Plutarch's Lives Volume III Part 29

[Footnote 479: Plutarch here, after his fashion, throws in a few anecdotes without any regard to the chronological order.]

[Footnote 480: Ma.s.salia, an ancient Greek settlement, now Ma.r.s.eilles, was called Ma.s.silia by the Romans. The siege of Ma.s.salia is told by Caesar (_Civil War_, ii. 1, &c.). It took place after Pompeius had fled from Brundisium.]

[Footnote 481: The story of Scaeva is told by Caesar (_Civil War_, iii.

53). The missiles were arrows. As to the exact number of arrows that the brave centurion Scaeva received in his shield, see the note in Oudendorp's Caesar. Scaeva was promoted to the first cla.s.s of centurions (Suetonius. _Caesar_, 68).]

[Footnote 482: Cordoba or Cordova in Hispania Baetica. Caesar must therefore have been subject to these attacks during his quaestorship, or at least his praetorship in Spain.

Of Caesar's endurance and activity, Suetonius also (_Caesar_, 57) has preserved several notices.]

[Footnote 483: Kaltwa.s.ser translates this: "He travelled with such speed that he did not require more than eight days to reach the Rhone after leaving Rome;" as if this was his habit. But Kaltwa.s.ser is mistaken.]

[Footnote 484: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 10.

In the time of Gellius (xvii. 9) there was extant a collection of Caesar's letters to C. Oppius and Cornelius Balbus, written in a kind of cipher. (See Suetonius, _Caesar_, 56.) Two letters of Caesar to Oppius and Balbus are extant in the collection of Cicero's letters (_Ad Attic.u.m_, ix. 8, 16), both expressed with admirable brevity and clearness. One of them also shows his good sense and his humanity.]

[Footnote 485: The story is also told by Suetonius (_Caesar_, 54).

Instead of using plain oil, Leo thought he should please his guests by mixing it with a fragrant oil (conditum oleum pro viridi). He was an ill-bred fellow for his pains; but a well-bred man would affect not to notice his blunder.]

[Footnote 486: This campaign belongs to B.C. 58. The Helvetii occupied the country between the Rhine, the Jura, the Rhone, and the Rhaetian Alps. The history of the campaign is given by Caesar (_Gallic War_, i.

2-29; Dion Ca.s.sius, 38, c. 31). The Arar is the Saone, which joins the Rhone at Lyons.]

[Footnote 487: This German chief had been acknowledged as king and ally (rex et amicus) during Caesar's consulship, B.C. 59. What territory the Romans considered as belonging to his kingdom does not appear. The campaign with Ariovistus and the circ.u.mstances which preceded it are told by Caesar (_Gallic War_, i. 31, &c.).

The speech of Caesar in which he rated the men for their cowardice is reported by himself (_Gallic War_, i. 40). The pursuit of the Germans was continued for five miles according to the MSS. of Caesar; but some editors in place of 'five' have put 'fifty.' Plutarch's 400 stadia are equal to 50 Roman miles.]

[Footnote 488: Caesar (_Gallic War_, i. 54). The army wintered in the country between the Jura, the Rhone and Saone, and the Rhine; which was the country of the Sequani. Caesar says that he went into Citerior Gallia, that is, North Italy, 'ad conventus agendos,' to make his circuits for the administration of justice and other civil business.

He may be excused for not saying anything of his political intrigues.]

[Footnote 489: The rising of the Belgae is the subject of Caesar's Second Book. This campaign was in B.C. 57. It was not a rebellion of the Belgae, for they had not been conquered, but they feared that the Romans would attack them after completing the subjugation of the Galli. The Belgae were defeated on the Axona, the Aisne, a branch of the Seine (_Gallic War_, ii. 9-11). There is no mention in Caesar of lakes and rivers being filled with dead bodies.]

[Footnote 490: The Nervii considered themselves of German origin. They occupied Hainault in Belgium, and the modern cities of Cambray and Tournay in France were within their limits. The Nervii were on the Sabis, the Sambre. Caesar (ii. 25) speaks of seizing a shield and restoring the battle. Plutarch has taken from Caesar (c. 29) the amount of the enemy's loss. See Dion Ca.s.sius (39. c. 1, &c.)]

[Footnote 491: "Ob easque res ex litteris Caesaris dies xv subplicatio decreta est, quod ante id tempus accidit nulli." (Caesar, _Gallic War_, ii. 35.)]

[Footnote 492: See the Life of Cra.s.sus, c. 14; Life of Pompeius, c.

51. The meeting at Luca was at the end of B.C. 56, and Plutarch has omitted the campaign of that year, which is contained in Caesar's Third Book of the Gallic War.]

[Footnote 493: Csasar (iv. 1) names them Usipetes and Tenetheri. The events in this chapter belong to B.C. 55, when Cn. Pompeius Magnus and M. Licinius Cra.s.sus were consuls for the second time.]

