The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius Ebook

FREETHE GALLIC WAR: SEVEN COMMENTARIES ON THE GALLIC WAR WITH AN EIGHTH COMMENTARY BY AULUS HIRTIUS EBOOK

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Handford Translator. Jane F. Gardner Editor, Introduction. Aulus Hirtius Contributor. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published December 9th by Penguin Classics first published More Details Original Title. VercingetorixJulius Caesar. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius ask other readers questions about The Conquest of Gaulplease sign up. Do any of you know if Caesar talks about his interrogation of the Druids on this book? Darren the druids are mentioned in the first chapter but not much more than to explain their function in the society of the Gauls. See 1 question about The Conquest of Gaul…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Conquest of Gaul. Jun 15, Jan-Maat added it Shelves: classical-and-late-antiquityread-in-translationancient-historyroman- republicpolitics-and-polemic. This is what I was brought to by a childhood of reading Asterix. Unlike Asterix the injuries aren't restricted to black eyes and broken bones, nor is there a big feast at the end. The warfare is savage, and at the end Caesar tumbles into The Civil War that ends the Roman republic. The fighting is savage on both sides. One of the Gaulish leaders, Vercingetorix, has the ears cut off or an eye gouged out of his own soldiers "even for a minor fault" pRoman civilians are massacred on occasion wh This is what I was brought to by a childhood of reading Asterix. One of the Gaulish leaders, Vercingetorix, has the ears cut The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius or an eye gouged out of his own soldiers "even for a minor fault" pRoman civilians are massacred on occasion while Caesar in his own account records the extermination of substantial proportions of entire peoples, sells the populations of captured towns in to slavery and in a moment of mercy has a hand of every man captured in one of his last campaigns chopped off to serve as a visual aid to clarify the folly of resisting Rome to the unenlightened. Though of course he could have been exaggerating to impress the people back home. Part of the reason for the savagery is logistics. Tens of thousands of men roaming round Gaul needed food and fodder. It seems that an ad hoc supply network was created p. Vercingetorix, who led the big campaign against Caesar that involved most of the peoples of Gaul, is reported as realising this and advised that they should carry out a scorched earth defence, abandoning all towns that couldn't be defended against the Romans as well as starting fighting in winter. What is striking about the Romans is their sheer bloodymindedness. In the face of overwhelming opposition they fight on. Soldiers ford the Thames and the Loire with water to their shoulders expecting to have to fight on the far bank view The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius [ the Thames in the past was far wider and shallower than it is today hide spoiler ]. They dig massive siege works - a ten mile ditch and rampart round Alesia and a fourteen mile ditch and rampart round that to defend themselves against any relieving force view spoiler [ this was apparently confirmed by excavations carried out in the reign of Napoleon III, although there has been some controversy if it was the right site or just another Gallic town surrounded by massive Roman siege works - this is also referred in Asterix hide spoiler ]. Build bridges over the Rhine. Construct and repair ships. In short, join the army, it'll make a master builder of you. Suetonius, admittedly writing The Twelve Caesars a good hundred and fifty years after the events wrote that Caesar lost no opportunity of picking quarrels - however flimsy the pretext - with allies as well as hostile and barbarous tribes, and marching against them; the danger of this policy never occurred to him. Understandably, Caesar's own account makes it all sound a little more reasonable than that, there is a fair attempt made to make it sound like an accidental bit of empire building. You know how it is, one day you are just marching against the Helvetii, the next thing you know ten years have passed and you seem to have inadvertently conquered all of Gaul, invaded The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius and Germany twice and written a set of memoirs putting the best light on your activities and lucky escapes from disaster. From early on Gallic leaders seems suspicious of the extent of Caesar's ambitions, Ariovistus' a warlord from beyond the Rhine defence pp. Gaul, however, was not big enough for the two of them. Caesar starts out with little campaigns but is drawn in his own words further away from the Roman Province