he continued on his iorney still hys espyals brought him worde that we were wythin fowrâ— and tweÌ„ty miles of Ariouistus host When Ariouistus knew that Cesar was comming towards him he sent Ambassadors to hym declaring that whereas heretofore he had demaunded to come to communication he was contented so to do seing he was come somewhat nerer and that he trusted he might now do it wythout dauÌ„ger Cesar refused not the profer For thinkyng he wold now come to amendment consideryng he offered of his own voluntary wil the thing he hadde before denied when it was requested he was in great hope that for the great benifites whych he and the people of Rome had bestowed vpon hym he wold vpon knowledge of hys demaundes desyst from hys stoubernnes And therfore the .v. day after was appoynted for communication In the meane whyle as Ambassadours were sent to and fro betwene them Ariouistus demaunded that Cesar should bring no foteman with hym to communication for he sayd he was afrayd to be surprised of hym by treason wherfore both parties to come wyth theyr horsemen otherwyse he wolde not come there Cesar bicause he neyther was willing that the communication should be broken for any bymatter nor yet durst put the French horsmeÌ„ in trust with his lyfe thought it most for his behofe to take all the Frenchmens horses from them to set vpon them the Legionary souldiâ—rs of the tenth Legion which he trusted most vnto that if he stode at any nede he might haue a faythfull band of hys friends about hym to gard hym The which thing when he had done one of the souldiers of the tenth Legion beyng somwhat merely disposed said that Cesar did more than he had promysed For wheras he had promised but to accept the tenth Legion in plare of the pretorian Cohort he had promoted them to be men of armes There was a great playne and in the same a baÌ„ke of earth of a good pretye bignesse This place was almost midway betwene both the campes and thyther they came to communication as is aforesayd The legion that Cesar had brought thither on horseback he placed about a two hundred paces from the sayd banke And likewyse the horsemen of Ariouistus stood a lyke distance of Ariouistus requested that they myght commune on horsebacke and bryng eche of them ten persons with them to the parly At sucâ—e time as they were come thither Cesar in the beginning of his oration rehersed the good turnes that Ariouistus had receyued by hym and by the people of Rome as that the Senate had vouchsaued to geue hym the name and title of king and to accompt hym as their frende and also had sent moste honorable and ryche presents vnto hym the whych thyngs he told hym had happened vnto fewe others and were not wont to be bestowed vpon any but such as the Romanes thought had highly deserued theym for some great good turn that they had done But he when as he had neyther accesse vnto theym nor anye iust cause why he should desire any such thing at theyr handes had atteyned those rewardes only of the mere curtesye and liberalitye of hym and the Senate Moreouer he did him to vnderstand how auncient and howe iuste causes of aliance and frendship there were betwene theym and the Heduanes what decrees had bene made for them by the Senate how oftentymes and how honorable How the Heduanes had euer held the Souereintie of al Gallia euen before such tyme as they desired our frendshyp It was the custome of the people of Rome that theyr friends and alyes should not only not lose any thynge of their own by them but also be encreased in fauor dignity and honor Now to haue that thyng wrung froÌ„ theÌ„ by force whych they had brought wyth theym when they fyrst entred in frendshyppe wyth the Romanes who coulde suffer it Afterwarde he made the lyke demaunde as he had done by hys Ambassadours that he should not make warre agaynst the Heduanes or theyr Alyes that he shuld surrender theyr hostages that if he could not send home agayne anye part of the Germanes at leastwhyse yet he shoulde suffer no mo to passe the Rhyne Ariouistus aunswered littel to the demaunds of Cesar but vaunted much of his owne prowesse He sayd he had passed the Rhyne not of hys own head but at the request and intreatance of the Galles themselues at whose pleasure he hadde lefte his owne countrye and kinred not with out great hope promise of reward for hys labor And nowe he had setled himselfe in Gallia by their consent they had geuen him hostages of their owne freewyll and he tooke such tribute of theim as conquerors are wont to sesâ—e theyr subiectes at by the lawe of Armes He had not made war agaynst the Frenchmen but the Frenchmen agaynste him For all the Cities of Gallia were assembled to besege him and had encamped themselues against hym all the whych power he had in one battell ouerthrowne and vanquyshed If they wold trye the matter by the sword againe he was ready to cope wyth them But yf they had rather haue peace they did wrong to wythholde their tribute whyche they had paied vnto that time with their good wils As for the frendship of the people of Rome be thought it ought to be an ornament and stay vnto hym and not an hinderance and that he had requested it in hope to haue fouÌ„d it so But yf the people of Rome shuld seke to release hys tribute and to pull awaye hys vassals that had submitted theÌ„ selues to hym he was euen as wyllyng to forsake theyr frendshyp as euer he was to request it Whereas he broughte ouer great numbers of Germanes into France he did it for to strengthen hymselfe and not to anoy the country Wherof there nedeth none other wytnes than thys that he came not but at theyr owne request and that he had made no war vpon other but only defended hymselfe He was come into Fraunce before the people of Rome who vntill that time neuer led their host out of the borders of their owne Prouince And what shoulde they meane to come wythin hys iurisdiction For as well was thys part of Fraunce hys prouince as the other part was ours And therefore as he were not to bee borne wythall yf he shulde haue inuaded our marches so dydde we hym wrong to intermedle within his iurisdiction And wheras Cesar had saide that the Heduanes were proclaymed friends by the Senate he made hym aunswer he was not so barbarous nor so vnskylfull of things but he knew wel inough that neither the Heduanes ayded the Romanes in theyr late war against the people of Sauoy and Daulphine nor the Romanes them in their quarels that they had wyth hym and the Sequanes Wherefore he had good cause to mystruste that Cesar vnder the color of feyned frendshyppe kept that army whych he had in Fraunce for none other pourpose but to oppresse
