3-5 Qui cum consul . . . servasset. Pompeius, consul with Crassus in 71-70 B.C., thought it beneath his dignity to accept a consular province, and waited in Rome as a simple citizen until an opportunity should be offered him to play an extraordinary part.
5 A. Gabinius, a client of Pompeius, a man ruined in finances and character, but a dexterous negotiator, a bold orator, and a brave soldier. In 57 B.C. did excellent service as proconsul of Syria.
6-9 ut cum belli more . . . diripuissent. ‘For twenty years the sea had been rendered unsafe by these curses of human society.’ The commerce of the whole Mediterranean was in their power.
13-15 sed tamen . . . decretum erat. In 74 B.C. M. Antonius, son of the orator and father of the triumvir, was entrusted by the Senate with the task of clearing the seas from the corsairs. In spite of his extensive powers, the utter incapacity of Antonius, and the mismanagement of the Senate, caused the expedition to end in failure and disgrace.
Result. ‘The Gabinio-Manilian proposals terminated the struggle between the senate and the popular party, which the Sempronian laws (133-123 B.C.) had begun. As the Sempronian laws first constituted the revolutionary party into a political opposition, the Gabinio-Manilian first converted it from an opposition into a government.’—M.
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C.
Pompeius clears the Seas of Pirates, 67 B.C.
Quis enim umquam aut obeundi negoti aut consequendi quaestus studio tam brevi tempore tot loca adire, tantos cursus conficere potuit, quam celeriter Cn. Pompeio duce tanti belli impetus navigavit? Qui nondum tempestivo ad navigandum mari Siciliam 5 adiit, Africam exploravit, in Sardiniam cum classe venit, atque haec tria frumentaria subsidia rei publicae firmissimis praesidiis classibusque munivit. Inde cum se in Italiam recepisset, duabus Hispaniis et Gallia transalpina praesidiis ac navibus confirmata, 10 missis item in oram Illyrici maris et in Achaiam omnemque Graeciam navibus Italiae duo maria maximis classibus firmissimisque praesidiis adornavit, ipse autem, ut Brundisio profectus est, undequinquagesimo die totam ad imperium populi Romani 15 Ciliciam adiunxit: omnes, qui ubique praedones fuerant, partim capti interfectique sunt, partim unius huius se imperio ac potestati dediderunt. Ita tantum bellum, tam diuturnum, tam longe lateque dispersum, quo bello omnes gentes ac nationes 20 premebantur, Cn. Pompeius extrema hieme adparavit, ineunte vere suscepit, media aestate confecit.
4 tanti belli impetus, fig. for an attacking fleet of such force, which from its size would ordinarily sail slowly.—Wilkins.
5-8 Qui . . . munivit. Early in the year (nondum tempestivo ad navigandum) Pompeius cleared of pirates the Sicilian, African, and Sardinian waters, so re-establish the supply of grain from these provinces to Italy.
14-18 undequagesimo . . . dediderunt. The bold Cilician seakings alone ventured to face the Roman fleet in the offing of Coracesium (at the W. frontier of Cilicia), but were completely defeated. Forty-nine days (undequinquagesimo) after Pompeius had appeared in the Eastern seas, Cilicia was subdued, and the war at an end. ‘In all about 1300 piratical vessels are said to have been destroyed: besides which the richly filled arsenals and magazines of the buccaneers were burnt. Of the pirates, about 10,000 perished (interfecti); upwards of 20,000 fell alive (partim capti—partim se dediderunt) into the hands of the victor.’—M.
22 ineunte vere . . . confecit. ‘In the summer of 67 B.C., three months after the beginning of the campaign, commerce resumed its wonted course, and instead of the former famine abundance prevailed in Italy.’—M.
This was the first trial of rule centralised in a single hand, and Pompeius fully justified the confidence that was placed in him.
THE THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR, 74-63 B.C. (2)
Pompeius subdues Mithridates and Tigranes.
Pompeius interea memorabile adversus Mithridaten, qui post Luculli profectionem magnas novi exercitus vires reparaverat, bellum gessit. At rex fusus fugatusque et omnibus exutus copiis Armeniam Tigranenque generum petit, regem eius temporis, 5 nisi qua Luculli armis erat infractus, potentissimum. Simul itaque duos persecutus Pompeius intravit Armeniam. Prior filius Tigranis, sed discors patri, pervenit ad Pompeium: mox ipse supplex et praesens se regnumque dicioni eius permisit, 10 praefatus neminem alium neque Romanum neque ullius gentis virum futurum fuisse, cuius se societate commissurus foret, quam Pompeium; non esse turpe ab eo vinci, quem vincere esset nefas, neque inhoneste aliquem summitti huic, quem fortuna super 15 omnes extulisset. Servatus regi honos imperi, sed multato ingenti pecunia, quae omnis, sicuti Pompeio moris erat, redacta in quaestoris potestatem ac publicis descripta litteris. Syria aliaeque, quas occupaverat, provinciae ereptae, et aliae restitutae populo 20 Romano, aliae tum primum in eius potestatem redactae, ut Syria, quae tum primum facta est stipendiaria. Finis imperi regi terminatus Armenia.
