Una erat magno usui res praeparata a nostris,--falces praeacutae insertae affixaeque longuriis non absimili forma muralium falcium. His c.u.m funes qui antemnas ad malos destinabant comprehensi adductique essent, navigio remis incitato praerumpebantur. {5} Quibus abscisis antemnae necessario concidebant; ut, c.u.m omnis Gallicis spes in velis armamentisque consisteret, his ereptis omnis usus navium uno tempore eriperetur. Reliquum erat certamen positum in virtute, qua nostri milites facile {10} superabant atque eo magis, quod in conspectu Caesaris atque omnis exercitus res gerebatur, ut nullum paulo fortius factum latere posset; omnes enim colles ac loca superiora, unde erat propinquus despectus in mare, ab exercitu tenebantur. Disiectis, ut diximus, {15} antemnis, c.u.m singulas binae ac ternae naves circ.u.msteterant, milites summa vi transcendere in hostium naves contendebant. Quod postquam barbari fieri animadverterunt, expugnatis compluribus navibus, c.u.m ei rei nullum reperiretur auxilium, fuga {20} salutem petere contenderunt. Ac iam conversis in eam partem navibus quo ventus ferebat, tanta subito malacia ac tranquillitas exst.i.tit ut se ex loco movere non possent. Quae quidem res ad negotium conficiendum maxime fuit opportuna; nam singulas {25} nostri consectati expugnaverunt, ut perpaucae ex omni numero noctis interventu ad terram pervenerint, c.u.m ab hora fere quarta usque ad solis occasum pugnaretur.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ iii. 14, 15.
+Context.+ In the winter of 57-6 Roman officers, who came to levy requisitions of grain, were detained by the Veneti. Caesar"s attack on their coast-towns failed to reduce them to submission: so he determined to wait for his fleet. This he entrusted to Decimus Brutus, an able and devoted officer. At first the Roman galleys were powerless against the high-decked strong sailing-vessels of the Veneti, but +the use of the murales falces, and the opportune calm, enabled Brutus to annihilate their fleet+.
[Linenotes: 11-12. +quod ... gerebatur.+ Napoleon (_Caesar_, vol. ii. p. 6) thinks that Caesar was encamped on the heights of Saint Gildas overlooking Quiberon Bay.
23. +malacia+ = _a calm_, but a?a??a = _softness_, L. _mollities_.]
+Result of the Victory+--the surrender of the Veneti and of all Brittany. +The earliest historical naval battle fought on the Atlantic Ocean.+--M.
B39
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (3)
_Caesar"s Bridge across the Rhine, 55 B.C._
Rationem pontis hanc inst.i.tuit. Tigna bina sesquipedalia paulum ab imo praeacuta, dimensa ad alt.i.tudinem fluminis, intervallo pedum duorum inter se iungebat. Haec c.u.m machinationibus immissa in flumen defixerat fistucisque adegerat--non sublicae {5} modo derecte ad perpendiculum, sed p.r.o.ne ac fastigate, ut secundum naturam fluminis proc.u.mberent--eis item contraria duo ad eundem modum iuncta intervallo pedum quadragenum ab inferiore parte contra vim atque impetum fluminis conversa statuebat.
{10} Haec utraque insuper bipedalibus trabibus immissis, quantum eorum tignorum iunctura distabat, binis utrimque fibulis ab extrema parte distinebantur; quibus disclusis atque in contrariam partem revinctis, tanta erat operis firmitudo atque {15} ea rerum natura ut, quo maior vis aquae se incitavisset, hoc artius illigata tenerentur. Haec derecta materia iniecta contexebantur ac longuriis cratibusque consternebantur; ac nihilo setius sublicae et ad inferiorem partem fluminis oblique agebantur, quae {20} pro ariete subiectae et c.u.m omni opere coniunctae vim fluminis exciperent; et aliae item supra pontem mediocri spatio, ut, si arborum trunci sive naves deiciendi operis essent a barbaris immissae, his defensoribus earum rerum vis minueretur, neu ponti {25} nocerent.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ iv. 17.
+Context.+ The year 55 B.C. appears to have been marked by a general movement in the migration of the German tribes. An advance, consisting of two tribes, the Usipetes and Tenctri, crowded forward by the more powerful Suevi, crossed the Lower Rhine into N. Gaul. Caesar drove them back across the Rhine, +bridged the river+, followed them up into their own territories, and fully established the supremacy of the Roman arms.
