A Smaller History of Rome Part 17

On the 9th, when the flight of Catiline was known, Cicero delivered his second speech, which was addressed to the people in the forum. The Senate proceeded to declare Catiline and Manlius public enemies, and decreed that Antonius should go forth to the war, while Cicero should remain to guard the city. Cicero was now anxious to obtain other evidence, besides that of Fulvia, which would warrant him in apprehending the conspirators within the walls. This was fortunately supplied by the emba.s.sadors of the Allobroges, who were now at Rome, having been sent to seek relief from certain real or alleged grievances.

Their suit, however, had not prospered, and Lentulus, conceiving that their discontent might be made available for his own purposes, opened a negotiation with them and disclosed to them the nature of the plot. But they thought it more prudent to reveal all to Q. Fabius Sanga, the patron of their state, who in his turn acquainted Cicero. By the instructions of the latter the emba.s.sadors affected great zeal in the undertaking, and obtained a written agreement signed by Lentulus, Cethegus, and others. They quitted Rome soon after midnight on the 3d of December, accompanied by one T. Volturcius, who was charged with dispatches for Catiline. The emba.s.sadors were seized, as they were crossing the Mulvian bridge, by two of the Praetors, who had been stationed in ambush to intercept them.

Cicero instantly summoned Lentulus, Cethegus, and the other conspirators to his presence. Lentulus being Praetor, the Consul led him by the hand to the Temple of Concord, where the Senate was already met; the rest of the accused followed closely guarded. Volturcius, finding escape impossible, agreed, upon his own personal safety being insured, to make a full confession. His statements were confirmed by the Allobroges, and the testimony was rendered conclusive by the signatures of the ringleaders, which they were unable to deny. The guilt of Lentulus, Cethegus, and seven others being thus established, Lentulus was forced to abdicate his office, and then, with the rest, was consigned to the charge of certain Senators, who became responsible for their appearance.

These circ.u.mstances, as they had occurred, were then narrated by Cicero in his Third Oration, delivered in the forum. On the nones (5th) of December the Senate was again summoned to determine upon the fate of the conspirators. Caesar, in an elaborate speech, proposed that they should be kept in confinement in the different towns of Italy, but Cato and Cicero strongly advocated that they should be instantly put to death. Their views were adopted by a majority of the Senate, and a decree pa.s.sed to that effect. On the same night Lentulus and his a.s.sociates were strangled by the common executioner in the Tullianum, a loathsome dungeon on the slope of the Capitol.

While these things were going on at Rome, Catiline had collected a force amounting to two legions, although not above one fourth part were fully equipped. When the news of the failure of the plot at Rome reached his camp many deserted. He thereupon attempted to cross the Apennines and take refuge in Cisalpine Gaul, but the pa.s.ses were strictly guarded by Metellus Celer with three legions. Finding, therefore, that escape was cut off in front, while Antonius was pressing on his rear, Catiline determined, as a last resource, to hazard an engagement. Antonius, in consequence of real or pretended illness, resigned the command to M.

Petreius, a skillful soldier. The battle was obstinate and b.l.o.o.d.y. The rebels fought with the fury of despair; and when Catiline saw that all was lost, he charged headlong into the thickest of the fight and fell sword in hand (B.C. 62).

Cicero had rendered important services to the state, and enjoyed for a time unbounded popularity. Catulus in the Senate and Cato in the forum hailed him as the "Father of his Country;" thanksgivings in his name were voted to the G.o.ds; and all Italy joined in testifying enthusiastic admiration and grat.i.tude. Cicero's elation knew no bounds; he fancied that his political influence was now supreme, and looked upon himself as a match even for Pompey. But his splendid achievement contained the germ of his humiliation and downfall. There could be no doubt that the punishment inflicted by the Senate upon Lentulus and his a.s.sociates was a violation of the fundamental principles of the Roman Const.i.tution, which declared that no citizen could be put to death until sentenced by the whole body of the people a.s.sembled in their Comitia, and for this act Cicero, as the presiding magistrate, was held responsible. It was in vain to urge that the Consuls had been armed with dictatorial power; the Senate, in the present instance, a.s.suming to themselves judicial functions which they had no right to exercise, gave orders for the execution of a sentence which they had no right to p.r.o.nounce. Nor were his enemies long in discovering this vulnerable point. On the last day of the year, when, according to established custom, he ascended the Rostra to give an account to the people of the events of his Consulship, Metellus Celer, one of the new Tribunes, forbade him to speak, exclaiming that the man who had put Roman citizens to death without granting them a hearing was himself unworthy to be heard. But this attack was premature. The audience had not yet forgotten their recent escape; so that, when Cicero swore with a loud voice that "he had saved the Republic and the city from ruin," the crowd with one voice responded that he had sworn truly.