Context. In 66 B.C. Lucullus, of whom Mommsen says ‘hardly any other Roman general accomplished so much with so trifling means,’ was superseded by Pompeius. By the Lex Manilia Pompeius obtained, in addition to the extensive powers conferred upon him by the Lex Gabinia 67 B.C., the military administration of Asia as far as Armenia. ‘Never since Rome stood had such power been united in the hands of a single man.’—M.
3-4 rex fusus . . . copiis, i.e. in Lesser Armenia, on S. bank of R. Lycus, where Pompeius afterwards founded Nicopolis.
5 Tigranenque generum petit. Tigranes had married Cleopatra, the daughter of Mithridates.
17-19 quae omnis . . . litteris, i.e. paid into the Roman treasury. Cf. Lucan ix. 197 Immodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis | Intulit sc. in aerarium.
The End of Mithridates. After his defeat at Nicopolis the aged king took refuge in his Northern capital of Panticapaeum (on the Cimmerian Bosporus). Here, when all turned against him, he took poison, 63 B.C. ‘In him a great enemy was borne to the tomb, a greater than had ever yet withstood the Romans in the indolent East.’—M.
Syria made a Roman Province, 65 B.C.
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (3)
A. Curule Aedile, 65 B.C.
Aedilis praeter comitium ac forum basilicasque etiam Capitolium ornavit porticibus ad tempus exstructis, in quibus abundante rerum copia pars apparatus exponeretur. Venationes autem ludosque et cum collega et separatim edidit, quo factum est, 5 ut communium quoque impensarum solus gratiam caperet, nec dissimularet collega eius Marcus Bibulus evenisse sibi quod Polluci: ut enim geminis fratribus aedes in foro constituta tantum Castoris vocaretur, ita suam Caesarisque munificentiam unius Caesaris 10 dici.
1 Aedilis. As curule-aedile Caesar exceeded all previous expenditure. This was meant to secure the favour of the democracy, and gain the position of its leader, which was in fact vacant; for Crassus was never popular, and Pompeius was absent in the East.
basilicas (βασιλική sc. οἰκία and στοά: regia) = halls.
2 porticibus: these acted as booths, in a grand fair, as we should say.
4 Venationes, here of the combats with wild beasts.
7 M. Bibulus, also Caesar’s colleague in his first consulship, 59 B.C.
B. Propraetor in Further Spain, 61 B.C.
Ex praetura ulteriorem sortitus Hispaniam, retinentes creditores interventu sponsorum removit, ac neque more neque iure, ante quam provinciae ornarentur, profectus est; pacataque provincia, pari 15 festinatione, non expectato successore, ad triumphum simul consulatumque decessit. Sed cum, edictis iam comitiis, ratio eius haberi non posset nisi privatus introisset urbem, et ambienti ut legibus solveretur multi contradicerent, coactus est triumphum, 20 ne consulatu excluderetur, dimittere.
Context. In 69 B.C. Caesar was elected to a Quaestorship (the lowest step in the ladder of official life) and discharged his judicial duties in Further Spain with tact and industry.
13 retinentes . . . removit = freed himself from his creditors, who were for detaining him, by the help of sureties. Caesar is said to have borrowed from Crassus 830 talents.
14-15 ante quam provinciae ornarentur: a regular phrase used of supplying the newly chosen magistrate with money, arms, attendants, etc.
18 ratio . . . posset = his candidature could not be considered.
Propraetor in F. Spain. ‘His governorship enabled him partly to rid himself of his debts partly to lay the foundation for his military repute.’—M.
THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (1)
Cicero declaims against the Audacity of Catiline.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum 5 omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis? Constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, 10 ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? O tempora! O mores! Senatus haec intellegit; consul videt: hic tamen vivit. Vivit? immo vero etiam in senatum venit: fit publici consilii particeps; notat at designat 15 oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum. . . . Castra sunt in Italia contra rem publicam in Etruriae faucibus collocata: crescit in dies singulos hostium numerus; eorum autem castrorum imperatorem ducemque hostium intra moenia atque 20 adeo in senatu videmus intestinam aliquam cotidie perniciem rei publicae molientem. Si te iam, Catilina, eomprehendi, si interfici iussero, credo, erit verendum mihi ne non hoc potius omnes boni serius a me quam quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat. 25
1 Quo usque tandem abutere = how long, pray, will you presume upon? Catiline had been declared hostis patriae, and yet dared to appear in the Senate.
