A Complete Good Works Translation from De Bello Gallico 1.1-29
Caesar opens the Gallic War with a political and military source-unit on Gaul's peoples, the Helvetian migration, Orgetorix and Dumnorix, Aeduan politics, Divico's embassy, the battle with the Helvetii, and the forced return of the surviving peoples. The passage is Caesar's Roman war narrative, but it is also one of the main classical witnesses for Gaulish geography, faction, migration, and intertribal politics.
Translation
Section 1
All Gaul is divided into three parts: one of these the Belgae inhabit, another the Aquitani, and the third those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls. All these differ from one another in language, customs, and laws. The river Garonne divides the Gauls from the Aquitani, and the Marne and Seine divide them from the Belgae. Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are farthest from the culture and civilization of the Province; merchants come to them least often and import the things that tend to soften spirits; and they are nearest to the Germans who live across the Rhine, with whom they continually wage war. For this reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in courage: almost every day they contend with the Germans in battles, either keeping them out of their own borders or themselves making war in German territory. One part of these lands, which has been said to be held by the Gauls, begins at the river Rhone; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the Ocean, and the borders of the Belgae, and also touches the river Rhine on the side of the Sequani and Helvetii; it slopes toward the north. The Belgae begin from the farthest borders of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the Rhine, and look toward the north and the rising sun. Aquitania extends from the Garonne to the Pyrenees mountains and to that part of the Ocean that lies toward Spain; it looks between the setting sun and the north.
Section 2
Among the Helvetii, Orgetorix was by far the noblest and richest man. In the consulship of Marcus Messala and Marcus Piso, led by desire for kingship, he made a conspiracy of the nobility and persuaded the state to go out from its territories with all its forces. Since they surpassed everyone in courage, he said, it would be very easy to win control of all Gaul. He persuaded them of this more easily because the Helvetii are confined on every side by the nature of the place: on one side by the Rhine, very broad and very deep, which divides Helvetian land from the Germans; on another side by the very high Jura mountain, which lies between the Sequani and the Helvetii; on the third side by Lake Geneva and the river Rhone, which divides our Province from the Helvetii. By these things it happened that they wandered less widely and could less easily make war on their neighbors; for people eager for war, this caused great pain. Considering the multitude of people, and their reputation for war and bravery, they thought they had narrow borders, although these extended two hundred forty miles in length and one hundred eighty in breadth.
Section 3
Moved by these things and stirred by Orgetorix's authority, they decided to prepare what belonged to setting out: to buy up as great a number as possible of pack animals and wagons, to make as great sowings as possible so that a supply of grain would be available on the journey, and to confirm peace and friendship with the neighboring states. They judged that two years would be enough for completing these things; by law they fixed the departure for the third year. Orgetorix was chosen to complete these matters. He took on an embassy to the states. On that journey he persuaded Casticus, a Sequanian, son of Catamantaloedes, whose father had held kingship among the Sequani for many years and had been called friend by the senate of the Roman people, to seize in his own state the kingship that his father had held before. He also persuaded the Aeduan Dumnorix, brother of Diviciacus, who at that time held the leading place in the state and was especially acceptable to the common people, to attempt the same thing, and he gave him his daughter in marriage. He proved to them that it was very easy to carry out their attempts, because he himself would obtain command of his own state. There was no doubt, he said, that the Helvetii were the strongest people in all Gaul; with his own forces and his own army he would secure kingdoms for them. Led by this speech, they gave one another faith and oath, and hoped, after seizing kingship, to gain control of all Gaul through the three most powerful and strongest peoples.
Section 4
This affair was reported to the Helvetii by an informer. According to their customs, they forced Orgetorix to plead his case in chains. If condemned, the penalty that had to follow was to be burned by fire. On the appointed day for pleading his case, Orgetorix gathered from every side all his household to the court, about ten thousand people, and brought together in the same place all his clients and debtors, of whom he had a great number. Through them he rescued himself from pleading the case. When the state, roused by this affair, tried to carry out its right by arms, and the magistrates were gathering a multitude of people from the fields, Orgetorix died. Suspicion is not lacking, as the Helvetii think, that he took his own life.
Section 5
After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless tried to do what they had decided: to go out from their territories. When they thought they were now ready for this thing, they burned all their towns, about twelve in number, their villages, about four hundred, and the remaining private buildings. They burned all the grain except what they were going to carry with them, so that, after hope of returning home had been taken away, they would be readier to undergo every danger. They ordered each person to carry from home ground meal for three months. They persuaded their neighbors, the Rauraci, Tulingi, and Latobrigi, to use the same plan, burn their towns and villages, and set out together with them; and they received and joined to themselves as allies the Boii, who had lived across the Rhine, had crossed into the Norican land, and were attacking Noreia.
Section 6
There were altogether two routes by which they could go out from home. One went through the Sequani, narrow and difficult, between Mount Jura and the river Rhone, scarcely where single wagons could be led, while a very high mountain hung over it, so that a very few people could easily block it. The other went through our Province, much easier and more open, because the Rhone flows between the territories of the Helvetii and of the Allobroges, who had lately been pacified, and in some places that river is crossed by a ford. The farthest town of the Allobroges, and the nearest to the borders of the Helvetii, is Geneva. From that town a bridge reaches to the Helvetii. They thought they would either persuade the Allobroges, because they did not yet seem well disposed toward the Roman people, or compel them by force to allow them to go through their lands. When everything had been prepared for departure, they named the day on which all should assemble on the bank of the Rhone. That day was the fifth before the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Lucius Piso and Aulus Gabinius.
Section 7
When this was reported to Caesar, that they were trying to make their route through our Province, he hastened to set out from Rome, marched by the greatest journeys he could into Further Gaul, and arrived at Geneva. He ordered from the whole Province as great a number of soldiers as possible, for there was in all Further Gaul only one legion, and he ordered the bridge at Geneva to be cut down. When the Helvetii were informed of his arrival, they sent to him as envoys the noblest men of the state, among whom Nammeius and Verucloetius held the leading place. They said that they intended to make their route through the Province without any wrongdoing, because they had no other route, and asked that they be allowed to do this by his consent. Caesar, because he remembered that the consul Lucius Cassius had been killed, and his army routed by the Helvetii and sent under the yoke, did not think this should be granted. Nor did he think that people of hostile spirit, if given the opportunity of traveling through the Province, would restrain themselves from injury and wrongdoing. Still, so that time might pass until the soldiers he had ordered should assemble, he answered the envoys that he would take a day for deliberating. If they wanted anything, they should return on the Ides of April.
Section 8
Meanwhile, with the legion he had with him and the soldiers who had assembled from the Province, he drew a wall nineteen miles long and sixteen feet high, with a ditch, from Lake Geneva, which flows into the river Rhone, to Mount Jura, which divides the borders of the Sequani from the Helvetii. When this work was finished, he placed guards and fortified redoubts, so that he could more easily stop them if they tried to cross against his will. When the day he had appointed with the envoys came and the envoys returned to him, he said that, according to the custom and precedent of the Roman people, he could not give anyone a route through the Province; and if they tried to use force, he showed that he would stop them. The Helvetii, cast down from this hope, tried sometimes by day, more often by night, with ships joined together and many rafts made, and others at the fords of the Rhone where the river was least deep, to see whether they could break through. Driven back by the fortification of the work, by the running together of the soldiers, and by weapons, they gave up this attempt.
