C?sar begins the next campaign before the winter is over, having, as we have seen, been forced to continue the last long after the winter had commenced. The Gauls were learning to unite themselves, and things were becoming very serious with him. One Roman army, with probably ten thousand men, had been absolutely destroyed, with its generals Titurius Sabinus and Aurunculeius Cotta. Another under Quintus Cicero would have suffered the same fate, but for C?sar’s happy intervention1. A third under Labienus had been attacked. All Gaul had been under arms, or thinking of arms, in the autumn; and though C?sar had been able to report at the end of the campaign that Gaul,—his Gaul, as he intended that it should be,—was a little quieter, nevertheless he understood well that he still had his work to do before he could enter upon possession. He had already been the master of eight legions in Gaul, containing 48,000 foot-soldiers, levied2 on the Italian side of the Alps. He{89} had added to this a large body of Gaulish cavalry3 and light infantry4, over and above his eight legions. He had now lost an entire legion and a half, besides the gaps which must have been made in Britain, and by the loss of those who had fallen when attacked under Cicero by the Nervii. But he would show the Gauls that when so treated he could begin again, not only with renewed but with increased force. He would astound5 them by his display of Roman power, “thinking that, for the future, it would greatly affect the opinion of Gaul that the power of Italy should be seen to be so great that, if any reverse in war were suffered, not only could the injury be cured in a short time, but that the loss could be repaired even by increased forces.” He not only levies6 fresh troops, but borrows a legion which Pompey commands outside the walls of Rome. He tells us that Pompey yields his legion to the “Republic and to Friendship.” The Triumvirate was still existing, and C?sar’s great colleague probably felt that he had no alternative. In this way C?sar not only re-established the legion which had been annihilated7, but completes the others, and takes the field with two new legions added to his army. He probably now had as many as eighty thousand men under his command.
He first makes a raid against our old friends the Nervii, who had nearly conquered Cicero before Christmas, and who were already conspiring8 again with certain German and neighbouring Belgian tribes. The reader will perhaps remember that in the second book this tribe was said to have been so utterly9 destroyed{90} that hardly their name remained. That, no doubt, was C?sar’s belief after the great slaughter10. There had been, however, enough of them left nearly to destroy Q. Cicero and his legion. Then C?sar goes to Paris,—Lutetia Parisiorum, of which we now hear for the first time,—and, with the help of his friends the ?dui and the Remi, makes a peace with the centre tribes of Gaul, the Senones and Carnutes. Then he resolves upon attacking Ambiorix with all his heart and soul. Ambiorix had destroyed his legion and killed his two generals, and against Ambiorix he must put forth11 all his force. It is said that when C?sar first heard of that misfortune he swore that he would not cut his hair or shave himself till he was avenged12. But he feels that he must first dispose of those who would naturally be the allies of this much-to-be-persecuted enemy. The Menapii, with whom we may remember that he had never quite settled matters in his former war, and who live on the southern banks of the Meuse not far from the sea, have not even yet sent to him messengers to ask for peace. He burns their villages, takes their cattle, makes slaves of the men, and then binds13 them by hostages to have no friendship with Ambiorix. In the mean time Labienus utterly defeats the great north-eastern tribe, the Treviri, whom he cunningly allures14 into fighting just before they are joined by certain Germans who are coming to aid them. “Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” These unfortunate Gauls and Germans fall into every trap that is laid for them. The speech which C?sar quotes{91} as having been made by Labienus to his troops on this occasion is memorable15. “Now,” says Labienus, “you have your opportunity. You have got your enemy thoroughly16 at advantage. That valour which you have so often displayed before the ‘Imperator,’ C?sar, display now under my command. Think that C?sar is present, and that he beholds17 you.” To have written thus of himself C?sar must have thought of himself as of a god. He tells the story as though it were quite natural that Labienus and the soldiers should so regard him.