4 praesidium Palati: in the case of any threatening danger the Mons Palatinus was occupied as one of the most important military points in the city.
6-7 senatus locus, i.e. the temple of Jupiter Stator, on the N. slope of the Palatine, chosen as the safest meeting-place, and near Cicero’s house.
17-18 castra . . . collocata, the camp of Manlius (one of the veteran centurions of Sulla) was planted at Faesulae (Fiesole), a rocky fastness three miles N.E. of Florence.
19 imperatorem: ironical, as though Catiline were the legally appointed general of the Republic.
In L. Catilinam Oratio i. ‘This splendid oration, in its fiery vigour and mastery of invective, is unsurpassed except by the Second Philippic.’—Cruttwell.
Its effect on Catiline. Tum ille furibundus ‘quoniam quidem circumventus’ inquit ‘ab inimicis praeceps agor, incendium meum ruina restinguam.’ Sall. Catil. 31. That night Catiline left Rome for the camp of Manlius.
THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (2)
The End of Catiline.
Sed confecto proelio tum vero cerneres, quanta audacia quantaque vis animi fuisset in exercitu Catilinae. Nam fere, quem quisque vivus pugnando locum ceperat, eum, amissa anima, corpore tegebat. Pauci autem, quos medios cohors praetoria disiecerat, 5 paulo divorsius, sed omnes tamen advorsis volneribus conciderant. Catilina vero longe a suis inter hostium cadavera repertus est, paululum etiam spirans ferociamque animi, quam habuerat vivus, in voltu retinens. Postremo ex omni copia neque in 10 proelio neque in fuga quisquam civis ingenuus captus est. Ita cuncti suae hostiumque vitae iuxta pepercerant. Neque tamen exercitus populi Romani laetam aut incruentam victoriam adeptus erat; nam strenuissumus quisque aut occiderat in proelio, aut 15 graviter volneratus discesserat. Multi autem, qui de castris visundi aut spoliandi gratia processerant, volventes hostilia cadavera, amicum alii, pars hospitem aut cognatum reperiebant; fuere item, qui inimicos suos cognoscerent. Ita varie per omnem 20 exercitum laetitia, maeror, luctus atque gaudia agitabantur.
5 cohors praetoria: a corps d’élite, specially organised as a bodyguard of the general (praetor = praeitor, prae + eo), dating from the time when the praetores was the older name of the consuls (= colleagues).
8 etiam (= adhuc) = still. Cf. Verg. Aen. vi. 485 etiam currus etiam arma tenentem.
11 civis ingenuus, i.e. a free citizen born of free citizens.
12 Ita cuncti . . . pepercerant = so unsparing had they all been alike of their own and their opponents’ lives.—Pollard.
21 laetitia = joy manifested, gaudia = joy felt.
luctus = grief shown by outward signs, e.g. by dress.
maeror = grief shown by inward signs, e.g. by tears, or a sad face.
The Battle of Pistoria (Pistoia, N.W. of Faesulae). ‘Catiline showed on this day that nature had destined him for no ordinary things, and that he knew at once how to command and how to fight as a soldier. At length Petreius, with his bodyguard, broke the centre of the enemy, and then attacked the two wings from within. This decided the day.’—M.
The character of Catiline. ‘He was one of the most wicked men in that wicked age. He possessed in a high degree the qualities which are required in the leader of a band of ruined and desperate men—the faculty of enjoying all pleasures and of bearing all privations, courage, military talent, knowledge of men, indomitable energy.’—M. Cf. Sall. Catil. 5.
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (4).
Forms the First Triumvirate: Consul, 60-59 B.C.