Section 9
There remained one route, through the Sequani, by which they could not go because of the narrow pass unless the Sequani agreed. Since they could not persuade them by themselves, they sent envoys to Dumnorix the Aeduan, so that through him as intercessor they might obtain this from the Sequani. Dumnorix had very great influence among the Sequani by favor and generosity, and he was a friend to the Helvetii because he had married Orgetorix's daughter from that state. Led by desire for kingship, he was eager for revolution and wanted as many states as possible bound to him by his favor. Therefore he took up the matter and obtained from the Sequani that they allow the Helvetii to go through their territories. He arranged that hostages be given between them: the Sequani, that they would not stop the Helvetii on the route; the Helvetii, that they would pass without wrongdoing and injury.
Section 10
It was reported to Caesar that the Helvetii intended to make their route through the territories of the Sequani and Aedui into the lands of the Santones, who are not far from the borders of the Tolosates, a state in the Province. If this happened, he understood that it would be with great danger to the Province to have warlike men, enemies of the Roman people, as neighbors in open and very grain-bearing places. For these reasons he put his lieutenant Titus Labienus in charge of the fortification he had made. He himself hurried by great marches into Italy, enrolled two legions there, brought out from winter quarters the three that were wintering around Aquileia, and with these five legions strove to go by the nearest route through the Alps into Further Gaul. There the Ceutrones, Graioceli, and Caturiges, having occupied the higher places, tried to block the army's march. After several battles in which these peoples were beaten back, he came from Ocelum, the farthest town of the Nearer Province, into the territory of the Vocontii of the Further Province on the seventh day. From there he led the army into the lands of the Allobroges, and from the Allobroges into the Segusiavi. These are the first people outside the Province beyond the Rhone.
Section 11
The Helvetii had already led their forces through the narrow passes and territories of the Sequani, had come into the lands of the Aedui, and were ravaging their fields. The Aedui, since they could not defend themselves and their possessions from them, sent envoys to Caesar to ask for help. They said that they had deserved so well of the Roman people at all times that, almost in the sight of our army, their fields should not have been laid waste, their children carried away into slavery, and their towns stormed. At the same time the Ambarri, close friends and kinsmen of the Aedui, informed Caesar that, with their fields stripped, they could not easily keep the enemy's force away from their towns. Likewise the Allobroges, who had villages and possessions across the Rhone, fled to Caesar and showed that nothing was left to them except the bare soil of the fields. Moved by these things, Caesar decided that he must not wait until, after all the fortunes of the allies had been consumed, the Helvetii should arrive among the Santones.
Section 12
There is a river, the Saone, which flows through the territories of the Aedui and Sequani into the Rhone, with incredible smoothness, so that the eyes cannot judge in which direction it flows. The Helvetii were crossing it by rafts and joined boats. When Caesar was informed by scouts that the Helvetii had already led three parts of their forces across that river, but that the fourth part remained on this side of the Saone, he set out from camp with three legions in the third watch and came to the part that had not yet crossed the river. Attacking them while they were hindered and unsuspecting, he cut down a great part of them. The rest committed themselves to flight and hid in the nearest woods. That canton was called the Tigurine, for the whole Helvetian state is divided into four cantons. This one canton, when it had gone out from home in the memory of our fathers, had killed the consul Lucius Cassius and sent his army under the yoke. So, whether by chance or by the plan of the immortal gods, that part of the Helvetian state which had brought a notable disaster upon the Roman people was the first to pay the penalty. In this matter Caesar avenged not only public injuries but also private ones, because the Tigurini had killed the grandfather of his father-in-law Lucius Piso, the lieutenant Lucius Piso, in the same battle in which they had killed Cassius.
Section 13
After this battle had been fought, so that he could follow the remaining forces of the Helvetii, Caesar saw to making a bridge over the Saone and thus led the army across. The Helvetii, disturbed by his sudden arrival, understood that he had done in one day what they themselves had completed with great difficulty in twenty days, namely crossing the river; they sent envoys to him. The leader of this embassy was Divico, who had been commander of the Helvetii in the Cassian war. He dealt with Caesar in this way: if the Roman people made peace with the Helvetii, the Helvetii would go and remain in that part where Caesar established them and wished them to be. But if he persisted in pursuing them by war, he should remember both the old misfortune of the Roman people and the ancient courage of the Helvetii. Because he had attacked one canton unexpectedly, when those who had crossed the river could not bring help to their own people, he should not for that reason either attribute too much to his own courage or despise them. They had learned from their fathers and ancestors to contend by courage rather than rely on trickery or ambushes. Therefore he should not bring it about that the place where they had stood should take its name from a disaster of the Roman people and the destruction of an army, or hand down the memory of it.
Section 14
Caesar answered them in this way. He said that less hesitation was given to him because he remembered the things the Helvetian envoys had mentioned, and he bore them more heavily because they had happened by less deserving fault of the Roman people. If the Roman people had been conscious of any injury on its own part, it would not have been difficult to beware. But it had been deceived because it neither understood that anything had been committed by itself for which it should fear, nor thought it should fear without cause. Even if he wished to forget the old insult, could he also lay aside the memory of recent injuries: that against his will they had tried by force to make a route through the Province, and that they had harassed the Aedui, the Ambarri, and the Allobroges? Their glorying so insolently in their victory, and their wondering that they had borne injuries so long without punishment, tended to the same thing. For the immortal gods are accustomed, so that people may suffer more grievously from a change of circumstances, sometimes to grant more favorable affairs and longer impunity to those whom they wish to punish for their crime. Since this was so, nevertheless, if hostages were given to him by them, so that he might understand that they would do what they promised, and if they made satisfaction to the Aedui for the injuries they had brought on them and their allies, and likewise to the Allobroges, he would make peace with them. Divico answered: the Helvetii had been so trained by their ancestors that they were accustomed to receive hostages, not give them; the Roman people was witness to this fact. After giving this answer, he departed.
Section 15
The next day they moved camp from that place. Caesar did the same and sent ahead all the cavalry, to the number of four thousand, which he had gathered from the whole Province and from the Aedui and their allies, to see in what directions the enemy were making their march. Following the rear column too eagerly, they joined battle with the cavalry of the Helvetii in unfavorable ground, and a few of our men fell. Lifted up by this battle, because they had driven back so great a multitude of horsemen with five hundred cavalry, the Helvetii began more boldly to make stands now and then and to harass our men in battle from the rear column. Caesar kept his own men from battle and for the present judged it enough to prevent the enemy from raids, foraging, and ravaging. Thus they made the march for about fifteen days, with no more than five or six miles between the enemy's rear column and our front.
