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CHAPTER IV.
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THIRD BOOK OF THE WAR IN GAUL.—C?SAR SUBDUES1 THE WESTERN TRIBES OF GAUL.—B.C. 56.

In the first few lines of the third book we learn that C?sar had an eye not only for conquest, but for the advantages of conquest also. When he went into Italy at the end of the last campaign, he sent one Galba, whose descendant became emperor after Nero, with the twelfth legion, to take up his winter quarters in the upper valley of the Rhone, in order that an easier traffic might be opened to traders passing over the Alps in and out of Northern Italy. It seems that the passage used was that of the Great St Bernard, and Galba placed himself with his legion at that junction2 of the valley which we all know so well as Martigny. Here, however, he was attacked furiously in his camp by the inhabitants of the valley, who probably objected to being dictated3 to as to the amount of toll4 to be charged upon the travelling traders, and was very nearly destroyed. The Romans, however, at last, when they had neither weapons nor food left for maintaining their camp, resolved to cut their way through their enemies. This they did so effectually that they slaughtered5 more{55} than ten thousand men, and the other twenty thousand of Swiss warriors6 all took to flight! Nevertheless Galba thought it as well to leave that inhospitable region, in which it was almost impossible to find food for the winter, and took himself down the valley and along the lake to the Roman Province. He made his winter-quarters among the Allobroges, who belonged to the Province,—a people living just south of the present Lyons. How the Allobroges liked it we are not told, but we know that they were then very faithful, although in former days they had given great trouble. Their position made faith to Rome almost a necessity. Whether, in such a position, C?sar’s lieutenants7 paid their way, and bought their corn at market price, we do not know. It was C?sar’s rule, no doubt, to make the country on which his army stood support his army.

When the number of men whom C?sar took with him into countries hitherto unknown to him or his army is considered, and the apparently8 reckless audacity9 with which he did so, it must be acknowledged that he himself says very little about his difficulties. He must constantly have had armies for which to provide twice as large as our Crimean army,—probably as large as the united force of the English and French in the Crimea; and he certainly could not bring with him what he wanted in ships. The road from Balaclava up to the heights over Sebastopol, we know, was very bad; but it was short. The road from the foot of the Alps in the Roman province to the countries with which we were dealing10 in the last chapter could not, we should say, have been very good two thousand{56} years ago, and it certainly was very long;—nearly a hundred miles for C?sar to every single one of those that were so terrible to us in the Crimea. C?sar, however, carried but little with him beyond his arms and implements11 of war, and of those the heaviest he no doubt made as he went. The men had an allowance of corn per day, besides so much pay. We are told that the pay before C?sar’s time was 100 asses12 a-month for the legionaries,—the as being less than a penny,—and that this was doubled by C?sar. We can conceive that the money troubled him comparatively slightly, but that the finding of the daily corn and forage13 for so large a host of men and horses must have been very difficult. He speaks of the difficulty often, but never with that despair which was felt as to the roasting of our coffee in the Crimea. We hear of his waiting till forage should have grown, and sometimes there are necessary considerations “de re frumentaria,”—about that great general question of provisions; but of crushing difficulties very little is said, and of bad roads not a word. One great advantage C?sar certainly had over Lord Raglan;—he was his own special correspondent. Coffee his men certainly did not get; but if their corn were not properly roasted for them, and if, as would be natural, the men grumbled14, he had with him no licensed15 collector of grumbles16 to make public the sufferings of his men.

And now, when this affair of Galba’s had been finished,—when C?sar, as he tells us, really did think that all Gaul was “pacatam,” tranquillised, or at least subdued,—the Belgians conquered, the Germans driven{57} off, those Swiss fellows cut to pieces in the valley of the Rhone; when he thought that he might make a short visit into that other province of his, Illyricum, so that he might see what that was like,—he is told that another war has sprung up in Gaul! Young Crassus, with that necessity which of course was on him of providing winter food for the seventh legion which he had been ordered to take into Aquitania, has been obliged to send out for corn into the neighbouring countries. Of course a well-instructed young general, such as was Crassus, had taken hostages before he sent his men out among strange and wild barbarians17. But in spite of that, the Veneti, a maritime18 people of ancient Brittany, just in that country of the Morbihan whither we now go to visit the works of the Druids at Carnac and Locmariaker, absolutely detained his two ambassadors;—so called afterwards, though in his first mention of them C?sar names them as pr?fects and tribunes of the soldiers. Vannes, the capital of the department of the Morbihan, gives us a trace of the name of this tribe. The Veneti, who were powerful in ships, did not see why they should give their corn to Crassus. C?sar, when he hears that ambassadors,—sacred ambassadors,—have been stopped, is filled with shame and indignation, and hurries off himself to look after the affair, having, as we may imagine, been able to see very little of Illyricum.

