their direction be assigned to any other power for then their nature had been altered from chance to certainty the euent could not haue been called Sors but must haue been reputed in the order of necessary effects whereof discourse of reason acknowledgeth a certaine foregoing cause Whereby we see vpon how weake an axletree the greatest motions of the godlesse world were turned hauing irregularitie and vncertaintie for the intelligentiae that gouerned their reuolutions All herein all sortes of men although in diuers respectes rested as well contented as if an Oracle had spoken vnto them and reuealed the mysteries of fatall destinie Rome directed the maine course of her gouernment by the fortune of this mocke destiny For although their Consuls and Tribunes were elected by the people who pleased their own fancie with the free choice of their commanders and suted their obedience with a well liking authority yet the publike affaires which each Consull was seuerally to manage was shared out by lots For if an enemie were entered into their confines to depopulate and wast their territories the lots assigned this Consull for the gouernment of the cittie and the other to command the legions and to manage the war If forces were to be sent into diuers prouinces and against seuerall enemies neither the Senate nor the people could giue to either Consull his taske but their peculiar charges were authorised by lots If any extraordinarie action were to be done in the citie as the dedication of a temple the sanctifying of the Capitoll after a pollution Sors omnia versat did all in all And yet notwithstanding the weake foundation of this practise in their Theologie deepest diuinitie we may not thinke but these skilfull Architectors of that absolute gouernment wherein vertue ioyned with true wisdome to make an vnexampled patterne we may not thinke I say but they foresaw the manifold danger which in the course of common actions could no otherway be preuented but by the vse of lots For when things are equally leueled betweene diuers obiects and run with indifferencie to equall stations there must be some controlling power to draw the current towardes one coast and to appropriate it vnto one chanell that the order of nature be not inuersed nor a well established gouernmēt disturbed So the state of Rome casting many things with equall charge vpon her two soueraigne magistrates which could not be performed but by one of them what better meanes could there be inuented to interesse the one in that office and to discharge the other then to appoint an arbiter whose decree exceeded humane reason Of which it could not be saide why it was so but that it was so for if the wisdome of the Senat had been called to counsell or the voices of the people calculated to determine of the matter it might easily haue burst out into ciuill discord considering the often contentions between the Senat and the people the factions of Clients the constant mutabilitie of euery mans priuate affections necessarily inclining vnto one althogh their worth were equal by true reason indiscernable which might haue made the one proud of that which peraduenture he had not and cast the other lower then would haue well beseemed his vertues And therfore to cut off these with many other inconueniences they inuented lots which without either reason or will might decide such controuersies By this it appeareth how little the ancient law-makers respected the ground reason of an ordinance so the commoditie were great and the vse important to the good of the state for as they saw the thing it selfe to be casuall so they saw that casuall thinges are sometimes more necessarie then demonstratiue conclusions neither ought the nature and speculatiue consideration of lawes and statutes belong to the common people but the execution and obedience thereof maketh the common weale flourish And thus endeth the first Commentarie of Caesar his warre in Gallia THE SECOND COMMENTARIE OF THE WARS IN GALLIA THE ARGVMENT LIke as when a heauy bodie lyeth vpon the skirt of a larger continued quantity although it couer but a small parcell of the whole surface yet the other quarters are burthened kept vnder with a proportionable measure of that waight and through the vnion and continuation which bindeth all the parts into one totality feele the same suppression which hath really seased but vpon their fellow part In like maner the Belgae inhabiting the furthest skirt of that triple continent seemed to repine at that heauy burthen which the Romaine Empire had laide vpon the Prouince the Hedui and other states of that kingdome And least it might in time be further remoued and laide directly vpon their shoulders they thought it expedient whilest they felte it but by participation to gather their seuerall forces into one head and trie whether they coulde free their neighbour nations from so greeuous a yoak or at the least keepe it frō comming any neerer vnto themselues And this is the Argument of this second booke which deuideth it selfe into two partes the first containing the warres betweene Caesar and all the states of Belgia vnited togither the secōd recording the battailes which he made with some of the states thereof in particular as time and occasion gaue him meanes to effect it CHAP. I. Caesar hasteth to his army marcheth towardes the confines of the Belgae taketh in the men of Rheims THE report of this confederacie being brought vnto Caesar whilest he wintred beyond the Alpes as wel by letters from Labienus as by the common hearesay of the worlde hee leuied two new legions in Lumbardie and sent them by Q. Pedius into Gallia and assoone as there was any forrage in the fieldes he himselfe came to the armie At his arriual vnderstanding by the Senones the rest of the Galles that bordered vpon the Belgae to whom he gaue in charge to learne what was done amongst them that there was nothing in Belgia but mustering of soldiours and gathering their forces into one heade he thought it not safe to make anie further delaie but hauing made prouision of corne he drewe out his army from their wintering campes and within fifteene daies he came to the borders of the Belgae Assoone as he was come thither which was much sooner then was looked for the men of Rheimes being the vttermost of the Belgae next adioining to the Celtae thought it best to entertaine a peaceable resolution and sent Iccius and Antebrogius two of the cheefe men of their state vnto Caesar to submit themselues and all that they had to the mercy of the Romaine Empire affirming that they were innocent both of the counsel of the Belgae and of their conspiracie against the Romaines For proofe wherof they were ready to giue hostages to receiue them into their towns and to furnish them with corne or what other thing they stood in neede of That the rest of the Belgae were al in armes and the Germains on the other
reduced them into smaller companies to make them fitter for command and fight and so they deuided the Hastati Principes and Triarii each of them into 10 companies making of those 3. sortes of soldiours 30. small regiments vvhich they called Manipuli And againe they subdeuided euerie maniple into two equall parts and called them Ordo vvhich was the least companie in a legion and according to the rate set down by Polybius contained 60. soldiours In euerie Ordo there was a Centurion or Captaine and a Lieuetenant whom they named Optio or Tergiductor The maniples of the Triarii were much lesser then the maniples of either the Hastati or the Principes for as much as their whole band consisted but of 600. men The Velites were put into no such companies but were equally distributed amongst the other Maniples and therefore the Hastati Principes and Triarij were called subsignanos milites to make a difference between them and the Velites which were not deuided into bandes and so consequently had no ensigne of their own but were distributed amongst the other companies so that euery Maniple had 40. Velites attending vpon it And now I come to the description of a cohort which the history heere mentioneth The worde Cohors in latine doth signifie that part of grounde which is commonly inclosed before the gate of a house which from the same word we call a court and Varro giueth this reason of the metaphor As in a farme house saith he many out-buildings ioined together make one inclosure so a cohort consisteth of seuerall maniples ioined together in one body This cohort consisted of three maniples for euerie legion had ten cohorts which must necessarily comprehend those thirty maniples but these 3. maniples were not al of one and the same kind of soldiors as three maniples of the Hastati 3. of the Principes and 3. of the Triarij as Patricius in his Paralleli seemeth to affirme for so there would haue remained an odde maniple in euery kind that could not haue been brought into any cohort But a cohort contained a maniple of the Hastati a maniple of the Principes and a maniple of the Triarij and so al the 30. maniples were included into 10. cohorts euery cohort was as a little legion forasmuch as it consisted of al those sortes of soldiours that were in a legion So that making a legion to containe 5000. men a cohort had 500. and so these 6. cohorts which he incamped on the other side of the riuer vnder the command of Titurius Sabinus contayned 3000. soldiours but if you make a legion to consist but of 4200. which was the more vsuall rate there were 2520. soldiours in these sixe cohortes By this therefore it may appeare that a legion consisted of foure sorts of soldiours which were reduced into ten cohorts and euery cohort contained 3. maniples euery maniple 2. orders and euery order had his Centurion marching in the head of the troupe and euery Centurion had his optionem or Lieutenāt that stood in the taile of the troupe When a legion stoode ranged in battell ready to confront the enemy the least body or squadron that it contained was a maniple wherein the two orders were ioined together making iointly ten in front and twelue in file and so euerie fiue files had their Centurion in front and Lieutenant in the rereward to direct them in all aduentures In the time of the Emperours their battailions consisted of a cohort and neuer exceeded that number how great soeuer the army were Polybius distinguishing a maniple into two centuries or orders saith that the Centurion first chosen by the Tribunes commanded the right order which was that order which stoode on the right hand knowne by the name of Primus ordo and the Centurion elected in the second course commanded the left order and in the absence of either of them hee that was present of them two commaunded the whole maniple And so wee finde that the Centurion of the first place was called Prior Centurio in which sense Caesar is to be vnderstood where hee saith that all the Centurions of the first cohorte were slaine praeter principem priorem From whence we gather two specialities first the prioritie betweene the Centurions of the same maniple for a cohorte consisting of 3. maniples vvhereof the first maniple vvere Triarij the second Principes and the thirde Hastati and euerie maniple containing two orders and euerie order a Centurion he saith that all