Section 16
Meanwhile Caesar daily demanded from the Aedui the grain that they had publicly promised. Because of cold weather, since Gaul lies under the north as was said before, the grain in the fields was not yet ripe, and not even a sufficient supply of fodder was available. He could make less use of the grain he had brought up by ships on the Saone because the Helvetii had turned their route away from the Saone, and he did not wish to leave them. The Aedui kept putting him off from day to day, saying that it was being gathered, brought together, and was at hand. When he understood that he was being drawn on too long, and that the day was near when grain had to be measured out to the soldiers, he summoned the leading men of the Aedui, of whom he had a great number in camp, including Diviciacus and Liscus, who held the chief magistracy, which the Aedui call the vergobret, an office created yearly and having power of life and death over its own people. He accused them severely because, when grain could neither be bought nor taken from the fields, at such a necessary time and with the enemy so near, he was not being helped by them, especially since he had undertaken the war in large part because of their pleas. He complained much more heavily that he had been abandoned.
Section 17
Then at last Liscus, led by Caesar's speech, set out what he had previously kept silent: there were certain men whose authority had very great influence among the common people, and who as private persons had more power than the magistrates themselves. These men, by seditious and wicked speech, were frightening the multitude from bringing the grain they owed. They said it was better, if the Aedui could no longer hold the leadership of Gaul, to endure the commands of Gauls rather than of Romans; and they should not doubt that, if the Romans overcame the Helvetii, they would take freedom from the Aedui together with the rest of Gaul. By the same men our plans and whatever was done in camp were being reported to the enemy; he could not restrain them. Moreover, since he had been forced to report this necessary matter to Caesar, he understood with how much danger he had done it, and for that reason had kept silent as long as he could.
Section 18
Caesar felt that by this speech of Liscus, Dumnorix, brother of Diviciacus, was being pointed out. But because he did not wish these matters to be discussed with many present, he quickly dismissed the council and kept Liscus. He asked him alone about the things he had said in the meeting. Liscus spoke more freely and boldly. Caesar secretly asked the same from others and found that the things were true: Dumnorix himself was a man of the greatest audacity, with great favor among the common people because of generosity, eager for revolution. For many years he had possessed the customs and all the remaining revenues of the Aedui at a small price, because when he bid, no one dared bid against him. By these things he had increased his own property and gathered great resources for giving largess. He always maintained and kept around himself a great number of cavalry at his own expense. He had great influence not only at home, but also among neighboring states; for the sake of this power he had placed his mother in marriage among the Bituriges to the most noble and powerful man there. He himself had a wife from the Helvetii, and had placed his half-sisters and female relatives in marriage in other states. He favored and desired the Helvetii because of that connection, and he also hated Caesar and the Romans on his own account, because by their arrival his power had been lessened and his brother Diviciacus had been restored to his old place of favor and honor. If anything happened to the Romans, he would come into the highest hope of gaining kingship through the Helvetii; under the command of the Roman people he despaired not only of kingship but even of the influence he had. Caesar also found in inquiry that, in the unsuccessful cavalry battle fought a few days before, the beginning of the flight had been made by Dumnorix and his horsemen, for Dumnorix commanded the cavalry that the Aedui had sent as help to Caesar; by their flight the rest of the cavalry had been terrified.
Section 19
When these things were known, and when the most certain facts were added to these suspicions, because Dumnorix had led the Helvetii through the territories of the Sequani, had arranged that hostages be given between them, had done all these things not only without Caesar's order and that of the state, but even without their knowledge, and was being accused by the Aeduan magistrate, Caesar judged that there was enough reason either for him to punish Dumnorix himself or to order the state to punish him. One thing stood against all these matters: he had learned Diviciacus' very great zeal toward the Roman people, his very great goodwill toward Caesar, outstanding loyalty, justice, and self-control; for Caesar feared that by punishing Dumnorix he would offend Diviciacus' spirit. Therefore, before attempting anything, he ordered Diviciacus to be called to him, and, after removing the everyday interpreters, spoke with him through Gaius Valerius Troucillus, a leading man of the Gallic Province, his intimate friend, in whom he had the greatest trust in all matters. At the same time he reminded him what had been said about Dumnorix in the council of the Gauls in his presence, and showed what each person had said separately about him before Caesar. He asked and urged that, without offense to his spirit, Caesar himself might decide about Dumnorix after hearing the case, or order the state to decide.
Section 20
Diviciacus, embracing Caesar with many tears, began to beg him not to decide anything too severe against his brother. He knew those things were true, and no one took more pain from them than he did, because when he himself had very great influence at home and in the rest of Gaul, and his brother had very little because of youth, Dumnorix had grown through him; and he was using those resources and sinews not only to lessen Diviciacus' favor, but almost for his destruction. Yet he was moved by brotherly love and by the opinion of the crowd. If anything too severe happened to Dumnorix from Caesar, since Diviciacus held such a place of friendship with him, no one would think it had not been done by his will; from this it would happen that the spirits of all Gaul would turn away from him. When, weeping, he asked these things from Caesar in many words, Caesar took his right hand, comforted him, and asked him to make an end of pleading. He showed that Diviciacus' favor with him was so great that he forgave both the injury to the state and his own pain for the sake of Diviciacus' will and prayers. He called Dumnorix to him and brought in his brother. He showed what he blamed in him, set out what he himself understood and what the state complained of, and warned him to avoid all suspicions for the remaining time. He said that he forgave the past for his brother Diviciacus. He placed guards over Dumnorix, so that he could know what he did and with whom he spoke.
Section 21
On the same day, after being informed by scouts that the enemy had settled beneath a mountain eight miles from his own camp, Caesar sent people to learn what the nature of the mountain was and what kind of ascent there was around it. It was reported that the ascent was easy. In the third watch he ordered Titus Labienus, his lieutenant with praetorian rank, to climb to the highest ridge of the mountain with two legions and with the guides who had learned the route. He showed what his plan was. He himself, in the fourth watch, hurried toward the enemy by the same route by which they had gone, and sent all the cavalry ahead of him. Publius Considius, who was considered very skilled in military matters and had served in the army of Lucius Sulla and later in that of Marcus Crassus, was sent ahead with the scouts.
Section 22
At first light, when the highest mountain was being held by Labienus, and Caesar himself was not farther than fifteen hundred paces from the enemy's camp, and, as he afterward learned from captives, neither his own arrival nor Labienus' had been discovered, Considius came running to him with his horse at full speed. He said that the mountain Caesar had wanted Labienus to occupy was held by the enemy; he had learned this, he said, from the Gallic arms and insignia. Caesar withdrew his forces to the nearest hill and drew up the line. Labienus, since Caesar had instructed him not to join battle unless Caesar's own forces had been seen near the enemy camp, so that an attack might be made on the enemy from every side at one time, was waiting for our men on the mountain he had occupied and was refraining from battle. Much later in the day Caesar learned through scouts that the mountain was held by his own men, that the Helvetii had moved camp, and that Considius, terrified by fear, had reported to him as seen what he had not seen. On that day he followed the enemy at the customary distance and placed camp three miles from their camp.
Section 23
On the next day, because only two days remained before grain had to be measured out to the army, and because he was not more than eighteen miles from Bibracte, by far the largest and richest town of the Aedui, Caesar thought that attention had to be given to the grain supply. Therefore he turned the route away from the Helvetii and hurried to Bibracte. This was reported to the enemy by deserters of Lucius Aemilius, a decurion of Gallic cavalry. The Helvetii, either because they thought the Romans were departing from them in fear, especially since the day before, after higher places had been occupied, they had not joined battle, or because they trusted that the Romans could be cut off from their grain supply, changed their plan, turned their route, and began to follow and harass our men from the rear column.