said he knew those thinges to be true and no man was more sory for it than he because that where as he was of greate estimation hym selfe bothe in his owne countrie and in al Gallia beside and his brother could do little or nothing by reason of his youth his broother had bene aduaunced by his meanes only the whiche his welth and aucthoritie although he had abused not only to the decaye of his estimation but also well neere to his owne destruction yet not with standinge he was sore troubled inwardely bothe for the loue he bare to his brother for thopinion of the common people For if Cesar should chaunce to deale any thinge roughely with him hee standing so highely in his fauour as he dyd euery man woulde thinke it were done by his consent procurement wherby it wolde come to passe that he should loose the hartes of all the Galles As he was making thys request vnto Cesar with many wordes weeping Cesar toke him by the right hand and comforting hym desired him to make noo more intreatance assuringe hym that hee set so much by him that at his requeste he was contēt to pardon both the iniurie done to the common weale also his owne griefe to order all as hee thought good Herevppon hee called Dumnorix aside taking his broother to him declared what matters he had to charge him with laying before him what informatiōs were put vp against him what complaynt y◠citie hadde made of him he warned him to auoide all causes of suspition hereafter vpon trust wherof he tolde him he wolde for his brother Diuitiacus sake remit all that was past This done he set good watche about Dumnorix to thintēt to know what he did with whom he had any conference The same day being certified by his skowtes that his ennemies were emcāped vnder the side of a hyl about .viii. myles from his camp he sent to viewe the nature of the hyll and what comminge there was to it on euery side rounde aboute Worde was brought him agein that it was verye easye Aboute the ende of the thyrd watch he commaunded Titus Labienus his liuetenant to take the same menne for his guides that had viewed the ground before and knew the way and with twoo Legions in all haste possible to take the toppe of the hyll declarynge vnto hym what his purpose was to do In the end of the fourth watche he him self by the same waye that his ennemies hadde gone went toward them and sente all his men of armes before hym Publius Considius who was counted most expert in feates of chiualrie as he that had sarued first in the armye of Lucius Sylla and afterward vnder Marcus Crassus was sent before with the skowtes At the dawning of the day when T. Labienus had gotten the toppe of the hill and that he was not paste a myle and a halfe from the camp of his enemies who as he lerned afterwarde by hys prisoners knewe neither of his comming nor of Labienus being there Considius came ronning to him vppon the spurre and made report vnto him that the hill which he would that Labienus shoulde haue taken was possessed by his ennemies the whiche he perceiued by the armes antesignes of the Galles Hereupon Cesar withdrue his armye into the next hill and set his men in order of battell Labienus for as muche as Cesar had expresselye commaunded him that he should not ioyne battell with his enemies before suche time as he saw his armye nere vnto their Camp to thintēt that assault might haue ben made vpon them on all sides at ones when he had taken the hill stoode still waiting for vs and absteined from feighting At length when the day was well foorth Cesar vnderstode by his espialles that they were his own men that had taken the mountain and that the Heluetians had dislodged from thens that Considius of a childish fear had reported for a certainty the thing he had not seene All that day he followed after his enemies with like distaunce as he had doone before and encamped within thre miles of their Camp The next day bicause that within twoo dayes after it behoued him to distribute corne to his souldiours and forasmuch as he was not aboue eightene miles frō Beawbrai which is the greatest and welthiest Citie in all the countrie of the Heduanes he thought good to make prouision for corne thervpon turning from the Switzers he toke his way toward Beawvray This his doing was by certaine fugitiues of the hand of Lucius Aemilius Captain of a troope of Gallian horsemē bewrayed to the enemy The Switzers whether it were that they thought the Romaines departed frō them for fear of them which semed to them so much the more lykely to be true bicause the day before hauing taken the higher groundes they had not geuen them battel or that they were in hope to cut theym of from their prouision of corn altered their purpose and turning backe againe began to pursewe vs and to assail◠our reregard whē Cesar perceiued that he withdrew his hoost into the next hil and sent out his men of armes to withstand the brunt of his enemies In the meane while he ordered his men vpon the mids of the hill in thre battels of fower legions of old expert souldiers so that aboue him on the top of the hill he placed the two legions which he had lately leuied in the hither Gallia together with all the straungers that were come to his aide and furnished all the hill with men of war In this time also he caused all the baggage to bee brought together into one place and the same to be fortified by them that stode in the higher battel The Heluetrās folowing after with all their chariots conueyed all their stuffe into one place and they theim selues on a thick throng hauing put our horsemen aside cast themselues in a square battell and preased vnder our vauntgarde Cesar sending first his owne and then all other mens horses oute of sight to th entent that putting them al in like peril he might cut of al hope of flight encouraged his men and ioined battell His souldiors by throwinge darts from the higher grounde did easily breake the battel of their enemies The which being ones disordered they charged vpon them with their naked swordes It was a great trouble to the Galles when they should feight that manye of their targets being striken through with one blowe of a dart and fastened together in such sort that after the yrō was bowed they could neyther pull the Darte out nor yet handsomlye seight by reason their left handes were troubled So that in conclusion many hauing a long time wearied their armes chose rather to cast their targets out of their hands and to seight wyth their bodies naked At length waxing faint with woūdes they began to lose ground and bicause there was a hil nere at hand about a myle of from the place they