It was rumored that many other eminent men had been privy to Catiline's conspiracy. Among others, the names of Cra.s.sus and Caesar were most frequently mentioned; but the partic.i.p.ation of either of these men in such an enterprise seems most improbable. The interests of Cra.s.sus were opposed to such an adventure; his vast wealth was employed in a variety of speculations which would have been ruined in a general overthrow, while he had not the energy or ability to seize and retain the helm in the confusion that would have ensued. Of Caesar's guilt there is no satisfactory evidence, and it is improbable that so keen-sighted a man would have leagued with such a desperate adventurer as Catiline. Cato, in his speech respecting the fate of the conspirators, hinted that Caesar wished to spare them because he was a partner of their guilt; and in the following year (B.C. 62), when Caesar was Praetor, L. Vettius, who had been one of Cicero's informers, openly charged him with being a party to the plot. Thereupon Caesar called upon Cicero to testify that he had of his own accord given the Consul evidence respecting the conspiracy; and so complete was his vindication that Vettius was thrown into prison.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Coin of Pompey.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Julius Caesar.]

CHAPTER x.x.xII.

FROM POMPEY'S RETURN FROM THE EAST TO CICERO'S BANISHMENT AND RECALL.

B.C. 62-57.

Pompey, as we have already seen, reached Italy in B.C. 62. It was generally feared that he would seize the supreme power, but he soon calmed these apprehensions by disbanding his army immediately after landing at Brundusium. He did not, however, enter Rome in triumph till the 30th of September, B.C. 61. The triumph lasted two days, and surpa.s.sed in splendor every spectacle that Rome had yet seen. The tablets carried in the procession, on which his victories were emblazoned, declared that he had taken 1000 strong fortresses, 900 towns, and 800 ships; that he had founded 39 cities; that he had raised the revenue of the Roman people from 59 millions to 85 millions; and that he had brought into the public treasury 20,000 talents. Before his triumphal car walked 324 captive princes.

With this triumph the first and most glorious part of Pompey's life may be said to have ended. Hitherto he had been employed almost exclusively in war; but now he was called upon to play a prominent part in the civil commotions of the Republic--a part for which neither his natural talents nor his previous habits had in the least fitted him. From the death of Sulla to the present time, a period of nearly twenty years, he had been unquestionably the first man in the Roman world, but he did not retain much longer this proud position, and soon discovered that the genius of Caesar had reduced him to a second place in the state. It would seem as if Pompey, on his return to Rome, hardly knew to which party to attach himself. He had been appointed to the command against the pirates and Mithridates in opposition to the aristocracy, and they still regarded him with jealousy and distrust. He could not, therefore, ally himself to them, especially too as some of their most influential leaders, such as M. Cra.s.sus and L. Lucullus, were his personal enemies. At the same time he seems to have been indisposed to unite himself to the popular party, which had risen into importance during his absence in the East, and over which Caesar possessed unbounded influence. But the object which engaged the immediate attention of Pompey was to obtain from the Senate a ratification of his acts in Asia, and an a.s.signment of lands which he had promised to his veterans. In order to secure this object, he had purchased the Consulship for one of his officers, L. Afranius, who was elected with Q. Metellus for B.C. 60. But L. Afranius was a man of slender ability; and the Senate, glad of an opportunity to put an affront upon a person whom they both feared and hated, resolutely refused to sanction Pompey's measures in Asia. This was the unwisest thing they could have done. If they had known their real interests, they would have yielded to all Pompey's wishes, and have sought by every means to win him over to their side, as a counterpoise to the growing and more dangerous influence of Caesar. But their short-sighted policy threw Pompey into Caesar's arms, and thus sealed the downfall of their party. Pompey was resolved to fulfill the promises he had made to his Asiatic clients and his veteran troops.