Section 24
After Caesar noticed this, he withdrew his forces onto the nearest hill and sent cavalry to hold back the enemy's attack. Meanwhile he himself drew up on the middle of the hill a triple line of the four veteran legions; on the highest ridge he placed the two legions he had most recently enrolled in Nearer Gaul and all the auxiliaries, so that he filled the whole mountain above him with men. He ordered the baggage and packs to be brought together into one place and that place to be fortified by those who had stood in the upper line. The Helvetii, following with all their wagons, gathered their baggage into one place. They themselves, in the most crowded line, after driving back our cavalry, formed a phalanx and came up beneath our first line.
Section 25
Caesar first removed his own horse, then the horses of everyone else, out of sight, so that, with everyone's danger made equal, he might take away hope of flight. After encouraging his men, he joined battle. The soldiers, from the higher place, easily broke through the enemy phalanx after throwing their javelins. When it had been broken apart, they drew swords and made an attack on them. It was a great hindrance to the Gauls in fighting that, because many of their shields had been pierced and fastened together by one throw of the javelins, and the iron had bent itself, they could neither pull it out nor fight conveniently enough with the left hand hindered. Many, after shaking the arm for a long time, preferred to throw away the shield from the hand and fight with the body exposed. At last, worn out by wounds, they began to withdraw and, because a mountain was nearby about a mile away, to retreat there. When the mountain had been taken and our men were advancing, the Boii and Tulingi, who with about fifteen thousand people were closing the enemy column and serving as a guard to the last men, attacked our men on the exposed flank from the march and began to surround them. Seeing this, the Helvetii who had retreated onto the mountain began again to press on and renew the battle. The Romans turned the standards and attacked in two directions: the first and second lines to stand against those already defeated and pushed back, the third to withstand those coming on.
Section 26
So the battle was fought for a long time and fiercely in two directions. When they could no longer withstand the attacks of our men, one part retreated, as it had begun, onto the mountain; the other withdrew to the baggage and wagons. In this whole battle, though the fight lasted from the seventh hour to evening, no one could see an enemy with his back turned. At the baggage too the fight went on far into the night, because they had set wagons in place as a rampart and were throwing weapons from the higher place onto our men as they came up. Some, from between the wagons and wheels, were throwing lances and javelins from below and wounding our men. After a long fight, our men gained possession of the baggage and the camp. There Orgetorix's daughter and one of his sons were captured. About one hundred thirty thousand people survived that battle, and they marched continuously through the whole night. With no part of the night stopping the march, they arrived on the fourth day in the territories of the Lingones, since our men could not follow them because they were delayed for three days by the wounds of the soldiers and the burial of the dead. Caesar sent letters and messengers to the Lingones, warning them not to help the Helvetii with grain or anything else; if they helped them, he would regard them in the same place as the Helvetii. After three days he himself began to follow them with all his forces.
Section 27
The Helvetii, driven by lack of everything, sent envoys to him about surrender. When they met him on the road, threw themselves at his feet, and, speaking as suppliants, sought peace with tears, Caesar ordered them to wait in that place where they then were until he arrived. They obeyed. After Caesar came there, he demanded hostages, arms, and the slaves who had fled to them. While these things were being sought and brought together, about six thousand people of the canton called Verbigenus, whether moved by fear that after surrendering their arms they would be punished, or led by hope of safety because they thought their flight could be hidden or not discovered at all in so great a multitude of those surrendered, went out from the Helvetian camp at the first night and hurried toward the Rhine and the borders of the Germans.
Section 28
When Caesar learned this, he ordered those through whose territories they had gone to seek them out and bring them back, if they wished to be cleared before him. After they were brought back, he counted them in the place of enemies. All the rest, after hostages, weapons, and deserters had been handed over, he received in surrender. He ordered the Helvetii, Tulingi, and Latobrigi to return into the territories from which they had set out. Since all their crops had been lost and there was nothing at home by which they could endure hunger, he ordered the Allobroges to provide them a supply of grain. He ordered them themselves to rebuild the towns and villages they had burned. He did this chiefly for this reason: he did not want the place from which the Helvetii had departed to be empty, lest because of the goodness of the fields the Germans who live across the Rhine should cross out of their own territories into the lands of the Helvetii and become neighbors to the Province of Gaul and the Allobroges. At the request of the Aedui, he granted that they settle the Boii among themselves, because they were known for outstanding courage. The Aedui gave them fields, and later received them into the same condition of right and freedom in which they themselves were.
Section 29
In the camp of the Helvetii, lists were found written out in Greek letters and brought to Caesar. In these lists the number of those who had gone out from home was recorded by name: how many were able to bear arms, and separately how many boys, old men, and women there were. The total number of all these headings was, of the Helvetii, two hundred sixty-three thousand; of the Tulingi, thirty-six thousand; of the Latobrigi, fourteen thousand; of the Rauraci, twenty-three thousand; of the Boii, thirty-two thousand. Of those who could bear arms there were about ninety-two thousand. The total of all was about three hundred sixty-eight thousand. Those who returned home were counted by Caesar's order; the number was found to be one hundred ten thousand.
Colophon
This page translates Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.1-29 from Latin for the Celtic continental expansion of the Good Work Library. Caesar's account is a Roman commander's justification narrative; the translation preserves that political frame while making the whole source-unit available for readers of the Continental Celtic shelf.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.1-29
Latin source text from The Latin Library's text of Caesar, De Bello Gallico, Book 1. This page gives Caesar's continuous Helvetian migration source-unit, from the opening geography of Gaul through the Helvetian surrender and return.
Section 1
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana dividit. Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Qua de causa Helvetii quoque reliquos Gallos virtute praecedunt, quod fere cotidianis proeliis cum Germanis contendunt, cum aut suis finibus eos prohibent aut ipsi in eorum finibus bellum gerunt. Eorum una pars, quam Gallos obtinere dictum est, initium capit a flumine Rhodano, continetur Garumna flumine, Oceano, finibus Belgarum, attingit etiam ab Sequanis et Helvetiis flumen Rhenum, vergit ad septentriones. Belgae ab extremis Galliae finibus oriuntur, pertinent ad inferiorem partem fluminis Rheni, spectant in septentrionem et orientem solem. Aquitania a Garumna flumine ad Pyrenaeos montes et eam partem Oceani quae est ad Hispaniam pertinet; spectat inter occasum solis et septentriones.
Section 2
Apud Helvetios longe nobilissimus fuit et ditissimus Orgetorix. Is M. Messala, [et P.] M. Pisone consulibus regni cupiditate inductus coniurationem nobilitatis fecit et civitati persuasit ut de finibus suis cum omnibus copiis exirent: perfacile esse, cum virtute omnibus praestarent, totius Galliae imperio potiri. Id hoc facilius iis persuasit, quod undique loci natura Helvetii continentur: una ex parte flumine Rheno latissimo atque altissimo, qui agrum Helvetium a Germanis dividit; altera ex parte monte Iura altissimo, qui est inter Sequanos et Helvetios; tertia lacu Lemanno et flumine Rhodano, qui provinciam nostram ab Helvetiis dividit. His rebus fiebat ut et minus late vagarentur et minus facile finitimis bellum inferre possent; qua ex parte homines bellandi cupidi magno dolore adficiebantur. Pro multitudine autem hominum et pro gloria belli atque fortitudinis angustos se fines habere arbitrabantur, qui in longitudinem milia passuum CCXL, in latitudinem CLXXX patebant.
