History of Julius Caesar Vol. 2 of 2

The Gates, at the confluence of the Gers and the Garonne.

The Garumni, in the south of the department of the Haute-Garonne.

The Ptianes, probably towards Pau and Orthez.

The Sibuzates appear to have occupied the ancient country of Soule (Basses-Pyrénées).

The Sotiates occupied the south-west part of the department of Lot-et-Garonne and a part of the departments of the Landes and the Gers.

The Tarbelli occupied all the territory bordering upon the head of the Gulf of Gascony (departments of the Landes and the Basses-Pyrénées).

The Tarusates, established on the Adour, in the ancient Tursan (the south-east part of the department of the Landes). Peoples of Aquitaine (continued).

The Vasates or Vocates, established in the country of Bazas (the south-east part of the department of the Gironde).

75

“Pagus, pars civitatis.” (De Bello Gallico, I. 12.)

76

Cæsar mentions in different pasages the existence of vici among the Helvetii (I. 5), the Allobroges trans Rhodanum (I. 11), the Remi (II. 7), the Morini (III. 29), the Menapii (IV. 4), the Eburones (VI. 43), the Boii (VII. 14), the Carnutes (VIII. 5), and the Veragri (III. 1).

77

De Bello Gallico VII. 15, 25, 68.

78

The “Commentaries” name twenty-one oppida: Alesia, Avaricum, Bibracte, Bibrax, Bratuspantium, Cabillonum, Genabum, Genava, Gergovia, Gorgobina, Lutetia, Lemonum, Melodunum, Noviodunum Æduorum, Noviodunum Biturigum, Noviodunum Suessionum, Uxellodunum, Vellaunodunum, Vesontio, the oppidum Aduatucorum, and the oppidum Sotiatum.

79

“Oppidum dictum quod ibi homines opes suas conferunt.” (Paulus Diaconus, p. 184, edit. Müller.)

80

The Gauls lived in houses, or rather in huts, constructed of wood and with hurdles, tolerably spacious and of a circular form, covered with a high roof. (Strabo, IV. 163, edit. Didot.) – The Gauls, to avoid the heat, almost always built their habitations in the neighbourhood of woods and rivers. (Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, VI. 30.)

81

See a very curious passage in Solinus, chap. 25, on the practice of tattooing among the Gauls.

82

Diodorus Siculus (V. 28) says that the Gauls were of tall stature, had white flesh, and were lymphatic in constitution. Some shaved; the majority had beards of moderate size. – According to Titus Livius, the Gauls possessed a tall stature (procera corpora), flowing hair of an auburn colour (promissæ et rutilatæ comæ), a white complexion (candida corpora). (Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 17, 21, and Ammianus Marcellinus, XV. 22.) The latter adds that the Gauls had generally a threatening and terrible tone of voice, which is also stated by Diodorus Siculus (V. 31). – The skeletons found in the excavations at Saint-Etienne-au-Temple are 1·80m. to 1·90m. in length.

83

Strabo, p. 163, edit. Didot.

84

Isidorus Hispalensis, Origines, I. 19, 24.

85

Diodorus Siculus, V. 30.

86

Diodorus Siculus, V. 33.

87

Pliny, XXXIII. 24. – Gold was very abundant in Gaul; silver was much less common. The rich wore bracelets, rings on the leg, and collars, of the purest gold and tolerably massive; they had even breastplates of gold. (Diodorus Siculus, V. 27.) – A great number of these rings and circles of gold, of very good workmanship, have been found in the Gaulish burying-places. The Museum of Saint-Germain contains bracelets and earrings of chased gold, found, in 1863, in a tumulus situated near Châtillon-sur-Seine.

88

De Bello Gallico, VI. 14.

89

De Bello Gallico, VI. 13.

90

Pliny, Hist. Nat., VIII. xlviii. lxxiii., p. 127, edit. Sillig.

91

De Bello Gallico, VII. 22. – Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162, edit. Sillig.

92

“Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo cœpere, equorum maxime ornamentis, jumentorumque ac jugorum, in Alesia oppido.” (Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162. – Florus, III. 2.)

