AP Latin: the Comprehensive Guide to Caesar

AP Latin: The Comprehensive Guide to Caesar

Dean Calhoun

1 Table of Contents

Book 1: Gallic geography and the tale of the Helvetians 3 1.1: Geography of Gaul 3 1.2: The conspiracy of Orgetorix 4 1.3: Preparations 5 1.4: The conspiracy is revealed, and the death of Orgetorix 6 1.5: Further preparations 6 1.6: Two paths 7 1.7: Caesar prevents the Helvetians 7

Book 4: The invasion of Britain 9 4.24: Landing at Britain 9 4.25: Eagle Man 10 4.26: Victory on shore 10 4.27: Hostages and allegiance 11 4.28: The cavalry are delayed 12 4.29: The misfortune of the ships 12 4.30: Deliberations of the British chieftains 13 4.31: Caesar’s preparations, and repairing ships 13 4.32: The dust cloud, and British ambush 14 4.33: Chariot fighting 14 4.34: The Romans and Britons regroup 15 4.35 + 4.35.1: British rebellion is put down 16

Book 5: The winter revolt of the Gallic tribes 17 5.24: The council of Gauls, and winter camps 17 5.25: The death of Tasgetius 18 5.26: Ambiorix’s ambush 18 5.27: Ambiorix’s deception 19 5.28: Cottas’s argument 20 5.29: Sabinus’s argument 21 5.30: Sabinus argues more 22 5.31: Dissension, and preparing to leave 23 5.32: Ambiorix’s ambush pt. II 23 5.33: Frantic arrangement, and The Orb 24 5.34: The battle of the valley 24 5.35: The battle of the valley pt. II 25 5.36: Sabinus seeks peace 26

5.37: The death of Sabinus, and the victory of the Eburones 26 5.38: Ambiorix incites the other tribes 27 5.39: The Nervii attack Cicero 27 5.40: Cicero’s camp defends and prepares 28 5.41: The failed deception of the Nervii 29 5.42: The Nervii prepare for attack 30 5.43: Fire in the camp, and The Meat Grinder 30 5.44: The tale of Vorenus and Pullo 32 5.45: Letters to Caesar 33 5.46: Letters received, and Caesar gathers forces 33 5.47: Caesar gathers forces pt. II 34 5.48: Caesar arrives at Cicero’s camp 34

Book 6: Druids and Gallic customs 36 6.13: Druids 36 6.14: Druids pt. II 37 6.15: The Knights 37 6.16: Gallic sacrifices, and wicker men 38 6.17: Gallic worship 38 6.18: The Dark Father, and shameful children 39 6.19: Gallic marriages and funerals 40 6.20: Government censorship 40

Book 1: Gallic geography and the tale of the Helvetians

1.1: Geography of Gaul

Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs, quārum ūnam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquītānī, tertiam quī ipsōrum linguā Celtae, nostrā Gallī appellantur. Hī omnēs linguā, īnstitūtīs, lēgibus inter sē differunt. Gallōs ab Aquītānīs Garumna flūmen, ā Belgīs Mātrona et Sēquana dīvidit. Hōrum omnium fortissimī sunt Belgae, proptereā quod ā cultū atque hūmānitāte prōvinciae longissimē absunt, minimēque ad eōs mercātōrēs saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effēminandōs animōs pertinent important, proximīque sunt Germānīs, quī trāns Rhēnum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Quā dē causā Helvētiī quoque reliquōs Gallōs virtūte praecēdunt, quod ferē cotīdiānīs proeliīs cum Germānīs contendunt, cum aut suīs fīnibus eōs prohibent aut ipsī in eōrum fīnibus bellum gerunt. Eōrum ūna pars, quam Gallōs obtinēre dictum est, initium capit ā flūmine Rhodanō; continētur Garumnā flūmine, Ōceanō, fīnibus Belgārum; attingit etiam ab Sēquanīs et Helvētiīs flūmen Rhēnum; vergit ad septentriōnēs. Belgae ab extrēmīs Galliae fīnibus oriuntur; pertinent ad īnferiōrem partem flūminis Rhēnī; spectant in septentriōnem et orientem sōlem. Aquītānia ā Garumnā flūmine ad Pȳrēnaeōs mōntēs et eam partem Ōceanī quae est ad Hispāniam pertinet; spectat inter occāsum sōlis et septentriōnēs.

All of Gaul is divided into 3 parts, one of which the Belgians inhabit, another the Aquitani, the third those who are called by their own language the Celts, by ours the Gauls. All these people are different in language, customs, and laws between themselves. The Garonne river divides the Gauls from the Aquitani, the Marne and Seine rivers divide the Gauls from the Belgians. The Belgians are the strongest of all of these tribes, because they are the farthest away from the culture and civilization of our province, and merchants visit them least frequently and bring things which refer to weakening their courage, and they are the closest to the Germans, who live across the Rhine, and with whom they continuously wage war. Due to this reason, the Helvetians also surpass the rest of the Gauls in courage, because they contend with the Germans in near daily battles, where they either repel them from their borders, or they themselves wage war on their borders. One part of these, which it is said that the Gauls occupy, takes beginning at the Rhone river, is bounded by the Garonne river, the ocean, and by the borders of the Belgians; it also touches the Rhine river by the Sequani and Helvetians and goes north. The Belgians begin from the edges of the borders of the Gauls, and continue to the lower part of the Rhine river, and look north towards the rising sun [northeast]. Aquitania stretches to the Pyrenees from the Garonne river and to that part of the Ocean which is near Spain; it looks between the setting sun and the north star [northwest].

1.2: The conspiracy of Orgetorix

Apud Helvētiōs longē nōbilissimus fuit et dītissimus Orgetorīx. Is, M. Messālā et M. Pupio Pīsōne cōnsulibus, rēgnī cupiditāte inductus coniūrātiōnem nōbilitātis fēcit, et cīvitātī persuāsit ut dē fīnibus suīs cum omnibus cōpiīs exīrent: perfacile esse, cum virtūte omnibus praestārent, tōtīus Galliae imperiō potīrī. Id hōc facilius iīs persuāsit, quod undique locī nātūrā Helvētiī continentur: ūnā ex parte flūmine Rhēnō lātissimō atque altissimō, quī agrum Helvētium ā Germānīs dīvidit; alterā ex parte mōnte Iūrā altissimō, quī est inter Sēquanōs et Helvētiōs; tertiā lacū Lemannō et flūmine Rhodanō, quī prōvinciam nostram ab Helvētiīs dīvidit. Hīs rēbus fīēbat ut et minus lātē vagārentur et minus facile fīnitimīs bellum īnferre possent: quā ex parte hominēs bellandī cupidī māgnō dolōre adficiēbantur. Prō multitūdine autem hominum et prō glōriā bellī atque fortitūdinis angustōs sē fīnēs habēre arbitrābantur, quī in longitūdinem mīlia passuum CCXL, in lātitūdinem CLXXX patēbant.

Among the Helvetians, Orgetorix was by far the most noble and wealthy. Motivated by desire for a kingdom, he created a conspiracy of nobles and persuaded the people when M. Messala and M. Pupius Piso were consuls, with the result that they departed from their borders with all their belongings, saying that, since they surpass all others in courage, it would be very easy, and they could obtain control of all of Gaul. This persuaded them easily, because the Helvetians were constricted from all sides by the nature of their location: on one side by the extremely deep and wide Rhine river, which separates the lands of the Helvetians from the Germans; on the next side by the extremely tall Jura mountains, which are between the Sequani and the Helvetians; on the third side by Lake Geneva and the Rhone river, which separates our province from the Helvetians. It happened for these reasons that they wander less broadly and are less easily able to inflict war on their neighbors; the men from this place, eager for waging war, were afflicted with great difficulty. They used to think that they themselves had narrow borders for the amount of people and for the glory of war and strength, which extend 180 miles in latitude and 240 miles in longitude.

1.3: Preparations

Hīs rēbus adductī et auctōritāte Orgetorīgis permōtī, cōnstituērunt ea quae ad proficīscendum pertinērent comparāre, iūmentōrum et carrōrum quam māximum numerum coëmere, sēmentēs quam māximās facere ut in itinere cōpia frūmentī suppeteret, cum proximīs cīvitātibus pācem et amīcitiam cōnfīrmāre. Ad eās rēs cōnficiendās biennium sibi satis esse dūxērunt: in tertium annum profectiōnem lēge cōnfīrmant. Ad eās rēs cōnficiendās Orgetorīx dēligitur. Is sibi lēgātiōnem ad cīvitātēs suscēpit. In eō itinere persuādet Casticō, Catamantāloedis fīliō Sēquanō, cūius pater rēgnum in Sēquanīs multōs annōs obtinuerat et ā senātū populī Rōmānī amīcus appellātus erat, ut rēgnum in cīvitāte suā occupāret, quod pater ante habuerat; itemque Dumnorīgī Aeduō frātrī Dīviciācī, quī eō tempore prīncipātum in cīvitāte obtinēbat āc māximē plēbī acceptus erat, ut idem cōnārētur persuādet, eīque fīliam suam in mātrimōnium dat. Perfacile factū esse illīs probat cōnāta perficere, proptereā quod ipse suae cīvitātis imperium obtentūrus esset: nōn esse dubium quīn tōtīus Galliae plūrimum Helvētiī possent; sē suīs cōpiīs suōque exercitū illīs rēgna conciliātūrum cōnfīrmat. Hāc ōrātiōne adductī inter sē fidem et iūs iūrandum dant, et rēgnō occupātō per trēs potentissimōs āc fīrmissimōs populōs tōtīus Galliae sēsē potīrī posse spērant.

Influenced by these things and persuaded by the authority of Orgetorix, they decided to prepare the things which pertain to leaving, to buy as great a number of carts and mules as possible, to make the largest crop possible, so that the supply of grain was sufficient for the journey, to confirm peace and friendship with the neighboring peoples. They thought that two years was enough for them for completing these things; in the third year they confirmed the departure by law. Orgetorix was selected for completing these things. He undertook for himself an embassy to the other tribes. During this trip he persuaded Casticus, the son of Catamantaledes, a member of the Sequani, whose father had held a kingdom in the Sequani for many years and was called a friend by the senate of the people of Rome, to seize the kingdom in his own tribe which his father had held before; likewise he persuaded Dumnorix, an Aeduan, the brother of Diviciacus, who at the time controlled the highest position in the tribe, and had been especially accepted by the plebs, to try the same thing, and Orgetorix gave to him his daughter in marriage. He showed that for them to finish the proposed things was easy to do, because he was about to obtain control of his own tribe: he showed that there is no doubt, since the Helvetians are the most powerful of all of Gaul; he confirmed that he was about to provide kingdoms to them with his supplies and his army. Influenced by this speech, they gave an oath and trust among themselves, and, with the kingdom having been seized, they hoped that they could seize all of Gaul through three very strong and powerful people.

1.4: The conspiracy is revealed, and the death of Orgetorix

Ea rēs est Helvētiīs per indicium ēnūntiāta. Mōribus suīs Orgetorīgem ex vinculīs causam dīcere coēgērunt. Damnātum poenam sequī oportēbat ut īgnī cremārētur. Diē cōnstitūtā causae dictiōnis Orgetorīx ad iūdicium omnem suam familiam ad hominum mīlia decem undique coēgit, et omnēs clientēs obaerātōsque suōs, quōrum māgnum numerum habēbat, eōdem condūxit: per eōs nē causam dīceret sē ēripuit. Cum cīvitās ob eam rem incitāta armīs iūs suum exsequī cōnārētur, multitūdinemque hominum ex agrīs magistrātūs cōgerent, Orgetorīx mortuus est; neque abest suspīciō, ut Helvētiī arbitrantur, quīn ipse sibi mortem cōnscīverit.

This thing was revealed to the Helvetians by an informant. They forced Orgetorix to argue his case in chains, by their customs; it is customary that punishment follows the condemnation, such that they are burned by fire. On the arranged day of the arguing of his case, Orgetorix gathered all of his family from all directions, up to ten thousand people, to his trial, and he likewise assembled all of his clients and debtors, of which he had a great number; through them he freed himself, so that he would not argue his case. Because the excited tribe had tried to carry out their laws with weapons due to this thing, and the leaders had assembled a great number of men from the fields, Orgetorix died; suspicion was not absent, as the Helvetians think that perhaps he himself had brought death to him [that he might have brought death upon himself].

1.5: Further preparations

Post ēius mortem nihilō minus Helvētiī id quod cōnstituerant facere cōnantur, ut ē fīnibus suīs exeant. Ubi iam sē ad eam rem parātōs esse arbitrātī sunt, oppida sua omnia, numerō ad duodecim, vīcōs ad quadringentōs, reliqua prīvāta aedificia incendunt; frūmentum omne, praeterquam quod sēcum portātūrī erant, combūrunt, ut domum reditiōnis spē sublātā parātiōrēs ad omnia perīcula subeunda essent; trium mēnsum molita cibāria sibi quemque domō efferre iubent. Persuādent Rauracīs et Tulingīs et Latobrīgīs fīnitimīs suīs utī eōdem ūsī cōnsiliō, oppidīs suīs vīcīsque exūstīs, ūnā cum eīs proficīscantur, Boiōsque, quī trāns Rhēnum incoluerant et in agrum Nōricum trānsierant Nōrēiamque oppūgnārant, receptōs ad sē sociōs sibi ascīscunt.

