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The Gauls, drawn on by this feint, passed the stream, and formed in order of battle in a disadvantageous place. Seeing that the Romans had even abandoned the vallum, they approached nearer to it, threw their missiles over it from all sides, and caused their heralds to proclaim round the retrenchments that, until the third hour (ten o’clock), every Gaul or Roman who should desert to them should have his life saved. At last, having no hope of forcing the gates, which they supposed to be solidly fortified, they carried their boldness so far as to begin to fill up the fosse, and to pull down the palisades with their hands. But Cæsar held his troops in readiness to profit by the excessive confidence of the Gauls: at a signal given, they rush through all the gates at once; the enemy does not resist, but takes to flight, abandoning their arms, and leaves the ground covered with his dead.

Cæsar did not pursue far, on account of the woods and marshes; he would not have been able, indeed, to inflict further loss; he marched with his troops, without having suffered any loss, towards the camp of Cicero, where he arrived the same day.⁴⁴⁰ The towers, the covered galleries, and the retrenchments of the barbarians, excited his astonishment. Having assembled the soldiers of Cicero’s legion, nine-tenths of whom were wounded, he could judge how much danger they had run and how much courage they had displayed. He loaded with praise the general and soldiers, addressing individually the centurions and the tribunes who had distinguished themselves. The prisoners gave him more ample details on the deaths of Sabinus and Cotta, whose disaster had produced a deep impression in the army. The next day he reminds the troops convoked for that purpose of the past event, consoles and encourages them, throws the fault of this check on the imprudence of the lieutenant, and exhorts them to resignation the more, because, thanks to the valour of the soldiers and the protection of the gods, the expiation had been prompt, and left no further reason for the enemies to rejoice, or for the Romans to be afflicted.⁴⁴¹

We see, from what precedes, how small a number of troops, disseminated over a vast territory, surmounted, by discipline and courage, a formidable insurrection. Quintus Cicero, by following the principle invoked by Cotta, not to enter into negotiations with an enemy in arms, saved both his army and his honour. As to Cæsar, he gave proof, in this circumstance, of an energy and strength of mind which Quintus Cicero did not fail to point out to his brother when he wrote to him.⁴⁴² If we believe Suetonius and Polyænus, Cæsar felt so great a grief for the check experienced by Sabinus, that, in sign of mourning, he let his beard and hair grow until he had avenged his lieutenants,⁴⁴³ which only happened in the year following, by the destruction of the Eburones and the Nervii.

Cæsar places his Troops in Winter Quarters. Labienus defeats Indutiomarus.

XV. Meanwhile the news of Cæsar’s victory reached Labienus, across the country of the Remi, with incredible speed: his winter quarters were at a distance of about sixty miles from Cicero’s camp, where Cæsar had only arrived after the ninth hour of the day (three o’clock in the afternoon), and yet before midnight shouts of joy were raised at the gates of the camp, the acclamations of the Remi who came to congratulate Labienus. The noise spread in the army of the Treviri, and Indutiomarus, who had resolved to attack the camp of Labienus next day, withdrew during the night, and took all his troops with him.

These events having been accomplished, Cæsar distributed the seven legions he had left in the following manner: he sent Fabius with his legion to his winter quarters among the Morini, and established himself in the neighbourhood of Amiens with three legions, which he separated in three quarters: they were the legion of Crassus, which had remained stationary, that of Cicero, and that of Trebonius. There are still seen, along the Somme, in the neighbourhood of Amiens, three camps at a short distance from each other, which appear to have been those of that period.⁴⁴⁴ Labienus, Plancus, and Roscius continued to occupy the same positions. The gravity of the circumstances determined Cæsar to remain all the winter with the army. In fact, on the news of the disaster of Sabinus, nearly all the people of Gaul showed a disposition to take arms, sent deputations and messages to each other, communicated their projects, and deliberated upon the point from which the signal for war should be given. They held nocturnal assemblies in bye-places, and during the whole winter not a day passed in which there was not some meeting or some movement of the Gauls to cause uneasiness to Cæsar. Thus he learnt from L. Roscius, lieutenant placed at the head of the 13th legion, that considerable troops of Armorica had assembled to attack him; they were not more than eight miles from his winter quarters, when the news of Cæsar’s victory had compelled them to retreat precipitately and in disorder.