came such a feare ouer all the army that it wōderfully troubled the mindes and appalled the courages of all men This feare began first among the Tribunes and chiefe offycers of the Campe and suche other as had accompanyed Cesar in this voyage for frendshippes sake and had small skyll or none in matters of warre who feyninge some one excuse and some another of verye earnest busynes that thei had to do desired leaue to departe with his fauour Othersome for shame least they shoulde be thought to haue gone away for fear taryed styl Howbeit these could neither set a good countenaunce on the matter nor somtyme kepe themselues from wepyng but hyding them selues in theyr tents eyther they bewailed their destiny secretly to them selues or els wyth their acquaintaunce lamented the daunger that they were all like to fall into And commonly through the whole camp was nothing but makyng and signing of testaments Throughe the talke and fearfulnesse of theis men by littell and littell euen they that were of great skill and experience in the camp namely the old beaten soldiors and the peticapteynes those that had the charge of the men of armes were sore troubled Suche of them as wold seme to be lesse fearefull sayd they feared not the enemy but the narrownes of the wais and the greatnes of the woods that laye betwene them and Ariouistus or els they cast doubtes howe theyr grayne shuld be commodiously conueyed after theym Manye also tolde Cesar plainly that whensoeuer he shoulde geue commaundement to dyslodge the Camp or to auaunce the Standards the Souldiors wold not be obedient to hys woorde nor displaye their banners for feare When Cesar vnderstood theis thyngs he called a counsel and assembling thither the Capteines of all the bandes rebuked theym very sharplye Fyrst in that they tooke vpon them to be inquisitiue or carefull whether or for what purpose they should be led As for Ariouistus he had in the tyme that he was Consul sewed most earnestly for the frendship of the people of Rome and why than shuld any man misedeme that he wold so rashly go backe from hys duty He beleued verily that if he ones knewe hys demaundes and vnderstoode perfectly howe reasonable offers he woulde make hym he wold not reiect either hys good wyll or the good wyll of the people of Rome But if he wold be so mad and so far ouersene as to make warre why should they be afrayd of him or why should they dispayre eyther of their owne prowesse or of his circumspectnes The enemy that they had to do with was no suche but that they had tryed what he was able to do twise before First in our fathers days when the Cimbrians and Duchmen were vanquished by Marius in such sort that the whole army deserued no lesse prayse then the Graundcapteyne himselfe And now of late againe in Italy at the hurlyburly of the bondmen who were not a littel furthered throughe the practise discipline whyche they had receyued at our handes Wherby it might be iudged howe good a thyng it is to be constant in asmuch as whō for a tyme beyng naked they feared wythout cause euen the same afterward being both armed and victours they nobly ouercame And to be short theis were none other Germanes than those whom the Heluetians had vanquyshed in diuers conflictes not only where the Heluetians dwelt theymselues but also often tymes euen at home at theyr owne doores and yet the same Heluetians were not able to make their part good agaynst our army But if the late discomfiture and flyghte of the Galles were the matter that troubled any mans conscience if they loked wel vpon the matter they shuld find that Ariouistus after he hadde many monethes together kept hym selfe wythin hys Camp and in marisgrounds and neuer come abroade into the field to offer battel whē the Galles were now weary with long protracting of the war and thought of nothing lesse then that they shuld haue had battel set sodeinlye vppon them being disordred and ouercame them more by cautele and pollicye than by force The whyche pollicie though it hadde taken place agaynst sauage and vnskylfull people yet was not Ariouistus so folysh to loke that it should preuaile against oure army too As for those that layd the cause of their feare to the heard conueying of theyr victuals and the narownes of the ways they toke more vppon them then became them that they durste presume to teache theyr graundcapteine what he had to do as if he had not knowen what pertayned to hys duty And therefore he bade thē cast the care therof on him The Sequanes Lewks and Peple about Langres Lingones shoulde serue theyr turne of grayne and besydes that corne was now rype in the fields Concerning their iourney they themselues shuld in short time be able to iudge Wheras it was reported to hym that they wolde not be obedyent to hys commaundement nor auaunce their stādards he sayd he passed not of that matter For he was wel assured that if any army refused to be obedient to their Captein it was eyther bicause of hys ill successe and misfortune or els bycause that by some manifest notorious dede he was conuicted of auarice That he had cleere hands his whole lyfe and that he had good successe the warre against the Heluetiās did declare And therfore that whych he was mynded to haue dryuen of a longer tyme he wold nowe put in execution out of hande For the next night folowing at the fowrth watch he wold dislodge from thens to thintent that without further delaye he myght vnderstande whether shame and duty wer able to do more with them or feare And thoughe he wyst that noman els wolde folowe him yet notwythstanding he wolde go wyth the tenth Legion alone of whyche he doubted not and woulde accept it for his chiefe band to garde his person This Legion had Cesar shewed speciall fauor vnto and for the valiantnesse of it he trusted most vnto it Uppon the makyng of thys oration the mindes of them all were wonderfullye chaunged and there grew in them a great chearfulnesse and desyre to feight First of all the tenth Legion by theyr Trybunes gaue him thanks for the good opinion he had of them affirmyng that they were most ready to set forward to the warre Then the rest of the legions by theyr Tribunes and the Capteines of their chiefe bands entreated that they might make theyr purgation vnto Cesar saying they neuer doubted nor feared no nor thought that it perteined vnto them to determine of the orderyng of the warre but that it belonged altogether to theyr graundcapteine Cesar accepting their purgation and hauing learned the waye perfectly by Diuitiacus bycause that of all the Galles he trusted him best to thintent he might leade hys army more then fifty myles cōpasse in open fieldes set forward immediatly after the iiii watch as he had said he wold do The .vii. day as
