Uprisings — De Bello Gallico - Part 5
Part 5 of an 8 part series on Caesar's Gallic Wars...
The mighty Caesar returns to Britain, and faces uprisings and deadly skirmishes in Gaul, in part 5 of our series on Caesar’s masterwork of psychology, strategy, and propaganda: On the Gallic War (De Bello Gallico).
This is a world-history making story (the conquest of what’s now modern France), told by a world-history making storyteller.
Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.
In this episode:
Caesar’s return to Britain
A deep personal loss
The worst disaster of the entire Gallic Campaign
This episode is sponsored by Ancient Language Institute. If you want to be like Caesar, you should learn an ancient language (Caesar knew Greek in addition to his native Latin). The Ancient Language Institute will help you do just that. Registration is now open (till August 10th) for their Fall term where you can take advanced classes in Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Old English.
P.S.—If you’re interested in sponsoring an episode, feel free to get in touch, any support is highly appreciated as it helps me create more high quality work.
You can listen to the episode here:
Stay Ancient,
Alex
Transcript
With five legions and a number of cavalry equal to that left on the continent, Caesar set sail around sunset, carried by a gentle southwest wind.
— Caesar, “Gallic War” (Book V)1
A southwest wind blows a ship northeast, and that's the direction Caesar was headed from Gaul, toward that mysterious island he departed from with unfinished business, at the end of the last book we covered. Britannia.
The year is 54 BC.
Caesar still hasn't been to Rome since he left 4 years earlier. Presiding over Rome as Consuls for the year are Caesar's most determined sworn enemies, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and a sort of wild card, the corrupt aristocrat Appius Claudius, brother of the infamous Clodius.
Homefront threats are never far from Caesar's mind when he's on campaign...he's under constant pressure to keep sending back news of success and victories. Hence his resolve now to give the Britons a taste of the might of Rome.
I'm Alex Petkas and this is the Cost of Glory where it is our mission to see what we can learn and apply from the lives and deeds of the greatest Greeks and Romans. In this episode, part 5 of 8 of our series, we look at highlights from book 5 of 8, of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars.
The Cost of Glory is produced in collaboration with Infinite Media.
Now, before leaving for his winter duties as peacetime governor of northern Italy, Cisalpine Gaul, Caesar gave his troops instructions to build a massive fleet, of mostly transport ships. We'll get to what he does with them in a moment but it's worth dwelling just a moment on what he was doing in the winter leading up to this expedition.
Caesar as Literary Authority
This was probably when he composed his treatise De Analogia, on Analogy, and sent it back to Rome. That text is now lost and only exists in a few quotes and fragments now, but we know it was a lengthy treatment of proper Latin style and grammar—an amazing thing to come from the man leading the conquest of Gaul, don't you think? (I've written about this work at greater length in my newsletter, by the way, which you should subscribe to at costofglory.com).
Caesar wrote De Analogia in response to a comment that Cicero made in his masterwork on the art of Eloquence, De Oratore. So essentially while the campaign is in the off season, Caesar is keeping up his appearances, in absentia, as a serious literary authority at Rome.
This was also probably the winter he probably read Lucretius' great Epicurean philosophical poem On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura)2 because we start to see verbal echoes of it in the Gallic Wars commentaries around this time... again the scope of the variety of things this man is able to juggle is really astounding.
More tensions brew with the Gallic tribes
But now he's back in action action, and here's what he finds when he returns to Gaul:
When he returned [to Gaul] he went round all the winter quarters, and learnt that by the exemplary energy of the soldiers, and in spite of the utmost lack of all necessaries, about six hundred ships of the type set forth above [transport ships] and twenty-eight warships had been built, and lacked but little to make them ready for launching in a few days. Caesar warmly commended the troops and the officers who had been in charge of the work; he gave his instructions, and commanded all the ships to assemble at the Itian port.
(The Itian port is more or less modern Boulogne, in Northern France.)
This is another great reminder that if you just look at what its yearly man-hours are dedicated to, a Roman army could be fairly described as a Heavily Armed Construction Company.
Maybe there's an idea for how to solve the problem of say rail infrastructure projects that takes 10 years and a billion dollars to lay 5 miles of track...
Well anyway.
Caesar is about to set sail for Britain when he gets an embassy from the Treveri, which is a powerful Belgian tribe that lives near the Rhine. They have “by far the greatest number of cavalry in all of Gaul” as he says...and Caesar's going to do some great foreshadowing here.
Essentially, there are two leaders, Cingetorix and Indutiomarus, who are vying for the supremacy of the Treveri…
By the way the Treveri gave their name to the city of Trier in Germany, that's Germany's oldest city, founded under Augustus3.
…Cingetorix comes to Caesar and he says he wants to be friends of The Roman People. Caesar is very pleased with this. But the rival, Indutiomarus does not come to Caesar.
Indutiomarus, on the other hand, began to raise horse and foot, and to prepare for war, as soon as he had hidden away those whose age made them unfit for service, in the Forest of Ardennes, which is of great size, stretching right through the territory of the Treveri, from the river Rhine to the border of the Remi. [So this is looking dangerous... but...] But some of the chiefs of the Treveri, compelled by their friendship with Cingetorix, and at the same time alarmed at the coming of our army, came to Caesar... [and they tell him what's going on with Indutiomarus and how they're not happy about it]
Then Indutiomarus feared that he might be deserted by one and all, and he sent deputies to Caesar. [Remember how Cingetorix came to Caesar but he didnt... well] He urged that his reluctance to leave his own folk and to come to Caesar was merely based on his own desire to keep the state the more easily to its allegiance [to Rome], lest, if the whole of the nobility left them, the common people might go astray through ignorance. As a result, he said, the state was in his power, and, if Caesar allowed, Indutiomarus would come to his headquarters and commit the fortunes of himself and of the state to his protection.
Caesar says, he sees through this excuse, but he doesn't want to delay his expedition to Britain, so here's what he does:
Caesar commanded Indutiomarus to come to him with two hundred hostages. When these were brought in, among them his son and all his relatives, whom Caesar had summoned by name, he comforted Indutiomarus and exhorted him to abide in loyalty…
Now having been through 4 years of Gallic Wars, we know how reliable a guarantee of loyalty keeping hostages is—that is, not reliable at all.