The Roman general called to his presence the principes of each state, terrified some by letting them know that he was informed of their plots, exhorted the others to perform their duty, and by these means maintained the tranquillity of a great part of Gaul. Meanwhile a vexatious event took place in the country of the Senones, a powerful and influential nation among the Gauls. They had resolved, in an assembly, to put to death Cavarinus, whom Cæsar had given them for king. Cavarinus had fled; upon which they pronounced his deposition, banished him, and pursued him to the limits of their territory. They had sought to justify themselves to Cæsar, who ordered them to send him all their senators. They refused. This boldness on the part of the Senones, by showing to the barbarians some individuals capable of resisting the Romans, produced so great a change in their minds, that, with the exception of the Ædui and the Remi, there was not a people which did not fall under suspicion of revolt, each desiring to free itself from foreign domination.

During the whole winter, the Treviri and Indutiomarus never ceased urging the people on the other side of the Rhine to take up arms, assuring them that the greater part of the Roman army had been destroyed. But not one of the German nations could be persuaded to pass the Rhine. The remembrance of the double defeat of Ariovistus and the Tencteri made them cautious of trying their fortune again. Deceived in his expectations, Indutiomarus did not discontinue collecting troops, exercising them, buying horses from the neighbouring countries, and drawing to him from all parts of Gaul outlaws and condemned criminals. His ascendency was soon so great, that from all parts people eagerly sought his friendship and protection.

When he saw some rallying to him spontaneously, others, such as the Senones and the Carnutes, engaging in his cause through a consciousness of their fault; the Nervii and the Aduatuci preparing for war, and a crowd of volunteers disposed to join him as soon as he should have quitted his country, Indutiomarus, according to the custom of the Gauls at the beginning of a campaign, called together an assembly in arms. He pronounced Cingetorix, his son-in-law, who remained faithful to Cæsar, an enemy of his country; and announced that, in reply to the appeal of the Senones and Carnutes, he would go to them through the country of the Remi, whose lands he would ravage; but, above all, he would attack the camp of Labienus.

The latter, established on the Ourthe, master of a position naturally formidable, which he had further fortified, was in fear of no attack, but dreamt, on the contrary, of seizing the first opportunity of combating with advantage. Informed by Cingetorix of the designs of Indutiomarus, he demanded cavalry of the neighbouring states, pretended fear, and, letting the enemy’s cavalry approach with impunity, remained shut up in his camp.

While, deceived by these appearances, Indutiomarus became daily more presumptuous, Labienus introduced secretly into his camp during the night the auxiliary cavalry, and, by keeping a close watch, prevented the Treviri from being informed of it. The enemy, ignorant of the arrival of this re-enforcement, advanced nearer and nearer to the retrenchments, and redoubled his provocations. They were unnoticed, and towards evening he withdrew in disorder. Suddenly Labienus causes his cavalry, seconded by his cohorts, to issue by the two gates. Foreseeing the rout of the enemy, he urges his troops to follow Indutiomarus alone, and promises great rewards to those who shall bring his head. Fortune seconded his designs; Indutiomarus was overtaken just at the ford of the river (the Ourthe), and put to death, and his head was brought into the camp. The cavalry, in their return, slew all the enemies they found in their way. The Eburones and the Nervii dispersed. The result of these events was to give to Gaul a little more tranquillity.⁴⁴⁵

Observations.

XVI. The Emperor Napoleon, in his Précis des Guerres de César, explains in the following manner the advantage the Romans drew from their camps: —

“The Romans owe the constancy of their successes to the method, from which they never departed, of encamping every night in a fortified camp, and of never giving battle without having behind them a retrenched camp, to serve them as a place of retreat, and to contain their magazines, their baggage, and their wounded. The nature of arms in those ages was such that, in these camps, they were not only in safety from the attacks of an equal army, but even an army which was stronger; they were the masters to fight or to wait a favourable opportunity. Marius is assailed by a cloud of Cimbri or Teutones; he shuts himself up in his camp, remains there until the favourable day or occasion comes, then he issues with victory before him. Cæsar arrives near the camp of Cicero; the Gauls abandon the latter, and march to meet the former; they are four times more numerous. Cæsar takes a position in a few hours, retrenches his camp, and in it he bears patiently the insults and provocations of an enemy whom he is not yet willing to combat; but a favourable opportunity is not long in presenting itself. He then issues through all his gates; the Gauls are vanquished.

