Chapter I: Front Matter

HISTORY

OF

JULIUS CÆSAR.

VOL. II.

THE WARS IN GAUL.

NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1866.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE.

It is, perhaps, not without interest, in publishing the second volume of the History of Julius Cæsar, written by the Emperor Napoleon III., to call to memory the names of Sovereigns and Princes who have employed themselves upon the same subject.

_The King of France, Charles VIII._, showed an especial admiration for the _Commentaries_ of Cæsar, and the celebrated monk, Robert Gaguin, presented to him, in 1480, the translation he had made in French of the eight books of the War in Gaul. We are informed of this in the edition of the _translation_ by the learned monk, printed in 1500. This edition, in large 4to, is from the press of Antoine Verard. (See J. Ch. Brunet, _Manuel du Libraire et de l’Amateur de Livres_, fourth edition, tom. I., p. 518, and the _Biographie Universelle_, article _Charles VIII._)

_Charles V._, who professed a great admiration for Cæsar, left a copy of the _Commentaries_ filled with marginal notes, written with his own hand. It was at his instigation that the Viceroy of Sicily, Ferdinand Gonzaga, sent a scientific mission into France to study Cæsar’s campaigns on the localities. The forty plans which were made by the members of this commission, and among which that of Alise is found, were published in 1575, in the edition of James Strada.

_The Sultan Soliman II._, contemporary of Charles V., whom he had taken for his model, sent through all Europe to procure as many copies of Cæsar’s _Commentaries_ as could be found, which he ordered to be collated, and caused a translation to be made into the Turkish language for his own daily reading.

_The King of France, Henri IV._, translated the two first books of Cæsar’s _Commentaries_. The manuscript of this translation was deposited in the Bibliothèque du Roi, and M. des Noyers took it thence to deliver it to Louis XIII., who, in his turn, translated the two last books of the _Commentaries_. These two translations were joined together, and printed at the Louvre in 1630.

_Louis XIV._ translated the first book of the _Commentaries_. His translation was printed at Paris in 1651, in folio, with figures. This work has not been reprinted; it is now very rare. The reader may consult on this subject the _Méthode d’étudier l’Histoire_ of the Abbé Lenglet-Dufresnoy, tom. II., p. 481; and J. Ch. Brunet, _Manuel du Libraire et de l’Amateur de Livres_, fourth edition, tom. I., p. 519.

_The great Condé_, who had studied with care the campaigns of Cæsar, encouraged the translation of the _Commentaries_ undertaken by Nicolas Perrot d’Ablancourt; it was the translation most esteemed and the most in vogue during the last century.

_Christina, Queen of Sweden_, had composed _Reflections on the Life and Actions of Cæsar_, as we are informed by J. Arckenholz in his work entitled _Mémoires concernant Christine, Reine de Suède_, Amsterdam, 1751-1760, tom. IV., No. 6, p. 4.

_Louis Philippe Joseph d’Orléans_, surnamed _Egalité_, was a great reader of the _Commentaries_. He caused a map of Cæsar’s campaigns in Gaul to be made.

Lastly, _the Emperor Napoleon I._, at St. Helena, dictated a _Précis des Guerres de César_ to Comte Marchand, who published it in Paris in 1836, in 8vo.

CONTENTS.

BOOK III.

THE WARS IN GAUL, AFTER THE “COMMENTARIES.”

CHAPTER I.

POLITICAL CAUSES OF THE GALLIC WAR.
PAGE

I. ENTERPRISING CHARACTER OF THE GAULS. 1

II. WARS OF THE ROMANS BEYOND THE ALPS. 3

III. CONTINUAL PRE-OCCUPATION OF THE ROMANS IN REGARD TO THE GAULS. 7

IV. PLAN FOLLOWED IN THE RELATION OF THE WAR IN GAUL. 13

CHAPTER II.

STATE OF GAUL IN THE TIME OF CÆSAR.

I. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. (_See Plate 1._) 15

II. POLITICAL DIVISIONS. (_See Plate 2._) 22

III. MANNERS. 32

IV. INSTITUTIONS. 41

CHAPTER III.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE HELVETII.

(Year of Rome 696.)