…Nevertheless Caesar assembled at his headquarters the chiefs of the Treveri, and won them over severally for Cingetorix…
So he's telling all the Treveran nobles, Cingetorix is the guy you should listen to, he has my favor, which is a big deal for a tribal leader.
Caesar was aware that Cingetorix deserved this of him, but he deemed it also of great importance that the authority of one whose signal goodwill towards himself he had fully proved should be as strong as possible among his own folk. [And here's the ominous note] This action Indutiomarus took grievously to heart, [so I guess Indutiomarus is still there when this happens] for he saw that his own influence among his people was being diminished; and though he had previously felt hostility towards us, his indignation now burst far more vehemently into flame.
So the pot is starting to heat up among the Belgae. And it's going to boil over in a BIG way later in the book.
But Caesar wants to get moving to Britain.
The Move To Britain, and the Dismissal of Dumnorix
Now, for his expedition, Caesar decides to take along with him as many of the Gallic nobility as he can as auxiliary cavalry... both because they are good cavalry, but even more so because he wants to prevent them from stirring up trouble while he's gone.
One of them is a man we met in Book I, Dumnorix of the Aedui, who you may recall was responsible for stirring up rebellion among his people, who were normally quite loyal to the Romans:
Dumnorix starts to make excuses to Caesar, about not going on the expedition to Britain, he wants to be allowed to stay in Gaul. Now he's saying he can't abide boats, he gets seasick, now he's saying he's hindered by some religious obligations. Caesar suspects he's planning some mischief.
When Dumnorix had met with a firm refusal, and all hope remaining was taken away, he began to stir up the Gallic chieftains, drawing them aside severally and exhorting them to stay on the Continent. And he sought to frighten them by sowing suspicion that there was some reason for stripping Gaul of all her nobility: that it was Caesar's design to transport to Britain and there slaughter all whom he feared to put to death in the sight of Gaul. To the rest he pledged his word, and demanded of them an oath that they would execute by common consent whatever they judged to be for the advantage of Gaul. These plots were reported to Caesar by several persons.
It's like Dumnorix thinks that Caesar isn't going to find out! Amazing.
Well, after some weather delays Caesar's finally ready to go and orders his army to start preparing to embark, still expecting Dumnorix is eventually going to do the smart thing and give in and come along.
But:
But while all were preoccupied with this, Dumnorix took some Aeduan horseman, and, without Caesar's knowledge, left the camp for home. Upon report of this Caesar stopped the departure of the ships, and then despatched a large detachment of cavalry to follow him up, with orders to call him back, and, if he offered force or refused to obey, to put him to death; for he supposed that a man who had disregarded the command in Caesar's actual presence would do nothing right-minded behind his back. And indeed when Dumnorix was summoned to return he sought to resist and to defend himself by force, entreating the help of his followers and crying repeatedly that he was a free man and of a free state. The pursuers, as they were ordered, surrounded the man and despatched him; but the horsemen of the Aedui all returned to Caesar.
So much, then, for Dumnorix.
Arrival in Britain
So, to make a long story short, Caesar arrives more or less where he arrived the first time, in the far south-east, round Deal and Walmer, and also perhaps more notably near Sandwich.
And when he arrives, it's as though the agreements and treaties he made with the British leaders last time, never happened.
The natives, he finds out, came out in force to oppose him but then when they saw the massive armada he brought, they retired to the forest nearby. Meanwhile he's learned that the Britons have put a pause to their incessant warring amongst themselves as soon as they learned the Romans were coming, and they've chosen as the leader the war effort, a man named Cassivellaunus.
So fighting is coming and we'll get to Cassivelaunus in a moment.
But first I want to share with you a few paragraphs of the famous First Ethnography of Britain, that Caesar offers us here. Scholars doubt that Caesar wrote all this himself, maybe it was some people on his staff who did the research... but I think, following the Roman principle of "Caesar built the bridge", he deserves much of the credit.
And some of the details of what he says here are doubtful and debated and I'll comment here and there, but, rather than get bogged down in all that, let's just mainly listen to what Caesar has to say:
The inland part of Britain is inhabited by tribes declared in their own tradition to be indigenous to the island, whereas the maritime part is held by tribes that migrated at an earlier time from Belgium to seek booty by invasion. Nearly all of these latter are called after the names of the states from which they sprang when they went to Britain; and after the invasion they dwelt there and began to till the fields.
The population is immense; the farm-buildings are found very close together, being very like those of the Gauls; and there is a huge store of livestock animals. They use either bronze, or gold coins, or instead of coined money, small ingots of iron, of a certain standard of weight. [Archaeologists have actually recovered many of these, some of them are shaped like little swords, others like little ploughs...]
In the midland districts of Britain tin is produced, in the maritime iron, but of that there is only a small supply; the bronze they use is imported. [Caesar's probably mistaken on the Tin, which is probably from Cornwall; one of Britain's major resources, which is essential for forging bronze] There is timber of every kind, as in Gaul, save beech and pine. They consider it wrong to eat of hare, fowl, and goose; but these they keep for pastime or pleasure. The climate is more temperate than in Gaul, the cold seasons more moderate.
Skipping a little bit here4 , and now going on:
Of all the Britons the inhabitants of Kent, an entirely maritime district, are by far the most civilised, differing but little from the Gallic manner of life [the Latin there for Kent is Cantium - that's the far southeast, where Caesar landed]. Of the inlanders most do not sow grain, but live on milk and flesh and clothe themselves in skins [Archaeology contradicts caesar here, the Britains actually did widely cultivate wheat]. All the Britons, indeed, dye themselves with woad [that's a kind of plant], which produces a blue colour, and makes their appearance in battle more terrible. [Now Blue dyed Britons are actually, 100% backed up by archaeology, it turns out] They wear long hair, and shave every part of the body save the head and the upper lip. [Now here it gets weird] Groups of ten or twelve men have wives together in common, and particularly brothers along with brothers, and fathers with sons; but the children born of the unions are reckoned to belong to the particular house to which the maiden was first conducted."5
That last bit I'm not sure we have any great way to verify...
But there you have Britain and the Britons.