Caesar had returned from Spain in the middle of this year. He had been in that province for one year as Propraetor, during which time he displayed that military ability which was soon to be exhibited on a still more conspicuous field. He subdued the mountainous tribes of Lusitania, took the town of Brigantium in the country of the Gallaeci, and gained many other advantages over the enemy. His troops saluted him as Imperator, and the Senate honored him by a public thanksgiving. He now laid claim to a triumph, and at the same time wished to become a candidate for the Consulship. For the latter purpose his presence in the city was necessary; but, as he could not enter the city without relinquishing his triumph, he applied to the Senate to be exempted from the usual law, and to become a candidate in his absence. As this was refused, he at once relinquished his triumph, entered the city, and became a candidate for the Consulship. He was elected without difficulty, but the aristocracy succeeded in a.s.sociating with him in the Consulship M. Bibulus, who belonged to the opposite party, and who had likewise been his colleague in the aedileship and Praetorship.

Caesar now represented to Pompey the importance of detaching from the aristocracy M. Cra.s.sus, who, by his connections and immense wealth, possessed great political influence. Pompey and Cra.s.sus had for a long time past been deadly enemies, but they were now reconciled, and the three entered into an agreement to divide the power between themselves.

This first Triumvirate, as it is called, was therefore merely a private arrangement between the three most powerful men at Rome, which remained a secret till the proceedings of Caesar in his Consulship showed that he was supported by a power against which it was in vain for his enemies to struggle.

As soon as Caesar had entered upon his Consulship he proposed an agrarian law for the division of the rich Campanian land. The execution of the law was to be intrusted to a board of twenty commissioners. The opposition of the aristocratical party was in vain. Porapey and Cra.s.sus spoke in favor of the law; and the former declared that he would bring both sword and buckler against those who used the sword. On the day on which it was put to the vote, Bibulus and the other members of the aristocracy were driven out of the forum by force of arms: the law was carried, the commissioners appointed, and about 20,000 citizens, comprising, of course, a great number of Pompey's veterans, received allotments subsequently. Bibulus, despairing of being able to offer any farther resistance to Caesar, shut himself up in his own house, and did not appear again in public till the expiration of his Consulship.

Caesar obtained from the people a ratification of all Pompey's acts in Asia, and, to cement their union more closely, gave his only daughter Julia in marriage to Pompey. His next step was to gain over the Equites, who had rendered efficient service to Cicero in his Consulship, and had hitherto supported the aristocratical party. An excellent opportunity now occurred for accomplishing this object. In their eagerness to obtain the farming of the public taxes in Asia, the Equites had agreed to pay too large a sum, and accordingly pet.i.tioned the Senate for more favorable terms. This, however, had been opposed by Metellus Celer, Cato, and others of the aristocracy; and Caesar, therefore, now carried a law to relieve the Equites from one third of the sum which they had agreed to pay. Having thus gratified the people, the Equites, and Pompey, he was easily able to obtain for himself the provinces which he wished.

It is not attributing any extraordinary foresight to Caesar to suppose that he already saw that the struggle between the different parties at Rome must eventually be terminated by the sword. The same causes were still in operation which had led to the civil wars between Marius and Sulla; and he was well aware that the aristocracy would not hesitate to call in the a.s.sistance of force if they should ever succeed in detaching Pompey from his interests. It was therefore of the first importance for him to obtain an army which he might attach to himself by victories and rewards. Accordingly, he induced the Tribune Vatinius to propose a bill to the people granting him the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyric.u.m for five years (B.C. 58-54). Transalpine Gaul was shortly afterward added. Caesar chose the Gallic provinces, as he would thus be able to pa.s.s the winter in Italy and keep up his communication with the city, while the disturbed state of Farther Gaul promised him sufficient materials for engaging in a series of wars in which he might employ an army that would afterward be devoted to his purposes. In addition to these considerations, Caesar was also actuated by the ambition of subduing forever that nation which had once sacked Rome, and which had been, from the earliest times, more or less an object of dread to the Roman state.

The Consuls of the following year (B.C. 58) were L. Calpurnius Piso and A. Gabinius. Piso was Caesar's father-in-law, and Gabinius in his Tribunate had proposed the law conferring upon Pompey the command against the pirates. Caesar saw that it was evident they would support whatever the Triumvirs might wish. Cicero was now threatened with destruction.