the Centurions of this cohort vvere slaine sauing the first or vpper Centurion of the Principes The second thing vvhich I obserue is the title of the first cohort for these 10. cohortes vvhereof a legion consisted vvere distinguished by degrees of worthinesse and that vvhich vvas held the vvorthiest in the censure of the Electors tooke the prioritie both of place and name and vvas called the first cohort the next the second cohort so consequently vnto the tenth and last Neither did the legions want their degrees of preheminēce both in imbattailing in incāping according either to the seniority of their inrolement or their fauor of their General or their own vertue And so we read that in these vvars in Gallia the tenth legion had the first place in Caesars army And thus much concerning the diuisions and seuerall companies of a legion and the degrees of honour which they held in the same Vpon this description it shall not be amisse briefelie to laie open the most apparant commodities depending vpon this discipline the excellency vvhereof more plainely appeareth bein compared to that order vvhich nature hath obserued in the frame of her vvorthiest creatures for it is euident that such workes of nature come neerest to perfect excellencie vvhose material substance is most particularlie distinguished into parts and hath euery part indued vvith that propertie which best agreeth to his peculiar seruice For beeing thus furnished with diuersitie of instruments and these directed vvith fitting abilities the creature must needs expresse many admirable effects and discouer the vvorth of an excellent nature vvhereas those other bodies that are but slenderly laboured and find lesse fauour in natures forge being as abortiues or barbarously composed vvanting the diuersitie both of partes and faculties are no vvay capable of such excellent vses nor fit for such distinct seruices as the former that are directed vvith so many properties and inabled vvith the power of so wel distinguished faculties Which better works of nature the Romains imitated in the Architecture of their army deuiding it into such necessary seruiceable partes as were best fitting all vses and imploiments as first into legions and legions into cohorts and cohorts into maniples and maniples into centuries or orders and these into files wherein euery man knewe his place and kept the same without exchange or confusion And thus the vniuersall multitude was by order disposed into partes vntill it came vnto a vnitie for
either desperate or slowe of performance and what defect soeuer riseth from the horse must bee answered out of the honour of the rider And surely it seemeth reasonable that what thing soeuer draweth vs into the societie of so great a hazard should as much as is possible be contained in the compasse of our owne power The sword which we manage with our owne hand affoordeth greater assurance then the harquebuse wherein there are many partes belonging to the action as the pouder the stone the spring and such like whereof if the least faile of his part we likewise faile of our fortune but howe probable soeuer this seemeth this is certaine that in the course of the Roman wars the horse were euer defeated by the foot as is manifestly proued in the first of these bookes CHAP. VII Caesar giueth the Britains two seuerall ouerthrowes THE next daie the enemie made a stand vpon the hils a far off from the campe and shewed themselues not so often neither were they so busie with our horsemen as they were the day before but about noone when Caesar sent out three legions and al his Caualry to get forrage vnder the conduction of the Caius Trebonius a legate they made a sodaine assault vpon the forragers and fell in close with the Ensignes and the legions The Romans charged very fiercely vpon them and beate them backe neither did they make an end of following them vntill the horsemen trusting to the succour of the legions which were behinde them put them all to flight with the slaughter of a great number of them neither did they giue them respite either to make head to make a stand or to forsake their chariots After this ouerthrow all their Auxiliarie forces departed from them neither did they afterward contend with the Romans with any great power Caesar vnderstanding their determination caried his armie to the riuer Thames and so to the confines of Cassiuellaunus which riuer was passable by foot but in one place only and that very hardly at his comming hee found a great power of the enemy to be imbattailed on the other side and the banck fortified with many sharpe stakes and many other also were planted couertly vnder the water These things being discouered to the Romans by the Captiues and fugitiues Caesar putting his horse before caused the legions to followe sodainlie after who notwithstanding they had but their heades cleere aboue the water went with that violence that the enemy was not able to endure the charge but left the bancke and betooke themselues to flight THE OBSERVATION THis attempt of Caesar seemeth so strange to Brancatio that hee runneth into as strange conclusions concerning this matter as first that he that imitateth Caesar may doubt of his good fortunes for his proceeding in this point was not directed by any order of war and that a great commander hath nothing common with other leaders but especially he crieth out at the basenesse of the Britains that woulde suffer themselues so cowardly to be beaten But if wee looke into the circumstances of the action we shal find both Art good direction therein for being assured by the fugitiues that the riuer was passable in that place in that place onlie he knew that he must either aduēture ouer there or leaue Cassiuellaunus for an other sūmer which was a very strong inducement to vrge him to that enterprise The difficultie wherof was much relieued by good direction which consisted of two pointes first by sending ouer the horsemen in the front of the legions who might better indure the charge of the enemie then the footmen coulde that were vppe to the necke in water and withall to shelter the footmen from the furie of the enemie Secondly he sent them ouer with that speede that they were on the other side of the water before the enemie coulde tell what they attempted for if he had lingered in the seruice and giuen the enemie leaue to find the aduantage which he had by experience his men had neuer bin able to haue indured the hazard of so dangerous a seruice It is hard to coniecture at the place where this seruice was performed for since the building of London bridge manie foordes haue beene scoured with the current and fall of the water which before that time carried not such a depth as now they doe CHAP. VII The conclusion of the Brittish warre Caesar returneth into Gallia CAssiuellaunus hauing no courage to contend anie longer dismissed his greatest forces and retaining onely foure thousand chariots obserued their iourneies keeping the wood countries and driuing men and cattell out of the fields into the woods for feare of the Romans and as their horsemen straied out either for forrage or bootie hee sent his chariots out of the woods by vnknowne waies and put their horsemen to great perill in regard whereof the horsemen durst neuer aduenture further then the legions neither was there anie more spoile done in the countrey then that which the legionarie souldiers did of themselues In the meane time the Trinobantes being almost the greatest state of all those countries from whom Mandubratius had fled to Caesar into Gallia for that his father Imanuentius holding the kingdome was slaine by Cassiuellaunus sent Ambassadours to Caesar to offer their submission and to intreat that Mandubratius might be defended from the oppression of Cassiuellaunus and sent vnto them to take the kingdome Caesar hauing receiued from them fortie pledges and corne for his Armie sent Mandubratius vnto them The Trinobantes being thus kept from the violence of the souldiers the Cenimagni Seguntiaci Anacalites Bibrocassi yeelded themselues to Caesar By these he vnderstood that Cassiuellaunus his towne was not farre off fortified with woods and bogges and well stored with men and cattell The Britaines call a towne a thicke wood inclosed about with a ditch and a rampier made for a place of retrait when they stood in feare of incursions from the borderers Thither marched Caesar with his Armie and found it well fortified both by arte and nature And as he assaulted it in two seuerall places the enemie vnable to keepe it cast himselfe out of the towne by a backe waie and so he tooke it Where he found great store of cattell and slew manie of the Britaines While these thinges were a doing Cassiuellaunus sent messengers into Kent wherin there were foure seurall kinges Cingetorix Caruilius Taximagulus and Segonax them he commanded with all the power they could make to set vpon the campe where the nauie was kept These kinges comming to the place were ouerthrowne by a sallie which the Romans made out vpon them manie of them being slaine and Cingetorix taken prisoner This battell concurring with the former losses and especially moued thereunto with the reuolt of the forenamed cities Cassiuellaunus intreated peace of Caesar by Comius of Arras Caesar being determined to winter in the continent for feare of sudden commotions in Gallia and that the summer was now
Their prouinces and the next confederate states furnished their Armies continually with corne as it appeareth by this place that for prouision of graine he depended altogether vpon the Hedui And when they were in the enemies countrey in the time of haruest the souldiers went out to reape and gather corne and deliuered it threshed and clensed to the treasurer that it might be kept vntill the daie of paiment But to leaue this frugall and prouident manner of prouision as vnpossible to be imitated by this age let vs returne to our historie and see how the Heluetians were led by a probable errour to their last ouerthrow CHAP. VII The Heluetians follow after Caesar and ouertake the rereward He imbattaileth his legions vpon the side of a hill and giueth order for the battell THE Heluetians vnderstanding of the Romans departure by fugitiues that came vnto them were fullie perswaded that feare was the greatest cause of their retraite for the daie before hauing the vpper ground they durst not vse the aduantage of the same and hoping withall to intercept them from victuals they followed after them with what speed they could as they ouertooke them they charged vpon the rereward Which when Caesar perceiued he sent his horsemen to sustaine the assault in the meane time he drew his forces vnto the next hill and in the side thereof about the middle of the hill hee made a triple battell of foure olde legions on the toppe of the hill he placed two newe legions which he had last inrolled in Italie with the associate forces and to these hee commended the baggage and impediments of the whole Armie and filled all the rest of the hill with light armed men The Heluetians on the other side conuaied their cariage and impedimentes into one place and hauing beaten backe Caesars horsemen with a thicke thronged batallion they put themselues into a phalanx and