-
Of the Helvetii [lit. of the heads of the
Helvetii]
- 263,000 Of the Tulingi
- 36,000 Of the Latobrigi
- 14,000 Of the Rauraci
- 23,000 Of the Boii
- 32,000 The sum of all amounted to
- 368,000
1.
All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani
another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls, the third. All these
differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the
Aquitani; the
Marne
and the
Seine
separate them from the Belgae. Of all these, the
Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the
civilization and refinement of [our] Province, and merchants least frequently
resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind; and
they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond
the
Rhine
, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel
them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. One
part of these, which it has been said that the Gauls
occupy, takes its beginning at the river
Rhone
; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the ocean, and
the territories of the Belgae; it borders, too, on the side of the
Sequani and the Helvetii, upon the
river
Rhine
, and stretches toward the north. The Belgae rises from the
extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part
of the river
Rhine
; and look toward the north and the rising sun.
Aquitania
extends from the river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains and to that part of the ocean which
is near Spain: it looks between the
setting of the sun, and the north star. 2.
Among the Helvetii, Orgetorix was by far
the most distinguished and wealthy. He, when Marcus Messala and
Marcus Piso were consuls [61 B.C.],
incited by lust of sovereignty, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, and
persuaded the people to go forth from their territories with all their
possessions, [saying] that it would be very easy, since they excelled all in
valor, to acquire the supremacy of the whole of Gaul. To this he
the more easily persuaded them, because the Helvetii,
are confined on every side by the nature of their situation; on one side by the
Rhine
, a very broad and deep river, which separates the Helvetian
territory from the Germans; on a second side by the
Jura
, a very high mountain, which is [situated] between the
Sequani and the Helvetii; on a third
by the Lake of Geneva, and
by the river Rhone, which separates our
Province from the Helvetii. From these circumstances
it resulted, that they could range less widely, and could less easily make war
upon their neighbors; for which reason men fond of war [as they were] were
affected with great regret. They thought, that considering the extent of their
population, and their renown for warfare and bravery, they had but narrow
limits, although they extended in length 240, and in breadth 180 [Roman] miles. 3.
Induced by these considerations, and influenced by the authority of
Orgetorix, they determined to provide such things as were
necessary for their expedition-to buy up as great a number as possible of beasts
of burden and wagons-to make their sowings as large as possible, so that on
their march plenty of corn might be in store-and to establish peace and
friendship with the neighboring states. They reckoned that a term of two years
would be sufficient for them to execute their designs; they fix by decree their
departure for the third year. Orgetorix is chosen to complete these
arrangements. He took upon himself the office of embassador to the states: on
this journey he persuades Casticus, the son of
Catamantaledes (one of the Sequani, whose father
had possessed the sovereignty among the people for many years, and had been
styled "friend" by the senate of the Roman people),
to seize upon the sovereignty in his own state, which his father had held before
him, and he likewise persuades Dumnorix, an Aeduan,
the brother of Divitiacus, who at that time possessed the chief
authority in the state, and was exceedingly beloved by the people, to attempt
the same, and gives him his daughter in marriage. He proves to them that to
accomplish their attempts was a thing very easy to be done, because he himself
would obtain the government of his own state; that there was no doubt that the
Helvetii were the most powerful of the whole of
Gaul; he assures them that he will, with his own forces and his own
army, acquire the sovereignty for them. Incited by this speech, they give a
pledge and oath to one another, and hope that, when they have seized the
sovereignty, they will, by means of the three most powerful and valiant nations,
be enabled to obtain possession of the whole of Gaul. 4.
When this scheme was disclosed to the Helvetii by
informers, they, according to their custom, compelled Orgetorix to
plead his cause in chains; it was the law that the penalty of being burned by
fire should await him if condemned. On the day appointed for the pleading of his
cause, Orgetorix drew together from all quarters to the court, all
his vassals to the number of ten thousand persons; and led together to the same
place all his dependents and debtor-bondsmen, of whom he had a great number; by
means of those he rescued himself from [the necessity of] pleading his cause.
While the state, incensed at this act, was endeavoring to assert its right by
arms, and the magistrates were mustering a large body of men from the country,
Orgetorix died; and there is not wanting a suspicion, as the
Helvetii think, of his having committed suicide.
5.
After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempt to
do that which they had resolved on, namely, to go forth from their territories.
