems to have made the passage with the conviction -that had he fallen into the hands of Bibulus everything would have been -lost. And with ordinary precaution and diligence on the part of Bibulus -such would have been the result. Yet he makes the attempt,--trusting to -the Fortune of Cæsar,--and he succeeds. He lands at a place which he -calls Palæste on the coast of Epirus, considerably to the south of -Dyrrachium, in Illyria. At Dyrrachium Pompey had landed the year before, -and there is now stored that wealth of provision of which Cæsar has -spoken. But Bibulus at last determines to be active, and he does manage -to fall upon the empty vessels which Cæsar sends back to fetch the -remainder of his army. “Having come upon thirty of them, he falls upon -them with all the wrath occasioned by his own want of circumspection and -grief, and burns them. And in the same fire he kills the sailors and the -masters of the vessels,--hoping to deter others,” Cæsar tells us, “by -the severity of the punishment.” After that we are not sorry to hear -that he potters about on the seas very busy, but still incapable, and -that he dies, as it seems, of a broken heart. He does indeed catch one -ship afterwards,--not laden with soldiers, but coming on a private -venture, with children, servants, and suchlike, dependants and followers -of Cæsar’s camp. All these, including the children, Bibulus slaughters, -down to the smallest child. We have, however, to remember that the -story is told by Cæsar, and that Cæsar did not love Bibulus. - -Marc Antony has been left at Brindisi in command of the legions which -Cæsar could not bring across at his first trip for want of sufficient -ship-room, and is pressed very much by Cæsar to make the passage. There -are attempts at treaties made, but as we read the account we feel that -Cæsar is only obtaining the delay which is necessary to him till he -shall have been joined by Antony. We are told how by this time the camps -of Cæsar and Pompey have been brought so near together that they are -separated only by the river Apsus,--for Cæsar had moved northwards -towards Pompey’s stronghold. And the soldiers talked together across the -stream; “nor, the while, was any weapon thrown,--by compact between -those who talked.” Then Cæsar sends Vatinius, as his ambassador, down to -the river to talk of peace; and Vatinius demands with a loud voice -“whether it should not be allowed to citizens to send legates to -citizens, to treat of peace;--a thing that has been allowed even to -deserters from the wilds of the Pyrenees and to robbers,--especially -with so excellent an object as that of hindering citizens from fighting -with citizens.” This seems so reasonable, that a day is named, and -Labienus,--who has deserted from Cæsar and become Pompeian,--comes to -treat on one side of the river, and Vatinius on the other. But,--so -Cæsar tells the story himself,--the Cæsarean soldiers throw their -weapons at their old general. They probably cannot endure the voice or -sight of one whom they regard as a renegade. Labienus escapes under the -protection of those who are with him,--but he is full of wrath against -Cæsar. “After this,” says he, “let us cease to speak of treaties, for -there can be no peace for us till Cæsar’s head has been brought to us.” -But the colloquies over the little stream no doubt answered Cæsar’s -purpose. - -Cæsar is very anxious to get his legions over from Italy, and even -scolds Antony for not bringing them. There is a story,--which he does -not tell himself,--that he put himself into a small boat, intending to -cross over to Brindisi in a storm, to hurry matters, and that he -encouraged the awe-struck master of the boat by reminding him that he -would carry “Cæsar and his fortunes.” The story goes on to say that the -sailors attempted the trip, but were driven back by the tempest. - -At last there springs up a south-west wind, and Antony ventures with his -flotilla,--although the war-ships of Pompey still hold the sea, and -guard the Illyrian coast. But Cæsar’s general is successful, and the -second half of the Cæsarean army is carried northward by favouring -breezes towards the shore in the very sight of Pompey and his soldiers -at Dyrrachium. Two ships, however, lag behind and fall into the hands of -one Otacilius, an officer belonging to Pompey. The two ships, one full -of recruits and the other of veterans, agree to surrender, Otacilius -having sworn that he will not hurt the men. “Here you may see,” says -Cæsar, “how much safety to men there is in presence of mind.” The -recruits do as they have undertaken, and give themselves up;--whereupon -Otacilius, altogether disregarding his oath, like a true Roman, kills -every man of them. But the veterans, disregarding their word also, and -knowing no doubt to a fraction the worth of the word of Otacilius, run -their ship ashore in the night, and, with much fighting, get safe to -Antony. Cæsar implies that the recruits even would have known better had -they not been sea-sick; but that even bilge-water and bad weather -combined had failed to touch the ancient courage of the veteran -legionaries. They were still good men--“item conflictati et tempestatis -et sentinæ vitiis.” - -We are then told how Metellus Scipio, coming out of Syria with his -legions into Macedonia, almost succeeds in robbing the temple of Diana -of Ephesus on his way. He gets together a body of senators, who are to -give evidence that he counts the money fairly as he takes it out of the -temple. But letters come from Pompey just as he is in the act, and he -does not dare to delay his journey even to complete so pleasant a -transaction. He comes to meet Pompey and to share his command at the -great battle that must soon be fought. We hear, too, how Cæsar sends his -lieutenants into Thessaly and Ætolia and Macedonia, to try what friends -he has there, to take cities, and to get food. He is now in a land which -has seemed specially to belong to Pompey; but even here they have heard -of Cæsar, and the Greeks are simply anxious to be friends with the -strongest Roman of the day. They have to judge which will win, and to -adhere to him. For the poor Greeks there is much difficulty in forming a -judgment. Presently we shall see the way in which Cæsar gives a lesson -on that subject to the citizens of Gomphi. In the mean time he joins his -own forces to those lately brought by Antony out of Italy, and resolves -that he will force Pompey to a fight. - -We may divide the remainder of this last book of the second Commentary -into two episodes,--the first being the story of what occurred within -the lines at Petra, and the second the account of the crowning battle of -Pharsalia. In the first Pompey was the victor,--but the victory, great -as it was, has won from the world very little notice. In the second, as -all the world knows, Cæsar was triumphant and henceforward dominant. And -yet the affair at Petra should have made a Pharsalia unnecessary, and -indeed impossible. Two reasons have conspired to make Pompey’s complete -success at Petra unimportant in the world’s esteem. This Commentary was -written not by Pompey but by Cæsar; and then, unfortunately for Pompey, -Pharsalia was allowed to follow Petra. - -It is not very easy to unravel Cæsar’s story of the doings of the two -armies at Petra. Nor, were this ever so easy, would our limits or the -purport of this little volume allow us to attempt to give that narrative -in full to our readers. Cæsar had managed to join the legions which he -had himself brought from Italy with those which had crossed afterwards -with Antony, and was now anxious for a battle. His men, though fewer in -number than they who followed Pompey, were fit for fighting, and knew -all the work of soldiering. Pompey’s men were for the most part -beginners;--but they were learning, and every week added to their -experience was a week in Pompey’s favour. With hope of forcing a battle, -Cæsar managed to get his army between Dyrrachium, in which were kept all -Pompey’s stores and wealth of war, and the army of his opponent, so that -Pompey, as regarded any approach by land, was shut off from Dyrrachium. -But the sea was open to him. His fleet was everywhere on the coast, -while Cæsar had not a ship that could dare to show its bow upon the -waters. - -There was a steep rocky promontory some few miles north of Dyrrachium, -from whence there was easy access to the sea, called Petra, or the rock. -At this point Pompey could touch the sea, but between Petra and -Dyrrachium Cæsar held the country. Here, on this rock, taking in for the -use of his army a certain somewhat wide amount of pasturage at the foot -of the rock, Pompey placed his army, and made intrenchments all round -from sea to sea, fortifying himself, as all Roman generals knew how to -do, with a bank and ditch and twenty-four turrets and earthworks that -would make the place absolutely impregnable. The length of his lines was -fifteen Roman miles,--more than thirteen English miles,--so that within -his works he might have as much space as possible to give him grass for -his horses. So placed, he had all the world at his back to feed him. Not -only could he get at that wealth of stores which he had amassed at -Dyrrachium, and which were safe from Cæsar, but the coasts of Greece, -and Asia, and Egypt were open to his ships. Two things only were wanting -to him,--sufficient grass for his horses, and water. But all things -were wanting to Cæsar,--except grass and water. The Illyrian country at -his back was one so unproductive, being rough and mountainous, that the -inhabitants themselves were in ordinary times fed upon imported corn. -And Pompey, foreseeing something of what might happen, had taken care to -empty the storehouses and to leave the towns behind him destitute and -impoverished. - -Nevertheless Cæsar, having got the body of his enemy, as it were, -imprisoned at Petra, was determined to keep his prisoner fast. So round -and in front of Pompey’s lines he also made other lines, from sea to -sea. He began by erecting turrets and placing small detachments on the -little hills outside Pompey’s lines, so as to prevent his enemy from -getting the grass. Then he joined these towers by lines, and in this way -surrounded the other lines,--thinking that so Pompey would not be able -to send out his horsemen for forage; and again, that the horses inside -at Petra might gradually be starved; and again “that the -reputation,”--“auctoritatem,”--“which in the estimation of foreign -nations belonged chiefly to Pompey in this war, would be lessened when -the story should have been told over the world that Pompey had been -besieged by Cæsar, and did not dare to fight.” - -We are, perhaps, too much disposed to think,--reading our history -somewhat cursorily,--that Cæsar at this time was everybody, and that -Pompey was hardly worthy to be his foe. Such passages in the Commentary -as that above translated,--they are not many, but a few suffice,--show -that this idea is erroneous. Up to this period in their joint courses -Pompey had been the greater man; Cæsar had done very much, but Pompey -had done more--and now he had on his side almost all that was wealthy -and respectable in Rome. He led the Conservative party, and was still -confident that he had only to bide his time, and that Cæsar must fall -before him. Cæsar and the Cæsareans were to him as the spirits of the -Revolution were in France to Louis XVI., to Charles X., and to -Louis-Philippe, before they had made their powers credible and -formidable; as the Reform Bill and Catholic Emancipation were to such -men as George IV. and Lord Eldon, while yet they could be opposed and -postponed. It was impossible to Pompey that the sweepings of Rome, even -with Cæsar and Cæsar’s army to help them, should at last prevail over -himself and over the Roman Senate. “He was said at that time,” we are -again translating Cæsar’s words, “to have declared with boasts among his -own people, that he would not himself deny that as a general he should -be considered to be worthless if Cæsar’s legions should now extricate -themselves from the position in which they had rashly entangled -themselves without very great loss”--“maximo detrimento”--loss that -should amount wellnigh to destruction. And he was all but right in what -he said. - -There was a great deal of fighting for the plots of grass and different -bits of vantage-ground,--fighting which must have taken place almost -entirely between the two lines. But Cæsar suffered under this -disadvantage, that his works, being much the longest, required the -greatest number of men to erect them and prolong them and keep them in -order; whereas Pompey, who in this respect had the least to do, having -the inner line, was provided with much the greater number of men to do -it. Cæsar’s men, being veterans, had always the advantage in the actual -fighting; but in the mean time Pompey’s untried soldiers were obtaining -that experience which was so much needed by them. Nevertheless Pompey -suffered very much. They could not get water on the rock, and when he -attempted to sink wells, Cæsar so perverted the water-courses that the -wells gave no water. Cæsar tells us that he even dammed up the streams, -making little lakes to hold it, so that it should not trickle down in -its underground courses to the comfort of his enemies; but we should -have thought that any reservoirs so made must soon have overflown -themselves, and have been useless for the intended purpose. In the mean -time Cæsar’s men had no bread but what was made of a certain wild -cabbage,--“chara,”--which grew there, which they kneaded up with milk, -and lived upon it cheerfully, though it was not very palatable. To show -the Pompeians the sort of fare with which real veterans could be content -to break their fasts, they threw loaves of this composition across the -lines; for they were close together, and could talk to each other, and -the Pompeians did not hesitate to twit their enemies with their want of -provisions. But the Cæsareans had plenty of water,--and plenty of meat; -and they assure Cæsar that they would rather eat the bark off the trees -than allow the Pompeians to escape them. - -But there was always this for Cæsar to fear,--that Pompey should land a -detachment behind his lines and attack him at the back. To hinder this -Cæsar made another intrenchment, with ditch and bank, running at right -angles from the shore, and was intending to join this to his main work -by a transverse line of fortifications running along that short portion -of the coast which lay between his first lines and the second, when -there came upon him the disaster which nearly destroyed him. While he -was digging his trenches and building his turrets the fighting was so -frequent that, as Cæsar tells us, on one day there were six battles. -Pompey lost two thousand legionaries, while Cæsar lost no more than -twenty; but every Cæsarean engaged in a certain turret was wounded, and -four officers lost their eyes. Cæsar estimates that thirty thousand -arrows were thrown upon the men defending this tower, and tells us of -one Scæva, an officer, who had two hundred and thirty holes made by -these arrows in his own shield.[12] We can only surmise that it must -have been a very big shield, and that there must have been much trouble -in counting the holes. Cæsar, however, was so much pleased that he gave -Scæva a large sum of money,--something over £500, and, allowing him to -skip over six intermediate ranks, made him at once first centurion--or -Primipilus of the legion. We remember no other record of such quick -promotion--in prose. There is, indeed, the well-known case of a common -sailor who did a gallant action and was made first-lieutenant on the -spot; but that is told in verse, and the common sailor was a lady. - -Two perfidious Gauls to whom Cæsar had been very kind, but whom he had -been obliged to check on account of certain gross peculations of which -they had been guilty, though, as he tells us, he had not time to punish -them, went over to Pompey, and told Pompey all the secrets of Cæsar’s -ditches, and forts, and mounds,--finished and unfinished. Before that, -Cæsar assures us, not a single man of his had gone over to the enemy, -though many of the enemy had come to him. But those perfidious Gauls did -a world of mischief. Pompey, hearing how far Cæsar was from having his -works along the sea-shore finished, got together a huge fleet of boats, -and succeeded at night in throwing a large body of his men ashore -between Cæsar’s two lines, thus dividing Cæsar’s forces, and coming upon -them in their weakest point. Cæsar admits that there was a panic in his -lines, and that the slaughter of his men was very great. It seems that -the very size of his own works produced the ruin which befel them, for -the different parts of them were divided one from another, so that the -men in one position could not succour those in another. The affair ended -in the total rout of the Cæsarean army. Cæsar actually fled, and had -Pompey followed him we must suppose that then there would have been an -end of Cæsar. He acknowledges that in the two battles fought on that day -he lost 960 legionaries, 32 officers, and 32 standards. - -And then Cæsar tells us a story of Labienus, who had been his most -trusted lieutenant in the Gallic wars, but who had now gone over to -Pompey, not choosing to fight against the Republic. Labienus demanded of -Pompey the Cæsarean captives, and caused them all to be slaughtered, -asking them with scorn whether veterans such as they were accustomed to -run away. Cæsar is very angry with Labienus; but Labienus might have -defended himself by saying that the slaughter of prisoners of war was a -custom he had learned in Gaul. As for those words of scorn, Cæsar could -hardly have heard them with his own ears, and we can understand that he -should take delight in saying a hard thing of Labienus. - -Pompey was at once proclaimed Imperator. And Pompey used the name, -though the victory had, alas! been gained over his fellow-countrymen. -“So great was the effect of all this on the spirits and confidence of -the Pompeians, that they thought no more of the carrying on of the war, -but only of the victory they had gained.” And then Cæsar throws scorn -upon the Pompeians, making his own apology in the same words. “They did -not care to remember that the small number of our soldiers was the cause -of their triumph, or that the unevenness of the ground and narrowness of -the defiles had aught to do with it; or the occupation of our lines, and -the panic of our men between their double fortifications; or our army -cut into two parts, so that one part could not help the other. Nor did -they add to this the fact that our men, pressed as they were, could not -engage themselves in a fair conflict, and that they indeed suffered more -from their own numbers, and from the narrowness of the ravines, than -from the enemy. Nor were the ordinary chances of war brought to -mind,--how small matters, such as some unfounded suspicion, a sudden -panic, a remembered superstition, may create great misfortune; nor how -often the fault of a general, or the mistake of an officer, may bring -injury upon an army. But they spread abroad the report of the victory of -that day throughout all the world, sending forth letters and tales as -though they had conquered solely by their own valour, nor was it -possible that there should after this be a reverse of their -circumstances.” Such was the affair of Petra, by which the relative -position in the world-history of Cæsar and Pompey was very nearly made -the reverse of what it is. - -Cæsar now acknowledges that he is driven to change the whole plan of his -campaign. He addresses a speech to his men, and explains to them that -this defeat, like that at Gergovia, may lead to their future success. -The victory at Alesia had sprung from the defeat of Gergovia, because -the Gauls had been induced to fight; and from the reverses endured -within the lines of Petra might come the same fortune;--for surely now -the army of Pompey would not fear a battle. Some few officers he -punishes and degrades. His own words respecting his army after their -defeat are very touching. “So great a grief had come from this disaster -upon the whole army, and so strong a desire of repairing its disgrace, -that no one now desired the place of tribune or centurion in his legion; -and all, by way of self-imposed punishment, subjected themselves to -increased toil; and every man burned with a desire to fight. Some from -the higher ranks were so stirred by Cæsar’s speech, that they thought -that they should stand their ground where they were, and fight where -they stood.” But Cæsar was too good a general for that. He moves on -towards the south-east, and in retreating gets the better of Pompey, who -follows him with only half a heart. After a short while Pompey gives up -the pursuit. His father-in-law, Scipio, has brought a great army from -the east, and is in Thessaly. As we read this we cannot fail to remember -how short a time since it was that Cæsar himself was Pompey’s -father-in-law, and that Pompey was Cæsar’s friend because, with too -uxorious a love, he clung to Julia, his young wife. Pompey now goes -eastward to unite his army to that of Scipio; and Cæsar, making his way -also into Thessaly by a more southern route, joins certain forces under -his lieutenant Calvinus, who had been watching Scipio, and who barely -escaped falling into Pompey’s hands before he could reach Cæsar. But -wherever Fortune or Chance could interfere, the Gods were always kind to -Cæsar. - -Then Cæsar tells us of his treatment of two towns in Thessaly, Gomphi -and Metropolis. Unluckily for the poor Gomphians, Cæsar reaches Gomphi -first. Now the fame of Pompey’s victory at Petra had been spread abroad; -and the Gomphians, who,--to give them their due,--would have been just -as willing to favour Cæsar as Pompey, and who only wanted to be on the -winning side that they might hold their little own in safety, believed -that things were going badly with Cæsar. They therefore shut their gates -against Cæsar, and sent off messengers to Pompey. They can hold their -town against Cæsar for a little while, but Pompey must come quickly to -their aid. Pompey comes by no means quick enough, and the Gomphians’ -capacity to hold their own is very short-lived. At about three o’clock -in the afternoon Cæsar begins to besiege the town, and before sunset he -has taken it, and given it to be sacked by his soldiers. The men of -Metropolis were also going to shut their gates, but luckily they hear -just in time what had happened at Gomphi,--and open them instead. -Whereupon Cæsar showers protection upon Metropolis; and all the other -towns of Thessaly, hearing what had been done, learn what Cæsar’s favour -means. - -Pompey, having joined his army to that of Scipio, shares all his honours -with his father-in-law. When we hear this we know that Pompey’s position -was not comfortable, and that he was under constraint. He was a man who -would share his honour with no one unless driven to do so. And indeed -his command at present was not a pleasant one. It was much for a Roman -commander to have with him the Roman Senate,--but the senators so placed -would be apt to be less obedient than trained soldiers. They even accuse -him of keeping them in Thessaly because he likes to lord it over such -followers. But they were, nevertheless, all certain that Cæsar was about -to be destroyed; and, even in Pompey’s camp, they quarrel over the -rewards of victory which they think that they will enjoy at Rome when -their oligarchy shall have been re-established by Pompey’s arms. - -Before the great day arrives Labienus again appears on the scene; and -Cæsar puts into his mouth a speech which he of course intends us to -compare with the result of the coming battle. “Do not think, O Pompey, -that this is the army which conquered Gaul and Germany,”--where Labienus -himself was second in command under Cæsar. “I was present at all those -battles, and speak of a thing which I know. A very small part of that -army remains. Many have perished,--as a matter of course in so many -battles. The autumn pestilence killed many in Italy. Many have gone -home. Many have been left on the other shore. Have you not heard from -our own friends who remained behind sick, that these cohorts of Cæsar’s -were made up at Brindisi?”--made up but the other day, Labienus implies. -“This army, indeed, has been renewed from levies in the two Gauls; but -all that it had of strength perished in those two battles at -Dyrrachium;”--in the contests, that is, within the lines of Petra. Upon -this Labienus swears that he will not sleep under canvas again until he -sleeps as victor over Cæsar; and Pompey swears the same, and everybody -swears. Then they all go away full of the coming victory. We daresay -there was a great deal of false confidence; but as for the words which -Cæsar puts into the mouth of Labienus, we know well how much cause Cæsar -had to dislike Labienus, and we doubt whether they were ever spoken. - -At length the battle-field is chosen,--near the town of Pharsalus, on -the banks of the river Enipeus in Thessaly. The battle has acquired -world-wide fame as that of Pharsalia, which we have been taught to -regard as the name of the plain on which it was fought. Neither of these -names occur in the Commentary, nor does that of the river; and the -actual spot on which the great contest took place seems to be a matter -of doubt even now. The ground is Turkish soil,--near to the mountains -which separate modern Greece from Turkey, and is not well adapted for -the researches of historical travellers. Cæsar had been keeping his men -on the march close to Pompey, till Pompey found that he could no longer -abstain from fighting. Then came Labienus with his vaunts, and his -oath,--and at length the day and the field were chosen. Cæsar at any -rate was ready. At this time Cæsar was fifty-two years old, and Pompey -was five years his elder. - -Cæsar tells us that Pompey had 110 cohorts, or eleven legions. Had the -legions been full, Pompey’s army would have contained 66,000 -legionaries; but Cæsar states their number at 45,000, or something over -two-thirds of the full number. He does not forget to tell us once again -that among these eleven were the two legions which he had given up in -obedience to the demand of the Senate. Pompey himself, with these two -very legions, placed himself on the left away from the river; and -there also were all his auxiliaries,--not counted with the -legionaries,--slingers, archers, and cavalry. Scipio commanded in the -centre with the legions he had brought out of Syria. So Cæsar tells us. -“We learn from other sources that Lentulus commanded Pompey’s right -wing, lying on the river--and Domitius, whom we remember as trying to -hold Marseilles against young Brutus and Trebonius, the left. Cæsar had -80 cohorts, or eight legions, which should have numbered 48,000 men had -his legions been full;--but, as he tells us, he led but 22,000 -legionaries, so that his ranks were deficient by more than a half. As -was his custom, he had his tenth legion to the right, away from the -river. The ninth, terribly thinned by what had befallen it within the -lines at Petra, joined to the eleventh, lay next the river, forming part -of Cæsar’s left wing. Antony commanded the left wing, Domitius Calvinus, -whom Cæsar sometimes calls by one name and sometimes by the other, the -centre,--and Sulla the right. Cæsar placed himself to the right, with -his tenth legion, opposite to Pompey. As far as we can learn, there was -but little in the nature of the ground to aid either of them;--and so -the fight began. - -There is not much complication, and perhaps no great interest, in the -account of the actual battle as it is given by Cæsar. Cæsar makes a -speech to his army, which was, as we have already learned, and as he -tells us now, the accustomed thing to do. No falser speech was ever made -by man, if he spoke the words which he himself reports. He first of all -reminds them how they themselves are witnesses that he has done his best -to insure peace;--and then he calls to their memory certain mock -treaties as to peace, in which, when seeking delay, he had pretended to -engage himself and his enemy. He had never wasted, he told them, the -blood of his soldiers, nor did he desire to deprive the Republic of -either army--“alterutro exercitu”--of Pompey’s army or of his own. They -were both Roman, and far be it from him to destroy aught belonging to -the Republic. We must acknowledge that Cæsar was always chary of Roman -life and Roman blood. He would spare it when it could be spared; but he -could spill it like water when the spilling of it was necessary to his -end. He was very politic; but as for tenderness,--neither he nor any -Roman knew what it was. - -Then there is a story of one Crastinus, who declares that whether dead -or alive he will please Cæsar. He throws the first weapon against the -enemy and does please Cæsar. But he has to please by his death, for he -is killed in his effort. - -Pompey orders that his first rank shall not leave its order to advance, -but shall receive the shock of Cæsar’s attack. Cæsar points out to us -that he is wrong in this, because the very excitement of a first attack -gives increased energy and strength to the men. Cæsar’s legionaries are -told to attack, and they rush over the space intervening between the -first ranks to do so. But they are so well trained that they pause and -catch their breath before they throw their weapons. Then they throw -their piles and draw their swords, and the ranks of the two armies are -close pitted against each other. - -But Pompey had thought that he could win the battle, almost without -calling on his legionaries for any exertion, by the simple strategic -movement of his numerous cavalry and auxiliaries. He outnumbered Cæsar -altogether, but in these arms he could overwhelm him with a cloud of -horsemen and of archers. But Cæsar also had known of these clouds. He -fought now as always with a triple rank of legionaries,--but behind his -third rank,--or rather somewhat to their right shoulder,--he had drawn -up a choice body of men picked from his third line,--a fourth line as it -were,--whose business it was to stand against Pompey’s clouds when the -attempt should be made by these clouds upon their right flank. Cæsar’s -small body of cavalry did give way before the Pompeian clouds, and the -horsemen and the archers and the slingers swept round upon Cæsar’s -flank. But they swept round upon destruction. Cæsar gave the word to -that fourth line of picked men. “Illi--they,” says Cæsar, “ran forward -with the greatest rapidity, and with their standards in advance attacked -the cavalry of Pompey with such violence that none of them could stand -their ground;--so that all not only were forced from the ground, but -being at once driven in panic, they sought the shelter of the highest -mountains near them. And when they were thus removed, all the archers -and the slingers, desolate and unarmed, without any one to take care of -them, were killed in heaps.” Such is Cæsar’s account of Pompey’s great -attack of cavalry which was to win the battle without giving trouble to -the legions. - -Cæsar acknowledges that Pompey’s legionaries drew their swords bravely -and began their share of the fighting well. Then at once he tells us of -the failure on the part of the cavalry and of the slaughter of the poor -auxiliary slingers, and in the very next sentence gives us to understand -that the battle was won. Though Pompey’s legions were so much more -numerous than those of Cæsar, we are told that Cæsar’s third line -attacked the Pompeian legionaries when they were “defessi”--worn out. -The few cohorts of picked men who in such marvellous manner had -dispersed Pompey’s clouds, following on their success, turned the flank -of Pompey’s legions and carried the day. That it was all as Cæsar says -there can be little doubt. That he won the battle there can, we presume, -be no doubt. Pompey at once flew to his camp and endeavoured to defend -it. But such defence was impossible, and Pompey was driven to seek -succour in flight. He found a horse and a few companions, and did not -stop till he was on the sea-shore. Then he got on board a -provision-vessel, and was heard to complain that he had been betrayed by -those very men from whose hands he had expected victory. - -We are told with much picturesque effect how Cæsar’s men, hungry, -accustomed to endurance, patient in all their want, found Pompey’s camp -prepared for victory, and decked in luxurious preparation for the -senatorial victors. Couches were strewn, and plate was put out, and -tables prepared, and the tents of these happy ones were adorned with -fresh ivy. The senatorial happy ones have but a bad time of it, either -perishing in their flight, or escaping into the desert solitudes of the -mountains. Cæsar follows up his conquest, and on the day after the -battle compels the great body of the fugitives to surrender at -discretion. He surrounds them on the top of a hill and shuts them out -from water, and they do surrender at discretion. With stretched-out -hands, prone upon the earth, these late conquerors, the cream of the -Roman power, who had so lately sworn to conquer ere they slept, weeping -beg for mercy. Cæsar, having said a few words to them of his clemency, -gave them their lives. He recommends them to the care of his own men, -and desires that they may neither be slaughtered nor robbed. - -Cæsar says he lost only 200 soldiers in that battle--and among them 30 -officers, all brave men. That gallant Crastinus was among the 30. Of -Pompey’s army 15,000 had been killed, and 24,000 had surrendered! 180 -standards and 9 eagles were taken and brought to Cæsar. The numbers seem -to us to be almost incredible, whether we look at those given to us in -regard to the conqueror or the conquered. Cæsar’s account, however, of -that day’s work has hitherto been taken as authoritative, and it is too -late now to question it. After this fashion was the battle of Pharsalia -won, and the so-called Roman Republic brought to an end. - -But Cæsar by no means thought that his work was done;--nor indeed was -it nearly done. It was now clearly his first duty to pursue -Pompey,--whom, should he escape, the outside provinces and distant -allies of the Republic would soon supply with another army. “Cæsar -thought that Pompey was to be pursued to the neglecting of all other -things.” In the mean time Pompey, who seems to have been panic-struck by -his misfortune, fled with a few friends down the Ægean Sea, picked his -young wife up at an island as he went, and made his way to Egypt. The -story of his murder by those who had the young King of Egypt in their -keeping is well known and need not detain us. Cæsar tells it very -shortly. Pompey sends to young Ptolemy for succour and assistance, -trusting to past friendship between himself and the young king’s father. -Ptolemy is in the hands of eunuchs, adventurers, and cut-throat -soldiers, and has no voice of his own in the matter. But these ruffians -think it well to have Pompey out of the way, and therefore they murder -him. Achillas, a royal satrap, and Septimius, a Roman soldier, go out to -Pompey’s vessel, as messengers from the king, and induce him to come -down into their boat. Then, in the very sight of his wife, he is -slaughtered, and his head is carried away as proof of the deed. Such was -the end of Pompey, for whom no fortune had seemed to be too great, till -Cæsar came upon the scene. We are told by the Roman poet, Lucan, who -took the battle of Pharsalia as his difficult theme, that Cæsar could -bear no superior, and Pompey no equal. The poet probably wished to make -the latter the more magnanimous by the comparison. To us, as we examine -the character of the two generals, Cæsar seems at least as jealous of -power as his son-in-law, and certainly was the more successful of the -two in extruding all others from a share in the power which he coveted. -Pompey in the triumvirate admitted his junior to more, as he must have -felt it, than equal power: Cæsar in the triumvirate simply made a -stepping-stone of the great man who was his elder. Pompey at Thessaly -was forced to divide at least the name of his power with Scipio, his -last father-in-law: but Cæsar never gave a shred of his mantle to be -worn by another soldier. - -In speaking, however, of the character of Pompey, and in comparing it -with that of his greater rival, it may probably be said of him that in -all his contests, both military and political, he was governed by a love -of old Rome, and of the Republic as the greatest national institution -which the world had ever known, and by a feeling which we call -patriotism, and of which Cæsar was,--perhaps, we may say, too great to -be capable. Pompey desired to lead, but to lead the beloved Republic. -Cæsar, caring nothing for the things of old, with no reverence for the -past, utterly destitute of that tenderness for our former footsteps -which makes so many of us cling with passionate fondness to convicted -errors, desired to create out of the dust of the Republic,--which fate -and his genius allowed him to recast as he would,--something which -should be better and truer than the Republic. - -The last seven chapters of the third book of this Commentary form a -commencement of the record of the Alexandrine war,--which, beyond those -seven chapters, Cæsar himself did not write. That he should have -written any Commentary amidst the necessary toils of war, and the -perhaps more pressing emergencies of his political condition, is one of -the greatest marvels of human power. He tells us now, that having -delayed but a few days in Asia, he followed Pompey first to Cyprus and -then to Egypt, taking with him as his entire army three thousand two -hundred men. “The rest, worn out with wounds, and battles, and toil, and -the greatness of the journey, could not follow him.” But he directed -that legions should be made up for him from the remnants of Pompey’s -broken army, and, with a godlike trust in the obedience of absent -vassals, he went on to Egypt. He tells us that he was kept in Alexandria -by Etesian winds. But we know also that Cleopatra came to him at -Alexandria, requiring his services in her contest for the crown of -Egypt; and knowing at what price she bought them, we doubt the -persistent malignity of the Etesian winds, Had Cleopatra been a swarthy -Nubian, as some have portrayed her, Cæsar, we think, would have left -Alexandria though the Etesian winds had blown in his very teeth. All -winds filled Cæsar’s sails. Cæsar gets possession of Cleopatra’s brother -Ptolemy, who, in accordance with their father’s will, was to have -reigned in conjunction with his sister, and the Alexandrians rise -against him in great force. He slays Photinus, the servant of King -Ptolemy, has his own ambassador slain, and burns the royal fleet of -Egypt,--burning with it, unfortunately, the greater part of the royal -library. “These things were the beginning of the Alexandrine war.” These -are the last words of Cæsar’s last Commentary. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -CONCLUSION. - - -Having concluded his ten short chapters descriptive of the ten books of -the Commentaries written by Cæsar himself, the author of this little -Volume has finished his intended task,--and as he is specially anxious -not to be thought to have made an attempt at writing history, he would -not add any concluding words, were it not that three other Commentaries -of Cæsar’s three other wars were added to Cæsar’s Commentaries by other -writers. There is the Commentary on the Alexandrine war,--written -probably by Hirtius, the author of the last book of the Gallic war; and -two Commentaries on the African war and the Spanish war,--written, as -the critics seem to think, by one Oppius, a friend whom Cæsar loved and -trusted. The Alexandrine war was a war of itself, in which Cæsar was -involved by his matchless audacity in following Pompey into Egypt, and -perhaps by the sweetness of Cleopatra’s charms. And this led also to a -war in Asia Minor, the account of which is included with that of his -Egyptian campaign. The African war, and that afterwards carried on in -Spain with the object of crushing out the sparks of Pompeian revolt -against his power, are simply the latter portions of the civil war, and -their records might have been written as chapters added to the -Commentary “De Bello Civili.” - -Alexandria, when Cæsar landed there in pursuit of Pompey and had offered -to him as a graceful tribute on his first arrival the head of his -murdered rival, was a city almost as populous and quite as rich as Rome; -and in the city, and throughout the more fertile parts of Egypt, there -was a crowd of Roman soldiers left there to support and to overawe the -throne of the Ptolemies. Cæsar, with hardly more than half a full legion -to support him, enters Alexandria as though obedience were due to him by -all in Egypt as Roman consul. He at once demands an enormous sum of -money, which he claims as due to himself personally for services -rendered to a former Ptolemy; he takes possession of the person of -Ptolemy the young king,--and is taken possession of by Cleopatra, the -young king’s sister, who was joint-heir with her brother to the throne. -In all his career there was perhaps nothing more audacious than his -conduct in Egypt. The Alexandrians, or rather perhaps the Roman army in -Egypt under the leading of the young king’s satraps, rise against Cæsar, -and he is compelled to fortify himself in the town. He contrives, -however, to burn all the Egyptian fleet, and with it unfortunately the -royal library, as we were told by himself at the end of the last -Commentary. He at length allows Ptolemy to go, giving him back to the -Egyptians, and thinking that the young king’s presence may serve to -allay the enmity of the Alexandrians. The young king wept at leaving -Cæsar, and declared that even his own kingdom was not so dear to him as -the companionship of Cæsar. But the crafty false-faced boy turns against -Cæsar as soon as he is free to do so. Cæsar never was in greater danger; -and as one reads one feels one’s self to be deprived of the right to say -that no more insane thing was ever done than Cæsar did when he swaggered -into Alexandria without an army at his back,--only by the remembrance -that Cæsar was Cæsar. First, because he wanted some ready money, and -secondly, because Cleopatra was pretty, Cæsar nearly lost the world in -Egypt. - -But there comes to his help a barbarian ally,--a certain Mithridates of -Pergamus, a putative son of the great Mithridates of Pontus. Mithridates -brings an army to Cæsar’s rescue, and does rescue him. A great battle is -fought on the Nile,--a battle which would have been impossible to Cæsar -had not Mithridates come to his aid,--and the Egyptians are utterly -dispersed. Young Ptolemy is drowned; Cleopatra is settled on her throne; -and Egypt becomes subject to Cæsar. Then Cæsar hurries into Asia, -finding it necessary to quell the arrogance of a barbarian who had dared -to defeat a Roman general. The unfortunate conqueror is Pharnaces, the -undoubted son of Mithridates of Pontus. But Cæsar comes, and sees, and -conquers. He engages Pharnaces at Zela, and destroys his army; and then, -we are told, inscribed upon his banners those insolent words--“Veni, -vidi, vici.” He had already been made Dictator of the Roman Empire for -an entire year, and had revelled with Cleopatra at Alexandria, and was -becoming a monarch. - -These were the campaigns of the year 47 B.C., and the record of them is -made in the Commentary “De Bello Alexandrino.” - -In the mean time things have not been going altogether smoothly for -Cæsar in Italy, although his friends at Rome have made him Dictator. His -soldiers have mutinied against their officers, and against his -authority; and a great company of Pompeians is collected in that -province of Africa in which poor Curio was conquered by Juba,--when Juba -had Roman senators walking in his train, and Cæsar’s army was destroyed. -The province called by the name of Africa lay just opposite to Sicily, -and was blessed with that Roman civilisation which belonged to the -possessions of the Republic which were nearest to Rome, the great centre -of all things. It is now the stronghold of the Republican faction,--as -being the one spot of Roman ground in which Cæsar had failed of success. -Pompey, indeed, is no more, but Pompey’s two sons are here,--and Scipio, -Pompey’s father-in-law, whom Pompey had joined with himself in the -command at Pharsalus. Labienus is here, who, since he turned from Cæsar, -has been more Pompeian than Pompey himself; and Afranius, to whom Cæsar -was so kind in Spain; and Petreius and King Juba,--of whom a joint story -has yet to be told; and Varus, who held the province against Curio;--and -last of all there is that tower of strength, the great Cato, the most -virtuous and impracticable of men, who, in spite of his virtue, is -always in the wrong, and of whom the world at large only remembers that -he was fond of wine, and that he destroyed himself at Utica. - -They are all at Utica,--and to them for the present Utica is Rome. They -establish a Senate; and Scipio, who is unworthy of the great name he -bears, and is incompetent as a general, is made commander-in-chief, -because Cato decides that law and routine so require. Scipio had been -consul,--had been joint commander with Pompey,--and his rank is the -highest. The same argument had been used when he was joined in that -command,--that it was fitting that such power should be given to him -because he was of consular rank. The command of the Republican fleet had -been intrusted to Bibulus on the same ground. We never hear of Cæsar so -bestowing promotion. He indeed is now and again led away by another -fault, trusting men simply because he loves them,--by what we may call -favouritism,--as he did when he allowed Curio to lose his army in -Africa, and thus occasioned all this subsequent trouble. As we read of -Scipio’s rank we remember that we have heard of similar cause for -ill-judged promotion in later times. The Pompeians, however, collect an -enormous army. They have ten Roman legions, and are supported, moreover, -by the whole force of King Juba. This army, we are told, is as numerous -as that which Pompey commanded at Pharsalus. There is quarrelling among -them for authority; quarrelling as to strategy; jealousy as to the -barbarian, with acknowledged inability to act without him;--and the -reader feels that it is all in vain. Cæsar comes, having quelled the -mutiny of his own old veterans in Italy by a few words. He has gone -among them fearing nothing; they demand their discharge--he grants it. -They require the rewards which they think to be their due, and he tells -them that they shall have their money,--when he has won it with other -legions. Then he addresses them not as soldiers, but as -“citizens”--“Quirites;” and that they cannot stand; it implies that they -are no longer the invincible soldiers of Cæsar. They rally round him; -the legions are re-formed, and he lands in Africa with a small army -indeed,--at first with little more than three thousand men,--and is -again nearly destroyed in the very first battle. But after a few months -campaigning the old story has to be told again. A great battle is fought -at Thapsus, a year and five months after that of Pharsalia, and the -Republic is routed again and for ever. The commentator tells us that on -this occasion the ferocity of Cæsar’s veterans was so great, that by no -entreaties, by no commands, could they be induced to cease from the -spilling of blood. - -But of the destruction of the leaders separate stories are told us. Of -Cato is the first story, and that best known to history. He finds -himself obliged to surrender the town of Utica to Cæsar; and then, “he -himself having carefully settled his own affairs, and having commended -his children to Lucius Cæsar, who was then acting with him as his -quæstor, with his usual gait and countenance, so as to cause no -suspicion, he took his sword with him into his bedroom when it was his -time to retire to rest,--and so killed himself.” Scipio also killed -himself. Afranius was killed by Cæsar’s soldiers. Labienus, and the two -sons of Pompey, and Varus, escaped into Spain. Then comes the story of -King Juba and Petreius. Juba had collected his wives and children, and -all his wealth of gold and jewels and rich apparel, into a town of his -called Zama; and there he had built a vast funeral-pile, on which, in -the event of his being conquered by Cæsar, he intended to -perish,--meaning that his wives and children and dependants and rich -treasures should all be burned with him. So, when he was defeated, he -returned to Zama; but his wives and children and dependants, being less -magnificently minded than their king, and knowing his royal purpose, and -being unwilling to become ornaments to his euthanasia, would not let him -enter the place. Then he went to his old Roman friend Petreius, and they -two sat down together to supper. Petreius was he who would not allow -Afranius to surrender to Cæsar at Lerida. When they have supped, Juba -proposes that they shall fight each other, so that one at least may die -gloriously. They do fight, and Petreius is quickly killed. “Juba being -the stronger, easily destroyed the weaker Petreius with his sword.” Then -the barbarian tried to kill himself; but, failing, got a slave to finish -the work. The battle of Thapsus was fought, B.C. 47. Numidia is made a -province by Cæsar, and so Africa is won. We may say that the Roman -Republic died with Cato at Utica. - -The Spanish war, which afforded matter for the last Commentary, is a -mere stamping out of the embers. Cæsar, after the affair in Africa, goes -to Rome; and the historian begins his chronicle by telling us that he is -detained there “muneribus dandis,”--by the distribution of -rewards,--keeping his promise, no doubt, to those veterans whom he won -back to their military obedience by calling them “Quirites,” or Roman -citizens.