After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempt to do that which they had decided, that they leave from their borders. When they thought that they were at length prepared for this affair, they burned all their towns, up to 12 in number, their villages, up to 400, and the remaining private buildings; they burned all the grain, except what they were going to carry with them, so that, with the hope of return home having been destroyed, they might be more prepared for undergoing all dangers. They ordered everyone to carry forth from home for himself ground provisions for three months. They persuade the Rauraci, and the Tulingi, and the Latobrigi, their neighbors, to take up the same plan, and, with their towns and villages having been burned, to set out as one with them: and they receive the Boii, who had lived across the Rhine and had gone into the fields of the Noreia and had fought the Noreia, as allies to themselves, having been received among themselves.

1.6: Two paths

Erant omnīnō itinera duo, quibus itineribus domō exīre possent: ūnum per Sēquanōs, angustum et difficile, inter mōntem Iūram et flūmen Rhodanum, vix quā singulī carrī dūcerentur; mōns autem altissimus impendēbat, ut facile perpaucī prohibēre possent: alterum per prōvinciam nostram, multō facilius atque expedītius, proptereā quod inter fīnēs Helvētiōrum et Allobrogum, quī nūper pācātī erant, Rhodanus fluit, isque nōn nūllīs locīs vadō trānsītur. Extrēmum oppidum Allobrogum est proximumque Helvētiōrum fīnibus Genāva. Ex eō oppidō pōns ad Helvētiōs pertinet. Allobrogibus sēsē vel persuāsūrōs, quod nōndum bonō animō in populum Rōmānum vidērentur, exīstimābant vel vī coāctūrōs ut per suōs fīnēs eōs īre paterentur. Omnibus rēbus ad profectiōnem comparātīs, diem dīcunt, quā diē ad rīpam Rhodanī omnēs conveniant. Is diēs erat a. d. V. Kal. April., L. Pīsōne, A. Gabīniō cōnsulibus.

There were in all two paths, by which they could leave from home: the first through the Sequani, narrow and difficult, between the Jura Mountains and the Rhone river, by which they could scarcely lead carts one by one, however an extremely tall mountain impeded them, such that very few people would easily be able to stop them; the other through our province, by much [by far] easier and faster, because between the borders of the Helvetians and the Allobroges, who had recently been pacified, the Rhone river flows and it is crossed by wading in not none places. The farthest town of the Allobroges and the closest to the borders of the Helvetians is Geneva. A bridge stretched from this town to the Helvetians. They thought that either they would persuade the Allobroges, because they did not yet seem in a good mind towards the Roman people, or they would compel them by force in order to allow them to go through their borders. After they had prepared all of the things for the journey, they decided a day, on which they would all come together to the banks of the Rhone. This day was five days before the calends of April [March 28th], during the consulship of Lucius Piso and Aulus Gabinius [58 BCE].

1.7: Caesar prevents the Helvetians

Caesarī cum id nūntiātum esset, eōs per prōvinciam nostram iter facere cōnārī, mātūrat ab urbe proficīscī, et quam māximīs potest itineribus in Galliam ūlteriōrem contendit, et ad Genāvam pervenit. Prōvinciae tōtī quam māximum potest mīlitum numerum imperat (erat omnīnō in Galliā ūlteriōre legiō ūna), pōntem quī erat ad Genāvam iubet rescindī. Ubi dē ēius adventū Helvētiī certiōrēs factī sunt, lēgātōs ad eum mittunt nōbilissimōs cīvitātis, cūius lēgātiōnis Nammēius et Verucloetius prīncipem locum obtinēbant, quī dīcerent sibi esse in animō sine ūllō maleficiō iter per prōvinciam facere, proptereā quod aliud iter habērent nūllum: rogāre ut ēius voluntāte id sibi facere liceat. Caesar, quod memoriā tenēbat L. Cassium cōnsulem occīsum exercitumque ēius ab Helvētiīs pulsum et sub iugum mīssum, concēdendum nōn putābat; neque hominēs inimīcō animō, datā facultāte per prōvinciam itineris faciendī, temperātūrōs ab iniūriā et maleficiō exīstimābat. Tamen, ut spatium intercēdere posset dum mīlitēs quōs imperāverat convenīrent, lēgātīs respondit diem sē ad dēlīberandum sūmptūrum: sī quid vellent, ad Īd. Aprīl. reverterentur.

When this was announced to Caesar, that they would attempt to make a journey through our province, he hastened to set out from Rome and by journeys made as long as possible he proceeds to more remote Gaul and arrives at Geneva. He demands of the entire province as great a number of soldiers as possible (there was in the entirety of Farther Gaul one legion), and orders them to destroy the bridge which was at Geneva. When the Helvetians became aware of his arrival, they sent to him as ambassadors the most renowned men of the tribe, of which embassy Nammeius and Verucloetius held the highest place, who were to say that it was their intention to make the journey through the province without doing any harm, because they had no other route; that they requested that it be permitted for them to make this [journey] with his permission. Caesar, because he remembered that the consul Lucius Cassius had been killed and his army had been beaten by the Helvetians and had been “sent under the yoke”, he did not think that [their request] would be granted; nor did he believe that men of hostile spirit, with permission having been granted for making a journey through the province, would refrain from injury and mischief. Still, so that a span of time might intercede while the soldiers which he had ordered approached, he responded to the legates that he would take some time for deliberating: if they wanted anything, they should return on the ides of April.

Book 4: The invasion of Britain

4.24: Landing at Britain

At barbarī, cōnsiliō Rōmānōrum cōgnitō praemīssō equitātū et essedāriīs, quō plērumque genere in proeliīs ūtī cōnsuērunt, reliquīs cōpiīs subsecūtī nostrōs nāvibus ēgredī prohibēbant. Erat ob hās causās summa difficultās, quod nāvēs propter māgnitūdinem nisi in altō cōnstituī nōn poterant, mīlitibus autem, īgnōtīs locīs, impedītīs manibus, māgnō et gravī onere armōrum oppressīs, simul et dē nāvibus dēsiliendum et in fluctibus cōnsistendum et cum hostibus erat pūgnandum, cum illī aut ex āridō aut paulum in aquam prōgressī, omnibus membrīs expedītīs, nōtissimīs locīs, audācter tēla cōicerent et equōs īnsuēfactōs incitārent. Quibus rēbus nostrī perterritī atque hūius omnīnō generis pūgnae imperītī, nōn eādem alacritāte āc studiō quō in pedestribus ūtī proeliīs cōnsuērant utēbantur.

But the barbarians, with the plan of the Romans having been known, with the cavalry and charioteers having been sent ahead, the kind which they were often accustomed to use in battle, with the remaining many forces following, prohibited our men from leaving from the ships. There were the greatest difficulties an account of these reasons: because the ships could not arrange themselves except in the deep water because of their great size, also, with the location having been unknown, and at the same time with their hands having been impeded, having been oppressed by the great and heavy burden of their arms, it had to be jumped down from the ships by the soldiers, and set up in the waves and fought with the enemies, although they either from dry land or going forth a little into the water, with all of their limbs having been free, with the place having been well known, threw their spears fearlessly and incited their accustomed horses. Our men, thoroughly terrified by these things and altogether inexperienced with respect to this kind of fighting, did not use the same speed and zeal by which they were accustomed to use in land battles.

4.25: Eagle Man

Quod ubi Caesar animadvertit, nāvīs longās, quārum et speciēs erat barbarīs inūsitātior et mōtus ad ūsum expedītior, paulum removērī ab onerāriīs nāvibus et rēmīs incitārī et ad latus apertum hostium cōnstituī atque inde fundīs, sagittīs, tormentīs hostēs prōpellī āc submovērī iussit; quae rēs māgnō ūsuī nostrīs fuit. Nam et nāvium figūrā et rēmōrum mōtū et inūsitātō genere tormentōrum permōtī barbarī cōnstitērunt āc paulum modo pedem rettulērunt. Atque nostrīs mīlitibus cunctantibus, māximē propter altitūdinem maris, quī decimae legiōnis aquilam ferēbat, contestātus deōs, ut ea rēs legiōnī fēlīciter ēvenīret, ' Dēsilīte', inquit, ' mīlitēs, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prōdere; ego certē meum reī pūblicae atque imperātōrī officium praestiterō.' Hōc cum vōce māgnā dīxisset, sē ex nāvī prōiēcit atque in hostēs aquilam ferre coepit. Tum nostrī cohortātī inter sē, nē tantum dēdecus admitterētur, ūniversī ex nāvī dēsiluērunt. Hōs item ex proximīs prīmī nāvibus cum cōnspēxissent, subsecūtī hostibus appropīnquārunt.

When Caesar noticed this, he ordered that the war ships, the appearance of which was more unusual to the barbarians and the movement of which was more convenient for use, be removed from the transport ships and be propelled by their oars and be set up at the open flank of the enemies and that the enemies be beaten back and driven away by use of slings, arrows, engines; these things were greatly useful to our soldiers. For the barbarians stopped, agitated by the shape of our ships and the movement of our oars and the unusual type of our engines, and retreated by a little. And, with our soldiers hesitating, mainly because of the depth of the sea, one who was bearing the eagle of the tenth legion, having supplicated the gods that this these proceedings might turn out well for the legion, shouted, “Jump fellow soldiers, unless you are willing to give up your eagle to the enemies; I will certainly fulfill my duty to the republic and to my general.” When he had said this in a great voice, he threw himself from the ship and began to bear the eagle towards the enemies. Then our soldiers encouraged each other, so as to not incur such great dishonor [the loss of their standard], and jumped from the ships as one. When those on the first nearest ship saw this, they followed likewise and approached the enemies.

4.26: Victory on shore

Pūgnātum est ab utrīsque ācriter. Nostrī tamen, quod neque ōrdinēs servāre neque fīrmiter īnsistere neque sīgna subsequī poterant atque alius aliā ex nāvī quibuscumque sīgnīs occurrerat sē aggregābat, māgnopere perturbābantur; hostēs vērō, nōtīs omnibus vadīs, ubi ex lītore aliquōs singulārēs ex nāvī ēgredientēs cōnspēxerant, incitātīs equīs impedītōs adoriēbantur, plūrēs paucōs circumsistēbant, aliī ab latere apertō in ūniversōs tēla cōiciēbant. Quod cum animadvertisset Caesar, scaphās longārum nāvium, item speculātōria nāvigia mīlitibus complērī iussit et, quōs labōrantēs cōnspēxerat, hīs subsidia submittēbat. Nostrī, simul in āridō cōnstitērunt, suīs omnibus cōnsecūtīs, in hostēs impetum fēcērunt atque eōs in fugam dedērunt; neque longius prōsequī potuērunt, quod equitēs cursum tenēre atque īnsulam capere nōn potuerant. Hoc ūnum ad prīstinam fōrtūnam Caesarī dēfuit.

It was fought fiercely by both sides. Our men, however, because they were not able to preserve their ranks, nor to stand firmly, nor to follow their standards and because anyone from another ship went along with whatever standard he came across, were thrown greatly into confusion; but the enemies, having known all the shallows, when they from the shore saw anyone coming from the ships one by one, would rise against the enemies with their excited horses; many surrounded few, others threw their spears against the body of troops from their open flank. When Caesar had noticed this, he ordered that the smaller boats of the war ships and likewise the spy ships be filled with soldiers and he sent help to those who he had seen struggling. Our soldiers, as soon as they set up on dry land, with all their fellow soldiers having followed them, made an attack against the enemies and put them to flight; but they were not able to follow them very far, because the cavalry had not been able to hold their course nor take upon the island. This one thing was lacking for Caesar as to his previous fortune.

4.27: Hostages and allegiance

Hostēs proeliō superātī, simul atque sē ex fugā recēpērunt, statim ad Caesarem lēgātōs dē pāce mīsērunt; obsidēs datūrōs quaeque imperāsset sēsē factūrōs pollicitī sunt. Ūnā cum hīs lēgātīs Commius Atrebās vēnit, quem suprā dēmōnstrāveram ā Caesare in Britanniam praemīssum. Hunc illī ē nāvī ēgressum, cum ad eōs ōrātōris modō Caesaris mandāta dēferret, comprehenderant atque in vincula coiēcerant: tum proeliō factō remīsērunt. In petendā pāce ēius reī culpam in multitūdinem coiēcērunt et propter imprūdentiam ut īgnōscerētur petīvērunt. Caesar questus quod, cum ūltrō in continentem lēgātīs mīssīs pācem ab sē petīssent, bellum sine causā intulissent, īgnōscere imprūdentiae dīxit obsidēsque imperāvit; quōrum illī partem statim dedērunt, partem ex longīnquiōribus locīs arcessītam paucīs diēbus sēsē datūrōs dīxērunt. Intereā suōs remigrāre in agrōs iussērunt, prīncipēsque undique convenīre et sē cīvitātēsque suās Caesarī commendāre coepērunt.

The enemies, overcome in battle, as soon as they recovered from their retreat, immediately sent ambassadors of peace to Caesar; they promised that they would give hostages and that they would do whatever he [Caesar] commanded. With these ambassadors came one [hostage], Commius the Atrebatian, who, as I have stated before, was sent by Caesar into Britain. They arrested him leaving the ship, although he brought to them the mandate of Caesar in the way of a speaker, and threw him into chains: they then sent him back, with the battle having been done. In seeking peace, they brought the blame of this thing against the masses and asked that it might be forgiven because of their imprudence. Caesar, complaining because, although they [the Britons] had asked for peace, with ambassadors having willingly been sent into the continent [Gaul] for that reason, they had taken up a war without reason, said that he would forgive them as to their imprudence and demanded hostages; one part of which they gave immediately, they said that the other part would be given by them in a few days, sent for from more distant places. In the time between, they ordered that their people return to the fields and the chiefs began to come together from all directions and to surrender themselves and their tribes to Caesar.