hym But if he gate hym not away and withdrew hys power out of those countreis he wold take him no lengar for hys frende but for hys enemy And yf he could kyll hym he was sure he should do a great pleasure to manye of the noble men and Prynces of Rome The which thing he had perfect knowledge of by their messengers of all whome he coulde purchase the good wil and frendship by his death But if he wold depart and leaue vnto hym the free possession of Fraunce he wold reward him hyghly for hys labor and loke what warres soeuer he wolde haue made he wold dispatch them wythout puttyng hym to any trauell daunger Cesar replyed manye things to thys purpose why he myght not desyst from hys enterpryse alledgyng that it stoode not with hys custome nor wyth the custome of the people of Rome to abandon their Alies that had wel deserued of them Neither coulde he see why Ariouistus should haue more right to chalenge Fraūce than the Romanes For Q. Fabius Maximus had hertofore vanquished the men of Auuerne and the People about Rhodes Rutenes and yet the peple of Rome pitiyng them did neither make their country a prouince nor put them to any tribute But if so be that respect ought to be had to tyme of most antiquity then had the Romanes most iust cause to reygne ouer Fraunce Or if the iudgement of the Senate oughte to be obserued then ought Fraunce to be free for as much as it was decreed that beinge conquered by battell it should styll enioy their owne lawes and customes Whyle theis things were a debating in the treatye it was told Cesar that Ariouistus horsemen were comyng toward the banke and that riding agaynst our horsemen they began to throwe darts and stones at theym Wheruppon Cesar made an ende of talking and wythdrew hym selfe to hys men commaunding theym that they should not cast any thyng at all agayne at theyr enemies For albeit that wythout any perill of hys chosen Legion he sawe he myght haue encountred wyth the horsmen of his ennemies yet notwythstanding he wold not geue occasion by puttyng his enemies to flyght to haue it said that breakyng promis with them he had entrapped them vnder pretence of communication When it was reported to the common souldiers how arrogantly Ariouistus had behaued himselfe in the treatie forbidding the Romanes all Fraunce and that hys men of armes had made assault vpon ours insomuch that by meanes therof the communication was broken of oure army began to be far more cheerfull and farre more desyrous to feight Twoo dayes after Ariouistus sent Ambassadours to Cesar certifying him that he was desirous to entreat with hym concerning those thyngs that had bene begon to be talked of and not brought to conclusiō Wherfore he wold he shuld eyther appoint a day to confer again or yf he wolde not so do that he shoulde sende some men of his with commission to commune wyth him Cesar thought it not good to cōmune personally with him any more the rather bicause the Germanes the day before had no stay of them selues but that they threwe darts at our men Agayn he thought that whomsoeuer of hys men he sent commissioner vnto hym shuld go in great daunger and shuld be cast into the hands of most sauage persons It semed most expedient to send vnto hym M. Ualerius Procillus the sonne of C. Ualerius Caburus a yong gentilman of singular vertue and humanity whose father had ben made free of the Citye by C. Ualerius Flaccus bothe bycause he was trusty and could speake the French tung perfectly the which Ariouistus vsed much by reason of long conuersation among the Frenchmen and also bicause there was no cause why the Germanes shuld worke any euil agaynst hym And with him he sent also M. Titius who vsed to resort as a guest to Ariouistus To theis men he gaue in charge that they shoulde diligently mark and iustly report vnto him what Ariouistus said Assone as Ariouistus saw thē in his Camp he cried out to theym in the presence of hys army asking them what they had to doe there and whyther they came as spyes When they went about to make theyr aūswer he wold not suffer them but by and by commited them to ward The same daye he remoued encamped vnder a hils syde about a six myles from Cesars Camp The next day after he marched wyth all hys power euen in the face of Cesars camp and pitched his tents a twoo myles beyonde hym of purpose to cut of his graine and victuals that was to be brought to him out of Burgundye From that daye forwarde by the space of fyue dayes together Cesar brought oute hys men before his camp and had theym in order of battel to thintent the if Ariouistus lifted to geue battel he might haue liberty when he wold But Ariouistus al this while kept his fotemē wythin the Camp and sent out his horsemen dailye to skirmysh This was the kinde of feight wherein the Germanes wer wel practised They were of theym six thousande men of armes and as many footemen verye swift of foote and strong whom the horsmen hadde chosen out of all the whole hoste euery man one for hys faufgard Theis they had always at hand wyth them in battell and vnto theis they resorted for succour If the horsmen wer any thing ouercharged theis stept euer in If any of thē were sore wounded or vnhorsed theis garded him about If the matter requyred eyther to aduenture far forward or to retire quickly back their swiftnes was such through continual exercyse that hanging vpon the horse-manes by th one hand thei wold run as faste as the horses When Cesar perceiued that Ariouistus kept hym self within his Camp to thintent he wold not any lengar be stopped from his victuals beyond the same place where the Germanes abode aboute syxhundred paces from their Camp he chose a grounde mete to encamp in and came thyther in three battels Two of theis battels he caused to stand styll ready in araye and the thyrd he willed to fortify the Camp This place was as I sayde before sixhundred paces from the ennemy Thyther sent Ariouistus about syxtene thousande footemen light harnessed wyth all hys horsmen to put our men in feare to prohybit them frō fortifiyng their camp Neuertheles Cesar as he had before determined commaunded twoo battelles to wythstand the enemy and the thyrd to go through wyth the worke When he had fortifyed the Campe he lefte two legions there and parte of hys hyred Souldiors that were there for his ayde and ledde hys other fower legions back again into his greater campe The next daye Cesar as he had pourposed before brought hys whole power out of both his camps and marching somewhat from hys greater camp set his men in order profered to geue hys enemies battel if they wold Whē he perceiued that they woulde not then come foorth