Hoc igitur consule inter eum et Cn. Pompeium et M. Crassum inita potentiae societas, quae urbi orbique terrarum nec minus diverso quoque tempore ipsis exitiabilis fuit. Hoc consilium sequendi Pompeius causam habuerat, ut tandem acta in 5 transmarinis provinciis, quibus, ut praediximus, multi obtrectabant, per Caesarem confirmarentur consulem, Caesar autem, quod animadvertebat se cedendo Pompei gloriae aucturum suam et invidia communis potentiae in illum relegata confirmaturum 10 vires suas, Crassus, ut quem principatum solus adsequi non poterat, auctoritate Pompei, viribus teneret Caesaris. Adfinitas etiam inter Caesarem Pompeiumque contracta nuptiis, quippe Iuliam, filiam C. Caesaris, Cn. Magnus duxit uxorem. In 15 hoc consulatu Caesar legem tulit, ut ager Campanus plebei divideretur, suasore legis Pompeio: ita circiter XX milia civium eo deducta et ius urbis restitutum post annos circiter CLII quam bello Punico ab Romanis Capua in formam praefecturae 20 redacta erat. Bibulus, collega Caesaris, cum actiones eius magis vellet impedire quam posset, maiore parte anni domi se tenuit: quo facto dum augere vult invidiam collegae, auxit potentiam. Tum Caesari decretae in quinquennium Galliae. 25
1-2 inter eum . . . societas, the famous First Triumvirate. ‘It was at first an expedient to secure, as we should say, a working majority for a vigorous democratic policy, but the bitterness of its enemies transformed the coalition itself from an honourable union into the semblance of a three-headed tyranny.’—Warde Fowler.
4-7 The ultra-senatorial party (after Pompeius’ great act of renunciation, when he dismissed his victorious veterans in 62 B.C.) had checked and worried Pompeius by refusing to ratify his arrangements in the East, and by criticising and opposing his plans for rewarding his veterans. Thus they deliberately drove him once more into the arms of Caesar and the democracy.
10 relegata = attributed, imputed, lit. removed (re + lēgo).
21 Bibulus, collega Caesaris: cf. Suet. Divus Iulius 20:
Non Bibulo quicquam, nuper sed Caesare factum est:
Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini.
Caesar’s First Consulship. Among his other acts was the famous Lex Iulia de pecuniis repetundis (against official extortion in the provinces), which won strong praise even from Cicero himself.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (1)
‘That day he overcame the Nervii,’ 57 B.C.
Caesar ab decimae legionis cohortatione ad dextrum cornu profectus, ubi suos urgeri signisque in unum locum collatis duodecimae legionis confertos milites sibi ipsos ad pugnam esse impedimento vidit—quartae cohortis omnibus centurionibus occisis, 5 signifero interfecto, signo amisso, reliquarum cohortium omnibus fere centurionibus aut vulneratis aut occisis, in his primipilo P. Sextio Baculo, fortissimo viro, multis gravibusque volneribus confecto, ut iam se sustinere non posset; reliquos esse tardiores et nonnullos 10 ab novissimis deserto proelio excedere ac tela vitare, hostes neque a fronte ex inferiore loco subeuntes intermittere et ab utroque latere instare, et rem esse in angusto vidit neque ullum esse subsidium quod submitti posset, scuto ab novissimis 15 militi detracto, quod ipse eo sine scuto venerat, in primam aciem processit; centurionibusque nominatim appellatis reliquos cohortatus milites signa inferre et manipulos laxare iussit, quo facilius gladiis uti possent. Cuius adventu spe illata militibus ac 20 redintegrato animo, cum pro se quisque in conspectu imperatoris etiam in extremis suis rebus operam navare cuperet, paulum hostium impetus tardatus est.
Context. The Nervii, the bravest of the Belgae, surprised Caesar’s men while at work on their camp. There was no time to think: they took station where they could. The 9th and 10th legions on the left broke and pursued the enemy in front of them, and the two legions in the centre stood firm. But on the right there was a gap, and the Nervii were rapidly surrounding the two legions huddled together here, and the fight threatened every moment to become a second Cannae, when Caesar restored the fight. Labienus sent back the victorious 10th, who took the enemy in their rear, and the cavalry completed the victory.
14-15 neque ullum . . . posset: the rear guard, the 13th and 14th legions, had not yet come up.
18-19 signa . . . laxare = to charge and (thus) open out the ranks.
22-23 operam navare = to do their very best. navo (orig. gnavo; cf. γνώσκω) = lit. to make known, to exhibit.
The Battle of the Sambre. One of the most desperate that Caesar ever fought. The memory of it lived in Caesar’s mind so vividly that he seems to fight the battle over again as he describes it, in language for him unusually strong and intense.—W. F.
Result of the Battle, the submission of North West Gaul.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (2)
Naval Battle with the Veneti, 56 B.C.