so pressed vnder the first battell of the Roman legions THE FIRST OBSERVATION COncerning the true sense of this triple battell which Caesar made vpon the side of the hill I vnderstand it according to the ancient custome of the Romans who in the infancie of their militarie discipline diuided their Armie into three sortes of souldiers Hastati Principes and Triarij for I omit the velites as no part of their standing battels and of these they made three seuerall battels from front to backe in the first battell were the Hastati and they possessed the whole front of the Armie and were called Acies prima Behinde these in a conuenient distance stood the Principes in like sort and order disposed and were called Acies secunda and lastly in a like correspondent distance were the Triarij imbattelled and made Aciem tertiam Their legion consisted of ten companies which they called cohortes and euerie cohort consisted of three small companies which they named Manipuli a maniple of the Hastati a maniple of the Principes and an other of the Triarij as I will more particularly set downe in the second booke And as these three kindes of souldiers were separated by distance of place from front to backe so was euerie battell deuided into his maniples and these were deuided by little allies and waies one from an other which were vsed to this purpose The Hastati being in front did euer begin the battell and if they found themselues too weake to repell the enemie or were happily forced to a retrait they drew themselues through these allies or distances which were in the second battell betweene the maniples of the Principes into the space which was betweene the Principes and the Triarij and there they rested themselues whilest the Princes tooke their place and charged the enemie Or otherwise if the commanders found it needfull they filde vp those distances of the Principes and so vnited with them into one bodie they charged the enemy all in grosse and then if they preuailed not they retired into the spaces between the Triarij and so they gaue the last assault all the three bodies being ioyned all into one Now if we examine by the current of the historie whether Caesar obserued the same order and diuisions in his warres we shall find little or no alteration at all for first this triplex Acies here mentioned was no other thing but the diuision of the Hastati Principes and Triarij according to the manner of the first institution And least any man should dreame of that ordinarie diuision which is likewise threefold the two cornets and the battell and in that sence he might saie to haue made triplicem Aciem let him vnderstand that the circumstances of the diuision haue no coherence with that diuision for in that he saith of the Heluetians successerunt Aciem primam pressed neare the first battel or vangard he maketh it cleare that the Armie was deuided into a triple battell from front to backe for otherwise he would haue said successerint dextrum aut sinistrum cornu aut mediam Aciem for so were the partes of that diuision tearmed Againe in the retrait which the Heluetians made to the hill when hee saith that the first and second battell followed close vpon the enemie and the third opposed it selfe against the Boij and Tulingi and stood readie at the foote of the hill to charge the legions in the flanke and on the backe It is manifest that no other diuision can so fitly be applied to this circumstance as that from front to backe But that place in the first of the ciuill warres taketh away all scruple of controuersie where he vseth the verie same tearmes of prima secunda and tertia Acies for being to incampe himselfe neare vnto Afranius and fearing least his souldiers should be interrupted in their worke he caused the first and second battel to stand in Armes and keepe their distance to the end they might shroud and couer the third battel which was imploied in making a ditch behind them from the view of the enemie and this kind of imbattailing Caesar obserued in most of his fightes by which it appeareth that he vseth the verie same order and discipline for imbattailing as was instituted by the old Romans Concerning the auncient names of Hastati Principes and Triarij which Ramus in his Militia Iulij Caesaris vrgeth to be omitted throughout the whole historie I grant they are seldome vsed in these Commentaries in the sense of their first institution for the Hastati when the discipline was first erected were the youngest and poorest of the legionarie souldiers The Principes were the lustie and able bodied men and the Triarij the eldest and best experienced But in Caesars campe there was little or no difference either of valour or yeares betweene the Hastati Principes or Triarij which he nameth Prima Secunda and Tertia Acies and therefore were neuer tearmed by those names in respect of that difference Notwithstanding in regard of order and degrees of discipline that
the battell retire to a hill the Romans follow after and the battell is continued THE Heluetians were sore troubled with the Roman piles which stucke so fast in their shields that they were neither able to pull them out nor to vse their targets to any purpose and therfore after a wearisome toile they chose rather to cast them away and to hazard their nakednesse vpon agilitie and readinesse then to betray their life with an vnmanageable weapon but at length fainting with woundes they began to giue place and made their retrait to a hill not farre off the better to saue themselues from the furie of the Romans The hill being taken and the legions following on to driue them from thence the reregard of the Heluetians which were the Boy and Tulingi consisting of 15000 men stood readie at the foote of the hill to charge the Romans in flanke and to inuiron them round about which the Heluetians no sooner perceiued but they returned and began a fresh from the hill to renew the battell and so the legions were set vpon both in front and flanke at one instant To remedie this difficultie conuersa signa bipartito intulerunt saith the history the first and second battell fought against the Heluetians that returned from the hill and the third battell turned themselues to beare the assault of the rereward which stood readie to inclose them about and to charge them on the backe And here the fight was doubtfull and vehement for a long time vntill at length they were no longer able to indure the violence of the legionarie souldiers part of them fled to the toppe of the hill and the rest betooke themselues to the place where their baggage and impediments were lodged And hitherto here was not one man seene to haue turned his backe in all the conflict although the fight continued from the seuenth houre vntill the euening THE FIRST OBSERVATION COncerning the ensignes of the Romans we are to vnderstand that the chiefest ensigne of euerie legion was an Eagle which alwaies attended vpon the Primipile or chiefe Centurion of the said legion The ensigne of a maniple was either a Hand or a Dragon a woolfe or a Sphinx as it appeareth besides the testimonie of history by the Columne of Traiane in Rome wherein the ensignes are figured with such purtraitures so that these ensignes resembling the proportions of liuing creatures had their fore partes alwaies caried that way which the legions were to march or where they were to fight and therefore in this historie by the aspect and carying of the ensignes the front of the Armie was commonly noted as in this THE BATTEL WHICH CAESAR HAD WITH THE HELVETIANS place it is said that the ensignes of the first and second battell were carried towardes the hill whither the Heluetians had made their retrait and the ensignes of the third battell looked an other waie towardes the Boij and Tulingi which stood of the foot of the hill By which is signified how the legions were diuided to resist the brunt of the double incounter THE SECOND OBSERVATION COncerning the time of the daie we are to vnderstand that the Romans vsed not the same diuision of the daie as we commonly do for they diuided their artificiall which is the space betweene sunne rising and setting into 12 equall partes which the Astronomers called vnequall or planetarie houres The first houre of the daie began alwaies at sunne rising the sixt houre was alwaies high noone and the twelfth houre was sunne setting And as the day waxed longer or shorter so these houres were either greater or lesse neither did they agree with equall or equinoctiall houres such as are now vsed but only at the Acquinoctium so that by this maner of reckoning ab hora septima ad vesperum is meant the battell began about one of the clocke according to our Computation and continued vntill the euening The like we must vnderstand throughout this whole historie as often as there is mention made of the circumstance of time CHAP. X. The Heluetians continue their fight at the cariages but at length they left the field and marched towardes Langiers THE like courage was also shewed on either side at their baggage the place being fortified with cartes and wagons in steed of a rampier which so troubled the Romans that they could not winne it vntill it was late in the night for the Heluetians being fenced with their cariages so galled the legions with dartes and tauelins vnder the chariots and from betweene the wheeles that the victory was not easily atchieued At last being able no longer to resist they left the place and marched all that night without any intermission and the fourth day they came into the Confines of the Lingones being about 230000 that escaped in the battell THE OBSERVATION IF we consider the nature of the action and looke into the true causes of their ouerthrow as farre as the right sense of the historie shall direct our iudgment we shall finde valour not to be wanting in the Heluetians but rather superlatiuely abounding in the Romans For that vehement opinion of their valiancie and manhood which carried them out of the streights of the country to seeke larger fortunes in other kingdomes was not so abated with the losle of the fourth part of their Host at the riuer Arar nor with the terrible furie of those veteran legions but it yeelded this effect which Caesar in his estimate of valour thought memorable that for fiue houres space or more there was not one man seene to haue turned his backe Their manner of imbattailing had not the Romans beene the enemy was vnresistable for being cast into a phalanx which in the plaines of Asia had made Alexander the great and the Macedonians famous they did as farre surpasse any other forme of imbattailing supposing that the conueniencie of the place did fit that disposition wherein the strength of the whol is deuided into many particulars as the violēce of a great bodie exceedeth the force and motion of his partes when it is diuided into smaller cantons For as in a phalanx many particular souldiers are by a close and compact order incorporated into one entire bodie so their seueral vertues are gathered into one head and are as partes vnited into one generall force which easily swalloweth vp the ability of many other lesser quantities into which a greater strength is equally diuided The aduantage of the place which they got by retrait and the double charge wherewith they ingaged the Romans both in front and flanke was able in an indifferent conflict to haue made fortune fugitiue and beare armes on their side or at the least so to haue steemed the swelling tide of victorie which carried the Romans so violently in the chase that they might haue beene equall sharers in the honour of the daie had it not flowed from an Ocean of valour whose course could not be hindered with any stops and
