GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

THE GALLIC WAR

tr. Carolyn Hammond (Oxford 1996)

Book 6

(21) The customs of the Germans are very different from those of the Gauls. They have no druids to preside over religious matters, nor do they concern themselves with sacrifices. The only things which they count as gods are things they can see and which clearly benefit them, for example, the Sun, Vulcan, and the Moon. They have not even heard rumours of any others. They spend their whole life in hunting and military activity, and from childhood they are eager for hard work and endurance. Those who have remained chaste the longest win the highest praise among their own people: some believe that it makes them taller, others that it gives them greater strength and determination. They consider it a matter for shame to have sexual intercourse with a woman before reaching the age of 20--nor does the matter allow for concealment, for both sexes mingle together when they wash themselves in the rivers, and also they wear hides and skins which offer little protection, leaving most of the body naked.

(22) They do not practise agriculture, and the majority of their food consists of milk, cheese, and meat. No one possesses a fixed area of land or estates of his own: rather, every year the magistrates and leading citizens assign each family and clan who have joined forces a tract of land of an appropriate size and location. Then after a year they oblige these men to move on. They cite many reasons for this practice: to prevent people either being ensnared by continuous habit and adopting agriculture in place of their enthusiasm for war; or trying to obtain large estates, the strong driving the weak out of their properties; or building too carefully with the intention of avoiding extreme cold and heat; or to stop the desire for money springing up, for from this arise factions and dissent; or finally, to keep the ordinary people content, since each man can see that his own possessions are equal to those of the men in power.

(23) The highest praise among the German states goes to those who ravage their borders and so maintain the widest unpopulated area around themselves. They think it a true mark of bravery to drive neighbouring peoples from their land and force them to make way, so no one dares to dwell nearby. At the same time they think that this will make them safer by removing the threat of unexpected invasion. In warfare, either when a state wards off attack or when it goes on the offensive, magistrates are chosen to head the campaign and to have the power of life and death. They have no overall magistrates in peacetime, but the leaders of individual districts and settlements dispense justice among their own people and settle disputes. There is no discredit attached to acts of robbery which take place outside the borders of each state: in fact, they claim that these take place to train their young en and reduce their laziness. And besides, when one of the leaders states at an assembly that he will take command, and that those who wish to support him must declare themselves, then the men who approve him and his cause rise up, pledge their assistance, and win praise from the people. Any who pledge assistance but then do not support him are considered deserters and traitors, and their word is distrusted in every respect from then on. They consider it wrong to violate the obligations of hospitality: they protect their guests from harm, whatever the reason for their presence among them, and treat them as sacrosanct. They open all their houses to such guests and share their food with them.

(24) There was a time when the Gauls were more courageous than the Germans and took offensive military action against. them. Because of their high population destiny and lack of land, they sent colonies across the Rhine. Thus the Volcae Tectosages seized the most fertile areas of Germany, around the Hercynian forest, and settled there. I understand that this forest was known by report to Eratosthenes and certain of the Greeks, but they called it the Orcynian forest. This people still dwells in the same territory to this day, ahas a fine reputation for justice and military glory. These days they endure the same state of poverty, privation, and hardship as the Germans, and have the same kind of food and clothing. The Gauls, on the other hand, live close to the Province and are familiar with imported goods, and this entails an abundant supply of items both luxurious and functional. The Gauls gradually grew accustomed to being defeated, and were beaten in many battles, so now they do not reckon themselves to be even equal in bravery to the Germans.

(25) It takes nine days' march for someone to cross the Hercynian forest (which was mentioned above) travelling light. Its size cannot be described more accurately, for the Germans have no means of measuring units of distance. It begins in the lands of the Helvetii, Nemetes, and Raurici, runs parallel to the straight course of the River Danube, and reaches to the lands of the Daci and Anartes. At this point it swings to the left in regions away from the river, and because of its great size extends to the borders of many peoples. No one in this part of Germany can claim to have reached its furthest edge--despite journeying for sixty days--or to have heard where it begins . . .