Una erat magno usui res praeparata a nostris,—falces praeacutae insertae affixaeque longuriis non absimili forma muralium falcium. His cum funes qui antemnas ad malos destinabant comprehensi adductique essent, navigio remis incitato praerumpebantur. 5 Quibus abscisis antemnae necessario concidebant; ut, cum omnis Gallicis spes in velis armamentisque consisteret, his ereptis omnis usus navium uno tempore eriperetur. Reliquum erat certamen positum in virtute, qua nostri milites facile 10 superabant atque eo magis, quod in conspectu Caesaris atque omnis exercitus res gerebatur, ut nullum paulo fortius factum latere posset; omnes enim colles ac loca superiora, unde erat propinquus despectus in mare, ab exercitu tenebantur. Disiectis, ut diximus, 15 antemnis, cum singulas binae ac ternae naves circumsteterant, milites summa vi transcendere in hostium naves contendebant. Quod postquam barbari fieri animadverterunt, expugnatis compluribus navibus, cum ei rei nullum reperiretur auxilium, fuga 20 salutem petere contenderunt. Ac iam conversis in eam partem navibus quo ventus ferebat, tanta subito malacia ac tranquillitas exstitit ut se ex loco movere non possent. Quae quidem res ad negotium conficiendum maxime fuit opportuna; nam singulas 25 nostri consectati expugnaverunt, ut perpaucae ex omni numero noctis interventu ad terram pervenerint, cum ab hora fere quarta usque ad solis occasum pugnaretur.
Context. In the winter of 57-6 Roman officers, who came to levy requisitions of grain, were detained by the Veneti. Caesar’s attack on their coast-towns failed to reduce them to submission: so he determined to wait for his fleet. This he entrusted to Decimus Brutus, an able and devoted officer. At first the Roman galleys were powerless against the high-decked strong sailing-vessels of the Veneti, but the use of the murales falces, and the opportune calm, enabled Brutus to annihilate their fleet.
11-12 quod . . . gerebatur. Napoleon (Caesar, vol. ii. p. 6) thinks that Caesar was encamped on the heights of Saint Gildas overlooking Quiberon Bay.
23 malacia = a calm, but μαλακία = softness, L. mollities.
Result of the Victory—the surrender of the Veneti and of all Brittany. The earliest historical naval battle fought on the Atlantic Ocean.—M.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (3)
Caesar’s Bridge across the Rhine, 55 B.C.
Rationem pontis hanc instituit. Tigna bina sesquipedalia paulum ab imo praeacuta, dimensa ad altitudinem fluminis, intervallo pedum duorum inter se iungebat. Haec cum machinationibus immissa in flumen defixerat fistucisque adegerat—non sublicae 5 modo derecte ad perpendiculum, sed prone ac fastigate, ut secundum naturam fluminis procumberent—eis item contraria duo ad eundem modum iuncta intervallo pedum quadragenum ab inferiore parte contra vim atque impetum fluminis conversa statuebat. 10 Haec utraque insuper bipedalibus trabibus immissis, quantum eorum tignorum iunctura distabat, binis utrimque fibulis ab extrema parte distinebantur; quibus disclusis atque in contrariam partem revinctis, tanta erat operis firmitudo atque 15 ea rerum natura ut, quo maior vis aquae se incitavisset, hoc artius illigata tenerentur. Haec derecta materia iniecta contexebantur ac longuriis cratibusque consternebantur; ac nihilo setius sublicae et ad inferiorem partem fluminis oblique agebantur, quae 20 pro ariete subiectae et cum omni opere coniunctae vim fluminis exciperent; et aliae item supra pontem mediocri spatio, ut, si arborum trunci sive naves deiciendi operis essent a barbaris immissae, his defensoribus earum rerum vis minueretur, neu ponti 25 nocerent.
Context. The year 55 B.C. appears to have been marked by a general movement in the migration of the German tribes. An advance, consisting of two tribes, the Usipetes and Tenctri, crowded forward by the more powerful Suevi, crossed the Lower Rhine into N. Gaul. Caesar drove them back across the Rhine, bridged the river, followed them up into their own territories, and fully established the supremacy of the Roman arms.—Allen and Greenough.
5 fistucisque adegerat = and had driven them home (ad-) with rammers. For Plan of Bridge see Allen’s Caesar, p. 103.
11-14 Haec . . . distinebantur = these two sets were held apart by two-feet timbers laid on above, equal (in thickness) to the interval left by the fastening of the piles (quantum . . . distabat), with a pair of ties (fibulis) at each end.—A. & G.
17-18 Haec . . . contexebantur = these (i.e. the framework of timber) were covered over by boards (materia) laid lengthwise.
longuriis = with long poles.
The Bridge (prob. near Bonn). ‘With extraordinary speed (in ten days) the bridge was completed. It was a triumph of engineering and industry.’—W. F.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (4)
Cassivellaunus.
