From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (22 page)

When by the
lex Vatinia
in 59 (p. 98) Caesar received the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, he must have been well satisfied. Cisalpine Gaul provided a fine recruiting ground and it was near enough to Rome to allow him to keep in touch with political events. He had in fact to fight on two fronts: while campaigning in the north he must defend and consolidate his political standing in Rome against all attacks. Further, Illyricum offered him the prospect of campaigning against Burebistas, king of the Dacians (living in what is now Romania), who had created an extensive empire in the Danubian lands and threatened the frontiers of Macedonia.
²
Since Caesar concentrated three of his four legions at Aquileia he appears to have intended to deal with this potential menace to the north-east frontiers of the Roman empire, where he might possibly have anticipated the achievement of Augustus. But when the Senate suddenly added Transalpine Gaul to his other provinces, the direction of his interest turned rather to the north-west.

Since the defeat of the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae by Marius, conditions in Gallia Transalpina had not been very happy: Roman
publicani
and businessmen followed the armies, and Cicero in the speech which he delivered in defence of M. Fonteius, who had been governor
c.
76–74 after a revolt stimulated by Sertorius’ successes, reveals how heavy was the burden of the unfortunate provincials: ‘Not a single sesterce in Gaul ever changes hands without being entered in the account-books of Roman citizens.’ The governorship of L. Murena (64–63), who had Clodius on his staff, was not a happier period, and so unsatisfactory was the Roman response to an appeal for relief from debt from the Allobroges, whose envoys had made contact
with the Catilinarian conspirators, that they rebelled (61) but were reduced after the destruction of Valentia (Valence).

Outer Gaul, or Gallia Comata (‘long-haired Gaul’) as the Romans called it, was a vast country. Its population was mixed but predominantly Celtic;
³
there was a substratum of pre-Celtic Iberians and Ligurians, but the Celts, who had come in from over the Rhine (from
c.
800 B.C.), occupied most of the land. The Belgae, another group of Celts (with some German admixture), settled north of the Seine and Marne about 200, and not very long before Caesar’s day some of them had crossed the Channel and settled in S.E. Britain. The civilization of the Gauls was mixed, in some respects advanced, in others backward. They practised agriculture and stock-breeding, mining and metallurgy. They made use of the fine river system to develop commerce, stimulated at first no doubt by the example of the Greek colony of Massilia near the mouth of the Rhone; and for trade they used coinage, both Greek and native copies. Their predominant language was naturally Celtic, but they did not know writing, except the Druids who used a Greek script. They had developed some small town centres (e.g. Avaricum = Bourges; Cenabum = Orleans), but they were politically backward. Most of their clans (
pagi
) had united into tribes (
civitates
) which were often at war with one another. Tribal kings survived among the Belgae and in Britain, but elsewhere they had mostly been replaced by aristocracies with one or more annual magistrates. The bulk of the population was probably in a state of semi-serfdom.

The nobility to some extent shared political power and wealth with the Druids, a privileged religious hierarchy which was excused from taxation and military service.
⁴
These priests, who met annually under an arch-Druid in the district of the Carnutes, took a large part in the administration of justice, but they probably did not greatly help the political unification of the country because they may have been divided among themselves as were the nobles. Their religious views are obscure, but they believed in the immortality of the soul, indulged in human sacrifice, and worshipped their gods in groves without temples or images.

Since the Gauls lacked political unity, their military efforts were naturally weakened by lack of organization, by tribal rivalries, and by a desire to scatter after battle for plunder or to return home. Their main arm was cavalry, though the Helvetii and Nervii still relied much on infantry; the war-chariot had gone out of use in Gaul, though not in Britain. The serfs and retainers of the nobles were not well-trained or disciplined. Thus Caesar may have hoped for easy victory.