the women and such as were vnmeete for the fielde they bestowed in a place vnaccessible for any armie by reason of fens and bogs and marishes Vpon this intelligence Caesar sent his discouerers and Centurions before to choose out a fit place to incampe in Now whereas many of the surrendred Belgae and other Galles were continuallie in the Romaine army certaine of these as it was afterward known by the captiues obseruing the order which the Romaines vsed in marching came by night to the Neruij and tolde them that betweene euerie legion went a great sort of cariages and that it was no matter of difficultie assoone as the first legion was come into the campe and the other legions yet a great way off to set vpon them vpon a suddaine before they were disburdened of their cariages and so to ouerthrowe them which legion being thus cut off and their stuffe taken the rest would haue smal courage to stande against them It much furthered this aduice that forasmuch as the Neruij were not able to make any power of horse that they might the better resist the caualrie of their borderers whensoeuer they made any roade into their marches their manner was to cut yong trees halfe asunder bowing the tops down to the ground plashed the boughes in breadth and with thornes and briers planted between them they made them so thicke that it was impossible to see through them so hard it was to enter or passe through them so that when by this occasion the passage of the Romaine army must needes be hindred the Neruij thought the foresaid counsell not to be neglected CAESARS march where in euery Legion had his Cariadges in front CAESARS march where the Enemy was neerer at hand The place which the Romaines chose to incampe in was a hill of like leuell from the top to the bottome at the foot whereof ran the riuer Sabis and with the like leuell on the other side rose an other hill directly against this to the quantity of 200. paces the bottom whereof was plaine and open and the vpper part so thicke with wood that it could not easilie be looked into within these woods the Neruians kept themselues close and in the open grounde by the riuer side were onely seene a fewe troupes of horse and the riuer in that place was about 3. foot deepe Caesar sending his horsemen before followed after with all his power but the maner of his march differed from the report which was brought to the Neruii for inasmuch as the enemy was at hand Caesar as his custom was led 6. legions alwaies in areadines without burthen or cariage of any thing but their armes after them hee placed the impediments of the whole army And the two legions which were last inrolled were a rereward to the army and garded the stuffe OBSERVATIONS THis trecherous practise of the surrendred Belgae hath fortunatelie discouered the maner of Caesars march as well in safe passages as in dangerous and suspected places which is a point of no smal consequence in martiall discipline being subiect to so many inconueniences and capable of the greatest arte that may be shewed in managing a war Concerning the discreet cariage of a march by this circumstance it may bee gathered that Caesar principally respected safetie and secondly conueniency If the place affoorded a secure passage and gaue no suspicion of hostilitie hee was content in regarde of conueniency to suffer euery legion to haue the ouersight of their particular cariages and to insert them among the troupes that euery man might haue at hand such necessaries as were requisite either for their priuate vse or publike discipline But if he were in danger of any sodain attempt or stood in hazard to be impeached by an enemy hee then omitted conuenient disposition in regard of particular vse as disaduantageous to their safety caried his legions in that readines that if they chanced to be ingaged by an enemy they might without any alteration of their march or incumbrance of their cariages receiue the charge in that forme of battell as was best approoued by their military rules the ancient practise of their fortunate progenitors The old Romains obserued likewise the same respects for in vnsafe suspected places they caried their troupes agmine quadrato which as Liuie seemeth to note was free from all cariage and impediments which might hinder them in any sodaine alarum Neither doth that of Hirtius any way cōtradict this interpretation where he saith that Caesar so disposed his troupes against the Bellouaci that 3. legions marched in front after them came al the cariages to which the 10. legion serued as a rereward so they marched pene agmine quadrato Seneca in like maner noteth the safety of agmen quadratū where he saith that where an enemie is expected wee ought to march agmine quadrato readie to fight The most material consequence of these places alleadged is that as ofte as they suspected anie onset or charge their order in a march little or nothing differed from their vsuall maner of imbattailing and therefore it was called agmen quadratum or a square march inasmuch as it kept the same disposition of parts as were obserued in quadrata Acie For that triple forme of imbattailing which the Romaines generally obserued in their fights hauing respect to the distances between each battel contained almost an equal dimension of front and file and so it made Aciem quadratam and when it marched Agmen quadratum Polybius expresseth the same in effect as often as the place required circumspection but altereth it somewhat in regard of the cariages for he saith that in time of danger especially where the countrey was plaine and Chāpion and gaue space free scope to cleere themselues vpon anie accident the Romains marched in a triple battel of equal distāce one behind an other euery battel hauing his seueral cariages in front And if they were by chance attacked by an enemy they turned themselues according to the oportunity of the place either to the right or left hande and so placing their cariages on the one side of their army they stood imbattailed ready to receiue the charge The contrary forme of marching where the place afforded more security gaue scope to conueniency they named agmen longum when almost euery maniple or order had their seueral cariages attending vpon them stroue to keep that way which they found most easie both for thēselues their impediments Which order of a march as it was more commodius then the former in regard of particularity so was it vnsafe and dangerous where the enemy was expected And therfore Caesar much blamed Sabinus and Cotta for marching when they were deluded by Ambiorix longissimo agmine as though they had receiued their aduertisements from a friend and not from an enemy And albeit our moderne wars are far different in quality frō them of
themselues to the people of Rome The wars being thus ended and all Gallia being setled in peace there went such a fame of this warre among other barbarous people that from nations beyond the Rhene there came ambassadours to Caesar offering both hostages and obedience to whatsoeuer he commanded them But Caesar willed them to repaire vnto him againe in the beginning of the next sommer for as much as he then hasted into Lumbardie after he had placed his legions in their wintering campes For these thinges vpon the sight of Caesars letters a generall supplication was proclaimed in Rome for 15 daies together which honour before that time had happened to no man And thus endeth the second Commentarie OBSERVATIONS VPON THE THIRD BOOKE OF CAESAR HIS COMMENTARIES THE ARGVMENT THis Commentarie beginneth with an Accident which happened in the latter ende of the former sommer wherein the Belgae had so leane a haruest and then it proceedeth to the warre betweene Caesar and the Veneti Crassus and the Aquitani Titurius Sabinus and the Curiosolitae And Titus Labienus with the Treuiri CHAP. I. Sergius Galba being sent to cleere the passage of the Alpes was besieged by the Seduni and Veragri CAESAR taking his iourney into Italie sent Sergius Galba with the twelfth legion and part of the horsemen vnto the Nantuates Veragri Seduni whose territories are extended from the riuer Rhone and the lake Lemanus vnto the tops of the highest Alpes The ende of this voyage was chiefely to cleare the Alpes of theeues and robbers that liued by the spoile of passengers that trauelled betweene Italie and Gallia Galba hauing order if he found it expedient to winter in those partes after some fortunate incounters and the taking of some castles and holdes he concluded a peace and resolued to place two cohortes of his legion amongst the Nantuates and himselfe to winter with the other cohortes in a towne of the Veragri named Octodurus This towne being sited in a narrow valley and incircled about with mightie high hils was deuided by a riuer into two partes whereof he gaue one part to the Galles and the other he chose for his wintering campe and fortified it about with a ditch and a rampier After he had spent many daies of wintering and giuen order that corne should be brought thither for prouision he had intelligence vpon a sudden that the Galles in the night time had all left that part of the towne that was allotted vnto them and that the hils which hung ouer the valley wherein the towne stood were possest with great multitudes of the Seduni and Veragri The reasons of this sudden commotion were cheefly the paucitie of the Roman forces not making a compleat legion for as much as two cohorts wintered amongst the Nantuates besides many particulars that were wanting vpon necessarie occasions And to make them more contemptible in regard of themselues the place affoorded such aduantage that they were perswaded by reason of the steepe decliuitie of the hill that the Romans would not indure the brunt of the first assault besides this it greeued them exceedingly to haue their children taken from them vnder the title of hostages and the Alpes which nature had exempted from habitation and placed as boundes betweene two large kingdomes to be seased vpon by the Roman legions and vnited to their Prouince Vpon these aduertisements Galba not hauing as yet finished the fortification of his campe nor made prouision of corne and forrage for the winter season in that he little feared any motion of warre being secured of their amitie and obedience both by hostages and rendrie he presently called a councell of warre to determine what course was best to be taken In which councell the mindes of many were so amazed with the terrour of so vnexpected a danger when they beheld the hils pestered with armed soldiers the passages taken and intercepted by the enemie and no hope left of any succour or reliefe that they could thinke of no other waie for their safetie then leauing behind them their baggage and impediments to sallie out of their campe and so to saue