“Why, then, has a rule so wise, so fertile in great results, been abandoned by modern generals? Because offensive arms have changed its character; arms for the hand were the principal arms of the ancients; it was with his short sword that the legionary conquered the world; it was with the Macedonian pike that Alexander conquered Asia. The principal arms of modern armies are projectiles; the musket is superior to anything ever invented by man; no defensive arm is a protection against it.

“As the principal arm of the ancients was the sword or the pike, their habitual formation was in deep order. The legion and the phalanx, in whatever situation they were attacked, either in front, or in right flank, or in left flank, faced everywhere without disadvantage; they could encamp on surfaces of small extent, in order to have less labour in fortifying the line of circuit, and in order to hold their ground with the smallest detachment possible. The principal arm of the moderns is the projectile; their habitual order has naturally been narrow order, the only one which permits them to bring all their projectiles to bear.

“A consular army enclosed in its camp, attacked by a modern army of equal force, would be driven out of it without assault, and without being able to use their swords; it would not be necessary to fill up the fosses or to scale the ramparts: surrounded on all sides by the attacking army, pierced through, enveloped, and raked by the fire, the camp would be the common drain of all the shots, of all the balls, of all the bullets: fire, devastation, and death would open the gates and throw down the retrenchments. A modern army, placed in a Roman camp, would at first, no doubt, make use of all its artillery; but, though equal to the artillery of the besieger, it would be taken in rouage and quickly reduced to silence; a part only of the infantry could use their muskets, but it would fire upon a line less extended, and would be far from producing an effect equal to the injury it would receive. The fire from the centre to the circumference is null; that from the circumference to the centre is irresistible. All these considerations have decided modern generals in renouncing the system of retrenched camps, to adopt instead natural positions well chosen.

“A Roman camp was placed independently of localities: all these were good for armies whose strength consisted in arms used with the hand; it required neither experienced eye nor military genius to encamp well; whereas the choice of positions, the manner of occupying them and placing the different arms, by taking advantage of the circumstances of the ground, is an art which forms part of the genius of the modern captain.

“If it were said now-a-days to a general, You shall have, like Cicero, under your orders, 5,000 men, sixteen pieces of cannon, 5,000 pioneers’ tools, 5,000 sacks of earth; you shall be within reach of a forest, on ordinary ground; in fifteen days you shall be attacked by an army of 60,000 men, having 120 pieces of cannon; you shall not be succoured till eighty or ninety-six hours after having been attacked. What are the works, what are the plans, what are the profiles, which art prescribes? Has the art of the engineer secrets which can solve this problem?”⁴⁴⁶

CHAPTER IX.
(Year of Rome 701.)

(Book VI. of the “Commentaries.”)

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NERVII AND THE TREVIRI – SECOND PASSAGE OF THE RHINE – WAR AGAINST AMBIORIX AND THE TREVIRI

Cæsar augments his Army.

I. THE state of Gaul gave Cæsar cause to anticipate serious agitations, and he felt convinced of the necessity of new levies. He employed on this mission his lieutenants M. Silanus, C. Antistius Reginus, and T. Sextius; at the same time he asked Pompey, who had remained before Rome with the imperium, in order to watch over the public interests, to recall to their colours and send him the soldiers of Cisalpine Gaul enlisted under the consulate of the latter in 699. Cæsar attached, with a view to the present and to the future, great importance to giving the Gauls a high idea of the resources of Italy, and to proving to them that it was easy for the Republic, after a check, not only to repair its losses, but also to bring into the field troops more numerous than ever. Pompey, through friendship and consideration for the public good, granted his demand. Thanks to the activity of his lieutenants, before the end of winter three new legions (or thirty cohorts) were raised and joined to the army: the 1st, the 14th, which had just taken the number of the legion annihilated at Aduatuca, and the 15th. In this manner, the fifteen cohorts lost under Sabinus were replaced by double their number, and it was seen, by this rapid display of forces, what was the power of the military organization and resources of the Roman people. It was the first time that Cæsar commanded ten legions.