When they thought that they were at length prepared for this undertaking, they
set fire to all their towns, in number about twelve-to their villages about four
hundred-and to the private dwellings that remained; they burn up all the corn,
except what they intend to carry with them; that after destroying the hope of a
return home, they might be the more ready for undergoing all dangers. They order
every one to carry forth from home for himself provisions for three months,
ready ground. They persuade the Rauraci, and the
Tulingi, and the Latobrigi, their neighbors, to
adopt the same plan, and after burning down their towns and villages, to set out
with them: and they admit to their party and unite to themselves as confederates
the Boii, who had dwelt on the other side of the
Rhine
, and had crossed over into the Norican territory, and
assaulted Noreia. 6.
There were in all two routes, by which they could go forth from their country one
through the Sequani narrow and difficult, between Mount Jura and the river Rhone (by which scarcely
one wagon at a time could be led; there was, moreover, a very high mountain
overhanging, so that a very few might easily intercept them; the other, through
our Province, much easier and freer from obstacles, because the Rhone flows between the boundaries of the Helvetii and those of the Allobroges, who had lately
been subdued, and is in some places crossed by a ford. The furthest town of the
Allobroges, and the nearest to the territories of the Helvetii, is Geneva. From this town a bridge extends to the Helvetii. They thought that they should either persuade the
Allobroges, because they did not seem as yet well-affected
toward the Roman people, or compel them by force to
allow them to pass through their territories. Having provided every thing for
the expedition, they appoint a day, on which they should all meet on the bank of
the Rhone. This day was the
fifth before the kalends of April [i.e. the 28th of
March], in the consulship of Lucius Piso and
Aulus Gabinius [B.C. 58.] 7.
When it was reported to Caesar that they were attempting
to make their route through our Province he hastens to set out from the city,
and, by as great marches as he can, proceeds to Further Gaul, and arrives
at Geneva. He orders the whole Province [to furnish] as great a number
of soldiers as possible, as there was in all only one legion in Further Gaul: he orders the bridge at
Geneva
to be broken down. When the Helvetii are
apprized of his arrival they send to him, as embassadors, the most illustrious
men of their state (in which embassy Numeius and
Verudoctius held the chief place), to say "that it was their
intention to march through the Province without doing any harm, because they
had" [according to their own representations,] "no other route: that they
requested, they might be allowed to do so with his consent." Caesar, inasmuch as he kept in remembrance that Lucius
Cassius, the consul, had been slain, and his army routed and made to
pass under the yoke by the Helvetii, did not think
that [their request] ought to be granted: nor was he of opinion that men of
hostile disposition, if an opportunity of marching through the Province were
given them, would abstain from outrage and mischief. Yet, in order that a period
might intervene, until the soldiers whom he had ordered [to be furnished] should
assemble, he replied to the ambassadors, that he would take time to deliberate;
if they wanted any thing, they might return on the day before the ides of
April [on April 12th]. 8.
Meanwhile, with the legion which he had with him and the soldiers which had
assembled from the Province, he carries along for nineteen [Roman, not quite eighteen English] miles a wall, to the
height of sixteen feet, and a trench, from the Lake of
Geneva, which flows into the river Rhone, to
Mount Jura, which separates
the territories of the Sequani from those of the Helvetii. When that work was finished, he distributes
garrisons, and closely fortifies redoubts, in order that he may the more easily
intercept them, if they should attempt to cross over against his will. When the
day which he had appointed with the embassadors came, and they returned to him;
he says, that he can not, consistently with the custom and precedent of the
Roman people, grant any one a passage through the
Province; and he gives them to understand, that, if they should attempt to use
violence he would oppose them. The Helvetii, disappointed in this
hope, tried if they could force a passage (some by means of a bridge of boats
and numerous rafts constructed for the purpose; others, by the fords of the
Rhone, where the depth of
the river was least, sometimes by day, but more frequently by night), but being
kept at bay by the strength of our works, and by the concourse of the soldiers,
and by the missiles, they desisted from this attempt. 9.
There was left one way, [namely] through the Sequani, by which, on
account of its narrowness, they could not pass without the consent of the
Sequani. As they could not of themselves prevail on them, they
send embassadors to Dumnorix the Aeduan, that through
his intercession, they might obtain their request from the Sequani.