in southern France into greater offensive measures which provoke bigger resistance down to the massive effort of Vercingetorix and his confederates culminating with the defeat of said champion at the town of Alesia. There, besieged by the Romans he runs out of food, expels the town's population who are then trapped between Vercingetorix's and Caesar's lines with nothing to eat, only to see the relieving army defeated. After this there was another year or so of smaller scale campaigns before all Gaul was conquered. And everybody not dead presumably traumatised and in shock. We get a picture of Gaul on the eve of conquest. A marked division between rich and poor. Larger states with annually elected officials and leaders in the south. Politics governed by clashes within and between important families for political power. It all sounds rather like the Rome of Caesar's own time but with a Gallic flavour. There are some ethnographic snippets, a couple of pages on the Druids possibly the most surviving about them that was written in antiquitythe use of hedges in warfare among the Belgians, that the Germans live off meat and milk despite which when the Romans cross the Rhine they set about gathering in the crops that the Germans growthat the ancient Britons paint themselves blue shave their bodies apart from their upper lip perhaps this is why there was no British equivalent of Cleopatra and had marriages between many men and one woman. Since Caesar presumably was too busy conquering to spend time skulking about the huts of natives observing their marital customs I have to wonder if his leg was being pulled here by his informants as it was about the elk, which he tells us is a beast with no knees that can only sleep by leaning against trees and is completely helpless should it fall over. There's some interesting body language - while the Romans are trying to capture Gergovia the townswomen bare their breasts when appealing to the Romans for mercy but appear with loosened hair when encouraging their menfolk to fight more fiercely. Presumably they would have lost heart completely and instantly surrendered if their wives had their hair in buns or pinned up in elaborate hairstyles. Something which comes to mind is that there are two contrasting narratives going on - one is familiar, the Britons and the Germans are 'other' they have weird clothes and habits, they are not like us, they are frightening enemies therefore Caesar's 'success' in over-coming them is all the greater, however in Gaul the narrative is different - they are like us, well like the Romans and not 'other' they have elected consuls, they have military discipline, they have engineering skills, in short Caesar portrays them as Romanised, however the two narratives converge - both groups are subject to Roman rule and can be subdued by Roman military and political talent. Rome recognises no limits to its rule, neither the Rhine nor the Ocean shall hold the Roman back. View all 18 comments. Reading Caesar makes me want to The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius back and learn Latin the Loeb Classics keep seductively singing to me of the benefits of a Latin education. Anyway, I only meant to start the The Conquest of Gaul today, but the compelling narrative of Caesar's Gallic War the record of his battles against Vercingetorix and the other chieftains was just too damn compelling. It is hard to underestimate the importance of JC no not THAT JC in terms of military strategy, political acumen, propagandistic spin, and his shrewd combination of prudent warfare and bold action. View all 3 comments. Feb 23, Caroline rated it it was amazing Shelves: classicalhistory. Addition: The library just purchased the newly published Landmark edition, so I requested it to verify that it is as outstanding as the other volumes in the Landmark series. Definitely yes. In short, do not accept any substitutes. Also an excellent and substantial introduction that provides: a solid biography, the h Addition: The library just purchased the newly published Landmark edition, so I requested it to verify that it is as outstanding as the other volumes in the Landmark series. Also an excellent and substantial introduction that provides: a solid biography, the historical and political context of each work, a critical analysis of its literary purpose and value, and an assessment of reliability. I plan on saving up for this because I listened originally. Still, I think listening is also a good way to approach the work because it gives you a sense of the literary accomplishment and of the energy and propulsion the man had. Listening is as if a cultured veteran officer, back from the wars, were telling you how it went. Original review: A classic for many reasons. Caesar is, first of all, a masterful writer. As so many other reviewers have said, the pace