Roman intervention resulted from two tribal movements, those of the Germanic Suebi, led by Ariovistus, and of the Celtic Helvetii. These two peoples had long been in hostile contact. From about 400 B.C. the Helvetii had occupied an area south of the Maine and east of the Rhine (Baden,
Wurttemberg, and part of Bavaria) until at the end of the second century they had been driven southwards into Switzerland by the German Suebi who in their expansion south-west reached the Rhine. Even in their new home the Helvetii were subjected to constant German pressure from the north. Soon, however, the Suebi were offered a chance to advance into Gaul. The strongest tribe in central Gaul, the Aedui (south-west of Dijon), who were friends of Rome, were at logger-heads with their easterly neighbours, the Sequani. The latter short-sightedly invited the Suebic Ariovistus to come to their help from over the Rhine. Nothing loth, he came and assisted them to defeat the Aedui, but then he settled down in Alsace with large numbers of his German followers, and refused to budge despite pressure from the Sequani and Aedui whom this common threat now united. The Aedui then appealed to their Roman friends, but the Senate failed to follow up an initial promise of help, and two years later Ariovistus was even recognized as a Friend of the Roman People, perhaps as a temporizing measure. The second disturbance arose from the Helvetii (in Switzerland); feeling German pressure from Alsace and from over the Rhine, they decided to seek new homes in western Gaul by a mass migration. This was planned to start in 58 and to pass peacefully through Roman territory near Geneva.

In the spring of 58 news reached Caesar that the Helvetii had burned their homes and were on the move, their men, women and children numbering over a third of a million. With one legion he hastened to block their route just west of Geneva and thus forced them northwards through the territory of the Sequani. He followed, joined soon by five more legions. His motives in thus seeking war with the Helvetii must remain uncertain, whether the desire for personal military glory or a genuine conviction that only by such action could the future safety of the frontiers of the Roman province be safeguarded; at any rate he rejected any attempt at a purely diplomatic settlement, as for instance an effort to unite the Gallic tribes against Ariovistus and the Germans. His excuse might be the Helvetian attack on his troops near Geneva or that on the Aedui after they had crossed the Saône. However that may be, he followed them up until he had to turn aside for supplies to the Aeduan capital of Bibracte (near Autun). The Helvetii, who unexpectedly followed him there, were decisively beaten after a tense struggle, but for the most part they were allowed to return to their original country, where they would help to cover the Roman province against German pressure.

Caesar was now urged by the Gauls to eject Ariovistus, whose earlier request to become a Friend of the Roman People Caesar himself had supported. This may not have worried Caesar unduly, but in any case Ariovistus
made hostilities easier when in an interview later he insulted Caesar with some home-truths, including a reminder that Caesar’s death would rejoice many a noble in Rome. Caesar then occupied Vesontio (Besançon), where for a moment his men wavered until they were recalled to duty by his threat to advance alone with his crack legion, the Tenth; never again during his Gallic campaigns did his troops falter. Confidence restored, he advanced through the Belfort Gap and along the eastern slopes of the Vosges until he encountered Ariovistus’ force (perhaps near Cernay). After a tough struggle, which was only saved when young P. Crassus on his own initiative threw in the reserves on the left wing at the decisive moment, the Germans fled defeated to the Rhine; Ariovistus died soon afterwards.

Caesar put his troops into winter quarters at Vesontio outside his own province, and returned to Cisalpine Gaul. He may have believed that a withdrawal would provoke a fresh German invasion: at any rate, he was clearly taking over responsibility for the Rhine frontier and virtual control of the lands of the Aedui and Sequani. When news reached him that the great confederacy of the Belgae in the north-east was making military preparations, no doubt in anticipation of further Roman advances, he raised two more legions in Cisalpine Gaul and in 57 marched against them. He established a bridge-head over the Aisne, where he gained the support of the Remi, and the Belgae who despite their numbers failed to organize a full-scale assault on his position gradually dispersed. The Suessiones (near Soissons), Bellovaci (around Beauvais) and Ambiani (near Amiens) submitted, but the Nervii further north (at Hainault) resisted and nearly defeated Caesar on the Sambre: however, he snatched victory from defeat, ‘that day he overcame the Nervii’. Meantime young Crassus had advanced through Normandy and Brittany without real opposition. Thus in two years the greater part of Gaul had been over-run, if not conquered, and Cicero in Rome well might move that a public thanksgiving (
supplicatio
) of 15 days, an unprecedented length, be decreed by the Senate for Caesar’s achievements.