[13] The sons of Pompey, Cnæus and Sextus, have collected -together a great number of men to support their worn-out cause, and we -are told that in the battle of Munda more than 30,000 men perished. But -that was the end of it. Labienus and Varus are killed; and the historian -tells us that a funeral was made for them. One Scapula, of whom it is -said that he was the promoter of all this Spanish rebellion, eats his -supper, has himself anointed, and is killed on his funeral-pile. Cnæus, -the elder son of Pompey, escapes wounded, but at last is caught in a -cave, and is killed. Sextus, the younger, escapes, and becomes a leading -rebel for some years longer, till at last he also is killed by one of -Antony’s officers. - -This Commentary is ended, or rather is brought to an untimely close, in -the middle of a speech which Cæsar makes to the inhabitants of -Hipsala,--Seville,--in which he tells them in strong language how well -he behaves to them, and how very badly they have behaved to him. But we -reach an abrupt termination in the middle of a sentence. - -After the battle of Munda Cæsar returned to Rome, and enjoyed one year -of magnificent splendour and regal power in Rome. He is made Consul for -ten years, and Dictator for life. He is still high priest, and at last -is called King. He makes many laws, and perhaps adds the crowning jewel -to his imperishable diadem of glory by reforming the calendar, and -establishing a proper rotation of months and days, so as to comprise a -properly-divided year. But as there is no Commentary of this year of -Cæsar’s life, our readers will not expect that we should treat of it -here. How he was struck to death by Brutus, Cassius, and the other -conspirators, and fell at the foot of Pompey’s statue, gathering his -garments around him gracefully, with a policy that was glorious and -persistent to the last, is known to all men and women. - - “Then burst his mighty heart; - And in his mantle muffling up his face, - Even at the base of Pompey’s statua, - Which all the while ran blood, Great Cæsar fell.” - -That he had done his work, and that he died in time to save his name and -fame from the evil deeds of which unlimited power in the State would too -probably have caused the tyrant to be guilty, was perhaps not the least -fortunate circumstance in a career which for good fortune has been -unequalled in history. - - -THE END. - - -PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. - - * * * * * - -ANCIENT CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS. - -EDITED BY - -THE REV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A. - - -The volumes published contain-- - -1. THE ILIAD. -2. THE ODYSSEY. -3. HERODOTUS. - -A Volume will be published on the 1st of each alternate month, price 2s. -6d. - - -_The aim of the present series will be to explain, sufficiently for -general readers, who these great writers were, and what they wrote; to -give, wherever possible, some connected outline of the story which they -tell, or the facts which they record, checked by the results of modern -investigations; to present some of their most striking passages in -approved English translations, and to illustrate them generally from -modern writers; to serve, in short, as a popular retrospect of the chief -literature of Greece and Rome._ - - -_EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES._ - - -Saturday Review. - -If the other volumes are as well executed as this, the monthly issue -will soon furnish excellent guidance to the whole field of classical -literature, and when the way is thus rendered clear, good translations -will be read with far more pleasure and discrimination. We anticipate -that the judicious and novel design of such a series will meet, as it -deserves, with widespread and lasting favour; and that, with its -success, juster ideas will more generally prevail of the characteristics -of the great writers of old. - - -Civil Service Gazette. - -No more happy idea has been conceived of late than that of which this is -the first instalment.... If the other volumes to follow equal the -‘Iliad,’ the series will be a most charming and instructive one, and the -‘Ancient Classics for English Readers’ will be a most invaluable aid to -modern Education. - - -Spectator. - -Mr Collins deserves, or probably shares with his publishers, the highest -praise for a discovery which is not the less meritorious because it now -seems obvious. Labour without end has been spent with but little success -on the attempt to bring the great Greek and Latin classics within the -reach of unlearned readers. In truth, the method commonly pursued, the -method of translation, is cumbrous and ineffective. Translation -exercises an extraordinary fascination on those who practise it, and it -is not without a literary value, but it is least appreciated by those -for whom it is primarily intended. Pope’s brilliant paraphrases really -please, and Lord Derby is read because he was a great English noble; but -how few readers appreciate the exquisite skill with which Mr Worsley -performed the task of translating the ‘Odyssey’! The advantage of the -present series is, that the writers are not fettered by the fidelity -which often hampers a translator; that they can omit, or shorten, or -give in full as they please; that they can avail themselves of the -finest work of translation when any scene has to be presented in detail; -that they can introduce appropriate illustrations into the body of the -work and not relegate them to the obscurity of notes, and that they can -do all this within the compass of such a volume as can easily be read -through at a sitting. As to the two books before us, the ‘Iliad’ and the -‘Odyssey,’ they remind us of Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare.’ Other -matter, indeed, they contain; but this is the most attractive part of -them, and it is no slight praise to say that they need not shrink from -the comparison. We may say, indeed, though we have one or two faults to -find with details of execution, that they are admirably well done. 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He - would not keep the false wife; neither would he at that moment take - part in the accusation against Clodius, who was of his party, and - against whom such accusation backed by Cæsar would have been fatal. - The intrusion of the demagogue into Cæsar’s house in the pursuit of - Cæsar’s wife during the mysteries of the Bona Dea became the subject - of a trial in Rome. The offence was terrible and was notorious. - Clodius, who was hated and feared by the patricians, was a favourite - with the popular party. The offender was at last brought to trial, and - was acquitted by venal judges. A word spoken by the injured husband - would have insured his condemnation, but that word Cæsar would not - speak. His wife he could divorce, but he would not jeopardise his - power with his own party by demanding the punishment of him who had - debauched her. - - [5] Nipperdeius. - - [6] These people were the descendants of those Cimbri who, half a - century before, had caused such woe to Rome! The Cimbri, we are - told, had gone forth from their lands, and had been six times - victorious over Roman armies, taking possession of “our Province,” and - threatening Italy and Rome. The whole empire of the Republic had been - in danger, but was at last saved by the courage, skill, and rapidity - of Marius. In going forth from their country they had left a remnant - behind with such of their possessions as they could not carry with - them; and these Aduatici were the children and grandchildren of that - remnant. Cæsar doubtless remembered it all. - - [7] And Cæsar was no doubt indignant as well as earnest, though, - perhaps, irrational in his indignation. We know how sacred was held to - be the person of the Roman citizen, and remember Cicero’s patriotic - declaration, “Facinus est vinciri civem Romanum,--scelus verberari;” - and again, the words which Horace puts into the mouth of Regulus when - he asserts that the Roman soldier must be lost for ever in his shame, - and useless, “Qui lora restrictis lacertis Sensit iners timuitque - mortem.” - - [8] Cæsar speaks of the confluence of the Rhine and the “Mosa” as the - spot at which he drove the Germans into the river,--and in various - passages, speaking of the Mosa, clearly means the Meuse. It appears, - however, to be the opinion of English scholars who have studied the - topography of Cæsar’s campaigns with much labour, that the confluence - of the Moselle and Rhine, from which Coblentz derives its name, is the - spot intended. Napoleon, who has hardly made himself an authority on - the affairs of Cæsar generally, but who is thought to be an authority - in regard to topography, holds to the opinion that the site in Holland - is intended to be described. Readers who are anxious on the subject - can choose between the two; but readers who are not anxious will - probably be more numerous. - - [9] “Hostium numerus capitum CDXXX millium fuisset,” from which words - we are led to suppose that there were 180,000 fighting men, besides - the women and children. - - [10] All well-instructed modern Britons have learned from the old - authorities that the Briton war-chariots were furnished with scythes - attached to the axles,--from Pomponius Mela, the Roman geographer, - and from Mrs Markham, among others. And Eugene Sue, in his novel - translated into English under the name of the ‘Rival Races,’ explains - how the Bretons on the other side of the water, in the Morbihan, used - these scythes; and how, before a battle with Cæsar’s legions, the - wives of the warriors arranged the straps so that the scythes might be - worked from the chariot like oars from a boat. But Cæsar says nothing - of such scythes, and surely he would have done so had he seen them. - The reader must choose between Cæsar’s silence and the authority of - Pomponius Mela, Mrs Markham, and Eugene Sue. - - [11] The Tribunes of the people were officers elected annually to act - on behalf of the people as checks on the magistracy of the Republic, - and were endowed with vast powers, which they were presumed to use - for the protection of liberty. But the office of Tribune had become - degraded to party purposes, as had every other office of the state. - - [12] Dean Merivale in his account of this affair reduces the number - of holes in Scæva’s shield to one hundred and twenty,--on the joint - authority, no doubt, of Florus and Valerius Maximus; but Florus lived - 200 and Val. Max. 300 years after Cæsar. Suetonius allows the full - number of holes, but implies that 120 were received while the warrior - was fighting in one place, and 110 while fighting in another. Lucan - sings the story of Scæva at great length, but does not give the number - of wounds in the shield. He seems to say that Scæva was killed on this - occasion, but is not quite clear on the point. That Scæva had one eye - knocked out is certain. Lucan does indeed tell us, in the very last - lines of his poem, that in Egypt Cæsar once again saw his beloved - centurion;--but at the moment described even Cæsar was dismayed, and - the commentators doubt whether it was not Scæva’s ghost that Cæsar - then saw. Valerius Maximus is sure that Scæva was killed when he got - the wounds;--but, if so, how could he have been rewarded and promoted? - The matter has been very much disputed; but here it has been thought - best to adhere to Cæsar. - - [13] Not in the Commentary, but elsewhere, we learn that he now - triumphed four times, for four different victories, taking care to - claim none for any victory won over Roman soldiers. On four different - days he was carried through the city with his legions and his spoils - and his captives. His first triumph was for the Gallic wars; and on - that day Vercingetorix, the gallant Gaul whom we remember, and who - had now been six years in prison, was strangled to do Cæsar honour. - I think we hate Cæsar the more for his cruelty to those who were not - Romans, because policy induced him to spare his countrymen. - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Commentaries of Caesar, by Anthony Trollope - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMMENTARIES OF CAESAR *** - -***** This file should be named 55926-0.txt or 55926-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/9/2/55926/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Books project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Commentaries of Caesar - -Author: Anthony Trollope - -Release Date: November 9, 2017 [EBook #55926] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMMENTARIES OF CAESAR *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Books project.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="c"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</p> - -<p class="cb"><i>Ancient Classics for English Readers</i><br /> -<small>EDITED BY THE</small><br /> -REV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A.</p> - -<p class="cb"><big><big>C Æ S A R</big></big></p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td class="c"><small><i>The Volumes published of this Series contain</i></small><br /> -</td></tr> -<tr><td> -<span class="smcap">HOMER: THE ILIAD, by the Editor.</span><br /> - -<span class="smcap">HOMER: THE ODYSSEY, by the Same.</span><br /> - -<span class="smcap">HERODOTUS, by George C. Swayne, M.A.</span><br /> -</td></tr> -<tr><td class="c"> -<small>Late Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.</small></td></tr> -</table> - -<p>The following Authors, by various Contributors, are in preparation:—</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td> -VIRGIL.</td></tr> -<tr><td>HORACE.</td></tr> -<tr><td>ÆSCHYLUS.</td></tr> -<tr><td>SOPHOCLES.</td></tr> -<tr><td>ARISTOPHANES.</td></tr> -<tr><td>CICERO.</td></tr> -<tr><td>JUVENAL.</td></tr> -<tr><td>XENOPHON.</td></tr> -</table> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td class="c"> -<span class="smcap">Others will follow.</span><br /> - -<i>A Volume will be published on the 1st of every<br /> -alternate Month, price 2s. 6d.</i></td></tr> -</table> - -<h1> -T H E C O M M E N T A R I E S<br /> -<small><small>OF</small></small><br /> -<big>C Æ S A R</big></h1> - -<p class="cb">BY<br /> -ANTHONY TROLLOPE<br /> -<br /><br /> -WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS<br /> -EDINBURGH AND LONDON<br /> -MDCCCLXX<br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="font-size:80%;"> - -<tr><td class="rt"><small>CHAP.</small></td><td> </td> -<td class="rt"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td valign="top"> INTRODUCTION, </td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td valign="top"> FIRST BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR DRIVES FIRST THE SWISS AND THEN THE GERMANS OUT OF GAUL.—B.C. 58,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_028">28</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td valign="top"> SECOND BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR SUBDUES THE BELGIAN TRIBES.—B.C. 57,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_045">45</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td valign="top"> THIRD BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR SUBDUES THE WESTERN TRIBES OF GAUL.—B.C. 56,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_054">54</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td valign="top"> FOURTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR CROSSES THE RHINE, SLAUGHTERS THE GERMANS, AND GOES INTO BRITAIN.—B.C. 55,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_063">63</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td valign="top"> FIFTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR’S SECOND INVASION OF BRITAIN.—THE GAULS RISE AGAINST HIM.—B.C. 54,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_074">74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td valign="top"> SIXTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR PURSUES AMBIORIX.—THE MANNERS OF THE GAULS AND OF THE GERMANS ARE CONTRASTED.—B.C. 53,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_088">88</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td valign="top"> SEVENTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—THE REVOLT OF VERCINGETORIX.—B.C. 52,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_100">100</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td valign="top"> FIRST BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—CÆSAR CROSSES THE RUBICON.—FOLLOWS POMPEY TO BRUNDUSIUM.—AND CONQUERS AFRANIUS IN SPAIN.—B.C. 49,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_116">116</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td valign="top"> SECOND BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—THE TAKING OF MARSEILLES.—VARRO IN THE SOUTH OF SPAIN.—THE FATE OF CURIO BEFORE UTICA.—B.C. 49,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_131">131</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td valign="top"> THIRD BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—CÆSAR FOLLOWS POMPEY INTO ILLYRIA.—THE LINES OF PETRA AND THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.—B.C. 48,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_146">146</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td valign="top"> CONCLUSION,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_174">174</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a>{1}</span></p> - -<p class="cb">C Æ S A R</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<small>INTRODUCTION.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">It</span> may perhaps be fairly said that the Commentaries of Cæsar are the -beginning of modern history. He wrote, indeed, nearly two thousand years -ago; but he wrote, not of times then long past, but of things which were -done under his own eyes, and of his own deeds. And he wrote of countries -with which we are familiar,—of our Britain, for instance, which he -twice invaded, of peoples not so far remote but that we can identify -them with our neighbours and ourselves; and he so wrote as to make us -feel that we are reading actual history, and not romance. The simplicity -of the narratives which he has left is their chief characteristic, if -not their greatest charm. We feel sure that the circumstances which he -tells us did occur, and that they occurred very nearly as he tells them. -He deals with those great movements in Europe from which have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span> sprung, -and to which we can trace, the present political condition of the -nations. Interested as the scholar, or the reader of general literature, -may be in the great deeds of the heroes of Greece, and in the burning -words of Greek orators, it is almost impossible for him to connect to -any intimate and thoroughly-trusted link the fortunes of Athens, or -Sparta, or Macedonia, with our own times and our own position. It is -almost equally difficult to do so in regard to the events of Rome and -the Roman power before the time of Cæsar. We cannot realise and bring -home to ourselves the Punic Wars or the Social War, the Scipios and the -Gracchi, or even the contest for power between Marius and Sulla, as we -do the Gallic Wars and the invasion of Britain, by which the -civilisation of Rome was first carried westwards, or the great civil -wars,—the “Bellum Civile,”—by which was commenced a line of emperors -continued almost down to our own days, and to which in some degree may -be traced the origin and formation of almost every existing European -nation. It is no doubt true that if we did but know the facts correctly, -we could refer back every political and social condition of the present -day to the remotest period of man’s existence; but the interest fails us -when the facts become doubtful, and when the mind begins to fear that -history is mixed with romance. Herodotus is so mythic that what delight -we have in his writings comes in a very slight degree from any desire on -our part to form a continuous chain from the days of which he wrote down -to our own. Between the marvels of Herodotus and the facts of Cæsar -there is a great interval,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span> from which have come down to us the works of -various noble historians; but with Cæsar it seems that that certainty -commences which we would wish to regard as the distinguishing -characteristic of modern history.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered from the beginning that Cæsar wrote only of what -he did or of what he caused to be done himself. At least he only so -wrote in the two works of his which remain to us. We are told that he -produced much besides his Commentaries,—among other works, a poem,—but -the two Commentaries are all of his that we have. The former, in seven -books, relates the facts of his seven first campaigns in Gaul for seven -consecutive years; those campaigns in which he reduced the nations -living between the Rhine, the Rhone, the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees, -and the sea which we now call the British Channel.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The latter -Commentary relates the circumstances of the civil war in which he -contended for power against Pompey, his former colleague, with Crassus, -in the first triumvirate, and established that empire to which Augustus -succeeded after a second short-lived triumvirate between himself and -Lepidus and Antony.</p> - -<p>It is the object of this little volume to describe Cæsar’s Commentaries -for the aid of those who do not read Latin, and not to write Roman -history; but it may be well to say something, in a few introductory -lines, of the life and character of our author. We are all more or less -familiar with the name of Julius Cæsar. In our early days we learned -that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a>{4}</span> was the first of those twelve Roman emperors with whose names -it was thought right to burden our young memories; and we were taught to -understand that when he began to reign there ceased to exist that form -of republican government in which two consuls elected annually did in -truth preside over the fortunes of the empire. There had first been -seven kings,—whose names have also been made familiar to us,—then the -consuls, and after them the twelve Cæsars, of whom the great Julius was -the first. So much we all know of him; and we know, too, that he was -killed in the Capitol by conspirators just as he was going to become -emperor, although this latter scrap of knowledge seems to be -paradoxically at variance with the former. In addition to this we know -that he was a great commander and conqueror and writer, who did things -and wrote of them in the “veni, vidi, vici” style—saying of himself, “I -came, I saw, I conquered.” We know that a great Roman army was intrusted -to him, and that he used this army for the purpose of establishing his -own power in Rome by taking a portion of it over the Rubicon, which -little river separated the province which he had been appointed to -govern from the actual Roman territory within which, as a military -servant of the magistrates of the republic, he had no business to appear -as a general at the head of his army. So much we know; and in the -following very short memoir of the great commander and historian, no -effort shall be made,—as has been so frequently and so painfully done -for us in late years,—to upset the teachings of our youth, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span> -prove that the old lessons were wrong. They were all fairly accurate, -and shall now only be supplemented by a few further circumstances which -were doubtless once learned by all school-boys and school-girls, but -which some may perhaps have forgotten since those happy days.</p> - -<p>Dean Merivale, in one of the early chapters of his admirable history of -the Romans under the Empire, declares that Caius Julius Cæsar is the -greatest name in history. He makes the claim without reserve, and -attaches to it no restriction, or suggestion that such is simply his own -opinion. Claims of this nature, made by writers on behalf of their -pet-heroes, we are, all of us, generally inclined to dispute; but this -claim, great as it is, can hardly be disputed. Dr Merivale does not say -that Cæsar was the greatest man that ever lived. In measuring such -supremacy, men take for themselves various standards. To satisfy the -judgment of one, it is necessary that a poet should be selected; for -another, a teacher of religion; for a third, some intellectual hero who -has assisted in discovering the secrets of nature by the operations of -his own brain; for a fourth, a ruler,—and so on. But the names of some -of these cannot be said to be great in history. Homer, Luther, Galileo, -and Charles V., are great names,—as are also Shakespeare, Knox, Queen -Elizabeth, and Newton. Among these, the two rulers would probably be the -least in general admiration. But no one can assert that the names of the -poets, divines, and philosophers, are greater than theirs in history. -The Dean means that of all men who have lived, and whose deeds are -known<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> to us, Julius Cæsar did most to move the world; and we think that -the Dean is right. Those whom we might, perhaps, compare with Cæsar, are -Alexander, Charlemagne, Cromwell, Napoleon, and Washington. In regard to -the first two, we feel, when claims are made for them, that they are -grounded on the performance of deeds only partially known to us. In the -days of Alexander, history was still dark,—and it had become dark again -in those of Charlemagne. What Cromwell did was confined to our own -islands, and, though he was great for us, he does not loom as large -before the eyes of mankind in general as does one who moved all Europe, -present and future. If there be any fair antagonist to Cæsar in this -claim, it is Napoleon. As a soldier he was equally great, and the area -of his operations was as extended. But there is an old saying which -tells us that no one can be sure of his fortune till the end shall have -come; and Cæsar’s death on the steps of the Capitol was more in -accordance with our ideas of greatness than that of Napoleon at St -Helena. We cannot, moreover, but feel that there were fewer drawbacks -from greatness in the personal demeanour of the Roman “Imperator” and -Dictator than in that of the French Emperor. For Julius Cæsar was never -really emperor, in that sense in which we use the word, and in -accordance with which his successor Augustus really became an emperor. -As to Washington, we may perhaps allow that in moral attributes he was -the greatest of all. To aid his country he dared all,—even a rebel’s -disgraceful death, had he not succeeded where success was most -improbable;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span> and in all that he attempted he succeeded. His is the name -that culminates among those of the men who made the United States a -nation, and does so by the eager consent of all its people. And his work -came altogether from patriotism,—with no alloy of personal ambition. -But it cannot be said that the things he did were great as those which -were done by Cæsar, or that he himself was as potent in the doing of -them. He ventured everything with as grand a purpose as ever warmed the -heart of man, and he was successful; but the things which he did were in -themselves small in comparison with those effected by his less noble -rival for fame. Mommsen, the German historian, describes Cæsar as a man -too great for the scope of his intelligence and power of delineation. -“The historian,” he says, speaking of Cæsar, “when once in a thousand -years he encounters the perfect, can only be silent regarding it.” -Napoleon also, in his life of Cæsar, paints his hero as perfect; but -Napoleon when doing so is, in fact, claiming godlike perfection for that -second Cæsar, his uncle. And the perfection which he claims is not that -of which Mommsen speaks. The German intends to convey to us his -conviction that Cæsar was perfect in human capacity and intelligence. -Napoleon claims for him moral perfection. “We may be convinced,” says -the Emperor, “by the above facts, that during his first consulate, one -only motive animated Cæsar,—namely, the public interest.” We cannot, -however, quite take the facts as the Emperor of the French gives them to -us, nor can we share his conviction; but the common consent<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span> of reading -men will probably acknowledge that there is in history no name so great -as that of Julius Cæsar,—of whose written works some account is -intended to be given in the following chapters.</p> - -<p>He was born just one hundred years before Christ, and came of an old -noble Roman family, of which Julius and not Cæsar was the distinctive -name. Whence came the name of Cæsar has been a matter of doubt and of -legend. Some say that it arose from the thick hair of one of the Julian -tribe; others that a certain scion of the family, like Macduff, “was -from his mother’s womb untimely ripped,” for which derivations Latin -words are found to be opportune. Again we are told that one of the -family once kept an elephant,—and we are referred to some eastern -language in which the word for elephant has a sound like Cæsar. Another -legend also rose from Cæsar’s name, which, in the Gallic language of -those days,—very luckily for Cæsar,—sounded as though one should say, -“Send him back.” Cæsar’s horse once ran away with him, and carried him -over to the enemy. An insolent Gaul, who knew him, called out, “Cæsar, -Cæsar!” and so the other Gauls, obeying the order supposed to be given, -allowed the illustrious one to escape. It must be acknowledged, however, -that the learned German who tells us this story expresses a contemptuous -conviction that it cannot be true. Whatever may have produced the word, -its significance, derived from the doings and writings of Caius Julius, -has been very great. It has come to mean in various languages the holder -of despotic power; and though it is said that, as a fact, the Russian -title<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span> Czar has no connection with the Roman word, so great is the -prestige of the name, that in the minds of men the popular appellation -of the Russian Emperor will always be connected with that of the line of -the Roman Emperor.</p> - -<p>Cæsar was the nephew by marriage of that Marius who, with alternations -of bloody successes and seemingly irreparable ruin, had carried on a -contest with Sulla for supreme power in the republic. Sulla in these -struggles had represented the aristocrats and patricians,—what we -perhaps may call the Conservative interest; while Marius, whose origin -was low, who had been a common soldier, and, rising from the ranks, had -become the darling of the army and of the people, may perhaps be -regarded as one who would have called himself a Liberal, had any such -term been known in those days. His liberality,—as has been the case -with other political leaders since his time,—led him to personal power. -He was seven times Consul, having secured his seventh election by -atrocious barbarities and butcherings of his enemies in the city; and -during this last consulship he died. The young Cæsar, though a patrician -by birth, succeeded his uncle in the popular party, and seems from a -very early age,—from his very boyhood,—to have looked forward to the -power which he might win by playing his cards with discretion.</p> - -<p>And very discreet he was,—self-confident to a wonderful degree, and -patient also. It is to be presumed that most of our readers know how the -Roman Republic fell, and the Roman Empire became established as the -result of the civil wars which began with Marius<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span> and ended with, that -“young Octavius” whom we better recognise as Augustus Cæsar. Julius -Cæsar was the nephew by marriage of Marius, and Augustus was the -great-nephew and heir of Julius. By means of conscriptions and murders, -worse in their nature, though less probably in number, than those which -disgraced the French Revolution, the power which Marius achieved almost -without foresight, for which the great Cæsar strove from his youth -upwards with constant foresight, was confirmed in the hands of Augustus, -and bequeathed by him to the emperors. In looking back at the annals of -the world, we shall generally find that despotic power has first grown -out of popular movement against authority. It was so with our own -Cromwell, has twice been so in the history of modern France, and -certainly was so in the formation of the Roman Empire. In the great work -of establishing that empire, it was the mind and hand and courage of -Cæsar that brought about the result, whether it was for good or evil. -And in looking at the lives of the three men—Marius, Cæsar, and -Augustus, who followed each other, and all worked to the same end, the -destruction of that oligarchy which was called a Republic in Rome—we -find that the one was a man, while the others were beasts of prey. The -cruelties of Marius as an old man, and of Augustus as a young one, were -so astounding as, even at this distance, to horrify the reader, though -he remembers that Christianity had not yet softened men’s hearts. -Marius, the old man, almost swam in the blood of his enemies, as also -did his rival Sulla; but the young Octavius, he whom the gods favoured -so<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span> long as the almost divine<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Augustus, cemented his throne with the -blood of his friends. To complete the satisfaction of Lepidus and -Antony, his comrades in the second triumvirate, he did not scruple to -add to the list of those who were to die, the names of the nearest and -dearest to him. Between these monsters of cruelty—between Marius and -Sulla, who went before him, and Octavius and Antony who followed -him—Cæsar has become famous for clemency. And yet the hair of the -reader almost stands on end with horror as Cæsar recounts in page after -page the stories of cities burned to the ground, and whole communities -slaughtered in cold blood. Of the destruction of the women and children -of an entire tribe, Cæsar will leave the unimpassioned record in one -line. But this at least may be said of Cæsar, that he took no delight in -slaughter. When it became in his sight expedient that a people should -suffer, so that others might learn to yield and to obey, he could give -the order apparently without an effort. And we hear of no regrets, or of -any remorse which followed the execution of it. But bloodshed in itself -was not sweet to him. He was a discreet, far-seeing man, and could do -without a scruple what discretion and caution demanded of him.</p> - -<p>And it may be said of Cæsar that he was in some sort guided in his life -by sense of duty and love of country; as it may also be said of his -great contemporaries, Pompey and Cicero. With those who went<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> before -him, Marius and Sulla, as also with those who followed him, Antony and -Augustus, it does not seem that any such motives actuated them. Love of -power and greed, hatred of their enemies and personal ambition, a -feeling that they were urged on by their fates to seek for high place, -and a resolve that it was better to kill than be killed, impelled them -to their courses. These feelings were strong, too, with Cæsar, as they -are strong to this day with statesmen and with generals; but mingled -with them in Cæsar’s breast there was a noble idea, that he would be -true to the greatness of Rome, and that he would grasp at power in order -that the Roman Empire might be well governed. Augustus, doubtless, ruled -well; and to Julius Cæsar very little scope for ruling was allowed after -his battling was done; but to Augustus no higher praise can be assigned -than that he had the intelligence to see that the temporary wellbeing of -the citizens of Rome was the best guarantee for his own security.</p> - -<p>Early in life Cæsar lifted himself to high position, though he did so in -the midst of dangers. It was the wonder of those around him that Sulla -did not murder him when he was young,—crush him while he was yet, as it -were, in his shell; but Sulla spared him, and he rose apace. We are told -that he became priest of Jupiter at seventeen, and he was then already a -married man. He early trained himself as a public orator, and amidst -every danger espoused the popular cause in Rome. He served his country -in the East,—in Bithynia, probably,—escaping, by doing so, the perils -of a residence in the city. He became Quæstor and then<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> Ædile, assisted -by all the Marian party, as that party would assist the rising man whom -they regarded as their future leader. He attacked and was attacked, and -was “indefatigable in harassing the aristocracy,”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> who strove, but -strove in vain, to crush him. Though young, and addicted to all the -pleasures of youth,—a trifler, as Sulla once called him,—he omitted to -learn nothing that was necessary for him to know as a chief of a great -party and a leader of great armies. When he was thirty-seven he was made -Pontifex Maximus, the official chief of the priesthood of Rome, the -office greatest in honour of any in the city, although opposed by the -whole weight of the aristocracy, and although Catulus was a candidate, -who, of all that party, was the highest not only in renown but in -virtue. He became Prætor the next year, though again he was opposed by -all the influence of those who feared him. And, after his twelve months -of office, he assumed the government of Spain,—the province allotted to -him as Proprætor, in accordance with the usage of the Republic,—in the -teeth of a decree of the Senate ordering him to remain in Rome. Here he -gained his first great military success, first made himself known to his -soldiery, and came back to Rome entitled to the honour of a triumph.</p> - -<p>But there was still another step on the ladder of the State before he -could assume the position which no doubt he already saw before him. He -must be Consul before he could be the master of many legions, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span> -order that he might sue in proper form for the consulship, it was -necessary that he should abandon his Triumph. He could only triumph as -holding the office of General of the Republic’s forces, and as General -or Imperator he could not enter the city. He abandoned the Triumph, sued -for his office in the common fashion, and enabled the citizens to say -that he preferred their service to his personal honours. At the age of -forty-one he became Consul. It was during the struggle for the -consulship that the triumvirate was formed, of which subsequent ages -have heard so much, and of which Romans at the time heard probably so -little. Pompey, who had been the political child of Sulla, and had been -the hope of the patricians to whom he belonged, had returned to Rome -after various victories which he had achieved as Proconsul in the East, -had triumphed,—and had ventured to recline on his honours, disbanding -his army and taking to himself the credit of subsiding into privacy. The -times were too rough for such honest duty, and Pompey found himself for -a while slighted by his party. Though he had thought himself able to -abandon power, he could not bear the loss of it. It may be that he had -conceived himself able to rule the city by his influence without the aid -of his legions. Cæsar tempted him, and they two with Crassus, who was -wanted for his wealth, formed the first triumvirate. By such pact among -themselves they were to rule all Rome and all Rome’s provinces; but -doubtless, by resolves within himself of which no one knew, Cæsar -intended even then to grasp the dominion of the whole in his own hands. -During the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span> years that followed,—the years in which Cæsar was engaged -in his Gallic wars,—Pompey remained at Rome, not indeed as Cæsar’s -friend—for that hollow friendship was brought to an end by the death of -Julia, Cæsar’s daughter, whom Pompey, though five years Cæsar’s elder, -had married—but in undecided rivalship to the active man who in foreign -wars was preparing legions by which to win the Empire. Afterwards, when -Cæsar, as we shall hear, had crossed the Rubicon, their enmity was -declared. It was natural that they should be enemies. In middle life, -Pompey, as we have seen, had married Cæsar’s daughter, and Cæsar’s -second wife had been a Pompeia.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> But when they were young, and each -was anxious to attach himself to the politics of his own party, Pompey -had married the daughter-in-law of Sulla, and Cæsar had married the -daughter of Cinna, who had almost been joined with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span> Marius in leading -the popular party. Such having been the connection they had made in -their early lives, it was natural that Pompey and Cæsar should be -enemies, and that the union of those two with any other third in a -triumvirate should be but a hollow compromise, planned and carried out -only that time might be gained.</p> - -<p>Cæsar was now Consul, and from his consular chair laughed to scorn the -Senate and the aristocratic colleague with whom he was joined,—Bibulus, -of whom we shall again hear in the Commentary on the civil war. During -his year of office he seems to have ruled almost supreme and almost -alone. The Senate was forced to do his bidding, and Pompey, at any rate -for this year, was his ally. We already know that to prætors and to -consuls, after their year of office in the city, were confided the -government of the great provinces of the Republic, and that these -officers while so governing were called proprætors and proconsuls. After -his prætorship Cæsar had gone for a year to southern Spain, the province -which had been assigned to him, whence he came back triumphant,—but not -to enjoy his Triumph. At the expiration of his consulship the joint -provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum were assigned to him, not for -one year, but for five years; and to these was added Transalpine Gaul, -by which grant dominion was given to him over all that country which we -now know as Northern Italy, over Illyria to the east, and to the west -across the Alps, over the Roman province already established in the -south of France. This province, bounded on the north by Lake Leman and -the Swiss mountains, ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span> south, to the Mediterranean, and to the west -half across the great neck of land which joins Spain to the continent of -Europe. This province of Transalpine Gaul was already Roman, and to -Cæsar was intrusted the task of defending this, and of defending Rome -itself, from the terrible valour of the Gauls. That he might do this it -was necessary that he should collect his legions in that other Gaul -which we now know as the north of Italy.