Section 3
His rebus adducti et auctoritate Orgetorigis permoti constituerunt ea quae ad proficiscendum pertinerent comparare, iumentorum et carrorum quam maximum numerum coemere, sementes quam maximas facere, ut in itinere copia frumenti suppeteret, cum proximis civitatibus pacem et amicitiam confirmare. Ad eas res conficiendas biennium sibi satis esse duxerunt; in tertium annum profectionem lege confirmant. Ad eas res conficiendas Orgetorix deligitur. Is sibi legationem ad civitates suscipit. In eo itinere persuadet Castico, Catamantaloedis filio, Sequano, cuius pater regnum in Sequanis multos annos obtinuerat et a senatu populi Romani amicus appellatus erat, ut regnum in civitate sua occuparet, quod pater ante habuerit; itemque Dumnorigi Haeduo, fratri Diviciaci, qui eo tempore principatum in civitate obtinebat ac maxime plebi acceptus erat, ut idem conaretur persuadet eique filiam suam in matrimonium dat. Perfacile factu esse illis probat conata perficere, propterea quod ipse suae civitatis imperium obtenturus esset: non esse dubium quin totius Galliae plurimum Helvetii possent; se suis copiis suoque exercitu illis regna conciliaturum confirmat. Hac oratione adducti inter se fidem et ius iurandum dant et regno occupato per tres potentissimos ac firmissimos populos totius Galliae sese potiri posse sperant.
Section 4
Ea res est Helvetiis per indicium enuntiata. Moribus suis Orgetoricem ex vinculis causam dicere coegerunt; damnatum poenam sequi oportebat, ut igni cremaretur. Die constituta causae dictionis Orgetorix ad iudicium omnem suam familiam, ad hominum milia decem, undique coegit, et omnes clientes obaeratosque suos, quorum magnum numerum habebat, eodem conduxit; per eos ne causam diceret se eripuit. Cum civitas ob eam rem incitata armis ius suum exsequi conaretur multitudinemque hominum ex agris magistratus cogerent, Orgetorix mortuus est; neque abest suspicio, ut Helvetii arbitrantur, quin ipse sibi mortem consciverit.
Section 5
Post eius mortem nihilo minus Helvetii id quod constituerant facere conantur, ut e finibus suis exeant. Ubi iam se ad eam rem paratos esse arbitrati sunt, oppida sua omnia, numero ad duodecim, vicos ad quadringentos, reliqua privata aedificia incendunt; frumentum omne, praeter quod secum portaturi erant, comburunt, ut domum reditionis spe sublata paratiores ad omnia pericula subeunda essent; trium mensum molita cibaria sibi quemque domo efferre iubent. Persuadent Rauracis et Tulingis et Latobrigis finitimis, uti eodem usi consilio oppidis suis vicisque exustis una cum iis proficiscantur, Boiosque, qui trans Rhenum incoluerant et in agrum Noricum transierant Noreiamque oppugnabant, receptos ad se socios sibi adsciscunt.
Section 6
Erant omnino itinera duo, quibus itineribus domo exire possent: unum per Sequanos, angustum et difficile, inter montem Iuram et flumen Rhodanum, vix qua singuli carri ducerentur, mons autem altissimus impendebat, ut facile perpauci prohibere possent; alterum per provinciam nostram, multo facilius atque expeditius, propterea quod inter fines Helvetiorum et Allobrogum, qui nuper pacati erant, Rhodanus fluit isque non nullis locis vado transitur. Extremum oppidum Allobrogum est proximumque Helvetiorum finibus Genava. Ex eo oppido pons ad Helvetios pertinet. Allobrogibus sese vel persuasuros, quod nondum bono animo in populum Romanum viderentur, existimabant vel vi coacturos ut per suos fines eos ire paterentur. Omnibus rebus ad profectionem comparatis diem dicunt, qua die ad ripam Rhodani omnes conveniant. Is dies erat a. d. V. Kal. Apr. L. Pisone, A. Gabinio consulibus.
Section 7
Caesari cum id nuntiatum esset, eos per provinciam nostram iter facere conari, maturat ab urbe proficisci et quam maximis potest itineribus in Galliam ulteriorem contendit et ad Genavam pervenit. Provinciae toti quam maximum potest militum numerum imperat (erat omnino in Gallia ulteriore legio una), pontem, qui erat ad Genavam, iubet rescindi. Ubi de eius adventu Helvetii certiores facti sunt, legatos ad eum mittunt nobilissimos civitatis, cuius legationis Nammeius et Verucloetius principem locum obtinebant, qui dicerent sibi esse in animo sine ullo maleficio iter per provinciam facere, propterea quod aliud iter haberent nullum: rogare ut eius voluntate id sibi facere liceat. Caesar, quod memoria tenebat L. Cassium consulem occisum exercitumque eius ab Helvetiis pulsum et sub iugum missum, concedendum non putabat; neque homines inimico animo, data facultate per provinciam itineris faciundi, temperaturos ab iniuria et maleficio existimabat. Tamen, ut spatium intercedere posset dum milites quos imperaverat convenirent, legatis respondit diem se ad deliberandum sumpturum: si quid vellent, ad Id. April. reverterentur.
Section 8
Interea ea legione quam secum habebat militibusque, qui ex provincia convenerant, a lacu Lemanno, qui in flumen Rhodanum influit, ad montem Iuram, qui fines Sequanorum ab Helvetiis dividit, milia passuum XVIIII murum in altitudinem pedum sedecim fossamque perducit. Eo opere perfecto praesidia disponit, castella communit, quo facilius, si se invito transire conentur, prohibere possit. Ubi ea dies quam constituerat cum legatis venit et legati ad eum reverterunt, negat se more et exemplo populi Romani posse iter ulli per provinciam dare et, si vim facere conentur, prohibiturum ostendit. Helvetii ea spe deiecti navibus iunctis ratibusque compluribus factis, alii vadis Rhodani, qua minima altitudo fluminis erat, non numquam interdiu, saepius noctu, si perrumpere possent conati, operis munitione et militum concursu et telis repulsi, hoc conatu destiterunt.
Section 9
Relinquebatur una per Sequanos via, qua Sequanis invitis propter angustias ire non poterant. His cum sua sponte persuadere non possent, legatos ad Dumnorigem Haeduum mittunt, ut eo deprecatore a Sequanis impetrarent. Dumnorix gratia et largitione apud Sequanos plurimum poterat et Helvetiis erat amicus, quod ex ea civitate Orgetorigis filiam in matrimonium duxerat, et cupiditate regni adductus novis rebus studebat et quam plurimas civitates suo beneficio habere obstrictas volebat. Itaque rem suscipit et a Sequanis impetrat ut per fines suos Helvetios ire patiantur, obsidesque uti inter sese dent perficit: Sequani, ne itinere Helvetios prohibeant, Helvetii, ut sine maleficio et iniuria transeant.