themselues by the same waie they came thither notwithstanding the greater part concluded to referre that resolution to the last push and in the meane time to attend the fortune of the euent and defend the campe THE OBSERVATION WHich aduise although at this time sorted to small effect yet it better suted the valour of the Romans and sauoured more of tempered magnanimitie then that former hazard which argued the weakenesse of their mindes by their ouer hastie and too forward resolution For as it imported greater danger and discouered a more desperate spirit to breake through the thickest troupes of their enemies and so by strong hand to saue themselues by the helpe of some other fortune so it manifested a greater apprehension of terrour and a stronger impression of feare which can affoord nothing but desperate remedies for desperate and inconsiderate rashnes riseth sooner of feare then of any other passion of the mind But such as beheld the danger with a lesse troubled eie and qualified the terrour of death with the life of their spirite reseruing extremitie of helpe to extremitie of perill and in the meane time attended what chances of aduantage might happen vnto them vpon any enterprise the enemie should attempt I say they so gaue greater scope to fortune and inlarged the boundes of changing accidents CHAP. II. The enemie setteth vpon the wintering campe Galba ouerthroweth them THE councell being dismissed they had scarce time to put in execution such thinges as were agreed vpon for their defence but the enemie at a watchword giuen assaulted the campe on all sides with stones and dartes and other casting weapons the Romans at first when their strength was fresh valiantly resisted the brunt of the charge neither did they spend in vaine any weapon which they cast from the rampier but what part soeuer of their campe seemed to be in greatest danger and want of helpe thither they came with succour and reliefe but herein they were ouermatched For the enemie being spent and wearied with fight whensoeuer anie of them gaue place and forsooke the battell there were alwaies fresh combatants to supplie it but the Romans by reason of their small number had no such helpe For their extremitie in that point was such that no man was permitted neither for wearinesse nor woundes to forsake his station or abandon his charge And hauing thus fought continually the space of sixe houres when both strength and weapons wanted the enemie persisting with greater furie to fill the ditch and breake downe the rampier and their hopes relying vpon the last expectation P. Sex Baculus the Primipile of that legion whom we said to be so sore wounded in the Neruian battell and Caius Volusenus Tribune of the souldiers a man of singular courage and wisedome ranne speedily to Galba and tolde him that the only waie of safetie was to
of reason especially when the intention shal sympathize with our will so when it shall happen to be strengthened with powerfull meanes and graced with the Acte of superiour personages it must needes be verie effectuall to stirre vp mens mindes to approue that with a strong affection which their owne single iudgment did no waie allow of And therfore equalitie bringeth this aduantage to a Prince which differencie can not affoord that albeit example doe set on foote any rebellious motion yet no supereminencie shall authorise the same CHAP. IIII. Caesar hauing aduertisement of these new troubles hasteth into Gallia and prepareth for the warre ALL the maritimate states being by this meanes drawne into the same conspiracie they sent a common ambassage vnto Crassus that if he would haue his men againe he must deliuer vp the hostages which he had taken from them Whereof Caesar being certified by Crassus in as much as he was then a great way distant from his Armie he commanded Gallies and shippes of warre to be built vpon the riuer Loier which runneth into the Ocean and that Gallie men Mariners and Shipmasters should be mustered in the Prouince which being speedely dispatched assoone as the time of the yeare would permit him he came into Gallia The Veneti and the rest of the confederacie vnderstanding of Caesars arriuall and considering how haynous a fact they had committed in detaining the ambassadours and casting them into yrons whose name is held sacred and inuiolable amongst all nations prepared accordingly to answere so eminent a danger especially such necessaries as pertained to shipping sea-fights THE OBSERVATION FRom hence I may take occasion briefely to touch the reuerent opinion which all nations howe barbarous soeuer haue generally conceiued of the qualitie and condition of ambassadours and what the groundes are of this vniuersall receiued custome which in all ages and times hath held Authenticall And first we are to vnderstand that all man kinde as indued with the same nature and properties are so linked together in the strict alliance of humane society that albeit their turbulent and disagreeing passions which in themselues are vnnaturall as proceeding from corruption and defect driue them into extreme discord and disunion of spirit and breake the bonds of ciuill conuersation which otherwise we do naturally affect yet without a necessarie entercourse and trafficke of societie we are not able to keepe on foote the very discord it selfe in tearmes of reason and orderly proceeding but all parts will be blended with disordered confusion go to wrack for want of these mutuall offices performed by messengers so streight are the bondes of nature and so powerfull are the lawes which she enacteth And therfore if it were for no other end which might sort to the benefit of either partie as there are many good vses thereof yet to holde vp the quarrell and keepe it from falling making war according to the grounds of reason the entercourse of messengers is not to be interrupted nor their persons to be touched with hateful violence but that which the common reason of nations hath made a law ought as religiously to be obserued as an Oracle of our owne beliefe Secondly for as much as the ende of warre is or at the least should be peace which by treatie of mutuall messengers is principally to be confirmed to the end that no people may seeme so barbarous as to maintaine a warre which onelie intendeth bloud and proposeth as the chiefest obiect the death and mortality of mankind no way respecting peace and ciuill gouernment such as refuse the entercourse of messengers as the meanes of amitie and concord are iustly condemned in the iudgment of all nations as vnworthie of humane societie Last of all it is an iniurie of great dishonour and deserueth the reward of extreme infamie to reuenge the master his quarrell vpon a seruant and punish ambassadours for the faults of their state considering that their chiefest dutie consisteth in the faithfull relation of such mandates as they haue receiued which may as well tende to the aduancement and honour of that cittie to which they are sent as to the dishonour and ruine of the same whereof the messengers take no notice And therefore whether we desire warre or peace the free libertie and holy order of ambassadours is reuerently to be respected and defended from brutish and vnnaturall violence CHAP. V. The proceedings of either partie in the entrance of this warre THE Veneti conceiued great hope of their enterprise by reason of the strength of their situation for as much as all the passages by land were broken and cut off with armes and creekes of the sea and on the other side nauigation and entrance by sea was so troublesome and dangerous in that the Romans were altogether vnacquainted with the chanels and shelues of the coast Neither did they thinke that the Roman Armie could long continue there without corne which was not to be had in those quarters And if it happened that the course of thinges were carried contrarie to this probable expectation yet they themselues were strong in shipping whereas the Romans had none at all Neither had they knowledge of the flats and shallowes Portes and Ilands of that coast where they were to fight And to conclude they should finde the vse of Nauigation in that narrow sea to be farre different from that which they were accustomed vnto in the vast and open Ocean In this resolution they fortified their townes stored them with prouision and brought all their shipping to Vannes against whom Caesar as it was reported would begin to make warre taking the Osisimi Lexouij Nannetes Ambiuariti Morini Menapij Diablintres as consorts and partakers in this quarrell Notwithstanding these difficulties many motiues stirred vp Caesar to vndertake this war as namely the violent detaining of the Roman knights their rebellion after they had yeelded themselues by rendrie and giuen hostages of their loialtie the conspiracie of so manie citties which being now neglected might afterward incite other nations and states to the like insolencie And therefore vnderstanding that almost all the Galles were inclining to noueltie and alteration and of their owne nature were quicke and readie to vndertake a warre and further considering that all men by nature desired libertie and hated the seruile condition of bondage he preuented all further insurrections of the other states with the presence of the Roman forces and sent Titus Labienus with the Caualrie vnto the Treuiri that bordered vpon the Rhene to him he gaue in charge to visit the men of Rhemes and the rest of the Belgae to keepe them in obedience and to hinder such forces as might peraduenture be transported ouer the riuer by the Germains to further this rebellious humour of the Galles He commanded likewise Pub. Crassus with 12 legionarie cohortes and a great part of the horse to go into Aquitaine least there might come any aide from those nations