Now once he gets there, Caesar meets the British forces in a few minor to moderate engagements right near his camp. And here he explains some of the Romans’ difficulty in dealing with the natives, they're using these light armed, hit-and-run style tactics:
The action took place in front of the camp and under the eyes of all; and it was clear that in all such fighting our own infantry, because of their heavy armament, were but poorly fitted for an enemy of this kind, since they could neither pursue a retreating enemy nor venture far from the standards. It was clear, again, that our cavalry fought with great risk, because the enemy often retreated intentionally, and, when they had separated our horsemen a little from the legions, leapt down from their chariots and fought on foot to our disadvantage.
In a head on engagement, the ancients generally regarded infantry as having the advantage over cavalry, and so the chariots they're using here have the best of both worlds.
Now the Romans do get some successes here and start learning how to deal with them, but the Britons eventually they stop engaging the Romans directly and start using full on Guerilla tactics, ambushes, refusing to give battle, etc..
So Caesar decides, it's time to march on the homeland of this king Cassivellaunus.
To do this, he has to become the first Roman to cross the Tamesis river—the Thames
Cassivellaunus against the Romans
Caesar led his army into the borders of Cassivellaunus and up to the river Thames, which can be crossed at one place only on foot, and that with difficulty. When he arrived there he noticed that on the other bank of the river a great force of the enemy was drawn up. The bank was fortified with a fringe of sharp projecting stakes, and stakes of the same kind fixed under water were concealed by the stream…
Listen to what he does here, it's very impressive - I guess he didn't want to build a bridge because the river was probably very wide, and it would have taken a couple of weeks, and he considered speed to be of the essence.
…When he had learnt these details from prisoners and deserters, Caesar sent the cavalry in advance [across the River that is] and ordered the legions to follow up instantly. The troops moved with such speed and such spirit, although they had only their heads above water [they must be carrying very heavy gear to keep their feet on the riverbed, don't you think? ...] the enemy could not withstand the assault of legions and cavalry, but abandoned the banks and betook themselves to flight.
Once again, incredible Roman determination at its best here, conquering man and nature alike.
Once Caesar is across though, Cassivellaunus keeps to his guerilla tactics and it's impossible to pin him down and defeat him.
But Caesar has an even better card to play.
There's a rival prince who's come to him from a powerful tribe called the Trinobantes, a guy named Mandubracius. It turns out that in his rise to power, Cassivellaunus killed Mandubracius' dad... and now, young Mandubracius brings some Trinobantian nobles with him, and offers the allegiance of his tribe to Rome, if Caesar can protect him and restore him to his throne.
So Caesar gladly accepts this offer, hey this is an opportunity to use some Classic Roman Diplomacy, right? Playing one local constituency off another, and so the Trinobantes declare for Rome. This strips Cassivellaunus of some of his support, but the war isn't over.
Cassivellaunus meanwhile rallies the tribes still loyal to him, and he holes up in his home town... which Caesar describes kind of like, "what passes for a fort in Britain". Scholars think it is most likely an iron age hill fort that the archaeologists have excavated, known now as Verlamion, or Verulamium, now in modern St. Albans, a town about an hour north of modern London.
Here's how Caesar describes it, and what happens:
Now the Britons call it a stronghold when they have fortified a thick-set woodland with rampart and trench [the Latin is oppidum... and Caesar's clearly writing with some disdain here, it's nothing like the fortified strongholds he's seen in Gaul] and it is their custom to gather there, to avoid enemy attacks. Caesar now set out for this spot with the legions: he found it thoroughly fortified by nature and by handiwork, but none the less he made a vigorous assault from two sides. The enemy held up for a brief time, but did not withstand the assault of our troops, and broke out and fled from another side of the stronghold. A great quantity of cattle was found there; and many of the enemy were caught in the act of fleeing and put to death.
Cassivellaunus still doesn't give up, and he sends to friends of his back in Kent to try to attack Caesar from the rear, destroy his supply lines. They attack the Roman camp by the boats on the shore in Sandwich, but the Romans fight them off and defeat them.
And at last, Cassivellaunus decides, the jig is up... and he approaches Caesar through a Gallic intermediary, and comes to terms.
And then,
Caesar had determined to winter on the Continent, in view of sudden commotions in Gaul; and as he had little of the summer left, and was aware that it might easily be spun out to no purpose [there in Britain], he made requisition of hostages, and determined what tribute Britain should pay yearly to Rome. He sternly charged Cassivellaunus to do no hurt to Mandubracius or the Trinobantes.
With that, he loads up in his ships (he has to make two trips), and returns to Gaul.
The 2nd Expedition: What of it?
Now, Napoleon echoes the judgment of many historians when he observes the following:
Caesar’s second expedition to Britain had no better outcome than the first, since he did not leave behind any garrison or establishment, and the Romans were no more masters of the place afterwards than before.
After all, he's leaving no garrison there, certainly not a province, maybe some nominal tribute that was going to be very difficult for the Romans to enforce without going on another full on campaign. That wouldn't happen until the campaign 43 AD under the emperor Claudius, nearly a century later...the official beginning of direct Roman rule of Britannia.
But actually, many scholars have noted that Caesar's incursion had noticeable impact on the culture of Britain. There's evidence that trade routes were opened up more, and it seems the local nobles were clearly impressed (and impressed at what was happening across the Channel in Gaul), and they started to adopt some Roman habits and Roman dress.
Some of the Britons at least are seeing the Romans as potential arbiters in their conflicts amongst themselves, like Caesar was between Mandubracius and Cassivelaunus.
And so I think it's fair to say that this really was the beginning of the long history of Roman and eventually Christian Roman Britain, culminating in the legends of King Arthur, a shadowy 5th century monarch in a lawless late-antique world, a world where King Leodegran, father of Guinevere:
Groaned for the Roman legions here again,
And Caesar's eagle…
— “The Coming of Arthur” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
as Tennyson wrote.
At the very least, Caesar ended his campaign on a high note, with a good story to send back to the crowds in the Roman forum, adulating at the success of their newest, and perhaps greatest, glorious commander.
But his arrival back to the continent is more bitter than sweet.
A Deep Personal Loss
Caesar, in his text, with characteristic professionalism, completely omits probably the most devastating personal loss of the whole war, maybe the most important political development of the entire year.