[Footnote 494: Caesar, iv. c. 12. Plutarch here calls the Commentaries [Greek: ephemerides] ?f?e??de?, which means a Diary or Day-book. The proper Greek word would be [Greek: hypomnemata] ?p???ata. Kaltwa.s.ser accordingly concludes that Plutarah appears to have confounded the Ephemerides and the Commentarii, or at least to have used the word [Greek: ephemerides] ?f?e??de? improperly instead of [Greek: hypomnemata] ?p???ata. There is no proof that Caesar kept a diary.

That kind of labour is suited to men of a different stamp from him.

Plutarch means the Commentarii. It is true that Servius (_Ad aeneid._ xi. 743) speaks of a diary (Ephemeris) of Caesar, which records his being once captured by the Gauls. But see the note of Davis on this pa.s.sage (Caesar, ed. Oudendorp, ii. 999). Suetonius, who enumerates Caesar's writings (Caesar, 55, 56), mentions no Ephemeris. There were abundant sources for anecdotes about Caesar. The Roman himself wrote as an historian: he was not a diary keeper.]

[Footnote 495: Ta.n.u.sius Geminus wrote a history which is mentioned by Suetonius (Caesar, 9). Cato's opinion on this occasion was merely dictated by party hostility and personal hatred. His proposal was unjust and absurd. Caesar had good reason for writing his Anticato.]

[Footnote 496: Or Sigambri, a German tribe on the east bank of the Lower Rhine. They bordered on the Ubii, and were north of them. The name probably remains in the Sieg, a small stream which enters the Rhine on the east bank, nearly opposite to Bonn.]

[Footnote 497: Caesar describes the construction of this bridge (iv.

17) without giving any particulars as to the place where it was made.

The situation can only be inferred from a careful examination of the previous part of his history, and it has been subject of much discussion, in which opinions are greatly divided. The narratives of Dion Ca.s.sius (39. c. 48) and Florus (iii. 10) give some a.s.sistance towards the solution of the question. Professor Muller, in an excellent article in the 'Jahrbucher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande' (vii. 1845), has proved that the bridge must have been built near Coblenz. Caesar defeated the Germans in the angle between the Moselle and the Rhine. He must have crossed the Moselle in order to find a convenient place for his bridge, which he would find near Neuwied. The bridge ab.u.t.ted on the east bank on the territory of the Ubii, who were his friends. The narrative of Caesar, when carefully examined, admits of no other construction than that which Muller has put upon it; and if there were any doubt, it is removed by Caesar himself in another pa.s.sage (_Gallic War_, vi. 9) where he speaks of his second bridge, which gave him a pa.s.sage from the territory of the Treviri into that of the Ubii, and he adds that the site of the second bridge was near that of the first.

In the Gallic War (iv. 15) Caesar speaks of the junction (ad confluentem Mosae et Rheni) of the Mosa and the Rhine, where Muller a.s.sumes that he means the Moselle, as he undoubtedly does. Either the reading Mosa is wrong, or, what is not improbable, both the Moselle and the Maas had the same name, Mosa. Mosella or Mosula is merely the diminution of Mosa. At this confluence of the Moselle and Rhine the town of Coblenz was afterwards built, which retains the ancient name.

Caesar indicates which Mosa he means clearly enough by the words 'ad confluentem.' There was no 'confluens' of the Great Mosa and the Rhenus.]

[Footnote 498: The first expedition of Caesar to Britain was in the autumn of B.C. 55, and is described in his fourth book of the Gallic War, c. 20, &c. He landed on the coast of Kent, either at Deal or between Sandgate and Hythe. His second expedition was in the following year B.C. 54, which is described in the fifth book, c. 8 &c. He crossed the Thamesis (Thames) in face of the forces of Ca.s.sivelaunus, whose territories were bounded on the south by the Thames.

There has been some discussion on the place where Caesar crossed the Thames. Camden (p. 882, ed. Gibson) fixes the place at Cowey Stakes near Oatlands on the Thames, opposite to the place where the Wey joins the Thames. Bede, who wrote at the beginning of the eighth century, speaks of stakes in the bed of the river at that place, which so far corresponds to Caesar's description, who says that the enemy had protected the ford with stakes on the banks and across the bed of the river. Certain stakes still exist there, which are the subject of a paper in the Archaeologia, 1735, by Mr. Samuel Gale. The stakes are as hard as ebony; and it is evident from the exterior grain that the stakes were the entire bodies of young oak trees. Caesar places the ford eighty miles from the coast of Kent where he landed, which distance agrees very well with the position of Oatlands, as Camden remarks.

Ca.s.sivelaunus had been appointed Commander-in-chief of all the British forces. This is the king whom Plutarch means. He agreed to pay an annual tribute to the Romans (_Gallic War_, v. 22), and gave them hostages. Compare Cicero, _Ad Attic._ iv. 17.

Caesar wrote two letters to Cicero while he was in Britain. He wrote one letter on the 1st of September, which Cicero received on the 28th of September (_Ad Quintum Fratrem,_ iii. 1). Cicero here alludes to Caesar's sorrow for his daughter's death, of which Caesar had not received intelligence when he wrote to Cicero; but Cicero knew that the news had gone to him. On the 24th of October, Cicero received another letter written from the British coast from Caesar, and one from his brother Quintus who was with Caesar. This letter was written on the 26th of September. Caesar states (_Gallic War_, v. 23) that it was near the time of the equinox when he was leaving Britain.]