93

Milk and the flesh of wild or domestic animals, especially swine’s flesh fresh or salted, formed the principal food of the Gauls. (Strabo, IV., p. 163.) – Beer and mead were the principal drink of the Gauls. (Posidonius quoted by Athenæus, IV., p. 151, Fragmenta Historicum Græc., III. 260.) – This statement is made also by Diodorus Siculus (V. 26), who informs us that this beer was made with barley.

94

Cicero already remarked the propensity of the Gauls to drunkenness (Orat. pro Fonteio), and Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12) also addresses the same reproach to them, which is again stated in Diodorus Siculus (V. 26).

95

“The Gauls, in their great hospitality, invited the stranger to their meal as soon as he presented himself, and it was only after drinking and eating with them that they inquired his name and country.” (Diodorus Siculus, V. 28.)

96

Strabo (IV., p. 162) says that the Gauls were of a frank character and good-hearted (literally, without malice). – Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12), who wrote at the end of the fifth century, represents the Gauls as excessively vain. – Strabo (IV., p. 165) assures us that they were much inclined to disputes and quarrels.

97

Cæsar often speaks of the fickleness of temper of this people, which, during a long period, gave great trouble to the Roman people. “Omnes fere Gallos novis rebus studere, et ad bellum mobiliter celeriterque excitari.” (De Bello Gallico, III 10.) – Lampridius, in his Life of Alexander Severus, 59, expresses himself thus: “But the Gauls, those tempers hard to deal with, and who regret all they have ceased to possess, often furnished grave cares to the emperors.” – “Gallorum subita et repentina consilia.” (De Bello Gallico, III. 8.)

98

De Bello Gallico, III. 19.

99

Diodorus Siculus (V. 31) says that the language of the Gauls was very concise and figurative, and that the Gauls made use of hyperbole in blaming and praising.

100

Diodorus Siculus, V. 32. – Strabo, IV., p. 165. – Athenæus, XIII., p. 603.

101

De Bello Gallico, VII. 47 and 48. – Among the Gauls, the women were equal to the men, not only in size, but also in courage. (Diodorus Siculus, V. 32.) – The Gaulish women were tall and strong. – Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12) writes: “Several foreigners together could not wrestle against a single Gaul, if they quarrelled with him, especially if he called for help to his wife, who even exceeds her husband in her strength and in her haggard eyes. She would become especially formidable if, swelling her throat and gnashing her teeth, she agitated her arms, robust and white as snow, ready to act with feet or fists; to give blows as vigorous as if they came from a catapult.”

102

De Bello Gallico, VI. 18: “Ab Dite patre prognatos.”

103

De Bello Gallico, VI. 18.

104

De Bello Gallico, VI. 19.

105

The Gauls, like most of the barbarian peoples, looked upon the other life as resembling the present. And with this sentiment, at the funeral, they threw into the funereal pile, letters addressed to the dead, which they imagined he read. (Diodorus Siculus, V. 28.)

106

Titus Livius tells us (XXXVIII. 17) that the Gauls had long swords (prælongi gladii) and great bucklers (vasta scuta). In another passage (XXII. 46) he remarks that the swords of the Gauls were long and without point (prælongi ac sine mucronibus). – Their bucklers were long, narrow, and flat (scuta longa, cœterum ad amplitudinem corporum parum lata et ea ipsa plana). (Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 21.) – “Et Biturix longisque leves Suessones in armis.” (Lucan, Pharsalia, I. 422.) – Didorus Siculus (V. 30) says that the Gauls had iron coats of mail. He adds: “Instead of glaive (ξἱφος), they have long swords (σπἁθη), which they carry suspended to their right side by chains of iron or bronze. Some bind their tunics with gilt or silvered girdles. They have spears (λὁγχη or λογχἱς) having an iron blade a cubit long, and sometimes more. The breadth is almost two palms, for the blade of these saunions (the Gaulish dart) is not less than that of our glaive, and it is a little longer. Of these blades, some are forged straight, others present undulated curves, so that they not only cut in striking, but in addition they tear the wound when they are drawn out.”

107

Strabo, IV., p. 163, edit. Didot. – Pseudo-Cicero (Ad Herennium, IV. 32) writes materis.