4.28: The cavalry are delayed

Hīs rēbus pāce cōnfīrmātā, post diem quartum quam est in Britanniam ventum nāvēs XVIII, dē quibus suprā dēmōnstrātum est, quae equitēs sustulerant, ex superiōre portū lēnī ventō solvērunt. Quae cum appropīnquārent Britanniae et ex castrīs vidērentur, tanta tempestās subitō coörta est ut nūlla eārum cursum tenēre posset, sed aliae eōdem unde erant profectae referrentur, aliae ad īnferiōrem partem īnsulae, quae est propius sōlis occāsum, māgnō suī cum perīculō dēicerentur; quae tamen, ancorīs iactīs, cum fluctibus complērentur, necessāriō adversā nocte in altum prōvēctae, continentem petiērunt.

With peace having confirmed by these things, three days after we came into Britain, the 18 ships, about which it has been described earlier, which carried the cavalry, set sail from the larger port by a gentle wind. When they were approaching Britain and were seen from the camp, suddenly so great a storm broke out that none of them were able to maintain their course, but some were taken back to the same place from which they had set out, others were thrown to the lower part of the island, which is closer to the west, with great danger to themselves; nevertheless, with their anchors having been lost, since they were being filled up with waves, they were carried out into the deep by necessity, having been faced by night, and made for the continent.

4.29: The misfortune of the ships

Eādem nocte accidit ut esset lūna plēna, quī diēs maritimōs aestūs māximōs in Ōceanō efficere cōnsuēvit, nostrīsque id erat incōgnitum. Ita ūnō tempore et longās nāvēs, quibus Caesar exercitum trānsportandum cūrāverat quāsque in āridum subdūxerat, aestus complēverat et onerāriās, quae ad ancorās erant dēligātae, tempestās adflīctābat, neque ūlla nostrīs facultās aut administrandī aut auxiliandī dabātur. Complūribus nāvibus frāctīs, reliquae cum essent fūnibus, ancorīs, reliquīsque armāmentīs āmīssīs ad nāvigandum inūtilēs, māgna, id quod necesse erat accidere, tōtīus exercitūs perturbātiō facta est. Neque enim nāvēs erant aliae quibus reportārī possent, et omnia deërant quae ad reficiendās nāvēs erant ūsuī et, quod omnibus cōnstābat hiemāre in Galliā oportēre, frūmentum hīs in locīs in hiemem prōvīsum nōn erat.

On that same night it happened that there was a full moon, the day which was accustomed to affect the maritime tides the greatest in the Ocean, and this was unknown to our troops. And so all at one time, the tide filled the war ships, by which Caesar had arranged for transporting the army and which he had led onto dry land, and a storm afflicted the cargo ships which had been tied up at anchor, nor was any opportunity given to our men either for managing or for helping [the situation]. With many ships having been broken, a great confusion was made of the entire army, that which was necessary to occur, since the remaining ships were useless for sailing, with their ropes, anchors, and other armaments having been lost.

4.30: Deliberations of the British chieftains

Quibus rēbus cōgnitīs, prīncipēs Britanniae, quī post proelium ad Caesarem convēnerant, inter sē conlocūtī, cum equitēs et nāvēs et frūmentum Rōmānīs deësse intellegerent et paucitātem mīlitum ex castrōrum exiguitāte cōgnōscerent, quae hōc erant etiam angustiōra quod sine impedīmentīs Caesar legiōnēs trānsportāverat, optimum factū esse dūxērunt, rebelliōne factā, frūmentō commeātūque nostrōs prohibēre et rem in hiemem prōdūcere, quod eīs superātīs aut reditū interclūsīs nēminem posteā bellī īnferendī causā in Britanniam trānsitūrum cōnfīdēbant. Itaque, rūrsus coniūrātiōne factā, paulātim ex castrīs discēdere āc suōs clam ex agrīs dēdūcere coepērunt.

With these things having been known, the chieftains of the Britains, who had come to Caesar after the battle, whispering amongst themselves, when they had learned that the cavalry and ships and grain of the Romans were lacking and had discovered the small size of the soldiers from the smallness of the camp, which was [made] even worse by this thing: because Caesar had transported the legions without their baggage, they thought that it was the best [thing] to do, with a rebellion having been made, to prohibit our men from grain and provisions and to lead the affair into the winter, because they were confident that, with these men having been overcome or having been cut off from retreat, thereafter nobody would go forth into Britain for the sake of waging war. And so, with a conspiracy having again been made, little by little they began to set out from the camp and quietly to lead out their men from the fields.

4.31: Caesar’s preparations, and repairing ships

At Caesar, etsī nōndum eōrum cōnsilia cōgnōverat, tamen et ex ēventū nāvium suārum et ex eō quod obsidēs dare intermīserant fore id quod accīdit suspicābātur. Itaque ad omnēs cāsūs subsidia comparābat. Nam et frūmentum ex agrīs cotīdiē in castra cōnferēbat et, quae gravissimē adflīctae erant nāvēs, eārum māteriā atque aere ad reliquās reficiendās ūtēbātur et quae ad eās rēs erant ūsuī ex continentī comportārī iubēbat. Itaque, cum summō studiō ā mīlitibus administrārētur, XII nāvibus āmīssīs, reliquīs ut nāvigārī satis commodē posset effēcit.

But Caesar, although he had not yet discovered their plan, nevertheless suspected, both from the fate of their ships and from the fact that they had neglected to give the hostages, that that which happened would happen. And so he prepared solutions for all [possible] misfortunes. For daily he brought grain into the camp from the fields, and used the timber and bronze of those ships which were the most greatly damaged for repairing the remaining ships, and ordered that those things which were useful for those purposes be brought from the continent. And so, since it was done with the greatest zeal by the soldiers, with 12 ships having been lost, he made it for the remaining ships that it be able to be sailed well enough.

4.32: The dust cloud, and British ambush

Dum ea geruntur, legiōne ex cōnsuētūdine ūnā frūmentātum mīssā quae appellābātur septima, neque ūllā ad id tempus bellī suspīciōne interpositā, cum pars hominum in agrīs remanēret, pars etiam in castra ventitāret, eī quī prō portīs castrōrum in statiōne erant Caesarī nūntiāvērunt pulverem māiōrem quam cōnsuētūdō ferret in eā parte vidērī quam in partem legiō iter fēcisset. Caesar id quod erat suspicātus, aliquid novī ā barbarīs initum cōnsilī, cohortēs quae in statiōnibus erant sēcum in eam partem proficīscī, ex reliquīs duās in statiōnem succēdere, reliquās armārī et cōnfestim sēsē subsequī iussit. Cum paulō longius ā castrīs prōcessisset, suōs ab hostibus premī atque aegrē sustinēre et cōnfertā legiōne ex omnibus partibus tēla cōicī animadvertit. Nam quod omnī ex reliquīs partibus dēmessō frūmentō pars ūna erat reliqua, suspicātī hostēs hūc nostrōs esse ventūrōs noctū in silvīs dēlituerant; tum dispersōs, dēpositīs armīs in metendō occupātōs subitō adortī, paucīs interfectīs reliquōs incertīs ōrdinibus perturbāverant, simul equitātū atque essedīs circumdederant.

While these things were being done, with one legion, which was called the seventh, from their custom having been sent for the purpose of acquiring grain, and without any suspicion of war having been placed among them at this time, when a part of the men remained in the fields, a part also repeatedly coming into the camp, those who were on guard in front of the camp announced to Caesar that a dust cloud larger than custom would produce in that area was seen in that direction which the legion had made its journey. Caesar, suspecting that which was, that something was begun by the barbarians as to their plan, ordered that the cohorts which were on guard set out in that direction with him, that two from the remaining cohorts replace them on guard, and that the remaining cohorts be armed and immediately follow him. When they had gone forth a little farther from the camp, he noticed that his men were being attacked by the enemies and were barely withstanding and that spears were thrown from all parts at the legion having been packed together. For, with all of the grain having been collected from the remaining parts, there was one remaining part, the enemies, suspecting that our men would come to this place, had hidden in the woods in the night; then they suddenly rose against the men dispersed and occupied in harvesting, with all weapons having been set down; with a few having been killed, they disturbed the remaining men due to their uncertain ranks, at the same time they surrounded them with their cavalry and chariots.

4.33: Chariot fighting

Genus hōc est ex essedīs pūgnae. Prīmō per omnēs partēs perequitant et tēla cōiciunt atque ipsō terrōre equōrum et strepitū rotārum ōrdinēs plērumque perturbant et, cum sē inter equitum turmās īnsinuāvērunt, ex essedīs dēsiliunt et pedibus proeliantur. Aurīgae interim paulātim ex proeliō excēdunt atque ita currūs collocant ut, sī illī ā multitūdine hostium premantur, expedītum ad suōs receptum habeant. Ita mōbilitātem equitum, stabilitātem peditum in proeliīs praestant, āc tantum ūsū cotīdiānō et exercitātiōne efficiunt utī in dēclīvī āc praecipitī locō incitātōs equōs sustinēre et brevī moderārī āc flectere et per tēmōnem percurrere et in iugō īnsistere et sē inde in currūs citissimē recipere cōnsuērint.

Their kind of fighting from chariots is this: First they ride around in all directions and throw their spears and disturb the ranks of the many soldiers by the very terror of their horses and the noise of their wheels, and whenever they place themselves among a squadron of cavalrymen, they jump from their chariots and fight on foot. The charioteers, meanwhile, withdraw from the battle by a little and so position the chariots such that, should those men be pressed by a multitude of enemies, they would have a quick retreat to their own troops. So they demonstrate in battle the speed of the cavalry and the firmness of the footsoldiers, and by daily practice and exercise achieve such greatness that they are accustomed to maintain the inciting of their horses in downward sloping and even steep locations and to, in a short time, control and direct [the horses], and to run along the pole, and to stand upon the yoke and thence to return themselves quickly to the chariots.

4.34: The Romans and Britons regroup

Quibus rēbus perturbātīs nostrīs nōvitāte pūgnae tempore opportūnissimō Caesar auxilium tulit: namque ēius adventū hostēs cōnstitērunt, nostrī sē ex timōre recēpērunt. Quō factō, ad lacēssendum hostem et committendum proelium aliēnum esse tempus arbitrātus suō sē locō continuit et, brevī tempore intermīssō, in castra legiōnēs redūxit. Dum haec geruntur, nostrīs omnibus occupātīs, quī erant in agrīs reliquī discessērunt. Secūtae sunt continuōs complūrēs diēs tempestātēs quae et nostrōs in castrīs continērent et hostem ā pūgnā prohibērent. Interim barbarī nūntiōs in omnēs partēs dīmīsērunt paucitātemque nostrōrum mīlitum suīs praedicāvērunt et quanta praedae faciendae atque in perpetuum suī līberandī facultās darētur, sī Rōmānōs castrīs expulissent, dēmōnstrāvērunt. Hīs rēbus celeriter māgnā multitūdine peditātūs equitātūsque coāctā ad castra vēnērunt.

With our men having been disturbed by these things, by the strangeness of fighting, at the most opportune time Caesar brought help: for the enemies stopped at his arrival, and our men received themselves from fear. With this having been done, thinking that the time was improper for attacking the enemies and committing to battle, he stopped himself at his location, and, with a short time having gone between, led the legions back into the camp. While these things happen, with all our men having been occupied, the remaining men who were in the fields departed. Storms followed in the next several days which both contained our men in the camp and also prohibited the enemy from battle. Meanwhile the barbarians sent messengers into all parts and announced to them the fewness of our soldiers and showed, if the Romans had been expelled from the camp, how great an opportunity would be given for acquiring loot and for freeing themselves forever. With a great multitude of footsoldiers and cavalry having been compelled by these things, they came quickly to the camp.

4.35 + 4.35.1: British rebellion is put down

[35] Caesar etsī idem quod superiōribus diēbus acciderat fore vidēbat, ut, sī essent hostēs pulsī, celeritāte perīculum effugerent, tamen nactus equitēs circiter XXX, quōs Commius Atrebas, dē quō ante dictum est, sēcum trānsportāverat, legiōnēs in aciē prō castrīs cōnstituit. Commīssō proeliō, diūtius nostrōrum mīlitum impetum hostēs ferre nōn potuērunt āc terga vertērunt. Quōs tantō spatiō secūtī quantum cursū et vīribus efficere potuērunt, complūrēs ex eīs occīdērunt, deinde omnibus longē lātēque aedificiīs incēnsīs sē in castra recēpērunt.

[36] Eōdem diē lēgātī ab hostibus mīssī ad Caesarem dē pāce vēnērunt.

Although Caesar foresaw that the same thing which had happened on prior days would happen, that the enemies would escape danger by their speed, should they be beaten, nevertheless, having obtained about 30 cavalrymen, which Commius the Atrebatian, about whom it has been spoken before, had brought with him, he set arranged the legions in battle formation in front of the camp. With the battle having begun, the enemies were not able to bear the attack of our soldiers very long, and fled. Having followed them for as great a distance [as possible], they were able to accomplish as much [as they could] by their speed and strength, and cut down a great number from their ranks, then, with all their buildings having been burned far and wide, they received themselves in the camp.

On that same day, the legates, sent by the enemies, came to Caesar about peace.