So I'll quote Plutarch here from his Life of Caesar:
In Gaul Caesar found letters which were about to be sent across to him [i.e. to Britain]. They were from his friends in Rome, and advised him of his daughter's death; she died in child-birth at Pompey's house…
You may recall if you're familiar with Caesar's bigger story, that Pompey was married to Caesar's only child, his daughter Julia.
…Great was the grief of Pompey, and great the grief of Caesar, and their friends were greatly troubled too; they felt that the relationship which alone kept the distempered state in harmony and concord was now dissolved. For the babe also died presently, after surviving its mother a few days. Now Julia, against the protests of the tribunes, was carried by the people to the Campus Martius, where her funeral rites were held, and where she lies buried.
Perhaps this news is why, even though it was just late September, with still plenty of time for a little campaigning, Caesar decided to call it in early for the year 54, and station his troops in winter quarters. Maybe he wanted to give himself some time to grieve.
But if that's right, Caesar was soon to discover, that this year's campaigns were far from over.
The Sabinus Crisis
Now Caesar has got his legions all spread out in northern Gaul, mostly in the territory of various Belgic tribes, and shortly after they all get there, an incident occurs, that spins out into a full fledged crisis.
And it's worth focusing on because it's an amazing drama illustrating how clever, competent men can get deceived into making disastrous decisions—I think that's why Caesar puts so much attention on the episode.
So while Caesar’s been in Britain, this resentful rival leader of the Treveri we mentioned earlier, Indutiomarus—the Treveri again are that Belgic tribe that lives near the Rhine—Indutiomarus has indeed been quietly stirring up rebellion.
And the leaders of another tribe called the Eburones have been listening. And amazingly they have been cooperating with the Romans and bringing them grain and stuff...suddenly these guys surprise some Roman troops as they are gathering supplies, and attack them and chase them into their fort. The Eburones are even further north than the Treveri, so it's pretty remote territory.
But then, things get interesting. The leaders of the Eburones approach the walls of the fort and invite the Romans out for a parley. So the Roman commanders say alright, and they send a couple of men out.
Ambiorix’s Crafty Tale
And the ambassadors find themselves talking to this very crafty Belgian Gaul named Ambiorix. Now listen carefully to what Ambiorix says,
Before them Ambiorix spake as follows. He admitted that he was very greatly indebted to Caesar for his good offices towards himself; for it was by Caesar's doing that he had been set free from the tribute which he had been accustomed to pay to his neighbours the Aduatuci, and by Caesar's action that a son and a nephew, sent to the Aduatuci as hostages, and kept in their country in slavery and bondage, had been sent back to him. He declared that his action in assaulting the camp had been the result, not of judgment or intention on his part, but of compulsion on the part of his state; and that the conditions of his own sovereignty were such that the people had as much authority over him as he himself over the people.
So he's saying, ah I didn't want to authorize this attack but my constituency forced my hand... which is a typical Gallic excuse for treachery in Caesar's commentaries, so that's kind of a red flag.
His state, moreover, had gone to war because it had not been able to resist the sudden conspiracy of the Gauls. He could easily prove that by the insignificance of his own position; for he was not so ignorant of affairs as to believe that by his own forces the Roman people could be overcome…
[He’s basically saying]: You know, we Euburones, we're a puny nation, my people wouldn't have dared to attack you if there weren't something bigger afoot throughout Gaul...
…No, there was common consent among the Gauls: this was the day appointed for assaulting all the camps of Caesar, in order that one legion might not be able to come to the support of another. It would not have been easy for Gauls to refuse Gauls, especially when they considered that the design they had entered on was for the recovery of their common freedom. And now, having satisfied the Gauls as far as the claim of his country required, he had regard to his duty in response to the good offices of Caesar; and he warned, he pleaded with Sabinus [that's the commander who's going to get the message] for the sake of their friendship, to take measures for his own and his soldiers' safety.
In other words, he means, I decided to allow my people to attack because, right now as we speak, all of Gaul is rising up, and I'd look like a traitor to my race if I hadn't done this. But really, I want to help you guys out and return Caesar's favor to me... and to explain what he means he offers the following story:
A great company of Germans had been hired, and had crossed the Rhine; in two days it would be at hand. It was for the Romans themselves to consider whether they would choose to bring the troops out of their forts before neighbours could know of it, and to march them either to Cicero…
That's Quintus Cicero, one of Caesar's legates, this is the younger brother of the great orator Marcus Cicero, more Quintus Cicero shortly...
…or to Labienus, one of whom was about fifty miles from them, the other a little farther. Ambiorix promised them, and confirmed it with an oath, that he would grant them safe passage through his own borders. In so doing, he said, he was consulting the interests of his state, by relieving it of the burden of legionary forts [you know, the locals are basically constrained to supply the Roman forts] and was making a return to Caesar according to his merits. After delivering this address Ambiorix departed.
And so the ambassadors return and bring this message to the commanders at the fort.
Well, if you're the commander of the fort, what do you think of that? You're off at the edge of civilization with—a legion and a half is what Caesar says, maybe 7k men—the closest legion is at least 3 days journey away, and you're told, all hell is breaking loose all across Gaul right now. Do you take this man's word for it, who's the leader of a nation that has just attacked you? But remember, he has a plausible story that he has reasons to be on good terms with Rome.
And you're already spooked by this sudden unexpected attack, and he's suggesting you go join up with another legion, presumably to unite and fight off this huge war that's just breaking out. Oh, and the Germans are coming, as we speak.
What do you do? Make a break for it? Get ready for a terrible siege? What if it's all a trick?
Well the commanders of the fort have a meeting. One of them, who seems to be the senior commander, is Quintus Titurius Sabinus, who Ambiorix mentioned in his speech, and we covered Sabinus in Book 3 executing some fine generalship, luring some Gauls in Normandy into fighting on very compromising terrain. He's no dunce. And the other commander (who seems to be a junior to Sabinus, maybe commanding the half legion...) is a guy named Cotta.
Here's Caesar:
The commanders were alarmed by the sudden news, and, though the statement was made by an enemy, they nevertheless considered that it must not be disregarded. One thing especially stirred their anxiety — it was [indeed] scarcely credible that the Eburones, an undistinguished and insignificant state, had dared of their own motion to make war on Rome. They accordingly submitted the question to a council of war, and a great dispute arose among them. Cotta, with several tribunes and centurions of the first rank, thought that nothing should be done rashly, and no departure from winter quarters made without Caesar's orders.