108

The amentum was a small strap of leather which served to throw the javelin and doubled its distance of carriage, as recent trials have proved. In the De Bello Gallico, V. 48, there is mention of a Gaul throwing the javelin with the amentum; but this Gaul was in the Roman service, which explains his having more perfect arms. Strabo says that the Gauls used javelins like the Roman velites, but that they threw them with the hand, and not by means of a strap. (Strabo, edit. Didot, II. 65.)

109

Diodorus Siculus, V. 30.

110

Diodorus Siculus, V. 30. – Varro, De Lingua Latina, V. 116. – The Museum of Zurich possesses a Gaulish breastplate formed of long plates of iron. The Louvre and the Museum of Saint-Germain possess Gaulish breastplates in bronze.

111

“Optimus excusso Lucus Remusque lacerto.” (Lucan, Pharsalia, I. 424.)

112

“Pugnaces pictis cohibebant Lingonas armis.” (Lucan, Pharsalia, I. 398.)

113

Strabo, IV., p. 163, edit. Didot.

114

Pausanias (Phocid., XIX. 10, 11), speaking of the ancient Gauls, who had penetrated to Delphi, says that “each horseman had with him two esquires, who were also mounted on horses; when the cavalry was engaged in combat, these esquires were poised behind the main body of the army, either to replace the horsemen who were killed, or to give their horse to their companion if he lost his own, or to take his place in case he were wounded, while the other esquire carried him out of the battle.”

115

De Bello Civili, I. 39.

116

De Bello Gallico, III. 20 and VII. 22.

117

De Bello Gallico, III. 21 and VII. 22.

118

De Bello Gallico, VIII. 14.

119

Diodorus Siculus, V. 29. – See the bas-reliefs from Entremonts in the Museum of Aix, representing Gaulish horsemen, whose horses have human heads suspended to the poitrel.

120

Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, IV. 5; VII. 3.

121

Titus Livius (V. 46) represents the Gauls as very religious.

122

The existence of human sacrifices among the Gauls is attested by a great number of authors. (Cicero, Orat. pro Fonteio, xiv. 31. – Dionysius of Halicarnassus, I. 38. – Lucan, Pharsalia, I. 444; III. 399, et seq.– Solinus, 21. – Plutarch, De Superstitione, p. 171. – Strabo, IV., p. 164, edit. Didot.)

123

De Bello Gallico, VI. 17.

124

Pharsalia, I., lines 445, 446.

125

“So, in spite of their love of money, the Gauls never touched the piles of gold deposited in the temples and sacred woods, so great was their horror of sacrilege.” (Diodorus Siculus, V. 27.)

126

De Bello Gallico, VI. 13, et seq.

127

“The Gauls have poets who celebrate in rhythmic words, on a sort of lyre, the high deeds of heroes, or who turn to derision disgraceful actions.” (Diodorus Siculus, V. 31.) And he adds: “They have philosophers and theologians, who are held in great honour, and are named Druids (according to certain texts, Saronides). They have diviners, whose predictions are held in great respect. These consult the future by the aid of auguries and the entrails of the victims; and, in solemn circumstances, they have recourse to strange and incredible rites. They immolate a man by striking him with a sword above the diaphragm, and they draw presages from the manner in which he falls, in which he struggles, or in which the blood flows. They authority of the Druids and bards is not less powerful in peace than in war. Friends and enemies consult them, and submit to their decision; it has often been sufficient to arrest two armies on the point of engaging.” – Strabo (VI., p. 164, edit. Didot) relates nearly the same facts. He makes a distinction also between the bards, the priests, and the Druids.

128

Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 9) speaks as follows of the ancient Druids: “The men of that country (Gaul), having become gradually polished, caused the useful studies to flourish which the bards, the euhages (prophets), and the Druids had begun to cultivate. The bards sang, in heroic verse, to the sound of their lyres, the lofty deeds of men; the euhages tried, by meditation, to explain the order and marvels of nature. In the midst of these were distinguished the Druids, who united in a society, occupied themselves with profound and sublime questions, raised themselves above human affairs, and sustained the immortality of the soul.” These details, which Ammianus Marcellinus borrows from the Greek historian Timagenes, a contemporary of Cæsar, and from other authors, show that the sacerdotal caste comprised three classes – 1, the bards; 2, the prophets; 3, the Druids, properly so called.

129

Amédée Thierry, II. 1.

130

See Paulus Diaconus, p. 4, edit. Müller.