--Allen and Greenough.
[Linenotes: 5. +fistucisque adegerat+ = _and had driven them home_ (+ad+-) _with rammers_. For Plan of Bridge see Allen"s _Caesar_, p. 103.
11-14. +Haec ... distinebantur+ = _these two sets were held apart by two-feet timbers laid on above, equal_ (in thickness) _to the interval left by the fastening of the piles_ (+quantum ...
distabat+), _with a pair of ties_ (+fibulis+) _at each end_.
--A. & G.
17-18. +Haec ... contexebantur+ = _these_ (i.e. the framework of timber) _were covered over by boards_ (+materia+) _laid lengthwise_.
+longuriis+ = _with long poles_.]
+The Bridge+ (prob. near Bonn). "With extraordinary speed (in ten days) the bridge was completed. It was a triumph of engineering and industry."
--W. F.
B40
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (4)
_Ca.s.sivellaunus. Second Invasion of Britain, 54 B.C._
Ca.s.sivellaunus, omni deposita spe contentionis, dimissis amplioribus copiis, milibus circiter quattuor essedariorum relictis itinera nostra servabat: paulumque ex via excedebat locisque impeditis ac silvestribus sese occultabat, atque eis regionibus quibus {5} nos iter facturos cognoverat pecora atque homines ex agris in silvas compellebat; et c.u.m equitatus noster liberius praedandi vastandique causa se in agros eiecerat, omnibus viis semitisque essedarios ex silvis emittebat; et magno c.u.m periculo nostrorum {10} equitum c.u.m eis confligebat atque hoc metu latius vagari prohibebat. Relinquebatur ut neque longius ab agmine legionum discedi Caesar pateretur, et tantum in agris vastandis incendiisque faciendis hostibus noceretur quantum in labore atque itinere {15} legionarii milites efficere poterant. . . . Ca.s.sivellaunus hoc proelio nuntiato, tot detrimentis acceptis, vastatis finibus, maxime etiam permotus defectione civitatum, legatos per Atrebatem Commium de deditione ad Caesarem mitt.i.t. {20}
CAESAR, _de B. G._ v. 19, 22.
+Context.+ The First Invasion of Britain (55 B.C.) was only a visit of exploration; but in the Second Invasion (54 B.C.) Caesar aimed at a partial conquest. He had been hearing of Britain ever since he came to Gaul, and knew it to be a refuge for his Celtic enemies and a secret source of their strength. He set sail from the Portus Ittius (mod.
Wissant, some twelve miles W. of Calais) and after drifting some way to the N.E., made his way to his former landing-place, probably near Romney. Some severe fighting followed, till at length Caesar crossed the Thames (apparently between Kingston and Brentford) and +entered the country of Ca.s.sivellaunus, who gave Caesar much trouble by his guerilla tactics. Deserted by his allies, Ca.s.sivellaunus offered his submission, which Caesar gladly accepted.+
[Linenotes: 1. +Contentionis+, i.e. of a general engagement with Caesar.
12. +Relinquebatur ut+ = _the consequence was that_ ...
17. +hoc proelio+, i.e. the storming by Caesar of his fortified camp, perh. St. Albans.
18-19. +defectione civitatum+, espec. of the Trin.o.bantes (chief place _Camulodunum_, later _Colonia castrum_ = _Colchester_).
19. +Commium+, Caesar had made him King of the Atrebates (N.W.
Gaul).]
+Caesar In Britain.+ "What he tells us of the geography and inhabitants of the Island comprises almost all we know, except from coins, down to the time of its final conquest by Clodius 51 A.D." --W. F.