Dumnorix, by his popularity and liberality, had great influence
among the Sequani, and was friendly to the Helvetii, because out of that state he had married the daughter of
Orgetorix; and, incited by lust of sovereignty, was anxious for
a revolution, and wished to have as many states as possible attached to him by
his kindness toward them. He, therefore, undertakes the affair, and prevails
upon the Sequani to allow the Helvetii
to march through their territories, and arranges that they should give hostages
to each other-the Sequani not to obstruct the Helvetii in their march-the Helvetii, to
pass without mischief and outrage. 10.
It is again told Caesar, that the Helvetii intended to march through the country of the
Sequani and the Aedui into the territories of the
Santones, which are not far distant from those boundaries of
the Tolosates, which [viz.
Tolosa
, Toulouse] is a
state in the Province. If this took place, he saw that it would be attended with
great danger to the Province to have warlike men, enemies of the Roman people, bordering upon an open and very fertile
tract of country. For these reasons he appointed Titus Labienus,
his lieutenant, to the command of the fortification which he had made. He
himself proceeds to Italy by forced marches,
and there levies two legions, and leads out from winter-quarters three which
were wintering around
Aquileia
, and with these five legions marches rapidly by the nearest route across
the
Alps
into Further Gaul. Here the
Centrones and the Graioceli and the
Caturiges, having taken possession of the higher parts, attempt
to obstruct the army in their march. After having routed these in several
battles, he arrives in the territories of the Vocontii in the
Further Province on the seventh day from Ocelum,
which is the most remote town of the Hither Province; thence he
leads his army into the country of the Allobroges, and from the
Allobroges to the Segusiani. These people are the
first beyond the Province on the opposite side of the
Rhone
. 11.
The Helvetii had by this time led their forces over through the
narrow defile and the territories of the Sequani, and had arrived
at the territories of the Aedui, and were ravaging their lands. The
Aedui, as they could not defend themselves and their
possessions against them, send embassadors to Caesar to
ask assistance, [pleading] that they had at all times so well deserved of the
Roman people, that their fields ought not to have
been laid waste-their children carried off into slavery-their towns stormed,
almost within sight of our army. At the same time the Ambarri, the
friends and kinsmen of the Aedui, apprize Caesar, that it was not easy for them, now that their fields had
been devastated, to ward off the violence of the enemy from their towns: the
Allobroges likewise, who had villages and possessions on the
other side of the
Rhone
, betake themselves in flight to Caesar, and
assure him that they had nothing remaining, except the soil of their land. Caesar, induced by these circumstances, decides, that he
ought not to wait until the Helvetii, after
destroying all the property of his allies, should arrive among the
Santones. 12.
There is a river [called] the
Saone
, which flows through the territories of the Aedui and
Sequani into the
Rhone
with such incredible slowness, that it can not be determined by the eye
in which direction it flows. This the Helvetii were
crossing by rafts and boats joined together. When Caesar was informed by spies that the Helvetii had already conveyed three parts of their forces across
that river, but that the fourth part was left behind on this side of the
Saone
, he set out from the camp with three legions during the third watch, and
came up with that division which had not yet crossed the river. Attacking them
encumbered with baggage, and not expecting him, he cut to pieces a great part of
them; the rest betook themselves to flight, and concealed themselves in the
nearest woods. That canton [which was cut down] was called the
Tigurine; for the whole Helvetian state is divided
into four cantons. This single canton having left their country, within the
recollection of our fathers, had slain Lucius Cassius the consul,
and had made his army pass under the yoke. Thus, whether by chance, or by the
design of the immortal gods, that part of the Helvetian state which
had brought a signal calamity upon the Roman people,
was the first to pay the penalty. In this Caesar
avenged not only the public but also his own personal wrongs, because the
Tigurini had slain Lucius Piso the lieutenant [of
Cassius], the grandfather of Lucius Calpurnius
Piso, his [Caesar's] father-in-law, in the same battle
as Cassius himself. 13.
This battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the remaining forces of
the Helvetii, he procures a bridge to be made across
the
Saone
, and thus leads his army over. The Helvetii, confused by
his sudden arrival, when they found that he had effected in one day, what they,
themselves had with the utmost difficulty accomplished in twenty namely, the
crossing of the river, send embassadors to him; at the head of which embassy was
Divico, who had been commander of the Helvetii, in the war against Cassius. He thus treats
with Caesar:-that, "if the Roman people would make peace with the Helvetii they would go to that part and there remain, where Caesar might appoint and desire them to be; but if he
should persist in persecuting them with war that he ought to remember both the
ancient disgrace of the Roman people and the
characteristic valor of the Helvetii. As to his
having attacked one canton by surprise, [at a time] when those who had crossed
the river could not bring assistance to their friends, that he ought not on that
account to ascribe very much to his own valor, or despise them; that they had so
learned from their sires and ancestors, as to rely more on valor than on
artifice and stratagem. Wherefore let him not bring it to pass that
the place, where they were standing, should acquire a name, from the disaster of
the Roman people and the destruction of their army or
transmit the remembrance [of such an event to posterity]." 14.
To these words Caesar thus replied:-that "on that very
account he felt less hesitation, because he kept in remembrance those
circumstances which the Helvetian embassadors had mentioned, and
that he felt the more indignant at them, in proportion as they had happened
undeservedly to the Roman people: for if they had
been conscious of having done any wrong, it would not have been difficult to be
on their guard, but for that very reason had they been deceived, because neither
were they aware that any offense had been given by them, on account of which
they should be afraid, nor did they think that they ought to be afraid without
cause. But even if he were willing to forget their former outrage, could he also
lay aside the remembrance of the late wrongs, in that they had against his will
attempted a route through the Province by force, in that they had molested the
Aedui, the Ambarri, and the
Allobroges? That as to their so insolently boasting of their
victory, and as to their being astonished that they had so long committed their
outrages with impunity, [both these things] tended to the same point; for the
immortal gods are wont to allow those persons whom they wish to punish for their
guilt sometimes a greater prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may
suffer the more severely from a reverse of circumstances. Although these things
are so, yet, if hostages were to be given him by them in order that he may be
assured these will do what they promise, and provided they will give
satisfaction to the Aedui for the outrages which they had committed
against them and their allies, and likewise to the Allobroges, he
[Caesar] will make peace with them."
Divico replied, that "the Helvetii
had been so trained by their ancestors, that they were accustomed to receive,
not to give hostages; of that fact the Roman people
were witness." Having given this reply, he withdrew. 15.
On the following day they move their camp from that place; Caesar does the same, and sends forward all his cavalry, to the
number of four thousand (which he had drawn together from all parts of the
Province and from the Aedui and their allies), to observe toward
what parts the enemy are directing their march. These, having too eagerly
pursued the enemy's rear, come to a battle with the cavalry of the Helvetii in a disadvantageous place, and a few of our
men fall. The Helvetii, elated with this battle, because they had
with five hundred horse repulsed so large a body of horse, began to face us more
boldly, sometimes too from their rear to provoke our men by an attack. Caesar [however] restrained his men from battle, deeming
it sufficient for the present to prevent the enemy from rapine, forage, and
depredation. They marched for about fifteen days in such a manner that there was
not more than five or six miles between the enemy's rear and our van. 16.
Meanwhile, Caesar kept daily importuning the
Aedui for the corn which they had promised in the name of their
state; for, in consequence of the coldness (Gaul, being as before said,
situated toward the north), not only was the corn in the fields not ripe, but
there was not in store a sufficiently large quantity even of fodder: besides he
was unable to use the corn which he had conveyed in ships up the river
Saone
, because the Helvetii, from whom he was
unwilling to retire had diverted their march from the
Saone
. The Aedui kept deferring from day to day, and saying that
it was being collected-brought in-on the road." When he saw that he was put off
too long, and that the day was close at hand on which he ought to serve out the
corn to his soldiers;-having called together their chiefs, of whom he had a
great number in his camp, among them Divitiacus and
Liscus who was invested with the chief magistracy (whom the
Aedui style the Vergobretus, and who is elected
annually and has power of life or death over his countrymen), he severely
reprimands them, because he is not assisted by them on so urgent an occasion,
when the enemy were so close at hand, and when [corn] could neither be bought
nor taken from the fields, particularly as, in a great measure urged by their
prayers, he had undertaken the war; much more bitterly, therefore does he
complain of his being forsaken. 17.