</p> - -<p>It does not seem that there was any preconceived idea that Cæsar should -reduce all Gallia beneath the Roman yoke. Hitherto Rome had feared the -Gauls, and had been subject to their inroads. The Gauls in former years -had even made their way as invaders into the very city, and had been -bought out with a ransom. They had spread themselves over Northern -Italy, and hence, when Northern Italy was conquered by Roman arms, it -became a province under the name of Cisalpine Gaul. Then, during the -hundred years which preceded Cæsar’s wars, a province was gradually -founded and extended in the south of France, of which Marseilles was the -kernel. Massilia had been a colony of Greek merchants, and was supported -by the alliance of Rome. Whither such alliance leads is known to all -readers of history. The Greek colony became a Roman town, and the Roman -province stretched itself around the town. It was Cæsar’s duty, as -governor of Transalpine Gaul, to see that the poor province was not hurt -by those ravaging Gauls. How he performed that duty he tells us in his -first Commentary.</p> - -<p>During the fourth year of his office, while Pompey<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span> and Crassus, his -colleagues in the then existing triumvirate, were consuls, his term of -dominion over the three provinces was prolonged by the addition of five -other years. But he did not see the end of the ten years in that scene -of action. Julia, his daughter, had died, and his great rival was -estranged from him. The Senate had clamoured for his recall, and Pompey, -with doubtful words, had assented, A portion of his army was demanded -from him, was sent by him into Italy in obedience to the Senate, and -shortly afterwards was placed under the command of Pompey. Then Cæsar -found that the Italian side of the Alps was the more convenient for his -purposes, that the Hither or Cisalpine Gaul demanded his services, and -that it would be well for him to be near the Rubicon. The second -Commentary, in three books, ‘De Bello Civili,’ giving us his record of -the civil war, tells us of his deeds and fortunes for the next two -years,—the years <small>B.C.</small> 49 and 48. The continuation of his career as a -general is related in three other Commentaries, not by his own hand, to -which, as being beyond the scope of this volume, only short allusion -will be made. Then came one year of power, full of glory, and, upon the -whole, well used; and after that there came the end, of which the tale -has been so often told, when he fell, stabbed by friend and foe, at the -foot of Pompey’s pillar in the Capitol.</p> - -<p>It is only further necessary that a few words should be added as to the -character of Cæsar’s writings,—for it is of his writings rather than of -his career that it is intended here to give some idea to those who have -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span> an opportunity of reading them. Cæsar’s story can hardly be told in -this little volume, for it is the history of the world as the world then -was. The word which our author has chosen as a name for his work,—and -which now has become so well known as connected with Cæsar, that he who -uses it seems to speak of Cæsar,—means, in Cæsar’s sense, a Memoir. -Were it not for Cæsar, a “Commentary” would be taken to signify that -which the critic had added, rather than the work which the author had -first produced. Cæsar’s “Commentaries” are memoirs written by himself, -descriptive of his different campaigns, in which he treats of himself in -the third person, and tells his story as it might have been told by some -accompanying scribe or secretary. This being so, we are of course driven -to inquire whether some accompanying scribe or secretary may not in -truth have done the work. And there is doubtless one great argument -which must be powerful with us all towards the adoption of such a -surmise. The amount of work which Cæsar had on hand, not only in regard -to his campaigns, but in the conduct of his political career, was so -great as to have overtasked any brain without the addition of literary -labour. Surely no man was ever so worked; for the doctrine of the -division of labour did not prevail then in great affairs as it does now. -Cæsar was not only a general; he was also an engineer, an astronomer, an -orator, a poet, a high priest—to whom, as such, though himself, as we -are told, a disbeliever in the gods of Olympus, the intricate and -complicated system of Roman worship was a necessary knowledge. And he -was a politician, of whom it may be said that, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span> he was intimately -acquainted with the ferocity of opposition, he knew nothing of its -comparative leisure. We have had busy statesmen writing books, two prime -ministers translating Homer, another writing novels, a fourth known as a -historian, a dramatist, and a biographer. But they did not lead armies -as well as the Houses of Parliament, and they were occasionally blessed -by the opportunities of comparative political retirement which -opposition affords. From the beginning of the Gallic war, Cæsar was -fighting in person every year but one till he died. It was only by -personal fighting that he could obtain success. The reader of the -following pages will find that, with the solitary exception of the siege -of Marseilles, nothing great was done for him in his absence. And he had -to make his army as well as to lead it. Legion by legion, he had to -collect it as he needed it, and to collect it by the force of his own -character and of his own name. The abnormal plunder with which it was -necessary that his soldiers should be allured to abnormal valour and -toil had to be given as though from his own hand. For every detail of -the soldiers’ work he was responsible; and at the same time it was -incumbent on him so to manipulate his Roman enemies at Rome,—and, -harder still than that, his Roman friends,—that confusion and -destruction should not fall upon him as a politician. Thus weighted, -could he write his own Commentaries? There is reason to believe that -there was collected by him, no doubt with the aid of his secretaries, a -large body of notes which were known as the Ephemerides of -Cæsar,—jottings down, as we may say, taken from day to day. Were<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span> not -the Commentaries which bear Cæsar’s name composed from these notes by -some learned and cunning secretary?</p> - -<p>These notes have been the cause of much scholastic wrath to some of the -editors and critics. One learned German, hotly arguing that Cæsar wrote -no Ephemerides, does allow that somebody must have written down the -measurements of the journeys, of the mountains, and of the rivers, the -numbers also of the captives and of the slaves.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> “Not even I,” says -he,—“not even do I believe that Cæsar was able to keep all these things -simply in his memory.” Then he goes on to assert that to the keeping of -such notes any scribe was equal; and that it was improbable that Cæsar -could have found time for the keeping of notes when absolutely in his -tent. The indignation and enthusiasm are comic, but the reasoning seems -to be good. The notes were probably collected under Cæsar’s immediate -eyes by his secretaries; but there is ample evidence that the -Commentaries themselves are Cæsar’s own work. They seem to have become -known at once to the learned Romans of the day; and Cicero, who was -probably the most learned, and certainly the best critic of the time, -speaks of them without any doubt as to their authorship. It was at once -known that the first seven books of the Gallic War were written by -Cæsar, and that the eighth was not. This seems to be conclusive. But in -addition to this, there is internal evidence. Cæsar writes in the third -person, and is very careful to maintain that mode of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span> expression. But he -is not so careful but that on three or four occasions he forgets -himself, and speaks in the first person. No other writer, writing for -Cæsar, would have done so. And there are certain trifles in the mode of -telling the story, which must have been personal to the man. He writes -of “young” Crassus, and “young” Brutus, as no scribe would have written; -and he shows, first his own pride in obtaining a legion from Pompey’s -friendship, and then his unmeasured disgust when the Senate demand and -obtain from him that legion and another one, and when Pompey uses them -against himself, in a fashion which would go far to prove the -authenticity of each Commentary, were any proof needed. But the assent -of Cæsar’s contemporaries suffices for this without other evidence.</p> - -<p>And it seems that they were written as the wars were carried on, and -that each was published at once. Had it not been so, we could not -understand that Cæsar should have begun the second Commentary before he -had finished the first. It seems that he was hindered by the urgency of -the Civil War from writing what with him would have been the two last -books of the Gallic War, and therefore put the completion of that work -into the hands of his friend Hirtius, who wrote the memoir of the two -years in one book. And Cæsar’s mode of speaking of men who were at one -time his friends and then his enemies, shows that his first Commentary -was completed and out of hand before the other was written. Labienus, -who in the Gallic War was Cæsar’s most trusted lieutenant, went over to -the other side and served under Pompey in the Civil War. He could not -have failed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span> to allude in some way to the desertion of Labienus, in the -first Commentary, had Labienus left him and joined Pompey while the -first Commentary was still in his hands.</p> - -<p>His style was at once recognised by the great literary critic of the day -as being excellent for its intended purpose. Cæsar is manifestly not -ambitious of literary distinction, but is very anxious to convey to his -readers a narrative of his own doings, which shall be graphic, succinct, -intelligible, and sufficiently well expressed to insure the attention of -readers. Cicero, the great critic, thus speaks of the Commentaries; -“Valde quidam, inquam, probandos; nudi enim sunt, recti, et venusti, -omni ornatu orationis, tanquam veste, detracto.” The passage is easily -understood, but not perhaps very easily translated into English. “I -pronounce them, indeed, to be very commendable, for they are simple, -straightforward, agreeable, with all rhetorical ornament stripped from -them, as a garment is stripped.” This was written by Cicero while Cæsar -was yet living, as the context shows. And Cicero does not mean to imply -that Cæsar’s writings are bald or uncouth: the word “venusti” is -evidence of this. And again, speaking of Cæsar’s language, Cicero says -that Cæsar spoke with more finished choice of words than almost any -other orator of the day. And if he so spoke, he certainly so wrote, for -the great speeches of the Romans were all written compositions. -Montaigne says of Cæsar: “I read this author with somewhat more -reverence and respect than is usually allowed to human writings, one -while considering him in his person, by his actions and miraculous<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span> -greatness, and another in the purity and inimitable polish of his -language and style, wherein he not only excels all other historians, as -Cicero confesses, but peradventure even Cicero himself.” Cicero, -however, confesses nothing of the kind, and Montaigne is so far wrong. -Cæsar was a great favourite with Montaigne, who always speaks of his -hero with glowing enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>To us who love to make our language clear by the number of words used, -and who in writing rarely give ourselves time for condensation, the -closely-packed style of Cæsar is at first somewhat difficult of -comprehension. It cannot be read otherwise than slowly till the reader’s -mind is trained by practice to Cæsarean expressions, and then not with -rapidity. Three or four adjectives, or more probably participles, joined -to substantives in a sentence, are continually intended to convey an -amount of information for which, with us, three or four other distinct -sentences would be used. It is almost impossible to give the meaning of -Cæsar in English without using thrice as many words as he uses. The same -may be said of many Latin writers,—perhaps of all; so great was the -Roman tendency to condensation, and so great is ours to dilution. But -with Cæsar, though every word means much, there are often many words in -the same sentence, and the reader is soon compelled to acknowledge that -skipping is out of the question, and that quick reading is undesirable.</p> - -<p>That which will most strike the ordinary English reader in the narrative -of Cæsar is the cruelty of the Romans,—cruelty of which Cæsar himself -is guilty to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> a frightful extent, and of which he never expresses -horror. And yet among his contemporaries he achieved a character for -clemency which he has retained to the present day. In describing the -character of Cæsar, without reference to that of his contemporaries, it -is impossible not to declare him to have been terribly cruel. From -bloodthirstiness he slaughtered none; but neither from tenderness did he -spare any. All was done from policy; and when policy seemed to him to -demand blood, he could, without a scruple,—as far as we can judge, -without a pang,—order the destruction of human beings, having no regard -to number, sex, age, innocence, or helplessness. Our only excuse for him -is that he was a Roman, and that Romans were indifferent to blood. -Suicide was with them the common mode of avoiding otherwise inevitable -misfortune, and it was natural that men who made light of their own -lives should also make light of the lives of others. Of all those with -whose names the reader will become acquainted in the following pages, -hardly one or two died in their beds. Cæsar and Pompey, the two great -ones, were murdered. Dumnorix, the Æduan, was killed by Cæsar’s orders. -Vercingetorix, the gallantest of the Gauls, was kept alive for years -that his death might grace Cæsar’s Triumph. Ariovistus, the German, -escaped from Cæsar, but we hear soon after of his death, and that the -Germans resented it. He doubtless was killed by a Roman weapon. What -became of the hunted Ambiorix we do not know, but his brother king -Cativolcus poisoned himself with the juice of yew-tree. Crassus, the -partner of Cæsar and Pompey in the first triumvirate, was killed by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span> the -Parthians. Young Crassus, the son, Cæsar’s officer in Gaul, had himself -killed by his own men that he might not fall into the hands of the -Parthians, and his head was cut off and sent to his father. Labienus -fell at Munda, in the last civil war in Spain. Quintus Cicero, Cæsar’s -lieutenant, and his greater brother, the orator, and his son, perished -in the proscriptions of the second triumvirate. Titurius and Cotta were -slaughtered with all their army by Ambiorix. Afranius was killed by -Cæsar’s soldiers after the last battle in Africa. Petreius was hacked to -pieces in amicable contest by King Juba. Varro indeed lived to be an old -man, and to write many books. Domitius, who defended Marseilles for -Pompey, was killed in the flight after Pharsalia. Trebonius, who -attacked Marseilles by land, was killed by a son-in-law of Cicero at -Smyrna. Of Decimus Brutus, who attacked Marseilles by sea, one Camillus -cut off the head and sent it as a present to Antony. Curio, who -attempted to master the province of Africa on behalf of Cæsar, rushed -amidst his enemy’s swords and was slaughtered. King Juba, who conquered -him, failing to kill himself, had himself killed by a slave. Attius -Varus, who had held the province for Pompey, fell afterwards at Munda. -Marc Antony, Cæsar’s great lieutenant in the Pharsalian wars, stabbed -himself. Cassius Longinus, another lieutenant under Cæsar, was drowned. -Scipio, Pompey’s partner in greatness at Pharsalia, destroyed himself in -Africa. Bibulus, his chief admiral, pined to death. Young Ptolemy, to -whom Pompey fled, was drowned in the Nile. The fate of his sister -Cleopatra<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span> is known to all the world. Pharnaces, Cæsar’s enemy in Asia, -fell in battle. Cato destroyed himself at Utica. Pompey’s eldest son, -Cnæus, was caught wounded in Spain and slaughtered. Sextus the younger -was killed some years afterwards by one of Antony’s soldiers. Brutus and -Cassius, the two great conspirators, both committed suicide. But of -these two we hear little or nothing in the Commentaries; nor of Augustus -Cæsar, who did contrive to live in spite of all the bloodshed through -which he had waded to the throne. Among the whole number there are not -above three, if so many, who died fairly fighting in battle.</p> - -<p>The above is a list of the names of men of mark,—of warriors chiefly, -of men who, with their eyes open, knowing what was before them, went out -to encounter danger for certain purposes. The bloody catalogue is so -complete, so nearly comprises all whose names are mentioned, that it -strikes the reader with almost a comic horror. But when we come to the -slaughter of whole towns, the devastation of country effected purposely -that men and women might starve, to the abandonment of the old, the -young, and the tender, that they might perish on the hillsides, to the -mutilation of crowds of men, to the burning of cities told us in a -passing word, to the drowning of many thousands,—mentioned as we should -mention the destruction of a brood of rats,—the comedy is all over, and -the heart becomes sick. Then it is that we remember that the coming of -Christ has changed all things, and that men now,—though terrible things -have been done since Christ came to us,—are not as men were in the days -of Cæsar.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<small>FIRST BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR DRIVES FIRST THE SWISS AND THEN THE GERMANS OUT OF GAUL.—B.C. 58.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">It</span> has been remarked in the preceding chapter that Cæsar does not appear -to have received any commission for the subjugation of Gaul when he took -military charge of his three provinces. The Gauls were still feared in -Rome, and it was his duty to see that they did not make their way over -the Alps into the Roman territory. It was also his duty to protect from -invasion, and also from rebellion, that portion of Gaul which had -already been constituted a Roman province, but in which the sympathies -of the people were still rather with their old brethren than with their -new masters. The experience, however, which we have of great and -encroaching empires tells us how probable it is that the protection of -that which the strong already holds should lead to the grasping of more, -till at last all has been grasped. It is thus that our own empire in -India has grown. It was thus that the Spanish empire grew in America. It -is thus that the empire of the United States is now growing. It was thus -that Prussia, driven, as we all remember, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span> the necessity of -self-preservation, took Nassau the other day, and Hanover and Holstein -and Hesse. It was thus that the wolf claimed all the river, not being -able to endure the encroaching lamb. The humane reader of history -execrates, as he reads, the cruel, all-absorbing, ravenous wolf. But the -philosophical reader perceives that in this way, and in no other, is -civilisation carried into distant lands. The wolf, though he be a -ravenous wolf, brings with him energy and knowledge.</p> - -<p>What may have been Cæsar’s own aspirations in regard to Gaul, when the -government of the provinces was confided to him, we have no means of -knowing. We may surmise,—indeed we feel that we know,—that he had a -project in hand much greater to him, in his view of its result, than -could be the adding of any new province to the Republic, let the -territory added be as wide as all Gaul. He had seen enough of Roman -politics to know that real power in Rome could only belong to a master -of legions. Both Marius and Sulla had prevailed in the city by means of -the armies which they had levied as the trusted generals of the -Republic. Pompey had had his army trained to conquest in the East, and -it had been expected that he also would use it to the same end. He had -been magnanimous, or half-hearted, or imprudent, as critics of his -conduct might choose to judge him then and may choose to judge him now, -and on reaching Italy from the East had disbanded his legions. As a -consequence, he was at that moment, when Cæsar was looking out into the -future and preparing his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span> career, fain to seek some influence in the -city by joining himself in a secret compact with Cæsar, his natural -enemy, and with Crassus. Cæsar, seeing all this, knowing how Marius and -Sulla had succeeded and had failed, seeing what had come of the -magnanimity of Pompey—resolved no doubt that, whatever might be the -wars in which they should be trained, he would have trained legions at -his command. When, therefore, he first found a cause for war, he was -ready for war. He had not been long proconsul before there came a wicked -lamb and drank at his stream.</p> - -<p>In describing to us the way in which he conquered lamb after lamb -throughout the whole country which he calls Gallia, he tells us almost -nothing of himself. Of his own political ideas, of his own ambition, -even of his doings in Italy through those winter months which he -generally passed on the Roman side of the Alps, having left his army in -winter quarters under his lieutenants, he says but a very few words. His -record is simply the record of the campaigns; and although he now and -then speaks of the dignity of the Republic, he hardly ever so far -digresses from the narrative as to give to the reader any idea of the -motives by which he is actuated. Once in these seven memoirs of seven -years’ battling in Gaul, and once only, does he refer to a motive -absolutely personal to himself. When he succeeded in slaughtering a -fourth of the emigrating Swiss, which was his first military success in -Gaul, he tells us that he had then revenged an injury to himself as well -as an injury to the Republic, because the grandfather of his -father-in-law<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span> had in former wars been killed by the very tribe which he -had just destroyed!</p> - -<p>It is to be observed, also, that he does not intentionally speak in the -first person, and that when he does so it is in some passage of no -moment, in which the personality is accidental and altogether trivial. -He does not speak of “I” and “me,” but of Cæsar, as though he, Cæsar, -who wrote the Commentary, were not the Cæsar of whom he is writing. Not -unfrequently he speaks strongly in praise of himself; but as there is no -humility in his tone, so also is there no pride, even when he praises -himself. He never seems to boast, though he tells us of his own exploits -as he does of those of his generals and centurions. Without any -diffidence he informs us now and again how, at the end of this or that -campaign, a “supplication,” or public festival and thanksgiving for his -victories, was decreed in Rome, on the hearing of the news,—to last for -fifteen or twenty days, as the case might be.</p> - -<p>Of his difficulties at home,—the political difficulties with which he -had to contend,—he says never a word. And yet at times they must have -been very harassing. We hear from other sources that during these wars -in Gaul his conduct was violently reprobated in Rome, in that he had, -with the utmost cruelty, attacked and crushed states supposed to be in -amity with Rome, and that it was once even proposed to give him up to -the enemy as a punishment for grievous treachery to the enemy. Had it -been so resolved by the Roman Senate,—had such a law been enacted,—the -power to carry out the law would have been wanted. It was easier<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span> to -grant a “supplication” for twenty days than to stop his career after his -legions had come to know him.</p> - -<p>Nor is there very much said by Cæsar of his strategic difficulties; -though now and then, especially when his ships are being knocked about -on the British coast, and again when the iron of his heel has so bruised -the Gauls that they all turn against him in one body under -Vercingetorix, the reader is allowed to see that he is pressed hard -enough. But it is his rule to tell the thing he means to do, the way he -does it, and the completeness of the result, in the fewest possible -words. If any student of the literature of battles would read first -Cæsar’s seven books of the Gallic War, and then Mr Kinglake’s first four -volumes of the ‘Invasion of the Crimea,’ he would be able to compare two -most wonderful examples of the dexterous use of words, in the former of -which the narrative is told with the utmost possible brevity, and in the -latter with almost the utmost possible prolixity. And yet each narrative -is equally clear, and each equally distinguished by so excellent an -arrangement of words, that the reader is forced to acknowledge that the -story is told to him by a great master.</p> - -<p>In praising others,—his lieutenants, his soldiers, and occasionally his -enemies,—Cæsar is often enthusiastic, though the praise is conferred by -a word or two,—is given, perhaps, simply in an epithet added on for -that purpose to a sentence planned with a wholly different purpose. Of -blame he is very sparing; so much so, that it almost seems that he -looked upon certain imperfections, in regard even to faith as well as -valour<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span> or prudence, as necessary to humanity, and pardonable because of -their necessity. He can tell of the absolute destruction of a legion -through the folly and perhaps cowardice of one of his lieutenants, -without heaping a word of reproach on the name of the unfortunate. He -can relate how a much-favoured tribe fell off from their faith again and -again without expressing anger at their faithlessness, and can explain -how they were,—hardly forgiven, but received again as friends,—because -it suited him so to treat them. But again he can tell us, without -apparently a quiver of the pen, how he could devote to destruction a -city with all its women and all its children, so that other cities might -know what would come to them if they did not yield and obey, and become -vassals to the godlike hero in whose hands Providence had placed their -lives and their possessions.</p> - -<p>It appears that Cæsar never failed to believe in himself. He is far too -simple in his language, and too conscious of his own personal dignity, -to assert that he has never been worsted. But his very simplicity seems -to convey the assurance that such cannot ultimately be the result of any -campaign in which he is engaged. He seems to imply that victory attends -him so certainly that it would be futile in any case to discuss its -probability. He feared no one, and was therefore the cause of awe to -others. He could face his own legions when they would not obey his call -to arms, and reduce them to obedience by a word. Lucan, understanding -his character well, says of him that “he deserved to be feared, for he -feared nothing;”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span> “meruitque timeri Nil metuens.” He writes of himself -as we might imagine some god would write who knew that his divine -purpose must of course prevail, and who would therefore never be in the -way of entertaining a doubt. With Cæsar there is always this godlike -simplicity, which makes his “Veni, vidi, vici,” the natural expression -of his mind as to his own mode of action. The same thing is felt in the -very numerous but very brief records of the punishments which he -inflicted. Cities are left desolate, as it were with a wave of his hand, -but he hardly deigns to say that his own hand has even been waved. He -tells us of one Acco who had opposed him, that, “Graviore sententiâ -pronunciatâ,”—as though there had been some jury to pronounce this -severe sentence, which was in fact pronounced only by himself, -Cæsar,—he inflicted punishment on him “more majorum.” We learn from -other sources that this punishment consisted in being stripped naked, -confined by the neck in a cleft stick, and then being flogged to death. -In the next words, having told us in half a sentence that he had made -the country too hot to hold the fugitive accomplices of the tortured -chief, he passes on into Italy with the majestic step of one much too -great to dwell long on these small but disagreeable details. And we feel -that he is too great.</p> - -<p>It has been already said that the great proconsular wolf was not long in -hearing that a lamb had come down to drink of his stream. The Helvetii, -or Swiss, as we call them,—those tribes which lived on the Lake Leman, -and among the hills and valleys to the north<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span> of the lake,—had made up -their minds that they were inhabiting but a poor sort of country, and -that they might considerably better themselves by leaving their -mountains and going out into some part of Gaul, in which they might find -themselves stronger than the existing tribes, and might take possession -of the fat of the land. In doing so, their easiest way out of their own -country would lie by the Rhone, where it now runs through Geneva into -France. But in taking this route the Swiss would be obliged to pass over -a corner of the Roman province. Here was a case of the lamb troubling -the waters with a vengeance. When this was told to Cæsar,—that these -Swiss intended, “facero iter per Provinciam nostram”—“to do their -travelling through our Province,”—he hurried over the Alps into Gaul, -and came to Geneva as fast as he could travel.</p> - -<p>He begins his first book by a geographical definition of Gaul, which no -doubt was hardly accurate, but which gives us a singularly clear idea of -that which Cæsar desired to convey. In speaking of Gallia he intends to -signify the whole country from the outflow of the Rhine into the ocean -down to the Pyrenees, and then eastward to the Rhone, to the Swiss -mountains, and the borders of the Roman Province. This he divides into -three parts, telling us that the Belgians inhabited the part north of -the Seine and Marne, the people of Aquitania the part south of the -Garonne, and the Gauls or Celts the intermediate territory. Having so -far described the scene of his action, he rushes off at once to the -dreadful sin of the Swiss emigrants in desiring to pass through “our -Province.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span></p> - -<p>He has but one legion in Further Gaul,—that is, in the Roman province -on the further side of the Alps from Rome; and therefore, when -ambassadors come to him from the Swiss, asking permission to go through -the corner of land, and promising that they will do no harm in their -passage, he temporises with them. He can’t give them an answer just -then, but must think of it. They must come back to him by a certain -day,—when he will have more soldiers ready. Of course he refuses. The -Swiss make some slight attempt, but soon give that matter up in despair. -There is another way by which they can get out of their -mountains,—through the territory of a people called Sequani; and for -doing this they obtain leave. But Cæsar knows how injurious the Swiss -lambs will be to him and his wolves, should they succeed in getting -round to the back of his Province,—that Roman Province which left the -name of Provence in modern France till France refused to be divided any -longer into provinces. And he is, moreover, invited by certain friends -of the Roman Republic, called the Ædui, to come and stop these rough -Swiss travellers. He is always willing to help the Ædui, although these -Ædui are a fickle, inconstant people,—and he is, above all things, -willing to get to war. So he comes upon the rear of the Swiss when three -portions of the people have passed the river Arar (Saone), and one -portion is still behind. This hindermost tribe,—for the wretches were -all of one tribe or mountain canton,—he sets upon and utterly destroys; -and on this occasion congratulates himself on having<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span> avenged himself -upon the slayers of the grandfather of his father-in-law.</p> - -<p>There can be nothing more remarkable in history than this story of the -attempted emigration of the Helvetii, which Cæsar tells us without the -expression of any wonder. The whole people made up their minds that, as -their borders were narrow, their numbers increasing, and their courage -good, they would go forth,—men, women, and children,—and seek other -homes. We read constantly of the emigrations of people,—of the Northmen -from the north covering the southern plains, of Danes and Jutes entering -Britain, of men from Scandinavia coming down across the Rhine, and the -like. We know that after this fashion the world has become peopled. But -we picture to ourselves generally a concourse of warriors going forth -and leaving behind them homes and friends, to whom they may or may not -return. With these Swiss wanderers there was to be no return. All that -they could not take with them they destroyed, burning their houses, and -burning even their corn, so that there should be no means of turning -their steps backward. They do make considerable progress, getting as far -into France as Autun,—three-fourths of them at least getting so far; -but near this they are brought to an engagement by Cæsar, who -outgenerals them on a hill. The prestige of the Romans had not as yet -established itself in these parts, and the Swiss nearly have the best of -it. Cæsar owns, as he does not own again above once or twice, that the -battle between them was very long, and for long very doubtful. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span> at -last the poor Helvetii are driven in slaughter. Cæsar, however, is not -content that they should simply fly. He forces them back upon their old -territory,—upon their burnt houses and devastated fields,—lest certain -Germans should come and live there, and make themselves disagreeable. -And they go back;—so many, at least, go back as are not slain in the -adventure. With great attempt at accuracy, Cæsar tells us that 368,000 -human beings went out on the expedition, and that 110,000, or less than -a third, found their way back. Of those that perished, many hecatombs -had been offered up to the shade of his father-in-law’s grandfather.</p> - -<p>Hereupon the Gauls begin to see how great a man is Cæsar. He tells us -that no sooner was that war with the Swiss finished than nearly all the -tribes of Gallia send to congratulate him. And one special tribe, those -Ædui,—of whom we hear a great deal, and whom we never like because they -are thoroughly anti-Gallican in all their doings till they think that -Cæsar is really in trouble, and then they turn upon him,—have to beg of -him a great favour. Two tribes,—the Ædui, whose name seems to have left -no trace in France, and the Arverni, whom we still know in -Auvergne,—have been long contending for the upper hand; whereupon the -Arverni and their friends the Sequani have called in the assistance of -certain Germans from across the Rhine. It went badly then with the Ædui. -And now one of their kings, named Divitiacus, implores the help of -Cæsar. Would Cæsar be kind enough to expel these horrid Germans, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span> -get back the hostages, and free them from a burdensome dominion, and put -things a little to rights? And, indeed, not only were the Ædui suffering -from these Germans, and their king, Ariovistus; it is going still worse -with the Sequani, who had called them in. In fact, Ariovistus was an -intolerable nuisance to that eastern portion of Gaul. Would Cæsar be -kind enough to drive him out? Cæsar consents, and then we are made to -think of another little fable,—of the prayer which the horse made to -the man for assistance in his contest with the stag, and of the manner -in which the man got upon the horse, and never got down again. Cæsar was -not slow to mount, and when once in the saddle, certainly did not mean -to leave it.</p> - -<p>Cæsar tells us his reasons for undertaking this commission. The Ædui had -often been called “brothers” and “cousins” by the Roman Senate; and it -was not fitting that men who had been so honoured should be domineered -over by Germans. And then, unless these marauding Germans could be -stopped, they would fall into the habit of coming across the Rhine, and -at last might get into the Province, and by that route into Italy -itself. And Ariovistus himself was personally so arrogant a man that the -thing must be made to cease. So Cæsar sends ambassadors to Ariovistus, -and invites the barbarian to a meeting. The barbarian will not come to -the meeting. If he wanted to see the Roman, he would go to the Roman: if -the Roman wants to see him, the Roman may come to him. Such is the reply -of Ariovistus. Ambassadors pass between them, and there is a good deal -of argument, in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span> the barbarian has the best of it. Cæsar, with his -godlike simplicity, scorns not to give the barbarian the benefit of his -logic. Ariovistus reminds Cæsar that the Romans have been in the habit -of governing the tribes conquered by them after their fashion, without -interference from him, Ariovistus; and that the Germans claim and mean -to exercise the same right. He goes on to say that he is willing enough -to live in amity with the Romans; but will Cæsar be kind enough to -remember that the Germans are a people unconquered in war, trained to -the use of arms, and how hardy he might judge when he was told that for -fourteen years they had not slept under a roof? In the mean time other -Gauls were complaining, and begging for assistance. The Treviri, people -of the country where Treves now stands, are being harassed by the -terrible yellow-haired Suevi, who at this time seem to have possessed -nearly the whole of Prussia as it now exists on the further side of the -Rhine, and who had the same desire to come westward that the Prussians -have evinced since. And a people called the Harudes, from the Danube, -are also harassing the poor Ædui. Cæsar, looking at these things, sees -that unless he is quick, the northern and southern Germans may join -their forces. He gets together his commissariat, and flies at Ariovistus -very quickly.</p> - -<p>Throughout all his campaigns, Cæsar, as did Napoleon afterwards, -effected everything by celerity. He preaches to us no sermon on the -subject, favours us with no disquisition as to the value of despatch in -war, but constantly tells us that he moved all his army<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> “magnis -itineribus”—by very rapid marches; that he went on with his work night -and day, and took precautions “magno opere,”—with much labour and all -his care,—to be beforehand with the enemy. In this instance Ariovistus -tries to reach a certain town of the poor Sequani, then called Vesontio, -now known to us as Besançon,—the same name, but very much altered. It -consisted of a hill, or natural fortress, almost surrounded by a river, -or natural fosse. There is nothing, says Cæsar, so useful in a war as -the possession of a place thus naturally strong. Therefore he hurries on -and gets before Ariovistus, and occupies the town. The reader already -begins to feel that Cæsar is destined to divine success. The reader -indeed knows that beforehand, and expects nothing worse for Cæsar than -hairbreadth escapes. But the Romans themselves had not as yet the same -confidence in him. Tidings are brought to him at Vesontio that his men -are terribly afraid of the Germans. And so, no doubt, they were. These -Romans, though by the art of war they had been made fine -soldiers,—though they had been trained in the Eastern conquests and the -Punic wars, and invasions of all nations around them,—were -nevertheless, up to this day, greatly afraid even of the Gauls. The -coming of the Gauls into Italy had been a source of terror to them ever -since the days of Brennus. And the Germans were worse than the Gauls. -The boast made by Ariovistus that his men never slept beneath a roof was -not vain or useless. They were a horrid, hirsute, yellow-haired people, -the flashing aspect of whose eyes could hardly be endured<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> by an -Italian. The fear is so great that the soldiers “sometimes could not -refrain even from tears;”—“neque interdum lacrimas tenere poterant.” -When we remember what these men became after they had been a while with -Cæsar, their blubbering awe of the Germans strikes us as almost comic. -And we are reminded that the Italians of those days were, as they are -now, more prone to show the outward signs of emotion than is thought to -be decorous with men in more northern climes. We can hardly realise the -idea of soldiers crying from fear. Cæsar is told by his centurions that -so great is this feeling, that the men will probably refuse to take up -their arms when called upon to go out and fight; whereupon he makes a -speech to all his captains and lieutenants, full of boasting, full of -scorn, full, no doubt, of falsehood, but using a bit of truth whenever -the truth could aid him. We know that among other great gifts Cæsar had -the gift of persuasion. From his tongue, also, as from Nestor’s, could -flow “words sweeter than honey,”—or sharper than steel. At any rate, if -others will not follow him, his tenth legion, he knows, will be true to -him. He will go forth with that one legion,—if necessary, with that -legion of true soldiers, and with no others. Though he had been at his -work but a short time, he already had his picked men, his guards, his -favourite regiments, his tenth legion; and he knew well how to use their -superiority and valour for the creation of those virtues in others.</p> - -<p>Then Ariovistus sends ambassadors, and declares that he now is willing -to meet Cæsar. Let them meet on a certain plain, each bringing only his -cavalry<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span> guard. Ariovistus suggests that foot-soldiers might be -dangerous, knowing that Cæsar’s foot-soldiers would be Romans, and that -his cavalry are Gauls. Cæsar agrees, but takes men out of his own tenth -legion, mounted on the horses of the less-trusted allies. The accounts -of these meetings, and the arguments which we are told are used on this -and that side, are very interesting. We are bound to remember that Cæsar -is telling the story for both sides, but we feel that he tries to tell -it fairly. Ariovistus had very little to say to Cæsar’s demands, but a -great deal to say about his own exploits. The meeting, however, was -broken up by an attack made by the Germans on Cæsar’s mounted guard, and -Cæsar retires,—not, however, before he has explained to Ariovistus his -grand idea of the protection due by Rome to her allies. Then Ariovistus -proposes another meeting, which Cæsar declines to attend, sending, -however, certain ambassadors. Ariovistus at once throws the ambassadors -into chains, and then there is nothing for it but a fight.</p> - -<p>The details of all these battles cannot be given within our short -limits, and there is nothing special in this battle to tempt us to dwell -upon it. Cæsar describes to us the way in which the German cavalry and -infantry fought together, the footmen advancing from amidst the -horsemen, and then returning for protection. His own men fight well, and -the Germans, in spite of their flashing eyes, are driven headlong in a -rout back to the Rhine. Ariovistus succeeds in getting over the river -and saving himself, but he has to leave his two daughters behind, and -his two<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span> wives. The two wives and one of the daughters are killed; the -other daughter is taken prisoner. Cæsar had sent as one of his -ambassadors to the German a certain dear friend of his, who, as we heard -before, was, with his comrade, at once subjected to chains. In the -flight this ambassador is recovered. “Which thing, indeed, gave Cæsar -not less satisfaction than the victory itself,—in that he saw one of -the honestest men of the Province of Gaul, his own familiar friend and -guest, rescued from the hands of his enemies and restored to him. Nor -did Fortune diminish this gratification by any calamity inflicted on the -man. Thrice, as he himself told the tale, had it been decided by lot in -his own presence whether he should then be burned alive or reserved for -another time.” So Cæsar tells the story, and we like him for his -enthusiasm, and are glad to hear that the comrade ambassador also is -brought back.</p> - -<p>The yellow-haired Suevi, when they hear of all this, desist from their -invasion on the lower Rhine, and hurry back into their own country, not -without misfortunes on the road. So great already is Cæsar’s name, that -tribes, acting as it were on his side, dare to attack even the Suevi. -Then, in his “Veni, vidi, vici” style, he tells us that, having in one -summer finished off two wars, he is able to put his army into winter -quarters even before the necessary time, so that he himself may go into -his other Gaul across the Alps,—“ad conventus agendos,”—to hold some -kind of session or assizes for the government of his province, and -especially to collect more soldiers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<small>SECOND BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR SUBDUES THE BELGIAN TRIBES.—B.C. 57.