In B.C. 62, while the wife of Caesar was celebrating in the house of her husband, then Praetor and Pontifex Maximus, the rites of the Bona Dea, from which all male creatures were excluded, it was discovered that P.

Clodius Pulcher, a profligate n.o.ble, whom we have seen inciting the army of Lucullus to insurrection, had found his way into the mansion disguised in woman's apparel, and, having been detected, had made his escape by the help of a female slave. The matter was laid before the Senate, and by them referred to the members of the Pontifical College, who pa.s.sed a resolution that sacrilege had been committed. Caesar forthwith divorced his wife. Clodius was impeached and brought to trial.

In defense he pleaded an alibi, offering to prove that he was at Interamna at the very time when the crime was said to have been committed; but Cicero came forward as a witness, and swore that he had met and spoken to Clodius in Rome on the day in question. In spite of this decisive testimony, and the evident guilt of the accused, the Judices p.r.o.nounced him innocent by a majority of voices (B.C. 61).

Clodius now vowed deadly vengeance against Cicero. To accomplish his purpose more readily, he determined to become a candidate for the Tribunate, but for this it was necessary, in the first place, that he should be adopted into a plebeian family by means of a special law.

This, after protracted opposition, was at length accomplished through the interference of the Triumvirs, and he was elected Tribune for B.C.

58.

One of the first acts of Clodius, after entering upon office, was to propose a bill interdicting from fire and water any one who should be found to have put a Roman citizen to death untried. Cicero changed his attire, and, a.s.suming the garb of one accused, went round the Forum soliciting the compa.s.sion of all whom he met. For a brief period public sympathy was awakened. A large number of the Senate and the Equites appeared also in mourning, and the better portion of the citizens seemed resolved to espouse his cause. But all demonstrations of such feelings were promptly repressed by Piso and Gabinius. Caesar had previously made overtures to Cicero, which the orator, overrating his influence and relying upon the support of Pompey, had rejected. The Triumvirs now left him to his fate, and Cicero, giving way to despair, quitted Rome at the beginning of April (B.C. 68), and reached Brundusium about the middle of the month. From thence he crossed over to Greece. The instant that the departure of Cicero became known, a law was pa.s.sed p.r.o.nouncing his banishment, forbidding any one to entertain or harbor him, and denouncing as a public enemy whosoever should take any steps toward procuring his recall. His mansion on the Palatine, and his villas at Tusculum and Formiae, were at the same time given over to plunder and destruction. Clodius, having thus gratified his hatred, did not care to consult any longer the views of the Triumvirs. He restored Tigranes to liberty, whom Pompey had kept in confinement, ridiculed the great Imperator before the people, and was accused of making an attempt upon his life. Pompey, in revenge, resolved to procure the recall of Cicero from banishment, and was thus brought again into some friendly connections with the aristocratical party. The new Consuls (B.C. 57) were favorable to Cicero; but, though Clodius was no longer in office, he had several partisans among the Tribunes who offered the most vehement opposition to the restoration of his great enemy. One of the chief supporters of Cicero was the Tribune T. Annius Milo, a man as unprincipled and violent as Clodius himself. He opposed force to force, and at the head of a band of gladiators attacked the hired ruffians of Clodius. The streets of Rome were the scenes of almost daily conflicts between the leaders of these a.s.sa.s.sins. At length the Senate, with the full approbation of Pompey, determined to invite the voters from the different parts of Italy to repair to Rome and a.s.sist in carrying a law for the recall of Cicero. Accordingly, on the 4th of August, the bill was pa.s.sed by an overwhelming majority. On the same day Cicero quitted Dyrrhachium, and crossed over to Brundusium. He received deputations and congratulatory addresses from all the towns on the line of the Appian Way; and having arrived at Rome on the 4th of September, a vast mult.i.tude poured forth to meet him, while the crowd rent the air with acclamations as he pa.s.sed through the Forum and ascended the Capitol to render thanks to Jupiter (B.C. 57).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temple of Hercules at Rome.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temple of Nemausus (_Nimes_), now called the _Maison Carree_.]

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

CaeSAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. B.C. 58-50.