that threw stones and Darts that no man was able to stand vpon the wall Assone as night had made an end of thassaulte Iccius of Rhemes a man of great byrth and fauor in his Countrye who at that tyme was Capteine of the Towne one of theym that came of ambassade vnto Cesar to entreat for peace sent vnto hym by messengers that if he dydde not reskew hym he was not able to hold out any lengar The same daye about midnyght Cesar vsynge for guydes the same persones that came of message from Iccius sent certain Numidians and archers of Now called Candye Creta and slingars of the Iles Now called maiorica minorica Baleares to succor the Townesmen By meanes of whose coming on th one syde the men of Rhemes in hope to make their part good became more earnest to abyde the pushe and on thother syde the enemyes for the same cause were out of all hope of winning the Towne Wherefore tarying there but a whyle when they had wasted the fields of the men of Rhemes and set on fyre all theyr villages buildings that they could come by they marched with al theyr whole power toward Cesars Campe and wythin lesse than two myles of hym pitched theyr tents the whyche as myght be perceyued by the smoke and fyres occupyed more than eight myles in bredth Cesar at the first both for the multitude of hys ennemyes and for the singular opinioÌ„ that was bruted of theyr manhoode determined not to be to hasty in geuing them battel Notwythstanding he daylye put in proofe by skirmishing with his horsmen both what hys ennemyes by their manhode coulde do and what hys owne men durst doe When he perceiued our men to be nothing inferior to theyr ennemyes then in a certayn place before hys camp of nature mere and conuenient to sette a battel in bicause the same hil where his tents were pitched rysing verye littell aboue the playn was no broder before than wolde suffice to set the forefront of a battel in and was steepe on bothe sydes and rysing a slope in the front by lyttel and littel came againe to a playne he drewe from th one syde of the hil to thother a dyche ouerthwart of a fower hundred paces or therabouts and at the ends of the diches rered vp bulwarkes and furnished theym wyth ordinance to thintent that when he had ordered his battels his ennemyes abounding in multitude should not on the sydes enclose his men as they were feighting Thys done he left in hys Camp the two Legions that he had last leuied that wheresoeuer shoulde be anye neede of succor they myght be led thither and set hys other six Legions in battel ray before hys Camp His ennemyes lykewyse bringing forth their power set them in order also Nowe there was betwene our army and the army of our enemyes a good prety marisse This our ennemyes looked euer when we shuld haue passed ouer And our man were ready wyth theyr weapons to assayle them being troubled if they had aduentured fyrst ouer it In the meane whyle the horsemen of bothe sydes encountred betwene the twoo battels After much streining of curtesy whyche part shoulde passe ouer first and none aduenturing to passe Cesar hauing gotten thupper hand of hys enemies horsemen conueyed al hys men agayn into their Camp From that place his enemies immediatlye toke theyr waye to the ryuer Nowe called Disne in Guien Arona the whych was shewed before to be behind our Camp There finding foordes they attempted to passe ouer part of their host of purpose if they coulde eyther to wynne the bulwarke that Q. Titurius Cesars Lieuetenant kept and to cutte downe the brydge Or at leastwyse if they could not so do to spoyle the fields of the men of Rhemes whych greatly furthered vs in our warres and to kepe our men from their vyctuals Cesar being aduertised herof by Titurius led ouer the brydge all his men of armes NumidiaÌ„s light harnessed hys slingars and archers and marched to them himself There was a sharp encounter in that place Our men setting vpoÌ„ theyr enemies troubled in the riuer slew a greate number of them The residew endeuoring like desperate personnes to passe ouer vpon their carkesses they repulsed with force of weapons and the horsemen enclosyng such as had fyrst passed slew theym euerichone When our enemyes perceyued that their hope deceyued theym bothe in wynning the Town and of passing the riuer and sawe our men wolde not aduenture into a place of dysaduauntage to feight wyth them and that theyr owne vyctuals began to fayle them they called a counsell by whych they determined that it was best for euery man to returne home to hys owne house and into whose borders so euer the Romanes should enter first with their army to resort thyther out of all partes to defende them to thyntent they myght rather trye the matter in their owne country than abrode and haue their own household prouision and store of victuals alwayes at hand to maintaine theim wyth To consent vppon thys poynt together with thother causes this reason also moued them bicause they vnderstood Diuitiacus and the Heduanes approched neere the borders of the People of Beawvoysâ— Bellouaâ—anes who wold not by any meanes be perswaded to tary any lengar but that thei wold go succor their owne When this thing was fully agreed vppon about the second watch wyth great tramplyng and noyse departing out of their Camp wythout any certain order or gouernement euerye man preasing to be formest on his iorney and making hast to be at home they demeaned them selues in such wyse as that theyr departure myght seme lyke a running away Cesar hauing forthwyth knowledge hereof by hys spyes and mystrustynge some treason bicause he perceyued not as yet what should be thoccasion why they departed kept hys army hys horsmen styll within his Camp By the dawning of the daye when he was better assured of the matter by hys skoults he sent all his horsemen before to stay their rereward and made Q. Pedius and L. Aurunculeius Cotta Lieuetenants ouer them commaunding his Lieuetenant T. Labienus to follow immediatlye after theym Theis ouertakynge the hyndermost and chasing them manye myles slew a great number of theym as they fled Whyle the rerewarde wherevnto we were by that time come stayd and valeantly with stood the force of our Souldiors the formest bicause they semed out of daunger and were not restreined by awe or commandement of any man assone as they heard the noyse brake theyr aray and tooke theym euerye man to hys heles to saue hymselfe So without anye daunger our men slew a great multitude of them and mo had slaine if the day had ben lengar About the sunne setting they retired from the chace and returned in to theyr Camp as was commaunded The next day folowyng before hys ennemyes coulde recouer theym selues from their feare and flight led hys army into the country of the