They sought to show that even German forces, no matter how numerous, could be withstood by entrenched fortifications; there was proof of it in the fact that they had most gallantly withstood the first charge of the enemy, and had actually dealt them many wounds [they're referring to the recent attack on the troops]. They were not hard pressed for grain; meanwhile reinforcements would reach them alike from the nearest forts and from Caesar. In sum, what was more senseless or more discreditable than to take the advice of an enemy in deciding supreme issues?
Pretty sound reasoning there, and they make a good point that Roman forts are incredibly strong positions to fight from against your average ill-equipped Gallic assault. And while independent legate commanders have a lot of leeway, moving your army 50 + miles without orders would be extremely frowned on, except in the direst circumstances. But then, you gotta think, maybe the circumstances really are dire? Well here's what Sabinus thinks:
Against this Sabinus kept shouting that it would be too late to act when larger bodies of the enemy, with Germans in addition, had come up, or when some disaster had been experienced in the legionary forts next to their own. There was short time, he said, for deliberation. [And this is really interesting:] Sabinus believed that Caesar had started for Italy already; otherwise the Carnutes would not have conceived the design of murdering Tasgetius [another episode Caesar mentioned earlier, a tribe just murdered a pro-Roman leader Caesar had installed], nor, with Caesar present, would the Eburones now have come against the camp with so profound a contempt for us.
So he's saying, there's good reason to believe they know something we don't know. [Sabinus says] ‘hey I bet Caesar is actually already gone back to Cisalpine Gaul to hold the assizes and do his provincial governor duties’6 and you get the sense also that Sabinus is thinking, maybe he can make Caesar proud in his absence, take some initiative, be the hero, fend off war.
Caesar in fact was NOT on his way back to Italy at all as we'll see later. Well, going on with Sabinus' arguments here:
He had regard, not to the suggestion of the enemy, but to fact. The Rhine was close at hand; the Germans were highly indignant at the death of Ariovistus and our previous victories; Gaul was incensed at all the insults experienced since it was brought in subjection to the authority of Rome, and at the extinction of its earlier renown in war.
Sabinus is saying, “this could be the big one, which we've all been waiting to happen”.7
So, this goes on for a while, Sabinus and Cotta start shouting at each other, it goes on til midnight, until Cotta is just exasperated and exhausted, and gives up, and Sabinus wins the day. They're going to make a break for it.
And if you're familiar with Caesar's best practices for generalship, you start to get a twisting feeling in your stomach hearing what they do next:
It was announced that the troops would march at dawn. The rest of the night was spent without sleep, for each soldier was looking over his effects, to see what he could carry with him, and what part of the winter equipment he needed to leave. They thought of any and every plea to prove that it must be dangerous to remain, and that the danger would be increased by the exhaustion of the troops in long watches. At dawn they marched forth from camp, in the fashion of men persuaded that counsel had been given them not by an enemy, but by Ambiorix, a devoted friend; the column was very lengthy, and the baggage very heavy. The enemy heard the racket the soldiers were causing and perceived that they were staying up all night.
So the Romans are exhausted, moving in obvious haste, the Eburones know exactly what the Romans are doing too.
What do you think happens?
Yes, indeed it was a trick.
Ambiorix’s Ambush
Ambiorix and his men wait til the soldiers are 2 miles from their camp, and ambush them in a thick forested valley.
Then Sabinus, since he had not anticipated any of this, finally acted, but only by anxiously running hither and thither posting cohorts, yet even this he did in timid fashion and in a way that made it clear that he had no mental resources left - as generally happens when men are forced to devise a plan when action is already happening
I think this is really interesting comment here. Caesar is implicitly contrasting Sabinus with people like Caesar. Whenever he's going into any situation, Caesar always anticipates various possibilities (especially the worst ones) and has rough sketches of a plan of what he'll do if this happens. I mean, this really is damning of Sabinus that even after this furious debate with Cotta which prominently featured the question "what if this is a trap", he hasn't even taken the basic precautions to cap his downside. He could have marched in tighter order, with rested troops, in secret, been more on guard, etc.
Caesar contrasts Cotta:
Cotta, however, as he had thought this might happen on the march, and for that reason had opposed departure, neglected nothing for the safety of the force: in addressing and encouraging the troops he did his duty as a commander, in action his duty as a soldier.
I'll skip the details here but Cotta snaps into action with a clear mind, he moves the soldiers into some more favorable formations ... importantly, because he's expecting something bad.
But this is to no avail, they get surrounded and wrapped up into a tight knot... the Gauls are lightly armed, throwing missiles at them, confident, retreating when the heavy armed slower Romans try to make a sally out... men are dying left and right, it's terrible. But Caesar names many Romans who fought bravely in the struggle.
What ends up happening is, Sabinus flies the white flag (so to speak) and tries to have a parley with Ambiorix. Ambiorix lets him approach, then:
Meanwhile while they were discussing terms and Ambiorix was intentionally launching a quite lengthy speech, Sabinus was gradually surrounded and killed.
The enemy resumes the fighting, and almost the entire army is killed including Cotta, who fought on bravely to the end. Most are killed on the battlefield, a few escape to the fort, but far fewer than have any hope of defending it, and they decide to commit suicide rather than get captured by the Gauls. A very few men escape with their lives into the forests, and live to tell the story.
It's a complete disaster, 7,000 men lost, scores of officers killed possibly the worst disaster of the entire Gallic campaign.
All because Ambiorix was able to deceive Sabinus, with a mixture of fear and desire, probably the two most powerful emotions to blind our wits. Here, the fear of destruction, and the desire to win distinction by taking some bold unilateral action.
But now Ambiorix has gotten very excited indeed, and he goes and riles up the Nervii, with the message that this is the chance for the Belgae to throw off the yoke of the Romans once and for all.
Revolt of the Nervii
Now the Nervii were a particularly tough and wild tribe that Caesar defeated with great difficulty back in book 2, part 2 of this series, after they ambushed him, and you might recall the way he describes that event, that it seemed like the Nervii were practically obliterated from the face of the earth. Well from what follows you think, maybe he was exaggerating a little bit.