(29) Once Caesar learned from the Ubian scouts that the Suebi had retreated to the forest, he became anxious about the corn supply, because (as we explained above) the Germans hardly practise agriculture. So he decided not to proceed further. None the less, to prevent the barbarians losing all fear of his return, and to hold up their reinforcements, he withdrew his army and broke up a 200-foot length of the bridge at its farthest end, which touched the bank in the territory of the Ubii. At the Gallic end of the bridge he set a four-storey tower and stationed a garrison of twelve cohorts to guard the bridge; he fortified the post with strong defences. He put the young Gaius Vocatius Tullus in charge of the station and garrison. When the corn began to ripen Caesar set off for the campaign against Ambiorix through the Ardennes forest. This forest is the largest in Gaul and stretches from the banks of the Rhine and the land of the Treveri to the Nervii: t is more than 460 miles across. Caesar sent Lucius Minucius Basilus ahead with all the cavalry, to see if he could gain any advantage by marching swiftly and seizing an opportune moment. He told Basilus to forbid the lighting of fires in camp, so as to prevent any early warning of his approach, and said that he would follow up at once.

(30) Basilus did as he was ordered. Contrary to everyone's expectation the march was quickly completed and he caught many of the people off guard and still in the fields. Acting on their information he made straight for Ambiorix himself at the spot where he was said to be with a few of his cavalry. Fortune is indeed powerful in all things, and especially in military affairs: for it was by purest chance that he came upon Ambiorix while he was off guard and unprepared. The first people knew of Basilus' arrival was when they saw it--they heard no report or tidings of it. It was equally the operation of fortune that after all his military equipment had been seized, and his horses and carriages captured, Ambiorix himself escaped death. This happened because the building was surrounded by trees (as are most Gallic dwellings--to avoid the heat they usually look for sites close to woods and rivers), and in such a confined space his friends and comrades held off the assault of our cavalry for a time. During the fight one of his men set him on a horse, and the woods closed over the fugitive. In this way fortune played a part in bringing Ambiorix into danger, and in allowing him to escape.

(31) It is a moot point whether it was deliberate that Ambiorix did not assemble his forces (because he decided not to give battle) or whether he was barred and prevented from doing so by lack of time and the unexpected arrival of our cavalry, and believed that the rest of our army was following behind. It is certain, however, that he sent messengers throughout the land, with orders that each man should look out for himself. Some of his men escaped into the Ardennes forest, others into the long stretches of marshland. Those who were close to the Ocean hid themselves in areas which the tides tend to turn into islands. Many left their own borders and entrusted themselves and their property to total strangers. Catuvolcus, who was king over half the Eburones, and who had joined in this strategy with Ambiorix, was now an old man. He could not endure the effort of either war or exile, and denounced Ambiorix with curses for initiating the plot. Then he killed himself by eating from the yew, a tree which is very widespread in Gaul and Germany.

Cicero on Caesar

(Brutus 261-262, 46 BC)

(C. Rusius is speaking) Caesar moreover, making use of reason, corrects corrupt and faulty habits with simple and accurate usage. Thus when he adds to his skilful choice of Latin words (this is indispensable for every freeborn Roman citizen, even if you are not an orator) rhetorical ornaments, then he seems--as it were--to be setting well-painted pictures to hang in a good light. Although he has this particular praise, in general I see no one for whom he must make way. He possesses a certain claity in his manner of speaking which has nothing to do with preparation or practice: in voice, gesture and appearance his manner is, so to speak, grand and noble. Then Brutus: Indeed, I approve very highly of his speeches. And I have read a number of them, and also his Commentaries, which he wrote himself concerning his achievements. Indeed they are very praiseworthy, I say; for they are unadorned, straightforward and charming, with all adornment of speech removed as it were a garment. But while he wished others to have ready materials from which those who wished to might write history, he perhaps did a favor for those inept persons who wanted to "curl" those achievements with their own "curling-tongs": indeed, he scared sane men away from writing; for there is nothing sweeter in history than pure and clear brevity.