(BOOK I. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)

I. PROJECTS OF INVASION BY THE HELVETII. (_See Plate 3._) 49

II. CÆSAR’S ARRIVAL AT GENEVA. 52

III. DESCRIPTION OF THE RETRENCHMENT OF THE RHONE. (_See Plate 8._) 52

IV. THE HELVETII BEGIN THEIR MARCH TOWARDS THE SAÔNE. CÆSAR UNITES HIS TROOPS. (_See Plates 2 and 4._) 59

V. DEFEAT OF THE HELVETII ON THE SAÔNE. (_See Plates 2 and 4._) 64

VI. DEFEAT OF THE HELVETII NEAR BIBRACTE. (_See Plates 4 and 5._) 72

VII. PURSUIT OF THE HELVETII 76

VIII. OBSERVATIONS 79

CHAPTER IV.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARIOVISTUS.

(Year of Rome 696.)

(BOOK I. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)

I. SEAT OF THE SUEVI AND OTHER GERMAN TRIBES. (_See Plate 2._) 80

II. THE GAULS SOLICIT CÆSAR TO COME TO THEIR SUCCOUR. 83

III. MARCH OF CÆSAR UPON BESANÇON. (_See Plate 4._) 86

IV. PANIC IN THE ROMAN ARMY. 88

V. MARCH TOWARDS THE VALLEY OF THE RHINE. (_See Plate 4._) 91

VI. INTERVIEW BETWEEN CÆSAR AND ARIOVISTUS. (_See Plate 6._) 94

VII. MOVEMENTS OF THE TWO ARMIES. (_See Plates 2 and 6._) 97

VIII. BATTLE AGAINST THE GERMANS. (_See Plate 4._) 99

IX. OBSERVATIONS. 103

CHAPTER V.

WAR AGAINST THE BELGÆ

(Year of Rome 697.)

(BOOK II. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)

I. LEAGUE OF THE BELGÆ. CÆSAR ADVANCES FROM BESANÇON TO THE AISNE. (_See Plate 4._) 106

II. CÆSAR’S CAMP AT BERRY-AU-BAC. (_See Plates 2, 7, 8, and 9._) 109

III. BATTLE ON THE AISNE. 113

IV. RETREAT OF THE BELGÆ. 115

V. CAPTURE OF NOVIODUNUM AND BRATUSPANTIUM. (_See Plate 7._) 116

VI. MARCH AGAINST THE NERVII. (_See Plates 7 and 10._) 118

VII. BATTLE ON THE SAMBRE. (_See Plate 10._) 121

VIII. SIEGE OF THE OPPIDUM OF THE ADUATUCI. (_See Plate 11._) 128

IX. SUBJUGATION OF THE ARMORICA BY P. CRASSUS. 131

X. EXPEDITION OF GALBA INTO THE VALAIS. 132

CHAPTER VI.

(Year of Rome 698.)

(BOOK III. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)

WAR OF THE VENETII--VICTORY OVER THE UNELLI--SUBMISSION OF AQUITAINE--MARCH AGAINST THE MORINI AND THE MENAPII.

I. INSURRECTION OF THE MARITIME PEOPLES. (_See Plate 12._) 135

II. WAR AGAINST THE VENETI. (_See Plate 12._) 137

III. NAVAL COMBAT AGAINST THE VENETI. (_See Plate 12._) 141

IV. VICTORY OF SABINUS OVER THE UNELLI. (_See Plate 13._) 144

V. CONQUEST OF AQUITAINE BY P. CRASSUS. 146

VI. MARCH AGAINST THE MORINI AND THE MENAPII. 150

VII. OBSERVATIONS. 151

CHAPTER VII.

(Year of Rome 699.)

(BOOK IV. OF THE “COMMENTARIES.”)

INCURSIONS OF THE USIPETES AND THE TENCTERI--FIRST PASSAGE OF THE RHINE--FIRST DESCENT IN BRITAIN--CHASTISEMENT OF THE MORINI AND THE MENAPII.

I. CÆSAR’S MARCH AGAINST THE USIPETES AND THE TENCTERI. (_See Plate 14._) 153

II. ROUT OF THE USIPETES AND THE TENCTERI. 158

III. FIRST PASSAGE OF THE RHINE. (_See Plates 14 and 15._) 160

IV. DESCRIPTION OF BRITAIN IN THE TIME OF CÆSAR. 165

V. FIRST EXPEDITION TO BRITAIN. (_See Plates 16 and 17._) 172

VI. CHASTISEMENT OF THE MORINI AND MENAPII. 184

VII. ORDER FOR REBUILDING THE FLEET. DEPARTURE FOR ILLYRIA. 185

VIII. POINTS OF EMBARKING AND LANDING. DATE OF THE ARRIVAL IN BRITAIN. (_See Plate 16._) 186

IX. RÉSUMÉ OF THE DATES OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 699. 202