is cracking. He offers an adept mix of strategy and tactics discussions, actual battle scenes, politics within his own command, and both military and ethnographic descriptions of the Gauls. His timing in switching from one to the other is perfect. Caesar is unbelievably visual in the battle scenes. Just the words paint an easily understood picture of the terrain and the distribution of the troops. But the part I found most interesting in both this book and The Civil War is the multi- tasking, range of skills, and sheer physical work required of the Roman soldier. One knows they had to march double time with heavy packs no high-tech materials back then and then wield very heavy weapons in battle. But they also spent countless days--months sometimes-- building fortifications and siege machines The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius of massive beams. They constructed hundreds of ships--twice--to attack The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius. Caesar's Books, the Gallic Wars

In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination. The "Gaul" that Caesar refers to is sometimes all of Gaul except for the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis modern day Provenceencompassing the rest of modern France, Belgium and some of Switzerland. On other occasions, he refers only to that territory inhabited by the Celtic peoples known to the Romans as Gauls, from the English Channel to Lugdunum Lyon. The work has been a mainstay in Latin instruction because of its simple, direct prose. It begins with the frequently quoted phrase "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres"sometimes quoted as "Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est"meaning "All of Gaul is divided into three parts". Book 8 was written by Aulus Hirtiusafter Caesar's death. De Bello Gallico consists of eight books: seven written The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius Caesar himself, and the eighth book added later by Aulus Hirtiusone of Caesar's generals. Caesar describes a conflict with the Gallic tribe known as the Helvetii. They concoct a plan to burn their homes and then make a mass exodus out of their homeland. When Caesar learns of their plan to cross over a Roman province, a conflict arises, pitting the Romans against the Helvetii. The Helvetii are defeated by the Romans, and return to Helvetia, their numbers greatly reduced. Later, more problems arise surrounding a tribal conflict in Gaul. The Aedui allies of Rome are engaged in a power struggle with two other tribes called the Arverni and the Sequani. The Arverni and Sequani decide to get help in their struggle from Germanic mercenaries from across the Rhine, led by a king named Ariovistus. At first the plan works because the Germanic mercenaries help the Arverni and Sequani to oppress their enemy, the Aedui. But, the plan backfires as Ariovistus begins a violent takeover of the territory of the Arverni and Sequani, exercising a cruel tyranny over them. Caesar then takes military action against Ariovistus, both because the Aedui are allies of Rome, and because he wants to stop the flow of Germanics from across the Rhine into Gaul, which neighbors upon Rome. Ariovistus and Caesar conduct many negotiations, including an unusual face-to-face conference. Two days later, when Ariovistus requests to speak with Caesar again, Caesar instead sends C. Valerius Procillus who is ambushed and The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius captive by Ariovistus. When battle between the Germanics and the Romans finally commences, there is fierce hand-to-hand combat. The Romans defeat Ariovistus, and Caesar is overjoyed to find and rescue C. Valerius Procillus, the envoy who had earlier been captured by Ariovistus. The Belgaefearing the expansion of Roman military power in Gaul, begin to form a huge army to fight the Romans. The Remi, one of the Belgic tribes, breaks away from the Belgic conspiracy and offers its help to the Romans. This help from the Remi proves useful, as well as help from the Aedui allies of Rome in the form of cavalrymen. The military conflict that follows culminates in a huge battle with the toughest of all the Belgae, the Nervii. After bloody fighting, the Romans are victorious. Suddenly, the occupied tribes strike at the vulnerable Romans, posing a grave threat. But the Romans fight back, defeating the tribesmen. Later, the Veneti, a seafaring tribe on the western coast of Gaul, begin a rebellion against Rome. Breaking an important The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius, the Veneti capture and imprison the Roman envoys sent to them. This infuriates Caesar. The Veneti, because of their great experience as sailors, exercise great advantage over the Romans in naval battle. But the Romans eventually adapt and defeat the Veneti. Caesar, wishing