In 56 it became clear that Gaul was by no means conquered. Caesar himself had to hurry off to Luca, where he reached the agreement by which his command would be prolonged until at least the end of 50: he could now plan on wider lines. Meantime the Veneti (in Brittany) had repented of their submission, especially when they heard rumours that Caesar might invade Britain and thus interfere with their cross-Channel trade. The Morini (opposite Dover) and the Menapii (at the mouth of the Rhine) also were restless, and another German invasion was feared. Caesar sent Labienus to watch the Germans and Belgae, while Q. Sabinus overran Normandy, and P. Crassus reduced the Aquitani in the south-west between the Garonne and Pyrenees. Caesar himself moved against the Veneti, but could achieve nothing by land, since most of their settlements were on peninsulas. At last a fleet
under Decimus Brutus was made ready. In a naval action in Quiberon Bay the lighter Roman ships were at a disadvantage against the heavy oaken ocean-going vessels of the Veneti, until they managed to cut the enemy’s rigging with scythes fixed on long poles: entirely dependent on sail, the Venetic ships were then at the mercy of the Roman oared fleet. Caesar took savage deterrent action against the Veneti: their councillors were executed and the population sold into slavery. Then he advanced against the Morini in Flanders, but their marshes saved them.

Two tribes, the Usipetes and Tencteri, who had been driven westwards over the Rhine by the Suebi, formed Caesar’s next victims. When they refused his offer of land on the east of the Rhine, he annihilated them, probably near Xanten, and barbarously massacred their women and children. In Rome Cato proposed that Caesar should be handed over to the Germans, but his moral indignation will have been reinforced by political motives, and he achieved nothing. Caesar’s terrible warnings to the Germans that they must keep to their side of the Rhine was strengthened by a Roman demonstration on the east bank. Skilled engineers built a trestle bridge over the river (near Andernach or the Lorelei) in ten days, but the army that crossed over met no massed enemy and after ravaging the lands of the Sugambri, returned after eighteen days, destroying the bridge behind it.

Though it was late in the summer (55) Caesar launched his first attack across the Channel on Britain.
⁶
His excuse might be the help that British tribes had given to the Gauls, but he will not have been unmindful of the glory that Pompey gained from conquests on the fringe of the known world, nor of the mineral wealth of the island. The Belgic tribes in the south-east had made considerable material progress, and apart from the old trade in Cornish tin, the island was reputed to be rich in pearls and precious metals. The invasion was brief. In face of the Britons Caesar effected a landing (near Deal?) with two legions, and the tribal chiefs in Kent submitted, but a storm wrecked his ships which were drawn up on the open beach; yet he succeeded in holding off hostile attacks, refitted his fleet and reached Bologne just before the equinox.

In 54 he returned to Britain with five legions and 2000 Gallic cavalry. Marching inland he met and defeated the Kentish forces near Canterbury, but had to return to the coast where his fleet had again been wrecked: he had not discovered an adequate harbour nor learnt the lesson of the previous year. He now turned to meet the Belgic chiefs who united their forces under Cassivellaunus, king of the Catuvellauni in Hertfordshire. After forcing the Thames, Caesar received the submission of the Trinovantes in Essex,
who were hostile to Cassivellaunus, and stormed the king’s stronghold (at Wheathampstead). Cassivellaunus then gave in, but there is no evidence to show that he ever provided the hostages and tribute that he promised. Caesar returned to Gaul, knowing that with S.E. Britain in a state of nominal submission he had at least paved the way for future conquest in the island if that was desired, but other matters claimed his attention.

Gaul was restless. Even before the second British expedition there had been trouble among the Treveri and the Aeduan leader Dumnorix had been killed for disloyalty. Caesar was therefore compelled to spread his forces over a wide area of N.E. Gaul for the coming winter (54/3). Ambiorix, king of the Eburones (in the Ardennes) struck first and after treacherously luring the troops under Sabinus and Cotta out of their camp at Atuatuca (near Liège) he destroyed them. The Nervii tried the same trick on Q. Cicero (the orator’s brother), but he wisely stood siege in his camp until relieved by Caesar who hastened up from his headquarters at Samarobriva (Amiens). Labienus managed to suppress the Treveri. During the winter Caesar increased his force to ten legions by raising two new ones and borrowing another from Pompey. In the course of the year he reduced the disunited rebels, the Senones, Carnutes, Menapii and Eburones; he also crossed the Rhine again. By devastating the country of the Eburones and executing some other leaders he attempted to overawe all opposition, but he probably sensed that all was not well.