131

Diodorus Siculus, V. 29.

132

De Bello Gallico; III. 22.

133

Cæsar mentions the names of ten kings: 1. Catamantalœdes, among the Sequani (I. 3); 2. Divitiacus and Galba, among the Suessiones (II. 4, 13): 3. Commius, among the Atrebates (IV. 21, 27, 35; V. 22; VI. 6; VII. 75, 76, 79; VIII. 6, 7, 10, 21, 23, 47, 48); 4. Catuvolcus, among the Eburones (V. 24, 26; VI. 31); 5. Tasgetius, among the Carnutes (V. 25, 29); 6. Cavarinus, among the Treviri (V. 54; VI. 5); 7. Ambiorix, among the Eburones (V. 24, 26, 27, 29, 38, 41; VI. 5, 6, 19, 29, 30, 31, 32, 42, 47; VIII. 24, 25); 8. Moritasgus, among the Senones (V. 54); 9. Teutomatus, among the Nitiobriges (VII. 31, 46).

134

De Bello Gallico, VII. 88; VIII. 12.

135

De Bello Gallico, I. 16.

136

Thus the Civitates Armoricæ (V. 53; VII. 75; VIII. 81); Belgium (V. 12, 24, 25; VIII. 46, 49, 54; the Aulerci Cenomanni and the Aulerci Eburovices (II. 34; III. 17; VII. 4, 75; VIII. 7). See the interesting memoir by Mr. Valentino Smith.

137

Ambarri, necessarii et consanguinei Æduorum (I. 11); Suessiones fratres consanguineosque Remorum, qui eodem jure et iisdem legibus utuntur (II. 3); Suessiones qui Remis erant adtributi (VIII. 6).

138

In fide; thus the Ædui with the Bellovaci (II. 14); with the Senones (VI. 4); with the Bituriges (VII. 5).

139

Eburonum et Condrusorum, qui sunt Trevirorum clientes (IV. 6); Carnutes … usi deprecatoribus Remis, quorum erant in clientela (VI. 4); imperant Æduis atque eorum clientibus Segusiavis, Ambluaretis, Aulercis Brannovicibus, Brannoviis (VII. 75)

140

The known federations of this kind are – 1, that of the Belgæ against the Romans, in the year 57 before Jesus Christ (De Bello Gallico, II. 4); 2, that of the Veneti with the neighbouring tribes, in the year 56 (De Bello Gallico, III. 9); 3, that of the Treviri, the Nervii, The Aduatuci, and the Menapii, in the year 53 (De Bello Gallico, VI. 2); 4, that of the peoples who invested Camulogenus with the supreme power, in 52 (De Bello Gallico, VII. 57); 5, the great federation which placed all the forces of Gaul under the command of Vercingetorix (De Bello Gallico, VII. 63).

141

De Bello Gallico, VI. 11.

142

De Bello Gallico, VI. 11.

143

De Bello Gallico, V. 3, 54; VI. 11; VII. 75; VIII. 22.

144

De Bello Gallico, I. 30.

145

De Bello Gallico, VII. 63.

146

De Bello Gallico, VI. 11.

147

De Bello Gallico, VI. 12.

148

De Bello Gallico, VII. 4.

149

Précis des Guerres de César, by the Emperor Napoleon I., p. 53, Paris, 1836.

150

The hostility which prevailed between the Sequani and the Ædui was further augmented, according to Strabo, by the following cause: “These two tribes, separated by the Arar (the Saône), both claimed the right of tolls.” (Strabo, p. 160, edit. Didot.)

151

“Divitiacus, introduced to the Senate, explained the subject of his mission. He was offered a seat, but refused that honour, and pronounced his discourse leaning on his buckler.” (Eumenius, Panegyric of Constantine, cap. 3.)

152

De Bello Gallico, VI. 12.

153

The limits of Illyria, in the time of Cæsar, are hardly known; yet it appears that this province comprised the modern Istria and part of Carniola. Aquileia was its capital, situated at the head of the gulf of the Adriatic Sea, not far from the Isonzo. In fact, Strabo (I., p. 178) says that Aquileia was situated without the frontiers of the Veneti, in whose territory this town was included under Augustus. On another side, Titus Livius (XXXIX. 55) informs us that the colony of Aquileia had been founded in Istria; and Herodotus (I. 196), as well as Appian, reckons the Istrians among the peoples of Illyria.