Caesar set out for his province immediately after Cicero had gone into exile (B.C. 58). During the next nine years he was occupied with the subjugation of Gaul. In this time he conquered the whole of Transalpine Gaul, which had hitherto been independent of the Romans, with the exception of the part called Provincia. Twice he crossed the Rhine, and carried the terror of the Roman arms beyond that river. Twice he landed in Britain, which had been hitherto unknown to the Romans. We can only offer a very brief sketch of the princ.i.p.al events of each year.

_First Campaign_, B.C. 58.--Caesar left Rome toward the latter end of April, and arrived in Geneva in eight days. His first campaign was against the Helvetii, a Gallic people situated to the north of the Lake of Geneva, and between the Rhine and Mount Jura. This people, quitting their homes, had pa.s.sed through the country of the Sequani, and were plundering the territories of the aedui. Three out of their four clans had already crossed the Arar (_Saone_); but the fourth, which was still on the other side of the river, was surprised by Caesar and cut to pieces. He then threw a bridge across the Arar, followed them cautiously for some days, and at length fought a pitched battle with them near the town of Bibracte (_Autun_). The Helvetii were defeated with great slaughter, and the remnant compelled to return to their former homes.

This great victory raised Caesar's fame among the various tribes of Gauls, and the aedui solicited his a.s.sistance against Ariovistus, a German king who had invaded Gaul, and was constantly bringing over the Rhine fresh swarms of Germans. Caesar commanded Ariovistus to abstain from introducing any more Germans into Gaul, to restore the hostages to the aedui, and not to attack the latter or their allies. A haughty answer was returned to these commands, and both parties prepared for war. Caesar advanced northward through the country of the Sequani, took possession of Vesontio (_Besancon_), an important town on the Dubis (_Doubs_), and some days afterward fought a decisive battle with Ariovistus, who suffered a total defeat, and fled with the remains of his army to the Rhine, a distance of fifty miles. Only a very few, and, among the rest, Ariovistus himself, crossed the river; the rest were cut to pieces by the Roman cavalry.

_Second Campaign_, B.C. 57.--The following year was occupied with the Belgic war. Alarmed at Caesar's success, the various Belgic tribes which dwelt between the Sequana (_Seine_) and the Rhine, and were the most warlike of all the Gauls, had entered into a confederacy to oppose him, and had raised an army of 300,000 men. Caesar opened the campaign by marching into the country of the Remi, who submitted at his approach. He then crossed the Axona (_Aisne_), and pitched his camp in a strong position on the right bank. The enemy soon began to suffer from want of provisions, and they came to the resolution of breaking up their vast army, and retiring to their own territories. Hitherto Caesar had remained in his intrenchments, but he now broke up from his quarters and resumed the offensive. The Suessiones, the Bellovaci, and Ambiani were subdued in succession, or surrendered of their own accord; but a more formidable task awaited him when he came to the Nervii, the most warlike of all the Belgic tribes. In their country, near the River Sabis (_Sambre_), the Roman army was surprised by the enemy while engaged in fortifying the camp. The attack of the Nervii was so unexpected, that before the Romans could form in rank the enemy was in their midst: the Roman soldiers began to give way, and the battle seemed entirely lost. Caesar freely exposed his own person in the first line of the battle, and discharged alike the duties of a brave soldier and an able general. His exertions and the discipline of the Roman troops at length triumphed, and the Nervii were defeated with such immense slaughter, that out of 60,000 fighting men only 500 remained in the state. When the Senate received the dispatches of Caesar announcing this victory, they decreed a public thanksgiving of fifteen days--a distinction which had never yet been granted to any one.

_Third Campaign_, B.C. 56.--In the third campaign Caesar completed the subjugation of Gaul. He conducted in person a naval war against the Veneti, the inhabitants of the modern Brittany, and, by means of his lieutenants, conquered the remaining tribes who still held out. In the later part of the summer Caesar marched against the Morini and Menapii (in the neighborhood of Calais and Boulogne). Thus all Gaul had been apparently reduced to subjection in three years; but the spirit of the people was yet unbroken, and they only waited for an opportunity to rise against their conquerors.