But after that humiliating event, you can imagine, the Nervii are very receptive to Ambiorix's message of revolt.
Camped in the territory of the hitherto pacified Nervii is Quintus Cicero, again the BROTHER of the great orator Marcus.
Caesar brought Quintus on as a legate partly as a favor to Marcus, after getting Marcus to grudgingly agree to a political reconciliation that we've discussed in earlier episodes. But now Quintus is going to get a chance to really prove himself, because things are about to get very ugly.
This whole episode is some of Caesar's finest storytelling in all the commentaries, so let's take a look.
So once again the Gauls decide to open by ambushing some unsuspecting Romans from Quintus Cicero's legionary fort who are out in the country foraging for firewood and such.
The Romans manage to defend themselves with only a few some casualties and flee into their camp and everyone mans the ramparts and digs in.
Cicero's in charge of one legion, 4500 - 5000 men, and he's getting attacked by an alliance of Eubrones, Nervii, and Aduatuci that according to Caesar add up to about 60,000 men.
Here's what he does, and note the speed with which Caesar narrates these developments in short sentence bursts.
Dispatches were at once sent by Cicero to Caesar, with promise of great rewards if the bearers carried them safe. All the roads were blocked, and the messengers were cut off. During the night he built about one hundred and twenty towers with incredible speed out of the timber which had been collected for making an entrenchment; all apparent deficiencies in the earthworks were rectified. On the next day the enemy assaulted the camp with a far larger force which they had assembled, and filled in the trench. [they're trying to breach the walls by filling in the defensive trench in front of them] Our troops resisted in the same fashion as on the day before. Exactly the same was done on the other days following. There was no pause in the work, even at any time of the night. No chance of rest was given to sick or wounded. All that was needed against the next day's assault was made ready in the night. Quantities of stakes fired at the end, a great number of pikes for wall-fighting were got ready. Towers were raised stage by stage, battlements and breastworks of wicker were attached to them [wicker shields for the soldiers to hide behind after they've shot a slingstone or thrown a lance]. Cicero himself, though he was at the moment in extremely bad health, did not even let himself rest at night, until at last he was compelled to spare himself by the protests of soldiers who crowded about him.
So Cicero is under extreme pressure here, and the Nervii call out for a parley. And they make the same arguments Ambiorix did... All Gaul has risen up, the Germans are crossing the Rhine, etc. etc. They add that Sabinus and his legion are dead, and Ambiorix supplies them with the gory details (I think if you're making a movie, you're going to get Ambiorix to show Sabinus' head here).
BUT, they say:
Our own feeling, however, towards Cicero and Rome is to refuse nothing except winter quartering, for we are unwilling that this practice should become established. So far as we are concerned, you have liberty to depart safe from your winter quarters, and to march off without fear in whatsoever direction you please.
Cicero makes the right call though, he says, the Roman People do not negotiate with enemies under arms. If you want, lay down your arms and I can send envoys to Caesar himself to make your case. I'm sure he'll look upon it with his usual sense of fairness.
This took a fair bit of boldness, don't you think? He's outnumbered more than 10 to 1...
Well, the Nervii build a 10 foot wall surrounding the entire fort ... and you can judge how large a force of men they had by the fact that they build the entire thing, 15,000 feet in circumference, in only 3 hours, and they start building Roman-style movable sheds, the vineas... Caesar says they're being instructed in this by captives they've taken.
Uh oh. So they're learning from the Romans how to storm a fort.
On the seventh day there are heavy winds, and the Gauls shoot red hot clay slingshot stones, and the thatched roofs of the huts in the camp catch fire. The Gauls see this, and make a massive assault with ladders and ramparts and siege hooks.
But so great was the valour of the troops, and such their presence of mind, that, although they were everywhere scorched by the flame and harassed by the vast multitude of missiles, and understood that all their own baggage and all their possessions were ablaze, not only did no man leave the rampart to withdraw from the fight, but scarcely a man even looked behind him, and all at that time fought with the greatest zeal and gallantry.
Caesar puts in a nice concrete detail here to put you right there in the action:
When the flames had abated somewhat, in one place the Gauls moved a tower up to touch the rampart: whereupon the centurions of the third cohort withdrew from their station and moved back all their men, and then began to invite the enemy by signs and shouts, in case they should desire to come in; but not one of them dared advance. Then they were dislodged by volleys of stones from every side, and the tower was set on fire.
And here's another great episode. Have you ever seen the HBO Rome series? There are two major characters in it that represent everyday Romans: Pullo and Vorenus.
Here's where the writers got the idea for those characters, the REAL Pullo and Vorenus:
In that legion there were two most gallant centurions, now not far from the first class of their rank, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. They had continual quarrels together as to which was to stand first, and every year they struggled in fierce rivalry for the chief posts. One of them, Pullo, when the fight was fiercest by the entrenchments, said: "Why do you hesitate, Vorenus? Or what chance of proving your pluck do you wait for? This day shall decide our quarrels." So saying, he stepped outside the entrenchments, and dashed upon the section of the enemy which seemed to be in closest array. Nor did Vorenus keep within the rampart, but in fear of what all men would think, he followed hard. Then, at short range, Pullo sent his pike at the enemy, and pierced one man as he ran forward from the host. When the Gaul was struck senseless the enemy sought to cover him with their shields, and discharged their spears in a volley at Pullo, giving him no chance of retirement. Pullo's shield was penetrated, and a dart was lodged in his belt. This accident threw his scabbard out of place, and delayed his right hand as he tried to draw his sword, and while he was in difficulty the enemy surrounded him. His rival, Vorenus, ran up to him and helped him in his distress. Upon him at once all the host turned, and left Pullo, supposing him to be slain by the dart. Vorenus plied his sword at close quarters, and by slaying one man drove off the rest a little; while he pressed on too eagerly he fell down headlong into a dip in the ground. He was surrounded in his turn, but Pullo brought assistance; and both, unhurt, though they had slain several men, retired with the utmost glory within the entrenchments. In the eagerness of their rivalry fortune so handled the two that, for all their mutual hostility, the one helped and saved the other, and it was impossible to decide which should be considered the better man in valour."
I love that. So their rivalry is going to live to see another day.