After this battle, in which the Treviri are of course slaughtered18, C?sar makes a second bridge over the Rhine, somewhat above the spot at which he had crossed before. He does this, he says, for two reasons,—first, because the Germans had sent assistance to the Nervii; and secondly19, lest his great enemy Ambiorix should find shelter among the Suevi. Then he suggests that the opportunity is a good one for saying something to his readers of the different manners of Gaul and of Germany. Among the Gauls, in their tribes, their villages, and even in their families, there are ever two factions20, so that one should always balance the other, and neither become superior. C?sar so tells us at this particular point of his narrative21, because he is anxious to go back and explain how it was that he had taken the part of the ?dui, and had first come into conflict with the Germans, driving Ariovistus back across the Rhine for their sake. In eastern Gaul two tribes had long balanced each other, each, of course, striving for mastery,—the ?dui and{92} the Sequani. The Sequani had called in the aid of the Germans, and the ?dui had been very hardly treated. In their sufferings they had appealed to Rome, having had former relations of close amity22 with the Republic. Divitiacus, their chief magistrate23,—the brother of Dumnorix who was afterwards killed by C?sar’s order for running away with the ?duan cavalry before the second invasion of Britain,—had lived for a while in Rome, and had enjoyed Roman friendships, that of Cicero among others. There was a good deal of doubt in Rome as to what should be done with these ?dui; but at last, as we know, C?sar decided24 on taking their part; and we know also how he drove Ariovistus back into Germany, with the loss of his wives and daughters. Thus it came to pass, C?sar tells us, that the ?dui were accounted first of all the Gauls in regard to friendship with Rome; while the Remi, who came to his assistance so readily when the Belgians were in arms against him, were allowed the second place.
Among the Gauls there are, he says, two classes of men held in honour,—the Druids and the knights25; by which we understand that two professions or modes of life, and two only, were open to the nobility,—the priesthood and the army. All the common people, C?sar says, are serfs, or little better. They do not hesitate, when oppressed by debt or taxation26, or the fear of some powerful enemy, to give themselves into slavery, loving the protection so obtained. The Druids have the chief political authority, and can maintain it by the dreadful power of excommunication. The excommunicated{93} wretch27 is an outlaw28, beyond the pale of civil rights. Over the Druids is one great Druid, at whose death the place is filled by election among all the Druids, unless there be one so conspicuously29 first that no ceremony of election is needed. Their most sacred spot for worship is among the Carnutes, in the middle of the country. Their discipline and mysteries came to them from Britain, and when any very knotty30 point arises they go to Britain to make inquiry31. The Druids don’t fight, and pay no taxes. The ambition to be a Druid is very great; but then so is the difficulty. Twenty years of tuition is not uncommonly32 needed; for everything has to be learned by heart. Of their religious secrets nothing may be written. Their great doctrine33 is the transmigration of souls; so that men should believe that the soul never dies, and that death, therefore, or that partial death which we see, need not be feared. They are great also in astronomy, geography, natural history,—and general theology, of course.