Then at length Liscus, moved by Caesar's
speech, discloses what he had hitherto kept secret:-that there are some whose
influences with the people is very great, who, though private men, have more
power than the magistrates themselves: that these by seditions and violent
language are deterring the populace from contributing the corn which they ought
to supply; [by telling them] that, if they can not any longer retain the
supremacy of Gaul, it were better to submit
to the government of Gauls than of Romans, nor ought they to doubt that, if the Romans should overpower the Helvetii, they would wrest their freedom from the Aedui
together with the remainder of Gaul. By these very men, [said
he], are our plans and whatever is done in the camp, disclosed to the enemy;
that they could not be restrained by him: nay more, he was well aware, that
though compelled by necessity, he had disclosed the matter to Caesar, at how great a risk he had done it; and for that reason, he
had been silent as long as he could." 18.
Caesar perceived that by this speech of
Liscus, Dumnorix, the brother of
Divitiacus, was indicated; but, as he was unwilling that these
matters should be discussed while so many were present, he speedily dismisses:
the council, but detains Liscus: he inquires from him when alone,
about those things which he had said in the meeting. He [Liscus]
speaks more unreservedly and boldly. He [Caesar] makes inquiries on
the same points privately of others, and discovered that it is all true; that
"Dumnorix is the person, a man of the highest daring, in great
favor with the people on account of his liberality, a man eager for a
revolution: that for a great many years he has been in the habit of contracting
for the customs and all the other taxes of the Aedui at a small
cost, because when he bids, no one dares to bid against him. By these means he
has both increased his own private property, and amassed great means for giving
largesses; that he maintains constantly at his own expense and keeps about his
own person a great number of cavalry, and that not only at home, but even among
the neighboring states, he has great influence, and for the sake of
strengthening this influence has given his mother in marriage among the
Bituriges to a man the most noble and most influential there;
that he has himself taken a wife from among the Helvetii, and has given his sister by the mother's side and his
female relations in marriage into other states; that he favors and wishes well
to the Helvetii on account of this connection; and
that he hates Caesar and the Romans, on his own account, because by their arrival his power was
weakened, and his brother, Divitiacus, restored to his former
position of influence and dignity: that, if any thing should happen to the Romans, he entertains the highest hope of gaining the
sovereignty by means of the Helvetii, but that under
the government of the Roman people he despairs not
only of royalty, but even of that influence which he already has." Caesar discovered too, on inquiring into the unsuccessful
cavalry engagement which had taken place a few days before, that the
commencement of that flight had been made by Dumnorix and his
cavalry (for Dumnorix was in command of the cavalry which the
Aedui had sent for aid to Caesar);
that by their flight the rest of the cavalry were dismayed. 19.
After learning these circumstances, since to these suspicions the most
unequivocal facts were added, viz., that he had led the Helvetii through the territories of the Sequani; that
he had provided that hostages should be mutually given; that he had done all
these things, not only without any orders of his [Caesar's] and of
his own state's, but even without their [the Aedui] knowing any
thing of it themselves; that he [Dumnorix] was reprimanded: by the
[chief] magistrate of the Aedui; he [Caesar] considered that there was sufficient reason, why he should
either punish him himself, or order the state to do so. One thing [however]
stood in the way of all this-that he had learned by experience his brother
Divitiacus's very high regard for the Roman people, his great affection toward him, his distinguished
faithfulness, justice, and moderation; for he was afraid lest by the punishment
of this man, he should hurt the feelings of Divitiacus. Therefore,
before he attempted any thing, he orders Divitiacus to be summoned
to him, and, when the ordinary interpreters had been withdrawn, converses with
him through Caius Valerius Procillus, chief of the province of
Gaul, an intimate friend of his, in whom he reposed the highest
confidence in every thing; at the same time he reminds him of what was said
about Dumnorix in the council of the Gauls, when he himself was present, and shows what each had said of
him privately in his [Caesar's] own presence; he begs and exhorts
him, that, without offense to his feelings, he may either himself pass judgment
on him [Dumnorix] after trying the case, or else order the
[Aeduan] state to do so. 20.
Divitiacus, embracing Caesar, begins to
implore him, with many tears, that "he would not pass any very severe sentence
upon his brother; saying, that he knows that those charges are true, and that
nobody suffered more pain on that account than he himself did; for when he
himself could effect a very great deal by his influence at home and in the rest
of Gaul, and he [Dumnorix] very little on account of his
youth, the latter had become powerful through his means, which power and
strength he used not only to the lessening of his [Divitiacus]
popularity, but almost to his ruin; that he, however, was influenced both by
fraternal affection and by public opinion. But if any thing very severe from
Caesar should befall him [Dumnorix],
no one would think that it had been done without his consent, since he himself
held such a place in Caesar's friendship: from which
circumstance it would arise, that the affections of the whole of Gaul would be estranged from him." As he was with tears begging
these things of Caesar in many words, Caesar takes his right hand, and, comforting him, begs him to make
an end of entreating, and assures him that his regard for him is so great, that
he forgives both the injuries of the republic and his private wrongs, at his
desire and prayers. He summons Dumnorix to him; he brings in his
brother; he points out what he censures in him; he lays before him what he of
himself perceives, and what the state complains of; he warns him for the future
to avoid all grounds of suspicion; he says that he pardons the past, for the
sake of his brother, Divitiacus. He sets spies over
Dumnorix that he may be able to know what he does, and with
whom he communicates. 21.