B41
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (5)
_The Gallic uprising. Fabian tactics of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C._
Vercingetorix tot continuis incommodis acceptis suos ad concilium convocat. Docet "longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum atque antea gestum sit; omnibus modis huic rei studendum ut pabulatione et commeatu Romani prohibeantur: id esse {5} facile, quod equitatu ipsi abundent et quod anni tempore subleventur; pabulum secari non posse; necessario dispersos hostes ex aedificiis petere; hos omnes cotidie ab equitibus deleri posse. Praeterea, salutis causa rei familiaris commoda neglegenda; {10} vicos atque aedificia incendi oportere hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur. Harum ipsis rerum copiam suppetere, quod quorum in finibus bellum geratur eorum opibus subleventur: Romanos aut inopiam non laturos aut {15} magno c.u.m periculo longius a castris processuros; neque interesse ipsosne interficiant an impedimentis exuant, quibus amissis bellum geri non possit. Praeterea, oppida incendi oportere quae non munitione et loci natura ab omni sint periculo tuta; ne {20} suis sint ad detrectandam militiam receptacula, neu Romanis proposita ad copiam commeatus praedamque tollendam. Haec si gravia aut acerba videantur, multo illa gravius aestimari debere, liberos, coniuges in servitutem abstrahi, ipsos interfici; {25} quae sit necesse accidere victis."
CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 14.
+Context.+ On his return from Britain, Caesar found the N. Gauls in open revolt. The division of Sabinus (at Aduatuca, near Liege) was annihilated by Ambiorix, and Caesar was only just in time to relieve Q.
Cicero at Charleroi. To prevent all further support to the Gauls from the Germans across the Rhine, Caesar again made a military demonstration across the river, and put an end to all the hopes of the Germans of breaking through this boundary. In the winter of 53-2 B.C., during his absence in Cisalpine Gaul, +a general uprising of the S. and Central Gauls took place under the Arvernian Vercingetorix, the hero of the whole Gallic race+.
[Linenotes: 6-7. +anni tempore+, i.e. scarcely yet spring, when no crops could be got off the land.
11-12. +hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo+ = _so far in every direction as_.
19. +oppida incendi:+ only Avaric.u.m (Bourges) was to be spared.
22. +proposita+ = _offered_ to be captured by the Romans.]
+The tactics of Vercingetorix.+ "He adopted a system of warfare similar to that by which Ca.s.sivellaunus had saved the Celts of Britain." --M.
B42
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (6)
_Siege of Gergovia. Petronius dies to save his men, 52 B.C._
c.u.m acerrime comminus pugnaretur, hostes loco et numero, nostri virtute confiderent, subito sunt Aedui visi ab latere nostris aperto, quos Caesar ab dextra parte alio ascensu ma.n.u.s distinendae causa miserat. Hi similitudine armorum vehementer {5} nostros perterruerunt. Eodem tempore L. Fabius centurio quique una murum ascenderant circ.u.mventi atque interfecti de muro praecipitabantur. M. Petronius, eiusdem legionis centurio, c.u.m portas excidere conatus esset, a mult.i.tudine oppressus ac sibi desperans, {10} multis iam volneribus acceptis, manipularibus suis qui illum secuti erant, "Quoniam," inquit, "me una vobisc.u.m servare non possum, vestrae quidem certe vitae prospiciam, quos cupiditate gloriae adductus in periculum deduxi. Vos data facultate vobis consulite." {15} Simul in niedios hostes irrupit, duobusque interfectis reliquos a porta paulum submovit. Conantibus auxiliari suis, "Frustra," inquit, "meae vitae subvenire conamini, quem iam sanguis viresque deficiunt. Proinde abite dum est facultas vosque ad {20} legionem recipite." Ita pugnans post paulum concidit ac suis saluti fuit.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 50.
+Context.+ With a half-starved army Caesar stormed Avaric.u.m after a most obstinate defence, and then laid siege to the Arvernian capital of Gergovia, in hope of destroying Vercingetorix and ending the war. As the town was too strong to be taken by storm, he resolved to try a blockade, but he failed, as at Dyrrachium in 49 B.C., from want of sufficient troops.
+A last desperate attack on the town was repulsed+, and Caesar, defeated for the first time, was forced to raise the siege.
[Linenotes: 3. +ab latere nostris aperto:+ as a soldier carries his shield on the left arm, leaving the sword hand free, this (right) side is called +latus apertum+.--Compton.
4. +ma.n.u.s distinendae causa+ = _for the purpose of diverting_ (+distinendae+, lit. _hold off_) _the enemy"s force_.
6. +perterruerunt+: this was all the more natural, as the Aeduan contingent was only awaiting the result of the blockade, to openly join the insurgents.
9. +excidere+ = _to cut away_, _hew down_, i.e. from within.]