[Footnote 499: See the Life of Cra.s.sus, c. 16, and the Life of Pompeius, c. 53.]

[Footnote 500: L. Aurunculeius Cotta and Q. t.i.turius Sabinus were sent into the country of the Eburones, the chief part of which was between the Maas and the Rhine, in the parallels of Namur and Liege. This king, who is called Abriorix, is named Ambiorix by Caesar (_Gallic War_, 24, &c.) The Gauls, after an unsuccessful attempt on the camp, persuaded the Romans to leave it under a promise that they should have a safe pa.s.sage through the country of the Eburones. Ambiorix made them believe that there was going to be a general rising of the Gauls, and that their best plan was to make their way to the camp of Q. Cicero or Labienus. When they had left their camp, the Gauls fell upon them in a convenient spot and ma.s.sacred most of them.]

[Footnote 501: Quintus Cicero was encamped in the country of the Nervii in Hainault. The attack on his camp is described by Caesar (_Gallic War_, v. 39, &c.) Caesar says, when he is speaking of his own camp (v. 50), 'Jubet ... ex omnibus partibus castra altiore vallo muniri portasque obstrui, &c.... c.u.m simulatione terroris;' of which Plutarch has given the meaning.]

[Footnote 502: Kaltwa.s.ser remarks that Plutarch pa.s.ses over the events in Caesar's Sixth Book of the Gallic War, as containing matters of less importance for his purpose.]

[Footnote 503: Caesar (vii. 4) calls him Vercingetorix. He was of the nation of the Arverni, whom Plutarch (as his text stands) calls Arvenni in c. 25, and Aruveni in c. 26. The Arverni were on the Upper Loire in Auvergne. The Carnunteni, whom Caesar calls Carnutes, were partly in the middle basin of the same river. Orleans (Genapum) and Chartres (Autric.u.m) were their headquarters.]

[Footnote 504: [Greek: tais autais hodois] ta?? a?ta?? ?d??? in the MSS., which gives no sense. I have adopted Reiske's alteration [Greek: autais tais hodois] a?ta?? ta?? ?d???. Caesar (vii. 8) describes his march over the Cevenna, the Cevennes, in winter. He had to cut his road through snow six feet deep. The enemy, who considered the Cevennes as good a protection as a wall, were surprised by his sudden appearance.]

[Footnote 505: So Plutarch writes it. It is aedui in Caesar's text, or Haedui. The aedui, one of the most powerful of the Gallic tribes, were situated between the Upper Loire and the Saone, and possessed the chief part of Burgundy. The Saone separated them from the Sequani on the east.]

[Footnote 506: The Lingones were on the Vosges, which contain the sources of the Marne and the Moselle. The Saone separated them from the Sequani on the south-east. The account of this campaign is unintelligible in Plutarch. It is contained in Caesar's Seventh Book.]

[Footnote 507: A small matter in itself; but if true, a trait in Caesar's character. Schaefer has the following note: "Aliter facturus erat Cyrneus, omnino inferior ille Romano." The Corsican is Napoleon.

Caesar was the magnanimous man, whom Aristotle describes (_Eth. Nicom._ iv. 7); Napoleon was not.]

[Footnote 508: Alise, or rather the summit of Mont Auxois, west of Dijon in Burgundy, represents the Alesia of Caesar. A stream flowed along each of two sides of the city. Alesia belonged to the Mandubii, who were dependants of the aedui. The siege and capture of Alesia, B.C.

52, are told by Caesar (_Gallic War_, vii. 68, &c.)

The a.s.sembling of the Gallic nations was a last great effort to throw off the yoke.

Dion Ca.s.sius (40. c. 41) says Vercingetorix was put in chains. Seven years after he appeared in Caesar's triumph, after which he was put to death.

Caesar pa.s.sed the winter of B.C. 51 at Nemetocenna, Arras, in Belgium.

The final pacification of Gaul is mentioned (viii. 48). Caesar left Gaul for North Italy in the early part of B.C. 50, and having visited all the cities in his province on the Italian side of the Alps, he again returned to Nemetocenna in Belgium, and after finally settling affairs in those parts, he returned to North Italy, where he learned that the two legions, which had been taken from him for the Parthian war, had been given by the consul C. Marcellus to Pompeius, and were kept in Italy.

In nine years Caesar completed the subjugation of all that part of Gaul which is bounded by the Saltus Pyrenaeus, the Alps and the Cevennes, the Rhine and the Rhone; and it was reduced to the form of a province.

(Suetonius, _Caesar_, c. 25.) With the capture of Alesia the Seventh book of the Gallic War ends. The Eighth book is not by Caesar.]

[Footnote 509: As to the disturbances at Rome mentioned in this chapter, see the Life of Pompeius, c. 54, &c., notes.]

[Footnote 510: Life of Pompeius, c. 52.]