_Fourth Campaign_, B.C. 55.--In the following year Caesar determined to attack the Germans. The Gauls had suffered too much in the last three campaigns to make any farther attempt against the Romans at present; but Caesar's ambition would not allow him to be idle. Fresh wars must be undertaken to employ his troops in active service. Two German tribes, the Usipetes and the Tenchtheri, had been driven out of their own country by the Suevi, and had crossed the Rhine with the intention of settling in Gaul. This, however, Caesar was resolved to prevent, and accordingly prepared to attack them. The Germans opened negotiations with him, but, while these were going on, a body of their cavalry defeated Caesar's Gallic horse. On the next day all the German chiefs came into Caesar's camp to apologize for what they had done; but Caesar detained them, and straightway led his troops to attack the enemy.

Deprived of their leaders and taken by surprise, the Germans, after a feeble resistance, took to flight, and were almost all destroyed by the Roman cavalry. After this victory Caesar resolved to cross the Rhine, in order to strike terror into the Germans. In ten days he built a bridge of boats across the river, probably in the neighborhood of Cologne; and after spending eighteen days on the eastern side of the Rhine, and ravaging the country of the Sigambri, he returned to Gaul and broke down the bridge.

Although the greater part of the summer was now gone, Caesar resolved to invade Britain. His object in undertaking this expedition at such a late period of the year was more to obtain some knowledge of the island from personal observation than with any view to permanent conquest at present. He accordingly took with him only two legions, with which he sailed from the port Itius (probably Witsand, between Calais and Boulogne), and effected a landing somewhere near the South Foreland, after a severe struggle with the natives. Several of the British tribes hereupon sent offers of submission to Caesar; but, in consequence of the loss of a great part of the Roman fleet a few days afterward, they took up arms again. Being, however, defeated, they again sent offers of submission to Caesar, who simply demanded double the number of hostages he had originally required, as he was anxious to return to Gaul before the autumnal equinox.

The news of these victories over the Germans and far-distant Britons was received at Rome with the greatest enthusiasm. The Senate voted a public thanksgiving of twenty days, notwithstanding the opposition of Cato, who declared that Caesar ought to be delivered up to the Usipetes and Tenchtheri, to atone for his treachery in seizing the sacred persons of emba.s.sadors.

_Fifth Campaign_, B.C. 54.--The greater part of Caesar's fifth campaign was occupied with his second invasion of Britain. He sailed from the port Itius with an army of five legions, and landed, without opposition, at the same place as in the former year. The British states had intrusted the supreme command to Ca.s.sivellaunus, a chief whose territories were divided from the maritime states by the River Tamesis (Thames). The Britons bravely opposed the progress of the invaders, but were defeated in a series of engagements. Caesar crossed the Thames above London, probably in the neighborhood of Kingston, took the town of Ca.s.sivellaunus, and conquered great part of the counties of Ess.e.x and Middles.e.x. In consequence of these disasters, Ca.s.sivellaunus sued for peace; and after demanding hostages, and settling the tribute which Britain should pay yearly to the Roman people, Caesar returned to Gaul toward the latter part of the summer. He gained no more by his second invasion of Britain than by his first. He had penetrated, it is true, farther into the country, but had left no garrisons or military establishments behind him, and the people obeyed the Romans as little afterward as they had done before.

In consequence of the great scarcity of corn in Gaul, Caesar was obliged to divide his forces, and station his legions for the winter in different parts. This seemed to the Gauls a favorable opportunity for recovering their lost independence and destroying their conquerors. The Eburones, a Gallic people between the Meuse and the Rhine, near the modern _Tongres_, destroyed the detachment under the command of T.

t.i.turius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta. They next attacked the camp of Q. Cicero, the brother of the orator, who was stationed among the Nervii. Cicero repulsed the enemy in all their attempts, till he was at length relieved by Caesar in person, who came to his a.s.sistance with two legions as soon as he heard of the dangerous position of his legate. The forces of the enemy, which amounted to 60,000, were defeated by Caesar, who then joined Cicero, and praised him and his men for the bravery they had shown.