to make an example of the Veneti for violating the customs of diplomacy by imprisoning the envoys, executes their chief nobles and sells the rest of them into slavery. The Suebian enormous Germanic tribe, have a reputation for physical toughness and military prowess. Two other smaller tribes, the German Usipetes and Tencteriare tired of being oppressed by the Suebi so they decide to go west, crossing the Rhine and moving into the territory of the Belgae more specifically the Menapii. Caesar quickly arrives with Roman troops. The Suebi try repeatedly to bargain with Caesar but to no avail. After settling on a temporary truce, the Germans unexpectedly attack the Romans, causing casualties. Caesar considers this to be an act of treachery, and decides to break off any further negotiations with the Germans. The next day, the Germans send a large number of their leaders and elders to negotiate with Caesar. Caesar, expecting further treachery, takes these Germans prisoner. He attacks and defeats the remaining Germans who are disadvantaged by the absence of their leadership. As a show of force, Caesar constructs a sturdy wooden bridge across the Rhine and crosses into Germania, alarming the Germans. Later, Caesar makes arrangements for an assault on Britain. Although the Roman infantry successfully cross the English channel, the cavalry fail to cross, putting the Romans at a disadvantage. After being routed by the Romans, the Britons agree to submit to Caesar and disperse back into the countryside. But after a storm damages the Romans' ships and leaves them stranded in Britain without adequate supplies, the Britons decide to attack the Romans in their vulnerable state. The Britons initially catch the Romans off guard, but the Romans regroup and rout the Britons. When the Roman troops begin to cross back over to the continent, they are attacked by the Moriniwho are then defeated by the Romans. Caesar The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius that as many boats as possible be prepared during the winter for a campaign against Britain in the Spring. He orders all boats to assemble at Portus Itius near modern day Boulogne- sur-Mer. Back at Port Itius, Caesar prepares to take many Gallic hostages with him to his British campaign so as to prevent revolts while he is gone. Among them is Dumnorixa rebellious noble of the Aedui. Dumnorix violently opposes being taken over to Britain, and flees back to his homeland. Caesar stops all preparations while Dumnorix is hunted down and slain. The Romans sail to Britain to begin their campaign. There are some skirmishes between the Romans and the Britons, and a storm destroys many of the Roman boats. The British tribes, although previously at war with one another, band together to face the Roman threat with Cassivellaunus as their commander in chief. Caesar discovers the stronghold of Cassivellaunus near the Thames river and routs the Britons there. The Trinovantesa powerful tribe, offer to become Rome's allies, and several other British tribes follow suit. From these tribes Caesar learns the location of Cassivellaunus and successfully attacks him there. Cassivellaunus orders the tribes in Kent to attack the British ships, but they are defeated. Cassivellaunus surrenders to Caesar, enabling Caesar to quickly return to the continent before Winter arrives. Because a drought has affected the grain supply, Caesar's troops must winter among the rebellious Belgic tribes. Roman troops, led by Q. Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta are wintering among the Eburones when they are attacked by the Eburones, led by Ambiorix and Cativolcus. Ambiorix deceives the Romans by saying that the attack was made without his consent, and furthermore advises them to flee because a huge Germanic army is coming from across the Rhine. After much discussion and disagreement, the Romans decide to trust Ambiorix and leave the next morning. As the Romans are marching away the next morning, the Eburones ambush them, killing most of the Romans. A few Roman survivors make it back to their winter quarters where they commit suicide that night. Other Roman troops are wintering among the Nervii under Quintus Tullius Cicero brother of the famous orator. Ambiorix convinces the other Belgic tribes to immediately attack Cicero's camp. Cicero's troops are trapped, outnumbered, and blocked from help as their messengers are intercepted. The situation gets progressively more desperate for the Romans, but finally they are able to get a message to Caesar. Caesar summons the other Roman legions and rushes to Cicero's aid. Caesar, vastly outnumbered, creates a ruse, ordering his troops to appear confused and frightened. The ruse works and entices the Belgae to attack on ground favorable to the Romans. Caesar's troops counterattack and put the Belgae to