Book 5: The winter revolt of the Gallic tribes

5.24: The council of Gauls, and winter camps

Subductīs nāvibus, conciliōque Gallōrum Samarobrīvae perāctō, quod eō annō frūmentum in Galliā propter siccitātēs angustius prōvēnerat, coāctus est aliter āc superiōribus annīs exercitum in hībernīs collocāre, legiōnēsque in plūrēs cīvitātēs distribuere. Ex quibus ūnam in Morinōs dūcendam C. Fabiō lēgātō dedit, alteram in Nerviōs Q. Cicerōnī, tertiam in Esubiōs L. Rōsciō; quārtam in Rēmīs cum T. Labiēnō in cōnfīniō Trēverōrum hiemāre iussit. Trēs in Belgīs collocāvit: eīs M. Crassum quaestōrem et L. Munātium Plancum et C. Trebōnium lēgātōs praefēcit. Ūnam legiōnem, quam proximē trāns Padum cōnscrīpserat, et cohortēs V in Ebūrōnēs, quōrum pars māxima est inter Mosam āc Rhēnum, quī sub imperiō Ambiorīgis et Catuvolcī erant, mīsit. Eīs mīlitibus Q. Titūrium Sabīnum et L. Aurunculēium Cottam lēgātōs praeesse iussit. Ad hunc modum distribūtīs legiōnibus facillimē inopiae frūmentāriae sēsē medērī posse exīstimāvit. Atque hārum tamen omnium legiōnum hīberna, praeter eam quam L. Rōsciō in pācātissimam et quiētissimam partem dūcendam dederat, mīlibus passuum centum continēbantur. Ipse intereā, quoad legiōnēs collocātās mūnītaque hīberna cōgnōvisset, in Galliā morārī cōnstituit.

With the ships having been led and the council of Gauls having been completed at Samarobriva, because in Gaul that year the grain had come forth more narrowly, because of a drought, he [Caesar] was compelled to place the army in winter camps differently than in previous years, and to distribute the legions in many states. From them, he gave one to C. Fabius the legate for leading into the Morini, another to Q. Cicero into the Nervii, a third to L. Roscius into the Esubii; he ordered a fourth to spend the winter in the Remii with T. Labienus in the confines of the Treveri. He placed three in [the territory of] the Belgians: he placed M. Crassus the quaestor and L. Munatius Plancus and C. Trebonius the legates in charge of these. He sent one legion, which he had most recently conscripted across the Padum, and 5 cohorts into the Eburones, the greatest part of which was between the Mosam and the Rhine, which was under the control of Ambiorix and Catuvolcus. He ordered Q. Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta the legates to be in charge of these soldiers. He thought, with the legions having been distributed in this way, that he was able to most easily remedy the lack of grain. And yet the winter camps of all these legions, except the one which he had given to L. Roscius for leading into the most peaceful and quiet part, were contained within 100 miles. Meanwhile, he himself decided to delay in Gaul until he had known that the legions were set up and the winter camps fortified.

5.25: The death of Tasgetius

Erat in Carnūtibus summō locō nātūs Tasgētius, cūius māiōrēs in suā cīvitāte rēgnum obtinuerant. Huic Caesar prō ēius virtūte atque in sē benevolentiā, quod in omnibus bellīs singulārī ēius operā fuerat ūsus, māiōrum locum restituerat. Tertium iam hunc annum rēgnantem inimīcī palam multīs ex cīvitāte auctōribus interfēcērunt. Dēfertur ea rēs ad Caesarem. Ille veritus, quod ad plūrēs pertinēbat, nē cīvitās eōrum impulsū dēficeret, L. Plancum cum legiōne ex Belgiō celeriter in Carnūtēs proficīscī iubet ibīque hiemāre, quōrumque operā cōgnōverat Tasgētium interfectum, hōs comprehēnsōs ad sē mittere. Interim ab omnibus lēgātīs quaestōribusque, quibus legiōnēs trādiderat certior factus est in hīberna perventum locumque hībernīs esse mūnītum.

Tasgetius was born of the highest rank among the Carnutes, whose ancestors had obtained power in their tribe. Caesar had restored the position of his ancestors to him [Tasgetius], for his bravery and his benevolence to Caesar, because he had been useful in all wars by his deeds alone. During the third year of him ruling, his enemies killed him by many assassins from the tribe. This thing was conveyed to Caesar. He, having feared that their state would fall apart because of this action, because it pertained to many people, ordered Lucius Plancus to set out with his legion from the Belgians into the Carnutes quickly and to spend the winter there, and to send to him those people, having been arrested, by whose deeds he had learned that Tasgetius had been killed. Meanwhile, he was informed by all the legates and quaestors, to whom he had given the legions, that it had been arrived in the winter camps, and that the place for the winter camps had been fortified.

5.26: Ambiorix’s ambush

Diēbus circiter quindecim quibus in hīberna ventum est initium repentīnī tumultūs āc dēfectiōnis ortum est ab Ambiorīge et Catuvolcō; quī, cum ad fīnēs rēgnī suī Sabīnō Cottaeque praestō fuissent frūmentumque in hīberna comportāvissent, Indutiomārī Trēverī nūntiīs impulsī suōs concitāvērunt subitōque oppressīs līgnātōribus māgnā manū ad castra oppūgnātum vēnērunt. Cum celeriter nostrī arma cēpissent vāllumque ascendissent atque ūnā ex parte Hispānīs equitibus ēmīssīs equestrī proeliō superiōrēs fuissent, dēspērātā rē hostēs suōs ab oppūgnātiōne redūxērunt. Tum suō mōre conclāmāvērunt, utī aliquī ex nostrīs ad colloquium prōdīret: habēre sēsē, quae dē rē commūnī dīcere vellent, quibus rēbus contrōversiās minuī posse spērārent.

About fifteen days after they had come into winter-quarters, the beginning of a sudden insurrection and revolt arose from Ambiorix and Catuvolcus, who, although they had met with Sabinus and Cotta at the borders of their kingdom, and had carried grain into the winter-quarters, compelled by the messages of Indutiomarus, one of the Treviri, they excited their people, and, with the woodcutters having suddenly been attacked, came with a large force for the purpose of attacking the camp. When our men had speedily taken up arms and had ascended the wall, and, with some Spanish cavalry having been sent out from one side, had been superior in the cavalry battle, the enemies, with this thing having been despaired, led their troops back from the attack. Then they shouted, according to their custom, that some from our men should go forth to a conference: [alleging] that they had some things which they wished to say about the common interest, by which they hoped that their disputes could be removed.

5.27: Ambiorix’s deception

Mittitur ad eōs colloquendī causā C. Arpinēius, eques Rōmānus, familiāris Q. Titūrī, et Q. Iūnius ex Hispāniā quīdam, quī iam ante mīssū Caesaris ad Ambiorigem ventitāre cōnsuērat; apud quōs Ambiorix ad hunc modum locūtus est: sēsē prō Caesaris in sē beneficiīs plūrimum eī cōnfitērī dēbēre, quod ēius operā stīpendiō līberātus esset, quod Aduātucīs fīnitimīs suīs pendere cōnsuēsset, quodque eī et fīlius et frātris fīlius ab Caesare remīssī essent, quōs Aduātucī obsidum numerō mīssōs apud sē in servitūte et catēnīs tenuissent; neque id quod fēcerit dē oppūgnātiōne castrōrum aut iūdiciō aut voluntāte suā fēcisse sed coāctū cīvitātis, suaque esse ēiusmodī imperia ut nōn minus habēret iūris in sē multitūdō quam ipse in multitūdinem. Cīvitātī porrō hanc fuisse bellī causam, quod repentīnae Gallōrum coniūrātiōnī resistere nōn potuerit. Id sē facile ex humilitāte suā probāre posse, quod nōn adeō sit imperītus rērum ut suīs copiīs populum Rōmānum superārī posse cōnfīdat. Sed esse Galliae commūne cōnsilium: omnibus hībernīs Caesaris oppūgnandīs hunc esse dictum diem, nē quā legiō alterae legiōnī subsidiō venīre posset. Nōn facile Gallōs Gallīs negāre potuisse, praesertim cum dē recuperandā commūnī lībertāte cōnsilium initum vidērētur. Quibus quoniam prō pietāte satisfēcerit, habēre nunc sē ratiōnem officī prō beneficiīs Caesaris: monēre, ōrāre Titūrium prō hospitiō ut suae āc mīlitum salūtī cōnsulat. Māgnam manum Germānōrum conductam Rhēnum trānsīsse; hanc adfore bīduō. Ipsōrum esse cōnsilium, velintne priusquam fīnitimī sentiant ēdūctōs ex hībernīs mīlitēs aut ad Cicerōnem aut ad Labiēnum dēdūcere, quōrum alter mīlia passuum circiter quīnquāgintā, alter paulō amplius ab eīs absit. Illud sē pollicērī et iūre iūrandō cōnfīrmāre, tūtum iter per fīnēs datūrum. Quod cum faciat, et cīvitātī sēsē cōnsulere, quod hībernīs levētur, et Caesarī prō ēius meritīs grātiam referre. Hāc ōrātiōne habitā discēdit Ambiorīx.

C. Arpineius, a Roman knight, the intimate friend of Q. Titurius, and with him, Q. Junius, a certain person from Spain, who already had been accustomed to go to Ambiorix, sent by Caesar, is sent to them for the sake of a conferring: among them Ambiorix spoke to this effect: that he confessed that for Caesar's kindness toward him, he was very much indebted to him, because by his aid he had been freed from a tribute which he had been accustomed to pay to the Aduatuci, his neighbors; and because his own son and the son of his brother, whom, having been sent in the number of hostages, the Aduatuci had held among themselves in slavery and in chains, had been sent back to him by Caesar; and that he had not done that which he had done in regard to the attacking of the camp, either by his own judgment or desire, but by the compulsion of his tribe; and that his government was of that nature, that the people had as much authority over him as he over the people. Furthermore, the cause of the war for the tribe was this, because it could not withstand the sudden combination of the Gauls; that he could easily prove this from his own weakness, because he was not so greatly ignorant of affairs as to be confident that he could conquer the Roman people with his many forces; but that it was the common resolution of Gaul; that that day was appointed for the storming of all Caesar's winter-quarters, in order that no legion should be able to come to the relief of another legion, that Gauls could not easily deny Gauls, especially when a measure seemed entered into for recovering their common freedom. Since he had performed his duty to them on the score of patriotism [he said], he has now regard to gratitude for the kindness of Caesar; that he warned, that he prayed Titurius by the claims of hospitality, to consult for his and his soldiers' safety; that a large force of the Germans having been hired had crossed the Rhine; that it would arrive in two days: that the plan was of them whether they thought fit, before the nearest people perceived it, to lead their soldiers, having been led out from the winter camp, either to Cicero or to Labienus; one of whom was about fifty miles away from them, the other rather more; that this he promised and confirmed by oath, that he would give them a safe passage through his territories; and when he did that, he was both consulting for his own state, because it would be relieved from the winter-quarters, and also giving back thanks to Caesar for his kindness. With this speech having been held, Ambiorix departed.

5.28: Cottas’s argument

Arpīnēius et Iūnius quae audiērunt ad lēgātōs dēferunt. Illī repentīnā rē perturbātī, etsī ab hoste ea dīcēbantur, tamen nōn neglegenda exīstimābant māximēque hāc rē permovēbantur, quod cīvitātem īgnōbilem atque humilem Ebūrōnum suā sponte populō Rōmānō bellum facere ausam vix erat crēdendum. Itaque ad cōnsilium rem dēferunt māgnaque inter eōs exsistit contrōversia. L. Aurunculēius complūrēsque tribūnī mīlitum et prīmōrum ōrdinum centuriōnēs nihil temerē agendum neque ex hībernīs iniūssū Caesaris discēdendum exīstimābant; quantāsvis magnās etiam cōpiās Germānōrum sustinērī posse mūnītīs hībernīs docēbant: rem esse testimōniō, quod prīmum hostium impetum multīs ūltrō vulneribus inlātīs fortissimē sustinuerint; rē frūmentāriā nōn premī; intereā et ex proximīs hībernīs et ā Caesare conventūra subsidia; postrēmō quid esse levius aut turpius quam auctōre hoste dē summīs rēbus capere cōnsilium?

Arpineius and Junius relate to the lieutenants what they had heard. They, greatly alarmed by the unexpected affair, though those things were spoken by an enemy, still thought they were not to be disregarded; and they were especially influenced by this consideration, that it was scarcely credible that the obscure and humble state of the Eburones had dared to make war upon the Roman people of their own accord. Accordingly, they refer the matter to a council, and a great controversy arises among them. L. Aurunculeius, and several tribunes of the soldiers and the centurions of the first rank, were of opinion that nothing should be done hastily, and that they should not depart from the camp without Caesar's orders; they declared, that any forces of the Germans, however great, might be encountered by fortified winter-quarters; that this fact was a proof [of it]; that they had sustained the first assault of the Germans most valiantly, inflicting many wounds upon them; that they were not pressed for grain; that in the meantime relief would come both from the nearest winter-quarters and from Caesar; lastly, [they asked] what could be more inconstant, more disgraceful, than to adopt measures about the most important affairs on the authority of an enemy?

5.29: Sabinus’s argument

Contrā ea Titūrius sērō factūrōs clāmitābat, cum māiōrēs manūs hostium adiūnctīs Germānīs convēnissent aut cum aliquid calamitātis in proximīs hībernīs esset acceptum. Brevem cōnsulendī esse occāsiōnem. Caesarem arbitrārī profectum in Ītaliam; neque aliter Carnūtēs interficiendī Tasgētī cōnsilium fuisse captūrōs, neque Ebūrōnēs, sī ille adesset, tantā contemptiōne nostrī ad castra ventūrōs esse. Nōn hostem auctōrem, sed rem spectāre: subesse Rhēnum; māgnō esse Germānīs dolōrī Ariovistī mortem et superiōrēs nostrās vīctōriās; ārdēre Galliam tot contumēliīs acceptīs sub populī Rōmānī imperium redāctam, superiōre glōriā reī mīlitāris exstinctā. Postrēmō quis hōc sibi persuādēret, sine certā rē Ambiorīgem ad ēiusmodī cōnsilium dēscendisse? Suam sententiam in utramque partem esse tūtam: sī nihil esset dūrius, nūllō cum perīculō ad proximam legiōnem perventūrōs: sī Gallia omnis cum Germānīs cōnsentīret, ūnam esse in celeritāte positam salūtem. Cottae quidem atque eōrum quī dissentīrent, cōnsilium quem habēre exitum, in quō sī praesēns perīculum nōn, at certē longīnquā obsidiōne famēs esset timenda?