_Sixth Campaign_, B.C. 63.--In the next year the Gauls again took up arms, and entered into a most formidable conspiracy to recover their independence. The destruction of the Roman troops under Sabinus and Cotta, and the unsettled state of Gaul during the winter, had led Caesar to apprehend a general rising of the natives; and he had accordingly levied two new legions in Cisalpine Gaul, and obtained one from Pompey, who was remaining in the neighborhood of Rome as Proconsul with the imperium. Being thus at the head of a powerful army, he was able to subdue the tribes that revolted, and soon compelled the Nervii, Senones, Carnutes, Menapii, and Treviri to return to obedience. But as the Treviri had been supported by the Germans, he crossed the Rhine again a little above the spot where he had pa.s.sed over two years before, and, after receiving the submission of the Ubii, ravaged the country of the Suevi. On his return to Gaul he laid waste the country of the Eburones with fire and sword. At the conclusion of the campaign he prosecuted a strict inquiry into the revolt of the Senones and Carautes, and caused Acco, who had been the chief ringleader in the conspiracy, to be put to death.

_Seventh Campaign_, B.C. 52.--The unsuccessful issue of last year's revolt had not yet damped the spirits of the Gauls. The execution of Acco had frightened all the chiefs, as every one feared that his turn might come next; the hatred of the Roman yoke was intense; and thus all the materials were ready for a general conflagration. It was first kindled by the Carnutes, and in a short time it spread from district to district till almost the whole of Gaul was in flames. Even the aedui, who had been hitherto the faithful allies of the Romans, and had a.s.sisted them in all their wars, subsequently joined the general revolt. At the head of the insurrection was Vercingetorix, a young man of n.o.ble family belonging to the Arverni, and by far the ablest general that Caesar had yet encountered. Never before had the Gauls been so united: Caesar's conquests of the last six years seemed to be now entirely lost. The campaign of this year, therefore, was by far the most arduous that Caesar had yet carried on; but his genius triumphed over every obstacle, and rendered it the most brilliant of all. He concentrated his forces with incredible rapidity, and lost no time in attacking the chief towns in the hands of the enemy. Vellaunodunum (in the country of _Chateau-Landon_), Genab.u.m (_Orleans_), and Noviodunum (_Nouan_, between Orleans and Bourges), fell into his hands without difficulty. Alarmed at his rapid progress, Vercingetorix persuaded his countrymen to lay waste their country and destroy their towns. This plan was accordingly carried into effect; but, contrary to the wishes of Vercingetorix, Avaric.u.m (_Bourges_), the chief town of the Bituriges, and a strongly-fortified place, was spared from the general destruction. This town Caesar accordingly besieged, and, notwithstanding the heroic resistance of the Gauls, it was at length taken, and all the inhabitants, men, women, and children, were indiscriminately butchered.

Caesar now divided his army into two parts: one division, consisting of four legions, he sent, under the command of T. Labienus, against the Senones and Parisii; the other, comprising six legions, he led in person into the country of the Arverni, and with them laid siege to Gergovia (near _Clermont_). The revolt of the aedui shortly afterward compelled him to raise the siege, and inspired the Gauls with fresh courage.

Vercingetorix retired to Alesia (_Alise_, in Burgundy), which was considered impregnable, and resolved to wait for succors from his countrymen. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and drew lines of circ.u.mvallation around it. The Romans, however, were in their turn soon surrounded by a vast Gallic army which had a.s.sembled to raise the siege.

Caesar's army was thus placed in imminent peril, and on no occasion in his whole life was his military genius so conspicuous. He was between two great armies. Vercingetorix had 70,000 men in Alesia, and the Gallic army without consisted of between 250,000 and 300,000 men. Still he would not raise the siege. He prevented Vercingetorix from breaking through the lines, entirely routed the Gallic army without, and finally compelled Alesia to surrender. Vercingetorix himself fell into his hands. The fall of Alesia was followed by the submission of the aedui and Arvemi. Caesar then led his troops into winter quarters. After receiving his dispatches, the Senate voted him a public thanksgiving of twenty days, as in the year B.C. 55.

_Eighth Campaign_, B.C. 51.--The victories of the preceding year had determined the fate of Gaul; but many states still remained in arms, and entered into fresh conspiracies during the winter. This year was occupied in the reduction of these states, into the particulars of which we need not enter. During the winter Caesar employed himself in the pacification of Gaul, and, as he already saw that his presence would soon be necessary in Italy, he was anxious to remove all causes for future wars. He accordingly imposed no new taxes, treated the states with honor and respect, and bestowed great presents upon the chiefs. The experience of the last two years had taught the Gauls that they had no hope of contending successfully against Caesar, and, as he now treated them with mildness, they were the more readily induced to submit patiently to the Roman yoke.