vnto him the rest neglecting it These wars being thus ended vpon the relation of Caesars letters the senate decreed a supplication for the space of 20 daies OBSERVATIONS IN the ende of the second Commentarie we reade of a supplication granted by the senate for 15 daies which was neuer granted to anie man before that time since the first building of the citie but forasmuch as in this fourth yeare of the warres in Gallia it was augmented from 15 vnto 20 daies I thought it fit to referre the handling thereof vnto this place We are therfore to vnderstand that whensoeuer a Roman Generall had carried himselfe well in the warres by gaining a victorie or enlarging the boundes of their Empire that then the senate did decree a supplication to the Gods in the name of that captaine And this dignitie was much sought after not onely because it was a matter of great honour that in their names the Temples of their Gods should be opened and their victories acknowledged with the concourse and gratulation of the Roman people but also because a supplication was commonly the forerunner of a triumph which was the greatest honour in the Roman gouernment And therfore Cato nameth it the prerogatiue of a triumph And Liuie in his 26 booke saith that it was long disputed on in the senate how they could denie one that was there present to triumph whose absence they had honoured with supplication and thankesgiuing to the Gods for things happily effected The maner of the Ceremonie was that after the Magistrate had publikely proclaimed it with this forme or stile quod bene faeciliter rempublicam administrasset the Roman people cloathed in white garmentes and crowned with garlands went to all the temples of the Gods and there offered sacrifices to gratulate the victorie in the name of the Generall In which time they were forbidden all other businesses but that which pertained to this solemnity It seemeth that this time of supplication was at first included within one or two daies at the most as appeareth by Liuie in his third booke where he saith that the victorie gained by two seuerall battels was spitefully shut vp by the senat in one daies supplication the people of their owne accord keeping the next daie holie and celebrating it with greater deuotion then the former Vpon the victorie which Camillus had against the Veij there were granted foure daies of supplication to which there was afterward a daie added which was the vsuall time of supplication vnto the time that Pompei ended the warre which they called Mithridaticum when the vsuall time of fiue daies was doubled and made 10 and in the second of these Commentaries made 15 and now brought to 20 daies Which setteth foorth the incitements and rewardes of wel doing which the Romans propounded both at home and abroad to such as indeuoured to enlarge their Empire or manage a charge to the benefit of their common-wealths And thus endeth the fourth Commentarie THE FIFT COMMENTARIE OF THE WAR WHICH CAESAR MADE IN GALLIA THE ARGVMENT CAesar caused a great nauie to be built in Gallia he caried 5 legions into Britany where he made war with the Britains on both sides the riuer Thames at his returne into Gallia most of the Galles reuolted and first the Eburones vnder the conduction of Ambiorix set vpon the campe of Q. Titurius the Legate whom they circumuented by subtilty and then besieged the campe of Cicero but were put by and their Armie ouerthrowen by Caesar CHAP. I. Caesar returneth into Gallia findeth there great store of shipping made by the souldiers and commandeth them to be brought to the hauen Iccius LVCIVS Domitius and Appius Claudius being Consuls Caesar at his going into Italie gaue order to the Legats to build as manie ships that winter as possibly they could commanding them to be built of a lower pitch then those which are vsed in the mediterranean sea for the speedier lading vnlading of thē and because the tides in these seas were verie great and forasmuch as he was to transport great store of horse he commanded them to be made flatter in the bottome them such as were vsuall in other places and all of them to be made for the vse of Oares to which purpose their low building serued verie conueniently Other necessaries and furniture for rigging he gaue order to haue it brought out of Spaine Caesar after the assembly of the states in Lombardie and that he set free Illiricum from the incursions of the Pirustae he returned into Gallia where he found 600 ships built by the extraordinarie industrie of the souldiers notwithstanding the penurie and want of all necessarie matter with 28 Gallies ready furnished which in a few daies might be lanched hauing commended the soldiers and ouerseers of the worke he commanded them to be brought to the port called Iccius from whence he knew the passage into Britanie was not aboue thirtie mile ouer THE OBSERVATION THis Iccius Portus Floide thinketh to be Caleis others take it to bee Saint Omer partly in regard of the situation of the place which being in it selfe verie lowe hath notwithstanding very high bankes which incompasse the towne about and in times past was a verie large hauen To this maie be added the distance from this towne to the next continent of the Iland of Britany which Strabo maketh to containe 320 stadia which agreeth to the French computation of 13 leages Caesar maketh it thirtie mile this is the hauen which Pliny calleth Britannicum portum Morinorum CHAP. II. Caesar saileth into Britanie landeth his forces and seeketh the enemie CAESAR hauing prepared all things in readinesse he left Labienus in the continent with three legions and 2000 horse both to keepe the hauen and make prouision of corne and also to obserue the motion of the Galles and with fiue legions and the like number of horse as he left in the continent about sun-setting he put out to sea with a soft south winde which continued vntill midnight and then ceasing he was carried with the tide vntill the morning when he perceiued that the Iland laie on his left hand and againe as the tide changed hee laboured by rowing to reach that part of the Iland where he had found good landing the yeare before wherein the souldiers deserued great commendation for by strength and force of Oares they made their great ships of burthen to keepe waie with the Galleies About high noone they arriued in Britanie with all their ships neither was there any enemie seene in that place but as afterward Caesar vnderstood by the captiues the Britains were there with a great power but being terrified with the infinite number of shipping which they discouered from the shore for there were in all aboue 800 they forsooke the shore and hid themselues in the vpland countrie Caesar hauing landed his men and chosen a conuenient place to incampe assoone as he vnderstood by the captiues where the enemy laie in
it may easily bee seduced either by feare or vaine imagination diffident conceptions or ouer easie credulitie with manie other such disturbing powers from that waie which a good discretion and an vnderstanding free from passion would haue taken First therefore I holde it necessarie to haue the consistorie of our iudgment well settled with a firme resolution and with the presence of the minde before wee enter into deliberation of such thinges as are made happie vnto vs by good direction And then this amongst other circumstances will giue some helpe to a good conclusion when we consider how improbable it is that an enemie whose chiefest care is to weaken his aduersarie and bring him to ruine should aduise him of anie thing that maie concerne his good vnlesse the profite which he himselfe shall thereby gather doe farre exceede that which the contrarie part may expect I grant that in ciuill warres where there are many friendes on either partie and haue the aduerse cause as deere vnto them as their owne there are oftentimes many aduertisements giuen which proceede from a true and sincere affection and maie aduantage the partie whom it concerneth as well in preuenting any danger as in the furtherance of their cause and therefore are not altogether to be neglected but to be waied by circumstances and accordingly to be respected whereof wee haue manie pregnant examples in the ciuill warres of France and particularly in Monsieur La Nou his discourses But where there are two Armies different in nation language and humor contending for that which peculiarly belongeth vnto one of them where care to keepe that which is dearest vnto them possesseth the one and hope of gaine stirreth vp the other there is commonlie such an vniuersall hatred betweene them that they are to looke for small aduantage by aduertisements from the enemie which if the Romans had well considered this subtile Gall had not dispossest them of their strength nor brought them to ruine CHAP. X. The Romans call a councell vpon this aduertisement and resolue to depart and ioyne themselues to some other of the legions THE Romans being troubled at the sodainnesse of the matter albeit those thinges were spoken by an enemie yet they thought them no way to be neglected but especially it moued them for that it was incredible that the Eburones beeing base and of no reputation durst of themselues make war against the people of Rome and therefore they propounded the matter in a councell wherein there grew a great controuersie among them L. Arunculeius and most of the Tribunes and Centurions of the first orders thought it not good to conclude of any thing rashlie nor to depart out of their wintering campes without expresse commandment from Caesar forasmuch as they were able to resist neuer so great a power yea euen of their Germans hauing the garizons wel fortified an argument whereof was that they had valiantly withstood the first assault of the enemy and giuen them many wounds Neither wanted they anie victuals and before that prouision which they had was spent there would come succor frō other garizons and from Caesar And to conclude what was more dishonorable or sauored of greater inconstancy then to consult of their waightiest affaires by the aduertisement of an enemy Titurius vrged vehementlie to the contrarie that it then would be too late for them to seeke a remedie when a greater power of the enemy accompanied with the Germans were assembled against them or when anie blow were giuen to anie of the next wintering campes hee tooke Caesar to be gone into Italie for otherwise the Eburones would not haue come so proudly to the camp Let them not respect the authour but the thing it selfe the Rhene was not far off and hee knewe well that the ouerthrow of Ariouistus and their former victories were greeuous to the Germans The Galles were vexed with the contumelies they had receiued being brought in subiection to the Romaine Empire and hauing lost their former reputation in deedes of armes And to conclude who would imagine that Ambiorix should enterprise such a matter without any ground or certaintie thereof but howsoeuer thinges stoode his counsell was sure and could bring no harme for if there were no worse thing intended they should but goe safelie to the next garizons or otherwise if the Galles conspired with the Germans their onelie safetie consisted in celeritie As for the counsell of Cotta and such as were of the contrarie opinion what expectation could be had thereof wherein if there were not present danger yet assuredly famine was to be feared by long siege The disputation being thus continued on either part and Cotta with the Centurions of the first orders earnestly repugning it doe as please you since you will needes haue it so saith Sabinus and that he spake with a loud voice that a great part of the soldiours might well heare him For I am not he that most feareth death among you let these be wise and if any mischance happen vnto them they shall aske account thereof at thy hands inasmuch as if thou wouldest let them they might ioine themselues within 2. daies to the next garizons with them sustaine what chance soeuer their common destinie should allot them and not perish with famine and sword like a people cast off and abandoned from their fellowes After these wordes they began to rise out of the councell but holde was laide vpon them both entreatie was made that they would not obstinatelie bring all vnto a desperate hazard the matter was all one whether they went or staied so that they all agreed vpon one thing wheras in disagreeing there was no likelihood of well doing the disputation was prolonged vntill midnight at length Cotta yeelded and the sentence of Sabinus tooke place And thereupon it was proclaimed that they should set forth by the breake of day the rest of the night was spent in watching euery soldior sought out vvhat he had to carry with him and what he should be constrained to leaue behind him of such necessaries as he had prepared for winter all things were disposed in such sort to make the soldiours beleeue that they could not stay without danger OBSERVATIONS BY the resolution in this disputation it appeareth how little a graue and wise deliberation auaileth when it is impugned with the violence of passion according to the truth of my former obseruation for the matter was well reasoned by Cotta and his positions were grounded vpon thinges certaine and well knowne to the whole councell and yet the feare of Sabinus was such that it caried the conclusion by such supposed assertions as the qualitie of his passion had ratified for true principles being grounded altogether vpon that which the enemy had suggested and not vpon any certaine knowledge of the truth neither is it often seene when a Councell disputeth vpon matters of such consequence that their deliberations are altogether cleere from such troublesome motions but that it will