Section 10
Caesari renuntiatur Helvetiis esse in animo per agrum Sequanorum et Haeduorum iter in Santonum fines facere, qui non longe a Tolosatium finibus absunt, quae civitas est in provincia. Id si fieret, intellegebat magno cum periculo provinciae futurum ut homines bellicosos, populi Romani inimicos, locis patentibus maximeque frumentariis finitimos haberet. Ob eas causas ei munitioni quam fecerat T. Labienum legatum praeficit; ipse in Italiam magnis itineribus contendit duasque ibi legiones conscribit et tres, quae circum Aquileiam hiemabant, ex hibernis educit et, qua proximum iter in ulteriorem Galliam per Alpes erat, cum his quinque legionibus ire contendit. Ibi Ceutrones et Graioceli et Caturiges locis superioribus occupatis itinere exercitum prohibere conantur. Compluribus his proeliis pulsis ab Ocelo, quod est oppidum citerioris provinciae extremum, in fines Vocontiorum ulterioris provinciae die septimo pervenit; inde in Allobrogum fines, ab Allobrogibus in Segusiavos exercitum ducit. Hi sunt extra provinciam trans Rhodanum primi.
Section 11
Helvetii iam per angustias et fines Sequanorum suas copias traduxerant et in Haeduorum fines pervenerant eorumque agros populabantur. Haedui, cum se suaque ab iis defendere non possent, legatos ad Caesarem mittunt rogatum auxilium: ita se omni tempore de populo Romano meritos esse ut paene in conspectu exercitus nostri agri vastari, liberi [eorum] in servitutem abduci, oppida expugnari non debuerint. Eodem tempore [quo Haedui] Ambarri, necessarii et consanguinei Haeduorum, Caesarem certiorem faciunt sese depopulatis agris non facile ab oppidis vim hostium prohibere. Item Allobroges, qui trans Rhodanum vicos possessionesque habebant, fuga se ad Caesarem recipiunt et demonstrant sibi praeter agri solum nihil esse reliqui. Quibus rebus adductus Caesar non expectandum sibi statuit dum, omnibus fortunis sociorum consumptis, in Santonos Helvetii pervenirent.
Section 12
Flumen est Arar, quod per fines Haeduorum et Sequanorum in Rhodanum influit, incredibili lenitate, ita ut oculis in utram partem fluat iudicari non possit. Id Helvetii ratibus ac lintribus iunctis transibant. Ubi per exploratores Caesar certior factus est tres iam partes copiarum Helvetios id flumen traduxisse, quartam vero partem citra flumen Ararim reliquam esse, de tertia vigilia cum legionibus tribus e castris profectus ad eam partem pervenit quae nondum flumen transierat. Eos impeditos et inopinantes adgressus magnam partem eorum concidit; reliqui sese fugae mandarunt atque in proximas silvas abdiderunt. Is pagus appellabatur Tigurinus; nam omnis civitas Helvetia in quattuor pagos divisa est. Hic pagus unus, cum domo exisset, patrum nostrorum memoria L. Cassium consulem interfecerat et eius exercitum sub iugum miserat. Ita sive casu sive consilio deorum immortalium quae pars civitatis Helvetiae insignem calamitatem populo Romano intulerat, ea princeps poenam persolvit. Qua in re Caesar non solum publicas, sed etiam privatas iniurias ultus est, quod eius soceri L. Pisonis avum, L. Pisonem legatum, Tigurini eodem proelio quo Cassium interfecerant.
Section 13
Hoc proelio facto, reliquas copias Helvetiorum ut consequi posset, pontem in Arari faciendum curat atque ita exercitum traducit. Helvetii repentino eius adventu commoti cum id quod ipsi diebus XX aegerrime confecerant, ut flumen transirent, illum uno die fecisse intellegerent, legatos ad eum mittunt; cuius legationis Divico princeps fuit, qui bello Cassiano dux Helvetiorum fuerat. Is ita cum Caesare egit: si pacem populus Romanus cum Helvetiis faceret, in eam partem ituros atque ibi futuros Helvetios ubi eos Caesar constituisset atque esse voluisset; sin bello persequi perseveraret, reminisceretur et veteris incommodi populi Romani et pristinae virtutis Helvetiorum. Quod improviso unum pagum adortus esset, cum ii qui flumen transissent suis auxilium ferre non possent, ne ob eam rem aut suae magnopere virtuti tribueret aut ipsos despiceret. Se ita a patribus maioribusque suis didicisse, ut magis virtute contenderent quam dolo aut insidiis niterentur. Quare ne committeret ut is locus ubi constitissent ex calamitate populi Romani et internecione exercitus nomen caperet aut memoriam proderet.
Section 14
His Caesar ita respondit: eo sibi minus dubitationis dari, quod eas res quas legati Helvetii commemorassent memoria teneret, atque eo gravius ferre quo minus merito populi Romani accidissent; qui si alicuius iniuriae sibi conscius fuisset, non fuisse difficile cavere; sed eo deceptum, quod neque commissum a se intellegeret quare timeret neque sine causa timendum putaret. Quod si veteris contumeliae oblivisci vellet, num etiam recentium iniuriarum, quod eo invito iter per provinciam per vim temptassent, quod Haeduos, quod Ambarros, quod Allobrogas vexassent, memoriam deponere posse? Quod sua victoria tam insolenter gloriarentur quodque tam diu se impune iniurias tulisse admirarentur, eodem pertinere. Consuesse enim deos immortales, quo gravius homines ex commutatione rerum doleant, quos pro scelere eorum ulcisci velint, his secundiores interdum res et diuturniorem impunitatem concedere. Cum ea ita sint, tamen, si obsides ab iis sibi dentur, uti ea quae polliceantur facturos intellegat, et si Haeduis de iniuriis quas ipsis sociisque eorum intulerint, item si Allobrogibus satisfaciant, sese cum iis pacem esse facturum. Divico respondit: ita Helvetios a maioribus suis institutos esse uti obsides accipere, non dare, consuerint; eius rei populum Romanum esse testem. Hoc responso dato discessit.
Section 15
Postero die castra ex eo loco movent. Idem facit Caesar equitatumque omnem, ad numerum quattuor milium, quem ex omni provincia et Haeduis atque eorum sociis coactum habebat, praemittit, qui videant quas in partes hostes iter faciant. Qui cupidius novissimum agmen insecuti alieno loco cum equitatu Helvetiorum proelium committunt; et pauci de nostris cadunt. Quo proelio sublati Helvetii, quod quingentis equitibus tantam multitudinem equitum propulerant, audacius subsistere non numquam et novissimo agmine proelio nostros lacessere coeperunt. Caesar suos a proelio continebat, ac satis habebat in praesentia hostem rapinis, pabulationibus populationibusque prohibere. Ita dies circiter XV iter fecerunt uti inter novissimum hostium agmen et nostrum primum non amplius quinis aut senis milibus passuum interesset.