Second Invasion of Britain, 54 B.C.
Cassivellaunus, omni deposita spe contentionis, dimissis amplioribus copiis, milibus circiter quattuor essedariorum relictis itinera nostra servabat: paulumque ex via excedebat locisque impeditis ac silvestribus sese occultabat, atque eis regionibus quibus 5 nos iter facturos cognoverat pecora atque homines ex agris in silvas compellebat; et cum equitatus noster liberius praedandi vastandique causa se in agros eiecerat, omnibus viis semitisque essedarios ex silvis emittebat; et magno cum periculo nostrorum 10 equitum cum eis confligebat atque hoc metu latius vagari prohibebat. Relinquebatur ut neque longius ab agmine legionum discedi Caesar pateretur, et tantum in agris vastandis incendiisque faciendis hostibus noceretur quantum in labore atque itinere 15 legionarii milites efficere poterant. . . . Cassivellaunus hoc proelio nuntiato, tot detrimentis acceptis, vastatis finibus, maxime etiam permotus defectione civitatum, legatos per Atrebatem Commium de deditione ad Caesarem mittit. 20
Context. The First Invasion of Britain (55 B.C.) was only a visit of exploration; but in the Second Invasion (54 B.C.) Caesar aimed at a partial conquest. He had been hearing of Britain ever since he came to Gaul, and knew it to be a refuge for his Celtic enemies and a secret source of their strength. He set sail from the Portus Ittius (mod. Wissant, some twelve miles W. of Calais) and after drifting some way to the N.E., made his way to his former landing-place, probably near Romney. Some severe fighting followed, till at length Caesar crossed the Thames (apparently between Kingston and Brentford) and entered the country of Cassivellaunus, who gave Caesar much trouble by his guerilla tactics. Deserted by his allies, Cassivellaunus offered his submission, which Caesar gladly accepted.
1 Contentionis, i.e. of a general engagement with Caesar.
12 Relinquebatur ut = the consequence was that . . .
17 hoc proelio, i.e. the storming by Caesar of his fortified camp, perh. St. Albans.
18-19 defectione civitatum, espec. of the Trinobantes (chief place Camulodunum, later Colonia castrum = Colchester).
19 Commium, Caesar had made him King of the Atrebates (N.W. Gaul).
Caesar In Britain. ‘What he tells us of the geography and inhabitants of the Island comprises almost all we know, except from coins, down to the time of its final conquest by Clodius 51 A.D.’—W. F.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (5)
The Gallic uprising.
Fabian tactics of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C.
Vercingetorix tot continuis incommodis acceptis suos ad concilium convocat. Docet ‘longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum atque antea gestum sit; omnibus modis huic rei studendum ut pabulatione et commeatu Romani prohibeantur: id esse 5 facile, quod equitatu ipsi abundent et quod anni tempore subleventur; pabulum secari non posse; necessario dispersos hostes ex aedificiis petere; hos omnes cotidie ab equitibus deleri posse. Praeterea, salutis causa rei familiaris commoda neglegenda; 10 vicos atque aedificia incendi oportere hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur. Harum ipsis rerum copiam suppetere, quod quorum in finibus bellum geratur eorum opibus subleventur: Romanos aut inopiam non laturos aut 15 magno cum periculo longius a castris processuros; neque interesse ipsosne interficiant an impedimentis exuant, quibus amissis bellum geri non possit. Praeterea, oppida incendi oportere quae non munitione et loci natura ab omni sint periculo tuta; ne 20 suis sint ad detrectandam militiam receptacula, neu Romanis proposita ad copiam commeatus praedamque tollendam. Haec si gravia aut acerba videantur, multo illa gravius aestimari debere, liberos, coniuges in servitutem abstrahi, ipsos interfici; 25 quae sit necesse accidere victis.’
Context. On his return from Britain, Caesar found the N. Gauls in open revolt. The division of Sabinus (at Aduatuca, near Liège) was annihilated by Ambiorix, and Caesar was only just in time to relieve Q. Cicero at Charleroi. To prevent all further support to the Gauls from the Germans across the Rhine, Caesar again made a military demonstration across the river, and put an end to all the hopes of the Germans of breaking through this boundary. In the winter of 53-2 B.C., during his absence in Cisalpine Gaul, a general uprising of the S. and Central Gauls took place under the Arvernian Vercingetorix, the hero of the whole Gallic race.
6-7 anni tempore, i.e. scarcely yet spring, when no crops could be got off the land.
11-12 hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo = so far in every direction as.
19 oppida incendi: only Avaricum (Bourges) was to be spared.