their beles as fast as they could Therewithall was also heard a noise and a rose of them that came wyth the cariages and euerye man scattred awaye for feare some one way and some another All the which things strake such a feare into the harts of the horsemen of Triers who are reputed for men of singular prowesse among the Galles and were sent from their City to aid Cesar when they had sene that our Camp was replenished with a multitude of our enemies oure Legions sore layd at and in maner beset roūd about and that our pages our horsmen our slingars of Numidie fled scattring here and there euery way thinking there was no hope of recouery with vs toke theyr way home and reported to their Citie that the Romanes were put to flyght vanquyshed and that their enemies had wonne their Camp and all theyr cariages Cesar as he went from encouraging the tenth Legion to the ryght wyng when he perceyued his men to be sore pressed and the Antesignes gathered together into one place the souldyers of the .xii. Legion to be pestered so thycke together that one could not feight for another al the Centurions of the iiii Cohort slayne the antesigne bearer kylled and the antesigne lost the capteynes almost of all thother Cohorts eyther wounded or slain among the which number P. Sextus Baculus a verie valeant Gentilman chief captein of a band was hurt wyth so many and so sore wounds that he was now not able to stand on his legs the residue to wax somewhat faint and diuers forsaken of the hindermost to wythdrawe out the battell and eschewe feightyng hys enemyes geuing no entrance to such as came vp against the hyll on the forefronte from the lower grounde and laying sore to them on both sydes so that the matter was brought to a narrow yssue and no help that could be mynistred to releue theym toke a tergat from one of the hyndermost souldyors for he was come thither without a tergat and aduauncing hym selfe into the forefront of the battel called vppon the Centurions by name and encouraging the rest of the souldiors he commaunded the antesigne to be aduaunced and the bands to set them selues more at large to thintēt they might the easlyer wyeld their swords By his comming the souldiors being well chered and gathering courage agayne when euerye man for hys part in the syght of hys graund capteine euen at thuttermost extremitie endeuored to employ hys trauell the brunt of the enemye was a littell stayd Cesar perceyuing that the seuenth Legion whych stoode by hym was likewise sore ouerlaide by the enemy admonyshed the Tribunes that the Legions shuld by lyttel and littel knit them selues together and turnyng their antesignes aduaunce them toward the enemy By meanes wherof whē as one helped another and that they were out of feare of being enclosed of the ennemy behynd they begā to stand more boldly at defens to lay their hāds better about them In the meane season the souldiors of the two Legions whiche in the rereward were a defence to the cariages hearing of the battell ran thyther a pace were spyed by oure enemyes in the top of the hyll And Titus Labienus hauing wonne the tents of our enemyes and beholding frō the higher groūd what was done in our camp sent the tenth legion to the reskew of our men Who learning by the flyght of oure horsemen and pages in what case the matter stood and in how great daūger both the Camp and the Legions and the Captaine hym selfe was made as much hast as was possible Upon the comyng of them there ensewed such an alteration of thynges that euen such of our men as for griefe of theyr wounds were falne downe leaning vpon their shieldes began to feight againe a fresh the pages perceiuing their enemyes amased ran vpon thē armed being vnarmed themselues and the horsemen to th entent wyth valeātnes to wipe away the reproch of theyr former flyght did in al places put theym selues into the battell before the Legionary souldyors How beit the enemies euen in thuttermost perill of theyr lyues shewed suche manhode that as fast as the formest of them were ouerthrowen the next vnto them bestrid theym and fought vpon theyr bodyes the whych being lykewyse cast downe and the deade carkesses heaped one vpon another those that remayned standyng vpon thē as it had bene a hyl threw darts at our men and latchyng our Darts sent them agayn at vs so that there was good cause to deeme them men of so hault courage who durst passe so broade a ryuer clymb vp the high banks and march vp into a place of most disaduauntage for themselues all the whych thyngs the noblenesse of theyr courage of most hard hadde made very easy Thys battell beyng dispatched and the nation and name of the Neruians being brought almost to vtter destruction the elder sort who as we tolde you with the women and chyldren were gathered together into out Ilands fennes when they heard of this battel thinkyng that nothyng was able to stay the conquerors nor nothyng able to saue such as wer vanquished by the consent of all that were lefte alyue sent ambassadors vnto Cesar yelded them selues to hys mercy alledging in declaration of the great calamity of theyr country that of syx hūdred Senators they were brought to three and of threescore thousand men there were scarce fiue hundred left that were able to beare armor Whom Cesar to th entent it myght appeare he had shewed pity to wretches and such as submitted themselues vnto him preserued verye carefully graunting them to enioy styll theyr country towns and streightlye commaunding the borderers to restrein themselues and theyrs from doyng them any wrong or harme The Aduaticks of whom we haue written before commyng with al their power to aid the Neruians when newes was brought them of thys discomfiture brake of theyr iorney and returned home and abandoning vp all theyr Townes and Castels conueyed all their goods into one towne of nature excellently wel fortified the which on al parts roūd about hauing most high rockes and steepe fallings had left on one syde an ascent gentlye rising by littel and littel not passing two hundred fote brode This place they had fortified with a double wall of a very great heighth therupon had laid in a redines stones of a great masse logs of timber sharpened at both endes Them selues were the ofspryng of the Cimbriās and duchmen who at such time as they toke their voyage through our Prouince into Italye bestowed suche stuffe and cattell of theyrs as they coulde not carye and dryue wyth them on thys syde the riuer Rhyne and left syx thousand of their companye behind for the saufe kepyng defence of the same Theis after the death of their companions beyng many yeres together dysquietted by theyr neybors whyle they somtime inuaded and sometime defended concluding peace by general consent chose this place to inhabit