War against the Nervii, General Assembly of Gaul.

II. After the death of Indutiomarus, the Treviri took for their chiefs some members of his family. These in vain urged the nearest peoples of the right bank of the Rhine to make common cause with them; but they succeeded with some of the more distant tribes, particularly the Suevi, and persuaded Ambiorix to enter into their league. From all parts, from the Rhine to the Scheldt, were announced preparations for war. The Nervii, the Aduatuci, the Menapii, all the Germans on this side of the Rhine, were in arms. The Senones persisted in their disobedience, and acted in concert with the Carnutes and the neighbouring states; everything urged upon Cæsar the counsel to open the campaign earlier than usual. Accordingly, without waiting for the end of winter, he concentrates the four legions nearest to Amiens, his head-quarters (those of Fabius, Crassus, Cicero, and Trebonius), invades unexpectedly the territory of the Nervii, gives them time neither to assemble nor to fly, but carries off the men and cattle, abandons the booty to the soldiers, and forces this people to submission.

This expedition so rapidly terminated, the legions returned to their winter quarters. At the beginning of spring, Cæsar convoked, according to his custom, the general assembly of Gaul, which met, no doubt, at Amiens. The different peoples sent thither their representatives, with the exception of the Senones, the Carnutes, and the Treviri. He regarded this absence as a sign of revolt, and in order to pursue his designs without neglecting the general affairs, he resolved to transfer the assembly nearer to the insurrection, to Lutetia. This town belonged to the Parisii, who bordered on the Senones, and although formerly these peoples had formed but one, the Parisii do not appear to have entered into the conspiracy. Cæsar, having announced this decision from the summit of his prætorium (pro suggestu pronuntiata), started the same day at the head of his legions, and advanced by forced marches towards the country of the Senones.

At the news of his approach, Acco, the principal author of the revolt, ordered the population to retire into the oppida; but, taken by surprise by the arrival of the Romans, the Senones employed the Ædui, once their patrons, to intercede in their favour. Cæsar pardoned them without difficulty, preferring to employ the fine season in war than in the search of those who were culpable. A hundred hostages exacted from the Senones were entrusted to the Ædui. The Carnutes imitated the example of the Senones, and, by the intermediation of the Remi, whose clients they were, obtained their pardon. Cæsar pronounced the close of the assembly of Gaul, and ordered the different states to furnish their contingents of cavalry.⁴⁴⁷

Submission of the Menapii.

III. Having pacified this part of the country, Cæsar turned all his thoughts towards the war with the Treviri and with Ambiorix, the chief of the Eburones. He was, above all, impatient to take a striking vengeance for the humiliation inflicted on his arms at Aduatuca. Knowing well that Ambiorix would not hazard a battle, he sought to penetrate his designs. Two things were to be feared: the first, that Ambiorix, when his territory was invaded, would take refuge among the Menapii, whose country, adjoining that of the Eburones, was defended by woods and vast marshes, and who, alone among the Gauls, had never made an act of submission; the second, that he might join the Germans beyond the Rhine, with whom, as was known, he had entered into friendly relations through the intermediation of the Treviri. Cæsar conceived the plan of first preventing these two eventualities, in order to isolate Ambiorix. Wishing, above all, to reduce to submission the Menapii and Treviri, and carry the war at the same time into the countries of these two peoples, he undertook in person the expedition against the Menapii, and entrusted that against the Treviri to Labienus, his best lieutenant, who had operated against them on several occasions. Labienus, after his victory over Indutiomarus, had continued in his winter quarters with his legions at Lavacherie, on the Ourthe.⁴⁴⁸ Cæsar sent him all the baggage of the army and two legions. He marched in person towards the country of the Menapii, at the head of five legions without baggage. He took with him Cavarinus and the Senonese cavalry, fearing lest the resentment of this king against his people, or the hatred which he had drawn upon himself, might raise some disorders, and, following the general direction of Sens, Soissons, Bavay, and Brussels, he reached the frontier of the Menapii. The latter, trusting in the nature of the ground, had assembled no forces, but took refuge in the woods and marshes. Cæsar divided his troops with the lieutenant C. Fabius and the questor M. Crassus, formed them into three columns, and, causing bridges to be hastily constructed, to cross the marshy water-courses, penetrated at three points into their territory, which he ravaged. The Menapii, reduced to extremity, demanded peace: it was granted to them on the express condition that they should refuse all shelter to Ambiorix or to his lieutenants. Cæsar left Commius among them with part of the cavalry to hold them under surveillance, and marched thence towards the country of the Treviri.⁴⁴⁹

Success of Labienus against the Treviri.