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> man had got on the horse’s back, but the horse had various -disagreeable enemies in attacking whom the man might be very useful, and -the horse was therefore not as yet anxious to unseat his rider. Would -Cæsar be so good as to go and conquer the Belgian tribes? Cæsar is not -slow in finding reasons for so doing. The Belgians are conspiring -together against him. They think that as all Gaul has been reduced,—or -“pacified,” as Cæsar calls it,—the Roman conqueror will certainly bring -his valour to bear upon them, and that they had better be ready. Cæsar -suggests that it would no doubt be felt by them as a great grievance -that a Roman army should remain all the winter so near to them. In this -way, and governed by these considerations, the Belgian lambs disturb the -stream very sadly, and the wolf has to look to it. He collects two more -legions, and, as soon as the earth brings forth the food necessary for -his increased number of men and horses, he hurries off against these -Belgian tribes of Northern Gallia. Of these, one tribe, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span> Remi, -immediately send word to him that they are not wicked lambs like the -others; they have not touched the waters. All the other Belgians, say -the Remi, and with them a parcel of Germans, are in a conspiracy -together. Even their very next-door neighbours, their brothers and -cousins, the Suessiones, are wicked; but they, the Remi, have steadily -refused even to sniff at the stream, which they acknowledge to be the -exclusive property of the good wolf. Would the wolf be kind enough to -come and take possession of them and all their belongings, and allow -them to be the humblest of his friends? We come to hate these Remi, as -we do the Ædui; but they are wise in their generation, and escape much -of the starvation and massacring and utter ruin to which the other -tribes are subjected. Among almost all these so-called Belgian tribes we -find the modern names which are familiar to us. Rheims is in the old -country of the Remi, Soissons in that of the Suessiones. Beauvais -represents the Bellovaci, Amiens the Ambiani, Arras the Atrebates, -Treves the Treviri,—as has been pointed out before. Silva Arduenna is, -of course, the Forest of Ardennes.</p> - -<p>The campaign is commenced by an attack made by the other Belgians on -those unnatural Remi who have gone over to the Romans. There is a town -of theirs, Bibrax, now known, or rather not known, as Bievre, and here -the Remi are besieged by their brethren. When Bibrax is on the point of -falling,—and we can imagine what would then have been the condition of -the townsmen,—they send to Cæsar, who is only eight miles distant. -Unless Cæsar will help, they cannot endure<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span> any longer such onslaught as -is made on them. Cæsar, having bided his time, of course sends help, and -the poor besieging Belgians fall into inextricable confusion. They agree -to go home, each to his own country, and from thence to proceed to the -defence of any tribe which Cæsar might attack. “So,” says Cæsar, as he -ends the story of this little affair, “without any danger on our part, -our men killed as great a number of theirs as the space of the day would -admit.” When the sun set, and not till then, came an end to the -killing,—such having been the order of Cæsar.</p> - -<p>That these Belgians had really formed any intention of attacking the -Roman province, or even any Roman ally, there is no other proof than -that Cæsar tells us that they had all conspired. But whatever might be -their sin, or what the lack of sin on their part, he is determined to go -on with the war till he has subjugated them altogether. On the very next -day he attacks the Suessiones, and gets as far as Noviodunum,—Noyons. -The people there, when they see how terrible are his engines of war, -give up all idea of defending themselves, and ask for terms. The -Bellovaci do the same. At the instigation of his friends the Remi, he -spares the one city, and, to please the Ædui, the other. But he takes -away all their arms, and exacts hostages. From the Bellovaci, because -they have a name as a powerful people, he takes 600 hostages. Throughout -all these wars it becomes a matter of wonder to us what Cæsar did with -all these hostages, and how he maintained them. It was, however, no -doubt clearly understood that they would be killed if<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span> the town, or -state, or tribe by which they were given should misbehave, or in any way -thwart the great conqueror.</p> - -<p>The Ambiani come next, and the ancestors of our intimate friends at -Amiens soon give themselves up. The next to them are the Nervii, a -people far away to the north, where Lille now is and a considerable -portion of Flanders. Of these Cæsar had heard wonderful travellers’ -tales. They were a people who admitted no dealers among them, being in -this respect very unlike their descendants, the Belgians of to-day; they -drank no wine, and indulged in no luxuries, lest their martial valour -should be diminished. They send no ambassadors to Cæsar, and resolve to -hold their own if they can. They trust solely to infantry in battle, and -know nothing of horses. Against the cavalry of other nations, however, -they are wont to protect themselves by artificial hedges, which they -make almost as strong as walls.</p> - -<p>Cæsar in attacking the Nervii had eight legions, and he tells us how he -advanced against them “consuetudine suâ,”—after his usual fashion. For -some false information had been given to the Nervii on this subject, -which brought them into considerable trouble. He sent on first his -cavalry, then six legions, the legions consisting solely of -foot-soldiers; after these all the baggage, commissariat, and burden of -the army, comprising the materials necessary for sieges; and lastly, the -two other legions, which had been latest enrolled. It may be as well to -explain here that the legion in the time of Cæsar consisted on paper of -six thousand heavy-armed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span> foot-soldiers. There were ten cohorts in a -legion, and six centuries, or six hundred men, in each cohort. It may -possibly be that, as with our regiments, the numbers were frequently not -full. Eight full legions would thus have formed an army consisting of -48,000 infantry. The exact number of men under his orders Cæsar does not -mention here or elsewhere.</p> - -<p>According to his own showing, Cæsar is hurried into a battle before he -knows where he is. Cæsar, he says, had everything to do himself, all at -the same time,—to unfurl the standard of battle, to give the signal -with the trumpet, to get back the soldiers from their work, to call back -some who had gone to a distance for stuff to make a rampart, to draw up -the army, to address the men, and then to give the word. In that matter -of oratory, he only tells them to remember their old valour. The enemy -was so close upon them, and so ready for fighting, that they could -scarcely put on their helmets and take their shields out of their cases. -So great was the confusion that the soldiers could not get to their own -ranks, but had to fight as they stood, under any flag that was nearest -to them. There were so many things against them, and especially those -thick artificial hedges, which prevented them even from seeing, that it -was impossible for them to fight according to any method, and in -consequence there were vicissitudes of fortune. One is driven to feel -that on this occasion Cæsar was caught napping. The Nervii did at times -and places seem to be getting the best of it. The ninth and tenth -legions pursue one tribe into a river, and then they have to fight them -again, and drive them<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span> out of the river. The eleventh and eighth, having -put to flight another tribe, are attacked on the very river-banks. The -twelfth and the seventh have their hands equally full, when Boduognatus, -the Nervian chief, makes his way into the very middle of the Roman camp. -So great is the confusion that the Treviri, who had joined Cæsar on this -occasion as allies, although reputed the bravest of the cavalry of Gaul, -run away home, and declare that the Romans are conquered. Cæsar, -however, comes to the rescue, and saves his army on this occasion by -personal prowess. When he saw how it was going,—“rem esse in -angusto,”—how the thing had got itself into the very narrowest neck of -a difficulty, he seizes a shield from a common soldier,—having come -there himself with no shield,—and rushes into the fight. When the -soldiers saw him, and saw, too, that what they did was done in his -sight, they fought anew, and the onslaught of the enemy was checked.</p> - -<p>Perhaps readers will wish that they could know how much of all this is -exactly true. It reads as though it were true. We cannot in these days -understand how one brave man at such a moment should be so much more -effective than another, how he should be known personally to the -soldiers of an army so large, how Cæsar should have known the names of -the centurions,—for he tells us that he addresses them by name;—and -yet it reads like truth; and the reader feels that as Cæsar would hardly -condescend to boast, so neither would he be constrained by any modern -feeling of humility from telling any truth of himself. It is as though -Minerva were to tell us of some descent which she made<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span> among the -Trojans. The Nervii fight on, but of course they are driven in flight. -The nation is all but destroyed, so that the very name can but hardly -remain;—so at least we are told here, though we hear of them again as a -tribe by no means destroyed or powerless. When out of six hundred -senators there are but three senators left, when from sixty thousand -fighting men the army has been reduced to scarcely five hundred, Cæsar -throws the mantle of his mercy over the survivors. He allows them even -to go and live in their own homes, and forbids their neighbours to -harass them. There can be no doubt that Cæsar nearly got the worst of it -in this struggle, and we may surmise that he learned a lesson which was -of service to him in subsequent campaigns.</p> - -<p>But there are still certain Aduatici to be disposed of before the summer -is over,—people who had helped the Nervii,—who have a city of their -own, and who live somewhere in the present Namur district.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> At first -they fight a little round the walls of their town; but when they see -what terrible instruments Cæsar<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span> has, by means of which to get at them -over their very walls,—how he can build up a great turret at a -distance, which, at that distance, is ludicrous to them, but which he -brings near to them, so that it overhangs them, from which to harass -them with arrows and stones, and against which, so high is it, they have -no defence—then they send out and beg for mercy. Surely, they say, -Cæsar and the Romans must have more than human power. They will give up -everything, if only Cæsar out of his mercy will leave to them their -arms. They are always at war with all their neighbours; and where would -they be without arms?</p> - -<p>Cæsar replies. Merits of their own they have none. How could a tribe -have merits against which Cæsar was at war? Nevertheless, such being his -custom, he will admit them to some terms of grace if they surrender -before his battering-ram has touched their walls. But as for their arms, -surely they must be joking with him. Of course their arms must be -surrendered. What he had done for the Nervii he would do for them. He -would tell their neighbours not to hurt them. They agree, and throw -their arms into the outside ditch of the town, but not quite all their -arms. A part,—a third,—are cunningly kept back; and when Cæsar enters -the town, they who have kept their arms, and others unarmed, try to -escape from the town. They fight, and some thousands are slain. Others -are driven back, and these are sold for slaves. Who, we wonder, could -have been the purchasers, and at what price on that day was a man to be -bought in the city of the Aduatici?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span></p> - -<p>Then Cæsar learns through his lieutenant, young Crassus, the son of his -colleague in the triumvirate, that all the Belgian states, from the -Scheldt to the Bay of Biscay, have been reduced beneath the yoke of the -Roman people. The Germans, too, send ambassadors to him, so convinced -are they that to fight against him is of no avail,—so wonderful an idea -of this last war has pervaded all the tribes of barbarians. But Cæsar is -in a hurry, and can hear no ambassadors now. He wants to get into Italy, -and they must come again to him next summer.</p> - -<p>For all which glorious doings a public thanksgiving of fifteen days is -decreed, as soon as the news is heard in Rome.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<small>THIRD BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR SUBDUES THE WESTERN TRIBES OF GAUL.—B.C. 56.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> the first few lines of the third book we learn that Cæsar had an eye -not only for conquest, but for the advantages of conquest also. When he -went into Italy at the end of the last campaign, he sent one Galba, -whose descendant became emperor after Nero, with the twelfth legion, to -take up his winter quarters in the upper valley of the Rhone, in order -that an easier traffic might be opened to traders passing over the Alps -in and out of Northern Italy. It seems that the passage used was that of -the Great St Bernard, and Galba placed himself with his legion at that -junction of the valley which we all know so well as Martigny. Here, -however, he was attacked furiously in his camp by the inhabitants of the -valley, who probably objected to being dictated to as to the amount of -toll to be charged upon the travelling traders, and was very nearly -destroyed. The Romans, however, at last, when they had neither weapons -nor food left for maintaining their camp, resolved to cut their way -through their enemies. This they did so effectually that they -slaughtered more<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span> than ten thousand men, and the other twenty thousand -of Swiss warriors all took to flight! Nevertheless Galba thought it as -well to leave that inhospitable region, in which it was almost -impossible to find food for the winter, and took himself down the valley -and along the lake to the Roman Province. He made his winter-quarters -among the Allobroges, who belonged to the Province,—a people living -just south of the present Lyons. How the Allobroges liked it we are not -told, but we know that they were then very faithful, although in former -days they had given great trouble. Their position made faith to Rome -almost a necessity. Whether, in such a position, Cæsar’s lieutenants -paid their way, and bought their corn at market price, we do not know. -It was Cæsar’s rule, no doubt, to make the country on which his army -stood support his army.</p> - -<p>When the number of men whom Cæsar took with him into countries hitherto -unknown to him or his army is considered, and the apparently reckless -audacity with which he did so, it must be acknowledged that he himself -says very little about his difficulties. He must constantly have had -armies for which to provide twice as large as our Crimean -army,—probably as large as the united force of the English and French -in the Crimea; and he certainly could not bring with him what he wanted -in ships. The road from Balaclava up to the heights over Sebastopol, we -know, was very bad; but it was short. The road from the foot of the Alps -in the Roman province to the countries with which we were dealing in the -last chapter could not, we should say, have been very good two thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> -years ago, and it certainly was very long;—nearly a hundred miles for -Cæsar to every single one of those that were so terrible to us in the -Crimea. Cæsar, however, carried but little with him beyond his arms and -implements of war, and of those the heaviest he no doubt made as he -went. The men had an allowance of corn per day, besides so much pay. We -are told that the pay before Cæsar’s time was 100 <i>asses</i> a-month for -the legionaries,—the <i>as</i> being less than a penny,—and that this was -doubled by Cæsar. We can conceive that the money troubled him -comparatively slightly, but that the finding of the daily corn and -forage for so large a host of men and horses must have been very -difficult. He speaks of the difficulty often, but never with that -despair which was felt as to the roasting of our coffee in the Crimea. -We hear of his waiting till forage should have grown, and sometimes -there are necessary considerations “de re frumentariâ,”—about that -great general question of provisions; but of crushing difficulties very -little is said, and of bad roads not a word. One great advantage Cæsar -certainly had over Lord Raglan;—he was his own special correspondent. -Coffee his men certainly did not get; but if their corn were not -properly roasted for them, and if, as would be natural, the men -grumbled, he had with him no licensed collector of grumbles to make -public the sufferings of his men.</p> - -<p>And now, when this affair of Galba’s had been finished,—when Cæsar, as -he tells us, really did think that all Gaul was “pacatam,” -tranquillised, or at least subdued,—the Belgians conquered, the Germans -driven<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> off, those Swiss fellows cut to pieces in the valley of the -Rhone; when he thought that he might make a short visit into that other -province of his, Illyricum, so that he might see what that was like,—he -is told that another war has sprung up in Gaul! Young Crassus, with that -necessity which of course was on him of providing winter food for the -seventh legion which he had been ordered to take into Aquitania, has -been obliged to send out for corn into the neighbouring countries. Of -course a well-instructed young general, such as was Crassus, had taken -hostages before he sent his men out among strange and wild barbarians. -But in spite of that, the Veneti, a maritime people of ancient Brittany, -just in that country of the Morbihan whither we now go to visit the -works of the Druids at Carnac and Locmariaker, absolutely detained his -two ambassadors;—so called afterwards, though in his first mention of -them Cæsar names them as præfects and tribunes of the soldiers. Vannes, -the capital of the department of the Morbihan, gives us a trace of the -name of this tribe. The Veneti, who were powerful in ships, did not see -why they should give their corn to Crassus. Cæsar, when he hears that -ambassadors,—sacred ambassadors,—have been stopped, is filled with -shame and indignation, and hurries off himself to look after the affair, -having, as we may imagine, been able to see very little of Illyricum.</p> - -<p>This horror of Cæsar in regard to his ambassadors,—in speaking of which -he alludes to what the Gauls themselves felt when they came to -understand what a thing they had done in making ambassadors -prisoners,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span>—“legatos,”—a name that has always been held sacred and -inviolate among all nations,—is very great, and makes him feel that he -must really be in earnest. We are reminded of the injunctions, printed -in Spanish, which the Spaniards distributed among the Indians of the -continent, in the countries now called Venezuela and New Granada, -explaining to the people, who knew nothing of Spanish or of printing, -how they were bound to obey the orders of a distant king, who had the -authority of a more distant Pope, who again,—so they claimed,—was -delegated by a more distant God. The pain of history consists in the -injustice of the wolf towards the lamb, joined to the conviction that -thus, and no otherwise, could the lamb be brought to better than a -sheepish mode of existence! But Cæsar was in earnest.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The following -is a translation of the tenth section of this book; “There were these -difficulties in carrying on the war which we have above shown.”—He -alludes to the maritime capacities of the people whom he desires to -conquer.—“Many things, nevertheless, urged Cæsar on to this war;—the -wrongs of those Roman knights who had been detained, rebellion set on -foot after an agreed surrender,”—that any<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span> such surrender had been made -we do not hear, though we do hear, incidentally, that Crassus had taken -hostages;—“a falling off from alliance after hostages had been given; -conspiracy among so many tribes; and then this first consideration, that -if this side of the country were disregarded, the other tribes might -learn to think that they might take the same liberty. Then, when he -bethought himself that, as the Gauls were prone to rebellion, and were -quickly and easily excited to war, and that all men, moreover, are fond -of liberty and hate a condition of subjection, he resolved that it would -be well, rather than that other states should conspire,”—and to avoid -the outbreak on behalf of freedom which might thus probably be -made,—“that his army should be divided, and scattered about more -widely.” Treating all Gaul as a chess-board, he sends round to provide -that the Treviri should be kept quiet. Headers will remember how far -Treves is distant from the extremities of Brittany. The Belgians are to -be looked to, lest they should rise and come and help. The Germans are -to be prevented from crossing the Rhine. Labienus, who, during the -Gallic wars, was Cæsar’s general highest in trust, is to see to all -this. Crassus is to go back into Aquitania and keep the south quiet. -Titurius Sabinus, destined afterwards to a sad end, is sent with three -legions,—eighteen thousand men,—among the neighbouring tribes of -Northern Brittany and Normandy. “Young” Decimus Brutus,—Cæsar speaks of -him with that kind affection which the epithet conveys, and we remember, -as we read, that this Brutus appears afterwards in history as one of -Cæsar’s slayers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span> in conjunction with his greater namesake,—young -Decimus Brutus, the future conspirator in Rome, has confided to him the -fleet which is to destroy these much less guilty distant conspirators, -and Cæsar himself takes the command of his own legions on the spot. All -this is told in fewer words than are here used in describing the -telling, and the reader feels that he has to do with a mighty man, whose -eyes are everywhere, and of whom an ordinary enemy would certainly say, -Surely this is no man, but a god.</p> - -<p>He tells us how great was the effect of his own presence on the shore, -though the battle was carried on under young Brutus at sea. “What -remained of the conflict,” he says, after describing their manœuvres, -“depended on valour, in which our men were far away the superior; and -this was more especially true because the affair was carried on so -plainly in the sight of Cæsar and the whole army that no brave deed -could pass unobserved. For all the hills and upper lands, from whence -the view down upon the sea was close, were covered by the army.”</p> - -<p>Of course he conquers the Veneti and other sea-going tribes, even on -their own element. Whereupon they give themselves and all their -belongings up to Cæsar. Cæsar, desirous that the rights of ambassadors -shall hereafter be better respected among barbarians, determines that he -must use a little severity. “Gravius vindicandum statuit;”—“he resolved -that the offence should be expiated with more than ordinary punishment.” -Consequently, he kills all the senate, and sells all the other men as -slaves! The pithy brevity, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span> unapologetic dignity of the sentence, as -he pronounced it and tells it to us, is heartrending, but, at this -distance of time, delightful also. “Itaque, omni senatu necato, reliquos -sub coronâ vendidit;”—“therefore, all the senate having been -slaughtered, he sold the other citizens with chaplets on their -heads;”—it being the Roman custom so to mark captives in war intended -for sale. We can see him as he waves his hand and passes on. Surely he -must be a god!</p> - -<p>His generals in this campaign are equally successful. One Viridovix, a -Gaul up in the Normandy country,—somewhere about Avranches or St Lo, we -may imagine,—is entrapped into a fight, and destroyed with his army. -Aquitania surrenders herself to Crassus, after much fighting, and gives -up her arms.</p> - -<p>Then Cæsar reflects that the Morini and the Menapii had as yet never -bowed their heads to him. Boulogne and Calais stand in the now -well-known territory of the Morini, but the Menapii lie a long way off, -up among the mouths of the Scheldt and the Rhine,—the Low Countries of -modern history,—an uncomfortable people then, who would rush into their -woods and marshes after a spell of fighting, and who seemed to have no -particular homes or cities that could be attacked or destroyed. It was -nearly the end of summer just now, and the distance between, let us say, -Vannes in Brittany, and Breda, or even Antwerp, seems to us to be -considerable, when we remember the condition of the country, and the -size of Cæsar’s army. But he had a few weeks to fill up, and then he -might feel that all Gaul had been “pacified.” At present there was this<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span> -haughty little northern corner. “Omni Galliâ pacatâ, Morini Menapiique -supererant;”—“all Gaul having been pacified, the Morini and Menapii -remained.” He was, moreover, no doubt beginning to reflect that from the -Morini could be made the shortest journey into that wild Ultima Thule of -an island in which lived the Britanni. Cæsar takes advantage of the few -weeks, and attacks these uncomfortable people. When they retreat into -the woods, he cuts the woods down. He does cut down an immense quantity -of wood, but the enemy only recede into thicker and bigger woods. Bad -weather comes on, and the soldiers can no longer endure life in their -skin tents. Let us fancy these Italians encountering winter in undrained -Flanders, with no walls or roofs to protect them, and ordered to cut -down interminable woods! Had a ‘Times’ been then written and filed, -instead of a “Commentary” from the hands of the General-in-chief, we -should probably have heard of a good deal of suffering. As it is, we are -only told that Cæsar had to give up his enterprise for that year. He -therefore burned all their villages, laid waste all their fields, and -then took his army down into a more comfortable region south of the -Seine, and there put them into winter quarters,—not much to the comfort -of the people there residing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>FOURTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR CROSSES THE RHINE, -SLAUGHTERS THE GERMANS, AND GOES INTO BRITAIN.—B.C. 55.</p></div> - -<p>In the next year certain Germans, Usipetes and others, crossed the Rhine -into Gaul, not far from the sea, as Cæsar tells us. He tells us again, -that when he drove the Germans back over the river, it was near the -confluence of the Meuse and the Rhine. When we remember how difficult it -was for Cæsar to obtain information, we must acknowledge that his -geography as to the passage of the Rhine out to the sea, and of the -junction of the Rhine and the Meuse by the Waal, is wonderfully correct. -The spot indicated as that at which the Germans were driven into the -river would seem to be near Bommel in Holland, where the Waal and the -Meuse join their waters, at the head of the island of Bommel, where Fort -St André stands, or stood.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span></p> - -<p>Those wonderful Suevi, among whom the men alternately fight and plough, -year and year about, caring more, however, for cattle than they do for -corn, who are socialists in regard to land, having no private property -in their fields,—who, all of them, from their youth upwards, do just -what they please,—large, bony men, who wear, even in these cold -regions, each simply some scanty morsel of skin covering,—who bathe in -rivers all the year through, who deal with traders only to sell the -spoils of war, who care but little for their horses, and ride, when they -do ride, without saddles,—thinking nothing of men to whom such delicate -appendages are necessary,—who drink no wine, and will have no -neighbours near them,—these ferocious Suevi have driven other German -tribes over the Rhine into Gaul. Cæsar, hearing this, is filled with -apprehension. He knows the weakness of his poor friends the Gauls,—how -prone they are to gossiping, of what a restless temper. It is in the -country of the Menapii, the tribe with which he did not quite finish his -little affair in the last chapter, that these Germans are settling; and -there is no knowing what trouble the intruders may give him if he allows -them to make themselves at home on that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span> side of the river. So he -hurries off to give help to the poor Menapii.</p> - -<p>Of course there is a sending of ambassadors. The Germans acknowledge -that they have been turned out of their own lands by their brethren, the -Suevi, who are better men than they are. But they profess that, in -fighting, the Suevi, and the Suevi only, are their masters. Not even the -immortal gods can stand against the Suevi. But they also are Germans, -and are not at all afraid of the Romans. But in the proposition which -they make they show some little awe. Will Cæsar allow them to remain -where they are, or allot to them some other region on that side of the -Rhine? Cæsar tells them that they may go and live, if they please, with -the Ubii,—another tribe of Germans who occupy the Rhine country, -probably where Cologne now stands, or perhaps a little north of it, and -who seem already to have been forced over the Rhine,—they, or some of -them,—and to have made good their footing somewhere in the region in -which Charlemagne built his church, now called Aix-la-Chapelle. There -they are, Germans still, and probably are so because these Ubii made -good their footing. The Ubii also are in trouble with the Suevi; and if -these intruders will go and join the Ubii, Cæsar will make it all -straight for them. The intruders hesitate, but do not go, and at last -attack Cæsar’s cavalry, not without some success. During this fight -there is double treachery,—first on the part of the Germans, and then -on Cæsar’s part,—which is chiefly memorable for the attack made on -Cæsar in Rome. It was in consequence of the deceit here<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span> practised that -it was proposed by his enemies in the city that he should be given up by -the Republic to the foe. Had any such decree been passed, it would not -have been easy to give up Cæsar.</p> - -<p>The Germans are, of course, beaten, and they are driven into the river -on those low and then undrained regions in which the Rhine and the Meuse -and the Waal confuse themselves and confuse travellers;—either here, or -much higher up the river at Coblentz; but the reader will already have -settled that question for himself at the beginning of the chapter. Cæsar -speaks of these Germans as though they were all drowned,—men, women, -and children. They had brought their entire families with them, and, -when the fighting went against them, with their entire families they -fled into the river. Cæsar was pursuing them after the battle, and they -precipitated themselves over the banks. There, overcome by fear, -fatigue, and the waters, they perished. There was computed to be a -hundred and eighty thousand of them who were destroyed; but the Roman -army was safe to a man.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>Then Cæsar made up his mind to cross the river. It seems that he had no -intention of extending the empire of the Republic into what he called -Germany, but that he thought it necessary to frighten the Germans. The -cavalry of those intruding Usipetes had, luckily for them, been absent, -foraging over the river; and he now sent to the Sigambri, among whom -they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span> had taken refuge, desiring that these horsemen should be given up -to him. But the Sigambri will not obey. The Germans seem to have -understood that Cæsar had Gaul in his hands, to do as he liked with it; -but they grudged his interference beyond the Rhine. Cæsar, however, -always managed to have a set of friends among his enemies, to help him -in adjusting his enmities. We have heard of the Ædui in central Gaul, -and of the Remi in the north. The Ubii were his German friends, who were -probably at this time occupying both banks of the river; and the Ubii -ask him just to come over and frighten their neighbours. Cæsar resolves -upon gratifying them. And as it is not consistent either with his safety -or with his dignity to cross the river in boats, he determines to build -a bridge.</p> - -<p>Is there a schoolboy in England, or one who has been a schoolboy, at any -Cæsar-reading school, who does not remember those memorable words, -“Tigna bina sesquipedalia,” with which Cæsar begins his graphic account -of the building of the bridge? When the breadth of the river is -considered, its rapidity, and the difficulty which there must have been -in finding tools and materials for such a construction, in a country so -wild and so remote from Roman civilisation, the creation of this bridge -fills us with admiration for Cæsar’s spirit and capacity. He drove down -piles into the bed of the river, two and two, prone against the stream. -We could do that now, though hardly as quickly as Cæsar did it; but we -should want coffer-dams and steam-pumps, patent rammers, and a clerk of -the works. He explains to us that he so built the foundations<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span> that the -very strength of the stream added to their strength and consistency. In -ten days the whole thing was done, and the army carried over. Cæsar does -not tell us at what suffering, or with the loss of how many men. It is -the simplicity of everything which is so wonderful in these -Commentaries. We have read of works constructed by modern armies, and of -works which modern armies could not construct. We remember the road up -from Balaclava, and the railway which was sent out from England. We -know, too, what are the aids and appliances with which science has -furnished us. But yet in no modern warfare do the difficulties seem to -have been so light, so little worthy of mention, as they were to Cæsar. -He made his bridge and took over his army, cavalry and all, in ten days. -There must have been difficulty and hardship, and the drowning, we -should fear, of many men; but Cæsar says nothing of all this.</p> - -<p>Ambassadors immediately are sent. From the moment in which the bridge -was begun, the Sigambri ran away and hid themselves in the woods. Cæsar -burns all their villages, cuts down all their corn, and travels down -into the country of the Ubii. He comforts them; and tidings of his -approach then reach those terrible Suevi. They make ready for war on a -grand scale; but Cæsar, reflecting that he had not brought his army over -the river for the sake of fighting the Suevi, and telling us that he had -already done enough for honour and for the good of the cause, took his -army back after eighteen days spent in the journey, and destroyed his -bridge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span></p> - -<p>Then comes a passage which makes a Briton vacillate between shame at his -own ancient insignificance, and anger at Cæsar’s misapprehension of his -ancient character. There were left of the fighting season after Cæsar -came back across the Rhine just a few weeks; and what can he do better -with them than go over and conquer Britannia? This first record of an -invasion upon us comes in at the fag-end of a chapter, and the invasion -was made simply to fill up the summer! Nobody, Cæsar tells us, seemed to -know anything about the island; and yet it was the fact that in all his -wars with the Gauls, the Gauls were helped by men out of Britain. Before -he will face the danger with his army he sends over a trusty messenger, -to look about and find out something as to the coasts and harbours. The -trusty messenger does not dare to disembark, but comes back and tells -Cæsar what he has seen from his ship. Cæsar, in the mean time, has got -together a great fleet somewhere in the Boulogne and Calais country; -and,—so he says,—messengers have come to him from Britain, whither -rumours of his purpose have already flown, saying that they will submit -themselves to the Roman Republic. We may believe just as much of that as -we please. But he clearly thinks less of the Boulogne and Calais people -than he does even of the Britons, which is a comfort to us. When these -people,—then called Morini,—came to him, asking pardon for having -dared to oppose him once before, and offering any number of hostages, -and saying that they had been led on by bad advice, Cæsar admitted them -into some degree of grace; not wishing, as he tells us, to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span> kept out -of Britain by the consideration of such very small affairs. “Neque has -tantularum rerum occupationes sibi Britanniæ anteponendas judicabat.” We -hope that the Boulogne and Calais people understand and appreciate the -phrase. Having taken plenty of hostages, he determines to trust the -Boulogne and Calais people, and prepares his ships for passing the -Channel. He starts nearly at the third watch,—about midnight, we may -presume. A portion of his army,—the cavalry,—encounter some little -delay, such as has often occurred on the same spot since, even to -travellers without horses. He himself got over to the British coast at -about the fourth hour. This, at midsummer, would have been about a -quarter past eight. As it was now late in the summer, it may have been -nine o’clock in the morning when Cæsar found himself under the cliffs of -Kent, and saw our armed ancestors standing along all the hills ready to -meet him. He stayed at anchor, waiting for his ships, till about two -<small>P.M.</small> His cavalry did not get across till four days afterwards. Having -given his orders, and found a fitting moment and a fitting spot, Cæsar -runs his ships up upon the beach.</p> - -<p>Cæsar confesses to a good deal of difficulty in getting ashore. When we -know how very hard it is to accomplish the same feat, on the same coast, -in these days, with all the appliances of modern science to aid us, and, -as we must presume, with no real intention on the part of the Cantii, or -men of Kent, to oppose our landing, we can quite sympathise with Cæsar. -The ships were so big that they could not be brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span> into very shallow -water. The Roman soldiers were compelled to jump into the sea, heavily -armed, and there to fight with the waves and with the enemy. But the -Britons, having the use of all their limbs, knowing the ground, standing -either on the shore or just running into the shallows, made the landing -uneasy enough. “Nostri,”—our men,—says Cæsar, with all these things -against them, were not all of them so alert at fighting as was usual -with them on dry ground;—at which no one can be surprised.</p> - -<p>Cæsar had two kinds of ships—“naves longæ,” long ships for carrying -soldiers; and “naves onerariæ,” ships for carrying burdens. The long -ships do not seem to have been such ships of war as the Romans generally -used in their sea-fights, but were handier, and more easily worked, than -the transports. These he laid broadside to the shore, and harassed the -poor natives with stones and arrows. Then the eagle-bearer of the tenth -legion jumped into the sea, proclaiming that he, at any rate, would do -his duty. Unless they wished to see their eagle fall into the hands of -the enemy, they must follow him. “Jump down, he said, my -fellow-soldiers, unless you wish to betray your eagle to the enemy. I at -least will do my duty to the Republic and to our General. When he had -said this with a loud voice, he threw himself out of the ship and -advanced the eagle against the enemy.” Seeing and hearing this, the men -leaped forth freely, from that ship and from others. As usual, there was -some sharp fighting. “Pugnatum est ab utrisque acriter.” It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> nearly -always the same thing. Cæsar throws away none of his glory by -underrating his enemy. But at length the Britons fly. “This thing only -was wanting to Cæsar’s usual good fortune,”—that he was deficient in -cavalry wherewith to ride on in pursuit, and “take the island!” -Considering how very short a time he remains in the island, we feel that -his complaint against fortune is hardly well founded. But there is a -general surrender, and a claiming of hostages, and after a few days a -sparkle of new hope in the breasts of the Britons. A storm arises, and -Cæsar’s ships are so knocked about that he does not know how he will get -back to Gaul. He is troubled by a very high tide, not understanding the -nature of these tides. As he had only intended this for a little -tentative trip,—a mere taste of a future war with Britain,—he had -brought no large supply of corn with him. He must get back, by hook or -by crook. The Britons, seeing how it is with him, think that they can -destroy him, and make an attempt to do so. The seventh legion is in -great peril, having been sent out to find corn, but is rescued. Certain -of his ships,—those which had been most grievously handled by the -storm,—he breaks up, in order that he may mend the others with their -materials. When we think how long it takes us to mend ships, having -dockyards, and patent slips, and all things ready, this is most -marvellous to us. But he does mend his ships, and while so doing he has -a second fight with the Britons, and again repulses them. There is a -burning and destroying of everything far and wide, a gathering of -ambassadors to Cæsar asking<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span> for terms, a demand for hostages,—a double -number of hostages now,—whom Cæsar desired to have sent over to him to -Gaul, because at this time of the year he did not choose to trust them -to ships that were unseaworthy; and he himself, with all his army, gets -back into the Boulogne and Calais country. Two transports only are -missing, which are carried somewhat lower down the coast. There are but -three hundred men in these transports, and these the Morini of those -parts threaten to kill unless they will give up their arms. But Cæsar -sends help, and even these three hundred are saved from disgrace. There -is, of course, more burning of houses and laying waste of fields because -of this little attempt, and then Cæsar puts his army into winter -quarters.</p> - -<p>What would have been the difference to the world if the Britons, as they -surely might have done, had destroyed Cæsar and every Roman, and not -left even a ship to get back to Gaul? In lieu of this Cæsar could send -news to Rome of these various victories, and have a public thanksgiving -decreed,—on this occasion for twenty days.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<small>FIFTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR’S SECOND INVASION OF BRITAIN.—THE GAULS RISE AGAINST HIM.—B.C. 54.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">On</span> his return out of Britain, Cæsar, as usual, went over the Alps to -look after his other provinces, and to attend to his business in Italy; -but he was determined to make another raid upon the island. He could not -yet assume that he had “taken it,” and therefore he left minute -instructions with his generals as to the building of more ships, and the -repair of those which had been so nearly destroyed. He sends to Spain, -he tells us, for the things necessary to equip his ships. We never hear -of any difficulty about money. We know that he did obtain large grants -from Rome for the support of his legions; but no scruple was made in -making war maintain war, as far as such maintenance could be obtained. -Cæsar personally was in an extremity of debt when he commenced his -campaigns. He had borrowed an enormous sum, eight hundred and thirty -talents, or something over £200,000, from Crassus,—who was specially -the rich Roman of those days,—before he could take charge of his -Spanish province. When his wars were over, he returned to Rome<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span> with a -great treasure; and indeed during these wars in Gaul he expended large -sums in bribing Romans. We may suppose that he found hoards among the -barbarians, as Lord Clive did in the East Indies. Clive contented -himself with taking some: Cæsar probably took all.</p> - -<p>Having given the order about his ships, he settled a little matter in -Illyricum, taking care to raise some tribute there also. He allows but a -dozen lines for recording this winter work, and then tells us that he -hurried back to his army and his ships. His command had been so well -obeyed in regard to vessels, that he finds ready, of that special sort -which he had ordered with one bank of oars only on each side, as many as -six hundred, and twenty-eight of the larger sort. He gives his soldiers -very great credit for their exertions, and sends his fleet to the Portus -Itius. The exact spot which Cæsar called by this name the geographers -have not identified, but it is supposed to be between Boulogne and -Calais. It may probably have been at Wissant. Having seen that things -were thus ready for a second trip into Britain, he turns round and -hurries off with four legions and eight hundred cavalry,—an army of -25,000 men,—into the Treves country. There is a quarrel going on there -between two chieftains which it is well that he should settle,—somewhat -as the monkey settled the contest about the oyster. This, however, is a -mere nothing of an affair, and he is back again among his ships at the -Portus Itius in a page and a half.