Being on the same day informed by his scouts, that the enemy had encamped at the
foot of a mountain eight miles from his own camp; he sent persons to ascertain
what the nature of the mountain was, and of what kind the ascent on every side.
Word was brought back, that it was easy. During the third watch he orders
Titus Labienus, his lieutenant with praetorian powers, to
ascend to the highest ridge of the mountain with two legions, and with those as
guides who had examined the road; he explains what his plan is. He himself
during the fourth watch, hastens to them by the same route by which the enemy
had gone, and sends on all the cavalry before him. Publius
Considius, who was reputed to be very experienced in military
affairs, and had been in the army of Lucius Sulla, and afterward in
that of Marcus Crassus, is sent forward with the scouts. 22.
At day-break, when the summit of the mountain was in the possession of
Titus Labienus, and he himself was not further off than a mile
and half from the enemy's camp, nor, as he afterward ascertained from the
captives, had either his arrival or that of Labienus been
discovered; Considius, with his horse at full gallop, comes up to
him says that the mountain which he [Caesar] wished
should be seized by Labienus, is in possession of the enemy; that
he has discovered this by the Gallic arms and ensigns. Caesar leads off his forces to the next hill: [and] draws
them up in battle-order. Labienus, as he had been ordered by Caesar not to come to an engagement unless
[Caesar's] own forces were seen near the enemy's camp, that the
attack upon the enemy might be made on every side at the same time, was, after
having taken possession of the mountain, waiting for our men, and refraining
from battle. When, at length, the day was far advanced, Caesar learned through spies, that the mountain was in possession of
his own men, and that the Helvetii had moved their
camp, and that Considius, struck with fear, had reported to him, as
seen, that which he had not seen. On that day he follows the enemy at his usual
distance, and pitches his camp three miles from theirs. 23.
The next day (as there remained in all only two day's space [to the time] when he
must serve out the corn to his army, and as he was not more than eighteen miles
from
Bibracte
, by far the largest and best-stored town of the Aedui), he
thought that he ought to provide for a supply of corn; and diverted his march
from the Helvetii, and advanced rapidly to
Bibracte
. This circumstance is reported to the enemy by some deserters from
Lucius Aemilius, a captain, of the Gallic horse.
The Helvetii, either because they thought that the Romans, struck with terror, were retreating from them,
the more so, as the day before, though they had seized on the higher grounds,
they had not joined battle or because they flattered themselves that they might
be cut of from the provisions, altering their plan and changing their route,
began to pursue, and to annoy our men in the rear. 24.
Caesar, when he observes this, draws off his forces to
the next hill, and sent the cavalry to sustain the attack of the enemy. He
himself, meanwhile, drew up on the middle of the hill a triple line of his four
veteran legions in such a manner, that he placed above him on the very summit
the two legions, which he had lately levied in Hither Gaul, and all the
auxiliaries; and he ordered that the whole mountain should be covered with men,
and that meanwhile the baggage should be brought together into one place, and
the position be protected by those who were posted in the upper line. The
Helvetii having followed with all their wagons, collected their
baggage into one place: they themselves, after having repulsed our cavalry and
formed a phalanx, advanced up to our front line in very close order. 25.
Caesar, having removed out of sight first his own horse,
then those of all, that he might make the danger of a11 equal, and do away with
the hope of flight, after encouraging his men, joined battle. His soldiers
hurling their javelins from the higher ground, easily broke the enemy's phalanx.