Section 16
Interim cotidie Caesar Haeduos frumentum, quod essent publice polliciti, flagitare. Nam propter frigora [quod Gallia sub septentrionibus, ut ante dictum est, posita est,] non modo frumenta in agris matura non erant, sed ne pabuli quidem satis magna copia suppetebat; eo autem frumento quod flumine Arari navibus subvexerat propterea uti minus poterat quod iter ab Arari Helvetii averterant, a quibus discedere nolebat. Diem ex die ducere Haedui: conferri, comportari, adesse dicere. Ubi se diutius duci intellexit et diem instare quo die frumentum militibus metiri oporteret, convocatis eorum principibus, quorum magnam copiam in castris habebat, in his Diviciaco et Lisco, qui summo magistratui praeerat, quem vergobretum appellant Haedui, qui creatur annuus et vitae necisque in suos habet potestatem, graviter eos accusat, quod, cum neque emi neque ex agris sumi possit, tam necessario tempore, tam propinquis hostibus ab iis non sublevetur, praesertim cum magna ex parte eorum precibus adductus bellum susceperit[; multo etiam gravius quod sit destitutus queritur].
Section 17
Tum demum Liscus oratione Caesaris adductus quod antea tacuerat proponit: esse non nullos, quorum auctoritas apud plebem plurimum valeat, qui privatim plus possint quam ipsi magistratus. Hos seditiosa atque improba oratione multitudinem deterrere, ne frumentum conferant quod debeant: praestare, si iam principatum Galliae obtinere non possint, Gallorum quam Romanorum imperia perferre, neque dubitare [debeant] quin, si Helvetios superaverint Romani, una cum reliqua Gallia Haeduis libertatem sint erepturi. Ab isdem nostra consilia quaeque in castris gerantur hostibus enuntiari; hos a se coerceri non posse. Quin etiam, quod necessariam rem coactus Caesari enuntiarit, intellegere sese quanto id cum periculo fecerit, et ob eam causam quam diu potuerit tacuisse.
Section 18
Caesar hac oratione Lisci Dumnorigem, Diviciaci fratrem, designari sentiebat, sed, quod pluribus praesentibus eas res iactari nolebat, celeriter concilium dimittit, Liscum retinet. Quaerit ex solo ea quae in conventu dixerat. Dicit liberius atque audacius. Eadem secreto ab aliis quaerit; reperit esse vera: ipsum esse Dumnorigem, summa audacia, magna apud plebem propter liberalitatem gratia, cupidum rerum novarum. Complures annos portoria reliquaque omnia Haeduorum vectigalia parvo pretio redempta habere, propterea quod illo licente contra liceri audeat nemo. His rebus et suam rem familiarem auxisse et facultates ad largiendum magnas comparasse; magnum numerum equitatus suo sumptu semper alere et circum se habere, neque solum domi, sed etiam apud finitimas civitates largiter posse, atque huius potentiae causa matrem in Biturigibus homini illic nobilissimo ac potentissimo conlocasse; ipsum ex Helvetiis uxorem habere, sororum ex matre et propinquas suas nuptum in alias civitates conlocasse. Favere et cupere Helvetiis propter eam adfinitatem, odisse etiam suo nomine Caesarem et Romanos, quod eorum adventu potentia eius deminuta et Diviciacus frater in antiquum locum gratiae atque honoris sit restitutus. Si quid accidat Romanis, summam in spem per Helvetios regni obtinendi venire; imperio populi Romani non modo de regno, sed etiam de ea quam habeat gratia desperare. Reperiebat etiam in quaerendo Caesar, quod proelium equestre adversum paucis ante diebus esset factum, initium eius fugae factum a Dumnorige atque eius equitibus (nam equitatui, quem auxilio Caesari Haedui miserant, Dumnorix praeerat): eorum fuga reliquum esse equitatum perterritum.
Section 19
Quibus rebus cognitis, cum ad has suspiciones certissimae res accederent, quod per fines Sequanorum Helvetios traduxisset, quod obsides inter eos dandos curasset, quod ea omnia non modo iniussu suo et civitatis sed etiam inscientibus ipsis fecisset, quod a magistratu Haeduorum accusaretur, satis esse causae arbitrabatur quare in eum aut ipse animadverteret aut civitatem animadvertere iuberet. His omnibus rebus unum repugnabat, quod Diviciaci fratris summum in populum Romanum studium, summum in se voluntatem, egregiam fidem, iustitiam, temperantiam cognoverat; nam ne eius supplicio Diviciaci animum offenderet verebatur. Itaque prius quam quicquam conaretur, Diviciacum ad se vocari iubet et, cotidianis interpretibus remotis, per C. Valerium Troucillum, principem Galliae provinciae, familiarem suum, cui summam omnium rerum fidem habebat, cum eo conloquitur; simul commonefacit quae ipso praesente in concilio [Gallorum] de Dumnorige sint dicta, et ostendit quae separatim quisque de eo apud se dixerit. Petit atque hortatur ut sine eius offensione animi vel ipse de eo causa cognita statuat vel civitatem statuere iubeat.
Section 20
Diviciacus multis cum lacrimis Caesarem complexus obsecrare coepit ne quid gravius in fratrem statueret: scire se illa esse vera, nec quemquam ex eo plus quam se doloris capere, propterea quod, cum ipse gratia plurimum domi atque in reliqua Gallia, ille minimum propter adulescentiam posset, per se crevisset; quibus opibus ac nervis non solum ad minuendam gratiam, sed paene ad perniciem suam uteretur. Sese tamen et amore fraterno et existimatione vulgi commoveri. Quod si quid ei a Caesare gravius accidisset, cum ipse eum locum amicitiae apud eum teneret, neminem existimaturum non sua voluntate factum; qua ex re futurum uti totius Galliae animi a se averterentur. Haec cum pluribus verbis flens a Caesare peteret, Caesar eius dextram prendit; consolatus rogat finem orandi faciat; tanti eius apud se gratiam esse ostendit uti et rei publicae iniuriam et suum dolorem eius voluntati ac precibus condonet. Dumnorigem ad se vocat, fratrem adhibet; quae in eo reprehendat ostendit; quae ipse intellegat, quae civitas queratur proponit; monet ut in reliquum tempus omnes suspiciones vitet; praeterita se Diviciaco fratri condonare dicit. Dumnorigi custodes ponit, ut quae agat, quibuscum loquatur scire possit.
Section 21
Eodem die ab exploratoribus certior factus hostes sub monte consedisse milia passuum ab ipsius castris octo, qualis esset natura montis et qualis in circuitu ascensus qui cognoscerent misit. Renuntiatum est facilem esse. De tertia vigilia T. Labienum, legatum pro praetore, cum duabus legionibus et iis ducibus qui iter cognoverant summum iugum montis ascendere iubet; quid sui consilii sit ostendit. Ipse de quarta vigilia eodem itinere quo hostes ierant ad eos contendit equitatumque omnem ante se mittit. P. Considius, qui rei militaris peritissimus habebatur et in exercitu L. Sullae et postea in M. Crassi fuerat, cum exploratoribus praemittitur.
Section 22
Prima luce, cum summus mons a [Lucio] Labieno teneretur, ipse ab hostium castris non longius mille et quingentis passibus abesset neque, ut postea ex captivis comperit, aut ipsius adventus aut Labieni cognitus esset, Considius equo admisso ad eum accurrit, dicit montem, quem a Labieno occupari voluerit, ab hostibus teneri: id se a Gallicis armis atque insignibus cognovisse. Caesar suas copias in proximum collem subducit, aciem instruit. Labienus, ut erat ei praeceptum a Caesare ne proelium committeret, nisi ipsius copiae prope hostium castra visae essent, ut undique uno tempore in hostes impetus fieret, monte occupato nostros expectabat proelioque abstinebat. Multo denique die per exploratores Caesar cognovit et montem a suis teneri et Helvetios castra movisse et Considium timore perterritum quod non vidisset pro viso sibi renuntiavisse. Eo die quo consuerat intervallo hostes sequitur et milia passuum tria ab eorum castris castra ponit.