News of disturbances in Rome after the death of Clodius in 52 encouraged a vast rising in central Gaul, which at last found a true leader in the Arvernian chief Vercingetorix. Caesar hastened back from Cisalpine Gaul, where he had spent the winter, but he reached his army at Agedincum (Sens) only with difficulty, coming through the thick snows of the Cevennes and eluding Vercingetorix, who in vain tried to force a scorched-earth policy on his supporters. After attacking and finally storming Avaricum (Bourges), Caesar sent Labienus against the Senones and Parisii and himself marched against Gergovia (near Clermont-Ferrand), but in attempting to storm the fortress he met with his first real defeat at the hands of the Gauls. This encouraged the Aedui to join the revolt. Caesar linked up with Labienus, who had won a victory near Lutetia (Paris) and then moved south, but on the way, perhaps near Vix, he fell in with Vercingetorix whom he worsted and forced into the hill-town of Alesia. Around this isolated hill Caesar built a double ring of the earthworks, one to keep Vercingetorix in, the other facing outwards against the inevitable Gallic army of relief.
⁷
This finally arrived, a quarter of a million strong if Caesar is to be believed, but its attack on his lines failed; it then withdrew and Vercingetorix surrendered in an attempt to save his men. After
six years in captivity this great champion of Gallic freedom was led in Caesar’s triumph and then executed.

After this titanic struggle the Aedui and Arverni submitted, but some other tribes fought on, perhaps in the knowledge that Caesar’s command would soon end. The Bellovaci were not conquered until in 51 Caesar moved up seven legions against them, while some survivors from a defeated force of tribes in the west took refuge in the almost impregnable hill of Uxellodunum (north of the Dordogne) where they held out until Caesar cut off their water supply. One of the Gallic guerrilla leaders was Commius, whom Caesar in 57 had made king of the Atrebates and thereafter had used as an agent especially in Britain; he now managed to escape and fled finally to Britain, where he established a dynasty of the British Atrebates in Hampshire. Caesar spent the rest of the year and the next (50) trying to heal the savage wounds that he had inflicted on Gaul: in this he proved as successful as in war. He imposed a moderate tribute, which he left to the Gauls themselves to collect, and he left their tribal institutions alone. This conciliatory policy, though parallel to the
clementia
that he later showed to his political enemies in Rome, doubtless derived some support from the consideration that he would need a contented Gaul if he were to cross swords with the senatorial government. And for this struggle, if it came, he had won a devoted army, wealth and a reputation in arms to equal Pompey.

Few men could have achieved Caesar’s success, which was perhaps only made possible within so short a period by the disunity of the Gauls themselves and, until Vercingetorix arose, by the lack of an accepted leader. Even Caesar, in more than one engagement, saw victory almost slipping from his grasp, and the Gauls’ last desperate effort at Alesia long trembled in the balance. By common consent he is one of the world’s greatest soldiers, and clearly his qualities can not be fully appreciated in a brief sketch of his campaigns, whether his strategic and tactical brilliance, his famous
celeritas
, his organization of supplies, his use of engineering skills, or his drive and personal magnetism which inspired all ranks. All these he needed to enable the better-armed and disciplined legionaries to overcome brave men who were fighting for their liberty.

The Gauls fought for freedom, but freedom for what? There is little to suggest that, if left alone, they would have composed their internal rivalries and have given their land peace instead of warfare. Indeed, if Rome had not stepped in, the Germans would probably have done so; and they would have brought, not a higher civilization, but a retrogression to barbarism. Whether Caesar, who did not shrink from ruthlessness and atrocity when he regarded these as necessary, always judged the need aright, unbiased by personal considerations and ambition, cannot be said with confidence. Roman civilization might have infiltrated into Gaul more peacefully, but only if the Germans
did not flood over the Rhine. As it was, a generation bled, suffered and died, but the succeeding one enjoyed peace, thanks to their predecessors’ sacrifice and to the wisdom of their conqueror’s final settlement. His conquest of Gaul represents a vital act in world history: central Europe was opened up to Mediterranean civilization, and on the Celtic foundation there grew up a peaceful Latin civilization; this was made possible by Rome’s hold on the Rhine frontier and it became so deeply rooted that, when the frontier finally broke as the Roman Empire itself collapsed centuries later, it survived the Germanic flood that followed and France emerged into the modern world as a Latin country. In that sense Caesar was the founder of France.