In opposition to those things, Titurius exclaimed, that they would do this too late, when greater forces of the enemy, having joined with the Germans, should have assembled; or when some disaster had been received in the neighboring winter-quarters; that the opportunity for deliberating was short; that he believed that Caesar had set forth into Italy, as the Carnutes would not otherwise have taken the measure of slaying Tasgetius, nor would the Eburones, if he had been present, have come to the camp with so great defiance of us; that he did not regard the enemy, but the fact, as the authority; that the Rhine was near; that the death of Ariovistus and our previous victories were subjects of great indignation to the Germans; that Gaul was inflamed, that after having received so many defeats she was reduced under the sway of the Roman people, her pristine glory in military matters being extinguished. Lastly, who would persuade himself of this, that Ambiorix had resorted to a design of that nature without sure grounds? That his own opinion was safe on either side; if there be nothing very formidable, they would go without danger to the nearest legion; if all Gaul conspired with the Germans, their only safety lay in speed. What issue would the advice of Cotta and of those who differed from him, have? from which, if immediate danger was not to be dreaded, yet certainly famine, by a protracted siege, was.

5.30: Sabinus argues more

Hāc in utramque partem disputātiōne habitā, cum ā Cottā prīmīsque ōrdinibus ācriter resisterētur, “Vincite,” inquit, “ita vultis,” Sabīnus, et id clāriōre vōce, ut māgna pars mīlitum exaudīret; “neque is sum,” inquit, “quī gravissimē ex vōbis mortis perīculō terrear: hī sapient; sī gravius quid acciderit, abs tē ratiōnem repōscent quī, sī per tē liceat, perendinō diē cum proximīs hībernīs coniūnctī commūnem cum reliquīs bellī cāsum sustineant, nōn rēiectī et relēgātī longē ab cēterīs aut ferrō aut famē intereant.”

With this discussion having been held on each side, when it was opposed fiercely by Cotta and those of the first rank, Sabinus said, “Prevail if you so wish,” and said in a louder voice, so that a large part of the soldiers would hear, this thing: “nor am I one who would fear the danger death most greatly among you: these men will be wise [to it]; if anything more serious happens, they will demand reckoning from you; these who, should it be permitted by you, would, having joined with the nearby camps on the day after tomorrow, bear the common misfortune of war with the rest, and not die either by steel or by starvation, cast away and removed far from the rest.”

5.31: Dissension, and preparing to leave

Cōnsurgitur ex cōnsiliō; comprehendunt utrumque et ōrant nē suā dissēnsiōne et pertināciā rem in summum perīculum dēdūcant: facilem esse rem, seu maneant, seu proficīscantur, sī modo ūnum omnēs sentiant āc probent; contrā in dissēnsiōne nūllam sē salūtem perspicere. Rēs disputātiōne ad mediam noctem perdūcitur. Tandem dat Cotta permōtus manūs: superat sententia Sabīnī. Prōnūntiātur prīmā lūce itūrōs. Cōnsūmitur vigiliīs reliqua pars noctis, cum sua quisque mīles circumspiceret, quid sēcum portāre posset, quid ex īnstrūmentō hībernōrum relinquere cōgerētur. Omnia excōgitantur, quārē nec sine perīculō maneātur et languōre mīlitum et vigiliīs perīculum augeātur. Prīmā lūce sīc ex castrīs proficīscuntur ut quibus esset persuāsum nōn ab hoste sed ab homine amīcissimō Ambiorige cōnsilium datum, longissimō āgmine māximīsque impedīmentīs.

It is arisen from council; they embrace each other and beg that they not lead the matter down into the greatest danger by their dissensions and stubbornness: that the matter would be simple, whether they remain or whether they depart, if only they should all agree [upon] and approve [of] one action; that they see no safety in dissension against one another. The matter is dragged out to the middle of the night by dissension. Finally, Cotta, thoroughly disturbed, gives his hands: the argument of Sabinus prevails. It was announced that they would go at first light. The remaining portion of the night was spent by a lack of sleep, since each soldier was inspecting his things [to see] what he would be able to carry with him, and what out of the equipment of the winter camp he would be forced to leave behind. All sorts of reasons were thought of why they could not remain without danger and how the danger would be increased by the fatigue of the soldiers and by their lack of sleep. At first light they set out from the camp in such a way as the sort of people who were persuaded that the plan was given not by an enemy, but by a very friendly man, Ambiorix, in the longest marching lines and with the greatest baggage.

5.32: Ambiorix’s ambush pt. II

At hostēs, posteā quam ex nocturnō fremitū vigiliīsque dē profectiōne eōrum sēnsērunt, collocātīs īnsidiīs bipertītō in silvīs opportūnō atque occultō locō ā mīlibus passuum circiter duōbus Rōmānōrum adventum exspectābant et, cum sē māior pars āgminis in māgnam convallem dēmīsisset, ex utrāque parte ēius vallis subitō sē ostendērunt, novīssimōsque premere et prīmōs prohibēre ascēnsū atque inīquissimō nostrīs locō proelium committere coepērunt.

The enemies, after they sensed about their departure from their nocturnal noise and wakefulness, with ambushes having been placed on both sides in the forest in a hidden and opportune place about two miles away, they awaited the arrival of the Romans, and, when the greater part of the marching line had sent itself down into a large valley, they suddenly showed themselves from both sides of this valley, and they began to attack the newest troops, and to prevent the first soldiers from ascent, and to begin the battle in a most unfavorable location for our troops.

5.33: Frantic arrangement, and The Orb

Tum dēmum Titūrius, quī nihil ante prōvīdisset, trepidāre et concursāre cohortēsque dispōnere, haec tamen ipsa timidē atque ut eum omnia dēficere vidērentur; quod plērumque eīs accidere cōnsuēvit quī in ipsō negōtiō cōnsilium capere cōguntur. At Cotta, quī cōgitāsset haec posse in itinere accidere atque ob eam causam profectiōnis auctor nōn fuisset, nūllā in rē commūnī salūtī deerat et in appellandīs cohortandīsque mīlitibus imperātōris et in pūgnā mīlitis officia praestābat. Cum propter longitūdinem āgminis minus facile omnia per sē obīre et quid quōque locō faciendum esset providēre possent, iussērunt prōnūntiāre ut impedīmenta relinquerent atque in orbem cōnsisterent. Quod cōnsilium etsī in ēiusmodī cāsū reprehendendum nōn est, tamen incommodē accidit: nam et nostrīs mīlitibus spem minuit et hostēs ad pūgnam alācriōrēs effēcit, quod nōn sine summō timōre et dēspērātiōne id factum vidēbātur. Praetereā accidit, quod fierī necesse erat, ut vulgō mīlitēs ab sīgnīs discēderent, quae quisque eōrum cārissima habēret ab impedīmentīs petere atque arripere properāret, clāmōre et flētū omnia complērentur.

Then at last Titurius, the sort of man who had foreseen nothing beforehand, was anxious and running about and organizing the cohorts, however, [he did] these things themselves timidly, such that everything seemed to be failing him; as it was generally accustomed to happen to those who are forced to take up plans in the affair itself. But Cotta, who had thought that these things would be able to happen on the journey, and because of this reason he had not been the organizer of the departure, was lacking in no matter of the common safety, and he was excelling in the duties of both a commander in calling out to and encouraging the soldiers and of a soldier in battle. Since they [Sabinus and Cotta] less easily were able to attend to everything through themselves and to provide whatever was to be done in each place, due to the length of the marching line, they ordered [the officers] to announce that they should leave behind their baggage and arrange into the orb. This measure, although it is not to be reprehended in a misfortune of this kind, nevertheless happened unfortunately: for it both reduced the hope of our soldiers and made the enemies more eager for the battle, because it seemed that this was not done without the greatest fear and desperation. Because of this, it happened, which was necessary to be done, that everywhere the soldiers left their standards and hurried to seek and seize whatever each of them held as the most precious from their equipment, and that everything was filled with outcry and lamentation.

5.34: The battle of the valley

At barbarīs cōnsilium nōn dēfuit. Nam ducēs eōrum tōtā aciē prōnūntiāre iussērunt, nē quis ab locō discēderet, illōrum esse praedam atque illīs reservārī quaecumque Rōmānī relīquissent: proinde omnia in vīctōriā posita exīstimārent. Erant et virtūte et studio pūgnandī parēs. Nostrī, tametsī ab duce et ā fōrtūnā dēserēbantur, tamen omnem spem salūtis in virtūte pōnēbant, et quotiēns quaeque cohors prōcurrerat, ab eā parte māgnus numerus hostium cadēbat. Quā rē animadversā, Ambiorīx prōnūntiārī iubet ut procul tēla cōniciant neu propius accēdant et quam in partem Rōmānī impetum fēcerint cēdant: levitāte armōrum et cotīdiānā exercitātiōne nihil hīs nocērī posse: rūrsus sē ad sīgna recipientēs īnsequantur.

But judgement was not lacking for the barbarians. For their leaders ordered [the officers] to announce all along the battle line, that nobody should leave his place, that the loot was theirs, and that whatever the Romans had left behind was reserved for them: that therefore they should believe that all things were placed upon their victory. They were equal in fighting with respect to their courage and zeal. Our men, although they were deserted by their leader and by fortune, nevertheless placed all hope of safety in their courage, and as often as any cohort had charged forth, a great number of enemies fell from that side. With this thing having been noticed, Ambiorix ordered it to be announced that they should throw their spears from afar and not approach closer, and fall back from whatever side the Romans made an attack against; that nothing could be harmed for these men due to the lightness of their arms and their daily practice; that they should follow them returning to their standards again.

5.35: The battle of the valley pt. II

Quō praeceptō ab eīs dīligentissimē observātō, cum quaepiam cohors ex orbe excesserat atque impetum fēcerat, hostēs vēlōcissimē refugiēbant. Interim eam partem nūdārī necesse erat et ab latere apertō tēla recipī. Rūrsus cum in eum locum unde erant ēgressī revertī coeperant, et ab eīs quī cesserant et ab eīs quī proximī steterant circumveniēbantur. Sīn autem locum tenēre vellent, nec virtūtī locus relinquēbātur neque ab tantā multitūdine coniecta tēla cōnfertī vītāre poterant. Tamen tot incommodīs cōnflīctātī, multīs vulneribus acceptīs resistēbant et māgnā parte diēī cōnsūmptā, cum ā prīmā lūce ad hōram octāvam pūgnārētur, nihil quod ipsīs esset indīgnum committēbant. Tum T. Balventiō, quī superiōre annō prīmum pīlum dūxerat, virō fortī et māgnae auctōritātis, utrumque femur trāgulā trāicitur; Q. Lūcānius ēiusdem ōrdinis, fortissimē pūgnāns, dum circumventō fīliō subvenit, interficitur; L. Cotta lēgātus omnēs cohortēs ōrdinēsque adhortāns in adversum ōs fundā vulnerātur.

With this command having been very diligently observed by them, when each cohort left from the orb and made an attack, the enemies very quickly retreated [over and over]. Meanwhile it was necessary to expose this part and to receive spears from the open side. Again, when they had begun to return to that place from which they had set out, they were surrounded by those who had retreated and by those who stood next to them. But should they, on the other hand, wish to hold their place, neither was an opportunity left for courage, nor were they able to escape, crowded together, the spears thrown by such a great number [of men]. Afflicted by so many misfortunes, with many wounds having been received, nevertheless they persisted and with a great part of the day having been taken up, although it was fought from first light to the eighth hour, they committed nothing which was disgraceful for them. Each thigh of T. Balventius, who had led the first spear in the previous year, a brave man and [one] of great authority, was pierced by a tragula [a Gallic long spear]; Q. Lucanius, of the same rank, fighting most bravely, while he aided his surrounded son, is killed; L. Cotta the legate, encouraging all the cohorts and ranks, was wounded directly in the mouth by a sling.

5.36: Sabinus seeks peace

Hīs rēbus permōtus Q. Titūrius, cum procul Ambiorīgem suōs cohortantem cōnspēxisset, interpretem suum Cn. Pompēium ad eum mittit rōgātum ut sibi mīlitibusque parcat. Ille appellātus respondit: sī velit sēcum colloquī, licēre; spērāre ā multitūdine impetrārī posse, quod ad mīlitum salūtem pertineat; ipsī vērō nihil nocitum īrī, inque eam rem sē suam fidem interpōnere. Ille cum Cottā sauciō commūnicat, sī videātur, pūgnā ut excēdant et cum Ambiorīge ūnā colloquantur: spērāre ab eō dē suā āc mīlitum salūte impetrārī posse. Cotta sē ad armātum hostem itūrum negat atque in eō persevērat.

Q. Titurius, thoroughly upset by these things, when he had seen from a distance Ambiorix encouraging his people, he sends his interpreter Cn. Pompeius to him to ask that he spare him and his troops. He [Ambiorix], having been called [upon], responded: that should he wish to speak with him, it is permitted; that he hopes to be able to accomplish something from the masses, which pertains to the safety of the soldiers; that indeed nothing will be harmed for him, and that he placed his faith in this matter. He communicated with the wounded Cotta, if it should seem right, that they withdraw from the fight and speak with Ambiorix as one: that he hopes to be able to accomplish from him about the safety of him and his troops. Cotta denies that he would go to an armed enemy, and he perseveres in this.