Section 23
Postridie eius diei, quod omnino biduum supererat, cum exercitui frumentum metiri oporteret, et quod a Bibracte, oppido Haeduorum longe maximo et copiosissimo, non amplius milibus passuum XVIII aberat, rei frumentariae prospiciendum existimavit; itaque iter ab Helvetiis avertit ac Bibracte ire contendit. Ea res per fugitivos L. Aemilii, decurionis equitum Gallorum, hostibus nuntiatur. Helvetii, seu quod timore perterritos Romanos discedere a se existimarent, eo magis quod pridie superioribus locis occupatis proelium non commisissent, sive eo quod re frumentaria intercludi posse confiderent, commutato consilio atque itinere converso nostros a novissimo agmine insequi ac lacessere coeperunt.
Section 24
Postquam id animum advertit, copias suas Caesar in proximum collem subduxit equitatumque, qui sustineret hostium impetum, misit. Ipse interim in colle medio triplicem aciem instruxit legionum quattuor veteranarum; in summo iugo duas legiones quas in Gallia citeriore proxime conscripserat et omnia auxilia conlocavit, ita ut supra se totum montem hominibus compleret; impedimenta sarcinasque in unum locum conferri et eum ab iis qui in superiore acie constiterant muniri iussit. Helvetii cum omnibus suis carris secuti impedimenta in unum locum contulerunt; ipsi confertissima acie, reiecto nostro equitatu, phalange facta sub primam nostram aciem successerunt.
Section 25
Caesar primum suo, deinde omnium ex conspectu remotis equis, ut aequato omnium periculo spem fugae tolleret, cohortatus suos proelium commisit. Milites loco superiore pilis missis facile hostium phalangem perfregerunt. Ea disiecta gladiis destrictis in eos impetum fecerunt. Gallis magno ad pugnam erat impedimento quod pluribus eorum scutis uno ictu pilorum transfixis et conligatis, cum ferrum se inflexisset, neque evellere neque sinistra impedita satis commode pugnare poterant, multi ut diu iactato bracchio praeoptarent scutum manu emittere et nudo corpore pugnare. Tandem vulneribus defessi et pedem referre et, quod mons suberit circiter mille passuum spatio, eo se recipere coeperunt. Capto monte et succedentibus nostris, Boi et Tulingi, qui hominum milibus circiter XV agmen hostium claudebant et novissimis praesidio erant, ex itinere nostros ab latere aperto adgressi circumvenire, et id conspicati Helvetii, qui in montem sese receperant, rursus instare et proelium redintegrare coeperunt. Romani conversa signa bipertito intulerunt: prima et secunda acies, ut victis ac submotis resisteret, tertia, ut venientes sustineret.
Section 26
Ita ancipiti proelio diu atque acriter pugnatum est. Diutius cum sustinere nostrorum impetus non possent, alteri se, ut coeperant, in montem receperunt, alteri ad impedimenta et carros suos se contulerunt. Nam hoc toto proelio, cum ab hora septima ad vesperum pugnatum sit, aversum hostem videre nemo potuit. Ad multam noctem etiam ad impedimenta pugnatum est, propterea quod pro vallo carros obiecerunt et e loco superiore in nostros venientes tela coniciebant et non nulli inter carros rotasque mataras ac tragulas subiciebant nostrosque vulnerabant. Diu cum esset pugnatum, impedimentis castrisque nostri potiti sunt. Ibi Orgetorigis filia atque unus e filiis captus est. Ex eo proelio circiter hominum milia CXXX superfuerunt eaque tota nocte continenter ierunt [nullam partem noctis itinere intermisso]; in fines Lingonum die quarto pervenerunt, cum et propter vulnera militum et propter sepulturam occisorum nostri [triduum morati] eos sequi non potuissent. Caesar ad Lingonas litteras nuntiosque misit, ne eos frumento neve alia re iuvarent: qui si iuvissent, se eodem loco quo Helvetios habiturum. Ipse triduo intermisso cum omnibus copiis eos sequi coepit.
Section 27
Helvetii omnium rerum inopia adducti legatos de deditione ad eum miserunt. Qui cum eum in itinere convenissent seque ad pedes proiecissent suppliciterque locuti flentes pacem petissent, atque eos in eo loco quo tum essent suum adventum expectare iussisset, paruerunt. Eo postquam Caesar pervenit, obsides, arma, servos qui ad eos perfugissent, poposcit. Dum ea conquiruntur et conferuntur, [nocte intermissa] circiter hominum milia VI eius pagi qui Verbigenus appellatur, sive timore perterriti, ne armis traditis supplicio adficerentur, sive spe salutis inducti, quod in tanta multitudine dediticiorum suam fugam aut occultari aut omnino ignorari posse existimarent, prima nocte e castris Helvetiorum egressi ad Rhenum finesque Germanorum contenderunt.
Section 28
Quod ubi Caesar resciit, quorum per fines ierant his uti conquirerent et reducerent, si sibi purgati esse vellent, imperavit; reductos in hostium numero habuit; reliquos omnes obsidibus, armis, perfugis traditis in deditionem accepit. Helvetios, Tulingos, Latobrigos in fines suos, unde erant profecti, reverti iussit, et, quod omnibus frugibus amissis domi nihil erat quo famem tolerarent, Allobrogibus imperavit ut iis frumenti copiam facerent; ipsos oppida vicosque, quos incenderant, restituere iussit. Id ea maxime ratione fecit, quod noluit eum locum unde Helvetii discesserant vacare, ne propter bonitatem agrorum Germani, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, ex suis finibus in Helvetiorum fines transirent et finitimi Galliae provinciae Allobrogibusque essent. Boios petentibus Haeduis, quod egregia virtute erant cogniti, ut in finibus suis conlocarent, concessit; quibus illi agros dederunt quosque postea in parem iuris libertatisque condicionem atque ipsi erant receperunt.
Section 29
In castris Helvetiorum tabulae repertae sunt litteris Graecis confectae et ad Caesarem relatae, quibus in tabulis nominatim ratio confecta erat, qui numerus domo exisset eorum qui arma ferre possent, et item separatim, quot pueri, senes mulieresque. [Quarum omnium rerum] summa erat capitum Helvetiorum milium CCLXIII, Tulingorum milium XXXVI, Latobrigorum XIIII, Rauracorum XXIII, Boiorum XXXII; ex his qui arma ferre possent ad milia nonaginta duo. Summa omnium fuerunt ad milia CCCLXVIII. Eorum qui domum redierunt censu habito, ut Caesar imperaverat, repertus est numerus milium C et X.
Source Colophon
The Latin source was captured from The Latin Library on 2026-05-13 and inspected on disk at Tulku/Tools/celtic/sources/continental_batch_2026-05-13/caesar_gallic_war_1_latin_library.html. The English translation is a New Tianmu Anglican Church Good Works Translation made from the Latin source.
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