</p> - -<p>He resolves upon taking five legions of his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span> soldiers into Britain, -and two thousand mounted Gauls. He had brought together four thousand of -these horsemen, collected from all Gaul, their chiefs and nobles, not -only as fighting allies, but as hostages that the tribes should not rise -in rebellion while his back was turned. These he divides, taking half -with him, and leaving half with three legions of his own men, under -Labienus, in the Boulogne country, as a base to his army, to look after -the provisions, and to see that he be not harassed on his return. There -is a little affair, however, with one of the Gaulish chieftains, -Dumnorix the Æduan, who ought to have been his fastest friend. Dumnorix -runs away with all the Æduan horsemen. Cæsar, however, sends after him -and has him killed, and then all things are ready. He starts with -altogether more than 800 ships at sunset, and comes over with a gentle -south-west wind. He arrives off the coast of Britain at about noon, but -can see none of the inhabitants on the cliff. He imagines that they have -all fled, frightened by the number of his ships. Cæsar establishes his -camp, and proceeds that same night about twelve miles into the -country,—eleven miles, we may say, as our mile is longer than the -Roman,—and there he finds the Britons. There is some fighting, after -which Cæsar returns and fortifies his camp. Then there comes a storm and -knocks his ships about terribly,—although he had found, as he thought, -a nice soft place for them. But the tempest is very violent, and they -are torn away from their anchors, and thrust upon the shore, and dashed -against each other till there is infinite trouble. He is obliged<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span> to -send over to Labienus, telling him to build more ships; and those which -are left he drags up over the shore to his camp, in spite of the -enormous labour required in doing it. He is ten days at this work, night -and day, and we may imagine that his soldiers had not an easy time of -it. When this has been done, he advances again into the country after -the enemy, and finds that Cassivellaunus is in command of the united -forces of the different tribes. Cassivellaunus comes from the other side -of the Thames, over in Middlesex or Hertfordshire. The Britons had not -hitherto lived very peaceably together, but now they agree that against -the Romans they will act in union under Cassivellaunus.</p> - -<p>Cæsar’s description of the island is very interesting. The interior is -inhabited by natives,—or rather by “aborigines.” Cæsar states this at -least as the tradition of the country. But the maritime parts are held -by Belgian immigrants, who, for the most part, have brought with them -from the Continent the names of their tribes. The population is great, -and the houses, built very like the houses in Gaul, are numerous and -very thick together. The Britons have a great deal of cattle. They use -money, having either copper coin or iron rings of a great weight. Tin is -found in the middle of the island, and, about the coast, iron. But the -quantity of iron found is small. Brass they import. They have the same -timber as in Gaul,—only they have neither beech nor fir. Hares and -chickens and geese they think it wrong to eat; but they keep these -animals as pets. The climate, on the whole, is milder than in Gaul. The -island is triangular. One<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span> corner, that of Kent, has an eastern and a -southern aspect. This southern side of the island he makes 500 miles, -exceeding the truth by about 150 miles. Then Cæsar becomes a little hazy -in his geography,—telling us that the other side, meaning the western -line of the triangle, where Ireland lies, verges towards Spain. Ireland, -he says, is half the size of Britain, and about the same distance from -it that Britain is from Gaul. In the middle of the channel dividing -Ireland from Britain there is an island called Mona,—the Isle of Man. -There are also some other islands which at midwinter have thirty -continuous days of night. Here Cæsar becomes not only hazy but mythic. -But he explains that he has seen nothing of this himself, although he -has ascertained, by scientific measurement, that the nights in Britain -are shorter than on the Continent. Of course the nights are shorter with -us in summer than they are in Italy, and longer in winter. The western -coast he makes out to be 700 miles long; in saying which he is nearly -100 miles over the mark. The third side he describes as looking towards -the north. He means the eastern coast. This he calls 800 miles long, and -exaggerates our territories by more than 200 miles. The marvel, however, -is that he should be so near the truth. The men of Kent are the most -civilised: indeed they are almost as good as Gauls in this respect! What -changes does not time make in the comparative merits of countries! The -men in the interior live on flesh and milk, and do not care for corn. -They wear skin clothing. They make themselves horrible with woad, and go -about with very long hair.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span> They shave close, except the head and upper -lip. Then comes the worst habit of all;—ten or a dozen men have their -wives in common between them.</p> - -<p>We have a very vivid and by no means unflattering account of the -singular agility of our ancestors in their mode of fighting from their -chariots. “This,” says Cæsar, “is the nature of their chariot-fighting. -They first drive rapidly about the battle-field,—“per omnes -partes,”—and throw their darts, and frequently disorder the ranks by -the very terror occasioned by the horses and by the noise of the wheels; -and when they have made their way through the bodies of the cavalry, -they jump down and fight on foot. Then the charioteers go a little out -of the battle, and so place their chariots that they may have a ready -mode of returning should their friends be pressed by the number of their -enemies. Thus they unite the rapidity of cavalry and the stability of -infantry; and so effective do they become by daily use and practice, -that they are accustomed to keep their horses, excited as they are, on -their legs on steep and precipitous ground, and to manage and turn them -very quickly, and to run along the pole and stand upon the yoke,”—by -which the horses were held together at the collars,—“and again with the -greatest rapidity to return to the chariot.”<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> All which is very -wonderful.</p> - -<p>Of course there is a great deal of fighting, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> Britons soon learn -by experience to avoid general engagements and maintain guerilla -actions. Cæsar by degrees makes his way to the Thames, and with great -difficulty gets his army over it. He can only do this at one place, and -that badly. The site of this ford he does not describe to us. It is -supposed to have been near the place which we now know as Sunbury. He -does tell us that his men were so deep in the water that their heads -only were above the stream. But even thus they were so impetuous in -their onslaught, that the Britons would not wait for them on the -opposite bank, but ran away. Soon there come unconditional surrender, -and hostages, and promises of tribute. Cassivellaunus, who is himself -but a usurper, and therefore has many enemies at home, endeavours to -make himself secure in a strong place or town, which is supposed to have -been on or near the site of our St Albans. Cæsar, however, explains that -the poor Britons give the name of a town,—“oppidum,”—to a spot in -which they have merely surrounded some thick woods with a ditch and -rampart. Cæsar, of course, drives them out of their woodland fortress, -and then there quickly follows another surrender, more hostages, and the -demand for tribute. Cæsar leaves his orders behind him, as though to -speak were to be obeyed. One Mandubratius, and not Cassivellaunus,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> is -to be the future king in Middlesex and Hertfordshire,—that is, over the -Trinobantes who live there. He fixes the amount of tribute to be sent -annually by the Britons to Rome; and he especially leaves orders that -Cassivellaunus shall do no mischief to the young Mandubratius. Then he -crosses back into Gaul at two trips,—his ships taking half the army -first and coming back for the other half; and he piously observes that -though he had lost many ships when they were comparatively empty, hardly -one had been destroyed while his soldiers were in them.</p> - -<p>So was ended Cæsar’s second and last invasion of Britain. That he had -reduced Britain as he had reduced Gaul he certainly could not -boast;—though Quintus Cicero had written to his brother to say that -Britannia was,—“confecta,”—finished. Though he had twice landed his -army under the white cliffs, and twice taken it away with comparative -security, he had on both occasions been made to feel how terribly strong -an ally to the Britons was that channel which divided them from the -Continent. The reader is made to feel that on both occasions the -existence of his army and of himself is in the greatest peril. Cæsar’s -idea in attacking Britain was probably rather that of making the Gauls -believe that his power could reach even beyond them,—could extend -itself all round them, even into distant islands,—than of absolutely -establishing the Roman dominion beyond that distant sea. The Britons had -helped the Gauls in their wars with him, and it was necessary that he -should punish any who presumed to give such help. Whether the orders -which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span> he left behind him were obeyed we do not know; but we may imagine -that the tribute exacted was not sent to Rome with great punctuality. In -fact, Cæsar invaded the island twice, but did not reduce it.</p> - -<p>On his return to Gaul, nearly at the close of the summer, he found -himself obliged to distribute his army about the country because of a -great scarcity of provisions. There had been a drought, and the crops -had failed. Hitherto he had kept his army together during the winter; -now he was obliged to divide his legions, placing one with one tribe, -and another with another. A legion and a half he stations under two of -his generals, L. Titurius Sabinus, and L. Aurunculeius Cotta, among the -Eburones, who live on the banks of the Meuse in the Liege and Namur -country,—a very stout people, who are still much averse to the dominion -of Rome. In this way he thought he might best get over that difficulty -as to the scarcity of provisions; but yet he so well understood the -danger of separating his army, that he is careful to tell us that, with -the exception of one legion which he had stationed in a very quiet -country,—among the Essui, where Alençon now stands,—they were all -within a hundred miles of each other. Nevertheless, in spite of this -precaution, there now fell upon Cæsar the greatest calamity which he had -ever yet suffered in war.</p> - -<p>During all these campaigns, the desire of the Gauls to free themselves -from the power and the tyranny of Rome never ceased; nor did their -intention to do so ever fade away. Cæsar must have been to them as a -venomous blight, or some evil divinity sent to afflict them for causes -which they could not understand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span> There were tribes who truckled to him, -but he had no real friends among them. If any Gauls could have loved -him, the Ædui should have done so; but that Dumnorix, the Æduan, who ran -away with the horsemen of his tribe when he was wanted to help in the -invasion of Britain, had, before he was killed, tried to defend himself, -asserting vociferously that he was a free man and belonging to a free -state. He had failed to understand that, in being admitted to the -alliance of Cæsar, he was bound to obey Cæsar. Cæsar speaks of it all -with his godlike simplicity, as though he saw nothing ungodlike in the -work he was doing. There was no touch of remorse in him, as he ordered -men to be slaughtered and villages to be burned. He was able to look at -those things as trifles,—as parts of a great whole. He felt no more -than does the gentleman who sends the sheep out of his park to be -slaughtered at the appointed time. When he seems to be most cruel, it is -for the sake of example,—that some politic result may follow,—that -Gauls may know, and Italians know also, that they must bow the knee to -Cæsar. But the heart of the reader is made to bleed as he sees the -unavailing struggles of the tribes. One does not specially love the -Ædui; but Dumnorix protesting that he will not return, that he is a free -man, of a free state, and then being killed, is a man to be loved. Among -the Carnutes, where Chartres now stands, Cæsar has set up a pet king, -one Tasgetius; but when Cæsar is away in Britain, the Carnutes kill -Tasgetius. They will have no pet of Cæsar’s. And now the stout Eburones, -who have two kings of their own over them, Ambiorix and Cativolcus, -understanding that Cæsar’s difficulty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span> is their opportunity, attack the -Roman camp, with its legion and a half of men under Titurius and Cotta.</p> - -<p>Ambiorix, the chieftain, is very crafty. He persuades the Roman generals -to send ambassadors to him, and to these he tells his story. He himself, -Ambiorix, loves Cæsar beyond all things. Has not Cæsar done him great -kindnesses? He would not willingly lift a hand against Cæsar, but he -cannot control his state. The facts, however, are thus; an enormous body -of Germans has crossed the Rhine, and is hurrying on to destroy that -Roman camp; and it certainly will be destroyed, so great is the number -of the Germans. Thus says Ambiorix; and then suggests whether it would -not be well that Titurius and Cotta with their nine or ten thousand -men,—a mere handful of men against all these Germans who are already -over the Rhine;—would it not be well that the Romans should go and join -some of their brethren, either the legion that is among the Nervii to -the east, under Quintus Cicero, the brother of the great orator—or that -other legion which Labienus has, a little to the south, on the borders -of the Remi and Treviri? And in regard to a good turn on his own part, -so great is the love and veneration which he, Ambiorix, feels for Cæsar, -that he is quite ready to see the Romans safe through the territories of -the Eburones. He begs Titurius and Cotta to think of this, and to allow -him to aid them in their escape while escape is possible. The two Roman -generals do think of it. Titurius thinks that it will be well to take -the advice of Ambiorix. Cotta, and with him many of the tribunes and -centurions of the soldiers, think that they should not stir without -Cæsar’s orders;—<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span>think also that there is nothing baser or more foolish -in warfare than to act on advice given by an enemy. Titurius, however, -is clear for going, and Cotta, after much argument and some invective, -gives way. Early on the next morning they all leave their camp, taking -with them their baggage, and marching forth as though through a friendly -country,—apparently with belief in the proffered friendship of -Ambiorix. The Eburones had of course prepared an ambush, and the Roman -army is attacked both behind and before, and is thrown into utter -confusion.</p> - -<p>The legion, or legion and a half, with its two commanders, is altogether -destroyed. Titurius goes out from his ranks to meet Ambiorix, and pray -for peace. He is told to throw away his arms, and submitting to the -disgrace, casts them down. Then, while Ambiorix is making a long speech, -the Roman general is surrounded and slaughtered. Cotta is killed -fighting; as also are more than half the soldiers. The rest get back -into the camp at night, and then, despairing of any safety, overwhelmed -with disgrace, conscious that there is no place for hope, they destroy -themselves. Only a few have escaped during the fighting to tell the tale -in the camp of Labienus.</p> - -<p>As a rule the reader’s sympathies are with the Gauls; but we cannot help -feeling a certain regret that a Roman legion should have thus been wiled -on to destruction through the weakness of its general. If Titurius could -have been made to suffer alone we should bear it better. When we are -told how the gallant eagle-bearer, Petrosidius, throws his eagle into -the rampart, and then dies fighting before the camp, we wish<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span> that -Ambiorix had been less successful. Of this, however, we feel quite -certain, that there will come a day, and that soon, in which Cæsar will -exact punishment.</p> - -<p>Having done so much, Ambiorix and the Eburones do not desist. Now, if -ever, after so great a disgrace, and with legions still scattered, may -Cæsar be worsted. Q. Cicero is with his legion among the Nervii, and -thither Ambiorix goes. The Nervii are quite ready, and Cicero is -attacked in his camp. And here, too, for a long while it goes very badly -with the Romans;—so badly that Cicero is hardly able to hold his -ramparts against the attacks made upon them by the barbarians. Red-hot -balls of clay and hot arrows are thrown into the camp, and there is a -fire. The messengers sent to Cæsar for help are slain on the road, and -the Romans begin to think that there is hardly a chance for them of -escape. Unless Cæsar be with them they are not safe. All their power, -their prestige, their certainty of conquest, lies in Cæsar. Cicero -behaves like a prudent and a valiant man; but unless he had at last -succeeded in getting a Gaulish slave to take a letter concealed in a -dart to Cæsar, the enemy would have destroyed him.</p> - -<p>There is a little episode of two Roman centurions, Pulfius and Varenus, -who were always quarrelling as to which was the better man of the two. -Pulfius with much bravado rushes out among the enemy, and Varenus -follows him. Pulfius gets into trouble, and Varenus rescues him. Then -Varenus is in a difficulty, and Pulfius comes to his assistance. -According to all chances of war, both should have been killed; but both -get back safe into the camp;—and nobody knows from that day to this -which was the better man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span> Cæsar, of course, hastens to the assistance -of his lieutenant, having sent word of his coming by a letter fastened -to another dart, which, however, hardly reaches Cicero in time to -comfort him before he sees the fires by which the coming legions wasted -the country along their line of march. Then there is more fighting. -Cæsar conquers, and Q. Cicero is rescued from his very disagreeable -position. Labienus has also been in difficulty, stationed, as we -remember, on the borders of the Treviri. The Treviri were quite as eager -to attack him as the Eburones and Nervii to destroy the legions left in -their territories. But before the attack is made, the news of Cæsar’s -victory, travelling with wonderful speed, is heard of in those parts, -and the Treviri think it best to leave Labienus alone.</p> - -<p>But Cæsar has perceived that, although he has so often boasted that all -Gaul was at last at peace, all Gaul is prepared to carry on the war -against him. It is during this winter that he seems to realise a -conviction that his presence in the country is not popular with the -Gauls in general, and that he has still much to do before he can make -them understand that they are not free men, belonging to free states. -The opposition to him has become so general that he himself determines -to remain in Gaul all the winter; and even after telling us of the -destruction of Indutiomarus, the chief of the Treviri, by Labienus, he -can only boast that—“Cæsar had, after that was done, Gaul a little -quieter,”—a little more like a subject country bound hand and -foot,—than it was before. During this year Cæsar’s proconsular power -over his provinces was extended for a second period of five years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>SIXTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—CÆSAR PURSUES AMBIORIX.—THE -MANNERS OF THE GAULS AND OF THE GERMANS ARE CONTRASTED.—B.C. 53.</p></div> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Cæsar</span> begins the next campaign before the winter is over, having, as we -have seen, been forced to continue the last long after the winter had -commenced. The Gauls were learning to unite themselves, and things were -becoming very serious with him. One Roman army, with probably ten -thousand men, had been absolutely destroyed, with its generals Titurius -Sabinus and Aurunculeius Cotta. Another under Quintus Cicero would have -suffered the same fate, but for Cæsar’s happy intervention. A third -under Labienus had been attacked. All Gaul had been under arms, or -thinking of arms, in the autumn; and though Cæsar had been able to -report at the end of the campaign that Gaul,—his Gaul, as he intended -that it should be,—was a little quieter, nevertheless he understood -well that he still had his work to do before he could enter upon -possession. He had already been the master of eight legions in Gaul, -containing 48,000 foot-soldiers, levied on the Italian side of the Alps. -He<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span> had added to this a large body of Gaulish cavalry and light -infantry, over and above his eight legions. He had now lost an entire -legion and a half, besides the gaps which must have been made in -Britain, and by the loss of those who had fallen when attacked under -Cicero by the Nervii. But he would show the Gauls that when so treated -he could begin again, not only with renewed but with increased force. He -would astound them by his display of Roman power, “thinking that, for -the future, it would greatly affect the opinion of Gaul that the power -of Italy should be seen to be so great that, if any reverse in war were -suffered, not only could the injury be cured in a short time, but that -the loss could be repaired even by increased forces.” He not only levies -fresh troops, but borrows a legion which Pompey commands outside the -walls of Rome. He tells us that Pompey yields his legion to the -“Republic and to Friendship.” The Triumvirate was still existing, and -Cæsar’s great colleague probably felt that he had no alternative. In -this way Cæsar not only re-established the legion which had been -annihilated, but completes the others, and takes the field with two new -legions added to his army. He probably now had as many as eighty -thousand men under his command.</p> - -<p>He first makes a raid against our old friends the Nervii, who had nearly -conquered Cicero before Christmas, and who were already conspiring again -with certain German and neighbouring Belgian tribes. The reader will -perhaps remember that in the second book this tribe was said to have -been so utterly destroyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span> that hardly their name remained. That, no -doubt, was Cæsar’s belief after the great slaughter. There had been, -however, enough of them left nearly to destroy Q. Cicero and his legion. -Then Cæsar goes to Paris,—Lutetia Parisiorum, of which we now hear for -the first time,—and, with the help of his friends the Ædui and the -Remi, makes a peace with the centre tribes of Gaul, the Senones and -Carnutes. Then he resolves upon attacking Ambiorix with all his heart -and soul. Ambiorix had destroyed his legion and killed his two generals, -and against Ambiorix he must put forth all his force. It is said that -when Cæsar first heard of that misfortune he swore that he would not cut -his hair or shave himself till he was avenged. But he feels that he must -first dispose of those who would naturally be the allies of this -much-to-be-persecuted enemy. The Menapii, with whom we may remember that -he had never quite settled matters in his former war, and who live on -the southern banks of the Meuse not far from the sea, have not even yet -sent to him messengers to ask for peace. He burns their villages, takes -their cattle, makes slaves of the men, and then binds them by hostages -to have no friendship with Ambiorix. In the mean time Labienus utterly -defeats the great north-eastern tribe, the Treviri, whom he cunningly -allures into fighting just before they are joined by certain Germans who -are coming to aid them. “Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” These -unfortunate Gauls and Germans fall into every trap that is laid for -them. The speech which Cæsar quotes<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span> as having been made by Labienus to -his troops on this occasion is memorable. “Now,” says Labienus, “you -have your opportunity. You have got your enemy thoroughly at advantage. -That valour which you have so often displayed before the ‘Imperator,’ -Cæsar, display now under my command. Think that Cæsar is present, and -that he beholds you.” To have written thus of himself Cæsar must have -thought of himself as of a god. He tells the story as though it were -quite natural that Labienus and the soldiers should so regard him.</p> - -<p>After this battle, in which the Treviri are of course slaughtered, Cæsar -makes a second bridge over the Rhine, somewhat above the spot at which -he had crossed before. He does this, he says, for two reasons,—first, -because the Germans had sent assistance to the Nervii; and secondly, -lest his great enemy Ambiorix should find shelter among the Suevi. Then -he suggests that the opportunity is a good one for saying something to -his readers of the different manners of Gaul and of Germany. Among the -Gauls, in their tribes, their villages, and even in their families, -there are ever two factions, so that one should always balance the -other, and neither become superior. Cæsar so tells us at this particular -point of his narrative, because he is anxious to go back and explain how -it was that he had taken the part of the Ædui, and had first come into -conflict with the Germans, driving Ariovistus back across the Rhine for -their sake. In eastern Gaul two tribes had long balanced each other, -each, of course, striving for mastery,—the Ædui and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span> the Sequani. The -Sequani had called in the aid of the Germans, and the Ædui had been very -hardly treated. In their sufferings they had appealed to Rome, having -had former relations of close amity with the Republic. Divitiacus, their -chief magistrate,—the brother of Dumnorix who was afterwards killed by -Cæsar’s order for running away with the Æduan cavalry before the second -invasion of Britain,—had lived for a while in Rome, and had enjoyed -Roman friendships, that of Cicero among others. There was a good deal of -doubt in Rome as to what should be done with these Ædui; but at last, as -we know, Cæsar decided on taking their part; and we know also how he -drove Ariovistus back into Germany, with the loss of his wives and -daughters. Thus it came to pass, Cæsar tells us, that the Ædui were -accounted first of all the Gauls in regard to friendship with Rome; -while the Remi, who came to his assistance so readily when the Belgians -were in arms against him, were allowed the second place.</p> - -<p>Among the Gauls there are, he says, two classes of men held in -honour,—the Druids and the knights; by which we understand that two -professions or modes of life, and two only, were open to the -nobility,—the priesthood and the army. All the common people, Cæsar -says, are serfs, or little better. They do not hesitate, when oppressed -by debt or taxation, or the fear of some powerful enemy, to give -themselves into slavery, loving the protection so obtained. The Druids -have the chief political authority, and can maintain it by the dreadful -power of excommunication. The excommunicated<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span> wretch is an outlaw, -beyond the pale of civil rights. Over the Druids is one great Druid, at -whose death the place is filled by election among all the Druids, unless -there be one so conspicuously first that no ceremony of election is -needed. Their most sacred spot for worship is among the Carnutes, in the -middle of the country. Their discipline and mysteries came to them from -Britain, and when any very knotty point arises they go to Britain to -make inquiry. The Druids don’t fight, and pay no taxes. The ambition to -be a Druid is very great; but then so is the difficulty. Twenty years of -tuition is not uncommonly needed; for everything has to be learned by -heart. Of their religious secrets nothing may be written. Their great -doctrine is the transmigration of souls; so that men should believe that -the soul never dies, and that death, therefore, or that partial death -which we see, need not be feared. They are great also in astronomy, -geography, natural history,—and general theology, of course.</p> - -<p>The knights, or nobles, have no resource but to fight. Cæsar suggests -that before the blessing of his advent they were driven to the -disagreeable necessity of fighting yearly with each other. Of all people -the Gauls, he says, are the most given to superstition; in so much so, -that in all dangers and difficulties they have recourse to human -sacrifices, in which the Druids are their ministers. They burn their -victims to appease their deities, and, by preference, will burn thieves -and murderers,—the gods loving best such polluted victims,—but, in -default of such, will have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span> recourse to an immolation of innocents. Then -Cæsar tells us that among the gods they chiefly worship Mercury, whom -they seem to have regarded as the cleverest of the gods; but they also -worship Apollo, Mars, Jove, and Minerva, ascribing to them the -attributes which are allowed them by other nations. How the worship of -the Greek and Roman gods became mingled with the religion of the Druids -we are not told, nor does Cæsar express surprise that it should have -been so. Cæsar gives the Roman names of these gods, but he does not -intend us to understand that they were so called by the Gauls, who had -their own names for their deities. The trophies of war they devote to -Mars, and in many states keep large stores of such consecrated spoils. -It is not often that a Gaul will commit the sacrilege of appropriating -to his own use anything thus made sacred; but the punishment of such -offence, when it is committed, is death by torture. There is the -greatest veneration from sons to their fathers. Until the son can bear -arms he does not approach his father, or even stand in public in his -presence. The husband’s fortune is made to equal the wife’s dowry, and -then the property is common between them. This seems well enough, and -the law would suit the views of British wives of the present day. But -the next Gaulish custom is not so well worthy of example. Husbands have -the power of life and death over their wives and children; and when any -man of mark dies, if there be cause for suspicion, his wives are -examined under torture, and if any evil practice be confessed, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span> are -then tortured to death. We learn from this passage that polygamy was -allowed among the Gauls. The Gauls have grand funerals. Things which -have been dear to the departed are burned at these ceremonies. Animals -were thus burned in Cæsar’s time, but in former days slaves also, and -dependants who had been specially loved. The best-governed states are -very particular in not allowing rumours as to state affairs to be made -matter of public discussion. Anything heard is to be told to the -magistrate; but there is to be no discussion on public affairs except in -the public council. So much we hear of the customs of the Gauls.</p> - -<p>The Germans differ from the Gauls in many things. They know nothing of -Druids, nor do they care for sacrifices. They worship only what they see -and enjoy,—the sun, and fire, and the moon. They spend their time in -hunting and war, and care little for agriculture. They live on milk, -cheese, and flesh. They are communists as to the soil, and stay no -longer than a year on the same land. These customs they follow lest they -should learn to prefer agriculture to war; lest they should grow fond of -broad possessions, so that the rich should oppress the poor; lest they -should by too much comfort become afraid of cold and heat; lest the love -of money should grow among them, and one man should seek to be higher -than another. From all which it seems that the Germans were not without -advanced ideas in political economy.</p> - -<p>It is a great point with the Germans to have no near neighbours. For the -sake of safety and independence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span> each tribe loves to have a wide -margin. In war the chieftains have power of life and death. In time of -peace there are no appointed magistrates, but the chiefs in the cantons -declare justice and quell litigation as well as they can. Thieving in a -neighbouring state,—not in his own,—is honourable to a German. -Expeditions for thieving are formed, which men may join or not as they -please; but woe betide him who, having promised, fails. They are good to -travelling strangers. There was a time when the Gauls were better men -than the Germans, and could come into Germany and take German land. Even -now, says Cæsar, there are Gaulish tribes living in Germany after German -fashion. But the nearness of the Province to Gaul has taught the Gauls -luxury, and so it has come to pass that the Gauls are not as good in -battle as they used to be. It is interesting to gather from all these -notices the progress of civilisation through the peoples of Europe, and -some hint as to what has been thought to be good and bad for humanity by -various races before the time of Christ.</p> - -<p>Cæsar then tells us of a great Hercynian forest, beginning from the -north of Switzerland and stretching away to the Danube. A man in nine -days would traverse its breadth; but even in sixty days a man could not -get to the end of it lengthwise. We may presume that the Black Forest -was a portion of it. It contains many singular beasts,—bisons with one -horn; elks, which are like great stags, but which have no joints in -their legs, and cannot lie down,—nor, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span> knocked down, can they get -up,—which sleep leaning against trees; but the trees sometimes break, -and then the elk falls and has a bad time of it. Then there is the urus, -almost as big as an elephant, which spares neither man nor beast. It is -a great thing to kill a urus, but no one can tame them, even when young. -The Germans are fond of mounting the horns of this animal with silver, -and using them for drinking-cups.</p> - -<p>Cæsar does very little over among the Germans. He comes back, partly -destroys his bridge, and starts again in search of Ambiorix. His -lieutenant Basilus nearly takes the poor hunted chieftain, but Ambiorix -escapes, and Cæsar moralises about fortune. Ambiorix, the reader will -remember, was joint-king over the Eburones with one Cativolcus. -Cativolcus, who is old, finding how his people are harassed, curses his -brother king who has brought these sorrows on the nation, and poisons -himself with the juice of yew-tree.</p> - -<p>All the tribes in the Belgic country, Gauls as well as Germans, were now -very much harassed. They all had helped, or might have helped, or, if -left to themselves, might at some future time give help to Ambiorix and -the Eburones. Cæsar divides his army, but still goes himself in quest of -his victim into the damp, uncomfortable countries near the mouths of the -Scheldt and Meuse. Here he is much distracted between his burning desire -to extirpate that race of wicked men over whom Ambiorix had been king, -and his anxiety lest he should lose more of his own men in the work<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span> -than the wicked race is worth. He invites the neighbouring Gauls to help -him in the work, so that Gauls should perish in those inhospitable -regions rather than his own legionaries. This, however, is fixed in his -mind, that a tribe which has been guilty of so terrible an -offence,—which has destroyed in war an army of his, just as he would -have delighted to destroy a Gaulish army,—must be extirpated, so that -its very name may cease to exist! “Pro tali facinore, stirps ac nomen -civitatis tollatur.”</p> - -<p>Cæsar, in dividing his army, had stationed Q. Cicero with one legion and -the heavy baggage and spoils of the army, in a fortress exactly at that -spot from which Titurius Sabinus had been lured by the craft of -Ambiorix. Certain Germans, the Sigambri, having learned that all the -property of the Eburones had been given up by Cæsar as a prey to any who -would take it, had crossed the Rhine that they might thus fill their -hands. But it is suggested to them that they may fill their hands much -fuller by attacking Q. Cicero in his camp; and they do attack him, when -the best part of his army is away looking for provisions. That special -spot in the territory of the Eburones is again nearly fatal to a Roman -legion. But the Germans, not knowing how to press the advantage they -gain, return with their spoil across the Rhine, and Cæsar again comes up -like a god. But he has not as yet destroyed Ambiorix,—who indeed is not -taken at last,—and expresses his great disgust and amazement that the -coming of these Germans, which was planned with the view of injuring -Ambiorix,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span> should have done instead so great a service to that -monstrously wicked chieftain.</p> - -<p>He does his very best to catch Ambiorix in person, offering great -rewards and inducing his men to undergo all manner of hardships in the -pursuit. Ambiorix, however, with three or four chosen followers, escapes -him. But Cæsar is not without revenge. He burns all the villages of the -Eburones, and all their houses. He so lays waste the country that even -when his army is gone not a soul should be able to live there. After -that he probably allowed himself to be shaved. Ambiorix is seen here and -is seen there, but with hairbreadth chances eludes his pursuer. Cæsar, -having thus failed, returns south, as winter approaches, to -Rheims,—Durocortorum; and just telling us in four words how he had one -Acco tortured to death because Acco had headed a conspiracy in the -middle of Gaul among the Carnutes and Senones, and how he outlawed and -banished others whom he could not catch, he puts his legions into winter -quarters, and again goes back to Italy to hold assizes and look after -his interests amid the great affairs of the Republic.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> -<small>SEVENTH BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—THE REVOLT OF VERCINGETORIX.—B.C. 52.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> opening his account of his seventh campaign Cæsar makes almost the -only reference to the affairs of Rome which we find in these memoirs. -Clodius has been murdered. We know, too, that Crassus had been killed at -the head of his army in the east, and that, at the death of Clodius, -Pompey had been created Dictator in the city with the name of sole -Consul. Cæsar, however, only mentions the murder of Clodius, and then -goes on to say that the Gauls, knowing how important to him must be the -affairs of Rome at this moment, think that he cannot now attend to them, -and that, in his absence, they may shake off the Roman yoke. The affairs -of Rome must indeed have been important to Cæsar, if, as no doubt is -true, he had already before his eyes a settled course of action by which -to make himself supreme in the Republic. Clodius, the demagogue, was -dead, whom he never could have loved, but whom it had not suited him to -treat as an enemy. Crassus, too, was dead, whom, on account of his -wealth, Cæsar had admitted as a colleague. Pompey, the third triumvir,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span> -remained at Rome, and was now sole Consul; Pompey who, only twelve -months since, had so fondly given up his legion for the sake of the -Republic,—and for friendship. Cæsar, no doubt, foresaw by this time -that the struggle must be at last between himself and Pompey. The very -forms of the old republican rule were being turned adrift, and Cæsar -must have known, as Pompey also knew, and Clodius had known, and even -Crassus, that a new power would become paramount in the city. But the -hands to wrest such power must be very strong. And the day had not yet -quite come. Having spent six summers in subduing Gaul, Cæsar would not -lose the prestige, the power, the support, which such a territory, -really subdued, would give him. Things, doubtless, were important at -Rome, but it was still his most politic course to return over the Alps -and complete his work. Before the winter was over he heard that the -tribes were conspiring, because it was thought that at such an emergency -Cæsar could not leave Italy.</p> - -<p>This last book of the Commentary, as written by Cæsar, tells the story -of the gallant Vercingetorix, one of the Arverni,—the modern -Auvergne,—whose father, Celtillus, is said to have sought the -chieftainship of all Gaul, and to have been killed on that account by -his own state. Vercingetorix is certainly the hero of these wars on the -Gaulish side, though we hear nothing of him till this seventh campaign. -The conspiracy against Rome is afloat, the Carnutes, whose chief town is -Genabum,—Orleans,—having commenced it. Vercingetorix excites his own -countrymen to join, but is expelled from<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span> their town, Gergovia, for the -attempt. The Arverni, or at least their chief men, fear to oppose the -Romans; but Vercingetorix obtains a crowd of followers out in the -country, and perseveres. Men of other tribes come to him, from as far -north as Paris, and west from the Ocean. He assumes supreme power, and -enacts and carries out most severe laws for his guidance during the war. -For any greater offence he burns the offender alive and subjects him to -all kinds of torments. For any small fault he cuts off a man’s ears, -pokes out one of his eyes, and sends him home, that he may be an example -visible to all men. By threats of such punishment to those who do not -join him, and by inflicting such on those who do and are then untrue to -him or lukewarm, he gets together a great army. Cæsar, who is still in -Italy, hears of all this, and having made things comfortable with -Pompey, hurries into the province. He tells us of his great difficulty -in joining his army,—of the necessity which is incumbent on him of -securing even the Roman Province from invasion, and of the manner in -which he breaks through snow-clad mountains, the Cevennes, at a time of -the year in which such mountains were supposed to be impassable. He is -forced into fighting before the winter is over, because, unless he does -so, the few friends he has in Gaul,—the Ædui, for instance,—will have -been gained over by the enemy. This made it very difficult, Cæsar tells -us, for him to know what to do; but he decides that he must begin his -campaign, though it be winter still.</p> - -<p>Cæsar, moving his army about with wonderful quickness, takes three towns -in the centre of Gaul, of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span> Genabum, Orleans, is the first, and -thus provides himself with food. Vercingetorix, when he hears of these -losses, greatly troubled in his mind that Cæsar should thus he enabled -to exist on the provisions gathered by the Gauls, determines to burn all -the Gaulish towns in those parts. He tells his people that there is -nothing else for them in their present emergency, and that they must -remember when they see their hearths smoking and their property -destroyed, that it would be, or ought to be, much more grievous for them -to know that their wives and children would become slaves, as -undoubtedly would be their fate, if Cæsar were allowed to prevail. The -order is given. Twenty cities belonging to one tribe are burned to the -ground. The same thing is done in other states. But there is one very -beautiful city, the glory of the country round, which can, they say, be -so easily defended that it will be a comfort rather than a peril to -them. Avaricum, the present Bourges,—must that also be burned? May not -Avaricum be spared? Vercingetorix is all for burning Avaricum as he has -burned the others; but he allows himself to be persuaded, and the city -is spared—for the time.</p> - -<p>Cæsar, of course, determines to take Avaricum; but he encounters great -difficulties. The cattle have been driven away. There is no corn. Those -wretched Ædui do almost nothing for him; and the Boii, who are their -neighbours, and who, at the best, are but a poor scanty people, are -equally unserviceable. Some days his army is absolutely without food; -but yet no word of complaint is heard “unworthy of the majesty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> and -former victories of the Roman people.” The soldiers even beg him to -continue the siege when he offers to raise it because of the hardships -they are enduring. Let them endure anything, they say, but failure! -“Moreover Cæsar, when he would accost his legions one by one at their -work, and would tell them that he would raise the siege if they could -but ill bear their privations, was implored by all of them not to do -that. They said that for many years under his command they had so well -done their duty that they had undergone no disgrace, had never quitted -their ground leaving aught unfinished,”—except the subjugation of -Britain they might perhaps have said,—“that they would be now disgraced -if they should raise a siege which had been commenced; that they would -rather bear all hardships than not avenge the Roman citizens who had -perished at Genabum by the perfidy of the Gauls.” Cæsar puts these words -into the mouths of his legionaries, and as we read them we believe that -such was the existing spirit of the men. Cæsar’s soldiers now had -learned better than to cry because they were afraid of their enemies.</p> - -<p>Then we hear that Vercingetorix is in trouble with the Gauls. The Gauls, -when they see the Romans so near them, think that they are to be -betrayed into Cæsar’s hands, and they accuse their leader. But -Vercingetorix makes them a speech, and brings up certain Roman prisoners -to give evidence as to the evil condition of the Roman army. -Vercingetorix swears that these prisoners are soldiers from the Roman -legions, and so settles that little trouble; but Cæsar,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span> defending his -legionaries, asserts that the men so used were simply slaves.