The fighting gets more intense by the day, Cicero keeps sending out messengers, but they keep getting intercepted, some of them are hauled in front of the Roman camp and tortured to death as the Romans look on.
Finally Cicero gets a messenger through, a friend of his persuades a brave Gallic slave with great rewards, and they hide a message in the shaft of his spear. He sneaks out and blends in with the natives, and that's how Caesar first learned of the extreme straits Cicero was in.
Caesar joins the fight
Now the scene switches to Caesar. Again, Caesar is not in Italy. He's camped at Samarobriva, which is modern Amiens, judging by the map he's at least 100 miles away. He pulls the message out of the spear at around 4pm, and by 9am the next day he's on the move with 1 legion, and another legion under another commander joins him on the way. They cover 20 miles on teh first day. He tries to requisition more troops from Labienus but Labienus says he thinks it's too risky to abandon his post, and Caesar respects his assessment, I think to his credit. Here's what he does next:
Although he was thereby disappointed in his expectation of obtaining three legions, and reduced to two; none the less, he still regarded speed as the only means to the general safety, and proceeded by forced marches into the borders of the Nervii. There he learnt from prisoners what was taking place at Cicero's station, and how dangerous was his case. Then he persuaded one of the Gallic troopers with great rewards to deliver a letter to Cicero. The letter he sent written in Greek, lest by intercepting it the enemy might get to know of our designs. The messenger was instructed, if he could not approach, to hurl a spear, with the letter fastened to the thong, inside the entrenchment of the camp. In the despatch Caesar wrote that he had started with the legions and would speedily be with him, and he exhorted Cicero to maintain his pristine virtue. Fearing danger, the Gaul threw the spear over the wall, as he had been instructed. By chance it stuck fast in the tower, and for two days it was not noticed by our troops; on the third day it was sighted by a soldier, taken down, and delivered to Cicero. He read it through, and then recited it at a general assemb ly of the troops, bringing the greatest rejoicing to all. Soon the smoke of the fires was to be seen in the distance, and this banished all doubt about the arrival of the legions.
Wow. Imagine being Cicero in that moment.
As soon as the Gauls realize what's going on, they abandon the siege and send all 60,000 of their army to meet Caesar. Cicero sneaks out another messenger to undertake the great personal risk to get to Caesar and inform him what's going on [this is important].
Here's what Caesar does when he gets the message:
The despatch was brought in about midnight; Caesar informed his troops thereof, and aroused their spirits for battle. At dawn next day he struck camp, and, having advanced about four miles, he caught sight of the enemy's host across a valley and a stream. It was a very dangerous thing for so slender a force as he had to fight on unfavourable ground; further, as he knew that Cicero was freed from blockade, he was without anxiety, and thought that he should abate his speed. [so he can take his time thanks to Cicero's brave messenger]. Caesar halted, therefore, and proceeded to entrench his camp in the most favourable position to be found; and his camp itself wasl already small, as he had scarcely seven thousand men, and none of these had heavy baggage; nevertheless Caesar compressed it further by narrowing the walkways as much as possible, deliberately aiming to provoke the greatest disdain from the enemy.
So Caesar's already outnumbered by more than 8 to 1, but his aim is to try to get the Gauls to underestimate him even more. He's also put up a facade of heavily barricading the gates... something you do when you're desperate, b/c the gates are a natural weak point in a fortification. Then, he starts sending his cavalry out to engage them in little skirmishes, and the following happens:
At break of day the enemy's horsemen came up to the camp and engaged our own cavalry. Caesar purposely ordered the cavalry to give way and to retire into camp; at the same time he ordered the camp to be fortified with a higher rampart on all sides, the gates to be barricaded, and for the soldiers, in carrying out these measures, to run around in great confusion and display as much fear as possible.
And what do you know, it seems to work. The Gauls cross over the stream onto Caesar's side, and he's on an incline, very unfavorable territory for the Gauls. And they draw near in full array:
As our troops had been withdrawn even from the rampart, they approached nearer and discharged their missiles from all sides into the entrenchment. Next they sent heralds round about, and ordered proclamation to be made that if anyone, Gaul or Roman, would go over to their side before the third hour, he was at liberty to do so without danger; after that time there would be no chance [the words of confident men!]. And, indeed, they held our troops in such contempt that, thinking they could not break in by the gates, which had been barricaded for show with single rows of sods, some of them set to work to tear down the rampart with their hands, others to fill in the trenches. Then Caesar caused a sally to be made from all the gates, and sending out the cavalry put the enemy speedily to flight, so overwhelmingly that not a man stood to fight. He slew a great number of them and stripped all of their arms.
With that, Caesar marches on the same day to Cicero's camp. And when he got there,
He marvelled at the towers erected, the shelters, the fortifications of the enemy. He assembled the legion for inspection and found that not even one in ten of the soldiers were left unwounded. From all these evidences he could judge with what danger and with what courage the operations had been carried out. He warmly praised Cicero as he deserved, and the legion likewise; he addressed individually the centurions and tribunes, whose valour, on the testimony of Cicero, he knew to have been exceptional. As touching the disaster of Sabinus and Cotta, he learnt more particularly from prisoners. The next day he held an assembly and set forth all that had occurred, cheering and encouraging the troops, and admonishing them to bear with the greater equanimity the loss incurred through the fault and foolhardiness of a general, inasmuch as by the goodness of the immortal gods and by their own valour the misfortune had been made good, leaving to the enemy no lasting joy, to themselves no long-enduring grief.
So that speech to the troops we can imagine was a sort of first draft of the story we got in the commentaries here.
Caesar’s Exceptional Storytelling
I think it's especially effective the way Caesar tells these two stories in detail, in sequence, as a kind of comparison of two episodes so we can learn from them. They are very similar circumstances, with completely different outcomes, because of the decisions of a single man in each case. In the first instance, Sabinus, operating on uncertainty, born of fear, and in the second, Quintus Cicero, basing his decisions on the certainty and clarity that come about from courage.