22 proposita = offered to be captured by the Romans.
The tactics of Vercingetorix. ‘He adopted a system of warfare similar to that by which Cassivellaunus had saved the Celts of Britain.’—M.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (6)
Siege of Gergovia.
Petronius dies to save his men, 52 B.C.
Cum acerrime comminus pugnaretur, hostes loco et numero, nostri virtute confiderent, subito sunt Aedui visi ab latere nostris aperto, quos Caesar ab dextra parte alio ascensu manus distinendae causa miserat. Hi similitudine armorum vehementer 5 nostros perterruerunt. Eodem tempore L. Fabius centurio quique una murum ascenderant circumventi atque interfecti de muro praecipitabantur. M. Petronius, eiusdem legionis centurio, cum portas excidere conatus esset, a multitudine oppressus ac sibi desperans, 10 multis iam volneribus acceptis, manipularibus suis qui illum secuti erant, ‘Quoniam,’ inquit, ‘me una vobiscum servare non possum, vestrae quidem certe vitae prospiciam, quos cupiditate gloriae adductus in periculum deduxi. Vos data facultate vobis consulite.’ 15 Simul in niedios hostes irrupit, duobusque interfectis reliquos a porta paulum submovit. Conantibus auxiliari suis, ‘Frustra,’ inquit, ‘meae vitae subvenire conamini, quem iam sanguis viresque deficiunt. Proinde abite dum est facultas vosque ad 20 legionem recipite.’ Ita pugnans post paulum concidit ac suis saluti fuit.
Context. With a half-starved army Caesar stormed Avaricum after a most obstinate defence, and then laid siege to the Arvernian capital of Gergovia, in hope of destroying Vercingetorix and ending the war. As the town was too strong to be taken by storm, he resolved to try a blockade, but he failed, as at Dyrrachium in 49 B.C., from want of sufficient troops.
A last desperate attack on the town was repulsed, and Caesar, defeated for the first time, was forced to raise the siege.
3 ab latere nostris aperto: as a soldier carries his shield on the left arm, leaving the sword hand free, this (right) side is called latus apertum.—Compton.
4 manus distinendae causa = for the purpose of diverting (distinendae, lit. hold off) the enemy’s force.
6 perterruerunt: this was all the more natural, as the Aeduan contingent was only awaiting the result of the blockade, to openly join the insurgents.
9 excidere = to cut away, hew down, i.e. from within.
Gergovia, 4 miles S. of Clermont. This famous stronghold consists of a rectangular plateau nearly a mile in length, and some 1300 feet above the plain through which the Allier flows, and descending steeply on all sides but one to the ground.
Caesar’s failure. ‘The fact was that chiefly owing to the nature of the ground and their own ardour, Caesar’s men were not well in hand.’—W. F.
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (7)
Siege of Alesia.
The Last Fight of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C.
Vercingetorix ex arce Alesiae suos conspicatus ex oppido egreditur: crates, longurios, musculos, fasces, reliquaque quae eruptionis causa paraverat profert. Pugnatur uno tempore omnibus locis atque omnia temptantur; quae minime visa pars firma est huc 5 concurritur. Romanorum manus tantis munitionibus distinetur nec facile pluribus locis occurrit. . . . Labienus, postquam neque aggeres neque fossae vim hostium sustinere poterant, coactis XI cohortibus, quas ex proximis praesidiis deductas fors obtulit, 10 Caesarem per nuntios facit certiorem quid faciendum existimet. Accelerat Caesar ut proelio intersit. Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito (quo insigni in proeliis uti consuerat), turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis quas se sequi iusserat, ut de locis 15 superioribus haec declivia et devexa cemebantur, hostes proelium committunt. Utrimque clamore sublato excipit rursus ex vallo atque omnibus munitionibus clamor. Nostri omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur: 20 cohortes aliae appropinquant. Hostes terga vertunt; fugientibus equites occurrunt: fit magna caedes: pauci ex tanto numero se incolumes in castra recipiunt.
Context. After his successful defence of Gergovia, Vercingetorix allowed his judgment to be overruled, and attacked Caesar’s army (now united to the division of Labienus) on the march. Caesar shook off the enemy with the help of his German cavalry, and turned their retreat into a rout. V. then threw himself with all his forces into Alesia. Caesar constructed an inner line of investment and an outer line of defence, and was thus able to wear out the besieged and beat back the relieving host of the Gauls.
1 suos, i.e. the host (some 250,000) of the relieving army of Gauls.
2 musculos (dimin. of mus) = pent-houses or sheds.