</p> - -<p>Vercingetorix is in his camp at some little distance from Avaricum, -while Cæsar is determined to take the city. We have the description of -the siege, concise, graphic, and clear. We are told of the nature of the -walls; how the Gauls were good at mining and countermining; how they -flung hot pitch and boiling grease on the invaders; how this was kept -up, one Gaul after another stepping on to the body of his dying comrade; -how at last they resolved to quit the town and make their way by night -to the camp of Vercingetorix, but were stopped by the prayers of their -own women, who feared Cæsar’s mercies;—and how at last the city was -taken. We cannot but execrate Cæsar when he tells us coolly of the -result. They were all killed. The old, the women, and the children, -perished altogether, slaughtered by the Romans. Out of forty thousand -inhabitants, Cæsar says that about eight hundred got safely to -Vercingetorix. Of course we doubt the accuracy of Cæsar’s figures when -he tells us of the numbers of the Gauls; but we do not doubt that but a -few escaped, and that all but a few were slaughtered. When, during the -last campaign, the Gauls at Genabum (Orleans) had determined on revolt -against Cæsar, certain Roman traders—usurers for the most part, who had -there established themselves—were killed. Cæsar gives this as the -cause, and sufficient cause, for the wholesale slaughter of women and -children! One reflects that not otherwise, perhaps, could he have -conquered Gaul, and that Gaul<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> had to be conquered; but we cannot for -the moment but abhor the man capable of such work. Vercingetorix bears -his loss bravely. He reminds the Gauls that had they taken his advice -the city would have been destroyed by themselves and not defended; he -tells them that all the states of Gaul are now ready to join him; and he -prepares to fortify a camp after the Roman fashion. Hitherto the Gauls -have fought either from behind the walls of towns, or out in the open -country without other protection than that of the woods and hills.</p> - -<p>Then there is another episode with those unsatisfactory Ædui. There is a -quarrel among them who shall be their chief magistrate,—a certain old -man or a certain young man,—and they send to Cæsar to settle the -question. Cæsar’s hands are very full; but, as he explains, it is -essential to him that his allies shall be kept in due subordinate order. -He therefore absolutely goes in person to one of their cities, and -decides that the young man shall be the chief magistrate. But, as he -seldom does anything for nothing, he begs that ten thousand Æduan -infantry and all the Æduan cavalry may be sent to help him against -Vercingetorix. The Ædui have no alternative but to comply. Their -compliance, however, is not altogether of a friendly nature. The old man -who has been put out of the magistracy gets hold of the Æduan general of -the forces; and the Æduan army takes the field,—to help, not Cæsar, but -Vercingetorix! There is a large amount of lying and treachery among the -Ædui, and of course tidings of what is going on are carried to Cæsar. -Over<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> and over again these people deceive him, betray him, and endeavour -to injure his cause; but he always forgives them, or pretends to forgive -them. It is his policy to show to the Gauls how great can be the -friendship and clemency of Cæsar. If he would have burned the Ædui and -spared Bourges we should have liked him better; but then, had he done -so, he would not have been Cæsar.</p> - -<p>While Cæsar is thus troubled with his allies, he has trouble enough also -with his enemies. Vercingetorix, with his followers, after that terrible -reverse at Avaricum,—Bourges,—goes into his own country which we know -as Auvergne, and there encamps his army on a high hill with a flat top, -called Gergovia. All of us who have visited Clermont have probably seen -the hill. Vercingetorix makes three camps for his army on the hill, and -the Arverni have a town there. The Gaul has so placed himself that there -shall be a river not capable of being forded between himself and Cæsar. -But the Roman general makes a bridge and sets himself down with his -legions before Gergovia. The limits of this little work do not admit of -any detailed description of Cæsar’s battles; but perhaps there is none -more interesting than this siege. The three Gaulish camps are taken. The -women of Gergovia, thinking that their town is taken also, leaning over -the walls, implore mercy from the Romans, and beg that they may not be -treated as have the women of Avaricum. Certain leading Roman soldiers -absolutely climb up into the town. The reader also thinks that Cæsar is -to prevail, as he always does prevail. But he is beaten back, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span> has -to give it up. On this occasion the gallant Vercingetorix is the master -of the day, and Cæsar excuses himself by explaining how it was that his -legions were defeated through the rash courage of his own men, and not -by bad generalship of his own. And it probably was so. The reader always -feels inclined to believe the Commentary, even when he may most dislike -Cæsar. Cæsar again makes his bridge over the river, the Allier, and -retires into the territory of his doubtful friends the Ædui. He tells us -himself that in that affair he lost 700 men and 46 officers.</p> - -<p>It seems that at this time Cæsar with his whole army must have been in -great danger of being destroyed by the Gauls. Why Vercingetorix did not -follow up his victory and prevent Cæsar from escaping over the Allier is -not explained. No doubt the requirements of warfare were not known to -the Gaul as they were to the Roman. As it was, Cæsar had enough to do to -save his army. The Ædui, of course, turned against him again. All his -stores and treasure and baggage were at Noviodunum,—Nevers,—a town -belonging to the Ædui. These are seized by his allies, who destroy all -that they cannot carry away, and Cæsar’s army is in danger of being -starved. Everything has been eaten up where he is, and the Loire, -without bridges or fords, was between him and a country where food was -to be found. He does cross the river, the Ædui having supposed that it -would be impossible. He finds a spot in which his men can wade across -with their shoulders just above the waters. Bad as the spot is for -fording, in his great difficulty he makes the attempt and accomplishes -it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span></p> - -<p>Then there is an account of a battle which Labienus is obliged to fight -up near Paris. He has four legions away with him there, and having heard -of Cæsar’s misfortune at Gergovia, knows how imperative it is that he -should join his chief. He fights his battle and wins it, and Cæsar tells -the story quite as enthusiastically as though he himself had been the -conqueror. When this difficulty is overcome, Labienus comes south and -joins his Imperator.</p> - -<p>The Gauls are still determined to drive Cæsar out of their country, and -with this object call together a great council at Bibracte, which was -the chief town of the Ædui. It was afterwards called Augustodunum, which -has passed into the modern name Autun. At this meeting, the Ædui, who, -having been for some years past bolstered up by Rome, think themselves -the first of all the Gauls, demand that the chief authority in the -revolt against Rome,—now that they have revolted,—shall be intrusted -to them. An Æduan chief, they think, should be the commander-in-chief in -this war against Rome. Who has done so much for the revolt as the Ædui, -who have thrown over their friends the Romans,—now for about the tenth -time? But Vercingetorix is unanimously elected, and the Æduan chiefs are -disgusted. Then there is another battle. Vercingetorix thinks that he is -strong enough to attack the enemy as Cæsar is going down south towards -the Province. Cæsar, so says Vercingetorix, is in fact retreating. And, -indeed, it seems that Cæsar was retreating. But the Gauls are beaten and -fly, losing some three thousand of their men who are slaughtered in the -fight. Vercingetorix shuts himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span> up in a town called Alesia, and -Cæsar prepares for another siege.</p> - -<p>The taking of Alesia is the last event told in Cæsar’s Commentary on the -Gallic War, and of all the stories told, it is perhaps the most -heartrending. Civilisation was never forwarded in a fashion more -terrible than that which prevailed at this siege. Vercingetorix with his -whole army is forced into the town, and Cæsar surrounds it with ditches, -works, lines, and ramparts, so that no one shall be able to escape from -it. Before this is completed, and while there is yet a way open of -leaving the town, the Gaulish chief sends out horsemen, who are to go to -all the tribes of Gaul, and convene the fighting men to that place, so -that by their numbers they may raise the siege and expel the Romans. We -find that these horsemen do as they are bidden, and that a great Gaulish -conference is held, at which it is decided how many men shall be sent by -each tribe. Vercingetorix has been very touching in his demand that all -this shall be done quickly. He has food for the town for thirty days. -Probably it may be stretched to last a little longer. Then, if the -tribes are not true to him, he and the eighty thousand souls he has with -him must perish. The horsemen make good their escape from the town, and -Vercingetorix, with his eighty thousand hungry souls around him, -prepares to wait. It seems to us, when we think what must have been the -Gallia of those days, and when we remember how far thirty days would now -be for sufficing for such a purpose, that the difficulties to be -overcome were insuperable. But Cæsar says that the tribes did send their -men, each tribe sending the number demanded,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> except the Bellovaci,—the -men of Beauvais,—who declared that they chose to wage war on their own -account; but even they, out of kindness, lent two thousand men. Cæsar -explains that even his own best friends among the Gauls,—among whom was -one Commius, who had been very useful to him in Britain, and whom he had -made king over his own tribe, the Atrebates,—at this conjuncture of -affairs felt themselves bound to join the national movement. This -Commius had even begged for the two thousand men of Beauvais. So great, -says Cæsar, was the united desire of Gaul to recover Gallic liberty, -that they were deterred from coming by no memory of benefits or of -friendship. Eight thousand horsemen and two hundred and forty thousand -footmen assembled themselves in the territories of the Ædui. Alesia was -north of the Ædui, amidst the Lingones. This enormous army chose its -generals, and marched off to Alesia to relieve Vercingetorix.</p> - -<p>But the thirty days were past, and more than past, and the men and women -in Alesia were starving. No tidings ever had reached Alesia of the -progress which was being made in the gathering of their friends. It had -come to be very bad with them there. Some were talking of unconditional -surrender. Others proposed to cut their way through the Roman lines. -Then one Critognatus had a suggestion to make, and Cæsar gives us the -words of his speech. It has been common with the Greek and Latin -historians to put speeches into the mouths of certain orators, adding -the words when the matter has come within either their knowledge or -belief. Cæsar does not often<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> thus risk his credibility; but on this -occasion he does so. We have the speech of Critognatus, word for word. -Of those who speak of surrender he thinks so meanly that he will not -notice them. As to that cutting a way through the Roman lines, which -means death, he is of opinion that to endure misfortune is greater than -to die. Many a man can die who cannot bravely live and suffer. Let them -endure a little longer. Why doubt the truth and constancy of the tribes? -Then he makes his suggestion. Let those who can fight, and are thus -useful,—eat those who are useless and cannot fight; and thus live till -the levies of all Gaul shall have come to their succour! Those who have -authority in Alesia cannot quite bring themselves to this, but they do -that which is horrible in the next degree. They will turn out of the -town all the old, all the weak, and all the women. After that,—if that -will not suffice,—then they will begin to eat each other. The town -belongs, or did belong, to a people called the Mandubii,—not to -Vercingetorix or his tribe; and the Mandubii, with their children and -women, are compelled to go out.</p> - -<p>But whither shall they go? Cæsar has told us that there was a margin of -ground between his lines and the city wall,—an enclosed space from -which there was no egress except into Cæsar’s camp or into the besieged -town. Here stand these weak ones,—aged men, women, and children,—and -implore Cæsar to receive them into his camp, so that they may pass out -into the open country. There they stood as supplicants, on that narrow -margin of ground between two armies. Their own friends, having no food -for them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> had expelled them from their own homes. Would Cæsar have -mercy? Cæsar, with a wave of his hand, declines to have mercy. He tells -us what he himself decides to do in eight words. “At Cæsar, depositis in -vallo custodiis, recipi prohibebat.” “But Cæsar, having placed guards -along the rampart, forbade that they should be received.” We hear no -more of them, but we know that they perished!</p> - -<p>The collected forces of Gaul do at last come up to attempt the rescue of -Vercingetorix,—and indeed they come in time; were they able by coming -to do anything? They attack Cæsar in his camp, and a great battle is -fought beneath the eyes of the men in Alesia. But Cæsar is very careful -that those who now are hemmed up in the town shall not join themselves -to the Gauls who had spread over the country all around him. We hear how -during the battle Cæsar comes up himself, and is known by the colour of -his cloak. We again feel, as we read his account of the fighting, that -the Gauls nearly win, and that they ought to win. But at last they are -driven headlong in flight,—all the levies of all the tribes. The Romans -kill very many: were not the labour of killing too much for them, they -might kill all. A huge crowd, however, escapes, and the men scatter -themselves back into their tribes.</p> - -<p>On the next day Vercingetorix yields himself and the city to Cæsar. -During the late battle he and his men shut up within the walls have been -simply spectators of the fighting. Cæsar is sitting in his lines before -his camp; and there the chieftains, with Vercingetorix at their head, -are brought up to him. Plutarch<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> tells us a story of the chieftain -riding up before Cæsar, to deliver himself, with gilt armour, on a grand -horse, caracolling and prancing. We cannot fancy that any horse out of -Alesia, could, after the siege, have been fit for such holiday occasion. -The horses out of Vercingetorix’s stables had probably been eaten many -days since. Then Cæsar again forgives the Ædui; but Vercingetorix is -taken as a prisoner to Rome, is kept a prisoner for six years, is then -led in Cæsar’s Triumph, and, after these six years, is destroyed, as a -victim needed for Cæsar’s glory,—that so honour may be done to Cæsar! -Cæsar puts his army into winter quarters, and determines to remain -himself in Gaul during the winter. When his account of these things -reaches Home, a “supplication” of twenty days is decreed in his honour.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p>This is the end of Cæsar’s Commentary “De Bello Gallico.” The war was -carried on for two years more; and a memoir of Cæsar’s doings during -those two years,—<small>B.C.</small> 51 and 50,—was written, after Cæsar’s manner, by -one Aulus Hirtius. There is no pretence on the writer’s part that this -was the work of Cæsar’s hands, as in a short preface he makes an -author’s apology for venturing to continue what Cæsar had begun. The -most memorable circumstance of Cæsar’s warfares told in this record of -two campaigns is the taking of Uxellodunum, a town in the south-west of -France, the site of which is not now known. Cæsar took the town by -cutting off the water, and then horribly mutilated the inhabitants who -had dared to defend their own hearths.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span> “Cæsar,” says this historian, -“knowing well that his clemency was acknowledged by all men, and that he -need not fear that any punishment inflicted by him would be attributed -to the cruelty of his nature, perceiving also that he could never know -what might be the end of his policy if such rebellions should continue -to break out, thought that other Gauls should be deterred by the fear of -punishment.” So he cut off the hands of all those who had borne arms at -Uxellodunum, and turned the maimed wretches adrift upon the world! And -his apologist adds, that he gave them life so that the punishment of -these wicked ones,—who had fought for their liberty,—might be the more -manifest to the world at large! This was perhaps the crowning act of -Cæsar’s cruelty,—defended, as we see, by the character he had achieved -for clemency!</p> - -<p>Soon after this Gaul was really subdued, and then we hear the first -preparatory notes of the coming civil war. An attempt was made at Rome -to ruin Cæsar in his absence. One of the consuls of the year,—<small>B.C.</small> -51,—endeavoured to deprive him of the remainder of the term of his -proconsulship, and to debar him from seeking the suffrages of the people -for the consulship in his absence. Two of his legions are also demanded -from him, and are surrendered by him. The order, indeed, is for one -legion from him and one from Pompeius; but he has had with him, as the -reader will remember, a legion borrowed from Pompeius;—and thus in fact -Cæsar is called upon to give up two legions. And he gives them up,—not -being as yet quite ready to pass the Rubicon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>FIRST BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—CÆSAR CROSSES THE RUBICON.—FOLLOWS -POMPEY TO BRUNDUSIUM.—AND CONQUERS AFRANIUS IN SPAIN.—B.C. 49.</p></div> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Cæsar</span> now gives us his history of that civil war in which he and Pompey -contended for the mastery over Rome and the Republic. In his first -Commentary he had recorded his campaigns in Gaul,—campaigns in which he -reduced tribes which were, if not hostile, at any rate foreign, and by -his success in which he carried on and maintained the potency, -traditions, and purport of the Roman Republic. It was the ambition of -the Roman to be master of the known world. In his ideas no more of the -world was really known than had become Roman, and any extension to the -limits of this world could only be made by the addition of so-called -barbarous tribes to the number of Roman subjects. In reducing Gaul, -therefore, and in fighting with the Germans, and in going over to -Britain, Cæsar was doing that which all good Romans wished to see done, -and was rivalling in the West the great deeds which Pompey had -accomplished for the Republic in the East. In this second Commentary he -is forced to deal with a subject which must have been less gratifying to -Roman readers. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span> relates to us the victories which he won with Roman -legions over other legions equally Roman, and by which he succeeded in -destroying the liberty of the Republic.</p> - -<p>It must he acknowledged on Cæsar’s behalf that in truth liberty had -fallen in Rome before Cæsar’s time. Power had produced wealth, and -wealth had produced corruption. The tribes of Rome were bought and sold -at the various elections, and a few great oligarchs, either of this -faction or of that, divided among themselves the places of trust and -honour and power, and did so with hands ever open for the grasping of -public wealth. An honest man with clean hands and a conscience, with -scruples and a love of country, became unfitted for public employment. -Cato in these days was simply ridiculous; and even Cicero, though he was -a trimmer, was too honest for the times. Laws were wrested from their -purposes, and the very Tribunes<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> of the people had become the worst -of tyrants. It was necessary, perhaps, that there should be a -master;—so at least Cæsar thought. He had, no doubt, seen this -necessity during all these years of fighting in Gaul, and had resolved -that he would not be less than First in the new order of things. So he -crossed the Rubicon.</p> - -<p>The reader of this second Commentary will find it less alluring than the -first. There is less in it of adventure, less of new strange life, and -less of that sound,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> healthy, joyous feeling which sprang from a -thorough conviction on Cæsar’s part that in crushing the Gauls he was -doing a thoroughly good thing. To us, and our way of thinking, his -doings in Gaul were stained with terrible cruelty. To him and to his -Romans they were foul with no such stain. How other Roman conquerors -acted to other conquered peoples we may learn from the fact, that Cæsar -obtained a character for great mercy by his forbearance in Gaul. He -always writes as though he were free from any sting of conscience, as he -tells us of the punishments which policy called upon him to inflict. But -as he writes of these civil wars, there is an absence of this feeling of -perfect self-satisfaction, and at the same time he is much less cruel. -Hecatombs of Gauls, whether men or women or children, he could see -burned or drowned or starved, mutilated or tortured, without a shudder. -He could give the command for such operations with less remorse than we -feel when we order the destruction of a litter of undesirable puppies. -But he could not bring himself to slay Roman legionaries, even in fair -fighting, with anything like self-satisfaction. In this he was either -soft-hearted or had a more thorough feeling of country than generals or -soldiers who have fought in civil contests since his time have shown. In -the Wars of the Roses and in those of Cromwell we recognise no such -feeling. The American generals were not so restrained. But Cæsar seems -to have valued a Roman legionary more than a tribe of Gauls.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he crossed the Rubicon. We have all heard of this crossing -of the Rubicon, but Cæsar says nothing about it. The Rubicon was a -little<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> river, now almost if not altogether unknown, running into the -Adriatic between Ravenna and Ariminum,—Rimini,—and dividing the -provinces of so-called Cisalpine Gaul from the territory under the -immediate rule of the magistracy of Rome. Cæsar was, so to say, at home -north of the Rubicon. He was in his own province, and had all things -under his command. But he was forbidden by the laws even to enter the -territory of Rome proper while in the command of a Roman province; and -therefore, in crossing the Rubicon, he disobeyed the laws, and put -himself in opposition to the constituted authorities of the city. It -does not appear, however, that very much was thought of this, or that -the passage of the river was in truth taken as the special sign of -Cæsar’s purpose, or as a deed that was irrevocable in its consequences. -There are various pretty stories of Cæsar’s hesitation as he stood on -the brink of the river, doubting whether he would plunge the world into -civil war. We are told how a spirit appeared to him and led him across -the water with martial music, and how Cæsar, declaring that the die was -cast, went on and crossed the fatal stream. But all this was fable, -invented on Cæsar’s behalf by Romans who came after Cæsar. Cæsar’s -purpose was, no doubt, well understood when he brought one of his -legions down into that corner of his province, but offers to treat with -him on friendly terms were made by Pompey and his party after he had -established himself on the Roman side of the river.</p> - -<p>When the civil war began, Cæsar had still, according to the assignment -made to him, two years and a half left of his allotted period of -government in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> three provinces; but his victories and his power had -been watched with anxious eyes from Rome, and the Senate had attempted -to decree that he should be recalled. Pompey was no longer Cæsar’s -friend, nor did Cæsar expect his friendship. Pompey, who had lately -played his cards but badly, and must have felt that he had played them -badly, had been freed from his bondage to Cæsar by the death of Crassus, -the third triumvir, by the death of Julia, Cæsar’s daughter, and by the -course of things in Rome. It had been an unnatural alliance arranged by -Cæsar with the view of clipping his rival’s wings. The fortunes of -Pompey had hitherto been so bright, that he also had seemed to be -divine. While still a boy, he had commanded and conquered, women had -adored him, the soldiers had worshipped him. Sulla had called him the -Great; and, as we are told, had raised his hat to him in token of -honour. He had been allowed the glory of a Triumph while yet a youth, -and had triumphed a second time before he had reached middle life. He -had triumphed again a third time, and the three Triumphs had been won in -the three quarters of the globe. In all things he had been successful, -and in all things happy. He had driven the swarming pirates from every -harbour in the Mediterranean, and had filled Rome with corn. He had -returned a conqueror with his legions from the East, and had dared to -disband them, that he might live again as a private citizen. And after -that, when it was thought necessary that the city should be saved, in -her need, from the factions of her own citizens, he had been made sole -consul. It is easier now to understand the character of Pompey<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span> than the -position which, by his unvaried successes, he had made for himself in -the minds both of the nobles and of the people. Even up to this time, -even after Cæsar’s wars in Gaul, there was something of divinity hanging -about Pompey, in which the Romans of the city trusted. He had been -imperious, but calm in manner and self-possessed,—allowing no one to be -his equal, but not impatient in making good his claims; grand, handsome, -lavish when policy required it, rapacious when much was needed, never -self-indulgent, heartless, false, cruel, politic, ambitious, very brave, -and a Roman to the backbone. But he had this failing, this -weakness;—when the time for the last struggle came, he did not quite -know what it was that he desired to do; he did not clearly see his -future. The things to be done were so great, that he had not ceased to -doubt concerning them when the moment came in which doubt was fatal. -Cæsar saw it all, and never doubted. That little tale of Cæsar standing -on the bridge over the Rubicon pondering as to his future -course,—divided between obedience and rebellion,—is very pretty. But -there was no such pondering, and no such division. Cæsar knew very well -what he meant and what he wanted.</p> - -<p>Cæsar is full of his wrongs as he begins his second narrative. He tells -us how his own friends are silenced in the Senate and in the city; how -his enemies, Scipio, Cato, and Lentulus the consul, prevail; how no one -is allowed to say a word for him. “Pompey himself,” he says, “urged on -by the enemies of Cæsar, and because he was unwilling that any one -should equal himself in honour, had turned himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> altogether from -Cæsar’s friendship, and had gone back to the fellowship of their common -enemies,—enemies whom he himself had created for Cæsar during the time -of their alliance. At the same time, conscious of the scandal of those -two legions which he had stopped on their destined road to Asia and -Syria and taken into his own hand, he was anxious that the question -should be referred to arms.” Those two legions are very grievous to -Cæsar. One was the legion, which, as we remember, Pompey had given up to -friendship,—and the Republic. When, in the beginning of these contests -between the two rivals, the Senate had decided on weakening each by -demanding from each a legion, Pompey had asked Cæsar for the restitution -of that which he had so kindly lent. Cæsar, too proud to refuse payment -of the debt, had sent that to his former friend, and had also sent -another legion, as demanded, to the Senate. They were required nominally -for service in the East, and now were in the hands of him who had been -Cæsar’s friend but had become his enemy. It is no wonder that Cæsar -talks of the infamy or scandal of the two legions! He repeats his -complaint as to the two legions again and again.</p> - -<p>In the month of January Cæsar was at Ravenna, just north of the Rubicon, -and in his own province. Messages pass between him and the Senate, and -he proposes his terms. The Senate also proposes its terms. He must lay -down his arms, or he will be esteemed an enemy by the Republic. All Rome -is disturbed. The account is Cæsar’s account, but we imagine that Rome -was disturbed. “Soldiers are recruited over all Italy; arms are -demanded, taxes are levied on the municipalities,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span> and money is taken -from the sacred shrines; all laws divine and human are disregarded.” -Then Cæsar explains to his soldiers his wrongs, and the crimes of -Pompey. He tells them how they, under his guidance, have been -victorious, how under him they have “pacified” all Gaul and Germany, and -he calls upon them to defend him who has enabled them to do such great -things. He has but one legion with him, but that legion declares that it -will obey him,—him and the tribunes of the people, some of whom, acting -on Cæsar’s side, have come over from Rome to Ravenna. We can appreciate -the spirit of this allusion to the tribunes, so that there may seem to -be still some link between Cæsar and the civic authorities. When the -soldiers have expressed their goodwill, he goes to Ariminum, and so the -Rubicon is passed.</p> - -<p>There are still more messages. Cæsar expresses himself as greatly -grieved that he should be subjected to so much suspense, nevertheless he -is willing to suffer anything for the Republic;—“omnia pati reipublicæ -causâ.” Only let Pompey go to his province, let the legions in and about -Rome be disbanded, let all the old forms of free government be restored, -and panic be abolished, and then,—when that is done,—all difficulties -may be settled in a few minutes’ talking. The consuls and Pompey send -back word that if Cæsar will go back into Gaul and dismiss his army, -Pompey shall go at once to Spain. But Pompey and the consuls with their -troops will not stir till Cæsar shall have given security for his -departure. Each demands that the other shall first abandon his position. -Of course all these messages mean nothing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span></p> - -<p>Cæsar, complaining bitterly of injustice, sends a portion of his small -army still farther into the Roman territory. Marc Antony goes to Arezzo -with five cohorts, and Cæsar occupies three other cities with a cohort -each. The marvel is that he was not attacked and driven back by Pompey. -We may probably conclude that the soldiers, though under the command of -Pompey, were not trustworthy as against Cæsar. As Cæsar regrets his two -legions, so no doubt do the two legions regret their commander. At any -rate, the consular forces with Pompey and the consuls and a host of -senators retreat southwards to Brundusium,—Brindisi,—intending to -leave Italy by the port which we shall all use before long when we go -eastwards. During this retreat, the first blood in the civil war is -spilt at Corfinium, a town which, if it now stood at all, would stand in -the Abruzzi. Cæsar there is victor in a small engagement, and obtains -possession of the town. The Pompeian officers whom he finds there he -sends away, and allows them even to carry with them money which he -believes to have been taken from the public treasury. Throughout his -route southward the soldiers of Pompey,—who had heretofore been his -soldiers,—return to him. Pompey and the consuls still retreat, and -still Cæsar follows them, though Pompey had boasted, when first warned -to beware of Cæsar, that he had only to stamp upon Italian soil and -legions would arise from the earth ready to obey him. He knows, however, -that away from Rome, in her provinces, in Macedonia and Achaia, in Asia -and Cilicia, in Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa, in Mauritania and the two -Spains, there are Roman legions which as yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span> know no Cæsar. It may be -better for Pompey that he should stamp his foot somewhere out of Italy. -At any rate he sends the obedient consuls and his attendant senators -over to Dyrrachium in Illyria with a part of his army, and follows with -the remainder as soon as Cæsar is at his heels. Cæsar makes an effort to -intercept him and his fleet, but in that he fails. Thus Pompey deserts -Rome and Italy,—and never again sees the imperial city or the fair -land.</p> - -<p>Cæsar explains to us why he does not follow his enemy and endeavour at -once to put an end to the struggle. Pompey is provided with shipping and -he is not; and he is aware that the force of Rome lies in her provinces. -Moreover, Rome may be starved by Pompey, unless he, Cæsar, can take care -that the corn-growing countries, which are the granaries of Rome, are -left free for the use of the city. He must make sure of the two Gauls, -and of Sardinia, and of Sicily, of Africa too, if it may be possible. He -must win to his cause the two Spains, of which at least the northern -province was at present devoted to Pompey. He sends one lieutenant to -Sardinia with a legion, another to Sicily with three legions,—and from -Sicily over into Africa. These provinces had been allotted to partisans -of Pompey; but Cæsar is successful with them all. To Cato, the virtuous -man, had been assigned the government of Sicily; but Cato finds no -Pompeian army ready for his use, and, complaining bitterly that he has -been deceived and betrayed by the head of his faction, runs away, and -leaves his province to Cæsar’s officers. Cæsar determines that he -himself will carry the war into Spain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span></p> - -<p>But he found it necessary first to go to Rome, and Cæsar, in his account -of what he did there, hardly tells us the whole truth. We quite go along -with him when he explains to us that, having collected what sort of a -Senate he could,—for Pompey had taken away with him such senators as he -could induce to follow him,—and having proposed to this meagre Senate -that ambassadors should be sent to Pompey, the Senate accepted his -suggestion; but that nobody could be induced to go on such an errand. -Pompey had already declared that all who remained at Rome were his -enemies. And it may probably be true that Cæsar, as he says, found a -certain tribune of the people at Rome who opposed him in all that he was -doing, though we should imagine that the opposition was not violent. But -his real object in going to Rome was to lay hand on the treasure of the -Republic,—the sanctius ærarium,—which was kept in the temple of Saturn -for special emergencies of State. That he should have taken this we do -not wonder;—but we do wonder that he should have taken the trouble to -say that he did not do so. He professes that he was so hindered by that -vexatious tribune, that he could not accomplish the purposes for which -he had come. But he certainly did take the money, and we cannot doubt -but that he went to Rome especially to get it.</p> - -<p>Cæsar, on his way to Spain, goes to Marseilles, which, under the name of -Massilia, was at this time, as it is now, the most thriving mercantile -port on the Mediterranean. It belonged to the province of Further Gaul, -but it was in fact a colony of Greek traders. Its possession was now -necessary to Cæsar. The magistrates<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span> of the town, when called upon for -their adhesion, gave a most sensible answer. They protest that they are -very fond of Cæsar, and very fond of Pompey. They don’t understand all -these affairs of Rome, and regret that two such excellent men should -quarrel. In the mean time they prefer to hold their own town. Cæsar -speaks of this decision as an injury to himself, and is instigated by -such wrongs against him to besiege the city, which he does both by land -and sea, leaving officers there for the purpose, and going on himself to -Spain.</p> - -<p>At this time all Spain was held by three officers, devoted to the cause -of Pompey, though, from what has gone before, it is clear that Cæsar -fears nothing from the south. Afranius commanded in the north and east, -holding the southern spurs of the Pyrenees. Petreius, who was stationed -in Lusitania, in the south-west, according to agreement, hurries up to -the assistance of Afranius as soon as Cæsar approaches. The Pompeian and -Cæsarian armies are brought into close quarters in the neighbourhood of -Ilerda (Lerida), on the little river Sicoris, or Segre, which runs into -the Ebro. They are near the mountains here, and the nature of the -fighting is controlled by the rapidity and size of the rivers, and the -inequality of the ground. Cæsar describes the campaign with great -minuteness, imparting to it a wonderful interest by the clearness of his -narrative. Afranius and Petreius hold the town of Ilerda, which is full -of provisions. Cæsar is very much pressed by want, as the corn and grass -have not yet grown, and the country supplies of the former year are -almost exhausted. So great are his difficulties, that tidings reach Rome -that Afranius has conquered him. Hearing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> this, many who were still -clinging to the city, doubtful as to the side they would take, go away -to Pompey. But Cæsar at last manages to make Ilerda too hot for the -Pompeian generals. He takes his army over one river in coracles, such as -he had seen in Britain; he turns the course of another; fords a third, -breaking the course of the stream by the bulk of his horses; and bridges -a fourth. Afranius and Petreius find that they must leave Ilerda, and -escape over the Ebro among the half-barbarous tribe further south, and -make their way, if possible, among the Celtibri,—getting out of Aragon -into Castile, as the division was made in after-ages. Cæsar gives us as -one reason for this intended march on the part of his enemies, that -Pompey was well known by those tribes, but that the name of Cæsar was a -name as yet obscure to the barbarians. It was not, however, easy for -Afranius to pass over the Ebro without Cæsar’s leave, and Cæsar will by -no means give him leave. He intercepts the Pompeians, and now turns upon -them that terrible engine of want from which he had suffered so much. He -continues so to drive them about, still north of the Ebro, that they can -get at no water; and at last they are compelled to surrender.</p> - -<p>During the latter days of this contest the Afranians, as they are -called—Roman legionaries, as are the soldiers of Cæsar—fraternise with -their brethren in Cæsar’s camp, and there is something of free -intercourse between the two Roman armies. The upshot is that the -soldiers of Afranius resolve to give themselves up to Cæsar, bargaining, -however, that their own generals shall be secure. Afranius is willing -enough; but his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span> brother-general, Petreius, with more of the Roman at -heart, will not hear of it. We shall hear hereafter the strange fate of -this Petreius. He stops the conspiracy with energy, and forces from his -own men, and even from Afranius, an oath against surrender. He orders -that all Cæsar’s soldiers found in their camp shall be killed, and, as -Cæsar tells us, brings back the affair to the old form of war. But it is -all of no avail. The Afranians are so driven by the want of water, that -the two generals are at last compelled to capitulate and lay down their -arms.</p> - -<p>Five words which are used by Cæsar in the description of this affair -give us a strong instance of his conciseness in the use of words, and of -the capability for conciseness which the Latin language affords. -“Premebantur Afraniani pabulatione, aquabantur ægre.” “The soldiers of -Afranius were much distressed in the matter of forage, and could obtain -water only with great difficulty.” These twenty words translate those -five which Cæsar uses, perhaps with fair accuracy; but many more than -twenty would probably have been used by any English historian in dealing -with the same facts.</p> - -<p>Cæsar treats his compatriots with the utmost generosity. So many -conquered Gauls he would have sold as slaves, slaughtering their -leaders, or he would have cut off their hands, or have driven them down -upon the river and have allowed them to perish in the waters. But his -conquered foes are Roman soldiers, and he simply demands that the army -of Afranius shall be disbanded, and that the leaders of it shall -go,—whither they please. He makes them a speech in which he explains -how badly they have treated him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span> Nevertheless he will hurt no one. He -has borne it all, and will bear it, patiently. Let the generals only -leave the Province, and let the army which they have led be disbanded. -He will not keep a soldier who does not wish to stay with him, and will -even pay those whom Afranius has been unable to pay out of his own -funds. Those who have houses and land in Spain may remain there. Those -who have none he will first feed and afterwards take back, if not to -Italy, at any rate to the borders of Italy. The property which his own -soldiers have taken from them in the chances of war shall be restored, -and he out of his own pocket will compensate his own men. He performs -his promise, and takes all those who do not choose to remain, to the -banks of the Var, which divides the Province from Italy, and there sets -them down, full, no doubt, of gratitude to their conqueror. Never was -there such clemency,—or, we may say, better policy! Cæsar’s whole -campaign in Spain had occupied him only forty days.</p> - -<p>In the mean time Decimus Brutus, to whom we remember that Cæsar had -given the command of the ships which he prepared against the Veneti in -the west of Gaul, and who was hereafter to be one of those who slew him -in the Capitol, obtains a naval victory over the much more numerous -fleet of the Massilians. They had prepared seventeen big ships,—“naves -longæ” they are called by Cæsar,—and of these Brutus either destroys or -takes nine. In his next book Cæsar proceeds to tell us how things went -on at Marseilles both by sea and land after this affair.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>SECOND BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—THE TAKING OF MARSEILLES.—VARRO IN -THE SOUTH OF SPAIN.—THE FATE OF CURIO BEFORE UTICA.—B.C. 49.</p></div> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> his chronicle of the Gallic war, Cæsar in each book completed the -narrative of a year’s campaign. In treating of the civil war he devotes -the first and second books to the doings of one year. There are three -distinct episodes of the year’s campaign narrated in the second;—the -taking of Marseilles, the subjugation of the southern province of -Spain,—if that can be said to be subjugated which gave itself up very -readily,—and the destruction of a Roman army in Africa under the hands -of a barbarian king. But of all Cæsar’s writings it is perhaps the least -interesting, as it tells us but little of what Cæsar did himself,—and -in fact contains chiefly Cæsar’s records of the doings of his -lieutenants by sea and land.</p> - -<p>He begins by telling us of the enormous exertions made both by the -besiegers and by the besieged at Massilia, which town was now held by -Domitius on the part of Pompey,—to supplement whom at sea a certain -Nasidius was sent with a large fleet. Young<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> Brutus, as will be -remembered, was attacking the harbour on behalf of Cæsar, and had -already obtained a victory over the Massilians before Nasidius came up; -and Trebonius, also on the part of Cæsar, was besieging the town from -the land. This Decimus Brutus was one of those conspirators who -afterwards conspired against Cæsar and slew him,—and Trebonius was -another of the number. The wise Greeks of the city,—more wise than -fortunate, however,—had explained to Cæsar when he first expressed his -wish to have the town on his side, that really to them there was no -difference between Pompey and Cæsar, both of whom they loved with all -their hearts,—but they had been compelled to become partisans of -Pompey, the Pompeian general Domitius being the first to enter their -town; and now they find themselves obliged to fight as Pompeians in -defence of their wealth and their homes. Thus driven by necessity, they -fight well and do their very best to favour the side which we must -henceforward call that of the Republic as against an autocrat;—for, -during this siege of Marseilles, Cæsar had been appointed Dictator, and -a law to that effect had been passed at Rome, where the passing of such -a law was no doubt easy enough in the absence of Pompey, of the consuls, -and of all the senators who were Pompey’s friends.</p> - -<p>The Massilians had now chosen their side, and they do their very best. -We are told that the Cæsarean troops, from the high ground on which -Trebonius had placed his camp, could look down into the town, and could -see “how all the youth who had been left in the city, and all the elders -with their children and wives,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span> and the sentinels of the city, either -stretched their hands to heaven from the walls, or, entering the temples -of the immortal gods, and throwing themselves before their sacred -images, prayed that the heavenly powers would give them victory. Nor was -there one among them who did not believe that on the result of that day -depended all that they had,”—namely, liberty, property, and life; for -the Massilians, doubtless, had heard of Avaricum, of Alesia, and of -Uxellodunum. “When the battle was begun,” says Cæsar, “the Massilians -failed not at all in valour; but, mindful of the lessons they had just -received from their townsmen, fought with the belief that the present -was their only opportunity of doing aught for their own preservation; -and that to those who should fall in battle, loss of life would only -come a little sooner than to the others, who would have to undergo the -same fate, should the city be taken.” Cæsar, as he wrote this, doubtless -thought of what he had done in Gaul when policy demanded from him an -extremity of cruelty; and, so writing, he enhanced the clemency with -which, as he is about to tell us, he afterwards treated the Massilians. -When the time came it did not suit him to depopulate a rich town, the -trade of whose merchants was beneficial both to Rome and to the -Province. He is about to tell us of his mercy, and therefore explains to -us beforehand how little was mercy expected from him. We feel that every -line he writes is weighed, though the time for such weighing must have -been very short with one whose hands were so full as were always the -hands of Cæsar.