The knights, or nobles, have no resource but to fight. C?sar suggests that before the blessing34 of his advent35 they were driven to the disagreeable necessity of fighting yearly with each other. Of all people the Gauls, he says, are the most given to superstition36; in so much so, that in all dangers and difficulties they have recourse to human sacrifices, in which the Druids are their ministers. They burn their victims to appease37 their deities38, and, by preference, will burn thieves and murderers,—the gods loving best such polluted victims,—but, in default of such, will have{94} recourse to an immolation39 of innocents. Then C?sar tells us that among the gods they chiefly worship Mercury, whom they seem to have regarded as the cleverest of the gods; but they also worship Apollo, Mars, Jove, and Minerva, ascribing to them the attributes which are allowed them by other nations. How the worship of the Greek and Roman gods became mingled40 with the religion of the Druids we are not told, nor does C?sar express surprise that it should have been so. C?sar gives the Roman names of these gods, but he does not intend us to understand that they were so called by the Gauls, who had their own names for their deities. The trophies41 of war they devote to Mars, and in many states keep large stores of such consecrated42 spoils. It is not often that a Gaul will commit the sacrilege of appropriating to his own use anything thus made sacred; but the punishment of such offence, when it is committed, is death by torture. There is the greatest veneration43 from sons to their fathers. Until the son can bear arms he does not approach his father, or even stand in public in his presence. The husband’s fortune is made to equal the wife’s dowry, and then the property is common between them. This seems well enough, and the law would suit the views of British wives of the present day. But the next Gaulish custom is not so well worthy44 of example. Husbands have the power of life and death over their wives and children; and when any man of mark dies, if there be cause for suspicion, his wives are examined under torture, and if any evil practice be confessed, they{95} are then tortured to death. We learn from this passage that polygamy was allowed among the Gauls. The Gauls have grand funerals. Things which have been dear to the departed are burned at these ceremonies. Animals were thus burned in C?sar’s time, but in former days slaves also, and dependants45 who had been specially46 loved. The best-governed states are very particular in not allowing rumours47 as to state affairs to be made matter of public discussion. Anything heard is to be told to the magistrate; but there is to be no discussion on public affairs except in the public council. So much we hear of the customs of the Gauls.
The Germans differ from the Gauls in many things. They know nothing of Druids, nor do they care for sacrifices. They worship only what they see and enjoy,—the sun, and fire, and the moon. They spend their time in hunting and war, and care little for agriculture. They live on milk, cheese, and flesh. They are communists as to the soil, and stay no longer than a year on the same land. These customs they follow lest they should learn to prefer agriculture to war; lest they should grow fond of broad possessions, so that the rich should oppress the poor; lest they should by too much comfort become afraid of cold and heat; lest the love of money should grow among them, and one man should seek to be higher than another. From all which it seems that the Germans were not without advanced ideas in political economy.
It is a great point with the Germans to have no near neighbours. For the sake of safety and independence,{96} each tribe loves to have a wide margin48. In war the chieftains have power of life and death. In time of peace there are no appointed magistrates49, but the chiefs in the cantons declare justice and quell50 litigation as well as they can. Thieving in a neighbouring state,—not in his own,—is honourable51 to a German. Expeditions for thieving are formed, which men may join or not as they please; but woe52 betide him who, having promised, fails. They are good to travelling strangers. There was a time when the Gauls were better men than the Germans, and could come into Germany and take German land. Even now, says C?sar, there are Gaulish tribes living in Germany after German fashion. But the nearness of the Province to Gaul has taught the Gauls luxury, and so it has come to pass that the Gauls are not as good in battle as they used to be. It is interesting to gather from all these notices the progress of civilisation53 through the peoples of Europe, and some hint as to what has been thought to be good and bad for humanity by various races before the time of Christ.
C?sar then tells us of a great Hercynian forest, beginning from the north of Switzerland and stretching away to the Danube. A man in nine days would traverse its breadth; but even in sixty days a man could not get to the end of it lengthwise. We may presume that the Black Forest was a portion of it. It contains many singular beasts,—bisons with one horn; elks55, which are like great stags, but which have no joints56 in their legs, and cannot lie down,—nor, if{97} knocked down, can they get up,—which sleep leaning against trees; but the trees sometimes break, and then the elk54 falls and has a bad time of it. Then there is the urus, almost as big as an elephant, which spares neither man nor beast. It is a great thing to kill a urus, but no one can tame them, even when young. The Germans are fond of mounting the horns of this animal with silver, and using them for drinking-cups.
C?sar does very little over among the Germans. He comes back, partly destroys his bridge, and starts again in search of Ambiorix. His lieutenant57 Basilus nearly takes the poor hunted chieftain, but Ambiorix escapes, and C?sar moralises about fortune. Ambiorix, the reader will remember, was joint-king over the Eburones with one Cativolcus. Cativolcus, who is old, finding how his people are harassed58, curses his brother king who has brought these sorrows on the nation, and poisons himself with the juice of yew-tree.