4 omnibus locis, i.e. along the whole length of Caesar’s outer line of defence, where it ran along the slope of Mont Réa, to the N.W. of Alesia. This, as the relieving Gauls were quick to see, was the weakest point of the whole line.
13 ex colore vestitus, i.e. the purple or scarlet paludamentum.
Vercingetorix. The Celtic officers delivered up V. to Caesar, to be led in triumph five years later, and beheaded as a traitor. In 1865 a statue was erected on the summit of Alesia, in honour of the heroic Gaul.
The fall of Alesia decided the fate of Gaul.
CICERO IN EXILE, March 58 B.C.-August 57 B.C. (1)
His Banishment.
Per idem tempus P. Clodius, homo nobilis, disertus, audax, quique dicendi neque faciendi ullum nisi quem vellet nosset modum, malorum propositorum exsecutor acerrimus, cum graves inimicitias cum M. Cicerone exerceret (quid enim inter tam 5 dissimilis amicum esse poterat?) et a patribus ad plebem transisset, legem in tribunatu tulit, qui civem Romanum non damnatum interemisset, ei aqua et igni interdiceretur: cuius verbis etsi non nominabatur Cicero, tamen solus petebatur. Ita vir optime 10 meritus de re publica conservatae patriae pretium calamitatem exili tulit. Non caruerunt suspicione oppressi Ciceronis Caesar et Pompeius. Hoc sibi contraxisse videbatur Cicero, quod inter xx viros dividendo agro Campano esse noluisset. Idem intra 15 biennium sera Cn. Pompei cura, verum ut coepit intenta, votisque Italiae ac decretis senatus, virtute atque actione Anni Milonis tribuni pl. dignitati patriaeque restitutus est. Neque post Numidici exilium ac reditum quisquam aut expulsus invidiosius 20 aut receptus est laetius: cuius domus quam infeste a Clodio disiecta erat, tam speciose a senatu restituta est.
6-7 a patribus . . . transisset. When Cicero refused to throw in his lot with the Triumvirs, Publius Clodius was (by the aid of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus) hurriedly transferred from a patrician to a plebeian gens, and then chosen a tribune of the people for the year 58 B.C. Clodius was thus enabled to satisfy his private hatred of Cicero, and Caesar was enabled to get rid of the man who persisted in opposing him.
7-8 qui . . . interemisset: aimed at Cicero for his share in the summary execution of the Catilinarians 63 B.C. Mommsen calls it a judicial murder. Undoubtedly the Senate had not the power of sentencing citizens to death. But Cicero argues that the legal effect of the Senatus consultum ultimum was to disenfranchise Lentulus and his associates, and to place them in the position of outlaws.
12-13 Non caruerunt . . . Pompeius: Caesar having in vain tried to win him over abandoned him to his fate, and Pompeius basely deserted him.
15 dividendo agro Campano, i.e. by Caesar’s Agrarian Law of 59 B.C., to provide for Pompey’s veterans.
18 Anni Milonis: the bravoes of Milo protected from disturbance the voters engaged in sanctioning the decree for the recall of Cicero.
19 Numidici, i.e. Q. Caecilius Metellus, general against Jugurtha, superseded by Marius and forced to retire to Rhodes.
CICERO IN EXILE, March 58 B.C.-August 57 B.C. (2)
His Return.
Pr. Nonas Sextiles Dyrrachio sum profectus, ipso illo die, quo lex est lata de nobis; Brundisium veni Nonis Sextilibus: ibi mihi Tulliola mea fuit praesto natali suo ipso die, qui casu idem natalis erat et Brundisinae coloniae et tuae vicinae Salutis; quae 5 res animadversa a multitudine summa Brundisinorum gratulatione celebrata est. Ante diem vi Idus Sextiles cognovi, cum Brundisii essem, litteris Quinti, mirifico studio omnium aetatum atque ordinum, incredibili concursu Italiae legem comitiis 10 centuriatis esse perlatam: inde a Brundisinis honestissimis ornatus iter ita feci, ut undique ad me cum gratulatione legati convenerint. Ad urbem ita veni, ut nemo ullius ordinis homo nomenclatori notus fuerit, qui mihi obviam non venerit, praeter eos 15 inimicos, quibus id ipsum, se inimicos esse, non liceret aut dissimulare aut negare. Cum venissem ad portam Capenam, gradus templorum ab infima plebe completi erant, a qua plausu maximo cum esset mihi gratulatio significata, similis et frequentia 20 et plausus me usque ad Capitolium celebravit, in foroque et in ipso Capitolio miranda multitudo fuit. Postridie in senatu, qui fuit dies Nonarum Septembr., senatui gratias egimus.