That being dispersed, they made a charge on them with drawn swords. It was a
great hinderance to the Gauls in fighting, that, when
several of their bucklers had been by one stroke of the (Roman) javelins pierced through and pinned fast together, as the
point of the iron had bent itself, they could neither pluck it out, nor, with
their left hand entangled, fight with sufficient ease; so that many, after
having long tossed their arm about, chose rather to cast away the buckler from
their hand, and to fight with their person unprotected. At length, worn out with
wounds, they began to give way, and, as there was in the neighborhood a mountain
about a mile off, to betake themselves thither. When the mountain had been
gained, and our men were advancing up, the Boii and
Tulingi, who with about 15,000 men closed the enemy's line of
march and served as a guard to their rear, having assailed our men on the
exposed flank as they advanced [prepared] to surround them; upon seeing which,
the Helvetii who had betaken themselves to the
mountain, began to press on again and renew the battle. The Romans
having faced about, advanced to the attack in two divisions; the first and
second line, to withstand those who had been defeated and driven off the field;
the third to receive those who were just arriving. 26.
Thus, was the contest long and vigorously carried on with doubtful success. When
they could no longer withstand the attacks of our men, the one division, as they
had begun to do, betook themselves to the mountain; the other repaired to their
baggage and wagons. For during the whole of this battle, although the fight
lasted from the seventh hour [i.e. 12 (noon) 1 P. M.] to eventide, no one could
see an enemy with his back turned. The fight was carried on also at the baggage
till late in the night, for they had set wagons in the way as a rampart, and
from the higher ground kept throwing weapons upon our men, as they came on, and
some from between the wagons and the wheels kept darting their lances and
javelins from beneath, and wounding our men. After the fight had lasted some
time, our men gained possession of their baggage and camp. There the daughter
and one of the sons of Orgetorix was taken. After the battle about
130,000 men [of the enemy] remained alive, who marched incessantly during the
whole of that night; and after a march discontinued for no part of the night,
arrived in the territories of the
Lingones
on the fourth day, while our men, having stopped for three days, both on
account of the wounds of the soldiers and the burial of the slain, had not been
able to follow them. Caesar sent letters and messengers
to the
Lingones
[with orders] that they should not assist them with corn or with any
thing else; for that if they should assist them, he would regard them in the
same light as the Helvetii. After the three days'
interval he began to follow them himself with all his forces. 27.
The Helvetii, compelled by the want of every thing, sent embassadors
to him about a surrender. When these had met him on the way and had thrown
themselves at his feet, and speaking in suppliant tone had with tears sued for
peace, and [when] he had ordered them to await his arrival, in the place, where
they then were, they obeyed his commands. When Caesar
arrived at that place, he demanded hostages, their arms, and the slaves who had
deserted to them. While those things are being sought for and got together,
after a night's interval, about 6000 men of that canton which is called the
Verbigene, whether terrified by fear, lest after delivering up
their arms, they should suffer punishment, or else induced by the hope of
safety, because they supposed that, amid so vast a multitude of those who had
surrendered themselves, their flight might either be concealed or entirely
overlooked, having at night-fall departed out of the camp of the Helvetii, hastened to the
Rhine
and the territories of the Germans.
28.
But when Caesar discovered this, he commanded those
through whose territory they had gone, to seek them out and to bring them back
again, if they meant to be acquitted before him; and considered them, when
brought back, in the light of enemies; he admitted all the rest to a surrender,
upon their delivering up the hostages, arms, and deserters. He ordered the Helvetii, the Tulingi, and the
Latobrigi, to return to their territories from which they had
come, and as there was at home nothing whereby they might support their hunger,
all the productions of the earth having been destroyed, he commanded the
Allobroges to let them have a plentiful supply of corn; and
ordered them to rebuild the towns and villages which they had burned. This he
did, chiefly, on this account, because he was unwilling that the country, from
which the Helvetii had departed, should be
untenanted, lest the Germans, who dwell on the other
side of the
Rhine
, should, on account of the excellence of the lands, cross over from
their own territories into those of the Helvetii, and
become borderers upon the province of Gaul and the
Allobroges. He granted the petition of the Aedui,
that they might settle the Boii, in their own (i. e. in the
Aeduan) territories, as these were known to be of distinguished
valor, to whom they gave lands, and whom they afterward admitted to the same
state of rights and freedom as themselves. 29.
In the camp of the Helvetii, lists were found, drawn
up in Greek characters, and were brought to Caesar, in which an estimate had been drawn up, name by
name, of the number which had gone forth from their country of those who were
able to bear arms; and likewise the boys, the old men, and the women,
separately. Of all which items the total was:
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