All the tribes in the Belgic country, Gauls as well as Germans, were now very much harassed. They all had helped, or might have helped, or, if left to themselves, might at some future time give help to Ambiorix and the Eburones. C?sar divides his army, but still goes himself in quest of his victim into the damp, uncomfortable countries near the mouths of the Scheldt and Meuse. Here he is much distracted between his burning desire to extirpate59 that race of wicked men over whom Ambiorix had been king, and his anxiety lest he should lose more of his own men in the work{98} than the wicked race is worth. He invites the neighbouring Gauls to help him in the work, so that Gauls should perish in those inhospitable regions rather than his own legionaries. This, however, is fixed60 in his mind, that a tribe which has been guilty of so terrible an offence,—which has destroyed in war an army of his, just as he would have delighted to destroy a Gaulish army,—must be extirpated61, so that its very name may cease to exist! “Pro tali facinore, stirps ac nomen civitatis tollatur.”
C?sar, in dividing his army, had stationed Q. Cicero with one legion and the heavy baggage and spoils of the army, in a fortress62 exactly at that spot from which Titurius Sabinus had been lured63 by the craft of Ambiorix. Certain Germans, the Sigambri, having learned that all the property of the Eburones had been given up by C?sar as a prey64 to any who would take it, had crossed the Rhine that they might thus fill their hands. But it is suggested to them that they may fill their hands much fuller by attacking Q. Cicero in his camp; and they do attack him, when the best part of his army is away looking for provisions. That special spot in the territory of the Eburones is again nearly fatal to a Roman legion. But the Germans, not knowing how to press the advantage they gain, return with their spoil across the Rhine, and C?sar again comes up like a god. But he has not as yet destroyed Ambiorix,—who indeed is not taken at last,—and expresses his great disgust and amazement65 that the coming of these Germans, which was planned with the view of injuring Ambiorix,{99} should have done instead so great a service to that monstrously66 wicked chieftain.
He does his very best to catch Ambiorix in person, offering great rewards and inducing his men to undergo all manner of hardships in the pursuit. Ambiorix, however, with three or four chosen followers67, escapes him. But C?sar is not without revenge. He burns all the villages of the Eburones, and all their houses. He so lays waste the country that even when his army is gone not a soul should be able to live there. After that he probably allowed himself to be shaved. Ambiorix is seen here and is seen there, but with hairbreadth chances eludes68 his pursuer. C?sar, having thus failed, returns south, as winter approaches, to Rheims,—Durocortorum; and just telling us in four words how he had one Acco tortured to death because Acco had headed a conspiracy69 in the middle of Gaul among the Carnutes and Senones, and how he outlawed70 and banished71 others whom he could not catch, he puts his legions into winter quarters, and again goes back to Italy to hold assizes and look after his interests amid the great affairs of the Republic.
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1
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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2
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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astound
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| v.使震惊，使大吃一惊 | |
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levies
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| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
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7
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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8
conspiring
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| 密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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9
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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10
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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13
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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allures
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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17
beholds
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| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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18
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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knights
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| 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 | |
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taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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31
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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immolation
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| n.牺牲品 | |
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40
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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41
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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42
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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43
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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44
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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45
dependants
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| 受赡养者，受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 ) | |
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46
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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47
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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48
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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49
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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50
quell
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| v.压制，平息，减轻 | |
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51
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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52
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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53
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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54
elk
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| n.麋鹿 | |
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55
elks
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| n.麋鹿( elk的名词复数 ) | |
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56
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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57
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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58
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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59
extirpate
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| v.除尽，灭绝 | |
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60
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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extirpated
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| v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的过去式和过去分词 )；根除 | |
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62
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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63
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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64
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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65
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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66
monstrously
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67
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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68
eludes
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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69
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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70
outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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71
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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