and therefore let them suppose that al things consisted in the victorie The Romans were equal to the Galles both in number of men and valour and albeit they were destitute of good Captaines and of good fortune yet they reposed in their manhoode al the hope of their safety and as often as any cohort issued out they failed not to make a great slaughter of the enemy on that part THE FIRST OBSERVATION I Haue alreadie handeled the nature of an Orbe with such properties as are incident to a circle wherein I shewed the conueniencie of this figure in regarde of safe and strong imbattailing I will nowe adde this much concerning the vse thereof that as it is the best manner of imbattailing for a defensiue strength and therefore neuer vsed but in extremitie so we must be very carefull that the sodaine betaking of our selues to such a refuge doe not more dismaie the soldiours then the aduantage of that imbattailing canne benefit them For vnlesse a leader be carefull to keepe his men in courage that their hearts may bee free from despaire and amazement what profit can there arise from any disposition or bodie soeuer when the particular members shall bee sencelesse of that duty which belongeth vnto them for order is nothing but an assistance to courage giuing meanes to manage our valour with aduantage In the warre of Africke wee reade that Caesars legions being incircled about with great multitudes of enemies were forced to make an Orbe but he quicklie turned it to a better vse by aduancing the two Cornets two contrary waies and so deuided the enemy into two partes and then beate them backe to their great disaduantage THE SECOND OBSERVATION I Neede not stand vpon this order which the Galles heere tooke concerning pillage that no soldior should forsake his station or disranke himselfe in hope of spoile which is a thing that from the very infancie of warres hath often changed the fortune of the day and solde the honor of a publike victorie for priuate lucre and petty pilfering Amongst other examples let that which Guichardine reporteth of the battell of Taro suffice to warne a well directed armie as well by the good which Charles the eighth of that name King of France receiued at that time as by the losse which the Italians felt by that disorder not to seeke after pillage vntil the victory be obtained THE THIRD OBSERVATION THe insufficiency of these Commanders whereof Caesar now complaineth as the only want which these Romans had to cleere themselues of this daunger bringeth to our consideration that which former times haue made a question which is whether it were the vertue of the Roman leaders or the valor of their soldiers that inlarged their Empire to that greatnes and made their people and senate Lords of the world Polybius waighing the causes of a victorie which the Carthagineans gained of the Romans by the counsell and good direction of one Zantippus a Grecian hauing before that time receiued diuers ouerthrowes during the time of those warres in Africke concluded that it was more in the worthines of the Commanders then in any extraordinary vertue of the soldiours that the Romans atchieued so many conquests And besides the present example of Zantippus he confirmed his opinion with the proceedings of Hanniball who from the beginning of the second punicke warre still gained of the Roman Empire enlarging the territories of Carthage and streightening the iurisdiction of mightie Rome vntill it had got a leader matchable to that subtle Carthaginean and found a Scipio to confront their Hannibal To this may be added that SABINVS AND COTTA famous battell betweene the olde Romans and the last Latines wherein both parties were equally ballaunced both in number and quality of their souldiers hauing both the same Armes the same vse of their weapons and the same discipline as if it had beene in a Ciuill warre neither could fortune tell by the presence of their Armies where to bestowe her fauour or where to shewe her disdaine but that the worthinesse of the Roman leaders brought the oddes in the triall and made Rome great with the ruine of the Latines Whereby it appeareth how much it importeth the whole fortune of an Armie to haue a leader worthie of the place which he holdeth forasmuch as nothing doth make a greater difference of inequalitie betweene two equall Armies then the wisedome and experience of a graue commander or the disabilitie of an vnskilfull leader which are so powerfull in their seuerall effectes that there is greater hope of a heard of Hartes led by a Lyon then of so many Lyons conducted by a Harte CHAP. XIII Ambiorix directeth the Galles how they might best fight with aduantage and frustrate the weapons of Romaine souldiers THE which thing when Ambiorix perceiued he commanded his men to throwe their casting weapons a farre off and keepe themselues from comming neare at hand and where the Romans charged vpon them to giue waie and againe as they sawe them retire to their ensignes then to pursue them Which commandement was so diligently obserued by the Galles that as oft as any cohort sallied out of the Orbe to giue an assault the enemie gaue backe as fast as they could and in the meane time there was no help but that part must be left naked and open to the inconuenience of casting weapons and againe as they retired to their place they were circumuented as well by them that had giuen place vnto them as by such as stood next about them And if they went about to keepe their ground they could neither helpe themselues by their manhood nor standing thicke together auoide the dartes that such a multitude cast vpon them and yet notwithstanding these inconueniences besides the woundes which they had receiued they stood still at their defence and hauing so spent the greatest part of the daie for they had fought eight houres together they counted nothing dishonourable or vnworthie of themselues THE OBSERVATION I Haue spoken alreadie of the manner of the Roman fight consisting altogether in good disposition of imbattailing and in firme standing and buckling at handy-blowes as may appeare by this circumstance where Ambiorix forbiddeth his men to buckle with them but to giue backe and follow on againe as the lightnesse of their Armes gaue them oportunitie In like manner in the first booke of the Ciuill warres in the battell betweene Caesar and Affranius it appeareth that Caesar his souldiers were bound to keepe their araie not to leaue their ensignes nor without a waightie occasion to forsake their stations appointed them whereas the Affranians fought thinne and scattered here and there and if they were hard laied vnto they thought it no dishonour to retire and giue backe as they had learned of the Portugals and other Barbarous nations CHAP. XIIII The Romans are ouerthrowen THEN T. Baluentius who the yeare before had beene Primipile of that legion a valiant man and of great authoritie had both
vndertooke priuate combate made the soldiours wiser in their cariage and put an end to their sedition and ciuill discordes But that which is yet worst of all is that custome hath now made it so familiar that euery trifle seemeth sufficient to call the matter to a priuate combate a crosse looke calleth an others mans honour in question but the word lye is of as great consequence as any stabbe or villanie whatsoeuer Whereat we may well wonder howe it happeneth that wee feele our selues so much exasperated at the reproch of that vice which we so ordinarilie commit for in the custome of these times to cast vpon vs the lie is the greatest iniurie that wordes can doe vnto vs and yet there is nothing more frequent in our mouth It may be a propertie in our nature to stand chiefely in the defence of that corruption vnto which wee are most subiect I speake not this to qualifie the foulenesse of this vice for I holde a lier to bee a monster in nature one that contemneth God and feareth man as an ancient father saith but to shew the crookednesse of our disposition in disdaining to acknowledge that fault which wee so commonlie commit But I would faine learne when honor first came to be measured with words for from the beginning it was not so Caesar was often called to his face theefe and dronkard without any further matter and the liberty of inuectiues which great personages vsed one against an other as it began so it ended with words And so I thinke our lie might too for I take him that returneth the lie and so letteth it rest vntill further proofe to haue as great aduantage in the reputation of honor as the former that first gaue the disgrace CHAP. XX. Cicero sendeth to Caesar at whose comming the siege was raised and the Galles ouerthrowne AT length Cicero found meanes by a Gall to aduertise Caesar of the danger wherein he was who speedily hasted with two legions to giue him succour the Neruij vnderstanding of Caesars approach forsooke the siege and went to meet him Caesar finding the enemy to be 60000. strong and himselfe not to haue aboue 7000. men incamped himselfe in a place of aduantage and sought by counterfeiting feare to draw the enemy to come and assault his campe which he handled with that dexteritie that the Galles came vp vnto him with a full assurance of victory but Caesar sending out two sallies at two seueral gates of the campe ouerthrew the greatest part of them and dispossest the rest of their armes and so ended that war FINIS Lib. 3. Salust de bello Iugur Suitchers Caesar Matrona Sequena Two states in the duchie of Burgundie The lake of Geneua Mont ioux Caesar The omission in the Heluetian expedition Caesar Caesar Zuricke The maner of their watch Caesar Caesar Bray in the county of Retell Places of aduantage in the Roman warres Their maner of victualing Caesar The manner of their imbattailing By triplex Acies Lib. 1. de bello Ciuili Lib 3. de bello Ciuili Lib. 5. de militia Romana A phalanx described Caesar Speeches of incouragement before they gaue battell Lib. 7. de bello gallico The Roman Pile described Lib. 3. de militia Romana Lib. 5. Salust Caesar Them of Borbon and Loraine The ensignes of the Romans The diuision of their day Caesar * Langiers Periculum semper ab hostibus grauissimum sustinet diuisus inordinatus exercitus Caesar * Langres * Sauoyens Caesar The people of Auuergne Caesar The authoritie of the Roman Generals Liuie lib. 8. Lib. 3. de bello Ciuili Caesar Caesar * Triers * The country about Cōstāce in Germanie * Le doux The nature of feare Caesar * Cimbri a nation came out of Germanie and droue out the Aduatici and are now the Zelanders Teutoni Germans Whether men haue greater courage in their owne or in a strangers country Caesar Foote men intermingled amongst horsemen Lib. 6. Lib. 3. de excid Lib. 3. De bello Africano Caesar Caesar Caesar The vse of lots Caesar Caesar a The country about Beauuois b The country about Soissons c The people about Turnai d Arras e Amyens f Vermandois g Terwene h Leige 296000 in al. * La disne Caesar A legion what it was Lib. 4. De vita Romuli Liu. lib. 22. Tacitus 3. hist Velites Hastati Principes Lib. 6. Lib. 1. de mil. Rom. The vse of this diuision The distinction of their companies Manipuli Ordo Cohors Lib. 3. de re rust Alegion ranged in battell The first order 3. De bello ciuili Prima cohors The benefit of this discipline The benefit of small battailions and the disaduantage of great squadrons * Bray in the county of Retell To take a towne by surprise A Testudo described Lib. 44. Lib. 49. The necessitie of good discouerie * Now England The order which is to be obserued in discouery Slingers with their arte and vse Lib. 2. Lib. 2. natu questions Caesar Caesar * Noyon Caesar * Soyssons * Lib. 4. A vinea or vine described Agger or mount Towers or Turrets described Caesar The Bellouaci taken to mercie The Ambiani yeeld vp themselues The Neruij * Sābre neere Namours The maner of the Romaine march The two respects which Caesar had in ordering a march 1 Safety 2 Conueniēcy Agmen quadratum * Lib. 8. de bel Gall. * 60. Epistle Lib. 6. Agmenlongū Lib. 5. de bel Gallico The vse that may be made of this in our moderne wars Caesar The description of the Roman campe with all the parts belonging vnto it The Centurions made choise of the place The Praetorium Principia The tentes of the Tribunes The space betweene the tents and the rampier Contuberniū The ditch and the rampier Agger Vallum Praetoria porta Porta Decumana Portae principales Laeua Dextra The commodity of this incamping The ceremonies which they vsed in their preparation to battel Caesar And therefore I rather take it to bee something els then a word The place and office of a primipile The Target described Lib. 16. c. 40. Caesar Li. de militia Iu. Cae. Caesar either Doway or Bosleduke in Brabant Circūuallatio In the seuenth commentarie Aries or the Ram. Cales Aries simplex Aries composita To giue notice of an Alarum by fire Lib. 25. The punishments which the Romans laied vpon a conquerednation Caesar Of this supplication I wil speake in the latter ende of the 4 booke Caesar Caesar The force of nouelty turning the for tune of a battell Caesar * Sauoiens * Le Perche * Cornoaille in Bretaine * Vannes The weakenes of our iudgement in regard of the knowledge of future times The Authority of exāple Caesar * Ligeris The groundes of that reuerent opinion which is held of ambassadors Caesar Lendriguer Lysieux Nantes Aurenche Leondoul Cities in little Britaine * Triers Caesar The causes of the ebbing and flowing of the sea Spring tides The manner of their shipping Lib. 27. Their maner of sea-fights Lib. 2. de bello ciuili Caesar The force of industrie * La Perche Caesar * Rhone * Eureux The vse which the Romans made of a counterfeit feare Lib. 5. Caesar * Euocati Euocati Lib. 7. de bello Gall. Caesar Sertorius Two meanes to atchieue victorie and to ouermaster their enemies Tubalcaine by war and Naamah by the floud Not to forgo an aduantage The place where suspected forces are best bestowed in battell Caesar Lib. 3. Auertimento secundo Lib. de bello Gallico Caesar * Terouine * Cleue and Gueldres * Those of Zutpnen * Of Hassia Caesar Caesar * Geldres and Cleeue Salust Tacit. 1. Anal. Caesar * Liege * Colonia Agripina Vincitur haud gratis iugulo qui prouocat hostem Liu. lib. 9. Liu. lib. 7. Caesar Caesar Caesar Lib. de Machi Caesar Caesar Caesar Teroanne or Monstrell Caesar Answere to the first obiection The answere to the second reason The answere to the third reason Of the name Imperator 3. Annal. Phil. 14. Lib. 2. epist. 9. Caesar Caesar Caesar Li. 15. fami Cicero Caesar Caesar Caesar Caesar Caesar Lib. 4. Pli. lib. 10. Caesar Caesar * Either Cambraz Amiens or S. Quintin Caesar Caesar Lib. 9. Anal. 6. Caesar Lib. 20 Caesar
two cornets with the best of his soldiours and placed his weakest in the middest that the Romaines following the retreit of the battell which was easily repeld might be inclosed on each side with the two cornets CHAP. XX. The battell betweene Caesar and Ariouistus THE signe of battel was no sooner giuen but the Romaines charged vpō the enemy so fiercely as though they ment to giue themselues the lye for seeming to acknowledge that they once conceiued any feare of the Germaines and the enemie on the other side returned so speedie a counterbuffe that the legions had no time to cast their Piles and therefore they speedilie betooke them to their swordes But the Germaines putting themselues according to their manner into a Phalanx receiued the force of their swords without any daunger or losse at all In the battell there were many legionarie souldiers that were seene to keepe vpon the phalanx to pull vp with their hands the targets that couered it and so to wound kil those that were vnderneath and by that means they brake dispersed it and so the left cornet of the enemy was ouerthrowne put to flight Now while the right cornet was thus busied the left cornet was ouercharged with an vnequall multitude of the Germans which young Crassus the Prefect of the horsemen no sooner perceiued hauing more scope and libertie then any of the commanders that were in the battell he sent tertiam Aciem the third battell to rescue and aide their fellowes that were in danger by meanes whereof the fight was renewed and all the enemie was put to flight and neuer looked backe vntill they came to the Rhene which was about fiue miles from the place where they fought where some few of them saued themselues by swimming others found a fewe boates and so escaped Ariouistus lighting vpon a little barke tied to the shore with much a doe recouered the other side of the Rhene and so saued himselfe the rest were all slaine by the horsemen As Caesar pursued the German horsemen it was his chance to light vpon Valerius Procillus as he was drawne vp and downe by his keepers bound with three chaines which accident was as gratefull to him as the victorie it selfe being so fortunate to recouer his familiar friend whom the barbarous enemie contrarie to the law of nations had cast into prison in his own presence had three seuerall times cast lots vpon his life whether he should be then burned or repriued vnto another time and still he was saued by the fortune of the lots and Marcus Titius was found in like manner and brought vnto him The fame of this battell being caried beyond the Rhene the Sueui that were come to the bankes of Rhene returned home againe whom the inhabitants belonging to the saide riuer pursued and slew a great number of them Caesar hauing thus ended two great warres in one sommer he brought his Armie into their wintering campes somewhat sooner then the time of the yeare required THE FIRST OBSERVATION THis phalanx here mentioned can hardly be proued to be the right Macedonian Phalanx but we are rather to vnderstand it to be so tearmed by reason of the close and compact imbattailing rather then in any other respect and it resembled much a testudo as I said of the Heluetian phalanx Secondly I obserue that Caesar kept the olde rule concerning their discipline in fight for although the name of Triaries be not mentioned in his historie yet he omitted not the substance which was to haue primam secundam tertiam Aciem and that prima Acies should begin the battell and the second should come fresh and assist them or peraduenture if the enemie were many and strong the first and second battell were ioyned together and so charged vpon the enemie with greater furie and violence but at all aduentures the third battell was euer in subsidio as they tearmed it to succour any part that should be ouercharged which was a thing of much consequence and of great wisedome For if we either respect the incouragement of the souldiers or the casualtie of fortune what could be more added to their discipline in this behalfe then to haue a second a third succour to giue strength to the fainting weaknes of their men and to repaire the disaduantage which any accident should cast vpon them or if their valour were equally balanced and victorie stood doubtfull which of the two parties shee should honour these alwaies stept in being fresh against wearie and ouer laboured spirits and so drew victorie in despite of casualtie vnto themselues THE SECOND OBSERVATION COncerning vse of lots it shall not be amisse to looke into the nature of them being in former times so generall that there was no nation ciuill or barbarous but were directed in their greatest affaires by the sentence of lots As we may not refuse for an vndoubted truth that which Salomon saith the 16 of Prouerbs The lots are cast into the lap but the direction thereof belongeth to the Lord Through the knowledge whereof Iosua was directed to take Achan the Mariners Ionas and the Apostles to consecrate Matthias So whether the heathen and barbarous people whose blindnes in the way of truth could direct them no further then to sencelesse superstition and put them in minde of a dutie which they owed but could not tell them what it was nor how to be performed whether these I say were perswaded that there was any supernaturall power in their lotteries which directed the action to the decree of destenie and as the Gods would haue it it remaineth doubtfull Aristotle the wisest of the heathen concerning things naturall nameth that euent casuall or proceeding from fortune of which the reason of man could assigne no cause or as he saith which hath no cause So that whatsoeuer happened in any action besides the intent of the agent and workeman was tearmed an effect of fortune or chance of habnab For all other effects which depended vpon a certaine and definite cause were necessarily produced and therefore could not be casuall or subiect to the inconstancie of chance And because manie and sundrie such chances daily happened which like terrae filij had no father and could not be warranted as lawfull children either to nature or to reason by the appearance of an efficient cause they reduced them all to the power of fortune as the principall efficient and soueraigne Motor of all such vnexpected euents that is they made nothing else the gouernesse and directresse of many things which afterward grew to such credit amongst men that it surpassed in dignity all naturall causes and was deified with celestiall honour as the Poet saith Nos te facimus fortuna deam caeloque locamus By the prouidence of this blinde goddesse which held her deity by the tenure of mens ignorance were all casuall actions directed and especially lots the euent whereof depended onely vpon her pleasure and decree neither could