154

“Molita cibaria.” (De Bello Gallico, I. 5.)

155

Inhabitants of the country of Bâle. The Rauraci inhabited the diocese of Bâle, which was called Augusta Rauracorum.

156

Inhabitants of the south of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The town of Stulingen, near Schaffhausen, is believed to derive its name from the Tulingi.

157

De Bello Gallico, I. 3, 4, and 5. – Scholars have taken great pains to determine the concordance between the ante-Julian calendar and the Julian calendar; unfortunately, the results at which they have arrived are very imperfect. We have asked M. Le Verrier to solve this difficult problem, and we owe to his courtesy the tables placed at the end of this volume. (Appendix A.)

158

The bed of the Rhone has changed at several points since the time of Cæsar; at present, according to the report of those who live on its banks, there are no fords except between Russin, on the right bank, and the mill of Vert, on the left bank. (See Plate 3.)

159

De Bello Gallico, I. 6.

160

Plutarch, Cæsar, 18.

161

This part of the Jura on the left bank of the Rhone is called the Mont du Vuache.

162

De Bello Gallico, I. 8.

163

M. Queypo, in his learned work on the weights and measures of the ancients, assigns to the Roman foot, subdivided into twelve inches, a length of 0·29630m. The Roman pace was five feet, so that the mile was equivalent to a length of 1481·50m.

164

Dio Cassius says that “Cæsar fortified with retrenchments and walls the most important points.” (XXXVIII. 31.)

165

The retrenchments which Cæsar calls murus fossaque could not be a wall, in the usual acceptation of the word: first, because a wall would have been but a weak obstacle; further, because the materials were not found on the spot; and lastly, because if so great a quantity of stones had been collected on the bank of the Rhone, we should still find traces of them. I have therefore sought another explanation, and thought that murus might be understood of a natural escarpment rendered steeper by a slight work. Penetrated with this idea, I sought Baron Stoffel, the commandant of artillery, to inspect the localities, and the result of his researches has fully confirmed my suppositions. The following is a summary of his report: —

Considered in its ensemble, from Geneva to the Pas-de-l’Ecluse, the Rhone presents the appearance of an immense fosse from 100 to 120 mètres broad, with abrupt and very elevated scarp and counter-scarp. The parts where it does not present this character are few, and of relatively small extent. They are the only ones where operations for passing the river could be attempted – the only ones, consequently, which Cæsar would have need to fortify on the left bank.

1. From Geneva to the confluence of the Arve and the Rhone, an extent of 1½ kilomètres. Breadth of the river, 90 to 100 mètres. – The left bank is flat in the whole of this extent. The right bank has escarpments almost vertical, the height of which varies from 15 to 35 mètres. (See Plate 3, mean profile between Geneva and the Arve.) No attempt at passage could have taken place, neither at Geneva, nor between the town and the Arve.

2. From the Arve to the plateau of Aire-la-Ville, extent 12½ kilomètres. – After leaving the confluence of the Arve, the heights of the right bank of the Rhone increase in elevation; the escarpments become formidable. – The left bank is bordered with similar escarpments, and the river runs thus between high and abrupt banks, everywhere impassable. It preserves this character to a kilomètre above the ravine of Avril, near Peney. The profiles a a and b b give an idea of the escarpments of the banks from the Avre to the ravine of Avril. (See Plate 3.) – The heights which, on the right bank of the Rhone, extend from Vernier to Peney, sink gradually from one of these villages towards the other, and they form to the east of the ravine of Avril a plateau, the mean elevation of which above the bed of the river is only 20 mètres. Opposite, on the left bank, extends the plateau of Aire-la-Ville. Length 1,700 mètres; breadth, 700 mètres; mean elevation above the bed of the Rhone, 20 to 25 mètres. The heights of the Peney are well disposed for the establishment of an army, and the plateau of Aire-la-Ville would permit an army, the Rhone once passed, to deploy easily. But, in spite of these advantages, it is certain that the Helvetii attempted no operation on this side, for the Rhone flows at the foot of a slope of the height of from 14 to 16 mètres and an inclination of at least 45 degrees.