IV. On his part, Labienus had obtained brilliant successes; the Treviri had marched with considerable forces against his winter quarters. They were no more than two days’ march from him, when they learnt that he had been joined by two other legions. Resolving then to wait the succour of the Germans, they halted at a distance of fifteen miles from the camp of Labienus. The latter, informed of the cause of their inaction, and hoping that their imprudence would present an opportunity for giving battle, left five cohorts to guard the greatest part of the baggage, and, with the twenty-five others and a numerous cavalry, established his camp within a mile of the enemy.

The two armies were separated by the river Ourthe, the passage of which was rendered difficult by the steepness of the banks. Labienus had no intention of crossing it, but he feared that the enemy might imitate his prudence until the arrival of the Germans, who were expected immediately. To draw them to him, he spread a rumour that he should withdraw on the morrow at break of day, in order to avoid having to combat the united forces of the Treviri and the Germans. He assembled during the night the tribunes and centurions of the first class, informed them of his design, and, contrary to Roman discipline, broke up his camp with every appearance of disorder and a precipitate retreat. The proximity of the camps allowed the enemy to obtain information of this movement by his scouts before daybreak.

The rear-guard of Labienus had no sooner begun its march, than the barbarians urge each other not to let a prey so long coveted escape them. They imagine that the Romans are struck with terror, and, thinking it disgraceful to wait any longer the succour of the Germans, they cross the river and advance unhesitatingly upon unfavourable ground. Labienus, seeing the success of his stratagem, continued slowly his apparent retreat, in order to draw all the Gauls over the river. He had sent forward, to an eminence, the baggage, guarded by a detachment of cavalry. Suddenly he orders the ensigns to be turned towards the enemy, forms his troops in order of battle, the cavalry on the wings, and exhorts them to display the same valour as if Cæsar were present. Then an immense cry rises in the ranks, and the pila are thrown from all sides. The Gauls, surprised at seeing an enemy they believed they were pursuing turn against them, did not sustain even the first shock, but fled precipitately into the neighbouring forests. Pressed by the cavalry, they were slain or captured in great numbers.

Labienus employed those wise tactics to which the Romans owed their greatest successes. Invincible in their fortified camps, they could, as the Emperor Napoleon I. has so well remarked, either combat or wait for the opportune moment. The Gauls, on the contrary, warlike peoples, carried away by a fiery courage, not understanding the patience and wiliness of their adversaries, fell always into the snare which was laid for them. It was enough to feign terror, and inspire them with contempt for the enemy’s forces, to make them engage instantly in disorderly attacks, which the Romans, by sudden sorties, easily defeated. This was the system followed by Sabinus when attacked by the Unelli, by Cæsar on his way to the relief of Cicero, and by Labienus himself in the previous year.

A few days afterwards the country submitted; for, on the news of the defeat of the Treviri, the Germans returned home, followed by the relatives of Indutiomarus, the author of the revolt. Cingetorix, constant in his fidelity to the Romans, was replaced at the head of the nation. The double object proposed by Cæsar was thus attained; for, on one hand, since the submission of the Menapii, Ambiorix could no longer dream of finding a refuge among them; and, on the other, the victory of Labienus, followed by the retreat of the Germans, placed it out of his power to league with these latter. Nevertheless, to assure this double result, punish the Germans for their readiness to succour the Treviri, and cut off Ambiorix from all retreat, Cæsar, after having effected his junction with Labienus, resolved to pass the Rhine a second time.⁴⁵⁰

Second Passage of the Rhine.