flight. Meanwhile, Indutiomarusa leader of the Treveri, begins to harass the camp of Labienus daily, until Labienus sends out cavalry for the express purpose of killing Indutiomarus. After killing Indutiomarus, the Roman cavalry routs the rest of Indutiomarus' army. Caesar personally stays in Gaul all winter due to the risk of unrest among the Gallic tribes. Caesar enlists a large number of new troops to replace the ones lost the previous year when the forces of Q. Aurunculeius Cotta were slain by the forces of Ambiorix. Meanwhile, the Treveri, angry over the death of Indutiomarusfervently try to arouse the Belgic and Germanic peoples around them to fight the Romans. In response to this, Caesar lays waste to the territory of the Nerviineighbors of the Treveri. Caesar holds a council of Gaul, but the Senones, Carnutes, and Treveri do not send representatives. Caesar quickly marches to the territory of the Senones. Accotheir leader, is forced to ask for pardon and give hostages to Caesar as collateral. This arrangement is acceptable to Caesar because he does not wish to The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius war with the Senones. Instead, he turns his attention to the Treveri and Ambiorix. Caesar lays waste to the territory of the Menapii, and they sue for peace. After warning them not to help Ambiorix, he heads toward the Treveri. The Treveri prepare to attack the camp of Labienus. Labienus, wishing to tempt the Treveri to attack in a situation favorable to the Romans, orders his men to break camp as though they are retreating. The ruse works, and the Treveri are drawn into battle and routed by the Romans. The Gallic War - Julius Caesar - Oxford University Press

Julius Caesar wrote commentaries on the wars he fought in Gaul between 58 and 52 B. This series of annual war commentaries is referred to by various names but is commonly called De bello Gallico in Latin, or The Gallic Wars in English. There is also an 8th book, written by Aulus Hirtius. For modern students of Latin, De bello Gallico is usually the first piece of real, continuous Latin prose. Caesar's commentaries are valuable for those interested in European history, military history, or the ethnography of Europe since Caesar describes the tribes he encounters, as well as their military engagements. The commentaries should be read with the understanding that they are biased and that Caesar wrote to enhance his reputation back in Rome, passing blame for defeats, justifying his own actions, yet probably accurately reporting the basic facts. Caesar's title for The Gallic Wars is not known for sure. In genre it appears to The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius close to the Anabasis of Xenophon, a hypomnemata 'memory helps'—like a notebook to be used as a reference for later writing. Both Anabasis and the Gallic War commentaries were written in the third person singular, relating historical events, with the intention of sounding objective, and in simple, clear language, so that the Anabasis is often the first continuous prose beginning Greek students face. In addition to not knowing for sure what Caesar would have considered its proper title, The Gallic Wars is misleading. Book 5 has sections on the customs of the British and Book 6 has material on the Germans. There are British expeditions in Books 4 and 6 and German expeditions in Books 4 and 6. The downside of the standard reading De bello Gallico during the early years of Latin study is that it is an account of battles, with descriptions of tactics, techniques, and materials that can be hard to understand. There is debate as to whether it is dry. This evaluation depends on whether you can figure out what is going on and visualize the scenes, which in turn depends on your understanding of military tactics in The Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius, and Roman techniques, armies, and weaponry, in particular. The upside is, as Vincent J. Cleary argues in Caesar's "Commentarii": Writings in Search of a Genrethat Caesar's prose is free of grammatical error, Grecisms, and pedantry, and rarely metaphorical. It overwhelmingly reads as Cicero's tribute to Caesar. Share Flipboard Email. Ancient History and Latin Expert. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. Updated August 03, Biography of H. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. https://cdn.sqhk.co/pamelaevanscc/gehgtzX/dare-to-surrender-18.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4571717/normal_5fc4d64b07a6a.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4569351/normal_5fc48ffc3e51d.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4569147/normal_5fc3f16716659.pdf https://cdn.sqhk.co/patrickbelhiltor/jd8wKib/the-act-of-reading-a-theory-of-aesthetic-response-40.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4569004/normal_5fc5b2c7db9ed.pdf