they should haue lesse libertye to pursew them And he himself remouing a littel forward with his legioÌ„ out of the place where he stode abode to see what end theÌ„couÌ„ter wold come vnto At such time as the feight was sharpest and that the ennemyes trusted to the place and their multitude and our men in theyr manhode and prowesse sodeinly on the open side of our menne appeared the Heduanes whoÌ„ Cesar had sent vp on the ryght â—ide by another waye to th entent to stay the power of oure enemies from comming thither Theis by reason of the likenesse of theyr armor did greatly abash our men albeit they were knowen what they were by showing theyr right shoulders bare whych is wont to be a token of them that are at peace wyth vs yet notwithstanding our souldiers thought it had ben done by their enemies to th eÌ„tent to deceiue them withal The same time L. Fabius the CenturioÌ„ such as had attained the wal wyth him were enclosed and slain and cast downe from the wall M. Petreius another Centurion of the same Legion as he was about to break open the gates being oppressed of the multitude and despairinge in himselfe and besides that sore wounded in diuers places said to his companions that folowed him Forasmuche as I cannot saue my selfe and you too I wyll at leaste wyse prouyde for the saufgard of you whom I being blinded wyth desier of vaine glorye haue brought in daunger Sirs saue your selues whyle you may Therewythal he thrusteth into the middes of his enemyes and sleaing a couple out of hand driueth the rest somwhat from the gate As hys men went about to helpe him it is but follye for you ê™ he to goe about to saue my lyfe in whom both bloud and strength fayleth and therfore get you heÌ„ce while you may and recouer your selues to the Legion Feighting in this wise within a whyle after he fell downe and wyth hys owne death saued the liues of hys men Oure men beinge ouerlayd on all sides wyth the losse of .xlvi. Centurions were throwen downe from the place Neuerthelesse the tenth Legion whyche stode for a stale in a ground somwhat more indifferent stopped the Galles as they folowed the chace verye whotlye At the receit of them againe stoode the Cohortes of the .xiii. Legion whych T. Sextius the Lieuetenaunt had brought out of the lesser Camp and placed in a higher ground Assone as the Legions came vpon plaine grouÌ„d they turned their faces with displaid banners vpon theyr ennemies And Uercingetorix wythdrewe hys men from the fote of the mountaine into theyr fortifications The same dayâ— we lost littel lesse then seueÌ„ hundred of our souldiers The next day Cesar calling hys army before hym reproued the rashnesse and gredines of his souldiers in that they toke vpon theÌ„ to be theyr owne maisters howe far they should go or what they had to doe and in that they would neyther stay themselues wheÌ„ the retreit was blowen nor suffer theymselues to be kept in order by theyr Marshals and Lieuetenants He declared vnto theÌ„ what the disaduauntage of a place might do and what he had counselled theÌ„ at Auaricum where findinge hys ennemyes wythout a Captayne and without horsemen he had let an assured victory slip out of hys hands and all for doubt least neuer so littel losse might happen in thencounter by meanes of the dysaduauntage of the ground As much as he commended the hault courages of them whoÌ„ not the fortifications of the campes not the heighth of the Mountaine nor the wall of the towne was able to stay so much agayn he disallowed theyr disorder and arrogancye that they thought theÌ„selues able to foresee more as concerninge the victorye and the sequele of things than their Graundcaptein for he thought that modestye and obediens was no lesse requisite in a souldier than manhod or haultnes of courage WheÌ„ he had made this oration vnto them and in the latter end encouraged them that they should not for this occasion bee disquyetted in minde nor attribute that to the manhod of thenemy which had happened through the â—â—saduauÌ„tage of the place being of the same opinion for his setting forth that he was of before he led his legioÌ„s out of the caÌ„p set them in order of battel in a mete place When he sawe he could neuer themore thereby allure Uercingetorix into the indifferent grounde he made a light skirmish with his horsmen but that prosperously and conueyed his armye into theyr Camp agayne Hauinge done as muche the next day deming it sufficieÌ„t to abate the braggyng of the Galles and to harten his souldiers againe he dislodged from thence agaynst the Heduanes and yet wold not hys ennemyes euen then pursewe him The thirde daye he repayred the Bridges vpon the riuer Elauer and passed ouer his army There falling in communication wyth Uiridomarus and Eporedorix Heduans he vnderstode howe Litauicns wyth all his horsemen was gone to styr the Heduanes to rebellion Wherfore it was nedefull that they went before to keepe the Citye in obedience Cesar albeit that by many ways he perfectly now vnderstode the falsehod of the Heduanes and that by the departure of those that were with him he thought the whole City wold make the more hast to rebell yet notwythstandinge he thought it not good to kepe them styl least he should eyther seme to do them wrong or geue them cause to thinke he stoode in feare of them At theyr departure he brieflye rehersed vnto them hys desertes towarde the Heduanes as namely at howe lowe an ebbe he had found them pestered vp in theyr Townes amerced wyth the losse of their landes bereft of all theyr men of warre charged with a tribute constreined to geue hostages with as much shame as could be and to what good fortune and to howe great preferment he had aduaunced theÌ„ insomuch that they had not only recouered their auÌ„cient estate but also as it wel appeared had aspired to suche dignitye and estimation as they neuer knewe of in times past Wyth this lessoÌ„ he gaue them leaue to depart There was a town of the Heduanes called Noyoune that stode vppon the riuer of Loyre in a conuenient place Hyther had Cesar conueyed al the hostages of Gallia grain common threasure and a great part of the furniture as well of hymselfe as of hys army Hither had he sent a greate number of horses bought before in Spaine and Italy purposely for this warre When Eporedorir and Uiridomarus came thither and vnderstode the state of the City how the Heduanes had receyued Litauicus at Benwin Bibracte whych is a towne of chiefe authority among them and that Conuictolitane the Magistrate and a great part of the Senate were come thyther to hym and that ambassadors by publike asseÌ„t were sent to Uercingetorix to conclude peace and freÌ„dship with him they thought that such an oportunitye was not to be let slippe And therfore sleaing the kepers of Nouiodunum