V. He had passed from the country of the Menapii into that of the Treviri, and had arrived near the locality where now stands the town of Bonn. He there caused a bridge to be built a little above the spot where his army had crossed two years before. In consequence of the experience gained by the processes employed on the former occasion, and of the extreme zeal of the soldiers, the work was finished in a few days. Having left for the protection of the bridge a strong detachment on the bank belonging to the Treviri, for fear of some movement on their part, Cæsar crossed the river with the legions and the cavalry. The Ubii, who had long before made their submission, assured him that they had neither sent assistance to the Treviri or violated their oath; that the Suevi alone had furnished auxiliaries; and that thus he ought not to confound them with the latter in his anger against the Germans. He accepted their excuses, and obtained information on the roads and passes which led to the country of the Suevi.

A few days afterwards, he learnt that the latter were concentrating on a single point their troops and the contingents of the tribes under their dependence. He provided for the supply of provisions, chose a favourable position for his camp, and enjoined the Ubii to transport their cattle and goods into their oppida, hoping to compel the barbarians by famine to fight at disadvantage. The Ubii were similarly charged to watch the enemy by means of numerous scouts. A few days later, they informed Cæsar that the Suevi, at the approach of the Romans, had retired, with all their troops and those of their allies, to the extremity of their territory. There lay the forest Bacenis,⁴⁵¹ which advanced very far into the country, and which, placed like a natural barrier between the Suevi and the Cherusci, separated these two peoples and defended them against their mutual excursions. It was at the entrance to this forest, probably towards the mountains of Thuringia, that the Suevi had resolved to await the Romans.

In this expedition, as in the one preceding, Cæsar feared to engage himself too far in the middle of an uncultivated country, where provisions might have failed him. He therefore repassed the Rhine. But to keep the barbarians in fear of his return, and to prevent their re-enforcements from reaching the Gauls, he did not destroy the whole bridge, but only cut off 200 feet on the side of the Ubian bank; at the extremity of the truncated part he built a tower of four stories, and left on the left bank twelve cohorts in a retrenched post. Young C. Volcatius Tullus had the command of it. Cæsar’s two expeditions to the right bank of the Rhine led to no battle, and yet the moral effect was so great, that after this period the Germans no longer supported the insurrections in Gaul, and even became the auxiliaries of the Romans.⁴⁵²

War against Ambiorix.

VI. On the approach of harvest, Cæsar marched against Ambiorix, with his ten legions, except the guard left at the bridge of the Rhine. He started from Bonn, and advanced towards the country of the Eburones, by way of Zulpich and Eupen (see Plate 14), across the forest of the Ardennes, which extended, it will be remembered, from the banks of the Rhine to the country of the Nervii. In the hope of surprising the enemy, he sent forward M. Minucius Basilus, with all the cavalry, recommending to him not to light fires, which would reveal his approach, and informing him that he should follow him closely.

Basilus, faithful to his orders, fell by surprise on a great number of Eburones, proceeded straight towards the locality to which Ambiorix was said to have retired with a few cavalry, succeeded in penetrating to the abode of this chieftain, and seized upon all his effects; but the latter, protected by some of his followers, escaped on horseback through the woods; his partisans dispersed. It was thus that fortune, which plays so important a part in war, favoured at the same time the enterprise against Ambiorix and his escape. The Eburon chief sent secret messages in all directions, recommending the inhabitants to provide for their own safety. Some concealed themselves in the forest of the Ardennes, others in the midst of the marshes. Those who were nearest to the ocean sought refuge in the islands which are formed at high tide; others expatriated themselves, and settled in distant countries. Catuvolcus, king of one-half of the country of the Eburones, crushed with age and misfortunes, took poison, that he might not fall alive into the power of the Romans.

During this time, Cæsar was approaching the country of the Segni and Condrusi,⁴⁵³ who came to implore him not to confound in the same cause all the Germans beyond the Rhine, and protested their neutrality. The fact having been satisfactorily proved, Cæsar assured them that, if they would deliver up to him the Eburones who had sought refuge among them, their territory should be respected. Having arrived at Visé, on the Meuse, where a ford exists from time immemorial, he divided his troops into three bodies, and sent the baggage of all the legions to Aduatuca (Tongres): it was the place which had witnessed the recent disaster of Sabinus. He gave preference to this position, because the retrenchments of the preceding year, still standing, would spare the troops much labour. He left, as a guard for the baggage, the 14th legion, and placed it, with 200 cavalry, under the command of Quintus Cicero.