5.37: The death of Sabinus, and the victory of the Eburones

Sabīnus quōs in praesentiā tribūnōs mīlitum circum sē habēbat et prīmōrum ōrdinum centuriōnēs sē sequī iubet et, cum propius Ambiorīgem accessisset, iūssus arma abicere imperātum facit suīsque ut idem faciant imperat. Interim, dum dē condiciōnibus inter sē agunt longiorque cōnsultō ab Ambiorīge īnstituitur sermō, paulātim circumventus interficitur. Tum vērō suō mōre vīctōriam conclāmant atque ululātum tollunt impetūque in nostrōs factō ōrdinēs perturbant. Ibī L. Cotta pūgnāns interficitur cum māximā parte mīlitum. Reliquī sē in castra recipiunt unde erant ēgressī. Ex quibus L. Petrosīdius aquilifer, cum māgnā multitūdine hostium premerētur, aquilam intrā vāllum prōiēcit; ipse prō castrīs fortissimē pūgnāns occīditur. Illī aegrē ad noctem oppūgnātiōnem sustinent; noctū ad ūnum omnēs dēspērātā salūte sē ipsī interficiunt. Paucī ex proeliō ēlapsī incertīs itineribus per silvās ad T. Labiēnum lēgātum in hīberna perveniunt atque eum dē rēbus gestīs certiōrem faciunt.

Sabinus orders them to follow him, those who he has with him at present, the tribunes of the soldiers and the centurions of the first order, and, when he had approached closer to Ambiorix, having been ordered to toss away his weapons, obeys this command and orders his men that they do the same. Meanwhile, while they delay amongst themselves about the conditions, and the speech is made longer by Ambiorix according to his plan, having been surrounded little by little, Sabinus is killed. Then indeed they cry victory, by their customs, and they raise a shout, and they disturb the ranks by an attack made against our troops. There L. Cotta is killed fighting with the greatest part of the troops. The remaining soldiers receive themselves into the camp from which they had departed. From these people, L. Petrosidius the eagle-bearer, when he was attacked by a great number of enemies, threw the eagle inside the walls; he is slain fighting most bravely in front of the camp. These men barely withstand the attack into the night; in the night, with their safety having been despaired, all of them, down to the last one killed themselves. A few of them having escaped from the battle by means of uncertain paths went into the winter camp to T. Labienum the legate and informed him of these things which had happened.

5.38: Ambiorix incites the other tribes

Hāc vīctōriā sublātus Ambiorīx statim cum equitātū in Aduātucōs, quī erant ēius rēgnō fīnitimī, proficīscitur; neque noctem neque diem intermittit peditātumque sēsē subsequī iubet. Rē dēmōnstrātā Aduātucīsque concitātīs, posterō diē in Nerviōs pervenit hortāturque nē suī in perpetuum līberandī atque ulcīscendī Rōmānōs prō eīs quās accēperint iniūriīs occāsiōnem dīmittant; interfectōs esse lēgātōs *duo* māgnamque partem exercitūs interīsse dēmōnstrat; nihil esse negōtī subitō oppressam legiōnem quae cum Cicerōne hiemet interficī; sē ad eam rem profitētur adiūtōrem. Facile hāc ōrātiōne Nerviīs persuādet.

Lifted by this victory, Ambiorix immediately set out into the Aduatuci, who were neighbors of his kingdom, with his cavalry; he waited neither night nor day and ordered his foot-soldiers to follow him [closely]. With these affairs having been explained, and with the Aduatuci having been incited, the next day he went into the Nervii and urged that they not give up the opportunity for freeing themselves forever and for taking revenge upon the Romans for those injuries which they had received; he explained that two legates had been killed and a great part of the army had perished; that it would be no difficulty to kill the legion, suddenly attacked, which spent the winter with Cicero; he declared that he would be an accomplice to these things. He persuaded the Nervii easily by this speech.

5.39: The Nervii attack Cicero

Itaque cōnfestim dīmīssīs nūntiīs ad Ceutrōnēs, Grūdiōs, Lēvācōs, Pleumoxiōs, Geidumnōs, quī omnēs sub eōrum imperiō sunt, quam māximās manūs possunt cōgunt et dē imprōvīsō ad Cicerōnis hīberna advolant nōndum ad eum fāmā dē Titūrī morte perlātā. Huic quoque accidit, quod fuit necesse, ut nōn nūllī mīlitēs, quī līgnātiōnis mūnītiōnisque causā in silvās discessissent, repentīnō equitum adventū interciperentur. Eīs circumventīs māgnā manū Ebūrōnēs, Nerviī, Aduātucī atque hōrum omnium sociī et clientēs legiōnem oppūgnāre incipiunt. Nostrī celeriter ad arma concurrunt, vāllum cōnscendunt. Aegrē is diēs sustentātur, quod omnem spem hostēs in celeritāte pōnēbant atque hanc adeptī victōriam in perpetuum sē fore victōrēs cōnfīdēbant.

And so, with messengers having been immediately sent to the Centrones, the Grudii, the Levaci, the Pleumoxii, the Geidumni, who all were under their [the Nervii’s] control, they gathered as great a force [of troops] as they were able, and unexpectedly rushed to the winter camp of Cicero, with the news of the death of Titurius having not yet been related to him. It also happened to him, which was necessary, that not none of the soldiers, who had set out into the forest for the sake of collecting wood and fortifying [the area], were intercepted by the sudden arrival of the cavalry. With these men having been surrounded by a great force, the Eburones, Nervii, Aduatuci, and all of their allies and clients began to attack the legion. Our men quickly run to arms and mount the ramparts. That day barely withstood, because the enemies placed all hope in their speed and were confident that [if] they gained this victory, they would be victors forever.

5.40: Cicero’s camp defends and prepares

Mittuntur ad Caesarem cōnfestim ab Cicerōne litterae māgnīs prōpositīs praemiīs, sī pertulissent: obsessīs omnibus viīs mīssī intercipiuntur. Noctū ex māteriā quam mūnītiōnis causā comportāverant, turrēs admodum centum XX excitantur incrēdibilī celeritāte; quae deesse operī vidēbantur perficiuntur. Hostēs posterō diē multō māiōribus coāctīs cōpiīs castra oppūgnant, fossam complent. Eādem ratiōne, quā prīdiē, ab nostrīs resistitur. Hōc idem reliquīs deinceps fit diēbus. Nūlla pars nocturnī temporis ad labōrem intermittitur; nōn aegrīs, nōn vulnerātīs facultās quiētis datur. Quaecumque ad proximī diēī oppūgnātiōnem opus sunt noctū comparantur; multae praeūstae sudēs, māgnus mūrālium pīlōrum numerus īnstituitur; turrēs contabulantur, pinnae lōrīcaeque ex crātibus attexuntur. Ipse Cicerō, cum tenuissimā valētūdine esset, nē nocturnum quidem sibi tempus ad quiētem relinquēbat, ut ūltrō mīlitum concursū āc vōcibus sibi parcere cōgerētur.

Letters were sent immediately to Caesar by Cicero, with great rewards having been promised, if they [messengers] delivered: with all the roads having been blocked, the messengers were intercepted. During the night, about 120 towers were erected with incredible speed from the timber which they had brought for the sake of fortifying; those things which seemed to be lacking for defense were completed. The next day, the enemies, with far greater forces having been gathered, attack the camp, and fill the ditch. It was resisted by our men in the same way which it was the day before. This same thing happened in the remaining days, one after another. No part of the nighttime was given up from labor; opportunity for rest was given neither to the weak nor the wounded. They prepared whatever was necessary to the attack of the next day in the night: many stakes [were] burned at the tip, a great number of wall-javelins were set up; the towers were covered, the battlements were woven from wicker. Cicero himself, although he was in the poorest health, left not even nighttime for himself for rest, such that he was finally compelled to spare himself by the running forth and shouts of his soldiers.

5.41: The failed deception of the Nervii

Tunc ducēs prīncipēsque Nerviōrum quī aliquem sermōnis aditum causamque amīcitiae cum Cicerōne habēbant colloquī sēsē velle dīcunt. Factā potestāte eadem quae Ambiorīx cum Titūriō ēgerat commemorant: omnem esse in armīs Galliam; Germānōs Rhēnum trānsīsse; Caesaris reliquōrumque hīberna oppūgnārī. Addunt etiam dē Sabīnī morte; Ambiorīgem ostentant fideī faciendae causā. Errāre eōs dīcunt, sī quicquam ab eīs praesidī spērent, quī suīs rēbus diffīdant; sēsē tamen hōc esse in Cicerōnem populumque Rōmānum animō ut nihil nisi hīberna recūsent atque hanc inveterāscere cōnsuētūdinem nōlint: licēre illīs incolumibus per sē ex hībernīs discēdere et quāscumque in partēs velint sine metū proficīscī. Cicerō ad haec ūnum modo respondit: nōn esse cōnsuētūdinem populī Rōmānī accipere ab hoste armātō condiciōnem: sī ab armīs discēdere velint, sē adiūtōre ūtantur lēgātōsque ad Caesarem mittant; spērāre prō ēius iūstitiā, quae petierint, impetrātūrōs.

Then the leaders and chiefs of the Nervii, who had an access of speech and a cause of friendship with Cicero, said that they wish to speak. With permission having been granted, they reminded the same things which Ambiorix had done with Titurius: that all of Gaul was in arms; that the Germans had crossed the Rhine; that the winter camps of Caesar and the rest were being attacked. They also added about the death of Sabinus; they showed Ambiorix for the sake of producing faith. They said that those people are mistaken, should they hope for anything of assistance from those who distrust their own affairs; that nevertheless they are in such a mind towards Cicero and the Roman people that they deny them nothing except the winter camps and do not wish that this custom become constant: that through them it is permitted for them to depart from the winter camp unharmed and to set out into whatever parts they wish without fear. Cicero responded to this in one way: that it is not the custom of the Roman people to accept conditions from an armed enemy: that should they wish to set down their weapons, they could use him as an advocate and send legates to Caesar; that he hoped that they could accomplish what they sought through his [Caesar’s] justice.

5.42: The Nervii prepare for attack

Ab hāc spē repulsī Nerviī vāllō pedum X et fossā pedum XV hīberna cingunt. Haec et superiōrum annōrum cōnsuētūdine ā nōbīs cōgnōverant et quōsdam dē exercitū habēbant captīvōs ab eīs docēbantur; sed nūllā ferrāmentōrum cōpiā quae esset ad hunc ūsum idōnea, gladiīs caespitēs circumcīdere, manibus sagulīsque terram exhaurīre cogēbantur. Quā quidem ex rē hominum multitūdo cōgnōscī potuit: nam minus hōrīs tribus mīlium in circuitū III mūnītiōnem perfēcērunt; reliquīsque diēbus turrēs ad altitūdinem vāllī, falcēs testūdinēsque, quās īdem captīvī docuerant, parāre āc facere coepērunt.

Repulsed from this hope, the Nervii encircled the camp with a wall 10 feet high and a ditch 15 feet deep. They had learned this by the custom of previous years from us and they were taught the same thing by certain captives they had from the army; but with no supply of iron tool [being present] which were ideal for this use, they were compelled to cut around the sod with swords, and to carry away the dirt by hands and cloaks. The number of men was able to be learned from this affair: for they completed their fortifications up to three thousand feet in circumference in less than three hours; they began to make and prepare towers to the height of the walls and various shelters in the remaining days, which the captives had likewise taught [them].

5.43: Fire in the camp, and The Meat Grinder

Septimō oppūgnātiōnis diē māximō coortō ventō ferventēs fūsilī ex argillā glandēs fundīs et fervefacta iacula in casās, quae mōre Gallicō strāmentīs erant tectae, iacere coepērunt. Hae celeriter īgnem comprehendērunt et ventī māgnitūdine in omnem locum castrōrum distulērunt. Hostēs māximō clāmōre, sīcutī partā iam atque explōrātā vīctōriā, turrēs testūdinēsque agere et scālīs vāllum ascendere coepērunt. At tanta mīlitum virtūs atque ea praesentia animī fuit ut, cum undique flammā torrērentur māximāque tēlōrum multitūdine premerentur suaque omnia impedīmenta atque omnēs fōrtūnās cōnflagrāre intellegerent, nōn modō dēmigrandī causā dē vāllō dēcēderet nēmō sed paene nē respiceret quidem quisquam, āc tum omnēs ācerrimē fortissimēque pūgnārent. Hic diēs nostrīs longē gravissimus fuit, sed tamen hunc habuit ēventum ut eō diē māximus numerus hostium vulnerārētur atque interficerētur, ut sē sub ipsō vāllō cōnstīpāverant recessumque prīmīs ūltimī nōn dabant. Paulum quidem intermīssā flammā et quōdam locō turrī adāctā et contingente vāllum, tertiae cohortis centuriōnēs ex eō quō stābant locō recessērunt suōsque omnēs remōvērunt; nūtū vōcibusque hostēs, sī introīre vellent, vocāre coepērunt: quōrum prōgredī ausus est nēmō. Tum ex omnī parte lapidibus coniectīs dēturbātī, turrisque succēnsa est.