of horsmen sent his fotemen into their wintering places by his LieuetenaÌ„ts Fower Legions he placed in Belgica vnder hys Lieuetenants M. Antonius C. Trebonius P. Uatinius Q. Tullius Two he set ouer the Heduans whoÌ„ he knewe to be of greatest authority in all Gallia Two mo he set ouer the Turones in the borders of the Caruntes to be a stay to al that country that lay vpon the sea coast The other two he placed in the borders of the Lemouikes not far froÌ„ Auverne to th eÌ„teÌ„t there shuld not be any part of Gallia without an army After he had taried a few days in Prouince there with spede perused al their Courtes sitting vpon publike controuersies awarding recompence to such as had deserued wel for he had great desier to vnderstaÌ„d how euery man had ben minded toward the coÌ„mon weale in the time of the general rebellioÌ„ of al Gallia the which he had born out through the faithfulnes assistence of the said Prouince assone as he had dispatched theis things he returned to his Legions into Belgicke wintred at Nemetocerna There he had knowledge geuen him how Comiê° of Arras had encountred with his men of armes For after that Anâ—ony was come into his wintergarrison that the city of Arras continued in obedience Comius who after his wouÌ„ding that we spake of before was wont euer to be ready at hand to his country men at euerye stir to th enteÌ„t that if they wold practise any new denâ—ses they should not want a head a captein for the wars as long as the city obeied the Romanes he with his horsmen found hym self his retinew by theuing and for laying the wayes cut of manye conueyes that were going wyth prouisioÌ„ to the Romane garrisoÌ„s There was appointed to Antony for LieuetenaÌ„t of his horsmeÌ„ C. Uolusenus Quadratus to winter in garrison with him him did Antony send to pursue yâ— horsmen of his enemies Uolusenus besides the singuler prowesse that was in him did also beare a great hatred toward Comiê° which was a cause that he so much the more willingly executed the thing that was commaunded him Wherfore laying diuers ambushes he oftentimes set vpon Comius horsemen and put them to the worse Last of al when the contencion grew more vehement that Uolusenus for desier to cut of Comius himself folowed him somwhat more egerly wyth a few that Comius on thother side fled the faster away to th eÌ„tent to draw him further froÌ„ his coÌ„pany at length espying his aduantage Comius sodeÌ„ly cried out vpon all his men that as they were true vnto him they should ayd him not suffer the wound that was geueÌ„ him vnder colour of frendship to be vnreuenged therwithall turning his hors soÌ„what vnaduisedly he letteth him run froÌ„ the rest of his coÌ„pany vpon Uolusenus Al his horsmeÌ„ did the like bicause there were but a few of our men they made them turn head pursued them Comiê° putting spurs to his horse encouÌ„tred the horse of Quadratus with his speare redy charged in the rest thrust Uolusenê° by great violence through the thigh WheÌ„ our horsmeÌ„ saw their captein wouÌ„ded they bestirred themselues turning their horses put their enemies backe After the which chauns many of our ennemies being amazed at the great force of oure men were wounded of whoÌ„ some were ouerthrowen in the chase some were taken prisoners The which misaduenture like as Comius escaped by the swiftnesse of hys horse so our capteine being by him in this prosperous battell sore wouÌ„ded was caried into the caÌ„p in such case as it was not likely he shuld haue liued And Comius whether it were that he thought his grief sufficiently reueÌ„ged or bicause he had lost a great part of his company sent messengers to Antony assuring him by hostages that he wold continue where it shuld please him to appoint do whatsoeuer he shuld coÌ„maund him Only one request he made wherin he besought him to bear with his fearfulnes that he might not come in the sight of any Romane The whiche request for asmuch as Antony iudged it to procede of feare in deede not without good cause he pardoned him accordinge to his desier and receiued hys hostages I know that Cesar made of euery yere by it self a seueral treatise the which thing I thought was not nede full for me to do bicause the yere folowing when L. Paulus C. Marcellus were Consuls there were no notable feates done in Gallia Neuertheles to th entent men may know in what places Cesar his armies were at the same time I haue thought good to wright yet a littel more and to annex it to this treatise During the time that Cesar wintred in Belgicke this one thing was hys chiefe purpose to kepe the Cities together in amitye to minister no hope nor cause of war for he mynded nothing lesse than to deale in such wise as he shuld he constreyned to haue warre at the tyme of his departure least when he wold wtdraw hys army there shuld be left any war behind the which all Gallia could willingly find in hart to enterpryse so it might be without present peril And therfore by entreating the Cities honorablye by rewarding the noble men highlye by burdening the country with no new impositions he easly kept in quiet vnder a better state of obedience all Gallia which nowe was wearied wyth so many vnfortunate battels WheÌ„ winter time was expired coÌ„trary to his custome he goeth into Italy with asmuch eâ—peditioÌ„ as might be to talke with the fraunchised newe inhabited townes and to commeÌ„d vnto them the sute of his Threasorer M. Antonius for the high Priesthod For he made al the frendship he could both gladly bicause the same Antony whoÌ„ he had sent before to sew for that promotioÌ„ was his very dere frend and also earnestly as in despight of the partaking and forcible working of a few meÌ„ who by serting Antonye beside his purpose sought meanes to disgrace Cesar now going oute of his offyce Albeit he had tydings by the way before he came nere Italye that Antonye was made Augur yet he thought he hadde as good cause as before to go vnto the fraunchised newe townes to th entent to geue them thankes for making theyr appearance and for theyr gentilnesse shewed in the behalfe of Antony and also to commend vnto them his own case for the honorable rouâ—â—e whiche he purposed to sew for the next yeare foâ—lowinge that the rather bicause hys aduersaryes proudly made theyr boast that L. Lentulus C. Marcellus were created Consuls to bereue Cesar of al honor and authority and that the Consulshyp was wrested froÌ„ Sergius Galba when he had more fauourable voyces on hys side bycause he had bene alyed to Cesar by familiarity frendship and had bene bound vnto hym as his Lieuetenant Cesar at his comming among the fraunchised newe townes was enterteyned