Caesar decides, based on all the formidable Gallic uprisings that have occurred this year, that for the first time in the whole campaign, he's going to spend the entire winter in Gaul, it's just too volatile not to devote his full attention to Gaul. So he huddles in at Amiens, at Samarobriva. Here's Caesar on the vibe in Gaul winter of 54-53:
When news was brought of Sabinus' great disaster almost all the states of Gaul began to think of war, despatching messengers and deputations in all directions to find out what the others purposed and where the war should start, and holding nightly councils in solitary places. And scarcely a moment the whole winter through passed without anxiety for Caesar, without the receipt of some message concerning the projected rising of the Gauls.
Caesar personally staying the winter in Gaul represents a serious escalation, and what we've seen in Book 5 so far is just a little foretaste of the huge storm that's finally going to break in Book 7 with the revolt of Vercingetorix.
"Indeed, the fact that they had found men to take the lead in an offensive war had so much weight among the natives, and brought about such a universal change of feeling, that, save the Aedui and the Remi, whom Caesar always held in especial honour — the former for their old‑established and unbroken loyalty towards Rome [Good old Aedui, they would never revolt... right? hmm], the latter [the Remi] for their recent services in the Gallic war — [besides them] scarcely a single state was free from suspicion on our part.
But Caesar comments here with that characteristic coolness and respect for his enemy, in a rare first-person comment:
And I am inclined to think that this is not so very remarkable, chiefly, among several other reasons, because this nation, which at one time surpassed all others in military courage, was grievously indignant to have lost so much of that estimation as to submit to the sovereignty of the Roman people.
He gets it. He'd probably revolt too if he were a Gaul.
The Finale of Indutiomarus
Now, Ambiorix, well Caesar's going to spend another year hunting down more on him in the next episode. But before he closes the book though, Caesar does share with us what happens to the resentful Gaul who started it all, old Indutiomarus of the Treveri, that we met at the beginning of the episode.
I'll let you go read Gallic Wars book 5 for the full treatment. But long story short, Indutiomarus attacks Titus Labienus, one of Caesar's finest legates, and Labienus, with some smart generalship that would make Caesar proud, puts Indutiomarus to flight. Here's the final paragraph of the book:
Suddenly from two gates Labienus launched forth all his cavalry; he specifically charged them that as soon as they had frightened the enemy and sent them flying (foreseeing exactly what would, and did, happen), they should all make for Indutiomarus alone, and no one was to wound a single other person until he saw the chieftain slain, as Labienus was absolutely determined to deny the man any opportunity to escape by taking advantage of the time they spent attacking the rest of his army. He offered great rewards to those who should kill him, and sent up cohorts to support the horse. The astuteness of the plan was validated by Fortune [in other words, they did flee just like the Nervii and friends did when Caesar suddenly sallied out], and as all the force were making for one man they caught Indutiomarus just in the ford of the river, slew him, and brought his head back to the camp; during their return the cavalry chased and killed all they could.
On learning of this all the forces of the Eburones and Nervii which had assembled departed, and thereafter Caesar found Gaul somewhat more tranquil.
So much for Indutiomarus and the attempted uprisings of the year 54, and with that, Caesar ends book 5 of On the Gallic Wars.
If you want to help us out in our mission to bring back classical greatness, do me a favor and leave us a good review, tell a friend, or, perhaps more importantly, as you go about your day, act like Caesar's watching you.
Because who knows, maybe he is.
Thanks for listening, stay strong, stay Ancient, this is Alex Petkas, until next time.
For more details, see:
Krebs CB. CAESAR, LUCRETIUS AND THE DATES OF DE RERUM NATURA AND THE COMMENTARII. The Classical Quarterly. 2013;63(2):772-779. doi:10.1017/S0009838813000244 (link).
Birthplace of Karl Marx.
The skipped paragraph: “The natural shape of the island is triangular, and one side lies opposite to Gaul. Of this side one angle, which is in Kent (where almost all the ships from Gaul come in to land), faces the east, the lower angle faces south. This side stretches about five hundred miles. The second side bears towards Spain and the west, in which direction lies Ireland, smaller by one half, as it is thought, than Britain; the sea‑passage is of equal length to that from Gaul to Britain. Here in mid‑channel is an island called Man; in addition, several smaller islands are supposed to lie close to land, as touching which some have written that in midwinter night there lasts for thirty whole days. We could discover nothing about this by inquiries; but, by exact water measurements, we observed that the nights were shorter than on the Continent. The length of this side, according to the belief of the natives, is seven hundred miles. The third side bears northwards, and has no land confronting it; the angle, however, of that side faces on the way towards Germany. The side is supposed to be eight hundred miles long. Thus the whole island is two thousand miles in circumference.”
The editors of The Landmark Julius Caesar remark that “it would be very surprising indeed if Caesar had written this.”
And I think it's interesting to observe here, these are kind of obvious possible suggestions Ambiorix could have made that would support his case, which Ambiorix did NOT mention. A note on persuasion: If you want to deceive someone or just persuade them in general, this is a really powerful technique: you might want to omit some of the supporting reasons and let your prey make their own conclusions, to make them grow in confidence in their judgment, as they feel like "aahh, I'm putting the pieces together myself."
This part was skipped:
In sum, who could persuade himself that Ambiorix had engaged in such a design without sure cause? His own view made for safety in either event: if nothing very serious occurred, they would reach the next legion without danger; if the whole of Gaul were at one with the Germans, the sole chance of safety lay in speedy action. And to what was the plan of Cotta, and those who disagreed with himself, to lead? There might be no present danger in it, but there was certainly famine to fear from a prolonged siege." After this discussion of the alternatives Cotta and the senior centurions vehemently opposed Sabinus, who exclaimed — and with a louder voice than usual, so that a great number of the soldiers might hear — "Have your way, if you please. I am not the man to feel the most serious alarm of any of you at the danger of death. The troops will understand. If anything very serious comes to pass, they will require an account from yourself; for, if you allowed them, they would by the day after to‑morrow have joined forces with the nearest cantonments, and would abide the event of war along with the rest, instead of perishing by sword or famine, far removed and isolated from their comrades.
The council rose, and the officers laid hold on the two generals and prayed them not utterly to endanger the issue by their own obstinacy in disagreement. There was no difficulty, whether they stayed or marched, if only all shared and approved one plan; in disagreement, on the contrary, they saw no safety. The matter continued in dispute till midnight. At last Cotta was induced to yield, and the view of Sabinus prevailed. It was announced that the troops would march at dawn.