On the seventh day of the attack, with a great wind having arisen, they began to throw hot balls of molten white clay from their slings and heated javelins against the [Roman] shelters, which were covered by straw in the Gallic custom. These quickly took fire and the winds spread [it] into all areas of the camp by its violence. The enemies, with a great shout, just as if with victory having already been searched for and achieved, began to place their towers and shelters and to ascend the wall by ladders. But so great was the courage of the soldiers and so great their presence of mind that, although they were scorched by flames from all sides, and were attacked by a vast multitude of spears, and knew that all of their baggage and all of their fortunes were burning, not only did nobody leave from the wall for the sake of retreating but also almost not anyone even looked back, and they all fought most bravely and fiercely then. This day was by far the most grievous for our men, but nevertheless this held the result that on that day the greatest number of enemies had been wounded and killed, since they had crowded themselves under the wall itself and the last [troops] did not give the first [the opportunity for] retreat. With the flames having at last abated a little bit and with a tower having been placed at a certain location and touching the wall, the centurions of the third cohort retired from that place which they were standing and recalled all their men; they began to call on the enemy by gestures and voices, should they wish to enter [to do so]: nobody of them dared to go forth. Then with stones having been thrown from all parts, they were dislodged and the turret was set on fire.

5.44: The tale of Vorenus and Pullo

Erant in eā legiōne fortissimī virī, centuriōnēs, quī prīmīs ōrdinibus appropīnquārent, T. Pullō et L. Vorēnus. Hī perpetuās inter sē contrōversiās habēbant, quīnam anteferrētur, omnibusque annīs dē locīs summīs simultātibus contendēbant. Ex hīs Pullō, cum ācerrimē ad mūnītiōnēs pūgnārētur, 'Quid dubitās,' inquit, 'Vorēne? aut quem locum tuae probandae virtūtis spectās? hīc diēs dē nostrīs contrōversiīs iūdicābit.' Haec cum dīxisset, prōcēdit extrā mūnītiōnēs, quāque pars hostium cōnfertissima est vīsa irrumpit. Nē Vorēnus quidem tum sēsē vāllō continet sed omnium veritus exīstimātiōnem subsequitur. Tum mediocrī spatiō relīctō Pullō pīlum in hostēs immittit, atque ūnum ex multitūdine prōcurrentem trāicit; quō percussō et exanimātō, hunc scūtīs prōtegunt, in hostem tēla ūniversī cōniciunt neque dant regrediendī facultātem. Trānsfīgitur scūtum Pullōnī et verūtum in balteō dēfīgitur. Āvertit hic cāsus vāgīnam et gladium ēdūcere cōnantī dextram morātur manum, impedītumque hostēs circumsistunt. Succurrit inimīcus illī Vorēnus et labōrantī subvenit. Ad hunc sē cōnfestim ā Pullōne omnis multitūdō convertit; illum verūtō arbitrantur occīsum. Gladiō comminus rem gerit Vorēnus, atque ūnō interfectō reliquōs paulum prōpellit: dum cupidius īnstat, in locum dēiectus īnferiōrem concidit. Huic rūrsus circumventō fert subsidium Pullō, atque ambō incolumēs complūribus interfectīs summā cum laude sēsē intrā mūnītiōnēs recipiunt. Sīc fōrtūna in contentiōne et certāmine utrumque versāvit, ut alter alterī inimīcus auxiliō salūtīque esset, neque dīiūdicārī posset, uter utrī virtūte anteferendus vidērētur.

There were in this legion the strongest men, centurions, who were nearing the first rank, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. These men had perpetual arguments between themselves, [about] who would go before [the other], and they struggled every year about their rivalry of the highest place. From these men, Pullo, when it was being fought most harshly at the fortifications, said, “What do you delay for Vorenus? Or what better opportunity for proving your courage do you seek? This day will decide our disagreement.” When he had said this, he went forth beyond the fortifications, and broke into whatever part of the enemy seemed most packed together. Nor then did Vorenus even contain himself to the wall, but followed fearing the judgement of all. Then, with a moderate space having been left, Pullo sent his spear into the enemies and pierced one from the multitude running forth; they protected with their shields this man who was struck and incapacitated, and they threw their spears as one against the enemy and did not give the opportunity for retreating. Pullo’s shield was pierced and a javelin was embedded in his sword belt. This misfortune turned his sheath and delayed the sword hand of the man trying to draw out his sword, and the enemies surrounded the impeded man. His rival Vorenus brought help to him and and came to the aid for the struggling man. The entire multitude immediately turned themselves to him from Pullo; they thought that he was killed by the javelin. Vorenus managed the affair hand to hand with his sword, and, with one having been killed, repelled the test by a little: while pressing on zealously, he fell, slipping down into a lower place. Pullo brought help to him, again having been surrounded, and they both received themselves unharmed into the fortifications with the greatest praise, with a great number having been killed. So fortune dealt with both in struggle and in strife, such that one was for the aid and safety of the other, and it was not able to be decided, [which] one seemed should be preferred to the other with respect to courage.

5.45: Letters to Caesar

Quantō erat in diēs gravior atque asperior oppūgnātiō, et māximē quod māgnā parte mīlitum cōnfectā vulneribus rēs ad paucitātem dēfēnsōrum pervēnerat, tantō crēbriōrēs litterae nūntiīque ad Caesarem mittēbantur; quōrum pars dēprehēnsa in cōnspectū nostrōrum mīlitum cum cruciātū necābātur. Erat ūnus intus Nervius, nōmine Verticō, locō nātus honestō, quī ā prīmā obsidiōne ad Cicerōnem perfūgerat, suamque eī fidem praestiterat. Hic servō spē lībertātis māgnīsque persuādet praemiīs ut litterās ad Caesarem dēferat. Hās ille in iaculō illigātās effert, et Gallus inter Gallōs sine ūllā suspiciōne versātus ad Caesarem pervenit. Ab eō dē perīculīs Cicerōnis legiōnisque cōgnōscitur.

As much was the battle more grave and more serious in the [next] days, and especially because, with a great part of the soldiers having been incapacitated by their wounds, the situation came to a small number of defenders, just as much were messengers and letters sent to Caesar more frequently; a part of which, having been captured, were killed in the sight of our men, with torture. There was one Nervius inside [the camp], Verticus by name, born in an honorable place, who had fled to Cicero at the beginning [of] the siege and had showed his faith to him. He persuaded his servant with the hope of freedom and of great rewards to deliver letters to Caesar. This man carried out these letters, tied up in a javelin, and having travelled without suspicion, a Gaul among Gauls, came to Caesar. From this man, it is discovered about the perils of Cicero and the legion.

5.46: Letters received, and Caesar gathers forces

Caesar, acceptīs litterīs hōrā circiter ūndecimā diēī, statim nūntium in Bellovacōs ad M. Crassum quaestōrem mittit, cūius hīberna aberant ab eō mīlia passuum XXV; iubet mediā nocte legiōnem proficīscī celeriterque ad sē venīre. Exit cum nūntiō Crassus. Alterum ad C. Fabium lēgātum mittit, ut in Atrebātum fīnēs legiōnem addūcat, quā sibi iter faciendum sciēbat. Scrībit Labiēnō, sī reī pūblicae commodō facere posset, cum legiōne ad fīnēs Nerviōrum veniat. Reliquam partem exercitūs, quod paulō aberat longius, nōn putat exspectandam; equitēs circiter quadringentōs ex proximīs hībernīs colligit.

Caesar, with letters having been received around the eleventh hour of the day, immediately sends messengers into the lands of the Bellovaci to the quaestor M. Crassus, whose winter camp was 25 miles away from him; he orders the legion to set out in the middle of the night to come quickly to him. Crassus leaves with the messenger. He [Caesar] sends another [messenger] to C. Fabius the legate, [ordering] that he lead forth his legion into the borders of the Atrebatians, by which [path] he knew the journey must be traveled by himself. He writes to Labienus, should he be able to do something helpful for the republic, he would come with his legion to the borders of the Nervii. He does not think that the remaining part of the army should be awaited, because they were a little bit too far away; he collects around forty cavalry from the nearby winter camps.

5.47: Caesar gathers forces pt. II

Hōrā circiter tertiā ab antecursōribus dē Crassī adventū certior factus, eō diē mīlia passuum XX prōcēdit. Crassum Samarobrīvae praeficit legiōnemque eī attribuit, quod ibi impedīmenta exercitūs, obsidēs cīvitātum, litterās pūblicās, frūmentumque omne quod eō tolerandae hiemis causā dēvēxerat relinquēbat. Fabius, ut imperātum erat, nōn ita multum morātus in itinere cum legiōne occurrit. Labiēnus, interitū Sabīnī et caede cohortium cōgnitā, cum omnēs ad eum Trēverōrum cōpiae vēnissent veritus nē, sī ex hībernīs fugae similem profectiōnem fēcisset, hostium impetum sustinēre nōn posset, praesertim quōs recentī vīctōriā efferrī scīret, litterās Caesarī remittit: quantō cum perīculō legiōnem ex hībernīs ēductūrus esset; rem gestam in Ebūrōnibus perscrībit; docet omnēs equitātūs peditātūsque cōpiās Trēverōrum tria mīlia passuum longē ab suīs castrīs cōnsēdisse.

Around the third hour, having been informed about the arrival of Crassus by a forerunner, he proceeded twenty miles that day. He put Crassus in charge of Samarobriva and assigned his legion to himself, because he left there the baggage of the army, the hostages of the state, the public records, and all the grain which was brought by them for the sake of enduring the winter. Fabius, as he had been ordered, having thus not delayed much, met him with his legion on the journey. Labienus, with the death of Sabinus and the slaughter of the troops having been known, since all the many forces of the Treveri had come to him, fearing that, if he had made a departure from the winter camp, he would not have been able to withstand the attack of the enemies, especially since he knew that they were excited by recent victories, sent letters to Caesar: relating with what great danger he would lead the legion out of the camp; he wrote thoroughly about the thing having happened in the lands of the Eburones; he informed him that all of the many cavalry and footsoldiers of the Treveri had come together three miles away from his camp.

5.48: Caesar arrives at Cicero’s camp

Caesar, cōnsiliō ēius probātō, etsī opīniōne trium legiōnum dēiectus ad duās redierat, tamen ūnum commūnis salūtis auxilium in celeritāte pōnēbat. Vēnit māgnīs itineribus in Nerviōrum fīnēs. Ibī ex captīvīs cōgnōscit quae apud Cicerōnem gerantur quantōque in perīculō rēs sit. Tum cuidam ex equitibus Gallīs māgnīs praemiīs persuādet utī ad Cicerōnem epistolam dēferat. Hanc Graecīs cōnscrīptam litterīs mittit, nē interceptā epistolā nostra ab hostibus cōnsilia cōgnōscantur. Sī adīre nōn possit, monet ut trāgulam cum epistolā ad āmmentum dēligātā intrā mūnītiōnem castrōrum abiciat. In litterīs scrībit sē cum legiōnibus profectum celeriter adfore; hortātur ut prīstinam virtūtem retineat. Gallus perīculum veritus, ut erat praeceptum, trāgulam mittit. Haec cāsū ad turrim adhaesit neque ab nostrīs bīduō animadversa tertiō diē ā quōdam mīlite cōnspicitur, dēmpta ad Cicerōnem dēfertur. Ille perlēctam in conventū mīlitum recitat, māximāque omnēs laetitiā adficit. Tum fūmī incendiōrum procul vidēbantur, quae rēs omnem dubitātiōnem adventūs legiōnum expulit.

Caesar, with his plan having been approved, although his idea of three legions was frustrated, he settled for two, nevertheless he placed the one help for the common safety in speed. He arrived in the borders of the Nervii by great journeys. There he learned from captives what happened among Cicero[‘s territory] and by how much the situation was in danger. Then he persuaded a certain man from the Gallic cavalry with great rewards to carry a letter to Cicero. He sent this written in Greek letters, so that our plan might not be understood by the enemy, with the letter having been intercepted. He instructed him, if is not able to approach, to throw the tragula with the letter tied to the throwing strap within the walls of the camp. In these letters he wrote that he had set out with the legions and would be present quickly; he urged that he [Cicero] maintain his previous courage. The Gaul, fearing danger, as he was instructed, sent the tragula. This stuck to a turret by misfortune, and it was not noticed by our men for two days, on the third day it was seen by a certain soldier, having been taken down, it was carried to Cicero. He recited this, having been thoroughly read, in a convention of the soldiers, and this affected all with the greatest joy. Then the smoke of campfires was seen in the distance, which circumstance expelled all doubt of the arrival of the legions.

Book 6: Druids and Gallic customs

6.13: Druids

In omnī Galliā eōrum hominum quī aliquō sunt numerō atque honōre genera sunt duo. Nam plēbēs paene servōrum habētur locō, quae nihil audet per sē, nūllō adhibētur cōnsiliō. Plērīque, cum aut aere aliēnō aut māgnitūdine tribūtōrum aut iniūriā potentiōrum premuntur, sēsē in servitūtem dicant nōbilibus, quibus in hōs eadem omnia sunt iūra quae dominīs in servōs. Sed dē hīs duōbus generibus alterum est druidum, alterum equitum. Illī rēbus dīvīnīs intersunt, sacrificia pūblica āc prīvāta prōcūrant, religiōnēs interpretantur: ad hōs māgnus adulēscentium numerus disciplīnae causā concurrit, māgnōque hī sunt apud eōs honōre. Nam ferē dē omnibus contrōversiīs pūblicīs prīvātīsque cōnstituunt et, sī quod est admīssum facinus, sī caedēs facta, sī dē hērēditāte, dē fīnibus contrōversia est, īdem dēcernunt, praemia poenāsque cōnstituunt; sī quī aut prīvātus aut populus eōrum dēcrētō nōn stetit, sacrificiīs interdīcunt. Haec poena apud eōs est gravissima. Quibus ita est interdictum, hī numerō impiōrum āc scelerātōrum habentur, hīs omnēs dēcēdunt, aditum sermōnemque dēfugiunt, nē quid ex contāgiōne incommodī accipiant, neque hīs petentibus iūs redditur, neque hōnōs ūllus commūnicātur. Hīs autem omnibus druidibus praeest ūnus, quī summam inter eōs habet auctōritātem. Hōc mortuō, aut sī quī ex reliquīs excellit dīgnitāte succēdit, aut, sī sunt plūrēs parēs, suffrāgiō druidum, nōn numquam etiam armīs dē prīncipātū contendunt. Hī certō annī tempore in fīnibus Carnūtum, quae regiō tōtīus Galliae media habētur, cōnsīdunt in locō cōnsecrātō. Hūc omnēs undique quī contrōversiās habent conveniunt eōrumque dēcrētīs iūdiciīsque pārent. Disciplīna in Britanniā reperta atque inde in Galliam trānslāta esse exīstimātur, et nunc quī dīligentius eam rem cōgnōscere volunt plērumque illō discendī causā profīcīscuntur.