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span></p> - -<p>Nasidius, whom we may call Pompey’s admiral, was of no use at all. The -Massilians, tempted by his coming, attack bravely the ship which bears -the flag of young Brutus; but young Brutus is too quick for them, and -the unhappy Massilians run two of their biggest vessels against each -other in their endeavour to pin that of the Cæsarean admiral between -them. The Massilian fleet is utterly dispersed. Five are sunk, four are -taken: one gets off with Nasidius, who runs away, making no effort to -fight; who has been sent there,—so Cæsar hints,—by Pompey, not to give -assistance, but only to pretend to give assistance. One ship gets back -into the harbour with the sad tidings; and the Massilians—despairing -only for a moment at the first blush of the bad news—determine that -their walls may still be defended.</p> - -<p>The town was very well supplied with such things as were needed for -defence, the people being a provident people, well instructed and -civilised, with means at their command. We are told of great poles -twelve feet long, with sharp iron heads to them, which the besiegers -could throw with such force from the engines on their walls as to drive -them through four tiers of the wicker crates or stationary shields which -the Cæsareans built up for their protection,—believing that no force -could drive a weapon through them. As we read of this we cannot but -think of Armstrong and Whitfield guns, and iron plates, and granite -batteries, and earthworks. These terrible darts, thrown from “balistæ,” -are very sore upon the Cæsareans; they therefore contrive an immense -tower, so high that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span> cannot be reached by any weapon, so built that -no wood or material subject to fire shall be on the outside,—which they -erect story by story, of very great strength. And as they raise this -step by step, each story is secured against fire and against the enemy. -The reader,—probably not an engineer himself,—is disposed to think as -he struggles through this minute description of the erection which Cæsar -gives, and endeavours to realise the way in which it is done, that Cæsar -must himself have served specially as an engineer. But in truth he was -not at this siege himself, and had nothing to do with the planning of -the tower, and must in this instance at least have got a written -description from his officer,—as he probably did before when he built -the memorable bridge over the Rhine. And when the tower is finished, -they make a long covered way or shed,—musculum or muscle Cæsar calls -it; and with this they form for themselves a passage from the big tower -to a special point in the walls of the town. This muscle is so strong -with its sloping roof that nothing thrown upon it will break or burn it. -The Massilians try tubs of flaming pitch, and great fragments of rock; -but these simply slip to the ground, and are pulled away with long poles -and forks. And the Cæsareans, from the height of their great tower, have -so terrible an advantage! The Massilians cannot defend their wall, and a -breach is made, or almost made.</p> - -<p>The Massilians can do no more. The very gods are against them. So they -put on the habit of supplicants, and go forth to the conquerors. They -will give their city to Cæsar. Cæsar is expected. Will Trebonius<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span> be so -good as to wait till Cæsar comes? If Trebonius should proceed with his -work so that the soldiers should absolutely get into the town, -then;—Trebonius knows very well what would happen then. A little delay -cannot hurt. Nothing shall be done till Cæsar comes. As it happens, -Cæsar has already especially ordered that the city shall be spared; and -a kind of truce is made, to endure till Cæsar shall come and take -possession. Trebonius has a difficulty in keeping his soldiers from the -plunder; but he does restrain them, and besiegers and besieged are at -rest, and wait for Cæsar.</p> - -<p>But these Massilians are a crafty people. The Cæsarean soldiers, having -agreed to wait, take it easily, and simply amuse themselves in these -days of waiting. When they are quite off their guard, and a high wind -favours the scheme, the Massilians rush out and succeed in burning the -tower, and the muscle, and the rampart, and the sheds, and all the -implements. Even though the tower was built with brick, it burns -freely,—so great is the wind. Then Trebonius goes to work, and does it -all again. Because there is no more wood left round about the camp, he -makes a rampart of a new kind,—hitherto unheard of,—with bricks. -Doubtless the Cæsarean soldiers had first to make the bricks, and we can -imagine what were their feelings in reference to the Massilians. But -however that may be, they work so well and so hard that the Massilians -soon see that their late success is of no avail. Nothing is left to -them. Neither perfidy nor valour can avail them, and now again they give -themselves up. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> are starved and suffering from pestilence, their -fortifications are destroyed, they have no hope of aid from -without,—and now they give themselves up,—intending no fraud. “Sese -dedere sine fraude constituunt.” Domitius, the Pompeian general, manages -to escape in a ship. He starts with three ships, but the one in which he -himself sails alone escapes the hands of “young” Brutus. Surely now will -Marseilles be treated with worse treatment than that which fell on the -Gaulish cities. But such is by no means Cæsar’s will. Cæsar takes their -public treasure and their ships, and reminding them that he spares them -rather for their name and old character than for any merits of theirs -shown towards him, leaves two legions among them, and goes to Rome. At -Avaricum, when the Gauls had fought to defend their own liberties, he -had destroyed everybody;—at Alesia he had decreed the death of every -inhabitant when they had simply asked him leave to pass through his -camp;—at Uxellodunum he had cut off the hands and poked out the eyes of -Gauls who had dared to fight for their country. But the Gauls were -barbarians whom it was necessary that Cæsar should pacify. The -Massilians were Greeks, and a civilised people,—and might be useful.</p> - -<p>Before coming on to Marseilles there had been a little more for Cæsar to -do in Spain, where, as was told in the last chapter, he had just -compelled Afranius and Petreius to lay down their arms and disband their -legions. Joined with them had been a third Pompeian general, one -Varro,—a distinguished man, though not, perhaps, a great general,—of -whom Cæsar tells us that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span> with his Roman policy he veered between -Pompeian and Cæsarean tactics till, unfortunately for himself, he -declared for Pompey and the wrong side, when he heard that Afranius was -having his own way in the neighbourhood of Lerida. But Varro is in the -south of Spain, in Andalusia,—or Bætica, as it was then called,—and in -this southern province of Spain it seems that Cæsar’s cause was more -popular than that of Pompey. Cæsar, at any rate, has but little -difficulty with Varro. The Pompeian officer is deserted by his legions, -and gives himself up very quickly. Cæsar does not care to tell us what -he did with Varro, but we know that he treated his brother Roman with -the utmost courtesy. Varro was a very learned man, and a friend of -Cicero’s, and one who wrote books, and was a credit to Rome as a man of -letters if not as a general. We are told that he wrote 490 volumes, and -that he lived to be eighty-eight,—a fate very uncommon with Romans who -meddled with public affairs in these days. Cæsar made everything smooth -in the south of Spain, restoring the money and treasures which Varro had -taken from the towns, and giving thanks to everybody. Then he went on -over the Pyrenees to Marseilles, and made things smooth there.</p> - -<p>But in the mean time things were not at all smooth in Africa. The name -of Africa was at this time given to a small province belonging to the -Republic, lying to the east of Numidia, in which Carthage had stood when -Carthage was a city, containing that promontory which juts out towards -Sicily, and having Utica as its Roman capital. It has been already said -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span> when Cæsar determined to gain possession of certain provinces of -the Republic before he followed Pompey across the Adriatic, he sent a -lieutenant with three legions into Sicily, desiring him to go on to -Africa as soon as things should have been arranged in the island after -the Cæsarean fashion. The Sicilian matter is not very troublesome, as -Cato, the virtuous man, in whose hands the government of the island had -been intrusted on behalf of the Republic, leaves it on the arrival of -the Cæsarean legions, complaining bitterly of Pompey’s conduct. Then -Cæsar’s lieutenant goes over to Africa with two legions, as commanded, -proposing to his army the expulsion of one Attius Varus, who had, -according to Cæsar’s story, taken irregular possession of the province, -keeping it on behalf of Pompey, but not allowing the governor appointed -by the Republic so much as to put his foot on the shore. This lieutenant -was a great favourite of Cæsar, by name Curio, who had been elected -tribune of the people just when the Senate was making its attempt to -recall Cæsar from his command in Gaul. In that emergency, Curio as -tribune had been of service to Cæsar, and Cæsar loved the young man. He -was one of those who, though noble by birth, had flung themselves among -the people, as Catiline had done and Clodius,—unsteady, turbulent, -unscrupulous, vicious, needy, fond of pleasure, rapacious, but well -educated, brave, and clever. Cæsar himself had been such a man in his -youth, and could easily forgive such faults in the character of one who, -in addition to such virtues as have been named, possessed that farther -and greater<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span> virtue of loving Cæsar. Cæsar expected great things from -Curio, and trusted him thoroughly. Curio, with many ships and his two -legions, lands in Africa, and prepares to win the province for his great -friend. He does obtain some little advantage, so that he is called -“Imperator” by his soldiers,—a name not given to a general till he has -been victorious in the field; but it seems clear, from Cæsar’s telling -of the story, that Curio’s own officers and own soldiers distrusted him, -and were doubtful whether they would follow him, or would take -possession of the ships and return to Sicily;—or would go over to -Attius Varus, who had been their commander in Italy before they had -deserted from Pompey to Cæsar. A council of war is held, and there is -much doubt. It is not only or chiefly of Attius Varus, their Roman -enemy, that they are afraid; but there is Juba in their neighbourhood, -the king of Numidia, who will certainly fight for Varus and against -Curio. He is Pompey’s declared friend, and equally declared as Cæsar’s -foe. He has, too, special grounds of quarrel against Curio himself; and -if he comes in person with his army,—bringing such an army as he can -bring if he pleases,—it will certainly go badly with Curio, should -Curio be distant from his camp. Then Curio, not content with his council -of war, and anxious that his soldiers should support him in his desire -to fight, makes a speech to the legionaries. We must remember, of -course, that Cæsar gives us the words of this speech, and that Cæsar -must himself have put the words together.</p> - -<p>It is begun in the third person. He,—that is Curio,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span>—tells the men how -useful they were to Cæsar at Corfinium, the town at which they went over -from Pompey to Cæsar. But in the second sentence he breaks into the -first person and puts the very words into Curio’s mouth. “For you and -your services,” he says, “were copied by all the towns; nor is it -without cause that Cæsar thinks kindly of you, and the Pompeians -unkindly. For Pompey, having lost no battle, but driven by the result of -your deed, fled from Italy. Me, whom Cæsar holds most dear, and Sicily -and Africa without which he cannot hold Rome and Italy, Cæsar has -intrusted to your honour. There are some who advise you to desert -me,—for what can be more desirable to such men than that they at the -same time should circumvent me, and fasten upon you a foul crime?... But -you,—have you not heard of the things done by Cæsar in Spain,—two -armies beaten, two generals conquered, two provinces gained, and all -this done in forty days from that on which Cæsar first saw his enemy? -Can those who, uninjured, were unable to stand against him, resist him -now that they are conquered? And you, who followed Cæsar when victory on -his side was uncertain, now that fortune has declared herself, will you -go over to the conquered side when you are about to realise the reward -of your zeal?... But perhaps, though you love Cæsar, you distrust me. I -will not say much of my own deserts towards you,—which are indeed less -as yet than I had wished or you had expected.” Then, having thus -declared that he will not speak of himself, he does venture to say a few -words on the subject.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span> “But why should I pass over my own work, and the -result that has been as yet achieved, and my own fortune in war? Is it -displeasing to you that I brought over the whole army, safe, without -losing a ship? That, as I came, at my first onslaught, I should have -dispersed the fleet of the enemy? That, in two days, I should have been -twice victorious with my cavalry; that I should have cut out two hundred -transports from the enemy’s harbour; that I should have so harassed the -enemy that neither by land nor sea could they get food to supply their -wants? Will it please you to repudiate such fortune and such guidance, -and to connect yourself with the disgrace at Corfinium, the flight from -Italy,”—namely, Pompey’s flight to Dyrrachium,—“the surrender of -Spain, and the evils of this African war? I indeed have wished to be -called Cæsar’s soldier, and you have called me your Imperator. If it -repents you of having done so, I give you back the compliment. Give me -back my own name, lest it seem that in scorn you have called me by that -title of honour.”</p> - -<p>This is very spirited; and the merely rhetorical assertion by Cæsar that -Curio thus spoke to his soldiers is in itself interesting, as showing us -the way in which the legionaries were treated by their commanders, and -in which the greatest general, of that or of any age, thought it natural -that a leader should address his troops. It is of value, also, as -showing the difficulty of keeping any legion true to either side in a -civil war, in which, on either side, the men must fight for a commander -they had learned to respect,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> and against a commander they -respected,—the commander in each case being a Roman Imperator. Curio, -too, as we know, was a man who on such an occasion could use words. But -that he used the words here put into his mouth, or any words like them, -is very improbable. Cæsar was anxious to make the best apology he could -for the gallant young friend who had perished in his cause, and has -shown his love by making the man he loved memorable to all posterity.</p> - -<p>But before the dark hour comes upon him the young man has a gleam of -success, which, had he really spoken the words put into his mouth by -Cæsar, would have seemed to justify them. He attacks the army of his -fellow-Roman, Varus, and beats it, driving it back into Utica. He then -resolves to besiege the town, and Cæsar implies that he would have been -successful through the Cæsarean sympathies of the townsmen,—had it not -been for the approach of the terrible Juba. Then comes a rumour which -reaches Curio,—and which reaches Varus too inside the town,—that the -Numidian king is hurrying to the scene with all his forces. He has -finished another affair that he had on hand, and can now look to his -Roman friends,—and to his Roman enemies. Juba craftily sends forward -his præfect, or lieutenant, Sabura, with a small force of cavalry, and -Curio is led to imagine that Juba has not come, and that Sabura has been -sent with scanty aid to the relief of Varus. Surely he can give a good -account of Sabura and that small body of Numidian horsemen. We see from -the very first that Curio is<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> doomed. Cæsar, in a few touching words, -makes his apology. “The young man’s youth had much to do with it, and -his high spirit; his former success, too, and his own faith in his own -good fortune.” There is no word of reproach. Curio makes another speech -to his soldiers. “Hasten to your prey,” he says, “hasten to your glory!” -They do hasten,—after such a fashion that when the foremost of them -reach Sabura’s troops, the hindermost of them are scattered far back on -the road. They are cut to pieces by Juba. Curio is invited by one of his -officers to escape back to his tent. But Cæsar tells us that Curio in -that last moment replied that having lost the army with which Cæsar had -trusted him, he would never again look Cæsar in the face. That he did -say some such words as these, and that they were repeated by that -officer to Cæsar, is probable enough. “So, fighting, he is slain;”—and -there is an end of the man whom Cæsar loved.</p> - -<p>What then happened was very sad for a Roman army. Many hurry down to the -ships at the sea; but there is so much terror, so much confusion, and -things are so badly done, that but very few get over to Sicily. The -remainder endeavour to give themselves up to Varus; after doing which, -could they have done it, their position would not have been very bad. A -Roman surrendering to a Roman would, at the worst, but find that he was -compelled to change his party. But Juba comes up and claims them as his -prey, and Varus does not dare to oppose the barbarian king. Juba kills -the most of them, but sends a few, whom he thinks may serve his purpose -and add to his glory, back to his own kingdom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span> In doing which Juba -behaved no worse than Cæsar habitually behaved in Gaul; but Cæsar always -writes as though not only a Roman must regard a Roman as more than a -man, but as though also all others must so regard Romans. And by making -such assertions in their own behalf, Romans were so regarded. We are -then told that the barbarian king of Numidia rode into Utica triumphant, -with Roman senators in his train; and the names of two special Roman -senators Cæsar sends down to posterity as having been among that base -number. As far as we can spare them, they shall be spared.</p> - -<p>Of Juba the king, and of his fate, we shall hear again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>THIRD BOOK OF THE CIVIL WAR.—CÆSAR FOLLOWS POMPEY INTO -ILLYRIA.—THE LINES OF PETRA AND THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.—B.C. 48.</p></div> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Cæsar</span> begins the last book of his last Commentary by telling us that -this was the year in which he, Cæsar, was by the law permitted to name a -consul. He names Publius Servilius to act in conjunction with himself. -The meaning of this is, that, as Cæsar had been created Dictator, Pompey -having taken with him into Illyria the consuls of the previous year, -Cæsar was now the only magistrate under whose authority a consul could -be elected. No doubt he did choose the man, but the election was -supposed to have been made in accordance with the forms of the Republic. -He remained at Rome as Dictator for eleven days, during which he made -various laws, of which the chief object was to lessen the insecurity -caused by the disruption of the ordinary course of things; and then he -went down to Brindisi on the track of Pompey. He had twelve legions with -him, but was but badly off for ships in which to transport them; and he -owns that the health of the men is bad, an autumn in the south of Italy -having been very severe<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span> on men accustomed to the healthy climate of -Gaul and the north of Spain. Pompey, he tells us, had had a whole year -to prepare his army,—a whole year, without warfare, and had collected -men and ships and money, and all that support which assent gives, from -Asia and the Cyclades, from Corcyra, Athens, Bithynia, Cilicia, -Phœnicia, Egypt, and the free states of Achaia. He had with him nine -Roman legions, and is expecting two more with his father-in-law Scipio -out of Syria. He has three thousand archers from Crete, from Sparta, and -from Pontus; he has twelve hundred slingers, and he has seven thousand -cavalry from Galatia, Cappadocia, and Thrace. A valorous prince from -Macedonia had brought him two hundred men, all mounted. Five hundred of -Galatian and German cavalry, who had been left to overawe Ptolemy in -Egypt, are brought to Pompey by the filial care of young Cnæus. He too -had armed eight hundred of their own family retainers, and had brought -them armed. Antiochus of Commagena sends him two hundred mounted -archers,—mercenaries, however, not sent without promise of high -payment. Dardani,—men from the land of old Troy, Bessi, from the banks -of the Hebrus, Thessalians and Macedonians, have all been crowded -together under Pompey’s standard. We feel that Cæsar’s mouth waters as -he recounts them. But we feel also that he is preparing for the -triumphant record in which he is about to tell us that all these swarms -did he scatter to the winds of heaven with the handful of Roman -legionaries which he at last succeeded in landing on the shores of -Illyria.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span></p> - -<p>Pompey has also collected from all parts “frumenti vim maximam”—“a -great power of corn indeed,” as an Irishman would say, translating the -words literally. And he has covered the seas with his ships, so as to -hinder Cæsar from coming out of Italy. He has eight vice-admirals to -command his various fleets,—all of whom Cæsar names; and over them all, -as admiral-in-chief, is Bibulus, who was joint-consul with Cæsar before -Cæsar went to Gaul, and who was so harassed during his consulship by the -Cæsareans that he shut himself up in his house, and allowed Cæsar to -rule as sole consul. Now he is about to take his revenge; but the -vengeance of such a one as Bibulus cannot reach Cæsar.</p> - -<p>Cæsar having led his legions to Brindisi, makes them a speech which -almost beats in impudence anything that he ever said or did. He tells -them that as they have now nearly finished all his work for him;—they -have only got to lay low the Republic with Pompey the Great, and all the -forces of the Republic—to which, however, have to be added King Ptolemy -in Egypt, King Pharnaces in Asia, and King Juba in Numidia;—they had -better leave behind them at Brindisi all their little property, the -spoils of former wars, so that they may pack the tighter in the boats in -which he means to send them across to Illyria,—if only they can escape -the mercies of ex-Consul Admiral Bibulus. There is no suggestion that at -any future time they will recover their property. For their future hopes -they are to trust entirely to Cæsar’s generosity. With one shout they -declare their readiness to obey him. He takes over<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> seven legions, -escaping the dangers of those “rocks of evil fame,” the Acroceraunia of -which Horace tells us,—and escaping Bibulus also, who seems to have -shut himself up in his ship as he did before in his house during the -consulship. Cæsar seems to have made the passage with the conviction -that had he fallen into the hands of Bibulus everything would have been -lost. And with ordinary precaution and diligence on the part of Bibulus -such would have been the result. Yet he makes the attempt,—trusting to -the Fortune of Cæsar,—and he succeeds. He lands at a place which he -calls Palæste on the coast of Epirus, considerably to the south of -Dyrrachium, in Illyria. At Dyrrachium Pompey had landed the year before, -and there is now stored that wealth of provision of which Cæsar has -spoken. But Bibulus at last determines to be active, and he does manage -to fall upon the empty vessels which Cæsar sends back to fetch the -remainder of his army. “Having come upon thirty of them, he falls upon -them with all the wrath occasioned by his own want of circumspection and -grief, and burns them. And in the same fire he kills the sailors and the -masters of the vessels,—hoping to deter others,” Cæsar tells us, “by -the severity of the punishment.” After that we are not sorry to hear -that he potters about on the seas very busy, but still incapable, and -that he dies, as it seems, of a broken heart. He does indeed catch one -ship afterwards,—not laden with soldiers, but coming on a private -venture, with children, servants, and suchlike, dependants and followers -of Cæsar’s camp. All these, including the children, Bibulus slaughters, -down to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span> the smallest child. We have, however, to remember that the -story is told by Cæsar, and that Cæsar did not love Bibulus.</p> - -<p>Marc Antony has been left at Brindisi in command of the legions which -Cæsar could not bring across at his first trip for want of sufficient -ship-room, and is pressed very much by Cæsar to make the passage. There -are attempts at treaties made, but as we read the account we feel that -Cæsar is only obtaining the delay which is necessary to him till he -shall have been joined by Antony. We are told how by this time the camps -of Cæsar and Pompey have been brought so near together that they are -separated only by the river Apsus,—for Cæsar had moved northwards -towards Pompey’s stronghold. And the soldiers talked together across the -stream; “nor, the while, was any weapon thrown,—by compact between -those who talked.” Then Cæsar sends Vatinius, as his ambassador, down to -the river to talk of peace; and Vatinius demands with a loud voice -“whether it should not be allowed to citizens to send legates to -citizens, to treat of peace;—a thing that has been allowed even to -deserters from the wilds of the Pyrenees and to robbers,—especially -with so excellent an object as that of hindering citizens from fighting -with citizens.” This seems so reasonable, that a day is named, and -Labienus,—who has deserted from Cæsar and become Pompeian,—comes to -treat on one side of the river, and Vatinius on the other. But,—so -Cæsar tells the story himself,—the Cæsarean soldiers throw their -weapons at their old general. They probably cannot endure the voice or -sight of one whom they regard<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span> as a renegade. Labienus escapes under the -protection of those who are with him,—but he is full of wrath against -Cæsar. “After this,” says he, “let us cease to speak of treaties, for -there can be no peace for us till Cæsar’s head has been brought to us.” -But the colloquies over the little stream no doubt answered Cæsar’s -purpose.</p> - -<p>Cæsar is very anxious to get his legions over from Italy, and even -scolds Antony for not bringing them. There is a story,—which he does -not tell himself,—that he put himself into a small boat, intending to -cross over to Brindisi in a storm, to hurry matters, and that he -encouraged the awe-struck master of the boat by reminding him that he -would carry “Cæsar and his fortunes.” The story goes on to say that the -sailors attempted the trip, but were driven back by the tempest.</p> - -<p>At last there springs up a south-west wind, and Antony ventures with his -flotilla,—although the war-ships of Pompey still hold the sea, and -guard the Illyrian coast. But Cæsar’s general is successful, and the -second half of the Cæsarean army is carried northward by favouring -breezes towards the shore in the very sight of Pompey and his soldiers -at Dyrrachium. Two ships, however, lag behind and fall into the hands of -one Otacilius, an officer belonging to Pompey. The two ships, one full -of recruits and the other of veterans, agree to surrender, Otacilius -having sworn that he will not hurt the men. “Here you may see,” says -Cæsar, “how much safety to men there is in presence of mind.” The -recruits do as they have undertaken, and give themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> up;—whereupon -Otacilius, altogether disregarding his oath, like a true Roman, kills -every man of them. But the veterans, disregarding their word also, and -knowing no doubt to a fraction the worth of the word of Otacilius, run -their ship ashore in the night, and, with much fighting, get safe to -Antony. Cæsar implies that the recruits even would have known better had -they not been sea-sick; but that even bilge-water and bad weather -combined had failed to touch the ancient courage of the veteran -legionaries. They were still good men—“item conflictati et tempestatis -et sentinæ vitiis.”</p> - -<p>We are then told how Metellus Scipio, coming out of Syria with his -legions into Macedonia, almost succeeds in robbing the temple of Diana -of Ephesus on his way. He gets together a body of senators, who are to -give evidence that he counts the money fairly as he takes it out of the -temple. But letters come from Pompey just as he is in the act, and he -does not dare to delay his journey even to complete so pleasant a -transaction. He comes to meet Pompey and to share his command at the -great battle that must soon be fought. We hear, too, how Cæsar sends his -lieutenants into Thessaly and Ætolia and Macedonia, to try what friends -he has there, to take cities, and to get food. He is now in a land which -has seemed specially to belong to Pompey; but even here they have heard -of Cæsar, and the Greeks are simply anxious to be friends with the -strongest Roman of the day. They have to judge which will win, and to -adhere to him. For the poor Greeks there is much difficulty in forming a -judgment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span> Presently we shall see the way in which Cæsar gives a lesson -on that subject to the citizens of Gomphi. In the mean time he joins his -own forces to those lately brought by Antony out of Italy, and resolves -that he will force Pompey to a fight.</p> - -<p>We may divide the remainder of this last book of the second Commentary -into two episodes,—the first being the story of what occurred within -the lines at Petra, and the second the account of the crowning battle of -Pharsalia. In the first Pompey was the victor,—but the victory, great -as it was, has won from the world very little notice. In the second, as -all the world knows, Cæsar was triumphant and henceforward dominant. And -yet the affair at Petra should have made a Pharsalia unnecessary, and -indeed impossible. Two reasons have conspired to make Pompey’s complete -success at Petra unimportant in the world’s esteem. This Commentary was -written not by Pompey but by Cæsar; and then, unfortunately for Pompey, -Pharsalia was allowed to follow Petra.</p> - -<p>It is not very easy to unravel Cæsar’s story of the doings of the two -armies at Petra. Nor, were this ever so easy, would our limits or the -purport of this little volume allow us to attempt to give that narrative -in full to our readers. Cæsar had managed to join the legions which he -had himself brought from Italy with those which had crossed afterwards -with Antony, and was now anxious for a battle. His men, though fewer in -number than they who followed Pompey, were fit for fighting, and knew -all the work of soldiering. Pompey’s men were for the most part -beginners;—but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> they were learning, and every week added to their -experience was a week in Pompey’s favour. With hope of forcing a battle, -Cæsar managed to get his army between Dyrrachium, in which were kept all -Pompey’s stores and wealth of war, and the army of his opponent, so that -Pompey, as regarded any approach by land, was shut off from Dyrrachium. -But the sea was open to him. His fleet was everywhere on the coast, -while Cæsar had not a ship that could dare to show its bow upon the -waters.</p> - -<p>There was a steep rocky promontory some few miles north of Dyrrachium, -from whence there was easy access to the sea, called Petra, or the rock. -At this point Pompey could touch the sea, but between Petra and -Dyrrachium Cæsar held the country. Here, on this rock, taking in for the -use of his army a certain somewhat wide amount of pasturage at the foot -of the rock, Pompey placed his army, and made intrenchments all round -from sea to sea, fortifying himself, as all Roman generals knew how to -do, with a bank and ditch and twenty-four turrets and earthworks that -would make the place absolutely impregnable. The length of his lines was -fifteen Roman miles,—more than thirteen English miles,—so that within -his works he might have as much space as possible to give him grass for -his horses. So placed, he had all the world at his back to feed him. Not -only could he get at that wealth of stores which he had amassed at -Dyrrachium, and which were safe from Cæsar, but the coasts of Greece, -and Asia, and Egypt were open to his ships. Two things only were wanting -to him,—sufficient grass<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span> for his horses, and water. But all things -were wanting to Cæsar,—except grass and water. The Illyrian country at -his back was one so unproductive, being rough and mountainous, that the -inhabitants themselves were in ordinary times fed upon imported corn. -And Pompey, foreseeing something of what might happen, had taken care to -empty the storehouses and to leave the towns behind him destitute and -impoverished.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless Cæsar, having got the body of his enemy, as it were, -imprisoned at Petra, was determined to keep his prisoner fast. So round -and in front of Pompey’s lines he also made other lines, from sea to -sea. He began by erecting turrets and placing small detachments on the -little hills outside Pompey’s lines, so as to prevent his enemy from -getting the grass. Then he joined these towers by lines, and in this way -surrounded the other lines,—thinking that so Pompey would not be able -to send out his horsemen for forage; and again, that the horses inside -at Petra might gradually be starved; and again “that the -reputation,”—“auctoritatem,”—“which in the estimation of foreign -nations belonged chiefly to Pompey in this war, would be lessened when -the story should have been told over the world that Pompey had been -besieged by Cæsar, and did not dare to fight.”</p> - -<p>We are, perhaps, too much disposed to think,—reading our history -somewhat cursorily,—that Cæsar at this time was everybody, and that -Pompey was hardly worthy to be his foe. Such passages in the Commentary -as that above translated,—they are not many, but a few suffice,—show -that this idea is erroneous. Up<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> to this period in their joint courses -Pompey had been the greater man; Cæsar had done very much, but Pompey -had done more—and now he had on his side almost all that was wealthy -and respectable in Rome. He led the Conservative party, and was still -confident that he had only to bide his time, and that Cæsar must fall -before him. Cæsar and the Cæsareans were to him as the spirits of the -Revolution were in France to Louis XVI., to Charles X., and to -Louis-Philippe, before they had made their powers credible and -formidable; as the Reform Bill and Catholic Emancipation were to such -men as George IV. and Lord Eldon, while yet they could be opposed and -postponed. It was impossible to Pompey that the sweepings of Rome, even -with Cæsar and Cæsar’s army to help them, should at last prevail over -himself and over the Roman Senate. “He was said at that time,” we are -again translating Cæsar’s words, “to have declared with boasts among his -own people, that he would not himself deny that as a general he should -be considered to be worthless if Cæsar’s legions should now extricate -themselves from the position in which they had rashly entangled -themselves without very great loss”—“maximo detrimento”—loss that -should amount wellnigh to destruction. And he was all but right in what -he said.</p> - -<p>There was a great deal of fighting for the plots of grass and different -bits of vantage-ground,—fighting which must have taken place almost -entirely between the two lines. But Cæsar suffered under this -disadvantage, that his works, being much the longest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> required the -greatest number of men to erect them and prolong them and keep them in -order; whereas Pompey, who in this respect had the least to do, having -the inner line, was provided with much the greater number of men to do -it. Cæsar’s men, being veterans, had always the advantage in the actual -fighting; but in the mean time Pompey’s untried soldiers were obtaining -that experience which was so much needed by them. Nevertheless Pompey -suffered very much. They could not get water on the rock, and when he -attempted to sink wells, Cæsar so perverted the water-courses that the -wells gave no water. Cæsar tells us that he even dammed up the streams, -making little lakes to hold it, so that it should not trickle down in -its underground courses to the comfort of his enemies; but we should -have thought that any reservoirs so made must soon have overflown -themselves, and have been useless for the intended purpose. In the mean -time Cæsar’s men had no bread but what was made of a certain wild -cabbage,—“chara,”—which grew there, which they kneaded up with milk, -and lived upon it cheerfully, though it was not very palatable. To show -the Pompeians the sort of fare with which real veterans could be content -to break their fasts, they threw loaves of this composition across the -lines; for they were close together, and could talk to each other, and -the Pompeians did not hesitate to twit their enemies with their want of -provisions. But the Cæsareans had plenty of water,—and plenty of meat; -and they assure Cæsar that they would rather eat the bark off the trees -than allow the Pompeians to escape them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span></p> - -<p>But there was always this for Cæsar to fear,—that Pompey should land a -detachment behind his lines and attack him at the back. To hinder this -Cæsar made another intrenchment, with ditch and bank, running at right -angles from the shore, and was intending to join this to his main work -by a transverse line of fortifications running along that short portion -of the coast which lay between his first lines and the second, when -there came upon him the disaster which nearly destroyed him. While he -was digging his trenches and building his turrets the fighting was so -frequent that, as Cæsar tells us, on one day there were six battles. -Pompey lost two thousand legionaries, while Cæsar lost no more than -twenty; but every Cæsarean engaged in a certain turret was wounded, and -four officers lost their eyes. Cæsar estimates that thirty thousand -arrows were thrown upon the men defending this tower, and tells us of -one Scæva, an officer, who had two hundred and thirty holes made by -these arrows in his own shield.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> We can only surmise<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span> that it must -have been a very big shield, and that there must have been much trouble -in counting the holes. Cæsar, however, was so much pleased that he gave -Scæva a large sum of money,—something over £500, and, allowing him to -skip over six intermediate ranks, made him at once first centurion—or -Primipilus of the legion. We remember no other record of such quick -promotion—in prose. There is, indeed, the well-known case of a common -sailor who did a gallant action and was made first-lieutenant on the -spot; but that is told in verse, and the common sailor was a lady.</p> - -<p>Two perfidious Gauls to whom Cæsar had been very kind, but whom he had -been obliged to check on account of certain gross peculations of which -they had been guilty, though, as he tells us, he had not time to punish -them, went over to Pompey, and told Pompey all the secrets of Cæsar’s -ditches, and forts, and mounds,—finished and unfinished. Before that, -Cæsar assures us, not a single man of his had gone over to the enemy, -though many of the enemy had come to him. But those perfidious Gauls did -a world of mischief. Pompey, hearing how far Cæsar was from having his -works along the sea-shore finished, got together a huge fleet of boats, -and succeeded at night in throwing a large body of his men ashore -between Cæsar’s two lines, thus dividing Cæsar’s forces, and coming upon -them in their weakest<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span> point. Cæsar admits that there was a panic in his -lines, and that the slaughter of his men was very great. It seems that -the very size of his own works produced the ruin which befel them, for -the different parts of them were divided one from another, so that the -men in one position could not succour those in another. The affair ended -in the total rout of the Cæsarean army. Cæsar actually fled, and had -Pompey followed him we must suppose that then there would have been an -end of Cæsar. He acknowledges that in the two battles fought on that day -he lost 960 legionaries, 32 officers, and 32 standards.</p> - -<p>And then Cæsar tells us a story of Labienus, who had been his most -trusted lieutenant in the Gallic wars, but who had now gone over to -Pompey, not choosing to fight against the Republic. Labienus demanded of -Pompey the Cæsarean captives, and caused them all to be slaughtered, -asking them with scorn whether veterans such as they were accustomed to -run away. Cæsar is very angry with Labienus; but Labienus might have -defended himself by saying that the slaughter of prisoners of war was a -custom he had learned in Gaul. As for those words of scorn, Cæsar could -hardly have heard them with his own ears, and we can understand that he -should take delight in saying a hard thing of Labienus.</p> - -<p>Pompey was at once proclaimed Imperator. And Pompey used the name, -though the victory had, alas! been gained over his fellow-countrymen. -“So great was the effect of all this on the spirits and confidence of -the Pompeians, that they thought no more of the carrying on of the war, -but only of the victory<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span> they had gained.” And then Cæsar throws scorn -upon the Pompeians, making his own apology in the same words. “They did -not care to remember that the small number of our soldiers was the cause -of their triumph, or that the unevenness of the ground and narrowness of -the defiles had aught to do with it; or the occupation of our lines, and -the panic of our men between their double fortifications; or our army -cut into two parts, so that one part could not help the other. Nor did -they add to this the fact that our men, pressed as they were, could not -engage themselves in a fair conflict, and that they indeed suffered more -from their own numbers, and from the narrowness of the ravines, than -from the enemy. Nor were the ordinary chances of war brought to -mind,—how small matters, such as some unfounded suspicion, a sudden -panic, a remembered superstition, may create great misfortune; nor how -often the fault of a general, or the mistake of an officer, may bring -injury upon an army. But they spread abroad the report of the victory of -that day throughout all the world, sending forth letters and tales as -though they had conquered solely by their own valour, nor was it -possible that there should after this be a reverse of their -circumstances.” Such was the affair of Petra, by which the relative -position in the world-history of Cæsar and Pompey was very nearly made -the reverse of what it is.</p> - -<p>Cæsar now acknowledges that he is driven to change the whole plan of his -campaign. He addresses a speech to his men, and explains to them that -this defeat, like that at Gergovia, may lead to their future<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span> success. -The victory at Alesia had sprung from the defeat of Gergovia, because -the Gauls had been induced to fight; and from the reverses endured -within the lines of Petra might come the same fortune;—for surely now -the army of Pompey would not fear a battle. Some few officers he -punishes and degrades. His own words respecting his army after their -defeat are very touching. “So great a grief had come from this disaster -upon the whole army, and so strong a desire of repairing its disgrace, -that no one now desired the place of tribune or centurion in his legion; -and all, by way of self-imposed punishment, subjected themselves to -increased toil; and every man burned with a desire to fight. Some from -the higher ranks were so stirred by Cæsar’s speech, that they thought -that they should stand their ground where they were, and fight where -they stood.” But Cæsar was too good a general for that. He moves on -towards the south-east, and in retreating gets the better of Pompey, who -follows him with only half a heart. After a short while Pompey gives up -the pursuit. His father-in-law, Scipio, has brought a great army from -the east, and is in Thessaly. As we read this we cannot fail to remember -how short a time since it was that Cæsar himself was Pompey’s -father-in-law, and that Pompey was Cæsar’s friend because, with too -uxorious a love, he clung to Julia, his young wife. Pompey now goes -eastward to unite his army to that of Scipio; and Cæsar, making his way -also into Thessaly by a more southern route, joins certain forces under -his lieutenant Calvinus, who had been watching Scipio,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> and who barely -escaped falling into Pompey’s hands before he could reach Cæsar. But -wherever Fortune or Chance could interfere, the Gods were always kind to -Cæsar.