This horror of C?sar in regard to his ambassadors,—in speaking of which he alludes19 to what the Gauls themselves felt when they came to understand what a thing they had done in making ambassadors prisoners,{58}—“legatos,”—a name that has always been held sacred and inviolate20 among all nations,—is very great, and makes him feel that he must really be in earnest. We are reminded of the injunctions, printed in Spanish, which the Spaniards distributed among the Indians of the continent, in the countries now called Venezuela and New Granada, explaining to the people, who knew nothing of Spanish or of printing, how they were bound to obey the orders of a distant king, who had the authority of a more distant Pope, who again,—so they claimed,—was delegated by a more distant God. The pain of history consists in the injustice21 of the wolf towards the lamb, joined to the conviction that thus, and no otherwise, could the lamb be brought to better than a sheepish mode of existence! But C?sar was in earnest.[7] The following is a translation of the tenth section of this book; “There were these difficulties in carrying on the war which we have above shown.”—He alludes to the maritime capacities of the people whom he desires to conquer.—“Many things, nevertheless, urged C?sar on to this war;—the wrongs of those Roman knights22 who had been detained, rebellion set on foot after an agreed surrender,”—that any{59} such surrender had been made we do not hear, though we do hear, incidentally, that Crassus had taken hostages;—“a falling off from alliance after hostages had been given; conspiracy23 among so many tribes; and then this first consideration, that if this side of the country were disregarded, the other tribes might learn to think that they might take the same liberty. Then, when he bethought himself that, as the Gauls were prone24 to rebellion, and were quickly and easily excited to war, and that all men, moreover, are fond of liberty and hate a condition of subjection, he resolved that it would be well, rather than that other states should conspire,”—and to avoid the outbreak on behalf of freedom which might thus probably be made,—“that his army should be divided, and scattered25 about more widely.” Treating all Gaul as a chess-board, he sends round to provide that the Treviri should be kept quiet. Headers will remember how far Treves is distant from the extremities26 of Brittany. The Belgians are to be looked to, lest they should rise and come and help. The Germans are to be prevented from crossing the Rhine. Labienus, who, during the Gallic wars, was C?sar’s general highest in trust, is to see to all this. Crassus is to go back into Aquitania and keep the south quiet. Titurius Sabinus, destined27 afterwards to a sad end, is sent with three legions,—eighteen thousand men,—among the neighbouring tribes of Northern Brittany and Normandy. “Young” Decimus Brutus,—C?sar speaks of him with that kind affection which the epithet28 conveys, and we remember, as we read, that this Brutus appears afterwards in history as one of C?sar’s slayers,{60} in conjunction with his greater namesake,—young Decimus Brutus, the future conspirator29 in Rome, has confided30 to him the fleet which is to destroy these much less guilty distant conspirators31, and C?sar himself takes the command of his own legions on the spot. All this is told in fewer words than are here used in describing the telling, and the reader feels that he has to do with a mighty32 man, whose eyes are everywhere, and of whom an ordinary enemy would certainly say, Surely this is no man, but a god.

He tells us how great was the effect of his own presence on the shore, though the battle was carried on under young Brutus at sea. “What remained of the conflict,” he says, after describing their man?uvres, “depended on valour, in which our men were far away the superior; and this was more especially true because the affair was carried on so plainly in the sight of C?sar and the whole army that no brave deed could pass unobserved. For all the hills and upper lands, from whence the view down upon the sea was close, were covered by the army.”