In all of Gaul, there are two kinds of these men, who are of some number and honor. For the plebs are held almost in the place of slaves, who dare nothing through themselves, and are summoned for no counsel. Most people, when they are pressed either by debt, or by the size of taxes, or by the injustice of the more powerful, hand themselves over into servitude to the nobles, who have all the same rights against them, which masters have against slaves. But of these two kinds of men, one is the druids, the other [is] the knights. The former are in charge of divine affairs, they attend to public and private sacrifices, they interpret custom: a great number of young men assemble to these men for the sake of training, and these men are among those of great honor. For they decide on almost all public and private controversies, and, if some crime is committed, if a murder is done, if there is a controversy about inheritance or about borders, they judge likewise, they decide rewards and punishments; if someone either private or public does not stand with their decision, they forbid them from sacrifices. This punishment is the most grave among them. These men, for whom it was thus forbidden, are held in the number of the wicked and criminal, everyone withdraws from these men, they flee from conversation and encounter, so as to not receive any kind of misfortune from contact, and neither is justice delivered to those men seeking it, nor is any honor recognized. Moreover, one man is in charge of all these druids, who has the highest authority between them. With this man having died, either, if someone excels from the rest in worthiness, he succeeds, or, if there are...

...many equals, by the vote of the druids, and not never do they contend for leadership with weapons. These men, at a certain time of year, hold a session in a sacred place, on the borders of the Carnutes, the region which is considered the middle of all of Gaul. To this place all men who have disputes come together from all directions and they obey the decrees and judgements of the druids. The discipline is thought to have originated in Britain and from there to have been brought over into Gaul, and now, those who more diligently wish to know that thing set out to that place especially for the sake of learning.

6.14: Druids pt. II

Druidēs ā bellō abesse cōnsuērunt, neque tribūta ūnā cum reliquīs pendunt; mīlitiae vacātiōnem omniumque rērum habent immūnitātem. Tantīs excitātī praemiīs et suā sponte multī in disciplīnam conveniunt et ā parentibus propīnquīsque mittuntur. Māgnum ibī numerum versuum ēdiscere dīcuntur. Itaque annōs nōn nūllī XX in disciplīnā permanent. Neque fās esse exīstimant ea litterīs mandāre, cum in reliquīs ferē rēbus, pūblicīs prīvātīsque ratiōnibus, Graecīs litterīs ūtantur. Id mihi duābus dē causīs īnstituisse videntur, quod neque in vulgum disciplīnam efferrī velint neque eōs quī discunt litterīs cōnfīsōs minus memoriae studēre; quod ferē plērīsque accidit ut praesidiō litterārum dīligentiam in perdiscendō āc memoriam remittant. In prīmīs hōc volunt persuādēre, nōn interīre animās sed ab aliīs post mortem trānsīre ad aliōs, atque hōc māximē ad virtūtem excitārī putant, metū mortis neglēctō. Multa praetereā dē sīderibus atque eōrum mōtū, dē mundī āc terrārum māgnitūdine, dē rērum nātūrā, dē deōrum immortālium vī āc potestāte disputant et iuventūtī trādunt.

The druids are accustomed to be away from war and do not pay taxes as one with the rest; they have an exemption of military duty and immunity of all affairs. Many men come together into discipline of their own will, excited by such great rewards, and are sent by parents and relatives. They are said to learn a great number of verses there. And so not nobody remains in discipline for twenty years. And they do not think that it is right to entrust these things to letters, although they use Greek letters in nearly all remaining things, in public and private accounts. They seem to me to have established this practice for two causes, because they wish that discipline neither be brought to the common people nor that those who learn relying on letters rely less on memory; and because it happens for nearly very many people that they give up the discipline in learning and memory due to the security of letters. At first, they wish to persuade this thing: that souls do not die, but that they transfer from one to another after death, and so they think that they are excited greatly to bravery by this, with the fear of death having been disregarded. In addition, they dispute many things: about the stars and their movement, about the world and the size of the earth, about the nature of things, about the power and authority of the immortal gods, and they bring them to the youth.

6.15: The Knights

Alterum genus est equitum. Hī, cum est ūsus atque aliquod bellum incidit (quod ferē ante Caesaris adventum quotannīs accidere sōlēbat, utī aut ipsī iniūriās īnferrent aut illātās prōpulsārent), omnēs in bellō versantur; atque eōrum ut quisque est genere cōpiīsque amplissimus, ita plūrimōs circum sē ambactōs clientēsque habet. Hanc ūnam grātiam potentiamque nōvērunt.

The other kind is the knights. These men, when there is the need and when some kind of war breaks out (because it was customary to happen almost every year before the arrival of Caesar that either they themselves inflicted injuries or they avenged inflicted injuries), all live in war; and as one of them is the most distinguished in family and property, so they have many clients and bodyguards around themself. They get to know this one of influence and power.

6.16: Gallic sacrifices, and wicker men

Nātiō est omnis Gallōrum admodum dēdita religiōnibus, atque ob eam causam quī sunt adfectī graviōribus morbīs quīque in proeliīs perīculīsque versantur aut prō victimīs hominēs immolant aut sē immolātūrōs vovent, administrīsque ad ea sacrificia druidibus ūtuntur; quod, prō vītā hominis nisi hominis vīta reddātur, nōn posse deōrum immortālium nūmen plācārī arbitrantur, pūblicēque ēiusdem generis habent īnstitūta sacrificia. Aliī immānī māgnitūdine simulācra habent, quōrum contexta vīminibus membra vīvīs hominibus complent; quibus succēnsīs circumventī flammā exanimantur hominēs. Supplicia eōrum quī in fūrtō aut in latrōciniō aut aliquā noxiā sint comprehēnsī grātiōra dīs immortālibus esse arbitrantur; sed, cum ēius generis cōpia dēfēcit, etiam ad innocentium supplicia dēscendunt.

Each nation of the Gauls is entirely dedicated to superstition, and because of this reason, those who are afflicted by more serious diseases and those who are in battle and danger either sacrifice men in place of animals or offer themselves to be sacrificed, and they use druids as attendants at these sacrifices, because, unless the life of a man is given back for the life of another man, they think that the divine power of the immortal gods is not able to be appeased, and they have publicly established sacrifices of this same kind. Some people have effigies of enormous size, whose limbs, woven with twigs, they fill with living men; with these statues having been set on fire, the men are killed surrounded by flames. They think that the punishments of these men, the sort who have been arrested for theft, or for robbery, or for some other crime, are more pleasing to the immortal gods; but, when the supply of this kind of person is lacking, they even descend to the punishment of innocents.

6.17: Gallic worship

Deum māximē Mercurium colunt. Hūius sunt plūrima simulācra, hunc omnium inventōrem artium ferunt, hunc viārum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestūs pecūniae mercātūrāsque habēre vim māximam arbitrantur. Post hunc Apollinem et Mārtem et Iovem et Minervam. Dē hīs eandem ferē quam reliquae gentēs habent opīniōnem: Apollinem morbōs dēpellere, Minervam operum atque artificiōrum initia trādere, Iovem imperium caelestium tenēre, Mārtem bella regere. Huic, cum proeliō dīmicāre cōnstituērunt, ea quae bellō cēperint plērumque dēvovent: quae superāvērunt, animālia capta immolant, reliquāsque rēs in ūnum locum cōnferunt. Multīs in cīvitātibus hārum rērum exstrūctōs tumulōs locīs cōnsecrātīs cōnspicārī licet, neque saepe accidit ut neglēctā quispiam religiōne aut capta apud sē occultāre aut posita tollere audēret, gravissimumque eī reī supplicium cum cruciātū cōnstitūtum est.

They especially worship the god Mercury. There are very many figures of him: they believe that he is the inventor of all skills, that he is the master of roads and journeys, they think that he has the greatest power for the acquisition of money and trade. After him, they worship Apollo, Mars, Jove, and Minerva. They have nearly the same opinion of these gods that the rest of the tribes have: that Apollo drives out diseases, that Minerva handed down the beginnings of labors and trades, that Jove holds heavenly authority, that Mars controls warfare. They usually devote things, the sort which they seize in warfare, to Mars, when they have decided to fight in battle: once they have won, they sacrifice any captured animals and carry the remaining spoils into one place. It is customary to see mounds of these things having been piled up in sacred locations in many regions; and it does not often happen that anybody dares to either hide captured things in his house or to take these placed things, with custom having been neglected, and the most severe punishment has been established for this crime, with torture.

6.18: The Dark Father, and shameful children

Gallī sē omnēs ab Dīte patre prōgnātōs praedicant, idque ab Druidibus prōditum dīcunt. Ob eam causam spatia omnis temporis nōn numerō diērum sed noctium fīniunt; diēs nātālēs et mēnsum et annōrum initia sīc observant ut noctem diēs subsequātur. In reliquīs vītae īnstitūtīs hōc ferē ab reliquīs differunt quod suōs līberōs, nisi cum adolēvērunt ut mūnus mīlitiae sustinēre possint, palam ad sē adīre nōn patiuntur fīliumque puerīlī aetāte in pūblicō in cōnspectū patris adsistere turpe dūcunt.

The Gauls boast that they are all born from the Dark Father, and they say that this is put forth by the Druids. For this reason. Thy determine the span of all time not by the number of days but by the number of nights; they observe the beginnings of years and months and birthdays such that days follow night. They differ from nearly all the rest in the remaining customs of life with respect to this: because they do not allow that their children openly be around them until they grow up, such that they are able to undertake the duty of the military, and they think that it is shameful for a son at a boyish age to place himself in sight of his father in public.

6.19: Gallic marriages and funerals

Virī quantās pecūniās ab uxōribus dōtis nōmine accēpērunt tantās ex suīs bonīs aestimātiōne factā cum dōtibus commūnicant. Hūius omnis pecūniae coniūnctim ratiō habētur frūctūsque servantur: uter eōrum vītā superārit, ad eum pars utrīusque cum frūctibus superiōrum temporum pervenit. Virī in uxōrēs, sīcutī in līberōs, vītae necisque habent potestātem; et cum pater familiae illūstriōre locō nātus dēcessit, ēius propīnquī conveniunt et, dē morte sī rēs in suspīciōnem vēnit, dē uxōribus in servīlem modum quaestiōnem habent et, sī compertum est, īgnī atque omnibus tormentīs excruciātās interficiunt. Fūnera sunt prō cultū Gallōrum māgnifica et sūmptuōsa; omniaque quae vīvīs cordī fuisse arbitrantur in īgnem īnferunt, etiam animālia: āc paulō suprā hanc memoriam servī et clientēs quōs ab eīs dīlēctōs esse cōnstābat iūstīs fūneribus cōnfectīs ūnā cremābantur.

Husbands receive great sums of money in the name of dowry from their wives, with an estimate having been made from these great things, they bring the same amount for their own dowry. An account is kept of all this money conjointly, and the profits are saved: whichever of them shall have survived [the other] in life, to that one the portion of both comes together with the profits of the previous time. Husbands have the power of life and death over their wives just as as over their children: and when the father of a family, born in a more than illustrious place, has died, his relatives come together, and, if the circumstances of the death come under suspicion, hold an interrogation of the wives in the way of a slave; and, if it is discovered, kill them by fire and by all torments and tortures. Funerals are, for the culture of the Gauls, magnificent and sumptuous; and they cast into the fire all things which they think were to the heart of the living, even animals; and, a little before this period, slaves and clients, who were judged to have been beloved by them, were, after the regular funeral rites were completed, burnt together with them.

6.20: Government censorship

Quae cīvitātēs commodius suam rem pūblicam administrāre exīstimantur habent lēgibus sānctum, sī quis quid dē rē pūblicā ā fīnitimīs rūmōre aut fāmā accēperit, utī ad magistrātum dēferat nēve cum quō aliō commūnicet: quod saepe hominēs temerāriōs atque imperītōs falsīs rūmōribus terrērī et ad facinus impellī et dē summīs rēbus cōnsilium capere cōgnitum est. Magistrātūs quae vīsa sunt occultant, quaeque esse ex ūsū iūdicāvērunt multitūdinī prōdunt. Dē rē pūblicā nisi per concilium loquī nōn concēditur.

Those states which are considered to conduct their government more conveniently, have it declared by their sacred laws, that, should any person receive by rumor and report from his neighbors anything about the government, he would carry it to the magistrate, and not communicate it to any other; because it is understood that cowardly and inexperienced men are often scared by false reports, and are impelled to some rash action, and take up hasty measures in affairs of the highest importance. The magistrates conceal those things which seem should be kept unknown; and they disclose to the people whatever they judge to be for use. It is not permitted to speak about the government, except through council.