</p> - -<p>Then Cæsar tells us of his treatment of two towns in Thessaly, Gomphi -and Metropolis. Unluckily for the poor Gomphians, Cæsar reaches Gomphi -first. Now the fame of Pompey’s victory at Petra had been spread abroad; -and the Gomphians, who,—to give them their due,—would have been just -as willing to favour Cæsar as Pompey, and who only wanted to be on the -winning side that they might hold their little own in safety, believed -that things were going badly with Cæsar. They therefore shut their gates -against Cæsar, and sent off messengers to Pompey. They can hold their -town against Cæsar for a little while, but Pompey must come quickly to -their aid. Pompey comes by no means quick enough, and the Gomphians’ -capacity to hold their own is very short-lived. At about three o’clock -in the afternoon Cæsar begins to besiege the town, and before sunset he -has taken it, and given it to be sacked by his soldiers. The men of -Metropolis were also going to shut their gates, but luckily they hear -just in time what had happened at Gomphi,—and open them instead. -Whereupon Cæsar showers protection upon Metropolis; and all the other -towns of Thessaly, hearing what had been done, learn what Cæsar’s favour -means.</p> - -<p>Pompey, having joined his army to that of Scipio, shares all his honours -with his father-in-law. When we hear this we know that Pompey’s position -was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span> comfortable, and that he was under constraint. He was a man who -would share his honour with no one unless driven to do so. And indeed -his command at present was not a pleasant one. It was much for a Roman -commander to have with him the Roman Senate,—but the senators so placed -would be apt to be less obedient than trained soldiers. They even accuse -him of keeping them in Thessaly because he likes to lord it over such -followers. But they were, nevertheless, all certain that Cæsar was about -to be destroyed; and, even in Pompey’s camp, they quarrel over the -rewards of victory which they think that they will enjoy at Rome when -their oligarchy shall have been re-established by Pompey’s arms.</p> - -<p>Before the great day arrives Labienus again appears on the scene; and -Cæsar puts into his mouth a speech which he of course intends us to -compare with the result of the coming battle. “Do not think, O Pompey, -that this is the army which conquered Gaul and Germany,”—where Labienus -himself was second in command under Cæsar. “I was present at all those -battles, and speak of a thing which I know. A very small part of that -army remains. Many have perished,—as a matter of course in so many -battles. The autumn pestilence killed many in Italy. Many have gone -home. Many have been left on the other shore. Have you not heard from -our own friends who remained behind sick, that these cohorts of Cæsar’s -were made up at Brindisi?”—made up but the other day, Labienus implies. -“This army, indeed, has been renewed from levies in the two Gauls; but -all that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span> had of strength perished in those two battles at -Dyrrachium;”—in the contests, that is, within the lines of Petra. Upon -this Labienus swears that he will not sleep under canvas again until he -sleeps as victor over Cæsar; and Pompey swears the same, and everybody -swears. Then they all go away full of the coming victory. We daresay -there was a great deal of false confidence; but as for the words which -Cæsar puts into the mouth of Labienus, we know well how much cause Cæsar -had to dislike Labienus, and we doubt whether they were ever spoken.</p> - -<p>At length the battle-field is chosen,—near the town of Pharsalus, on -the banks of the river Enipeus in Thessaly. The battle has acquired -world-wide fame as that of Pharsalia, which we have been taught to -regard as the name of the plain on which it was fought. Neither of these -names occur in the Commentary, nor does that of the river; and the -actual spot on which the great contest took place seems to be a matter -of doubt even now. The ground is Turkish soil,—near to the mountains -which separate modern Greece from Turkey, and is not well adapted for -the researches of historical travellers. Cæsar had been keeping his men -on the march close to Pompey, till Pompey found that he could no longer -abstain from fighting. Then came Labienus with his vaunts, and his -oath,—and at length the day and the field were chosen. Cæsar at any -rate was ready. At this time Cæsar was fifty-two years old, and Pompey -was five years his elder.</p> - -<p>Cæsar tells us that Pompey had 110 cohorts, or eleven legions. Had the -legions been full, Pompey’s army<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span> would have contained 66,000 -legionaries; but Cæsar states their number at 45,000, or something over -two-thirds of the full number. He does not forget to tell us once again -that among these eleven were the two legions which he had given up in -obedience to the demand of the Senate. Pompey himself, with these two -very legions, placed himself on the left away from the river; and there -also were all his auxiliaries,—not counted with the -legionaries,—slingers, archers, and cavalry. Scipio commanded in the -centre with the legions he had brought out of Syria. So Cæsar tells us. -“We learn from other sources that Lentulus commanded Pompey’s right -wing, lying on the river—and Domitius, whom we remember as trying to -hold Marseilles against young Brutus and Trebonius, the left. Cæsar had -80 cohorts, or eight legions, which should have numbered 48,000 men had -his legions been full;—but, as he tells us, he led but 22,000 -legionaries, so that his ranks were deficient by more than a half. As -was his custom, he had his tenth legion to the right, away from the -river. The ninth, terribly thinned by what had befallen it within the -lines at Petra, joined to the eleventh, lay next the river, forming part -of Cæsar’s left wing. Antony commanded the left wing, Domitius Calvinus, -whom Cæsar sometimes calls by one name and sometimes by the other, the -centre,—and Sulla the right. Cæsar placed himself to the right, with -his tenth legion, opposite to Pompey. As far as we can learn, there was -but little in the nature of the ground to aid either of them;—and so -the fight began.</p> - -<p>There is not much complication, and perhaps no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span> great interest, in the -account of the actual battle as it is given by Cæsar. Cæsar makes a -speech to his army, which was, as we have already learned, and as he -tells us now, the accustomed thing to do. No falser speech was ever made -by man, if he spoke the words which he himself reports. He first of all -reminds them how they themselves are witnesses that he has done his best -to insure peace;—and then he calls to their memory certain mock -treaties as to peace, in which, when seeking delay, he had pretended to -engage himself and his enemy. He had never wasted, he told them, the -blood of his soldiers, nor did he desire to deprive the Republic of -either army—“alterutro exercitu”—of Pompey’s army or of his own. They -were both Roman, and far be it from him to destroy aught belonging to -the Republic. We must acknowledge that Cæsar was always chary of Roman -life and Roman blood. He would spare it when it could be spared; but he -could spill it like water when the spilling of it was necessary to his -end. He was very politic; but as for tenderness,—neither he nor any -Roman knew what it was.</p> - -<p>Then there is a story of one Crastinus, who declares that whether dead -or alive he will please Cæsar. He throws the first weapon against the -enemy and does please Cæsar. But he has to please by his death, for he -is killed in his effort.</p> - -<p>Pompey orders that his first rank shall not leave its order to advance, -but shall receive the shock of Cæsar’s attack. Cæsar points out to us -that he is wrong in this, because the very excitement of a first attack -gives increased energy and strength to the men. Cæsar’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span> legionaries are -told to attack, and they rush over the space intervening between the -first ranks to do so. But they are so well trained that they pause and -catch their breath before they throw their weapons. Then they throw -their piles and draw their swords, and the ranks of the two armies are -close pitted against each other.</p> - -<p>But Pompey had thought that he could win the battle, almost without -calling on his legionaries for any exertion, by the simple strategic -movement of his numerous cavalry and auxiliaries. He outnumbered Cæsar -altogether, but in these arms he could overwhelm him with a cloud of -horsemen and of archers. But Cæsar also had known of these clouds. He -fought now as always with a triple rank of legionaries,—but behind his -third rank,—or rather somewhat to their right shoulder,—he had drawn -up a choice body of men picked from his third line,—a fourth line as it -were,—whose business it was to stand against Pompey’s clouds when the -attempt should be made by these clouds upon their right flank. Cæsar’s -small body of cavalry did give way before the Pompeian clouds, and the -horsemen and the archers and the slingers swept round upon Cæsar’s -flank. But they swept round upon destruction. Cæsar gave the word to -that fourth line of picked men. “Illi—they,” says Cæsar, “ran forward -with the greatest rapidity, and with their standards in advance attacked -the cavalry of Pompey with such violence that none of them could stand -their ground;—so that all not only were forced from the ground, but -being at once driven in panic, they sought the shelter of the highest -mountains near them. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> when they were thus removed, all the archers -and the slingers, desolate and unarmed, without any one to take care of -them, were killed in heaps.” Such is Cæsar’s account of Pompey’s great -attack of cavalry which was to win the battle without giving trouble to -the legions.</p> - -<p>Cæsar acknowledges that Pompey’s legionaries drew their swords bravely -and began their share of the fighting well. Then at once he tells us of -the failure on the part of the cavalry and of the slaughter of the poor -auxiliary slingers, and in the very next sentence gives us to understand -that the battle was won. Though Pompey’s legions were so much more -numerous than those of Cæsar, we are told that Cæsar’s third line -attacked the Pompeian legionaries when they were “defessi”—worn out. -The few cohorts of picked men who in such marvellous manner had -dispersed Pompey’s clouds, following on their success, turned the flank -of Pompey’s legions and carried the day. That it was all as Cæsar says -there can be little doubt. That he won the battle there can, we presume, -be no doubt. Pompey at once flew to his camp and endeavoured to defend -it. But such defence was impossible, and Pompey was driven to seek -succour in flight. He found a horse and a few companions, and did not -stop till he was on the sea-shore. Then he got on board a -provision-vessel, and was heard to complain that he had been betrayed by -those very men from whose hands he had expected victory.</p> - -<p>We are told with much picturesque effect how Cæsar’s men, hungry, -accustomed to endurance, patient in all their want, found Pompey’s camp -prepared for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span> victory, and decked in luxurious preparation for the -senatorial victors. Couches were strewn, and plate was put out, and -tables prepared, and the tents of these happy ones were adorned with -fresh ivy. The senatorial happy ones have but a bad time of it, either -perishing in their flight, or escaping into the desert solitudes of the -mountains. Cæsar follows up his conquest, and on the day after the -battle compels the great body of the fugitives to surrender at -discretion. He surrounds them on the top of a hill and shuts them out -from water, and they do surrender at discretion. With stretched-out -hands, prone upon the earth, these late conquerors, the cream of the -Roman power, who had so lately sworn to conquer ere they slept, weeping -beg for mercy. Cæsar, having said a few words to them of his clemency, -gave them their lives. He recommends them to the care of his own men, -and desires that they may neither be slaughtered nor robbed.</p> - -<p>Cæsar says he lost only 200 soldiers in that battle—and among them 30 -officers, all brave men. That gallant Crastinus was among the 30. Of -Pompey’s army 15,000 had been killed, and 24,000 had surrendered! 180 -standards and 9 eagles were taken and brought to Cæsar. The numbers seem -to us to be almost incredible, whether we look at those given to us in -regard to the conqueror or the conquered. Cæsar’s account, however, of -that day’s work has hitherto been taken as authoritative, and it is too -late now to question it. After this fashion was the battle of Pharsalia -won, and the so-called Roman Republic brought to an end.</p> - -<p>But Cæsar by no means thought that his work was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span> done;—nor indeed was -it nearly done. It was now clearly his first duty to pursue -Pompey,—whom, should he escape, the outside provinces and distant -allies of the Republic would soon supply with another army. “Cæsar -thought that Pompey was to be pursued to the neglecting of all other -things.” In the mean time Pompey, who seems to have been panic-struck by -his misfortune, fled with a few friends down the Ægean Sea, picked his -young wife up at an island as he went, and made his way to Egypt. The -story of his murder by those who had the young King of Egypt in their -keeping is well known and need not detain us. Cæsar tells it very -shortly. Pompey sends to young Ptolemy for succour and assistance, -trusting to past friendship between himself and the young king’s father. -Ptolemy is in the hands of eunuchs, adventurers, and cut-throat -soldiers, and has no voice of his own in the matter. But these ruffians -think it well to have Pompey out of the way, and therefore they murder -him. Achillas, a royal satrap, and Septimius, a Roman soldier, go out to -Pompey’s vessel, as messengers from the king, and induce him to come -down into their boat. Then, in the very sight of his wife, he is -slaughtered, and his head is carried away as proof of the deed. Such was -the end of Pompey, for whom no fortune had seemed to be too great, till -Cæsar came upon the scene. We are told by the Roman poet, Lucan, who -took the battle of Pharsalia as his difficult theme, that Cæsar could -bear no superior, and Pompey no equal. The poet probably wished to make -the latter the more magnanimous by the comparison. To us, as we examine -the character of the two generals, Cæsar seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> at least as jealous of -power as his son-in-law, and certainly was the more successful of the -two in extruding all others from a share in the power which he coveted. -Pompey in the triumvirate admitted his junior to more, as he must have -felt it, than equal power: Cæsar in the triumvirate simply made a -stepping-stone of the great man who was his elder. Pompey at Thessaly -was forced to divide at least the name of his power with Scipio, his -last father-in-law: but Cæsar never gave a shred of his mantle to be -worn by another soldier.</p> - -<p>In speaking, however, of the character of Pompey, and in comparing it -with that of his greater rival, it may probably be said of him that in -all his contests, both military and political, he was governed by a love -of old Rome, and of the Republic as the greatest national institution -which the world had ever known, and by a feeling which we call -patriotism, and of which Cæsar was,—perhaps, we may say, too great to -be capable. Pompey desired to lead, but to lead the beloved Republic. -Cæsar, caring nothing for the things of old, with no reverence for the -past, utterly destitute of that tenderness for our former footsteps -which makes so many of us cling with passionate fondness to convicted -errors, desired to create out of the dust of the Republic,—which fate -and his genius allowed him to recast as he would,—something which -should be better and truer than the Republic.</p> - -<p>The last seven chapters of the third book of this Commentary form a -commencement of the record of the Alexandrine war,—which, beyond those -seven chapters, Cæsar himself did not write. That he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span> should have -written any Commentary amidst the necessary toils of war, and the -perhaps more pressing emergencies of his political condition, is one of -the greatest marvels of human power. He tells us now, that having -delayed but a few days in Asia, he followed Pompey first to Cyprus and -then to Egypt, taking with him as his entire army three thousand two -hundred men. “The rest, worn out with wounds, and battles, and toil, and -the greatness of the journey, could not follow him.” But he directed -that legions should be made up for him from the remnants of Pompey’s -broken army, and, with a godlike trust in the obedience of absent -vassals, he went on to Egypt. He tells us that he was kept in Alexandria -by Etesian winds. But we know also that Cleopatra came to him at -Alexandria, requiring his services in her contest for the crown of -Egypt; and knowing at what price she bought them, we doubt the -persistent malignity of the Etesian winds, Had Cleopatra been a swarthy -Nubian, as some have portrayed her, Cæsar, we think, would have left -Alexandria though the Etesian winds had blown in his very teeth. All -winds filled Cæsar’s sails. Cæsar gets possession of Cleopatra’s brother -Ptolemy, who, in accordance with their father’s will, was to have -reigned in conjunction with his sister, and the Alexandrians rise -against him in great force. He slays Photinus, the servant of King -Ptolemy, has his own ambassador slain, and burns the royal fleet of -Egypt,—burning with it, unfortunately, the greater part of the royal -library. “These things were the beginning of the Alexandrine war.” These -are the last words of Cæsar’s last Commentary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> -<small>CONCLUSION.</small></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Having</span> concluded his ten short chapters descriptive of the ten books of -the Commentaries written by Cæsar himself, the author of this little -Volume has finished his intended task,—and as he is specially anxious -not to be thought to have made an attempt at writing history, he would -not add any concluding words, were it not that three other Commentaries -of Cæsar’s three other wars were added to Cæsar’s Commentaries by other -writers. There is the Commentary on the Alexandrine war,—written -probably by Hirtius, the author of the last book of the Gallic war; and -two Commentaries on the African war and the Spanish war,—written, as -the critics seem to think, by one Oppius, a friend whom Cæsar loved and -trusted. The Alexandrine war was a war of itself, in which Cæsar was -involved by his matchless audacity in following Pompey into Egypt, and -perhaps by the sweetness of Cleopatra’s charms. And this led also to a -war in Asia Minor, the account of which is included with that of his -Egyptian campaign. The African war, and that afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span> carried on in -Spain with the object of crushing out the sparks of Pompeian revolt -against his power, are simply the latter portions of the civil war, and -their records might have been written as chapters added to the -Commentary “De Bello Civili.”</p> - -<p>Alexandria, when Cæsar landed there in pursuit of Pompey and had offered -to him as a graceful tribute on his first arrival the head of his -murdered rival, was a city almost as populous and quite as rich as Rome; -and in the city, and throughout the more fertile parts of Egypt, there -was a crowd of Roman soldiers left there to support and to overawe the -throne of the Ptolemies. Cæsar, with hardly more than half a full legion -to support him, enters Alexandria as though obedience were due to him by -all in Egypt as Roman consul. He at once demands an enormous sum of -money, which he claims as due to himself personally for services -rendered to a former Ptolemy; he takes possession of the person of -Ptolemy the young king,—and is taken possession of by Cleopatra, the -young king’s sister, who was joint-heir with her brother to the throne. -In all his career there was perhaps nothing more audacious than his -conduct in Egypt. The Alexandrians, or rather perhaps the Roman army in -Egypt under the leading of the young king’s satraps, rise against Cæsar, -and he is compelled to fortify himself in the town. He contrives, -however, to burn all the Egyptian fleet, and with it unfortunately the -royal library, as we were told by himself at the end of the last -Commentary. He at length allows Ptolemy to go, giving him back to the -Egyptians, and thinking that the young king’s presence<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span> may serve to -allay the enmity of the Alexandrians. The young king wept at leaving -Cæsar, and declared that even his own kingdom was not so dear to him as -the companionship of Cæsar. But the crafty false-faced boy turns against -Cæsar as soon as he is free to do so. Cæsar never was in greater danger; -and as one reads one feels one’s self to be deprived of the right to say -that no more insane thing was ever done than Cæsar did when he swaggered -into Alexandria without an army at his back,—only by the remembrance -that Cæsar was Cæsar. First, because he wanted some ready money, and -secondly, because Cleopatra was pretty, Cæsar nearly lost the world in -Egypt.</p> - -<p>But there comes to his help a barbarian ally,—a certain Mithridates of -Pergamus, a putative son of the great Mithridates of Pontus. Mithridates -brings an army to Cæsar’s rescue, and does rescue him. A great battle is -fought on the Nile,—a battle which would have been impossible to Cæsar -had not Mithridates come to his aid,—and the Egyptians are utterly -dispersed. Young Ptolemy is drowned; Cleopatra is settled on her throne; -and Egypt becomes subject to Cæsar. Then Cæsar hurries into Asia, -finding it necessary to quell the arrogance of a barbarian who had dared -to defeat a Roman general. The unfortunate conqueror is Pharnaces, the -undoubted son of Mithridates of Pontus. But Cæsar comes, and sees, and -conquers. He engages Pharnaces at Zela, and destroys his army; and then, -we are told, inscribed upon his banners those insolent words—“Veni, -vidi, vici.” He had already been made Dictator of the Roman Empire for -an entire year, and had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span> revelled with Cleopatra at Alexandria, and was -becoming a monarch.</p> - -<p>These were the campaigns of the year 47 <small>B.C.</small>, and the record of them is -made in the Commentary “De Bello Alexandrino.”</p> - -<p>In the mean time things have not been going altogether smoothly for -Cæsar in Italy, although his friends at Rome have made him Dictator. His -soldiers have mutinied against their officers, and against his -authority; and a great company of Pompeians is collected in that -province of Africa in which poor Curio was conquered by Juba,—when Juba -had Roman senators walking in his train, and Cæsar’s army was destroyed. -The province called by the name of Africa lay just opposite to Sicily, -and was blessed with that Roman civilisation which belonged to the -possessions of the Republic which were nearest to Rome, the great centre -of all things. It is now the stronghold of the Republican faction,—as -being the one spot of Roman ground in which Cæsar had failed of success. -Pompey, indeed, is no more, but Pompey’s two sons are here,—and Scipio, -Pompey’s father-in-law, whom Pompey had joined with himself in the -command at Pharsalus. Labienus is here, who, since he turned from Cæsar, -has been more Pompeian than Pompey himself; and Afranius, to whom Cæsar -was so kind in Spain; and Petreius and King Juba,—of whom a joint story -has yet to be told; and Varus, who held the province against Curio;—and -last of all there is that tower of strength, the great Cato, the most -virtuous and impracticable of men, who, in spite of his virtue, is -always in the wrong, and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> whom the world at large only remembers that -he was fond of wine, and that he destroyed himself at Utica.</p> - -<p>They are all at Utica,—and to them for the present Utica is Rome. They -establish a Senate; and Scipio, who is unworthy of the great name he -bears, and is incompetent as a general, is made commander-in-chief, -because Cato decides that law and routine so require. Scipio had been -consul,—had been joint commander with Pompey,—and his rank is the -highest. The same argument had been used when he was joined in that -command,—that it was fitting that such power should be given to him -because he was of consular rank. The command of the Republican fleet had -been intrusted to Bibulus on the same ground. We never hear of Cæsar so -bestowing promotion. He indeed is now and again led away by another -fault, trusting men simply because he loves them,—by what we may call -favouritism,—as he did when he allowed Curio to lose his army in -Africa, and thus occasioned all this subsequent trouble. As we read of -Scipio’s rank we remember that we have heard of similar cause for -ill-judged promotion in later times. The Pompeians, however, collect an -enormous army. They have ten Roman legions, and are supported, moreover, -by the whole force of King Juba. This army, we are told, is as numerous -as that which Pompey commanded at Pharsalus. There is quarrelling among -them for authority; quarrelling as to strategy; jealousy as to the -barbarian, with acknowledged inability to act without him;—and the -reader feels that it is all in vain. Cæsar comes, having quelled the -mutiny of his own old veterans in Italy by a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span> words. He has gone -among them fearing nothing; they demand their discharge—he grants it. -They require the rewards which they think to be their due, and he tells -them that they shall have their money,—when he has won it with other -legions. Then he addresses them not as soldiers, but as -“citizens”—“Quirites;” and that they cannot stand; it implies that they -are no longer the invincible soldiers of Cæsar. They rally round him; -the legions are re-formed, and he lands in Africa with a small army -indeed,—at first with little more than three thousand men,—and is -again nearly destroyed in the very first battle. But after a few months -campaigning the old story has to be told again. A great battle is fought -at Thapsus, a year and five months after that of Pharsalia, and the -Republic is routed again and for ever. The commentator tells us that on -this occasion the ferocity of Cæsar’s veterans was so great, that by no -entreaties, by no commands, could they be induced to cease from the -spilling of blood.</p> - -<p>But of the destruction of the leaders separate stories are told us. Of -Cato is the first story, and that best known to history. He finds -himself obliged to surrender the town of Utica to Cæsar; and then, “he -himself having carefully settled his own affairs, and having commended -his children to Lucius Cæsar, who was then acting with him as his -quæstor, with his usual gait and countenance, so as to cause no -suspicion, he took his sword with him into his bedroom when it was his -time to retire to rest,—and so killed himself.” Scipio also killed -himself. Afranius was killed by Cæsar’s soldiers. Labienus, and the two -sons of Pompey,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span> and Varus, escaped into Spain. Then comes the story of -King Juba and Petreius. Juba had collected his wives and children, and -all his wealth of gold and jewels and rich apparel, into a town of his -called Zama; and there he had built a vast funeral-pile, on which, in -the event of his being conquered by Cæsar, he intended to -perish,—meaning that his wives and children and dependants and rich -treasures should all be burned with him. So, when he was defeated, he -returned to Zama; but his wives and children and dependants, being less -magnificently minded than their king, and knowing his royal purpose, and -being unwilling to become ornaments to his euthanasia, would not let him -enter the place. Then he went to his old Roman friend Petreius, and they -two sat down together to supper. Petreius was he who would not allow -Afranius to surrender to Cæsar at Lerida. When they have supped, Juba -proposes that they shall fight each other, so that one at least may die -gloriously. They do fight, and Petreius is quickly killed. “Juba being -the stronger, easily destroyed the weaker Petreius with his sword.” Then -the barbarian tried to kill himself; but, failing, got a slave to finish -the work. The battle of Thapsus was fought, <small>B.C.</small> 47. Numidia is made a -province by Cæsar, and so Africa is won. We may say that the Roman -Republic died with Cato at Utica.</p> - -<p>The Spanish war, which afforded matter for the last Commentary, is a -mere stamping out of the embers. Cæsar, after the affair in Africa, goes -to Rome; and the historian begins his chronicle by telling us that he is -detained there “muneribus dandis,”—by the distribution<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> of -rewards,—keeping his promise, no doubt, to those veterans whom he won -back to their military obedience by calling them “Quirites,” or Roman -citizens.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> The sons of Pompey, Cnæus and Sextus, have collected -together a great number of men to support their worn-out cause, and we -are told that in the battle of Munda more than 30,000 men perished. But -that was the end of it. Labienus and Varus are killed; and the historian -tells us that a funeral was made for them. One Scapula, of whom it is -said that he was the promoter of all this Spanish rebellion, eats his -supper, has himself anointed, and is killed on his funeral-pile. Cnæus, -the elder son of Pompey, escapes wounded, but at last is caught in a -cave, and is killed. Sextus, the younger, escapes, and becomes a leading -rebel for some years longer, till at last he also is killed by one of -Antony’s officers.</p> - -<p>This Commentary is ended, or rather is brought to an untimely close, in -the middle of a speech which Cæsar makes to the inhabitants of -Hipsala,—Seville,—in which he tells them in strong language how well -he behaves to them, and how very badly they have behaved<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span> to him. But we -reach an abrupt termination in the middle of a sentence.</p> - -<p>After the battle of Munda Cæsar returned to Rome, and enjoyed one year -of magnificent splendour and regal power in Rome. He is made Consul for -ten years, and Dictator for life. He is still high priest, and at last -is called King. He makes many laws, and perhaps adds the crowning jewel -to his imperishable diadem of glory by reforming the calendar, and -establishing a proper rotation of months and days, so as to comprise a -properly-divided year. But as there is no Commentary of this year of -Cæsar’s life, our readers will not expect that we should treat of it -here. How he was struck to death by Brutus, Cassius, and the other -conspirators, and fell at the foot of Pompey’s statue, gathering his -garments around him gracefully, with a policy that was glorious and -persistent to the last, is known to all men and women.</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">“Then burst his mighty heart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And in his mantle muffling up his face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even at the base of Pompey’s statua,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which all the while ran blood, Great Cæsar fell.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>That he had done his work, and that he died in time to save his name and -fame from the evil deeds of which unlimited power in the State would too -probably have caused the tyrant to be guilty, was perhaps not the least -fortunate circumstance in a career which for good fortune has been -unequalled in history.</p> - -<p class="c">THE END.</p> - -<p class="c"><small>PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.</small><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="c">ANCIENT CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS.</p> - -<p class="c">EDITED BY</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">The Rev.</span> W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A.</p> - -<p class="c">The volumes published contain—</p> - -<p class="cb"> -1. THE ILIAD. 2. THE ODYSSEY. 3. HERODOTUS.</p> - -<p class="c">A Volume will be published on the 1st of each alternate month, price 2s. -6d.</p> - -<p><i>The aim of the present series will be to explain, sufficiently for -general readers, who these great writers were, and what they wrote; to -give, wherever possible, some connected outline of the story which they -tell, or the facts which they record, checked by the results of modern -investigations; to present some of their most striking passages in -approved English translations, and to illustrate them generally from -modern writers; to serve, in short, as a popular retrospect of the chief -literature of Greece and Rome.</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="c"><i>EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES.</i></p> - -<p class="cb">Saturday Review.</p> - -<p>If the other volumes are as well executed as this, the monthly issue -will soon furnish excellent guidance to the whole field of classical -literature, and when the way is thus rendered clear, good translations -will be read with far more pleasure and discrimination. We anticipate -that the judicious and novel design of such a series will meet, as it -deserves, with widespread and lasting favour; and that, with its -success, juster ideas will more generally prevail of the characteristics -of the great writers of old.</p> - -<p class="cb">Civil Service Gazette.</p> - -<p>No more happy idea has been conceived of late than that of which this is -the first instalment.... If the other volumes to follow equal the -‘Iliad,’ the series will be a most charming and instructive one, and the -‘Ancient Classics for English Readers’ will be a most invaluable aid to -modern Education.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span></p> - -<p class="cb">Spectator.</p> - -<p>Mr Collins deserves, or probably shares with his publishers, the highest -praise for a discovery which is not the less meritorious because it now -seems obvious. Labour without end has been spent with but little success -on the attempt to bring the great Greek and Latin classics within the -reach of unlearned readers. In truth, the method commonly pursued, the -method of translation, is cumbrous and ineffective. Translation -exercises an extraordinary fascination on those who practise it, and it -is not without a literary value, but it is least appreciated by those -for whom it is primarily intended. Pope’s brilliant paraphrases really -please, and Lord Derby is read because he was a great English noble; but -how few readers appreciate the exquisite skill with which Mr Worsley -performed the task of translating the ‘Odyssey’! The advantage of the -present series is, that the writers are not fettered by the fidelity -which often hampers a translator; that they can omit, or shorten, or -give in full as they please; that they can avail themselves of the -finest work of translation when any scene has to be presented in detail; -that they can introduce appropriate illustrations into the body of the -work and not relegate them to the obscurity of notes, and that they can -do all this within the compass of such a volume as can easily be read -through at a sitting. As to the two books before us, the ‘Iliad’ and the -‘Odyssey,’ they remind us of Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare.’ Other -matter, indeed, they contain; but this is the most attractive part of -them, and it is no slight praise to say that they need not shrink from -the comparison. We may say, indeed, though we have one or two faults to -find with details of execution, that they are admirably well done. The -main points of incident and character are skilfully seized; the -criticisms, both ethical and artistic, are sound and judicious; the -style is simple and spirited. Even readers of but little application -will find them easy to get through, and no one can read them without -really learning something about Homer.</p> - -<p class="cb">Vanity Fair.</p> - -<p>To such persons, who often in after-years feel keenly the neglect or -want of opportunities for becoming acquainted with the world-renowned -old Greek and Latin authors, and who, from press of occupation, are -unable to recover their lost ground, these volumes will present -themselves as a real boon; and if the succeeding volumes come up to the -standard of the one now before us, it is difficult to conceive how they -could gain their knowledge in a pleasanter, clearer, or more concise -form.... This well-printed, handy little volume, then, deserves our -unqualified praise. There is many a Paterfamilias who, having for years -past been obliged to listen in dignified but pusillanimous silence to -the sly classical allusions of his precocious offspring, will now be -enabled, thanks to these little books, to carry the war into the enemy’s -country, and terrify and startle his astonished family by learned -disquisitions on the character of Agamemnon, and pedantic conjectures as -to the birthplace of Homer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cb"><big>MESSRS BLACKWOOD AND SONS’</big></p> - -<p class="c"><i>RECENT PUBLICATIONS.</i></p> - -<p class="cbhang">Walpole; or, Every Man has his Price.</p> - -<p class="indd">A Comedy in Rhyme. By Lord <span class="smcap">Lytton</span>. 5s.</p> - -<p class="cbhang">The Odes and Epodes of Horace;</p> - -<p class="indd">A Metrical Translation into English. With Introduction and Commentaries. -By Lord <span class="smcap">Lytton</span>. 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I. to IV., demy 8vo, price 56s.</p> - -<p>“The best account that has yet been written of the national life and -being of Scotland.”—<i>Times.</i></p> - -<p>“One of the completest histories that we ever saw of any -country.”—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>“A great contribution to historical literature.”—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>“We do not remember to have read so reticent, so calm and dispassionate, -a history.”—<i>Blackwood’s Magazine.</i></p> - -<p>“Une grande et belle historie.”—<i>Revue des Deux Mondes.</i></p> - -<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> There is an eighth book, referring to an eighth and ninth -campaign, but it is not the work of Cæsar.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> -</p> - - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Cœlo tonantem credidimus Jovem<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Regnare; præsens Divus habebitur Augustus.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The words are taken from Dean Merivale’s history.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> She was that wife who was false with Clodius, and whom -Cæsar divorced, declaring that Cæsar’s wife must not even be suspected. -He would not keep the false wife; neither would he at that moment take -part in the accusation against Clodius, who was of his party, and -against whom such accusation backed by Cæsar would have been fatal. The -intrusion of the demagogue into Cæsar’s house in the pursuit of Cæsar’s -wife during the mysteries of the Bona Dea became the subject of a trial -in Rome. The offence was terrible and was notorious. Clodius, who was -hated and feared by the patricians, was a favourite with the popular -party. The offender was at last brought to trial, and was acquitted by -venal judges. A word spoken by the injured husband would have insured -his condemnation, but that word Cæsar would not speak. His wife he could -divorce, but he would not jeopardise his power with his own party by -demanding the punishment of him who had debauched her.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Nipperdeius.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> These people were the descendants of those Cimbri who, half -a century before, had caused such woe to Rome! The Cimbri, we are told, -had gone forth from their lands, and had been six times victorious over -Roman armies, taking possession of “our Province,” and threatening Italy -and Rome. The whole empire of the Republic had been in danger, but was -at last saved by the courage, skill, and rapidity of Marius. In going -forth from their country they had left a remnant behind with such of -their possessions as they could not carry with them; and these Aduatici -were the children and grandchildren of that remnant. Cæsar doubtless -remembered it all.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> And Cæsar was no doubt indignant as well as earnest, -though, perhaps, irrational in his indignation. We know how sacred was -held to be the person of the Roman citizen, and remember Cicero’s -patriotic declaration, “Facinus est vinciri civem Romanum,—scelus -verberari;” and again, the words which Horace puts into the mouth of -Regulus when he asserts that the Roman soldier must be lost for ever in -his shame, and useless, “Qui lora restrictis lacertis Sensit iners -timuitque mortem.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Cæsar speaks of the confluence of the Rhine and the “Mosa” -as the spot at which he drove the Germans into the river,—and in -various passages, speaking of the Mosa, clearly means the Meuse. It -appears, however, to be the opinion of English scholars who have studied -the topography of Cæsar’s campaigns with much labour, that the -confluence of the Moselle and Rhine, from which Coblentz derives its -name, is the spot intended. Napoleon, who has hardly made himself an -authority on the affairs of Cæsar generally, but who is thought to be an -authority in regard to topography, holds to the opinion that the site in -Holland is intended to be described. Readers who are anxious on the -subject can choose between the two; but readers who are not anxious will -probably be more numerous.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> “Hostium numerus capitum CDXXX millium fuisset,” from which -words we are led to suppose that there were 180,000 fighting men, -besides the women and children.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> All well-instructed modern Britons have learned from the -old authorities that the Briton war-chariots were furnished with scythes -attached to the axles,—from Pomponius Mela, the Roman geographer, and -from Mrs Markham, among others. And Eugene Sue, in his novel translated -into English under the name of the ‘Rival Races,’ explains how the -Bretons on the other side of the water, in the Morbihan, used these -scythes; and how, before a battle with Cæsar’s legions, the wives of the -warriors arranged the straps so that the scythes might be worked from -the chariot like oars from a boat. But Cæsar says nothing of such -scythes, and surely he would have done so had he seen them. The reader -must choose between Cæsar’s silence and the authority of Pomponius Mela, -Mrs Markham, and Eugene Sue.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The Tribunes of the people were officers elected annually -to act on behalf of the people as checks on the magistracy of the -Republic, and were endowed with vast powers, which they were presumed to -use for the protection of liberty. But the office of Tribune had become -degraded to party purposes, as had every other office of the state.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Dean Merivale in his account of this affair reduces the -number of holes in Scæva’s shield to one hundred and twenty,—on the -joint authority, no doubt, of Florus and Valerius Maximus; but Florus -lived 200 and Val. Max. 300 years after Cæsar. Suetonius allows the full -number of holes, but implies that 120 were received while the warrior -was fighting in one place, and 110 while fighting in another. Lucan -sings the story of Scæva at great length, but does not give the number -of wounds in the shield. He seems to say that Scæva was killed on this -occasion, but is not quite clear on the point. That Scæva had one eye -knocked out is certain. Lucan does indeed tell us, in the very last -lines of his poem, that in Egypt Cæsar once again saw his beloved -centurion;—but at the moment described even Cæsar was dismayed, and the -commentators doubt whether it was not Scæva’s ghost that Cæsar then saw. -Valerius Maximus is sure that Scæva was killed when he got the -wounds;—but, if so, how could he have been rewarded and promoted? The -matter has been very much disputed; but here it has been thought best to -adhere to Cæsar.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Not in the Commentary, but elsewhere, we learn that he now -triumphed four times, for four different victories, taking care to claim -none for any victory won over Roman soldiers. On four different days he -was carried through the city with his legions and his spoils and his -captives. His first triumph was for the Gallic wars; and on that day -Vercingetorix, the gallant Gaul whom we remember, and who had now been -six years in prison, was strangled to do Cæsar honour. I think we hate -Cæsar the more for his cruelty to those who were not Romans, because -policy induced him to spare his countrymen.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Commentaries of Caesar, by Anthony Trollope - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMMENTARIES OF CAESAR *** - -***** This file should be named 55926-h.htm or 55926-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/9/2/55926/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Books project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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