Of course he conquers the Veneti and other sea-going tribes, even on their own element. Whereupon they give themselves and all their belongings33 up to C?sar. C?sar, desirous that the rights of ambassadors shall hereafter be better respected among barbarians, determines that he must use a little severity. “Gravius vindicandum statuit;”—“he resolved that the offence should be expiated34 with more than ordinary punishment.” Consequently, he kills all the senate, and sells all the other men as slaves! The pithy35 brevity, the{61} unapologetic dignity of the sentence, as he pronounced it and tells it to us, is heartrending, but, at this distance of time, delightful36 also. “Itaque, omni senatu necato, reliquos sub corona37 vendidit;”—“therefore, all the senate having been slaughtered, he sold the other citizens with chaplets on their heads;”—it being the Roman custom so to mark captives in war intended for sale. We can see him as he waves his hand and passes on. Surely he must be a god!

His generals in this campaign are equally successful. One Viridovix, a Gaul up in the Normandy country,—somewhere about Avranches or St Lo, we may imagine,—is entrapped38 into a fight, and destroyed with his army. Aquitania surrenders herself to Crassus, after much fighting, and gives up her arms.

Then C?sar reflects that the Morini and the Menapii had as yet never bowed their heads to him. Boulogne and Calais stand in the now well-known territory of the Morini, but the Menapii lie a long way off, up among the mouths of the Scheldt and the Rhine,—the Low Countries of modern history,—an uncomfortable people then, who would rush into their woods and marshes39 after a spell of fighting, and who seemed to have no particular homes or cities that could be attacked or destroyed. It was nearly the end of summer just now, and the distance between, let us say, Vannes in Brittany, and Breda, or even Antwerp, seems to us to be considerable, when we remember the condition of the country, and the size of C?sar’s army. But he had a few weeks to fill up, and then he might feel that all Gaul had been “pacified40.” At present there was this{62} haughty41 little northern corner. “Omni Gallia pacata, Morini Menapiique supererant;”—“all Gaul having been pacified, the Morini and Menapii remained.” He was, moreover, no doubt beginning to reflect that from the Morini could be made the shortest journey into that wild Ultima Thule of an island in which lived the Britanni. C?sar takes advantage of the few weeks, and attacks these uncomfortable people. When they retreat into the woods, he cuts the woods down. He does cut down an immense quantity of wood, but the enemy only recede42 into thicker and bigger woods. Bad weather comes on, and the soldiers can no longer endure life in their skin tents. Let us fancy these Italians encountering winter in undrained Flanders, with no walls or roofs to protect them, and ordered to cut down interminable woods! Had a ‘Times’ been then written and filed, instead of a “Commentary” from the hands of the General-in-chief, we should probably have heard of a good deal of suffering. As it is, we are only told that C?sar had to give up his enterprise for that year. He therefore burned all their villages, laid waste all their fields, and then took his army down into a more comfortable region south of the Seine, and there put them into winter quarters,—not much to the comfort of the people there residing.

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1 subdues a17341993ff4953d38203463fe108cf4     
征服( subdue的第三人称单数 ); 克制; 制服
参考例句:
  • In China postman subdues all wearing green color. 在中国邮递员都穿绿色制服。
  • He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me. 这位神、就是那为我伸冤、使众民服在我以下的。
2 junction N34xH     
n.连接,接合;交叉点,接合处,枢纽站
参考例句:
  • There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
  • You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。
3 dictated aa4dc65f69c81352fa034c36d66908ec     
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布
参考例句:
  • He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
  • No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
5 slaughtered 59ed88f0d23c16f58790fb11c4a5055d     
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 warriors 3116036b00d464eee673b3a18dfe1155     
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
  • The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。
7 lieutenants dc8c445866371477a093185d360992d9     
n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 );副职官员;空军;仅低于…官阶的官员
参考例句:
  • In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中,中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网
8 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
9 audacity LepyV     
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼
参考例句:
  • He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
  • He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。
10 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
11 implements 37371cb8af481bf82a7ea3324d81affc     
n.工具( implement的名词复数 );家具;手段;[法律]履行(契约等)v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 );执行;贯彻;使生效
参考例句:
  • Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 asses asses     
n. 驴,愚蠢的人,臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人
参考例句:
  • Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子,也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
  • Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。
13 forage QgyzP     
n.(牛马的)饲料,粮草;v.搜寻,翻寻
参考例句:
  • They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
  • Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。
14 grumbled ed735a7f7af37489d7db1a9ef3b64f91     
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
15 licensed ipMzNI     
adj.得到许可的v.许可,颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
  • Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗?
16 grumbles a99c97d620c517b5490044953d545cb1     
抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难,而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
  • I'm sick of your unending grumbles. 我对你的不断埋怨感到厌烦。
17 barbarians c52160827c97a5d2143268a1299b1903     
n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 );外国人;粗野的人;无教养的人
参考例句:
  • The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
18 maritime 62yyA     
adj.海的,海事的,航海的,近海的,沿海的
参考例句:
  • Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
  • The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。
19 alludes c60ee628ca5282daa5b0a246fd29c9ff     
提及,暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中,密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
  • Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。
20 inviolate E4ix1     
adj.未亵渎的,未受侵犯的
参考例句:
  • The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate.宪法宣告公共财产不可侵犯。
  • They considered themselves inviolate from attack.他们认为自己是不可侵犯的。
21 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
22 knights 2061bac208c7bdd2665fbf4b7067e468     
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马
参考例句:
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。
23 conspiracy NpczE     
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋
参考例句:
  • The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
  • He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。
24 prone 50bzu     
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的
参考例句:
  • Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
  • He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。
25 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
26 extremities AtOzAr     
n.端点( extremity的名词复数 );尽头;手和足;极窘迫的境地
参考例句:
  • She was most noticeable, I thought, in respect of her extremities. 我觉得她那副穷极可怜的样子实在太惹人注目。 来自辞典例句
  • Winters may be quite cool at the northwestern extremities. 西北边区的冬天也可能会相当凉。 来自辞典例句
27 destined Dunznz     
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句:
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
28 epithet QZHzY     
n.(用于褒贬人物等的)表述形容词,修饰语
参考例句:
  • In "Alfred the Great","the Great"is an epithet.“阿尔弗雷德大帝”中的“大帝”是个称号。
  • It is an epithet that sums up my feelings.这是一个简洁地表达了我思想感情的形容词。
29 conspirator OZayz     
n.阴谋者,谋叛者
参考例句:
  • We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他,恶狠狠地骂个不停。
  • A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。
30 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
31 conspirators d40593710e3e511cb9bb9ec2b74bccc3     
n.共谋者,阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The conspirators took no part in the fighting which ensued. 密谋者没有参加随后发生的战斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The French conspirators were forced to escape very hurriedly. 法国同谋者被迫匆促逃亡。 来自辞典例句
32 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
33 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
34 expiated 7a831553f3629208ef5fd55e4efdde19     
v.为(所犯罪过)接受惩罚,赎(罪)( expiate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The thief expiated his theft by giving back the amount stolen and by reforming. 那小偷送回全部偷窃物并改过自新,以为他的偷窃行为赎罪。 来自互联网
35 pithy TN8xR     
adj.(讲话或文章)简练的
参考例句:
  • Many of them made a point of praising the film's pithy dialogue.他们中很多人特别赞扬了影片精炼的对白。
  • His pithy comments knocked the bottom out of my argument.他精辟的评论驳倒了我的论点。
36 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
37 corona jY4z4     
n.日冕
参考例句:
  • The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
  • The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光,几乎像满月一样明亮。
38 entrapped eb21b3b8e7dad36e21d322e11b46715d     
v.使陷入圈套,使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was entrapped into undertaking the work. 他受骗而担任那工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He felt he had been entrapped into marrying her. 他觉得和她结婚是上了当。 来自辞典例句
39 marshes 9fb6b97bc2685c7033fce33dc84acded     
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
  • We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
40 pacified eba3332d17ba74e9c360cbf02b8c9729     
使(某人)安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 ); 息怒; 抚慰; 在(有战争的地区、国家等)实现和平
参考例句:
  • The baby could not be pacified. 怎么也止不住婴儿的哭声。
  • She shrieked again, refusing to be pacified. 她又尖叫了,无法使她平静下来。
41 haughty 4dKzq     
adj.傲慢的,高傲的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
  • They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。
42 recede sAKzB     
vi.退(去),渐渐远去;向后倾斜,缩进
参考例句:
  • The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
  • He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。


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